Nate, do you still have my keys?

Today we got two bins to load all of our stuff in... we were all worried that we would need 3, but fortunately, we managed to get all of our stuff crammed into 2, since there was a huge yard sale and barbecue sponsered by our apartment complex (we sold a few of the large furtature items we own, and those that didn't sell during the yard sale managed to disappear afterwards. Anyway, after several hours of packing, I closed the bins and sat down to relax... the Dennis (a friend that helped us move everything in the bins) popped his head into our apartment and asked, "Nate do you still have my car key?" I'd borrowed his car key to cut some plastic and then set it on a box right outside of the bins. My heart sank as I heard those words because I knew what it might implicate. I ran to the bins and looked on the ground... no keys... I asked around while Maria called everyone that helped us move... no keys.... Then, to make things worse, he told me "My wife recently lost our spare car key." I opened the bins and unpacked about a third of our stuff... no keys. I then said, "let's get your car re-keyed." So while I sat inside one of the bins, he called AAA. Just as he got off the phone and the locksmith was on the way, I looked at the door of the bin and saw a car key hanging off one of the locks....

Side note: As expected, the internet routers were the last items to be packed...

Sea World with Friends One Last Time

Yosemite

A few weeks ago we took Anabelle on her first camping trip ever... we got her all excited by telling her we'd get to sleep in a tent (she has a play tent in her room that she loves), and sure enough, she had a blast. We went to Yosemite with my brothers and their families and saw lots to cool things, like big trees.
Anabelle is obsessed with princesses, so it really took no effort to get her excited about camping when we told her that grandma bought her a princess sleeping bag
One day we biked ~16 miles and hiked up to Bridalveil falls... the water was REALLY cold, but lots of fun to play in
The next day we took an 8 or 9 mile hike... needless to say, that was encouragement enough to never want to gain 35 pounds.
Randall is quite the thinker... he realized "long hikes are boring and really tall waterfalls aren't that great, so i'll bring a kite with me to fly mid-way through the hike"... well, it was entertaining for all of us
It was cool that they also had a little church for us on Sunday
And what is a trip without a flat tire on the way home?

The best part was by far seeing that I may soon have a replacement in the dishwashing department at home...

Sorry about the earthquake, LA...

Those who have been paying attention to the news will remember that ~ a week and a half ago there was an earthquake in Los Angles... I just want to tell you how it happened. It all started that morning when my alarm clock slept in (she didn't go off until 8:30). When we all woke up we threw all of our stuff together for a quick trip to Los Angeles to apply for student visas at the Israeli consulate. Of course, the drive took longer than google maps said (for some reason traffic isn't as bad in San Diego when compared with Los Angeles... either that or I just never drive since I live within walking distance of my lab). We pulled into the parking garage for the consulate 15 minutes before they close (noon), and went through the first two security check points just in time. As we were standing outside the last security checkpoint room (they only let one person/family in the room at a time), Maria looked at me and asked "NATE! DID YOU GET ANY CASH TO PAY FOR OUR VISAS?!!" (they only accept cash)... of course, I'm constantly thinking of computational modeling of brain energy metabolism, neurological disorders, and gene expression in E. coli, so I could only say "No... CRAP!!" Maria was about to run out the building when I stopped her and said "let's at least try to give them our paper work and see if they'll let us mail the money." Just then the gaurd in the last security checkpoint room opened the door and motioned for us to enter. As we stepped in, I couldn't help but notice the thick door, and all sorts of baggage/people scanners. The security guard took our bags and started to search them when the entire room started moving. The guard calmly started talking into his radio as if it was totally normal for the 17th story room to be moving, and since my hebrew is still pretty bad... well, I thought "Man! this is pretty high security... they even have a security room that is separated from the consulate's office, but will move to connect with the office!" well, I was wrong... it was an earthquake and the guard escorted us out of the building. While outside, I took immediate advantage of the situation and ran to an ATM. We got back just as they were escorting everyone back into the consulate. As we stood there I said, "I feel bad... if I'd just remembered to grab some cash before we came in, the man upstairs wouldn't have had to cause that earthquake so we could get our visas!"