Operation: Home Means Nevada

I don't think it's been a mystery to anyone exactly how I have felt about moving back to Las Vegas. I am much too refined to kick and scream, but I definitely have done the lady-like equivalent (sigh and complain). As opposed as I've been to Nevada generally and Las Vegas specifically, it has started to seep into me...(I think of it kind of like the way your clothes smell after an evening at the bowling alley). I have fought this sick, oozing, osmosis every moment. Everyone thought it was so cute when Abigail could sing the state song "Home means Nevada" when she wasn't even quite 2 years of age. They would laugh and say she knows where she's really from, where her roots are...and then I would go home (on the way driving by a Starbucks), feed her smoked salmon, make her watch episodes of House Hunters in Portland and Seattle, and try to describe to her what the color green looks like. I have put up a good fight. I didn't go quietly into the night. I haven't been gracefully resigned...but I'm still losing. Looking for a house, having a good steady job, and the Nevada bar exam over has made me realize that the battle is lost today and I need to save my efforts, regroup and live to fight another day....so in the mean time, I present Operation: Home Means Nevada. I will try to be a good Nevadan. I don't exactly know what that means yet, but I'm pretty sure it involves SPF 90, responsible water usage, and a love of stucco! I'm phasing myself in slowly. Today, Abby and I went to see Hoover Dam...and I've got to say, it is something to see. I'm posting pictures. Oh, and can you believe they expect us to drive on that bridge?!?! that picture is taken from the TOP of Hoover dam, which is extremely tall...and that bridge is even higher in the air over the Colorado river canyon. Oh, and Las Vegas is also spending a million dollars on bringing back restored, vintage neon signs. Death trap bridges and a million-dollar-let's-make-it-tackier project. God Bless Nevada!

My baby is all grown up and off to pre-school! Given her normally shy and timid nature, I had some serious reservations about my decision to feed her to the wolves...but to my great surprise she ran with the pack!

All dressed up and ready for the day! Thanks for the first-day-of-school dress, Grandma Susan! She loved it!

Abby took this picture of me before we left for school. She asked me to hold her microphone just like Sid the Science Kid. If you haven't had the pleasure of Sid the Science Kid on PBS kids, let me explain. Sid is a bi-racial, perfectly behaved, bright young lad of pre-school age. He goes to a school that manages to provide some incredible educational experiences with only 4 students attending. Each day, he brings his microphone to school along with his back pack. The microphone is for adding dramatic emphasis to his insightful and pointed questions...it is easily our favorite show. (I did say OUR...I love Sid!) It was all I could do to talk her into leaving the microphone in the car...

She's preparing to flex her golden pipes in singing time....and can I tell you that little kid in the yellow shirt is just a gem?

Abby and her good friend Emma. We even put Abby on the taller portion of the grass and she's still dwarfed by her beautiful giant of a friend (they're only 2 months apart). Becky and Rich have some AWESOME genetics.

I know that I could have picked a more charming location for a photo shoot then the school's cinder block wall, but trust me when I say it's a lovely school...though my pictures make it seem like I sent her to school in post-communist Eastern Europe. Way to go Abby! We're so proud of you! (And great idea Miss Marsha's mini school to feed the kids Oreos on day one. Abby's been begging to go back and get some more of that sweet action!)

Congratulations Brandon! Congrats for finishing the bar exam (I know you took it out behind the tool shed and taught it who was boss)! Congrats for being a kick-booty attorney! Congrats for having such an awesome wife who went with you on an awesome San Diego trip and took wicked awesome pictures of you! Love you!