These guys crack me up! My nephew and his BFF are always posing for pictures with my sister-in-law. After Step Brothers came out, they started posing like the movie poster. They dont seem to care where they are when they strike the pose either--while the football coach is talking to the their team, out in public, everywhere! Thanks for giving me a laugh guys! Oh, and you might also notice their dads in there too.
My man Bryce has been taking Karate and recently got a trophy in a tournament! Is he the next Jackie Chan?? We'll see! Way to go B! He is multi-talented--he is on the school basketball team too. You are so money!
Historic times! In the wake of 9/11, mortgage and financial crisis and overall low self-esteem as a country, I think we are ready for a president who can pull us together and energize this country to accomplish things that even we didnt think were possible. Even if you didnt vote for him, if you listened to his acceptance speech, you had to come away from it with a little warm fuzzy feeling...didnt you?? Barack, you ROCK! I hope you can maintain the momentum. 
Welcome to the 40s Beth!!
I added this picture just so you could get a different perspective.
Here are just a few items I noted about Norway:
- there are NO Starbucks in Norway! (Stephanie you better avoid this country!)
- Whoppers are $15 (yes, that wasnt a misprint!...just for the Whopper!)
- they dont put ice in anything (you can kiss your iced mochas good-bye and dont expect any ice in you McDonalds fountain drink!)
- they have something called Hotdog sauce. While I did have a hotdog, I wasnt brave enough to try the sauce!
- everything closes down on Sunday.
Stay tuned for more later!
The Chris O “roast”.
Laughing my head off on the Waverunner with Christian.
Everyone hiding food from me at the beach park (you know who you are!).
The "hike that never ends to the infinite place where the wildflowers end" (Tom!). 
Chris returning to the scene of his bike accident for a spot-on reenactment (minus the bike). 
Donna’s priceless photo tips (heads up everyone!).
Steven (or is it Stephen? hmmm.), thanks for sleeping in the tent so I could have your bed and escape the snoring! And for entertaining us with all of your "shenanigans".
Ann’s accidental (??) fruit salad spill.
It may not seem like any big deal but I have to admit that I felt a little validated when Matt said he was winded from walking up the hill (uh, hello, I didn’t think college kids got winded)!
Mauraut’s(how do you spell his name??) light vacation reading material—what was it? Nuclear physics or something??
Delaney two timing her boyfriend with Smokey. 
Aileen, are you the only one who didnt do anything we could ridcule?? :)
Thanks Carrolls for a G-R-E-A-T weekend! Love your family! You are the hosts with the most!
Christian, thanks for chauffering me around!
It may be titled Iron Man but it is anything but heavy! My sister convinced me to go see Iron Man this weekend against my will. I prefered to see Maid of Honor (okay, so I just wanted something with a happy ending! Is that so wrong!?). Anyway, We picked up our nephew and went to see the movie. My expectations were low. It swept us up right from the first minute and stayed funny, witty and completely entertaining throughout. I LOVED IT! Now, I dont normally even like the super hero movies but this one was Super good! Robert Downey Jr is great and looking good after some not so good years. I give it a big thumbs up!
This isnt so much of a recipe as an endorsement. I didnt even know what Arrabiata meant--still dont-- but I picked up this pasta sauce anyway. I was pleasantly surprised. Tastes like spaghetti sauce but has a little more heat to it. Now, I cant take much spice so this is mild enough for me to eat (just in case you were wondering about where it stands on the spicy chart).
It's little Lexi Lu's birthday on Saturday--are you 8 already?? This is one of my favorite pictures of her because it shows her rambunctious character (even though she was only mugging for the camera). The attitude loses a little something when they're holding a sippy cup!
As if its not hard enough to go into work every day, this is what I come into every morning! I am trying to do Weight Watchers right now but how much will power do you think I have!! So far I havent broken down but that pie in the bottom left corner is sitting right on my desk! Yes it is! And, Ive got Girl Scout cookies coming! It's a cruel, cruel world.
Last weekend my college roommates were in town and we decided to go to the coast. (Well, two of them were in town! Another got the flu and couldnt make it and the other couldnt make it here from Hawaii). Mini Girls Trip! 
We went to Costanoa, north of Half Moon Bay. A beautiful resort if you ever want a quick getaway. They have a lodge, tent cabins and even an area for RV'ers. And the freakiest thing was...there was NO fog all weekend! Seriously! That never happens on the coast! Could we have asked for a better weekend??! We lounged around, drank wine and even took a hike. Seems the hiking trail that goes by the beach was a little soggy and we had to go "off-trail" in a few places to find where the trail picked up again. In one instance there was a HUGE elephant seal (?) in our path and we've watched enough Nature Channel shows to know that you dont mess with those guys! You should hve seen us trying to figure out if it was safe to sneak by him! (FYI-He was much bigger than he appears in this photo!!)
PUNXSUTAWNEY, Pa. - Brace yourself for more wintry weather. Punxsutawney Phil saw his shadow Saturday, leading the groundhog to forecast six more weeks of winter.
Will Punxsutawney Phil see his shadow tomorrow? Will we have a short winter? Time will tell! Who is going to get up early enough to give us a live report????
Does Hollywood not have any creativity left anymore? This is the description for the soon to be released "StepUp 2 Streets".
Thanks to this tanker that crashed on 101, the freeway was closed both directions between my work and home! And ...because everyone on the freeway had to reroute through the side streets... I was stranded at work until 8pm because the streets were totally at a stand still. Cant people learn to drive in the rain??? I couldnt get to the pharmacy to pick up my migraine meds and I am out so I am living on borrowed time right now! Can you relate SR?
The primary elections are coming up soon! If you are like me it is super hard to pull all the information together about the candidates and compare. Here is a site that breaks it down for you and is pretty easy to understand. Good Luck!
In the wake of the writers strike you might be looking for some new programming to keep you entertained while your favorite shows are on hold. There is a show that is only broadcast on the internet and you can watch streaming shows on your computer. It is about a bunch of twenty-somethings trying to make it in the real world (kinda like a Realty Bites). Check out Quarterlife at http://www.quarterlife.com/ . You might just get hooked!
Happy birthday wishes go out to my "son" Wolfie. You are a real teenager now. Hope you had a great day and a fantastic year ahead! I think it is going to be a "magnum" kind of year!
I went to help them set up on Sunday for a six-course dinner for 23 people. Chris was getting his duck appetizer prepared in advance. All was well. 
Then Monday the shit hit the fan! Christian (the chef) seemed to be coming down with THE FLU! Six hours to go and there was part of an appetizer completed--period! Only the soup, pasta, potato and tomato side dishes, salad and cheese course, dessert, and the main dish to go!! Aaaggghhhh! We needed some help--STAT! Ann and I decided we should start cooking while Claire and Delanie finished decorating the dining room. When we started on the Oyster bisque we ran into a little issue. (Let me just say that I was the last person you would want in the kitchen when the chef gets sick! I dont cook!) -- the jars of oysters were BAD! At least that is what we assertained after making calls to the manufacturer on the East Coast, the Fish department guy at the supermarket and a couple of moms (thanks Pattie and Ardeth) with seafood experience! Not wanting to give all of the guests a case of botulism Ann decided to change it to Crab bisque instead. One more disaster diverted!
Well, despite all of the issues, things went off really well! Christian had everything written down and came down on occasion to provide some support. Ann's brother Chris was a lifesaver and cooked the Tri-tip entree and got all the wines prepped! Eileen (above) and Delaney, Claire and Donna all chipped in and did whatever needed to be done. And Ann was great at directing the whole show! I have to admit, despite all of the issues, it was actually fun to be part of the cooking!
Props to Claire, Delaney and Eileen for doing a great job with all of the preparation and serving! You guys were awesome! 
With all of the issues we started with, it was a good thing we had a doctor and nurse on hand (or is that a See's Candy sales girl???:)
Nice job pulling it off Ann! I have such a new appreciation for what Christian (and you) does each year. I may have gained a little more confidence in the kitchen too!
