Brian and Amanda Lain

We just got back from a really nice family-ish vacation in San Diego. The Parker Family (Amanda’s sister Kassy, husband Tim, and daughter Nicole) left Montana on March 23 for San Diego while the Lain Family (Brian and Amanda) left Las Cruces for San Diego. Everyone met up Friday night. Saturday was spent at Sea World, Sunday was at the Wild Animal Park, and Monday was at the Zoo. The evenings were spent at the beach and hanging out. Tuesday was at Amanda’s Grandpa’s house in Phoenix, Wednesday in Silver City with Amanda’s Grandma, and Thursday/Friday at Amanda and Brian’s house and at White Sands. The Parkers continued their journey on Saturday, and expect to get home on Monday. In retrospect, we really needed a lot more time, with less on the agenda. Nonetheless, we had a great time and our next trip is planned for June at Glacier National Park in Montana.
Below are pictures of us as a group. Click here for more pictures.

Brian, Amanda, Nicole (4), Kassy, and Tim

Tim, Kassy, Grandpa, Nicole, Amanda, and Brian

Kassy and Tim.

Can you believe it is already 2007?!? 2006 went by really quickly, but we made good use of it: we traveled, Brian started working at White Sands, we bought a car, moved into a fancy house, and traveled some more. Below are some pictures from this holiday season. Amanda’s brother, Chris, was on leave from Iraq for Christmas so we got to see him. Plus, Amanda’s older sister, Laura, came to visit with her three kids.

Brian, Amanda, Chris, Melissa, and Shane (the dog).

Proud of our soldier!

Chris and Melissa, married for over 1 year!

Brian, Amanda holding Natasha (3), Laura holding Luke (4 months), Melissa holding Brad (6), and Shane in front.

Amanda holding Luke with Natasha on her lap and Laura holding Brad.

Amanda went to San Francisco/Oakland for a job-related training. She went with several co-workers and they all had a great time going to the training and exploring the city. The people were very friendly and helpful (we got lost a lot) and the culture is very accepting of differences.
They stayed in a really cute, historic hotel (Washington Inn) and visited Jack London Square in Oakland, as well as Fisherman’s Warf and Macy’s (7-stories high) in San Francisco. Unfortunately, Amanda was not able to see the Golden Gate Bridge or Alcatraz, but next time…
Below is a picture of the New Mexico crowd–Tony, Yvonne, Amanda, and Pete.

We were so busy this month that we almost forgot to celebrate Halloween!! We bought a bunch of candy in case we have trick-or-treaters, and carved our pumpkins today. Brian did a great job on his pumpkin, and made it look really scary. Amanda is not near as methodical (or patient), so hers says “Boo” on the front, has a bat on the left side, and a ghost on the right side. The pictures of Amanda’s were too dark to see, but Brian’s looks awesome!

Brian and Andy (Amanda’s cousin) went to the X-Cup (go to www.xprizecup.com for more information) to see the latest developments in rockets and space exploration. The event had neat space simulations, models, and even had a robot who played soccer. Click here for more pictures.

While everyone was in Silver City, we played games, went apple picking at Brian’s grandparents’ house, peeled, cored, and dried the apples, the kids rode bikes, and the adults visited. The first picture is of Amanda, Laura, and Kassy. The second is of Kassy looking beautiful, and the third is of Laura and Luke. The fourth is of Grandpa Mel and his three great grandkids, Natasha, Luke, and Nicole. The fifth is of Nicole and Natasha, with Nicole riding the tricycle. The fourth is of Kassy and Nicole apple picking. The fifth is of Amanda and Nicole peeling and coring the apples, getting them ready for drying (Melissa is in the background and Brad is in the foreground).

A lot of Amanda’s family got together in October for a little reunion. Amanda’s sisters had not seen each other in a long time, so meeting at Amanda’s grandmother’s house was a great place to meet up again. So, there were Amanda’s grandmother and grandfather, Amanda’s two sisters and sister-in-law, Amanda’s two neices and nephews (aged 5, 3.5, 3, and 2 mo), plus 3 dogs, 1 cat, and 1 rabbit. It was quite the madhouse–and rarely any silence–but it was a lot of fun.
Below is a picture of the kids and grandkids (left to right: Laura (older sister) holding her newborn baby Luke, Amanda holding Laura’s daughter Natasha (3), Kassy (younger sister) holding Nicole (3.5), and Melissa (sister-in-law). Brad, Laura’s son, is on the floor with the red hair.) Click here for more pictures.

Kassy, Nicole, Amanda, and Brian went to Albuquerque to the annual balloon fiesta. In addition to seeing hundreds of hot air balloons, we rode the world’s longest tramway to the top of Sandia Peak! At nighttime, there is a “glowdeo” where they fire up the balloons, then they do fireworks afterward. It was all really neat, and we were very glad Kassy and Nicole could join us! (Here they are below in front of a giant chile!) Click here for more pictures.

Over the past weekend, Amanda and Brian went to San Antonio/Temple, TX to wish her brother, Chris, a safe tour in Iraq. We had a great time and quite an adventurous return!

Friday: Chris and his wife, Melissa, drove down to San Antonio to meet Brian and Amanda. We all went to the zoo, botanical gardens, and the River Walk. The zoo had a really cool butterfly exhibit, and the River Walk was nice, though we really should have ridden on the boat. There is a picture of Chris and Melissa below, but click here for more pictures of our adventures.

Saturday: Chris, Melissa, Brian, Amanda, and Shane (the dog) went to the lake and went swimming, without sunscreen. Then, we all went back to their apartment and went swimming, again without sunscreen. Needless to say, we were crispy critters. Then, Brian and Amanda went down to Waco to meet Brian’s brother and his girlfriend for dinner at Olive Garden.

Sunday: Chris, Melissa, Brian, and Amanda hung out for awhile, then went to lunch before Amanda and Brian had to leave for the airport. Brian and Amanda were planning on arriving at the airport 1.5 hours before the plane left. We arrived in San Antonio on time, but forgot to fill up the car with gas, so that took about 20 minutes. Then, when we tried to return the rental car, their computers crashed. We couldn’t leave because we had to sign a form agreeing to the charges, etc. Then, we waited for about 5 minutes to catch the next Shuttle to the airport (a full 5 miles from the airport). We got on the shuttle without knowing that we had to drop off several people at their cars in the parking lot first. In the meantime, another shuttle came and went. When the shuttle finally got on the road to go to the airport, Amanda noticed that we passed our terminal that we boarded on before. The driver kept driving so she could drop off the other passengers at the taxi station. So, after that, she finally took us back to our gate. In San Antonio, you have to check in at least 30 minutes to guarantee that your luggage gets on your plane. We checked in 27 minutes early…The person assured us the luggage would be fine, that there was still plenty of time. We caught the plane, which landed at 5:50. Our luggage, on the other hand, landed at 12:15. The plane our luggage was on kept getting delayed, delayed, delayed, but since we had already waited so long, we figured we might as well stick it out. So, we left San Antonio at 5:25, arrived in El Paso at 5:50, and got home at 1:30. Funny because if any one of our mishaps wouldn’t have happened, we would have had our luggage at 6:00–if we would have remembered to get gas, or if the computers wouldn’t have crashed, or if we wouldn’t have gotten a full tour of the parking lot, or if we wouldn’t have missed our terminal on the first tour of the terminals. We are just glad to be home, luggage in hand!

Anyway, so we had a really great visit with Chris and Melissa. Chris deploys sometime between September 30 and October 4 (his 21st birthday is October 6). We are wishing him the best of luck and a safe return. And remember, if you don’t stand behind our troops, please, feel free to stand in front of them! 🙂

Check out our new bikes! Brian and Amanda got their first bikes for Amanda’s birthday, March 2000. So, now we both upgraded again, for Brian’s birthday. Brian’s is a Trek 6700 and Amanda’s is a Trek 3900. Pretty snazzy! (Amanda’s is the one with the water bottles.)

Amanda found some interesting quotes:
1) Live as if you were to die tomorrow. Learn as if you were to live forever. (Gandhi)
2) Choices, not chance, determine destiny. (Unknown)
3) An eye for an eye will only make the whole world blind. (Gandhi)
4) Killing for peace is like f***ing for virginity. (Unknown)
5) The important thing is to not stop questioning. (Albert Einstein)

Just food for thought!

Brian and Amanda found a house to rent! It is almost 1900 sq ft and has 4 bedrooms, 2 baths, oversized 2 car garage, huge kitchen, and a nice backyard with a view. We will move in by the end of April! Check out the pictures by clicking here.

Here are the pictures from the Phoenix Zoo and Park, the Ostrich Farm, the Silver City Penny Park and Grammy’s Yard, and White Sands.

Kassy, Nicole, and Grandpa

Nicole riding an Oryx (which are in White Sands also)

Kassy, Nicole, and Scooby, with Grammy in the background

Amanda freaking out, but Nicole is having a blast!

Well, Amanda made it back from Washington D.C. safely. She was there for just under a week. The weather was beautiful, and there was SO much to see. She was in the conference meetings most of the day, but was able to site-see afterward. Plus, on Friday, she had the whole day off, so she and her co-worker, Yvonne, went on a 3-hour trolley ride around D.C. The tour was very informational. Who knew you could go to the top of the Washington Monument? Or tour the Capitol building? Or tour the Senate building while they were in session? Unfortunately, she only learned of this Friday morning, and she left Friday afternoon. Oh well–next time.

In the meantime, it will be nice to have a couple of weeks off. We have both been traveling practically non-stop since Thanksgiving!

What a difference, huh? We’ve been waiting a long time for this! We are both very happy with the results!

The zoo was really fun, too. And big! (So there are lots of pictures!) We walked and walked and walked. We saw really neat animals (and Brian bought Amanda a panda cub–stuffed of course) from all parts of the world. We didn’t get to do the Wild Animal Park where you drive around an African Safari, but we can do that next time.

Our San Diego trip was SO MUCH FUN!! We got there mid-day Friday, found a hotel on the beach, went to the beach, walked around the shops, and had dinner. The water was very cold, but the sand felt good on our feet. Saturday, we got up early, ate breakfast, and went to Sea World. Sea World took all day long, and we were exhausted when we got back to the hotel. It started raining on us in Sea World and rained until the next morning. We stayed up late and watched fireworks off the pier. Then, we watched the ball drop in New York and went to bed. Sunday, we got up early and went to the zoo. It also took all day long, and we were exhausted when we got back. It waited to rain until after we got back to the hotel. We walked on the beach some more, then went to bed. Monday, we got up and got ready to come back to reality. We walked around the beach and collected sand and shells. Then, we drove to several other beaches and went on Coronado Bridge and saw the Naval base with the huge ships. Afterward, we headed home. 10 hours later, 11:00 pm, we arrived . Amanda had to be at work at 8:00 the next morning, but it was worth it! And, surprisingly, San Diego traffic isn’t that bad.

Sea World
San Diego Zoo
Beaches

Wow, talk about a busy month! Amanda got her teeth straightened (pictures here), Brian graduated (pictures here), Brian flew to Dallas for an interview (results are pending), we had Christmas in Silver City, and are going to go to San Diego for New Year’s pictures here.

For Brian’s graduation, a lot of family attended: Brian’s wife (Amanda), brother (Brad), mother (Sue), mother-in-law (Kitty), father (Steve), step-mother (Jan), grandmother (Dannie), grandmother-in-law and friend (Polly and Vernell), grandfather (Jack), uncle (Steve), aunt (Jolene), and cousin (Samantha). Afterward, his aunt and uncle threw him a graduation party at their house, then we went to the Living Christmas Tree concert.

For Christmas dinner, there were 14 people at Amanda’s grandma’s house: Amanda and Brian, Amanda’s brother Chris and his wife, Melissa, Amanda’s sister Laura and her 2 kids, Brad and Natasha, Amanda’s uncle Chris, his girlfriend Linda and her son Shane, Amanda’s grandmother and her high school friend Bob, Brian’s mom, and Amanda’s cousin Andy. There was a lot of good food and good conversation.

Everyone was supposed to leave Polly’s house on the 26th, but nothing ever goes as planned. So, Brian, Amanda, Chris, Melissa, and Shane (the 120 pound dog, not the kid) left Silver City at 1:00. We got as far as Bayard (10 miles out of Silver) and the truck broke. So, we waited on the side of the road for a long time, then decided to take out the front drive line and limp it to Las Cruces (100+ miles away). We went another 10 miles (30 minutes worth) and decided to go back to Silver. In the meantime, we could only drive 30 miles per hour, so we had to drive on the shoulder. So, Murphy’s Law (what can go wrong, will), Amanda ran over something sharp on the shoulder and got a flat tire. The mechanic won’t be able to fix Chris’ truck until at least Thursday, and they have to be back to Fort Hood on January 2nd. Amanda got her tire fixed–and this is the best part about the day–and it was at no cost. Big O was the only place open, and they didn’t realize that she has gotten new tires since seeing them several years ago! If you have Big O tires (or if they THINK you have Big O tires) all rotations, balances, fix-a-flats, etc are free!! So, Brian and Amanda made it back to Las Cruces at 10:00 at night, only 9 hours after leaving Silver City (typically a 2-hour drive!).

So, now that that adventure is over, we have to hurry up and recover so we can go to Sea World and the zoo in San Diego. We leave Thursday (12/29) afternoon.

Hey
Check out this shirt! (WARNING: It’s amusing, but not entirely appropriate!!) Andy, Amanda’s cousin, got it in Juarez, MX. It is a perfect prevention message, and everybody at work LOVED it!!

Check out these sandcastles!! It was so neat!! There was a big contest, but we didn’t see who the winner was. Amanda’s favorite is the second one down. Brian’s favorite is the third one down.