Meeting my New Niece

Last weekend I got to meet my new niece for the first time! Her name is Madeline and she was 8 weeks old when I visited. She's perfect! Don't you think so?

Karen and Jason are amazing parents and make an incredible team. They're both so comfortable with Madeline. They're also amazing at figuring out a schedule and communicating with each other about it. I know having a baby isn't easy but at least they're working together and doing what works for them.

I loved being able to visit and just hang out. It's been a really long time since Karen and I were able to just sit around together. We got to just chit chat and watch TV and of course play with Madeline. I was especially pleased at how comfortable Karen was with me with Madeline. She let me help quite a bit, which was nice. I'm working hard to become the favorite aunt!

Madeline is such a sweet, sweet baby. I'm sad that it will be awhile before I can see her again. Though I'm looking forward to the development that will happen in that time frame. I especially can't wait until she's smiling and laughing!

Presidential First Dogs

The Presidential First Dogs is a fun photo gallery by Time.com.

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Halloween 2008

Chris and I had a great Halloween this year. We started off with dinner at our neighbors' house. They cooked dinner then we sat in the driveway and gave out candy. We saw lots of kids and their families. Most of the costumes were fun and cute...very little gore or anything scary. Everyone was happy and nice. I love seeing parents teach their little ones to say "thank you."

Then we threw on our own costumes and drove to Tempe for our first alleycat. This race was called The Dagger Deathrace II and it was a mixture of bike race plus photo scavenger hunt. Chris and I didn't race per say, but we rode and had a really fun time. We made it to all stops except for one (the cemetery) and got all our photo points. Probably the best part is we did the entire race without incident - no flat tires, no crashing!

• Start: Dailey Park - lots of socializing before the race. Got to see everyone's costumes. The Daggers (race organizers) were all in sombreros & skull makeup. Probably my favorite costumes. The SK crew looked like V for Vendetta. There was a group of Mormons (white shirts, black ties, helmets) and a group of perv coaches (short shorts, bad mustaches, whistles). I wore a tutu and Chris went as a cowboy.
• First stop: Kore Bike Shop where we picked up the manifest. Apparently the manifests were hidden in pinatas but we missed the pinata cracking. We took a few minutes to read everything and go over our plan of attack. The stops could be done in any order so it took some route planning.
• Second stop: Death Tunnel - The tunnel is a drainage pipe near the Salt River. I sent Chris into the tunnel and stayed outside to watch the bikes. Chris came out of the tunnel with a baby doll covered in "blood" and cut in half. I'm glad I didn't go in the tunnel.
• Third stop: Sunset Clothing Exchange - I rode right past the shop because I didn't pay close enough attention to the map. We had to circle back after I realized we missed it. The race organizers had a photo setup where we posed for a picture.
• Fourth stop: House party where we drank a beer in the backyard. While we were there, we heard the race organizers announce that the race had been won.
• Final stop: The after party bar where everyone got to tell their race stories and the winners were announced.

Video of the start of the race:

View all our pictures from the night. OR view Jason Roehner's photos of the entire event which are totally awesome.