Happy 40th to Doug

Time has caught up with me as I've entered the sacred space of middle age. Carey and I got away up to a part of Chile that we had never seen, the Atacama Desert. The Atacama Desert in the north of Chile is one of the driest deserts in the world. We stayed in a quaint, although touristy town called San Pedro de Atacama. I would describe it as a very rustic, small Santa Fe with dirt streets. While there we visited the Valley of the Moon (pictured above - it looks like the moon! But you can see the moon over our heads), Death Valley (nothing can grow there), the Atacama Salt Flats complete with a lake full of pink flamingos, alpine lakes at 14,000 ft., small villages where the idigenous people still use farming techniques from the age of the Incas, and the highest geyser field in the world at 14,000 ft. It was a wonderful way to celebrate my 40th birthday with the love of my life. When we got home the house had been transformed into a Western town and it was full of friends to help celebrate my 40th. Thanks to all for helping celebrate this milestone!

Jake Smashes Two Homeruns!

Last Saturday Little League started here in Santiago and Jake and Jonny play for the Santiago Metros. Though the level of play isn't the highest, there are a lot of kids that are coming into their own in baseball and Jake and Jonny are a couple of them. During Jake's first at bat of the season he crushed the ball way over the leftfielders head. It was a clear homerun! The picture above is of him after he got back to the dugout and was celebrating with his teammates. In his next at bat he crushed another one through the outfield and made it all the way home (I would count this as an inside the park homer with an error). He then hit two more singles to end the game 4 for 4. I was so proud of him and happy for knocking that first homer.