Happy Birthday Jake (and Liz)

Happy Birthday, Jake!

Hopefully you had a great day yesterday, and I can't wait for the birthday celebration for you and Liz at our house next weekend.

For those interested, the slideshow on the right side of your screen has been updated to feature photos of Jake and Liz.

Matt

Matt and Mike at the Ryder Cup

Louisville, KY: Dad and I visited Valhalla golf club last weekend in what turned out to be exciting, while, at times, tense, U.S. victory over those crumpet-eating, brightly-clothed Europeans. Boo Weekley, Hunter Mahan, Anthony Kim, and of course, captain Paul Azinger, led an inspired U.S. team to at 16 and 1/2 to 11 and 1/2 victory over Faldo's European team (and if you don't know any of those names, well, you probably don't really care about this that much anyways :) ).

Besides closely advising Paul Azinger on how to best pair his players (oh wait, the was Ray Floyd and Dave Stockton, never mind), Dad and I played a couple rounds of golf at some great local courses and attended an outdoor pep rally in downtown Louisville to liven up the American crowds during the cup.

And the crowds were loud: there were many cheers and chants of: "U.S.A, U.S.A, U.S.A," while joyful chanting of: "Ole, Ole, Ole, Ole" were sung whenever a European made a birdie putt. Overall, the venue was great, the competition was great, and we, as the trend suggests, had a great time (Dad even got to meet Michael Jordan, who was in the NBC tent with us.)

Matt

You can go home again

As I am making this announcement from work, I am not going to wax poetic. However, I wanted all of you to know that it is official--BJ is moving back to the Chicago area. I'm not joking Grandpa, but I can sign a contract with the family if you'd like.

Around 3:30 yesterday afternoon, I got an e-mail from Northwestern University confirming my conditional admission into their Master's Program in Higher Education Administration & Policy. After a night of volleyball and sleep to think things over (and dodging the persistence of Detective Leah Marie), I decided to accept Northwestern's offer. I met with my boss this morning and submitted a letter of resignation.

The timeline at this point is as follows--My first night of class is September 23. I will work through September 19, come home that weekend, attend my first week of classes, drive back to Des Moines to work at Drake September 25 and 26 (my last day) and then complete my transition back to Chicago. Everybody got that? Following Rand has never been more riveting, I know.

More details to come. Stay tuned SLEW. For now, save a spot for me at Sunday dinner on Sept 21.

Feeling and spreading the love,
BJ

Happy Birthday, Jessie!

Happy birthday, Jessie! Hope you had a great day. See you soon, and we all hope Darren is feeling well and has a quick and speedy recovery.

Matt

Jessie and Darren, Camp Slaw 2007

Happy Occasions

It is certainly a time for many happy occasions, engagements, birthdays lots going on. I just want to congratulate Sara and Eric on their engagement, we are very happy for you. And I want to wish my daughters, Kim and Devin a very Happy 22nd and 2oth Birthdays, and Happy Birthday to Jessie tomorrow! Julie

HAPPY BIRTHDAY, DEVIN!!

I hope you have had and continue to have a great day! 

Love, Paige

The announcement.

And now, the long anticipated, “Eric’s First Blog”….

Some people say that when you get married you not only marry that person but their entire family.  It's amazing to think that it was a year and one week ago, that Sara and I went on our first date, and it was only one week later that I was so warmly welcomed by nearly the entire family and met everyone else shortly thereafter.  Most people would probably say that meeting the family, not to mention grandparents, aunts, uncles and cousins, after the first week is crazy.  Well, they would probably be right, and for the younger audience, I'm not endorsing this move by any means.  However, after meeting Sara, the idea didn't seem that crazy.  It's funny, and usually sounds cliché whenever you hear a couple say, "we just knew it right away," but I guess that's what true love is.  It's this funny, cliché thing, that given serious rational thought would seem impractical and not make sense, but somehow it does.  And we knew it right away.

I also knew right away that I was loved and accepted by Sara.  It's like that feeling that can only be matched by being home, surrounded by family and those you love.  As quickly as Sara and I fell for each other, I cannot describe the warmth and love that I felt from every member of the White, Slaw, Ettleson, and Lincenberg families right away.   From that first game of Scrabble last Labor Day, to experiencing my first humanistic high holiday service with the Whites, to pumpkin carving on Halloween with the two of the coolest grandwitches I've ever met, to Thanksgiving (dessert) at the Slaws, the many birthdays, Sunday dinners, and every other family gathering both big and small, I left every event with the same feeling of warmth, love and acceptance. 

Sara and I were so happy to announce our engagement to everyone this weekend.   From the very bottom of my heart, I am beyond grateful for the love and support you have all shown Sara and me this past year.  Thank you, and I love you all.

-Eric

Happy Birthday Kim!

Well, it's September and that means Happy Birthday to Kim!!! We hope that you have a great birthday! Hopefully you are doing something fun and exciting on your special day. We love and miss you so much! Love, Aunt Jeri