Go Hogs Go!

At the Arkansas vs. Texas A&M game at Cowboys Stadium - Video tried to capture the essence of the stadium and the enormous screen - whole stadium experience was awesome and we won! Go Hogs!!

Waylon showing his spirit - still working on his trick to Call the Hogs...hard to stand up on those short little back legs to get in a good Wooooo...

Arkansas Trip

Took a trip to Arkansas to see college friends and family...it was great to see everyone again and see all their kiddos...also, great to go to a Razorback tailgate in Little Rock - GO HOGS!

Lori, Marilyn and I at the tailgate

Sarah, Amelia and I - for more pictures of cutie-pie, Amelia, look at Sarah's blog in the links (The Currys)

She flies through the air

though not with the greatest of ease...it was definitely fun, but I have never been more sore in my life...there's a video on Facebook, but I can't figure out how to dowload it so here's a few "action" shots

Rwanda

I traveled to Rwanda from July 8th - 23rd for work. It was definitely an interesting experience. The country suffered from the horrible genocide in 1994, but had made remarkable progress. It is one of the cleanest and safest countries that I have visited. To keep it clean, they have outlawed plastic bags! Here's a few pictures from the trip.

I wasn't able to get too many pictures of the countryside since we were usually zipping by in a car...but here's one in Kigali...it really is the land of 1000 hills and there is always a great view with rolling hills for miles...

Baskets, baskets everywhere...even on the national seal and money...these were actually being prepared for export to the US to be sold at Macy's

Paul, Mark and Patrick enjoying a glass of warm milk at the local milk bar...I declined to try to the warm milk...makes me queasy just thinking about it...yuck...

The country's main exports are tea and coffee and here's a tea field

An exmple of the houses in the rural areas made of adobe bricks

Here is the hotel from the movie, Hotel Rwanda: http://www.unitedartists.com/hotelrwanda/intro.html

This building is across the street from the hotel and I forget the significance, but you can see the bullet holes from the fighting during the genocide

They have constructed many genocide memorials throughout the country to remember the atrocities and to remind people so that it will not happen again. There is a main museum and memorial visit in Kigali that includes the history and documents the genocide that killed 800,000 - 1,000,000 people in Rwanda.

This is from the Murambi Memorial Site: "A school where 27,000 people were killed. A stark, shocking monument, hundreds of corpses are temporarily preserved and currently displayed in the school."

A smaller memorial at the National University of Rwanda

We went to Rwanda to evaluate the feasibility of procuring food from smallholder farmers for school feeding programs. Currently, the main school feeding programs in Rwanda are through the World Food Program with commodities from the US through the McGovern-Dole Food for Education program so all that to explain...we visited schools and here are several of the secondary school students greeting us with a traditional dance...

Preschool students enjoying their mid-morning snack

Secondary-school students enjoying their lunch - this program was actually funded by the parents of the students

The main method of transportation of goods is bicycle and your head so here's a few scenes from the highway...surprisingly, they had pretty good roads in Rwanda, well, at least the main roads...

Fabrics in the market

Curious kids in a local market

Vendors in a market near Kigali

Some doanted US commodities "not to be sold or exchanged" found for sale in the market...

Bananas - they grow a lot of bananas - here's just a few on their way to be sold in the market....

Happy Birthday Waylon

Waylon turned 2 on July 15th - folks have told us that they lose some of their puppy energy once they turn 2, but we haven't noticed any slowing down ;) - happy birthday little buddy!

June Highlights

So, I'm pretty behind on an update so here's a few from June including my 30th birthday:

Bekah, Shawna and I at Argonaut.

I have always wanted stained glass numbers for out house to go in the transom above our door. I have hinted and hinted for years about this gift and I finally got it (sort of). Spanky didn't want to pick it our for me so he arranged glass beer bottles in the front year to say our street number "403" and then "Happy 30 Erin" with a smiley face at the bottom. I had taken my parents to their hotel so I came back and found it in the yard. He did a good job and I finally get my stained glass! above picture is Chandler and I are posing with the masterpiece along with my balloon and wine from him - below picture is Spanky with his work of art

Mom put a pink flamingo in our yard so everyone would know that it's my birthday - she's says that it's a tradition in Texas, but I don't remember one from my first 18 birthdays in Texas...she also bought me a tiara and feather boa to wear at the restaurant and she decorated the restaurant...she has those photos and we'll see if they get released

It has rained and rained and rained and rained here - not just sprinkles, but down pour almost every day - we do not get these type of weather in DC and while, it's been nice for the plants, it really sucks

Tomatoes!! So, I had a miserably failed attempt to grow tomatoes in 2007 so I am trying again. I have to put the plant on the patio table so that it will get enough sun. This is when I first saw the two tomatoes - they had been growing great and one was even turning red until I looked outside this morning and saw that one had been taken by those bastard squirrels - Spanky offered to take care of that problem if I'd just get him a pellet gun - I am seriously considering after they took my prize tomato - they better not take the other one or it's on...

Pretty roses in our neighbor's yard with a view towards our house - just liked the prettiness

Austria

Here's the second part of the trip to Europe - Austria! We were so lucky to have wonderful friends, Miguel and Gaby, in Vienna that hosted us and were excellent tour guides. We also spent some time in Salzburg. Highlights include the Sound of Music Bike tour (my favorite movie), cheese sausage, lots of misprounced German, ribs, palaces, cathedrals and cheese sausage (as you can see by the four photos devoted to this scrumptious pork delight).


Dinner at Grunspan Beer Garden

Schonbrunn Palace

Schonbrunn Palace - notice the beer in Spanky's hand - you could drink everywhere in Austria (yea, Spanky was pretty darn excited)

Shopping Street in Vienna

St. Stephen's Cathedral - they had some pretty awesome crypts below that we toured but no photos allowed :(

So, we got to attend Europe's premiere AIDS Ball - Life Ball (sort of) - it took place right by Gaby and Miguel's house so we wandered over to observe the spectacle when they opened the gates and let in all the poor by-standers - we got to see Bill Clinton, Eva Longoria, Pam Anderson, and performances by Katy Perry - it was pretty crazy - they didn't let us in the actual ball though :(

Spanky finished off two racks of ribs - they were huge (see below for the before picture)

Spanky in action

Before the ribs were devoured - I couldn't even finish off one, but lucky for me, Spanky finished his two racks and the rest of one of mine

Stopped by the Opera Toilet after the beers consumed during sightseeing - I didn't go into the bathroom, but apparently its just a normal toilet - not as elaborate as the entrance with the music

Cheese Sausage - Spanky couldn't even wait until I took the picture

Cheese Sausage without the bun

The first of many cheese sausages in Vienna - they were a little hot - see Spanky and Miguel's expressions in the next two photos

Yep, Miguel, it's hot

Spanky enjoying a beer at a little cafe in Salzburg

View of Salzburg from the fortress

Fortress above Salzburg

Beautiful mountains surrounding Salzburg

We took a Sound of Music bike tour - it was awesome (well, I loved it) - can you identify the places from the movie in the next photos?

I am sixteen going on seventeen...

Front of the Von Trapp family house

Back of the house with the lake where the kids fell in while wearing their play clothes (ie old drapes)

Door to the monastery

Our hotel in Salzburg