NOT that we're trying to call attention to our victory, but....

The Mighty Arb Team

Here we are-- the TRIVIA CHAMPS!! The Mighty Team Arb!!

Aren't we a fine looking family?

Here are the proofs of Livi's school pictures-- isn't she a doll? But HOW did they get her to pose so pretty?? 

Mamie, sitting pretty 

What a pretty girl! 

Mom's a pretty nifty place to nap when you have a cold... 

Our new favorite hairstyle-- the top knot! 

Another round of family photos

Today was the 2d round of family photos-- this time all the adults and the kids. The Essweins had some issues about where to put their thumbs:

Greentree 2005

Here's Livi with a couple of firsts-- her first Greentree Festival and her first rock candy. She appeared to like both.

I'm ready for my closeup, Mr. deMille

Here's the kiddos' formal portrait for the year. Can you tell who doesn't want to be photographed? And what you DON'T see is Mama Rosenberger, the younger, just barely off-camera pushing her back into the picture! Of course, we did manage to get her to smile for one-- by hitting me over the head with a feather duster!

Trev

This is our friend, Trevis. Two really amazing things about Trev (well, actually many amazing things, but two jump to mind):

1) His parents survived Katrina IN New Orleans and were out of touch for a couple of weeks, putting the fear of GAWD into all of us;







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2) Since he was in our wedding, he's lost an entire person worth of weight-- approximately 140 pounds

Trev is to Fred's left in this picture.

Hard work at daycare

Another hard day's work at daycare. Here's Liv and her pal, Leah, slaving away on the swings. It is SO TOUGH being 2.

Wash U wedding photos

Look what I came across as I was leaving WU interview day! A bridal party! Brings back so many great memories of around this time of year four years ago!

More evidence that Tom's got some automotive ISSUES....

Look at what my beloved, but deeply strange friend did to his car. Yes, he's an accident reconstructionist, but....is this truly necessary?

Another email about New Orleans

This is an email from a friend of ours whose parents, having survived Camille and other storms, elected not to evactuate New Orleans and were out of touch for more than two weeks:

"Man o man. MAN-O-MAN. They were rescued from the house on Tuesday after spending Monday night in the attic. Who rescued them? Red cross, FEMA, the National Guard... nope, they were rescued by kids in the neighborhood who happened to have a boat. That got them from the house to the school across the street. After staying there for a while they were next moved from the school to the interstate by Louisiana Fish and Wildlife where they were stuck for TWO DAYS before a bus came and took them to...you guessed it, the Superdome (of Doom).

Their memories are a bit fuzzy of their stay but they were there for a few days before they eventually managed to get a seat on one of the buses. They were then taken to Fort Chaffee in Arkansas, which is where they called me from on Sunday.

From the base they were later moved to a Baptist Church Camp in Springlake Arkansas where they met a nice lady named Kim Morgan who emailed me wanting to know what else she could do to help. They spent Monday night at the camp which was not very pleasant from what I gather because men and women were separated, which they, my mom especially, were not happy about. They managed to get a ride from the camp to the greyhound station in Hotsprings Arkansas where they got a last minute ticket to come up to STL."

Good news out of New Orleans...for a change!!

This is from my friend, Holli, also in New Orleans. Happily, her situation is much better than that of my friend, Christy, whose letter I posted earlier:

[My husband] Julio just called me with mostly good news and a funny story. The funny story first:

They were not letting people past the Laplace checkpoint. The police were not letting anyone in supposedly until six a.m. tomorrow. Julio pulled around the traffic on the shoulder of the road, in his van with a brand new trash trailer he bought in HOuston attached, and his father driving an SUV behind him. He flashed his constable badge and the state police let him and his dad in with no problem. He saw a bunch of military, ems, etc., getting off at a ramp where he wanted to go and so he jumped in the line with them, and activated his police light on his dash. The soldiers stopped and pulled out machine guns on him and asked who he was. He flashed his badge and they were suspicious and asked what he was doing, and he said he was a deputy (which he actually is, but only a constable deputy, who don't do anything except hold meetings about nothing), and that he was called in. They said okay, and he drove in with them. Rounding another curve, his trailer hit one of the soldier's Jeeps and he stopped and the soldier said he didn't care, wasn't his Jeep. So that's the funny story, how my husband is insane and has cahonas the size of an elephants.

The news- our house is mostly fine. The study ceiling fell in, which isn't totally unexpected because it used to be the garage and the ceiling has always leaked. We were planning on remodeling it anyway, so now it will be at the insurance company's expense. The only other damage inside was the ceiling upstairs in the playroom. I don't know if anything is wet up there, but the girl's toys can be dried. I was glad if it had to be one room it wasn't the girl's bedroom, which has a lot more stuff that could be ruined. Two of Julio's one million sheds blew down, but not his main one. One of the one's that blew down actually fell apart during the tropical storm and he never picked up the pieces. The second was a small tool shed where he kept his lawn mower.

Julio had stacked the girl's outside toys, a ton of them, bikes, big wheels, scooters, up in front of the house instead of bringing them inside. He said they are still stacked up like he left them.

The really good news is that all four cats, even Jasmine, who was about ready to die anyway, are all okay. They killed a squirrel and still had half of it left. Julio said they acted like nothing was going on.

Mom's house is fine, except her back glass screen door shattered, and her electricity will likely take a while to get back up because (1) it's Avondale, and Avondale seems to always have electricity problem, and (2) a tree in her backyard knocked the electricity pole over, and pulled out the service from her house. If we get our electricity back, she will stay with us until her electricity is fixed.

Things are much better than I had rationally thought. We will need a new roof, and my study will get remodeled and I'll have to see about the toyroom, but all in all we fared extremely well and are very lucky.

Security did not seem to be an issue. Avondale was completely deserted, and the Wal Mart in Boutte, about fifteen minutes down hwy 90, was opened, with people waiting in line for gas and grocery shopping. My neighbors, (Rachel's family, for those who know them) were all home, even the kids. Johnny, the father, has been walking the neighborhood armed to ensure that no one breaks into the houses. Julio said the reports from our cop friend of the shingles was a little exagerated, although there were some on the ground it wasn't extreme. The house smells, but he thinks once the fridge is cleaned it will be fine.

I am anticipating being able to go home as soon as the electricity is on. Julio said they were on Lapalco near the house working on the lines, so maybe a few days, maybe another week or so, but I"m just glad it seems like we may be getting back to normal at some point in the near future.

Aunt Pat, tellin' it like it is! 

Grandma and Grandpa 

Then Robby joins the fray 

The girls attack poor Alex

Whoa! A bubble! 

Hey! What's that?

Laura and Brianna 

Pretty Julia 

Family dinner, post-pictures

The cousins play while Grandpa looks on

This afternoon we got all the cousins together at Penney's for the grandkids picture for Grandma's Christmas card. The older kids are very good at this, having done it many times before. Liv hated it, but the clever photographer put me on a stool right out of sight of the camera and Liv mostly kept it together. In fact, we got a GREAT photo of Livi smiling.

Afterwards we went to Grandma & Grandpa's for pizza and some socializing. A grand time was had by all. We all enjoyed seeing Aunt Pat, although I appear to be the only one who worried about her getting blown off the road by Katrina!

Okay, Livi's definition of a stroll is a little faster than most... 

After lunch with Auntie Sonja, a stroll through West County mall...