The Updike's

So a couple of weeks ago, Christina & I had the wonderful opportunity of visiting family in the Baltimore/Washington DC area. It was such a great experience and we really enjoyed the time we were able to spend with our families and seeing some very cool historic sites. First, we spent the afternoon with Mark & Julie. It was great to see them! They took us to Annapolis , Maryland where we spent the afternoon checking out the US Naval Academy. It was a beautiful area and very interesting. We got to see lots of sailboats on the water, many of which were being manned by cadets at the academy. It looked like fun! It happened to be the weekend of a yearly boat show that they have in Annapolis , so there were a lot of people and tons of boats. You can’t really tell in the pictures, but there were a lot of boats around. Walking around the campus was really neat too. We got to see the homes where many of the professors live and it was really pretty....

Who says a "big guy" can't run fast? So I have to take a minute and brag about Garrett. For the past 2 months, Garrett has been participating on a intramural flag football team. They had a great season . . . even making it to the semi-finals of the playoffs. In fact, during the first game of the season, his MBA teammates coined the name "Garrett the Gazelle" after he ran the ball down the field to make a touchdown. The other team was about to score a touchdown and then Garrett intercepted the ball on the 5 yard line and ran the entire distance of the field for a touchdown. I think they were all shocked because they didn't think that a "big guy" could run so fast. Way to go Garrett!! (Granted, he did need some oxygen after that play.) The team ended up being really good too. They won all their games until last night. In the last game before the championship, they lost on the last play of the game. It was really heartbreaking. But oh well...

We were so excited to have Austin, Brandon and Laura come and visit us for a few days. We had so much fun with them! We sure love and miss all of our siblings and their families. We sure appreciate all that you do for us! Austin experiencing his first Notre Dame Football Game. We ended up getting soaked by the pouring rain! Our good friends, the Kindt's, are also pictured with us. Austin in front of the Notre Dame Football Stadium Austin on Notre Dame campus Laura and Brandon watching the football players walk across campus before the big game starts Garrett and Brandon getting geared up for the big football game Laura and I having fun together on game day