Back to the Beginning

Saturday we spent the afternoon at Summerlin Hospital's annual NICU reunion. Not very interesting for the average reader, but for us it was great to see the friends, doctors, and nurses that were our family for 11 weeks and 1 day. It was the first time that we were truly happy to be in that building. And Ryan is happy to report that Adam is the chubbiest of his other preemie friends :)

On to a Better Place

Sam entered our lives in December of '02--before our little family was even established. He's alive and well, but we decided that being cooped up in our stinky small acquarium was not the life for our first pet. So we boxed him up and drove him to a nice little park full of other red ear slider turtles. We were sad at first to give him up, but after the many scratches inflicted and other unmentionable acts on the drive there, we were almost happy to see him race to the water and immediately dive in. Within seconds there were not 1, but 3 turtles that emerged out of the water we think to welcome him there. Good-bye Sam. We will miss you. But we won't miss cleaning up after you!

Double Digits

That's right...the kids are 10 months old! They have a very funny aunt who gave them these shirts. Adam's says "First Born" and Rachel's says "Runner Up". Just one of the perks to having twins. Although I may be biased, but Rach is no runner up in these pictures!

She Changed My Life

Kelly and Morgan Kitchen came to stay with us this weekend! If you have not had the pleasure of knowing one of the Kitchen sisters, well then I'm very sorry.
They came to see Vegas, but I have to stay that I think they taught us a thing or two. These are the kind of girls who can make even breakfast cereal seem like fillet mignon.
And McDonald's a 5 star affair.

We were introduced to this Argentine drink--don't even ask.

And while we did see many of the sites:I think the most fun was middle of the night Easter treats:I could have posted quite a few more pics of these festivities but now in the light of day they appear a bit more embarrassing than while they were happening in the wee hours of the morning.

And of course, these guys were there too...

Thanks for such a great weekend Kelly and Morgan! And don't forget our deal!

Easter Debut

We thought it would be a good day to go to church-so we did. All four of us. For all 3 hours. Everyone was happy. Happy Easter!

Proud to be an American

US Navy rescues American sea captain and kills three pirates

The American sea captain held hostage by Somali pirates for four days was freed unharmed on Sunday after a daring rescue operation by the US Navy.

Capt. Richard Phillips, right, standing alongside Cmdr.Castellano of the USS Bainbridge after being rescued by U.S. Naval Forces off the coast of Somalia

There are moments when I'm simply proud to be an American. And politically correct or not, this was one of them. This ship captain, by all accounts a courageous guy, who offered himself as a hostage so the pirates would leave his ship and crew, spent 4 days at gunpoint aboard a lifeboat. Piracy has been a problem in this part of the world for years. But this was the first American Flagship to be captured since the 1800's. The terrorist captors demanded $2 Million in ransom for the American Captain. Instead the pirates each received a bullet to the head, courtesy of Navy Seal snipers.

I love that there was no negotiation with terrorists. I love that there won't be a court date. I love that America will send an entire navy to rescue one citizen. I love how that captain sent his crew to safety, trusting his country to rescue him. I love the military leader with the guts to give the green light. I love the Seals who each took one shot, at night, from one rocking boat to another. I love how the captain must've felt when his gun-wielding captors simulataneously collapsed dead all around him.

Now, you're likely to hear a wave of discouraging news about how this act of violence could somehow escalate the situation, and may endanger more lives in the future. And there may be some truth to that. But the bottom line is pirates will think twice before they ever go near an American ship again. And some things are just black and white. At the end of the day, good is good, and bad is bad. Today the good guys won. And the bad guys were killed. And I for one, couldn't be happier.

Just In Time

We got over all of our illness just in time for:

• Gma Jean!
  • New Highchairs!
  
  
  • New Teeth! (Rachel's 1st and Adam's Third-He doesn't let her do anything alone)
  • New Camera Cords that give us pictures again!

  We've had a great week. Thanks for the well wishes everyone...they worked!