Harry Potter Midnight Mania!!!

My best friend Becky and I were finally granted permission to take our nerd in training to the midnight showing for Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince since she just turned 11. I wanted to make Jocelyn's first midnight movie memorable, so I asked my friend Jill to make one of her amazing invitations. She surprised me and also made an invitation for Becky and myself!! Jocelyn was thrilled, and we ended up having a lot of fun at the movie. And the nerd/geek factor is passed to a new generation **sniff**

Sisters at Chase Field, new digital camera

I share season tickets to the Diamondbacks with several of my coworkers. On July 9th, my sister Danielle and I went to the ballpark to enjoy the game. I also had my new camera, so it was fun to test it out and see how well the 12x zoom worked. I was impressed, and it confirmed that I had picked the correct camera for me. I have the Panasonic Lumix DMC-ZS3, and absolutely love it. It takes great photos and is the most intelligent point and shoot I have owned. This camera corrects for everything, which is great since I have a tendency to shake while taking photos and always wind up with red-eye.





The game started out fantastic. There were a couple home runs, and the Dbacks took an early 7-0 lead. Then a Dbacks hitter sent a line drive at the pitcher, and it was all downhill from there. The pitcher left the field hurt and the Marlins rallied to have a 10 run 8th inning and went on to win 14-7. Even though the Dbacks lost (shocking, I know), we still managed to have a great time. Thanks Danielle, for driving and buying our beers!!

4th of July Party-Wildermuth Styel!!!

For 4th of July this year my family came over to party, and my sister Danielle invited a few of her friends to enjoy a fine afternoon, a cool pool, and some great barbecue, courtesy of the ever-impressive Matt. Zander enjoyed the pool, Sadie had friends to live with, and everyone loved the pork tacos, babyback ribs, barbecued beans, and homemade potato salad.








After playing in the pool all day we headed over to Jim & Becky's for Jim's birthday party (fireworks every year) to watch the show from the school across the street and have cake. What a great holiday.

A Tad Delayed

I am more than a bit behind on my blog posting. Tonight I posted entries from February-April, but I still have a few more to post for that time frame. I will get to them this weekend!

Congratulations Daniellee!!!

My sister Danielle graduated from ASU in May 2009 with her Bachelor's degree. Quite an accomplishment, as she was also working full time, maintaining a social life, and making time for her family. We were there to celebrate as President Obama spoke at her commencement. Since he only spoke at 4 schools, it was an honor for him to be there, even though we had to brave 100 degree weather in the large tin bowl that is Sun Devil Stadium to hear him speak. There were plenty of protesters and supporters surrounding that made the wait entertaining.





The next day she received her diploma during the W.P. Carey convocation, followed by a party at my parents' house. She got a kindle!!

We also managed to take a family picture since all of us were in one place! That doesn't happen very often, so it's nice to document it.






One of Danielle's friends made her a beautiful cake. Everyone was proud of her!!

Seattle Trip-April 2009

Matt & I went to Seattle for a long weekend to visit Pete & Jill (my uncle & aunt) and play tourist. Matt had never been to Seattle before, and we visited several places that were new to me as well. Our first day we arrived, then drove out to the Tulip Festival. Our timing was perfect, as it had still been freezing until the week before we arrived, so the flowers were freshly bloomed and the colors were amazing! We went back to see Pete & Jill's new house in Bothell, took a short nap, then had dinner at Red Hook and even got to see some live music and dancing!





The next day we got up and had breakfast at a bar in Seattle, drove out to the Sound, went to the Jimi Hendrix Music Experience and Science Fiction Museum, briefly walked through the overly crowded Pike's Place Market, toured the Seattle Aquarium, and had an amzing seafood dinner at Elliots. It was a great day.




The last day we visited Jimi Hendrix's grave on the way out to the Northwest Trek (as in Star Trek, as Matt so eloquently explained). They had quite the shrine, and I thought it was tastefully presented. The NW Trek was a lot of fun, after a tiny bit of drama when Jill realized she had left her professional camera at the Wendy's 45 minutes back. Luckily they had it, so she went for her camera while Pete walked with us. I really enjoyed the experience, with all of the animal exhibits, bears, beavers, moose, bison, and goats!

March 2009

Matt makes a fabulous homemade meat pizza!


Danielle & I took Matt to the Renaissance Festival, his fist visit. As you can see, it was quite successful, complete with Turkey leg and Beer!




Sorry for the short post, but March was full of dog days: