Dr. Reid!!!

Last Friday Reid defended his dissertation in particle physics at Johns Hopkins. We were honored to have the newly minted Dr. Reid stay with us for a few days - and not just because he came bearing pictures of the cute Magnus baby! Reid's expertise runs from Lambda-B lifetimes (the world's best measurement, explains his advisor, Petar) to The Milkshake, a field-tested pre-burping ritual (see photos). Jason got to see Reid steer through an hour and a half tour of the world's most amazing science and celebrate with his colleagues over Yoo-Hoo and champagne toasts. Reid, we so admire your determination of mind and body to succeed through eight years of study and work. Congratulations to our amazing brother, and to Jenni and Magnus!

Pop quiz with Peter

Julia's bottle-training with dad pays off!

Playing and resting at home

Camp Mumford

Richard (14) and Patrick (12) Merkle came to stay with us two weekends ago while their parents were away visiting Bill at the Air Force Academy. We started off Camp Mumford with a kitchen dishes challenge course at the Merkle home, which the boys passed with flying colors, and then we headed to the Natural History Museum to see the Hope Diamond. I found the boys wandering in the Ice Age looking for a wooly mammoth (missing). We discovered that Richard is a pro stroller maneuverer and we're finalizing a signing bonus for his pro tour with Julia. Jason took the boys grocery shopping and they came home with an heirloom tomato the size of Patrick's head. We made pizzas, discussed Roman history (Patrick is reading about Hannibal's campaigns) and Greek mythology, and played Maask late into the night. After church on Sunday we played UBI with our good friend Gary Burgess, who finally decided to come home after a magnificent tour of Europe and the Middle East with Jason Durtschi. When one of the UBI questions prompted Gary and Jason to break out into a Lawrence Welk rendition of an old-time song, we knew it was time for Sunday naps! RIchard and Patrick made fantastic sculptures for Julia's art collection while Jason and Julia and I rested. After a walk in the park, during which the mosquitos made off with much of Richard's blood supply, we said goodbye to the Merkle boys. It was a super fun weekend!

Julia meets Julia

One of our highlights this past week was a trip to Philly (Julia's first outing beyond DC) to see Julia Kirby, who was visiting from Yemen/Bahrain for a few days. Little Julia absolutely loved to be held by Big Julia - she was content to play and sleep on Julia's lap for hours. Julia K is headed back to Bahrain through the end of the year, after which she'll most likely be moving back to the East Coast. We're voting for a DC landing! It was so fun to see Julia, her mom Susan, and boyfriend Justin. We love you and miss you!

Back online

Apologies to those who have checked this blog over the past two weeks. I had technological problems posting pictures and without Marshall nearby, was totally stymied. With only a few minutes of spare time each day, e-problems are not a popular way to spend my time. However, technology aside, we've been having such a wonderful time with Julia! She is learning how to smile more, she's lifting up her head constantly (makes for some wild rides when we're carrying her around the house), and she has some fun new syllables like "ngaa." I'll keep posting pictures today as long as I have time...Julia is taking a rare afternoon nap WITHOUT being on the move (usually requires the sling or the stroller).