Uncle Tom, Tante Neet, and Jordan in Indian Trail, North Carolina.

We visited my Uncle Tom, Tante Neet, and cousin Jordan from Thursday to Saturday. We had a great time together and had a lot of fun. We ate a lot of delicious food as well. I was really happy to get the chance to play some pick-up basketball with Jordan and a couple of his friends. I was surprised that I could keep up.

We want to give a big thank you to Uncle Tom and Tante Neet for letting us stay at their place. It was great to see you and spend some time together. Thanks again, and see you in a week.

The Sybengas in Arcadia.

We visited family friends the Sybengas on Monday night. We were on our way out of L.A. and to Joshua Tree. It was great to see a couple familiar faces, and we had a great time together. Dinner and dessert - sausage pasta and apple crisp with ice cream - were delicious, and it was really good to catch up. We even got to do a couple loads of laundry. Huzzah!

A big thank you to the Sybengas for putting us up for the night. Thanks for your hospitality. It was great to see you!

Note: I've tried to get a photo of all our hosts during our trip. Unfortunately, I forgot on this occasion.

Happy birthday, Rhoda!

Yesterday was Rhoda's birthday. We woke up in Denver at Annalise's apartment. Annalise made us coffee, and I hid Rhoda's gifts in different places around the apartment. Rhoda, however, is very good at treasure hunts, so it took her no time to find the various presents.

After a small birthday breakfast, we walked over to Dozens for breakfast. It was a warm, sunny day, a good day to be out for a walk.

At around one o'clock, we got in the car and drove up to Boulder to visit our friends Dave and Jill. Dave, Rhoda, and I, as well as Maya, their dog, piled into the car and drove up the Flat Irons. We had a great hike that included some rock climbing. We even checked out a cave.

Jill met us back at their house and we went out for dinner. The food and beer were delicious, and Rhoda got a free piece of carrot cake because it was her birthday.

All in all, it was a very good day.