That's So Raven

I am a bad, bad Aunt - I am all excited about my new puppy Finley and posting pictures, and planning a visit - and I don't even post pictures of the new addition to the Clausson Family.

Meet Raven.

They went to the pound and found this little angle needing a home.

What a big tongue (s)he has.

(S)He's not all little and fluffy like Fin. But still a cutie.

Time with Tatum

Saturday Greg and I spent some quality time with the kid. We had a good time playing with her. She even let me brush and style her hair.

Look how cute!


Then it was time for me to have my hair did.


Here's a slide show of the good times

I love NY and Greg

So Close Yet So Far

As it turns out, with all our walking around, we completely missed seeing my Becks. I take some solace with the thought that he was walking where I was one day earlier.

Don't feel too bad for me, cause I may have missed out on Becks, but I did see my best girl Ransom! When I called Karen to see where her brother lives in NY, Greg said too bad we didn't make plans for Karen to come meet us in NY. Karen heard him, and said she was on her way up and would be in NY the next day! How's that for a nice surprise?! K and I talk all the time on the phone, but it sucks that she is so far away from me. We did get to spend a few hours talking and laughing. We met up with her Brother and Sis at the Apple store where we were reminded why we are PC people.

Then over to FAO Schwartz to be reminded why we have cats rather than children. Besides, we are still young at heart - here's K and me with Peter Rabbit.

I have to see if I can find the picture of us 20 years ago with Easter Bunny to see how young we still are.
Greg's still a kid when it comes to Star Wars.

Even in blurry pictures Karen shuts her eyes.

There is a funny story behind this picture. I told a story to some friends at work while in NY with Greg, and with no prodding, Karen told the same story at dinner. Only in Karen's version I was the one who was wigging over the bill and not Greg. I don't remember it that way, but since I barely remember last week, I will have to take Ransom's word for it.

Or deny, deny, deny. Faulty memory of Ransom's and all we wish we had more time with her. Hopefully we will make a trip to Atlanta to visit longer.

We Love NY

I go to NY a couple times a year for work. Usually it's just me and I tend to take up residence in the hotel. Once one episode of Law and Order comes on, that's all she wrote. Luckily for me this time I got Greg to come up with me as a combination Valentines/belated birthday weekend. I spent the first half of the day working, and then got to play with Greg. We walked around A lot - and we found some yummy places to eat and saw some of my favorite people in NY.

Here's some pictures of lunch with The Basile's. JP and Sophie used to work with Feld and I look forward to spending time with them when I am in the Big Apple. Not just cause I miss them, but also cause I love their two girls Florence & Scarlett. I cannot believe how big they have gotten.

I also try to see Steph and Gary when I am in NY. Steph was in Colorado skiing. I missed spending time with her, but I will see her in March when I am back. I did get to spend time with Gar and their adorable dog Jackson - he is so cute. I had a tough time getting a good shot of him with only my camera phone on me. Jackson was way into the dog toy and each picture was a blur. This is the best I could get.

Speaking of puppies - I am a new Aunt!. The Eagney's got a new addition to the family - Finley!
OMG he is such a cute pile of FLUF. I am hoping we can get a trip to see them while he is still a puppy.

Can you stand it - look at that face!

For even more pictures of my new puppy - check out the Melissa's site. http://www.eggknees.blogspot.com/ I am sure there will be A LOT of pictures posted over the next few months.
Congulations Eagney's on your new baby! Love him (and the name) and cannot wait to meet him.

Pinochle Deck

It was so difficult to pick the photos for the pinochle deck since we were limited to only 48 pictures. Some of them we knew we wanted when we first started talking about the idea. Here's the proofs from the Pinochle deck and the photos that made it to the final product (click on the pictures to see all 8 pages).


Here's a slideshow of all the pictures we put together to choose from.

(If you double click the slideshow it will take you to the Picasa page with all the photos where you can download and keep any a copy of any of the pictures)

We cannot thank Amanda enough for ALL her help with this project - she went way beyond her usual role as a fantastic friend. She is now at legendary status in the Beck household.

Happy Birthday to My Man

Today is Greg's birthday (he's the one on the left) :)

You know how much he loves attention.

Happy Birthday Hiney!
Love you lots!

K&J 2 - The Electric Boogaloo

We are all excited that there is going to be another Kathleen and Jerry in the family! And it's only 67 days away - hopefully that will give me enough time to actually fit the dress I bought!

To add to the excitement - Kathleen created this wonderful site to keep the family updated on the haps. http://www.bedbathandbeyond.com/FlashBT/pwslaunch.asp?ID=JerryandKathleen3183920. Check it out and you can even post messages.

Click here for the link to the hotel where K&J arranged for rates for family and guests.

Cannot wait for the big day! Lots of Love (and luck) to the newest member of the family. We broke in Greg - so we can break in anyone!

Happy Anniversary Mom & Dad

Here's some pictures from last weekend when we celebrated M&D's 42nd anniversary. We had fun and food but we were most excited about the gift. Jenel had the bright idea of making a personalized Pinochle deck with pictures of the family on each card. Four months later, ta da. We couldn't have done it without my girl Amanda. She totally impressed me with her computer capabilities. We had over 150 pictures to sort through for only 48 cards so it wasn't an easy task. She also created a beautiful card with some of the pics that didn't make the deck. The parents were very impressed and there were few dry eyes in the house.

LOTS OF LOVE to Mom and Dad for being the best parents we could hope for. Here's to 42 more.

Click here to see the awesome Pinochle deck.

HSM on Tour Pix!

We had a great time at the theater show of HSM - they sure are going to suck that teat dry. Jadyn brought along her friend Emma who is not only a cutie, but a sweet little girl. We got some treats and then hit Starbucks while waiting for the show to start. You would have thought we bought them coffee instead of a vanilla milkshake the way they were going 110 miles an hour. Even hopped up on excitement Jadyn was still a joy to hang out with. She was still going full throttle in the car until she fell asleep in mid sentence - she had about a 10 minute power nap that charged her back up and she was raring to go by the time we dropped her home. Luckily Jocelyn was unfazed.

The Girls both enjoyed the stage show - the changes they made to the show were pretty funny, but the overacting is a bit much to take. All and all, much better than Cats.

High School Musical on Tour!

At High School Musical on Tour in DC!

We saw HSM on Tour! at the National Theatre Tuesday night with Jadyn and a friend of hers. Here's a story about it. It was a great show.

I'll add some pix later

Space Shuttle Columbia-5 Yr Anniversary

Space Shuttle Columbia

Disney World Dec. 23

forgot to post that the day before xmas eve, we met Mo, Mom, and the girls at Disney World with Christy and Madie following us there from their house on the west coast.

So we met there, it was nice and cool, until about noontime when the sun kicked in as we were watching the xmas parade. it was also dark when we left the house, which got us there at 830am. so we went to all the major rides. the rides at Disney are so lame. It's only worth it because the girls love it. It also got packed around lunchtime after being sparsely filled until that point. it was good while it lasted though. so we stuck it out until 4 or so, when we hopped back on the traincar back to the parking lot. Christy and Madie stayed on and went over to the Epcot Center themselves. They learned all about the latest inventions like the cellphone and the microwave oven. A good time was had by all.

Now This is a Reason To Cry

An arbitrator ruled in the Eagles favor and T.O. has to pay the Eagles $769,120. The Eagles already held back $955,880.of his last 5 paychecks with the birds.

All totaled, Owens' conduct, which included verbal attacks on quarterback Donovan McNabb and a one-week training-camp suspension, cost him $2.49 million.

Guitar Shero

Update -
Greg needs to stop surprising me with these video he posts without my knowledge. Not the best angle for anyone.

I would like to comment that this was the first song of the night and yes, it was on easy. I was able to manage a few at the next level but quickly went back to easy where an hour and a half later, I was much better and able to beat both Tom Morello and Slash. I Rock! The game is totally addicting. I cannot wait until Wii catches up with Rock Band cause I want to bang on the drums. Come on over if you want to play.

Mississippilessly

First Snow 2008

 
 
 


couple shots of the first snow last Thursday, 1,17, by Karen while she played hookie from work. This was the day that I went to the hockey game after driving 30 miles each way to work and back in the snow, in a sportscar. The area goes into a panic with the smallest bit of snow, schools shut down, grocery stores are cleared out. Its still lingering on the ground because its been freezing every day since. Goes well with a malfunctioning furnace.

You Rock

Spending the weekend with the nephews. Last night we played some Guitar Hero and Mike is amazing to watch play. I can barely handle easy and Mike is on expert. Now we are on the way to Massanutten to break in the new snowboard. Shell brought the camera so I should have some pics to post later.

Update -
Home from boarding, had fun, but it was a big dose of reality for me, first I didn't fit my snow pants from last year - Greg got them zipped, but one wipe out and that would be it for the zipper. Luckily Shell had an old pair of Chris' pants that fit me well. Yup, I get hand-me-downs from my 14 year old nephew. Second, I did a few runs and I am exhausted. So to sum up I am out of shape and overweight. Hopefully my new workout of the Wii will help me get back in fighting condition. Speaking of the Wii. My wonderful hubby picked me up my very own Guitar Hero. Hopefully soon the Rock Band will be available on the Wii cause I want to jam on the drums. Maybe with time I will get as good as the 9 year old phenom Ben. This kid is unreal. Or as the nephews say. He murdered it.

The boys were down the hill before Shell could even pull out the camera - so no pictures to share. We are going again in a couple weeks so maybe then.

Over The Top

I took some photos when I was working in Tampa - but they don't do the show any justice. I know Dad thinks the only good unit is the Red unit, but I think the Blue unit may change his mind. This is the best Blue tour I have seen since starting with the company oh so many years ago.
My favorite act is this bouncing tube thingy. No, that's not their real name.

This is a pretty good picture of the Globe of Steel - I thought Mike might be impressed.

The costumes this year were done by Angus Strathie who won an award for Moulin Rouge. The costumes are awesome.

I think Greg might like the costumes for the Brazilian dancers. This picture doesn't do it much justice. Tim might even enjoy the show this time around.

And finally, a little something for Melissa - The show has a dog act featuring none other than the winner of the Best in Show - Australian Shepard.

Just look how cute!

And talented too!