Happy New Year!

We just wanted to take a moment and wish all of our family and friends a blessed and joyous new year in 2009. We've been blessed with so many happy memories from 2008 and look forward to sharing many more with you in 2009. We hope everyone had a peaceful and enjoyable Christmas and we look forward to talking to all of you soon and trying to visit with as many of you as we possibly can in the year to come.

Love,
Michael and Megan

Arizona

And now for a long overdue entry on the rest of our little trip out west. After a few days in the Los Angeles area we drove over to Arizona. Our first stop included a visit with friends Diana and Jason (as well as their cute little daughter Grace). All of us made the drive up to beautiful Sedona for a relaxing day, neither of us had ever been there before and we just found the red rocks just gorgeous.

The next day, Megan and I headed further north to the Grand Canyon. It was my first trip tot he canyon and I was beyond excited. Even with all the build-up in my head, I was still blown away by the enormity and beauty of it. It was definitely a highlight for me!

We spent our last few days in Phoenix with good friends Amy and Ed and their adorable twins, Moses and Lancey. We had such a nice time getting to spend time and see all our friends in Arizona. As an added bonus, we also got to have lunch with Megan's Uncle John, which included a VIP tour of the Arizona Biltmore, McCain's election day HQ, the day before the election. The trip couldn't have been more perfectly planned.

p.s. For anyone out there who is kind enough to check on this blog periodically, we apologize for the lack of posts as of late and promise to do a better job in 2009 :)

The L.A. Tour!

During our recent trip out west, Megan gave Michael the grand tour of L.A. With this being Michael's first real trip to Los Angeles there was lots to see and Megan made sure to pack each day full of activities. The trip was so much fun and included so many wonderful things that its impossible to capture them all in one blog entry so here's just a few of the many highlights.

We started out in Cardiff, having spent the night with our friends Janet and Jeremy and drove up into L.A. stopping first at Laguna Beach.

From there, we moved further north into L.A., including a visit to Hollywood!



We also had a wonderful dinner at Universal Citywalk with some of Megan's friends (back from when she used to work at Unum). Michael really enjoyed finally getting to meet and spend time with everyone, after having heard so many wonderful things about them over the years.

Michael also got the grand tour of Glendale, where Megan lived and worked after graduating from college. Highlights included Megan's old apartment (pictured below), her old office building, lunch at Porto's bakery, shopping at the newly opened Americana, and dinner at the new In-n-Out in Glendale! (They didn't have one when Megan lived here). Of course the best part of Glendale was getting to spend some time with Megan's good friend, Ester.

We also took a drive up to the Griffith Park Observatory one night to enjoy the breathtaking views of the city.

On our last day in the L.A. area, Megan took Michael swimming at the Rose Bowl Aquatic center in Pasadena. This was a daily morning ritual for Megan when she lived here.

The trip was so much fun, and Michael came away with a whole new appreciation for the Los Angeles area. He cannot wait to go back. But the fun didn't stop after L.A.. We were off to Arizona from there. More to come on that leg of the trip in another entry...

Azusa Pacific Homecoming!

On Saturday October 25th, we made a very special visit to Megan's alma mater, Azusa Pacific University, in Azusa, CA for Homecoming. To make it even more special, we were joined by her three roommates from APU and their families. It was Michael's first visit to APU and he truly enjoyed getting to see the many places he had heard so much about.



We spent the day touring around campus, and enjoyed a delcious dinner catered by In-n-Out burger. The day was capped off with the Football game, where unfortunately the home team APU Cougars lost out in the fourth quarter to Dixie State.


Here are some pictures from the day:

Hot Air Balloon Festival (sort of)

For the second year in a row we went to the Shenandoah Valley Hot Air Balloon and Wine Festival and for the second year in a row, sadly, it was too windy for any balloons to take off! Apparently even a 10 mph breeze is too much for these massive balloons. Don't let the picture to the right fool you - the balloon was blown up so we could see one up close but it never took off the ground. Regardless, we still had a great time. We were accompanied by our most delightful friend Amy, and we thoroughly enjoyed a relaxing afternoon in the beautiful Shendandoah Valley. The almost-turned autumn colors, rolling hills, grazing horses, and mountains in the distance combined to provide the perfect backdrop.

We also packed a picnic lunch and partook in some wine tasting! The event showcased many local wineries. We also enjoyed the local artisans who brought their wares to the fair, the antique car show, and of course the kettle corn.

Apples, Apples, Everywhere...

We took advantage of the Columbus Day holiday (Thank you Federal Government!) and the great weather that accompanied it by going apple picking with our friends Melinda and Dave. We weren't just picking apples though, we were picking them with a purpose...Applesauce! Although we ended up picking way more than we needed for applesauce as evidenced by the picture of Megan holding our apples below!

After selecting the finest apples Larriland Farm had to offer we went to Melinda's place where she taught us how to make delicious applesauce.

First came the peeling and slicing...

Then the cooking of the apples...

Finally the canning.

And voila...applesauce!

As I mentioned earlier we picked way more apples than we needed for applesauce so just yesterday, Megan got a recipe for apple crisp from her best friend Jeanette! So we used up some of our apple stock on THE best apple crisp I've ever had!

The worst pain of my life!

Michael was awoken early Tuesday morning (like 1:30 am early) by an intense pain in his lower right back in the area of his kidney. After toughing it out for roughly a half hour, he was forced to wake Megan up and have her take him to the hospital. The pain was just too much. Even though it was 2:30 in the morning, Megan was up to the task. It turned out Michael had a kidney stone. For anyone who has had one you know the kind of pain they can bring, and for all of those out there that have not had one, I hope and pray you never have to expereince it. It was that bad. Thankfully the doctors adminstered some good pain killers and now three days later, thanks largely to the great care I received at home, the stone has passed and Michael is pretty much back to normal! I want to thank my loving wife for taking such good care of me!!!

Hall Wedding and Valley Forge!

We spent the weekend of October 11-12th up in Philadelphia at the wedding of Michael's good friend Jason to his lovely fiancee Megan. The wedding was great fun and they couldn't have asked for better weather in October. It was sunny and the temperature was in the 70's. I was honored to be standing up in the wedding and to be a part of their special day. It's still hard to believe that I've known Jason for over ten years. Wow - how time flies when you are having fun, and Jason and I have had a lot of fun together over that time.

The wedding ceremony was wonderful and that was followed by a delicious dinner at a nearby country club. During the reception, they had some Korean musicians play traditional korean music (see below) to celebrate Megan's heritage. A very unique, thoughtful, and fun touch to an already perfect celebration. The dessert's weren't too shabby either!

Here we are enjoying ourselves out on the patio during the reception!

The hotel we stayed at was just a few miles away from Valley Forge National Park, so the day after the wedding we spent the day exploring around there. It was another absolutely beautiful day! The picture on the right is General Washington's Headquarters.

And here down on the left is a picture of Megan in front of John Brown's Farm and on the right you can see Michael on the phone with his Mom, making sure Megan's weekly football picks are submitted on time. Hi Mom!

Saturday Morning Photo Shoot

Fall weather has arrived!!! And with it, crystal clear morning skies. So this past weekend Michael got up early and took some pictures of Georgetown's campus in the early morning sun. Here are some highlights, I hope you like them!