And then he was 5

Miracously, we have survived another Birthday Party. No easy task, mind you, when you have 15 two to five year olds winging bowling balls around, but all is well. We had a great time Saturday and nobody got a bowling ball upside the head, which was surprising. Brendan got a ton of more presents, which after Christmas has kind of gotten to ridiculous proportions, but when you are the only kid, you will make out quite well. We have posted a number of pictures here showing him on Saturday. Some bowling, some with the kids, one waiting on Mommy to hurry up and cut the cake and the requisite one of our little bugger golden who has discovered she kind of likes the couch now. Thanks to everybody in the family that sent birthday presents to Brendan, he has already been out spending some of his Birthday money, but between the Grandparents and great Aunts he has got quite a bit to go. As usual, we sent Linda home exhausted (Shireen is just merciless on projects for her Mom, I actually feel sorry for her), but the grandkid is to good a bargaining chip. You all take care and good luck staying warm to all of you up north, we are not jealous.

Let it snow, let it snow, let it snow again?

Twice in one week? This keeps up, I might have to keep moving South. Mid last week, our second winter blast hit again (for some of you, it might look more like spring), but for us, that was two snows to many. Brendan however, has come to love these unexpected excursions. He never knew what a blast sledding, making snowmen and snowball fights could be and it may be years before he gets the chance again. So we thought we should him enjoying what our Northern brethern take for granted since it may be some time before we show again (65 today) and a new updated picture of Jamie. We will be posting a Birthday post tomorrow which went surprisingly well this weekend.

What a Great Group

While in almost frozen mode with more snow today and a low of 17 or so tonight, I had the yearning to happily remember a week or so ago with my compadres in the warmth of Orlando (low 80's most days) at our annual sales meeting. I work with just the greatest bunch of people. The amount of sarcastic, good natured ribbing that goes on during these meetings is just incredible. It's sort of like being around your best friends even though we only get together a few days out of the year in January and March. We have an incredible boss in Lisa, (one in glasses seated on couch) and her boss Stu, (skinny guy sitting on floor in front of picture). The rest of the reps from all over the country are just some of the greatest people I have ever known, and we terribly missed Mr. Jackson (although understandable when Durango is getting 3 ft. of snow). Luckily, they put my bald head in the background to keep the flash from blinding the camera, although Dan standing next to me is trying to join me. I just wanted to give everybody a visual of my fellow co-workers. When you work out of your office and most days are spent on the road, it is somewhat unbelievable to work with such great people and to have made such great friendships and I cannot believe how lucky I have been to have had this job. So here's to a great bunch of people and can't wait to see them again in San Antonio next month.

Like a Bad Acid Flashback

Not that I would know of course what one is, but with the arrival of snow this week, I had to make sure I hadn't time jumped back 25 years to Indiana. This would be our first snow in 4 years here in Atlanta and a whole brand new concept to Brendan. Unfortunately, not so new to Mom and Dad who were tortured continously the first twenty plus years of their lives, with more stops to come in Denver, Kansas City and even the occasional Nashville snow. We thought we had escaped it now, but alas, no such luck. At least however it was gone in a day, but now we are supposed to get another 2 inches or so tomorrow. For some reason, haven't seen a whole lot of global warming stories in the paper. So anyways, here is some pictures to prove that we can occasionally bond with our northern brethren and kin, although 2 days of snow is exceeding our limit and we are ready for the 70's again, which to us is still a little chilly. Good luck all you Northerners with the wind chills this weekend, we are not jealous.

Worth the Wait

As of this morning, we finally found the dog we were meant to have. While it took us a few weeks, it was worth the wait. Please meet Jamie, our newest golden retriever, in what is becoming a long line of retrievers in the Rice household. We picked her up at her Foster Parent's today and she is just a sweetie. She is a pure bred Golden, who, along with her brother was dropped off at a shelter. Brendan is already playing with her and she has already taken ownership of all of Ollie's toys. It's been about 15 years since we have had a puppy in the house, and we have already had about 3 accidents, so it will take a while to get used to again. Grandpa and Grandma ought to have a whole lot of fun this weekend and Grandma Lynn also in a few weeks over Brendan's Birthday. We will post more pictures as she gets older, but we wanted to let everybody know.