Congratulations Autumn and Dave!

Samuel Graham (Sam) and Tyson Witt (Ty) Boyd arrived on Monday afternoon!  At 5.1 and 6 pounds, their poor mama had been carrying around over 11 pounds of baby!  Great job, Autumn!

Summer at the zoo

I'm not generally a big fan of zoos, but I swear that we have been to the Nashville zoo at least 2-3 times a month since March.  Tip -- membership is dirt cheap if your kid is under 2.  Annie loooves the zoo, and we love any place where we can arrive at 9:00 am (even on Sundays - woo hoo!) and get her good and tired before naptime!

We've had a recent breakthrough - instead of sitting on the little bench, she's started riding the giraffe on the merry-go-round!  Of course, now that she will ride the giraffe, she is obsessed with it.  (The parenting books would say she is "focused.")  Unfortunately you can't get to the elephant and giraffe exhibits without going past the merry-go-round, so she whines, points, says "music" and demonstrates her dancing skills the whole time we're looking at the elephants. 

She also loves he petting zoo area, where very patient goats allow small children (and adults) to brush them. Annie often feels the need to have two brushes.  She would probably take the whole bucket if she could carry them.

The zoo also has an amazing and huge playground that we have generally been able to avoid thus far.  Annie's still too little to run around on such a massive playground without us, but I am sure by next summer she'll be off and running.  Not that we'll be waiting for next summer.  I'm sure we'll still be there twice a month all winter long, come snow or sleet!

Toby becomes an English-American!

That's right, Toby is officially now a dual citizen!  After months (or maybe years) of waiting, interviews, tests, and background checks, the ceremony itself was short and sweet - maybe 20-25 minutes.  It was very nice, not overly sentimental (which was good, because otherwise I would have bawled).  Annie did her very best to behave, though she kept wanting to to go sit with Daddy.  Two of Toby's bosses joined my parents, Annie and myself to cheer Toby on...or, more accurately, sit quietly in the courtroom and try to get some pictures.  

Here is Toby before the ceremony - he looked sharp!  It was interesting to see what some other folks consider appropriate attire for a courtroom. 

Here just after the ceremony.  Toby was sweating from the nerves and I was sweating from wrestling an 18 month old for 45 minutes. :) 

And with the Judge...in a happy coincidence, I worked for this judge for a semester during law school.  I didn't see him much when I worked for him, but he pretended to remember me.

Friday night I threw a big surprise citizenship party for Toby at Dan McGuinness Pub. About 35 of his friends and colleagues joined us, and we all had a great time.  It was also extra special since it was the eve of the 5th anniversary of our first date - at Dan McGuinness!  We couldn't have begun to imagine then where we would be today! 

People have been asking me why Toby decided to become a US Citizen, since England is such a wonderful place.  I usually tell them I'm not completely sure about the details, but I know that he did it for our family, and that means the world to me.