This afternoon I heard the tornado siren go off. Shortly afterwards, I started to hear hail pounding our house. Matt and I watched for 15 or more minutes as golf ball sized hail came down. Below are pictures of Matt holding some of the hail and some of the damage to our house. We are now watching the news, learning that a tornado actually touched down about a mile from our house at the Southlands shopping center, where we frequently go. We are thankful that we are safe and unharmed and that our house suffered relatively minor damage.

Family Guy and Star Trek TNG

These scenes from Family Guy crack me up.

Free Chick-Fil-A for a Year!!

A few weeks ago Bri, Steven (My Bro in Law) and I went and spent a night in a Chick-Fil-A parking lot. The reason? Free Chick-Fil-A for a year!! That's right, we get a whole bunch of food for free and all we had to do was sleep in a parking lot of a Chick-Fil-A.

It wasn't to bad temperature wise and they had games, free food and drink for us as well. We've already redeemed quite a few of the vouchers we got for free food and I look forward for not paying for a good long time.

Here are a few pictures -

Bri and I with our free Mugs posing in front of the new store.

Our Tent and us just waiting for morning.

Bri and the Chick-Fil-A Cow.

Steven.

Steven and I playing 4 Square in the drive through.

Space Olympics

There may be a commercial that plays before hand, but I found this really amusing.

The Desert is a Fragile Environment

Brianna and I, along with her parental units and brother, went to Colorado National Monument, Arches National Park and Canyonlands National Park. It was a really great time. These parks are beautiful and we are very thankful to have had the chance to see them.

Here are some pictures -

May Update

Well, it has been a busy few months in the Grace household. However, we decided that it was finally time for an update. Shortly after the last post, we made a trip to Delaware to celebrate the wedding of our friends Brenda and Dave. Here are some pictures from that trip and other events in May.

Brianna & the bride-to-be at the rehearsal dinner.

Brenda with the groomsmen.

Dave with the bridesmaids.

Brianna & Matt going for some goodies at the chocolate fountain.

Aaahhh....aren't they nice to each other?

We got to see many good friends,

including some of the girls from Brianna's small group.

Later that weekend, we went to the beach in Ocean City, MD

with our friends Joe & Sara.

Brianna stuck her toes in the cold Atlantic Ocean!

Matt's high school friend Chuck met us at the beach.

We enjoyed some fresh seafood at Matt's favorite restaurant!

Matt's friend Joe (yes, another Joe) also met us

during our trip to the beach.

After returning from our trip to Delaware, the rest of May was also pretty busy. Over Mother's Day weekend, Matt's mom flew in from Baltimore for a nice visit. We tried to drive over Guanella Pass, but there was too much snow to make it all the way, even though we were in our all wheel drive SUV.

While attempting to drive over Guanella Pass, we stopped

for a photo. You can see it snowing in the picture.

We also saw a herd of mountain goats during our drive.

Other highlights from May included celebrating Brianna's birthday, finding a kitchen table at a garage sale, and enjoying a visit from Brianna's brother, Steven, as he made his way from North Carolina to New Mexico to work at Philmont Boy Scout camp for the summer.

Our new kitchen table that we found for $75 at a garage sale.

It is in great condition!

Well, that concludes the May upate. Hopefully a June update will follow shortly!

New Wii Game

I finally bought a new Wii game after owning the system for almost a year and a half. Actually, I bought one back in Feb, but that doesn't count as it was really more of a demo game. Anyway, I got Mario Kart for the Wii.

I must admit it is quite fun. It comes with a steering wheel so you can actually drive the car.



Who wants to play??

Orioles Manager Quote

I think I actually like the manager of the Orioles, not because they are doing decent right now, but for quotes like this about people running on the field during a game -

"I wish I could have taken them in the back room," he said. "I would have kicked the snot out of both of them. I'm serious. You think I'm kidding you. I don't have any patience for disrespect. These guys bust their [rear] out there every night, and for two lunatics to come out there like that -- who do they think they are? Turn them over to us one time. I'll show them where the other side of the fence is. I believe in respect and common courtesy. Those two idiots last night did not show any of that." Dave Trembley - Baltimore Orioles Manager.

Now I don't condone language like this, but it is slightly amusing.

Denver Auto Show

About a month ago Brianna and I had the chance to go to the Denver Auto Show down at the Colorado Convention Center. It's billed as the largest auto show west of the Mississippi.

It was really crowded and there were a lot of people that didn't understand the courtesy of sitting in the car for just a brief period and then letting the people waiting sit in the car, but we had a good time. People also need to get their little kids out of the driver seats as well. They can't even drive. The Denver Auto Show also needs to accept credit or debit card to get in.

Anyway, going to the auto show has always been a favorite of mine ever since my Dad starting taking me to the Baltimore Auto Show when I was real little. I think I still have a fan from Hyundai from one of those shows.

Brianna and I came away really impressed by some cars and very disappointed in others. I don't understand what people see in BMW's and Mercedes. I didn't care for them at all. The Volvo's and Lexus's were actually my favorite in the luxury category. We aren't buying anything anytime soon though so this was just so we could sit in all the cars and have fun. Afterward Brianna and I went to Cheesecake Factory.

Brianna in her Mini Cooper.

Me in a Mustang. Still not as good as my 68 was.

For the Birds

Did you ever feel like the big bird in the video below?