Brian's Birthday!

 And that my friends is a 7lb chocolate cake!

Another year...

Happy Birthday Brian!  This cake was awesome... but rich.  Even our chocolate lovers said "this is just too much chocolate!"  

Father's Day Fun

The boys were super excited to make Brian breakfast in bed this morning to kick of our Father's Day festivities. They helped make all the food, and then took everything upstairs and stashed it in the bathroom right outside the bedroom door so they could surprise him. They insisted on eating up there too, so we brought all of the plates up along with Harper's chair so she could be in on the fun too. Later we met up with Brian's parents, Aunt Lacey and cousin Caden at the zoo... checked out the dinosaur exhibit, had a picnic, rode the train and headed home for naps before the other side of the family came over for a BBQ. It was a long but fun day!

Fun with Dad!

Hot Story

Brian had a little ditty on the news again yesterday...

75th Anniversary

In honor of its 75th anniversary celebration, the School of Business at University of Portland recognized 75 significant business alumni and inducted 8 visionary leaders into its inaugural hall of fame. Guess who was one of the significant 75?

Last night there were about 800 people at the anniversary dinner including several of Brian's students. A lot of them went out of their way to come over and talk to him and introduce them to their parents and friends. It was obvious how many of them look up to him and view him as a mentor. I am so proud of my husband for all of his hard work and dedication to the University, students, community and family.

Brian's moving a little slow.

Brian ran 20 miles and completed his 17th Hood to Coast this weekend!

Rare sight...

If you know Brian very well he is doesn't allow himself to totally relax very often... loved seeing this last night at the park!

Babies

Ben has been very excited about babies lately. He likes to touch their hands and toes, pet their heads and tell me how cute they are...

Brian was holding Taylor (Kristi's baby) last night and Ben climbed right up. I don't think he wanted another baby taking over ALL of his daddy's lap...

Pretty soon he wanted Taylor to go see her mom and Brian to himself. Love the eyebrows!

Treats

Sam was so excited to make a cake for Brian today. He loves to help measure, mix and crack the eggs... but the sprinkles were the most fun.

He even decorated and signed his own card and was all smiles when Brian walked through the door. Oh yes, and he declared today that cake is now his favorite food!

At last!

Finally... the news we have been waiting for! Brian found out this morning that he received tenure at UP. I was thinking today about how much has gone into this moment... After finishing his masters degree, Brian completed a five year PhD program at ASU and then he accepted a job at University of Portland. Six years of teaching, research, working on various community projects and hours of time given to students have led us to this point in time. I don't think it has really hit him yet... although we are both so happy and very grateful. Thank you to all of our friends and family for your love and support over the last 10+ years. It has been a long road.

Trip to UP

Sam's preschool was closed for MLK day, so this morning he went into work with Brian. He loves tagging along, playing on the computer, going to the bookstore, and meeting Brian's co-workers and students. Of course he also loves that the staff has all kinds of fun things to play with like tinker toys... and they send him home with treats! Ben and I picked him up before classes started. They both had a great time riding the elevator and running around campus.

The Professor - Part II

Here is Brian's news clip. He was on KGW last week talking about Lehman Brothers and other ecomonic news. He will be interviewed tomorrow morning on KPAM, a local talk radio station at 7am.

Sam: Let's watch it again.
Ben: I wanna watch Thomas.