Happy Memorial Day.

Every Memorial Day my parents drive to the cemetery where my Grandpa Loomis is buried to decorate his tombstone. He served as a bombardier in the Air Force during World War II. As I mentioned a few weeks ago with the passing of my other grandpa, I have always been so proud of my grandfathers and just wanted to say how much I appreciate their unselfish and brave service to our country. I hope you enjoyed your day off and value the freedoms we are so blessed to have.

Fondue Night '08

Last weekend we had our second installment of fondue night with our closest Colorado friends, Tim & Rachel, and PJ & Kersta (the first of course was Fondue Night '07). It was a great night of delicious food and silliness - i.e. Tim trying to kick the top of a door frame for no apparent reason. But it was also a bit sad as it was the last time all six of us would hang out together before Tim & Rachel move back to Dallas.

Unfortunately we have kind of gotten used to our friends moving away since we moved to Colorado...people move here for awhile because it's a fun place to be, but more often than not they end up moving back closer to family. It has really taught us to enjoy each day and to fully appreciate the friends that have blessed our lives. If you're reading this somewhere across the country from us, please know that we love you and wish we could see you more often. It's a good thing Al Gore invented the Internets so we can all stay updated on each other's lives by reading blogs.

Here is our amazing spread with more things you could possibly think of to dip in cheese. Later in the night we had more things than you could possibly think of to dip in chocolate.

Us, Tim & Rachel, PJ & Kersta.
One of many Tim's attempts to kick the top of the door frame. For those of you that don't know Tim - he is funny.

Grandpa Jazzbo, 1918-2008

My (Bryant's) grandpa passed away this past Sunday, and it seemed appropriate to offer this small tribute to him. He did many great things during his life - most notably from my perspective was the raising of my mom who is one of the greatest people I have ever met. My grandpa was a kind man and I have many great memories of our trips to Massachusetts to visit him and my grandma Ruby, who he was married to for 56 years. (My grandma passed many years ago when I was in middle school).

He bravely served our country as a Heavy Mortar Crewman in the 42nd Rainbow Division of the Army during World War II. He served in the Rhineland and Central European Theater including Normandy and was awarded the Bronze Star. He also participated in the liberation of the Dachau concentration camp which my mom discovered when we visited Dachau and she recognized his unit number on a plaque dedicated to the soldiers that liberated the camp. I have always been so proud of the military service of both of my grandpas.

One thing we shared in common was our love for the Red Sox. He was born the year the 'curse' started, and he lived long enough to see them win the World Series twice. When we talked our conversation would often end up about the Red Sox. I always got such a kick out of the fact that he would often listen to the games on the radio in the kitchen even though the game was on the tv in the living room.

If you want to read more about my grandpa you can do so here.

Grandpa Jazzbo was very loved by his family and will be missed.

Mario Kart

I haven't owned a video game system since I bought a Sega Genesis with my own money about 15 years ago. Since that time there has been one game that has always left me desiring a new video game system...and that game is Mario Kart. The Nintendo 64 version was the game of choice for myself and my buddies in college and I have many fond memories of people shocking da house, jumping walls and tracks (i.e. cheating), and everyone fighting over which track we were going to do next. I believe much of my great driving record is the result of the rigorous training that Mario Kart gave me in that I am prepared for anything I might encounter while driving: bananas on the road, getting struck by lighting and shrunk to a miniature size, or a giant boulder falling from the mountains (which actually happens occasionally in Colorado).

Up until this time I have withstood the urge to rejoin the world of video games as I am supposed to be an adult now and should not spend time on such childish things. Then, this past weekend I spent about 4 hours playing the new Mario Kart game for the Wii at our friends P.J. and Kersta's house. It is hands down the greatest video game ever made. It even comes with plastic steering wheels so it feels like you're driving.


All of this leads to the following question: should I use part of my economic stimulus check to stimulate the Japanese economy and purchase a Wii?

Pasadena

This past weekend Becky and I took a trip to Pasadena to visit our friends Noel and Heidi. Noel and I lived together at Hope and Becky and Heidi are cousins and life-long friends. It's a great thing when you marry into the same family as a friend as it enhances the enjoyment of many holiday parties. Anyway, after promising for three years to go out and visit them we finally did and had a great time.

The timing of the trip was good as we got out of there before the fire you have all likely heard about on the national news got too out of control. I believe Becky was the first to notice that "the mountain is on fire" when we were driving back from the beach. Our weekend consisted of a coffee shop gig with Noel and Stephan (another friend from Hope), a lot of mario kart, great food, a beautiful day at the beach and visits to the infamous In-N-Out and Trader Joe's.


Noel and I re-living the glory days of college. We're smiling because Noel just did a "shock da house" (mario kart term).

Myself, Stephan, and Noel rocking out to Chicago by Sufjan Stevens. We decided against wearing the sweater vests for this show.
At the beach.

A very intense game of Settlers of Catan.

Welcome.

So, we've decided to start a blog. I have finally become convinced that it is a great way to stay in touch and informed with what is going on in the lives of our friends and thought there might be a few people out there who would be interested in knowing what Becky and I are up to. I'm looking forward to giving this a try and I hope you enjoy reading.