On July 22nd, Cara and I celebrated our 2nd wedding anniversary

Because our anniversary fell on a weekday, we decided dinner at the Oasis would be enough, but I booked a room and a massage at the Driskill Hotel for the weekend. It was a badly needed retreat for both of us.
Here's Cara at the Oasis:

Sunset at the Oasis:

A view of the Oasis deck:

Departing the Driskill Hotel:

Mom visits for the 4th of July

Myles is 7 months old

My nephew, Myles, is getting bigger. I wish I was in North Carolina so I could see him.

Toobing on the Guadalupe River!

These are the only pics I can show you from this misadventure. Here's the recap: Arrive late, wait, wait, wait, shiver me timbers, it's way too cold, pass me a cold one, it's okay, it'll float, I do what Jamie does, mommy, I want to go home, excuse me mam, do you have your driver's license? are there any fritos left? yes, she's single, is that a thunder storm cloud? check his head and make sure he's not bleeding, oops there go my sunglasses, where is everyone? it's over? I'll have the chicken fried steak. Trust me, she's not drunk. I'm sorry I ruined your bushes...

Cara inspires her students

As you may know, Cara is a clarinetist, therefore she spends a lot of time with the clarinet section in addition to the entire band. This year some of her students were inspired to perform a piece of music for her and she asked them to play it at the spring concert. I think this is a testament to Cara's commitment to her students.

Every June brings the Henry Middle School Spring Concert

This year Cara and Robert decided to let the 6th graders demonstrate their talents. It's not perfect but it's only their first year. I think it's fantastic!

Notice all the trophies displayed on the left side of the stage. AHMS Rocks!
Cara makes me so proud to be her husband.

While we were in California, we decided to do some tourist activities

We absolutely loved San Diego! These pictures will show you why:

We took a road trip from San Diego to Los Angeles. I definitely preferred San Diego over Los Angeles and Hollywood. LA and Hollywood are surprisingly old and dirty. I wasn't a fan. Of course, it could have something to do with the fact that I had a terrible cold while we were in Los Angeles, but we still made time to see our friend Stephanie who is studying Opera performance at USC.

While we were visiting San Diego and Coronado, there was a Red Bull Air Racing Competition taking place. Here's some video of these amazing pilots at work.

In La Jolla there were these great sea lions basking in the sun. Here's some footage of them:

Carrie and Erik got married in May

Here's a little video of their wedding pics.

Cara takes her symphonic band to Dallas for a competition

In typical Henry Middle School Band form, all three bands performed well and they brought home lots of brass. The Honor band and Symphonic band received superior ratings and HMS received Overall Outstanding Performance. Very impressive!

In April, we hosted a baby shower for our friends Jessica and Damien Gonzales

Cara has another successful UIL performance with the Henry Middle School Symphonic Band

Cara's band was the only band in the district at their level to receive a perfect score in all categories! She and her band were truly extraordinary.

We hosted a wedding shower for Carrie and Eric.

Cara went to graduate school at UT with Carrie. We were there from the beginning of Carrie's relationship with Eric. He earned his Ph.D. in Computer Science and got a job with Intel in Portland. Their wedding is in Ramona, California.

In March, we went to the Rodeo!

The DeFranks came for another visit in March. We always do new things when they come. This time we went to the Austin Rodeo. Yeehaw!

This is one of our favorite up and coming artists in Austin - Ruby Jane!

We met Ruby Jane when she was 12 years old. She played a free concert with Aubrey Slackey for my campus organization, the Paul D. Gottlieb Lecture Series, during a visit by Dr. James D. Watson. Now she's 13 years old and on her way to becoming an Austin celebrity. She does regular shows throughout the city of Austin playing with some of the biggest acts in town.

Jamie joined the Barack Obama Presidential Campaign

I began volunteering for the Obama campaign at the Texas headquarters in downtown Austin. After receiving training from the Obama campaign leaders, I became the Precinct Captain for our voting precinct in Williamson County. I was responsible for getting several thousand voters to the polls to defeat Hillary Clinton in the Texas Primary. I made hundreds of calls and knocked on countless doors to make sure people got out and participated in the primary and caucus.
Eventually, Cara and I organized and ran the caucus in our voting precinct. I was elected the Precinct Chair and Cara was elected as the Precinct Secretary. Together we collected the votes and organized the caucuses for Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton. Barack Obama won our precinct 66-33%.
It was the most rewarding experience I've ever had in the democratic process.

Maddie and Cooper attend a doggie Birthday Party for Lulu and Morgan.

Cooper had his first Frosty Paw doggie ice cream.

Maddie couldn't have any because of her allergies.

Cara goes to the Texas Music Educator's Conference in San Antonio

Attending with her are the band directors from Leander Independent School District.

Christmas 2007

Our laboratory is in the news!

My boss, Dr. Lambowitz, and Paul Paukstelis, a former grad student and current post-doc in the lab, were on the news for a recent publication in the scientific journal Nature. Pretty cool!

Amazing efforts to save trees at UT Austin

Soon, ESB will be history, so the wise old trees that were growing in front of the building were facing their ends. Fortunately, the powers that be chose to save them. I recorded this video just last week as they moved the trees for transplantation, elsewhere. Amazing!

Cara's Christmas Concert

The 2007 Artie Henry Middle School Christmas Concert was Cara's third Christmas Concert as Assistant Band Director at HMS. Each year the HMS Band gets better and better. This year is no exception. I'm so happy when Cara's on stage, because I know how much work she has committed to her students. It's great to see them all rise to the task. Just listen to those clarinets! Dede attended this concert and I know Cara was very happy to have friends in the audience. Cheers, Dede!
Enjoy the music!

Fanglei is due!

As if we aren't already surrounded by babies and pregnant friends, my friend and co-researcher, Fanglei is expecting a baby boy. She's due on January 8. His name will be Troy and I can't wait for his arrival.
He's obviously going to be a big boy since you can see here that she can balance a coffee mug on his head...or should I say on his behind.
In case you're wondering...of course, we have the baby bug!

Eric Graduated!

We also attended a graduation party for our friend Eric. He completed his PhD in Computer Science. Eric is engaged to marry Carrie, our friend who attended graduate school with Cara for music performance. We'll be going to their wedding in San Diego this summer. For now, Eric is heading to Portland to start his new job with Intel. Carrie will remain in Austin until the wedding. Good luck, Eric!

Farewell, Chad and Mireya!

Before the Christmas break, we had a "Sweet Goodbye" party for Chad and Mireya. They both completed their PhD's in 5 years and are heading to Oxford, England for post-doc postions. It was really great to get several of the original gang together along with some of our newest friends.
Cheers, Chad and Mireya! We'll miss you!