Amanda, Jamison, and Elaine

London Jolly Ol' Times: Day 5

2009-03-19T15:22:00.000-07:00

Well we had a nice surprise visit today from Matthew Mort of Wales. He came into London on his Motorcycle and spent the day with us. We started the day with an English breakfast then went out to do more tourist things. We headed straight for the Tower of London. This was once a fortress/prison where many famous kings and queens were held prisoner. We joined a tour where one the Yeomen Warders ("Beefeaters") led us around and told us some very horrifying tales that took place at the tower. Our Guide was named Dickie and he very entertaining. He led us through some of the more famous spots in the castle. After the guided tour we had time to enjoy the other great sites that the castle had to offer including the crown jewels, the ancient armory, and other various jail cells.

After the Tower of London we went to the Tower Bridge.

Many people think this is “London Bridge” but that bridge is further up river and is pretty ugly. After the Bridge we went to the British Museum.

Many of the exhibits close after 5:30 but we were still able to see their extensive wing on the Egyptian empire including the Rosetta stone. It was fantastic.

We capped of the day at a noodle house where we had some fantastic Japanese noodles.

Oh did I mention we also visited Hogwarts. We weren’t allowed to take cameras with us so we just got this picture of us entering 9 ¾ before boarding the Hogwarts Express.

London Jolly Ol' Times: Day 4 Paris Edition

2009-03-18T15:56:00.000-07:00

We just got in from Paris. We decided we would do a day trip and hit the big sites. We had unlimited access on the subway so it made it really easy to get around, but even still our feet hurt and we are tired. It is a lot to do Paris in a day. We got there and went straight for the Eiffel Tower. The top floor was closed so we could only go up to the middle floor. There we had a baguette sandwich and took in the city of Paris. After being on the tower we walked out to the grass mall in front of it and got some great pictures. After the tower we went to the Arc d'Triomphe and the champs elysees. We had to use the restroom so we stopped in at the McDonalds for a Royal Cheese :). After a quick bite we went to the louvre. This was worth the whole price to go to Paris. I loved the Louvre. We only saw like .01% of it but even still it was amazing. After the museum it was back to London on the train.

London Jolly Ol' Times: Day 3

2009-03-17T15:39:00.000-07:00

So we just got in pretty late so I am going to keep this one short. We did the typical London experience today. We saw Big Ben, Houses of Parliament, the Thames river, Westminster Abbey, and had pub food in honor of St. Patrick's day. We walked from Big Ben up to Trafalgar Square to see it less crazy. On the way we say #10 Downing street, and the Royal Horse Guard dismounting Ceremony, pretty amazing stuff. I Loved Westminster Abbey. No photography is allowed :( so I can't show you the cool stuff we saw, but man it was amazing.

London Jolly Ol' Times: Day 2

2009-03-16T15:35:00.000-07:00

A little tip for you world travelers out there, Nine month old infants do not adapt well to jet lag. After I posted last night I stayed up until 1:30 am with a not tired baby ;) It was fun though, since I don't get much time with Elaine during the week, I take what moments I can. That being said.... We had a very early morning today. We awoke at 6:00 am to go meet up with our tour bus. We visited three fantastic locations today Windsor Castle, Stonehenge, and Bath. We traveled from 7:30am until 8:00pm traveling over 300 miles round trip, needless to say it was a long day, but an amazing one.

WINDSOR CASTLE

Our first stop was Windsor Castle, on of the official residencies of her majesty the queen. It is one of the largest castles in the world. It was a pretty amazing site to see. Oddly enough the Queen was actually there in the castle, but the royal families' quarters are away from tourists. We started our tour on the grounds then moved into the castle.

Photography is not allowed in the building itself so there are not pictures of that, but believe me it was pretty amazing.

It is kind of sad when my entire home could fit in the King's closet. We did take some time to watch the changing of the guard at the castle as well.

As we left Windsor we got this shot in front of the statue of Queen Victoria. A queen and two princesses (awwwwhh!)

STONEHENGE
All my life I have wanted to see stonehenge, I was afraid I would find it disappointing, but I wasn't disappointed at all. Stonehenge is pretty amazing. It is really neat to see something that was created so long ago. Every stop we made today had an audio listening guided tour, which made it nice to have extended explanation for the things we saw. Stonehenge really is a lot smaller than I imagined, but it is still pretty amazing. For those of you that didn't know we traveled here with some friends of ours.

Here is the five of us at stonehenge.
Laney even liked it!

This is the Heel Stone.
This is the stone that on the various important lunar and solar dates marks the passage of time.

BATH
Bath is trully one of the most amazing cities I have been to, and by far one of the highlights thus far of my trip. We needed more time there to really explore, but we did get to see "the" roman bath house that gives bath its name.

The bath sits 15 feet below ground and is not in use, but the architecture is pretty amazing. Right next to the bath is the Bath Abbey. This was amazing, complete with flying buttress arches.

At the end of the tour they let you taste some of the water from the spring. Not very tasty, it tastes like warm well water.

After we toured the Bath we found our way up to the Jane Austen center to get some souvenirs for people. Jane lived in Bath for nine years.

London Jolly Ol' Times: Day 1

2009-03-15T12:53:00.000-07:00

We arrived safely in London for those waiting for news. The flight went really well and for the most part we slept. We arrived at 6:40 am, not so bright-eyed but happy to be done flying. After going through customs we were officially in London. Can't you tell that Laney is just thrilled. We were going to ride the Heathrow connect to get into our hotel, but instead we found a Direct Door to Door service that would be only a few pounds more. After a nice ride, and a very talkative driver we arrived at our hotel and got checked in to our "huge" room.(I guess sarcasm doesn't transcribe well to text ... oh well.) We took the time to get cleaned up, and after a quick sandwich we were off to see the sights. Our driver told us about going to covent gardens on Sunday, he said it was not to be missed. We decided we would make that our final destination. On the way we would take in the other 3 big squares: Leicester, Picadilly Circus, and Trafalgar square. Since Tuesday is St. Patrick's day there was a huge party going on in the square. It was packed but we thought that we would still get in on some of the action. Elaine loved the sights and giggled the whole time from her pack that we bought to carry her in. People were really getting into it so I snapped a few shots of the locals.

Amanda bought a green coat from target and blended in nicely.

After trafalgar we went to picadilly circus then on to covent gardens where we were treated to some street performing and yummy ice cream.

I will wrap up quick because we are tired and have to get up early for stonehenge tomorrow.

Elaine's Easter Pics

2009-03-07T18:05:00.000-08:00

We recently had some easter pics done of Elaine. She is getting SOOOOOO BIIIG. She still isn't crawling, but she can stand on her own while holding on to something. The dolly was a gift from her Grandma and Great Grandma for christmas while we were in Utah. Stay tuned to the blog we are going to London next week. I am going to try to keep the blog posted with pictures as we travel. It will depend if we have internet access.

Elaine Giggles

2009-01-20T18:07:00.000-08:00

We were at Amanda's uncle's House. Porthos and Rhett were playing with Amanda's uncle (that is the jingling) and Elaine thought it was hilarious

A little place called Asssspen!

2008-12-12T11:35:00.000-08:00

So I ventured into the unknown for me this last weekend. Now it may come as a surprise for you, but I have never skied before. Yes, I grew up in Utah. Yes there are like 7 ski resorts within an hour of my house. I just never learned how. So this past weekend I went to a Bioinformartics conference in Apsen, CO. As part of the conference we could buy discount ski passes. I thought I would give it a go. After getting the Skis rented I headed up to the beginner's area alone. I strapped on my skiis and tried my best to manuever to the "magic carpet" conveyor belt that would take me to the top of a gentle hill. After I got the top I turned and slid myself into position. After I started clumsy flailing my arms and poles and making some attempt at forming a pizza with my skiis I made it to the bottom without falling. I got back on the belt and went again, and again, and again. I loved it. I then wanted to try harder stuff. I jumped on the ski lift to the top of the bunny hill and went down it a few times. I eventually got to the point where I was going fully parallel down the hill. I love skiing. I had so much fun. I attempted to descend down a green run on the main slopes but after almost being hit and almost hitting the sign that told me to slow down I thought I better stick to the beginner area for the time being. I want to ski more!!! My friends later joined me to try there hand at snowboarding.

Trick-Or-Treat!

2008-11-07T19:56:00.000-08:00

We had a fun Halloween - if you can't tell from the pictures below. Laney actually went up to a few houses with Mara (aka Cinderella) and Porthos (aka The Hot Dog) before she got hungry. :) Our little Tootsie Roll was so cute, and I'm sure she'll love this holiday even more next year!

Apples and Pumpkins and Rhett . . . oh my!

2008-10-20T13:51:00.000-07:00

We've been busy the past month or so (as you will see from our pictures). Elaine is growing like crazy and just getting more fun everyday. She's now experienced going to the apple orchard, flying on an airplane, Oregon, Brown County, and much more. On top of that she's smiling all the time (she's definitely a happy baby), rolling over, holding her head up, and pushing up her front half when lying on her tummy. We've also welcomed a new family member - Rhett, our awesome golden retriever. He is the best dog ever, totally mellow (opposite of Porthos) and just an all-around sweetie. We rescued him from a shelter, so they guessed that he is around 5 years old. He's been wonderful to have around Porthos, because the two of them just play all day and tire each other out - no more hyper time at night. :)

At Anderson Apple Orchard - "An apple, huh, what am I supposed to do with this?"

Here's Laney in her cute Halloween hat, looking like she'd like to eat a pumpkin!

And without her hat - her bald head fits in well with the pumpkins. :)

Amanda and Elaine, both loving this time of year in Indiana.

Strapped to Daddy's belly now :) - Laney loves her Jeep carrier, and Daddy likes to tote her around in it - which is all wonderful for Mommy.

Already a Colts fan - just needs a little pom-pom to complete the outfit!

In one of her many cute dresses and enjoying some time outside.

Say hello to Rhett! He's got a big head and big paws, so he definitely fits as a Hemmert. :) But don't let his size fool you - he's just a big teddy bear.

The two boys playing in the backyard together - Porthos loves his new big brother.

Gencon = costume fun!

2008-09-09T13:52:00.000-07:00

Well I wrapped up august by attending GenCon. GenCon is a gaming convention where all walks of peoples come to play various games of various mediums. There are many different games to play, but a lot of people come to play Dungeons and Dragons, this brings out the costumes. So I thought I would share some cool costumes with you.

We begin with leeloo from fifth element.
This is the Dungeons and Dragons Room with some pretty sweet wall art.

Some Various Peoples in their "Cosplay" Costumes.

A wonder woman fan.
Link from Legend of Zelda ... in an excellent costume.

A giant twenty sided dice to honor Gary Gygax, you could put your dice in as tokens to honor him.

Ghostbusters are back. This was an amazingly detailed costume.
"Cardhalla" card towers made by "con" attendees.
Thats Captain.... Jack Sparrow.

Where there is a convention there are star wars fans. These are a few of the better costumes.
Complete with Peter "Chewbacca" Mayhew. This guy is awesome!
Feedback from the first season of who wants to be a superhero.... one of the nicest guys I have ever met.
Zombie Walk....ummm yeah.

Giant Gear figures.

Giant Catan.

...and Giant lifesized heroclix.

And lastly ...... Snake .?.?.?

Smiles!

2008-08-28T08:21:00.000-07:00

We've finally caught a few smiles on camera! Above is one from last Saturday, after we also took Elaine to have pictures taken in a studio setting, which I will post once we get them back. We didn't get one that I really liked in this cute outfit from Nana, so we just went in the backyard and shot a few after we got home. She actually really liked it, because she kept trying to roll over and eat the grass. :) Things have been crazy (as promised in the last post), but we're keeping sane. Jamison just started up school again along with working full-time, so Elaine and I will see him for about 10 minutes every day. . . seriously. But they are usually a happy 10 minutes for all of us, because she's been sleeping for at least 5 hours straight at night = mom is sleeping for at least 5 hours straight! I'm working still (just got a raise, yipee!), and Elaine is going to daycare. She seems to really enjoy it though. She loves to watch the older kids playing (she's the youngest one there by a year at least). I go to feed her during lunch everyday, and so that has helped the transition for me too.

Well, need to get back to things, so here's some more pictures for those of you die-hards that don't give up on our posting abilities. :)

Thought this look was awesome - rock on! Plus those are just funny fingers to choose to suck on.

This is the normal state of our bed whenever I'm in it - the baby, dog, and cat all need to be in close proximity to me at all times. It can be a little suffocating at times, but I love them all too much to do anything about it.

Laney and me at the Heign Family Reunion up in northern Indiana. It was a weekend long event, which included her first camping trip! She loved it, cause she loves to be outside, especially looking at the trees. Oh, and of course Porthos loved it too, cause he got to play with all of his doggie "cousins".

Here's a close-up of Laney just chillin at the reunion. You can't tell from this picture, but she is getting much better at holding up her head.

The Month of July

2008-07-31T19:05:00.000-07:00

We've had a lot of fun during the month of July getting to know our sweet girl even better. We started out the month with a visit from Jamison's parents (a.k.a. Nana and Papa). They came out for Elaine's baby blessing and to enjoy a few of the sights here in good ol' Indiana.

Elaine's blessing went very well - her Daddy did a great job! But we did have bit of trauma in the morning before getting to church . . . I was getting her all dressed up and noticed that a few nails could use trimming. As I clipped the 2nd one, I nicked her finger and it started bleeding all over! Luckily we hadn't gotten the white dress on yet! I felt so horrible, and her cry didn't make it any better. :( But we got it bandaged up, and the rest of the day went beautifully. A large thanks goes to Tammy and Russ for taking care of the luncheon afterwards. It was delicious (as all parties are that Tammy is involved with), and I couldn't have done it without them!

Our other highlights from this month were of course the 4th of July (which we actually celebrated the day after), seeing some very cute real smiles from our baby (but haven't captured one on film yet), Eric, my baby brother, turning 15 (yikes!), learning that Laney really doesn't like being buckled into her carseat, another fun trip to Kings Island where I finally got to ride a few roller coasters, and me returning to work as of today (which was kinda sad).

I know next month will be even crazier, so forgive us if we seem a little slow to post! :)

Our little family with Jamison's parents (picture taken in our backyard).

Laney with her Grandma Jennifer and Grandpa John, oh and Mom and Dad again too. :)

Just the girls, three generations . . .

Here she is in her 4th of July outfit - how patriotic!

Ready for swimming at the water park in Kings Island . . .

Just before going in the water (with Dad), but it was freezing, so she really did not enjoy the few seconds she was in it :)

Looking darn cute in her "favorite things" outfit

A time when we were actually happy in our carseat - Mom needed to document it!

Dad and his little girl hanging out in their Hawaiian print. If you couldn't guess, Jamison picked out this dress for her :)

Laney Loves Music

2008-06-23T14:22:00.000-07:00

I'm feeling more myself this week, so I'm going to do something out of character - post on our blog! Right now, Laney and I are watching "Grease". We found out over the past few days that our little girl enjoys music, and the louder the better. I attribute this to a few things - while pregnant, I would listen to a variety of music stations on Pandora.com (a great online radio station you should check out if you haven't heard of it), my calling at church was choir director, and in general both Jamison and I love music and have it on whenever we can.

Anyway, the other morning Laney was a little fussy, so I brought her out to the living room and turned on one of my Pandora stations. She went to sleep after a minute or two. The funny thing is the station I picked plays mostly alternative bands - Death Cab for Cutie, Dashboard Confessional, Ok Go, etc. - but it did the trick! Also this past Saturday we went down to Kings Island, and since I'm not allowed on any roller coasters yet (blah!), mom, Laney, and I went to a bunch of shows. The music was blasting in a few of them, but she slept on through. Just in case you were wondering, we decided to go this past weekend since we bought season passes for 2008 (thanks goes out to the IRS for their stimulus check). We went with my parents and brother (Eric), our friends the Kuroiwa's (Nicole, Josh, and Mara), and two of Jamison's co-workers from his lab at IUPUI (Yiqiang and Ang). Here's a picture of the group:

We all had a good time even though we were rained on for part of the day. . . but that helped thin out the crowd. Now for a few more pictures, some from Kings Island, others just random from the past week or so.

Our little family on the carousel at the end of a fun day at Kings Island!

A very smitten daddy - she's already got him wrapped around her little finger.

My mom (also known as Grandma now) riding one of the few rides that she enjoys at KI.

Ang and Yiqiang enjoying the carousel too!

My sweet baby taking a nap - I love her chubby cheeks!

All dressed up after church this past Sunday, so we had to take some pics. Isn't she the cutest? But we found that the headband is a little small for her . . . may have inherited her daddy's huge noggin. :)

Bath Time/ Tomando Banho

2008-06-08T22:24:00.001-07:00

Apparently Elaine doesn't like baths, but she does like the post bath towel snuggle.

Elaine nao gosta de tomar banho, mas ela gosta apos na
toalha.

Going Home/ Indo para casa

2008-06-08T22:09:00.000-07:00

So Amanda being the little trooper she is got to leave the hospital a day early. We were ready to go. We have had two days to "relax" and spend time with our little one. All of you who have had newborns will know why I say "relax" :)

Entao sendo que Amanda se cura rapidamente ele foi deixado voltar para casa cedo. Nos estavamos bem pronto pair sair. Passemos os ultimos dois dias relaxando com nosso nene.

More Elaine Pics/ Mais fotos de Elaine

2008-06-08T21:36:00.001-07:00

Here are some more pictures of Elaine. These were done by my Mother-in-law Jennifer... Enjoy.

Aqui sao mais fotos do Elaine. Forum tirados pelo minha sogra...espero que gostam.

Elaine Vittoria Hemmert 6-04-08 3:15 am

2008-06-04T01:25:00.001-07:00

Elaine Vittoria Hemmert has graced us with her presence. After 20 hrs of labor for Amanda, Elaine just stopped making progress so at 2:15 am we decided to get her out by C-Section... which it was a good thing to. Elaine was born at 9lbs 1 oz and 22 inches long, or 55.8 cm. I am amazed by Amanda she went the full 20 hours with no painkillers. She is a trooper. We finally got some rest last night. So far this morning we have had some great bonding time with Elaine. We figured out that Elaine was just being considerate to her two Grandparents and split the difference between their birthdays. My mom's on the third and Amanda's dad on the 5th. We will be at the hospital until Saturday.

Home at Last and Babywatch Update/ Finalmente em casa e noticias da Nene

2008-06-02T07:29:00.000-07:00

Amanda and I finally spent the night in our new house. We loaded up on Saturday and weren't able to get the bedroom set up till yesterday. It was really nice to be in our own place. Not to toot my own horn but ...beep beep.... I am turning out to be quite the handyman. I have really enjoyed working on the house. I installed a new toilet on Saturday and changed faucet valves yesterday. It is really rewarding working on your own place as many of you may already know. Well enough about the house I am sure all of you are dying to hear what is the baby news. Wellllll .... no baby yet. We are scheduled to induce tomorrow pending Elaine doesn't decide to show up today. Cute story... we were at church yesterday and our friend's daughter Mara was sitting on Amanda's lap. Mara started pulling on Amanda's shirt at the top saying "Laney come out". It was pretty darn cute. So check back tomorrow and I will try to get some pictures up after Elaine is born.

On a sad note my Grandmother passed away last night.... Her and Elaine we have to meet in heaven.... Maybe that is what Elaine was waiting for.

Amanda e eu finalmente dormiu em nossa casa. Nos Arrumemos nossas coisas no sabado mas nao deu tempo para desembalar nossas coisas. Foi muito legal para estar em nossa propria casa. Nao quero buzinhar meu proprio buzinha mas ... beep beep.... to ficando bom com arrumando as coisas de casa. Ja instalou uma toileta, e trocou as valvula no pia. Fico com um pouco de orgulho nas coisas que to fazendo. Bom imagina que querem ouvir noticias do nene. A menos que Elaine decida chegar hoje estamos marcado a provocar amanha. Entao volta amanha e vamos ter fotos.

Num note triste minha avo faleceu ontem a noite. Nos lembra em teus oracoes. Parece que Ela e Elaine vao tem que se conhecer no ceu, talvez por isso Elaine esperou.

Update: BabyWatch '08

2008-05-27T11:07:00.000-07:00

Still no Elaine. The tension is mounting.

Ainda nao chegou Elaine. O tensao esta crecendo.

Babywatch '08 / Esperando Nene '08

2008-05-20T07:34:00.000-07:00

No baby yet. We have to days to go until the due date. We thought Elaine was going to make her debut on Sunday, in fact we even went to the hospital, but she got shy and so we are still waiting. Amanda and I are very anxious to meet our little girl. The house is coming along nicely. We are almost to the point where we can move in. That is kind of sad to say, because when we bought the house we could have easily moved in that day, but we wanted to update some things and that just turned into a lot more work than expected. We are having a good time getting and ready and it looks fantastic now.

There are now people from Brazil who read this blog so I am going to start translating my posts.

Ainda nao chegou a nene. So temos mais dois dias ate a dia advinada pela medica. Pensamos que Elaine iria chegar no Domingo passado, ate fomos ou hospital, mas ela ficou timido pois ainda estamos esperando. Amanda e eu estamos muito ansioso para chegar a conhecer nossa nenezinha. A casa esta quase pronto. Podemos morar la logo. Isso e meio triste pois quando compramos a casa ja estava pronto para entrar, mas precisamos trocar alguams coisas. Parece que coisas vao sair otimo!

There is more than Corn in Indiana

2008-04-12T08:14:00.000-07:00

Hey there from the Hoosier front. So great news... we got a house.... well almost. We close on the 25th of this month. The house is small but has been well cared for. It is a one level three bedroom house with hard wood floors throughout. Amanda and I are pretty excited. We are just waiting for the mortgage process to go through right now.
On the baby front Amanda is doing really well. She feels good all things considered. She woke up this morning and said "I'm there." Not knowing what she was talking about I inquired further. "You know that point that every pregnant woman talks about when she says she is done being pregnant," I nodded. "Well I am there," she said. "My back always hurts, I am tired all the time, and no matter what I am uncomfortable all the time."
Well from today we are down to 40 days. We have CPR classes coming up and Amanda is going to do a breast feeding class. Today is also Porthos's Birthday. He is one year old today.
This is him at a local state park. Funny story about the park, there are many trails throughout the park. One of the trails crosses a bunch of streams. We discovered two things about Porthos 1. He really hates water and 2. He is really good at balancing on a log. Jennifer, Amanda's Mom, started crossing a log thinking Porthos would tromp along side in the water but instead he followed suit on the log behind her. He ended up tripping Jennifer up and sending her into the water.

A very delayed greeting . . .

2008-02-03T18:39:00.001-08:00

We wanted to get out Christmas cards this year (and we did send a few), but for most of you reading you probably haven't had the chance to see our cute family picture. So please consider this a very delayed Merry Christmas and Happy New Year's greeting. It took a few takes to get Porthos looking at the camera and me satisfied with my overall look (getting chubbier and all), but our final product was worth the effort. :) And the pets were just too cute to not take a few more pictures, so I've also attached their best individual shots. Aren't they the most photogenic animals ever? Well, that's all I've got for now, but I will also try to do better at updating our blog this year. For those of you far away - we miss you!

Amanda

Update... Porthos.

2008-01-25T13:03:00.000-08:00

Porthos here again. I am not in Omaha any more... and haven't been for quite some time. I live now with my Grammy's and Grampy's house. They give me lots of love. So i discovered the greatest thing on earth... A dog park. I love to go to the dog park, even the thought of it gets my tail wagging. I like to play with the big dogs the most. There is one dog that follows me around and yaps at me, I don't know what his problem his. Other than that my day consists of pestering the five cats in the house, demolishing any and every toy in the house. I especially like the squishy ones... I like to tear the stuffing out of them. So I see my plush bone eyeing me funny so I am going to go take care of it. Until next time.

-P-Dog

We are still alive

2008-01-25T12:34:00.001-08:00

This Blog post is dedicated to the Caldwell girls..... Since they still check our blog.

So things are a moving and a shaking for the Hemmert Family. First off the big news is that we are expecting . Amanda is due on May 22, 2008. It's a girl. The Name we have Chosen is Elaine _____ Hemmert. Yes that is right we are still trying to come up with a middle name.... Feel free to make suggestions. Amanda feels great. She is a little tired most days and gets really hungry really quickly, but I guess that is to be expected. Amanda looks forward to have her memory return after the baby is born, since she seems to have gotten more forgetful as the pregnancy has progressed. The picture was from the first ultrasound back in October, I will be uploading more ultrasound images as soon as I scan them.
The other big news is that we are buying a house. I have to say I am kind of scared. It was like a instant oatmeal adulthood thing, get mortgage, add baby, add water and stir. Like seems to have creeped up on me. Don't get me wrong I am stoked. I could not be more excited, but it is just a lot to process at once. We are in the process of still looking for a house but hope to find one in the next week or two and make an offer.
So that I keep myself on track for posting each week I will would like to start a new review section of my blog. I will talk about cool things that I have seen (i.e. movies and websites) or played (video games, board games) and the likes.
Movies:
Juno - A must see!!!!! I love this movie and I am not afraid to admit it - I cried at the end. The movie is fantastic and J.K. Simmons' father character is one that I would like to emulate or at least learn from. It is worth the money to see this in theaters but could also wait for a home rental.
Heartbreak Kid - Don't waste your time. It is lame and not one of Ben Stillers' better movies. I was actually kind of bored during it. While it has a few laughs, they are few and far between.
Games:
Trauma Center (Wii) - I bought this for the wii and have been pleasantly surprised with it. The game play is fun and is very innovative with the remote. You are a surgeon and have to use the remote to due precision surgery.
Undertow - This is game that came out on the 360 a while ago but they offered it for free this week. It is really a good game, better that is didn't cost me a thing. You play a diver/ marine in an underwater realm battling to control various command points around the maps.

Well hopefully that will bring people up to speed of goings on in our life and there will be more next week.
-Jamison

Where is Porthos Now?

2007-08-01T21:02:00.000-07:00

Omaha: Somewhere in middle America

Porthos here. So it is my turn at the keys. As many of you know Beagles are excellent writers. Take Snoppy for example. I thought I would tell you a little about are trip thus far. We just arrived in Omaha. I have loved rolling in all of the different grasses across the country. The best was in Idaho. It was nice and long and smelled really good. I then got to meet my Grandparents, Tammy and Russ, and play with
Walter and Jack. They fed me lots of good treats. Well it is time for me to go into my Kennel. More tomorrow.

I HATE MOVING

2007-08-01T20:59:00.000-07:00

Jamison here. Well FINALLY we are on our way. We are a day behind which stinks because we won’t get any time in Salt Lake City with my family. With that said I would like to reflect a little on the past 4 days and I what I have learned. For must of you this is common sense, but I guess I just needed to get a cold slap in the face from the cold, unforgiving mistress that is moving. ( Action of Jamison shaking his fist in rage)

1. DON’T BUY A DOG A MONTH BEFORE YOU MOVE. Now don’t get me wrong, I love Porthos. In fact he is one of the best dogs I have ever met. He is cuddly and cute , but still playful and fun. It is just that having a puppy makes it really, really hard to pack when you have to be constantly watching a dog.

2. No matter how much you want to see one of you friends get plastered drunk, don’t attend a bachelor party the night before you move. Especially with a bunch of Irishmen who can party and drink all night long. While it can be fun and you come away with fond memories of a wasted man throwing ice at a BMW, it is not worth the sleep you will loose.
3. Which brings me to my next point, Don’t pull an all nighter the night before you move. It doesn’t work.

4. Finally if you are going to move have a Josh Caldwell and a David Parry near by. They are those all stars that can make anything fit, anywhere. They are also the ones willing to give up their Saturdays and wake up at 7:00am to help you move.

Our Friends The Caldwells

2006-07-28T21:01:00.000-07:00

We have had lots of fun with our friends and neighbors the Caldwells.

These pictures are from the summer of '05. Some at OMSI others at movies in the park in Portland .... oh and at Chuck E. Cheese's.

2005-06-22T21:12:00.000-07:00

She is 9 weeks old now

2005-06-22T21:11:00.000-07:00

Her Favorite Toy - bell on a string

2005-06-22T21:10:00.000-07:00

Introducing our new kitty Marian Berry (but we just call her Marian)

2005-06-22T21:09:00.000-07:00

Western Oregon University's union

2005-06-22T21:08:00.001-07:00

The tech building where I spend all my time

2005-06-22T21:08:00.000-07:00

Campbell Hall, Grandpa Baker used to teach here.

2005-05-23T08:41:00.001-07:00

2005-05-23T08:41:00.000-07:00

Got any cheese?

2005-05-23T08:40:00.000-07:00

Easter left overs at our place

2005-05-23T08:39:00.001-07:00

LAND HO!!!

2005-05-23T08:39:00.000-07:00

Seal watching at Coos bay

2005-05-23T08:38:00.000-07:00

Howdy! Amanda goes cowboy on us!

2005-05-21T21:44:00.001-07:00

Hey look who is 23! both of us.

2005-05-21T21:44:00.000-07:00

23 and still crazy

2005-05-21T21:42:00.000-07:00

It's pumpkin picking in October

2005-05-21T20:46:00.000-07:00

More of the gardens

2005-05-21T20:45:00.000-07:00

The Rose Garden at willamette

2005-05-21T20:44:00.000-07:00

We have wonderful Parents

2005-05-21T20:43:00.000-07:00

The Start of our Wonderful Family