{30 + 1 = 12.27.77}

Have you seen Santa Claus 2?
I just spent the week before Christmas with my nieces
and nephew. So, I have. :) It's kind of a cheesy movie,
but there's this line in it about traditions being born
when you let things happen, instead of planning out
every second.

I think I just stumbled on a new tradition of my own.
Last year, right after my 30th, Lindsay took photos of
me. And this year, I saw Jennifer who snapped a few
the week before my 31st. I think I'm going to try to keep
this going as my new birthday tradition. (Of course, I'm
white as a ghost this time of year. So, perhaps I should
celebrate my half birthday!)






Thanks for the impromptu shoot, Jen. You did a great job.
I love that I have some new scrapbooking ammunition now.
It was also wonderful to see you! Thanks for making the
drive down with Jack. Love you!

{Quick Favor}

This will only take a second!
And I'll be your best friend if you do it. : )

My girl, Jennifer Truman, submitted a photo of her
son, Jack, to Jones Soda. It's for their summer fun
contest. If this doesn't say summer fun, I don't know
what does.



CLICK HERE TO VOTE FOR HER!

Thanks!!

{The Week in Pictures}

Do you look at The Week in Pictures on msnbc.com?
I'm a big fan.

It's updated weekly.
Photos are taken by members of the media.
Each has a description -- who, what, where, when.
They're all amazing, often gripping.
Showing us things happening to people worldwide.
At the end, you vote on your favorite.

They only take a minute to check out, but they are so
intense. I never miss a week!

There's a link to The Week in Pictures on the right
margin of my blog, or click here. Check it out! Just
go to the site and then click on the photo at the top
left corner to see all of them.

Bonjour!

A little update about some of the day to day around here...

David met his dad in Albuquerque last weekend for golf.
Good guy time. I thought it was so cool they were able to
do that. I spent the weekend with the dogs, went to a class
at the gym, studied, cleaned, and did all my running around
for the parties I'm co-hosting next weekend. (It was
wonderful me time.)

What parties, you ask? Saturday the 3rd is going to be a
off the hook! We're having a bridal shower brunch for
Lindsay in the morning. That night is her bachelorette
party. Can't wait! Here's a few shots from their
engagement pictures. I didn't take these, but I thought
they were so cute -- had to share. Are they not an
adorable couple?? So happy for these two.





While I'm partying it up with the girls this weekend, David is
going to Oregon to see the Moroneys and go to the Arizona
State v. Oregon game. ESPN Game Day will be there. So, the
boys plan to arrive super early to get a spot in front. If you
tune in, you'll probably see them! They're rooting for Oregon.
I'll be rooting for ASU! It's going to be a huge game!

David and I are taking a boot camp class at the gym!
Holy mother of god -- it's an amazing workout -- the kind
you love and hate at the same time. Totally kicks our ass
every Tuesday and Thursday night. It runs through December
7th, minus Thanksgiving. I'm hoping to lose a couple pounds
and improve my cardiovascular fitness. Jenn (a girl I've
recently started to get to know who is dating one of the
guys at David's office) took it last session and encouraged
me to take this one with her. I'm really glad she did.
No pictures of that!

Wednesday was Halloween! It was our first time in a house.
So, I finally got to pass out candy!! (First time ever.) I had a
good time, even though David basically refused to get into the
damn spirit. (Grrr.) It was fun to fuss over the kids and check
out their costumes. David had all the stuff for me to be a
construction worker. So, that was what I dressed up as...



My new look threw Killian off!


Total hat head here -- it gets hot under that
big 'ole thing!

Not much of a costume, I know. But it was fun and got
me into the spirit of things -- as did some of the fun
pumpkin patch pictures people shared with us in the
past weeks. (There's no such thing here -- I really miss
that about home.)


Alex Link (in yellow) with his cousins


Jack Truman

The semester is moving along nicely --
I got a 69/75 on my last speech (on the use of
Independent Contract Companies in Iraq and Afghanistan).
I currently have a perfect score in Media Research Methods!
Woo hoo! I'm really pleased with my French class. I'm
learning a lot and doing alright in the grade department
-- currently with an 89% but that doesn't count class
participation or dropping our lowest test grade. We've had
three chapter tests in there so far. I scored 78, 85 and 87
on those receptively. I hope to reach the 90s with my next
one! I got a B- in French last semester (so sad). So, if I can just
beat that, I'll be happy. Studying a foreign language is a lot of
work! French has more rules than Jehovah's Witnesses
do! (Marya, I'm so impressed with you and your mastery
of Spanish now that I have a little insight into what it takes
to achieve that.) This seems like a good time to say thanks to
everyone who always asks how school is going for me. I
appreciate your support and interest so much!

A lot of people in our life have had big things happening
lately. Things I'm sad not to have been able to be there for!
Jen and Matt have their wedding reception this weekend
in Michigan. (I hope you have fun, guys!!) Jen and Scott had
to take Jack in for a hernia operation this week. (It went
smoothly.) Julie went back to work after being on maternity
leave for the past three months. So, it's been a really tough
week for her. Ryan (D's cousin) recently got engaged! (We're
looking forward to going to Annapolis in June for the wedding.)
There have been a ton of birthdays lately -- Tracy, Alex(4),
Alexis(5), Meghan(4), Lauren(7), Catherine(6), Jack(1). And
I see Anita's birthday is today! To all of you, I wish we were
closer so I could be there to celebrate with you or to offer more
support for the tough times. That's the hard part of being so far
away from everyone! Please just know that we love you all, and
we are thinking of each of you!

Other than that -- we're getting really excited about Hawaii.
(Bless PCI.) We leave on the 7th!!

Aloha.

Baseball, More Baseball and Birds

Hello!! I have a few topics and times to share

today. I hope you enjoy!!

For starters, we've been enjoying some baseball here in Arizona!

It's Off to See the Diamondbacks!
The Peningtons took a big group of us to see the Arizona
Diamondbacks last week. We had such a great time. It
was just a really good group dynamic and energy.


David watching the game





It was nice to hang out with Jerry and Victoria. We hadn't
done anything with them in quite awhile, and it gave us a chance
to get to know the kids a little better. We had only met them once
at the airshow last fall...

Jerry and his son, Ryan


Victoria


Ryan


Taylor

I also got to meet a few new people, which I loved.
None of the pictures we snapped are amazing photos, but
I thought I'd introduce everyone anyway.

This is Taylor, Laura and Darla.
Laura is a friend of theirs -- their attorney's wife.
Darla is engaged to Pat, who works with Jerry. She just moved
here from the northwest not too long ago - super nice person.


To the far left is Pat, Darla's fiancé.
Garth, the guy to the far right, is PCIs intern for the summer.


Brian Moroney
This was his last night in Arizona. On Friday, he moved back
to Portland, Oregon. Bye, Bri! Best of luck to you.


David and me on the ride home.

They took a picture of Victoria, Darla and me when we first got there.
You should be able to see it, if you want by clicking here. It actually
turned out kind of cute!

And to wrap up that night -
Here's a picture of me embracing my inner 10 year old.
Taylor was doing this with her sunglasses.
I figured, when in Rome...


Baseball game with Lindsay and Michael!
The next night, we headed back to Chase Field to catch another
game, but this time, we weren't rooting for Arizona. Michael is a
big Boston Red Sox fan. So, we switched! Where are our loyalties,
right? It was fun to watch the game -- the Red Sox killed 'em!




Michael and Lindsay pregame.


Lindsay and me at Sliders for Blue Moon!


Linds took this one of Manny Ramirez.

Bye, Bye Birdie
A bird made its nest behind the wreath on our front
door this year. We couldn't see it very well since it was
tucked out of view, but last week I cracked the door
open an inch to grab a couple pictures. (These were
taken from inside the house through the opening in
the door while I was standing on a chair.) I peaked
in when I noticed the mom wasn't there chirping
and feeding so as to cause the lease amount of
disturbance -- it actually gave me a pretty good
look at the babies. There were two.







They were fun to have around, but their
stay was pretty short. They took flight a
week ago Tuesday.

Good bye and good luck, little birds.
We didn't mind not using the door for a couple
weeks. Maybe we'll see your mommy back next
year.

That's it for today. Thanks for stopping by!

trigger happy

Photographers deal in things which are continually vanishing
and when they have vanished there is no contrivance on earth
which can make them come back again.
Henri Cartier Bresson

Here are a few of the moments he captured just before they vanished...

Horse Show

Chances are good that only the people who have been lucky enough to
meet our amazing, little boy will appreciate these Killian posts. Even if you
don't like them so much, it's my blog and I can do what I want to! : )

Mom sends us Killian updates, sometimes several times a week. We look SO forward to them. I read each one several times, and David and I will usually talk about them that evening over dinner and smile, thinking of our little guy. Her stories are usually tales of Killian chasing Shorty the cat, or playing catch with the ball, or running in the fields with Belle, or getting into mom's balls of yarn, or how his manners are improving and he's "such a love"! This post is from one of her emails...

It just melted my heart. Jim sent along the illustrations to go with her story. WE MISS HIM SO MUCH!!

"Killian is a trip. Last night we were in bed reading and of course Killian was sleeping by me. Then the cat Shorty hopped on the bed and Jim petted him; soon the cat walked over Jim and got between us in his favorite position. Killian was nose to nose with Shorty for a long time. We took some cute pictures and Jim said he would send them to you. This morning however was even better. Killian went outside and Cruz walked over to the fence. Killian went out and sat down and just watched Cruz. Cruz gave him quite a show; running and leaping and kicking up his heels. Killian just sat there like he was watching TV!! We have those pictures and we’ll be sending them along!"

And now for the horse show...This is so cute! Cruz looks like he must have needed a moment to shine, or maybe, and this is what I like to think was happening, he saw Killian and thought he would put on a one-horse show for his friend. Killian sits observantly in the gallery enjoying all of Cruz's many talents and then they just stop for a moment to look at one another, appreciating their friendship and differences.












Thank goodness for digital photography and email. Mom and Jim, thanks for the stories and photos. We never tire of them!! Killian's first birthday is in a couple of days...May 9th. I'm so sad I won't be with him to celebrate it, but I'll see him on the 15th and can't wait!

Hi, Killi-Pooh! We miss you!!

It's a beautiful Sunday morning here. (I hope it is where you are, too.)
David just went off for a run. He's been quite dedicated to that end!

I am missing Killian so much this morning...

At least he's got a great place
to stay. I think mom and Jim
are getting very attached!
His grandma told me that he
ran into the barn door! He
was running fast and was
so excited, he didn't even
see it!! What a nut. He
also tangled with a bush
and got an eye infection,
but his Grandpa took him to
Dr. Main's, and now he's
fine. (Thanks, Jim!)

This photo of Killian with his
walking partner, Belle, was
taken by Jim.

Sandy-Mom's Diamond

We always miss Killian, but yesterday, he was really on my mind. I
was home most of the day and just wanted to snuggle with him!!

If he can't be with us though, it makes all the difference in the world
to know he's in the next best possible place -- With his grandma
and grandpa. Mom sends us updates several times a week, detailing
all the cute things he does. I read each of them at least twice and then
David and I usually talk about them, too. They are so wonderful,
like little presents.

Jim sent this picture just over a week ago. He called it
Sandy-mom's Diamond, because Killian's head was resting on
her hand, I suppose. I thought that was almost as cute as the
picture. I look at it everyday.