A Week of Fun

As they tend to do, Brian's birthday was spread over about a week. We were given tickets to a ballet on his actual birthday. We went with some of our friends to see an odd ballet. One of the four pieces was really beautiful. One was very traditional. One was very 60's and really strange. The last one got mixed reviews. At the end of this final piece I said, "At least it had a story." Brian replied, "It did?!"

We spent the day after Brian's birthday at the Getty Villa and Point Dume. The Getty Villa was built to resemble an Italian villa that was destroyed when Mt. Vesuvius erupted and later excavated. Point Dume is a beautiful point over the beach just north of Malibu. We watched a bunch of surfers get bashed by the waves and even saw a pod of dolphins! Below are some pictures of the adventures. Enjoy!

Brian at his concert band performance the week of his birthday.

Point Dume, so pretty. This is where we saw the dolphins. Isn't Brian cute?

The view of Malibu from Point Dume. Dee the hazy stuff in the distance? That's L.A. Yuck!

Ah, Greek art. The man is kind of funny, but the tile work is amazing.


Fun with Greek columns. Wendy, I can fly!

More fun with Greek columns. Who says that Greek architecture isn't fun?

We've been married exactly 9 months in this photo.

Big Birthday Party

We had a birthday party this past Saturday for Brian and Patrick (our neighbor). Below are some photos of the festivities. We had a great time. Brian really wanted a pinata "to celebrate his New Mexican heritage."

The birthday boys have fun attacking the pinata.

Patrick, dizzy and blind.

Silly, Brian. Eat the cake, not the pinata.

We're so glad our friends could make it!

One of our classic photos. I think we are getting better at these than at regular photos.

A View of the Fires

Here are some pictures that I took from where I work. The smoke is from the fires across the valley. These were taken from Mulholland Drive on the south side of the San Fernando Valley looking at the Porter Ranch area on the north side of the San Fernando Valley about 14 miles away. The fire had been burning for about 24 hours when I took this photo. It has burned over 10,000 acres. This afternoon the smoke is virtually gone. Good job, Firefighters! Still, everytime I step outside I can't help but notice that everywhere smells like a campfire.

P.S. To our moms: This is far away from where we live. We are both quite safe.

The L.A. Landscape

Once again, Los Angeles is on fire. You might see this on your nightly news program. Anytime the strong Santa Ana winds kick up one tiny spark can burn thousands of acres. Considering that it's only rained maybe twice in the past nine months we were expecting this. It is all part of a natural process where the fires burn the brush, and the ashes fertilize the soil for new plant life. There is even a plant out here that thrives on fires. In fact, the seed pods only open after a fire.

The land out here is still quite foreign to me. The soil is very dusty and dry compared to the fertile soils in Missouri. After living here almost five years I've only recently gotten used to things like: being aware of rattlesnakes when hiking, mountains (who'd have thought they'd be in the middle of the city?), dry & brittle brush and virtually no streams. In fact, our apartment is next to the L.A. River, which is basically a cement drainage ditch. Brian and I are amazed to see the ducks who live there playing in the water that is only there because of the run-off from people watering their lawns.

Here are some facts about Los Angeles County:

--Los Angeles County covers 4,084 square miles.

--The population is 10,331,939.

--Los Angeles County is 44% Hispanic, 31% Caucasian, 12% Asian, 9% African American.

--54% of the population speak a language other than English at home.

--70% of the population have a high school diploma.

--25% of the population have a bachelor's degree or higher.

--16.7% of the poplulation of Los Angeles County is below the poverty line.

--The median household income for 2004 was $43,518.

--The median home price is $464,333.

--In 2005 there were 7,514,916 registered vehicles.

This is a very different place than where I was raised!

The L.A. River near the downtown area...

Stockton Lake in Missouri...