Day Trip and job!

We met our friends the Robins in San Diego last Saturday. Amy and Whitney were out here for David's marine corp graduation. We took a trolley ride around San Diego, spent some time at the Hotel del Coronado and walked on the beach. I even purchased an oil painting from a street vendor in the old town.

I was offered a job at one of the Universities here and I accepted. I start work in a week. I am very excited to be working again AND to have a job at a University. My next step . . . Pick an area of study and go back to get a Masters.

Who's in charge anyway?

Here is a picture of Sofi, attacking my stuffed beagle. She discovered him while I was unpacking boxes and instantly claimed him for her own. I think she thinks he is a dog...and she is the leader of the pack. She loves attacking him, biting his nose and standing over him victoriously. She will also carry him with her from room to room. Despite all the responsibility, we couldn't imagine our family without this furry, friendly terror.

New Nephew

My sister-in-law Vicki gave birth to Alexander Neil Earl on Tuesday, Sept. 5. This is my first nephew on my side. I can't wait to see him in person at Christmas time. David, my oldest brother, was even able to help deliver little Alex. In this picture, Vicki, and her niece Katie, are holding the little guy who only weighed 6 lbs. 4 oz. at birth. I think he looks like Vicki.

Smemoe Vacation Chronicles

With all of the moving, we were never able to post pictures of our vacation. We enjoyed our time in Ohio, visiting my Uncle Jack and Aunt Gwen. Uncle Jack and Aunt Gwen were very good hosts and took us to see all of the sites. We of course had icecream at Toft's (Best ice cream in North America), visited the Carousel museum to see all of the work my uncle has done restoring the carousel horses and went to ride the coasters at Sandusky. My uncle was brave enough to go on all the coasters with Lance. ( I was chicken.) We were also able to meet my cousin Kris' kids. . . and had lots of fun swimming with them.

Amish Country

Visiting Amish country and my relatives in Ohio and West Virginia was my second favorite vacation of all time (after last year's trip to Finland, of course). I loved visiting Yoder's Amish home, sampling at least 1000 cheeses at one of the many cheese factories and eating Amish Dutch cookin' at the Der Dutchman. More importantly, I loved the simplicity and the beauty of the area. The sunset at the bed and breakfast was breathtaking!

WV Music Time

We loved spending time in David and Vicki's new home and eating David's delicious home cooking. My "friend", three year old Katie, came over to play with me. David was trying to teach me how to play the ukulele in this picture, while Katie hammed it up.

We also spent time at Blennerhasset Island on the Ohio River, went to the Marietta farmer's market and had a shrimp boil.

At the pool everyday

Yes, my dear friends and family in colder climates, we have been to the pool every day this week. We won't need to join a gym until maybe December, when it will be a little too chilly to swim. It sure is nice to have a 24 hour pool right across the road! We are happy to report we will receive the last shipment of our stuff tomorrow. Then we can finally unpack our living room and office. Lance starts work next week so we are trying to do some fun exploring before he starts. Sofi is still really young so we can't leave her for long. Here is a recent pic of our "baby." Isn't she sweet? We are still working on the housetraining.