Year of the Boar

Ster made some delicious sweet and sour pork to celebrate the Chinese New Year. In addition to this we had egg rolls and homemade fortune cookies. We took time to write fortunes for the other person which was pretty funny. It was a nice way to roll in the year of the boar.

Elephant Seals and Yogurt at Bali's

We went up to Piedras Blancas and watched the elephant seals. There were many males that were sparring and trying to get the females attention. That night we all went to get frozen yogurt at our favorite place in SLO - Bali's.

It's good (and cold!) to be in DC!

Last weekend, Helen, Dan and Jeannie joined Erin for a few days to explore Erin's new surroundings. The weather was sunny, windy, but cold. We enjoyed a delicious dinner at one of our family's favorite restaurants in Annapolis - Cantler's Riverside Inn. Steaming bowls of clam chowder really hit the spot on that chilly evening. Annapolis is a very quaint, picturesque town. The Naval Historical Museum, where Erin has her internship, has many interesting, hands-on exhibits. It seems like we only saw a small portion of the museum, so it will be nice to see more when we are there in March. The museum is free and even has a destroyer in dry dock that you can visit and walk through. We spent Sunday in Baltimore and thoroughly enjoyed our visit to Fort McHenry. It was a bit of a challenge to find the national monument, but very worthwhile learning how our national anthem came to be written after the Battle of Baltimore. It was good to be in DC and the surrounding area!

Trip to Hearst Castle

This past weekend, Evan and I met Lisa and Allen up at the beach house in Morro Bay. We decided to visit Hearst Castle. The Neptune pool was drained (first time since 1995) due to repairs. The pool was losing close to 5000 gallons of water a day due to cracks in the concrete under the tiles. Coincidentally the guide that gave us our tour of the castle was a high school friend of Dan Crump.

Just Another Day in DC

Last weekend, Erin and her roommates went down to the mall to watch what was happening at the anti-war rally. Erin said the whole mall was very crowded with demonstrators, from the capitol building to the Jefferson Memorial. It was quite a sight to see so many people gathered at one location, she said. It's great that we have the freedom in this country to hold a rally like this. And it's great to be in DC to experience a whole new political climate!

Saving Up Your Poison

This is really cool. There is a snake in Japan that feasts on poisonous toads and actually sequesters the poison for itself. It stores it in its nuchal glads (over the back of the neck). When the snake is threatened it will express this glad. When the attacker breaks open this glad the poison is sprayed possibly blinding the attacker. Just awesome. Have a read.

Danny with Storm Trooper

One Card to Rule Them All...

I can't remember if I already posted something about this or not, but even if I have it was not automated like it is now. We all belong (against our will) to different "clubs" at grocery stores so that we can get their "club" prices. This annoys me to no end since I have to carry cards around with me. I know that I could just keep the card in the glove box in the car, but what if I am driving the other car or I forget to bring it into the store? Enter JUST ONE CLUB CARD. This website helps you put the barcode for 8 stores on a single card so that you can carry it in your wallet. How awesome is that?
So when you go to the store just whip out this hybrid card and let the store scan it and you are good to go. I was so excited to see something like this. Go ahead and trim that wallet down a bit. Click here.

Three weeks after having arrived in Washington DC, Erin is starting to settle into a routine with work and living on the east coast. She has learned how to navigate the Metro system quite well since this is how she commutes to the Navy Historical Museum. Yesterday, Erin led a tour of elementary school children through the museum and did a hands-on project about submarines with them. She is learning quite a bit about the Navy and how museums operate. The pictures are of the Navy Historical Museum and also the University of California DC Center on Rhode Island Ave. This is where the UC/DC students live in apartments and attend classes in the evenings in their community rooms. Professors from the UC/DC program also reside here. The first snow arrived last weekend and Erin and her roommates thought is was really cool!

Up on the housetop, ursine paws. . .

This afternoon one of the baby bears was in our backyard. He walked away from the trash cans and went across the street to Larry and Susan's house. Next thing we knew, he was up on their rooftop wandering around. Fortunately, no one was home at that time.

East Coast

Bad weather couldn't dampen our spirits or attempts to get into as many Broadway shows as possible this past weekend. Over a three day period I was able to see Les Miserables, Hairspray, and Spelling Bee. Each show I had the privelege of seeing the show with different friends and family (Les Miserables with the Natalie Quinn and her family, Hairspray with Jeannie and Jon and Leah Reeves, and Spelling Bee with Jeannie and Taryn). After our brief stint in New York, Jeannie, Erin and I headed to Connecticut to check out the Coast Guard Academy, Paul's Pasta, and Jeannie's sponsor family. Our last day was spent in New Canaan attending Natalie's farewell before she heads off to Japan for her mission. Although the weather wasn't ideal, it definitely didn't dampen our spirits. We now feel that we are professionals at working Broadway deals, so get in touch with us if you are ever in town. Special thanks and shout outs to Michael and Delores, Jon and Leah, Ben and Taryn, and the Quinn Family.

Ms. Crump Goes To Washington

Erin Crump arrived in Washington DC on Jan. 3 for a 3 months internship with the University of California Center (known as UC/DC). There are 230 students from the 8 UC campuses who are working at various internships throughout the area. In addition, they are taking classes associated with the Washington DC area and the Federal Government. Erin chose an internship at the Naval Historical Museum located at the Washington Navy Yard. The UC students reside in apartments at the UC/DC Center on Rhode Island Ave. Erin and her roommates were out sightseeing in the city last week and bumped into two well-known members of the Democratic Party. Erin is enjoying the challenges of finding her way around the city on the Metro and living in an east coast city. Stay tune for more adventures of Erin in Washington DC. She says, "It is great to be in DC!"

Family Christmas Picture

Here is the family Christmas picture right after Christmas dinner at our house. . .it was great to have everyone here, except for Ster (and we will look forward to seeing her in March in D.C.)

Ice Storm in Switzerland

I am not sure if I posted this before or not, but this is just amazing. The link is to a series of pictures of an ice storm that happened in Switzerland last winter I think. I just can't image what I would do if I woke up one morning and saw this. Check it out here.

Anybody for a swim?

Today, as Alana and I were looking out in the backyard, we saw something swimming in our pool. . .yes, it was one of the baby bears. He must have climbed the 6-foot wrought iron fence and decided he was hot. After going for a swim, he walked to the side yard and picked some oranges and had lunch and a nap. The cats cleared out pretty fast when they saw the big brown "kitty".

It's a Girl!!!

We woke up early this morning to get ready to go to the clinic for Megster's ultrasound. She had to drink 32 oz. of fluids so would have a full bladder. The ultrasound showed that everything was on track and going fine. There was no hesitation in calling the baby a girl by our ultrasonographer so we think we can cross all the boy names off the list now. Based on her development they said her due date might be closer to the 21st of May, but since this due date was not more then a 10 day difference from the original due date (May 27th) then it will remain unchanged on the paperwork. Below are descriptions of the pictures. If you want to get a better view of the pics you can click on them to enlarge.

1. This picture shows that she is a girl. There are 3 white lines where the arrow is pointing and those are the labia. This shot is taken as if you are standing under her while she is sitting in a chair. The structures next to the labia are the femur bones of each leg. There is a question mark after the word "girl" since the ultrasonographer never likes to say for sure one way or the other because people might get upset.

2. This shot shows the bottoms of her feet. This was my favorite shot. During the ultrasound you could see the toes wiggling. Just amazing!

3. This is a shot of the face and part of the body. The head is on the left side of the picture sort of pointing to the word "face." The the right and the left of the face are the hands and the thorax and abdomen are below.

Rose Parade Pictures

Here are three photos from the Rose Parade. In the first one, Evan, Alana, Erin, Naomi (our friend staying with us from Switzerland) and Grammie are pictured with the current Miss America from Oklahoma, Jennifer Berry. She was very pleasant and we enjoyed talking with her. In the next picture, Naomi (a wedding dress designer) is shown with the swans that she decorated with coconut for the Santa Fe Springs Float (yes, they did win a prize). Finally, Margaret is pictured with the governor of Oklahoma, Brad Henry. It was a great parade. Stay tuned for more pictures.

Christmas Activities in Sunny California

We went to the historic Mission Inn in Riverside and had a wonderful dinner. We dined among the beautiful Christmas lighting displays.

Jetpack Man

I was not able to see the live broadcast of the 2007 Rose Parade so I missed to the real life Rocketeer that was flying around. Fortunately for me there is Youtube and somebody already posted a clip of it. Who needs NBC?

Rise and Shout...

Alana and I had the opportunity to attend the Las Vegas Bowl while returning from Utah for the holidays. The Cougars didn't disappoint demolishing the Oregon Ducks 38 - 8. Along for the ride was Naomi Nardotto, a friend from Switzerland. She enjoyed her first collegiate football game and loved seeing all of the fans dressed up in their Cougar blue and Duck yellow and green. It was a great time with some great friends and capped off my undergraduate football experience in perfect fashion.