Our crocuses have been blooming for several weeks, but our first daffodil has just appeared. Hurray for spring and daffodils! Mom

Spring Arrives in Boulder

The prom photos on the blog have revealed a very handsome family. The two Coburn additions were fun to see and to remind us that some traditions never die. Both Matt and Sarah (and their dates) look very handsome/beautiful and the clothes very elegant. As Matt suggests, the cost is staggering but the memories don't fade and I'm sure these two events will be thought about for many years.

Mom and I have been enjoying the Kellogg's vacation. We had a nice day of skiing including Alden's first descent of a 'hill' at Eldora between Dad's legs. ,Reid who had skied the day before, passed on that day. We had a very educational introduction to variations of geocaching as the photo illustrates. This was a site along a highway with the items hidden in 'Mom's tupperware[?]' in the cottonwood in the background. It was found by just having the coordinates. The photo is of the exploring of the contents of the hidden objects and the deciding of what to take and then what to add from the Kellogg backpack. Rico also showed us another approach used by a local geocacher that involves identifying world sites, getting their coordinates, and then doing some math to arrive at the coordinates of the local cache. It was fun and the whole sport has lots of possibilities and there are some important lessons embedded in it. I loved orienteering in the army and tho the methodology has changed dramatically, the idea of using a device - compass or GPS - to find a location has remained. I bet Elli relates to this after Outward Bound! I like the fact that the Kellogg BRR team also bikes to find locations.

Thursday night the clan gathered for fondue. We felt we had to get one meal in around the cheese pot before we officially declared spring.

We watched the Ohio State - Kentucky game and commiserated with the Coburns. It was a good game to watch and got us hooked so we have a tape in to record the afternoon games for viewing this evening. Diane must be excited about Butler or is she too gone over to the Buckeyes?

On the more mundane side, we've been working on income tax and have it finished except for one item and an email message has been sent to track it down. That's always a relief.

Love to everyone and great to read Matt's news - thanks. Your position for next year sounds great - good experience on many levels.

Hey everybody. So to keep the formal theme of the last post going, W and L just had "Fancy Dress" or FD for short. The school budgets $100,000 for this event alone (which is pretty absurd) so as you can imagine the entire community is involved and having a good time. It basically allows us to have four more proms in college, which I have no problem with. This year's theme was Arabian Nights, but for PC reasons the name was changed to "A Night of Wonders". Our chef went all out preparing food for us this weekend. He treated us to an array of Arabic food on Saturday before the formal, and the night before cooked for our traditional "Crawfish Boil" event (this serves as a kind of ice-breaker for the guys and their dates). All in all it was a very fun event.

In other news I've been accepted to an internship program the local high school for next year. I'll be in charge of coordinating volunteers from W and L to work at the high school as well as assisting teachers there at the tutoring program after school. I've also decided to take a course in Arabic over the summer at NYU to strengthen my major and knowledge of the Middle East.

Hope all is well with you guys,

-Me

Junior Formal

Sarah and Will,.... a group shot with the parental papparazzi, Sarah and Grant; the obligatory date pic. They had a great time and are catching up on sleep at the moment.

Change of Seasons

As the first day of spring arrived, there have been many new changes for all of us. The house is officially showing and we've had to clear out to let people parade through. No-one's breaking out checkbooks yet, but there's been positive response from the first half dozen showings. You can check out the listing at: http://www.homesincolorado.com/p/30/650501

Be sure to see the 'virtual tour' it's quite entertaining!Boden started his new soccer league, and despite his spazziness he managed to score two goals in his first game. I captured the moment before the first, and the reaction with the big, proud grin. He's having a blast with some of his good buddies, and we love the venue up in North Boulder (where we hope to move)Alden has been welcoming spring with her hand-curated fashion ensembles which Kate has been documenting regularly. When you're 3, you envision yourself as a princess and you have huge collection of girly hand-me-downs in your closet, the results are quite stunning.

Of course, Reid and Kate had to cancel their travel plans to Haiti for the beak because of the elections there and ex-president Aristide's random decision to return to the country which might have created unrest and agitation. While we're all disappointed about them having to spend the week back in CO, they've rescheduled for June, and we realize it's best to be safe with these things.

We're enjoying the time all together, biking and skiing during the same break, March Madness (Adios, Texas!), working on the house and keeping our fingers crossed that someone who can see themselves loving our house as much as we have will come along.

The CO Kelloggs.

Big Events in Boston and NH

Paul and Pia's Engagement Announcement March 11,2011
Zach in the middle - Pia with her ring.

Brunch with Peg, Rich, and Fletcher Davis

Our KIA Soul - neat little SUV!

Winter in NH.

Annual March Party - Bunny and some of the guests - Sally and George Chase, Charles Lemeland

We had a good trip to Boston and New Hampshire. I had asked Paul privately on Wednesday how things were going with Pia and he said great - we're thinking of getting married. On Friday, Alice and Peter Cura - who had missed a party with the Hamilton girls on Thursday - came for a drink. Paul asked for our attention and with a grin and a nice little talk announced he and Pia were engaged, planning a summer wedding, and pulled out a ring for Pia. We were very appreciative of being included in the first public announcement - Pia's parents were to be told on Saturday! Zach arrived with his girl friend from college and cocktails became a dinner - as always very enjoyable for us. I'm really happy for them as its been a long and sometimes bumpy road for them but, as Paul told me years ago,"Pia's the girl I want to marry." The relationship has grown and they seem very comfortable together and Zach appears a happy part of the mix.

Besides the engagement, Paul ( he is his own boss and takes time off to be with us when we visit) and us spent the afternoon at the new American wing at the Boston MFA - a spectacular addition to the museum. I also visited City Year and Be the Change headquarters -Alan Khazei, a former SPS student, founded each and set up the interviews for me. Both organizations depend on 18 to 26 year olds to operate and the headquarters and programs are very inspiring.

They have web sites you can Google of you want to know more or ask me. Matt and Rachael might both be interested in City Year - participants give a year to work in city schools as tutors and mentors.

On Saturday, Peter Cura drove us to concord where we rented a car that Mom fell in love with - it is a smaller and cheaper version of our Subaru. We spent the night in Portsmouth and had Sat. lunch (1:30 to 5) with the Millers who looked better than last July. The kids are all OK and Perk is making thousands as CEO of Universal Sports, enjoying it - he will be involved with the London Olympics and has just signed an exclusive contract to cover World Rugby matches.

Sunday we had lunch with the Davises and got caught up on six years of activities including both Fletcher's and Chip's marriages and the birth of Chip's first child - second is due this summer. It was fun. Sunday night we were in Concord, dinner with n fairly new friends, and Monday I went to work on the AP programs. The three days went well.

We stayed with Anne Tuesday through Thursday. We saw a good bit if Bunny including the annual March get together of Chases, Lemelands, and Sayces. (Often joined by differing 4th parties.) This year an old friend, Chris Hamm who is in the legislature, came. We had some laughs at the incredibly conservative actions of the Republican legislature - a NH Army, everyone can carry a gun without a license - several schools have cancelled trips to the State House as all the legislators are carrying guns - too dangerous. Budget cuts for health care to eliminate all support for handicapped kids and adults; eliminating a slight increase from last year for car licenses to pay for bridge and other highway repairs and eliminating half the jobs in the Department of Transportation and privatizing such functions as snow plowing on the highways and all repairs. (Who pays when work is outsourced?) Etc. Etc. As Paul Hodes indicated, NH is the laughing stock of the country among the Democratic politicians, but it doesn't make the headlines as its not as focused as Wisconsin. It would be a belly laugh if it weren't so tragic.

Anne seemed fine, Bunny has failed a bit since last July - he had a mild heart attack this fall! and the Chases are aging. Jane and Charles seem much the same. They all asked about all of you and Mom passed around a small book of photos. It was a good trip and I think I'll get another invitation for next March. We hope so. The new Director sat in on half my talk and gave me glowing complements in reporting the visit to his Chief of Staff - always nice to hear and nice to have the Director feel that way.

Glad to hear Rachael is off to a happy start at QUT. It sounds good. Personally, I wouldn't jump to Psychology right away, but I would investigate what it entails. I'll send more on that to Rachael. Congratulations to Sarah and the DI Team - well done! Good luck (break a leg!) at State's! Sorry about the lacrosse injury but maybe it is a message to heed - too much and the music seems a good fill-in. Hope Matt has recovered from soreness. Great to see Reid heading down a Danger Slope (see geocache page) -sorry about the Haiti trip and hope it can happen soon. Love Boden's hair - Mom, Boden, and I went to see Annie at the library this afternoon and spent time rubbing each other's heads - result? Boden wins the softness award.

Love to all, Dad/Babbo

New Fuzzy Head, New Realtor

Hi everyone!

Lots of news on the Colorado Kellogg front! Boden shaved his head again this year in honor of St. Baldrick's day to show solidarity with kids who are battling cancer. Here are some before and after shots. We think he just finds it easier than dealing with getting his hair cut and washed all the time- the stuff is as thick as kudzu and grows faster!

We also made the step of officially signing with a realtor and we'll have the signs in the yard this week! We went with Tim Goodacre, not because he's Harry Connick Jr's brother-in-law, but because he's got 60 years of experience in Boulder between him and his dad and he's a good friend and neighbor who's enthusiastic about our neighborhood. I've ridden bikes with Tim for

years and I really trust that he'll put in his best effort for us.Official listing price is $875,00 (wow!) and we'll send the online listing information to you as soon as it goes live so you can start convincing all your friends to move to Boulder!

Kate and Reid are getting ready to head to Haiti for spring break with Jenny Grant. I'm so excited that Reid is going to finally get back- he hasn't been there since he was two! I know it will be a real eye-opening experience for a 6th grader, and I hope it will inspire a positive change in his young life. I'm giving him the assignment of making a powerpoint about the hospital to share with the Mesa community so they can see how their fundraising last year has made an impact.

Great news about Rachael's school plans and Sarah's DI success. Those Kellogg kids are a bright, creative bunch!

Latest Geocaching exploits; a 5-star terrain difficulty cache off the West Ridge at Eldora. See:http://www.geocaching.com/seek/cache_details.aspx?guid=7f490b61-99b8-4b0c-a2bf-b40881a89adc

Love to all!

Rico

On to States!

Jake (from Matt's DI team) and Ms. Henry (coach) watch as Ellen photos the reading of the scores at the Regional Tournament, 3.12.11.
Celebration commences as they realize that they have just received the highest score they have ever achieved. VERY high points for creativity and teamwork. They will be traveling to states with the Yorktown team (yet again). This spring there were 5 teams competing in the regionals at the high school level, no shoe-in this time! The team called Matt to let him know. He was taking a breather during a rugby tournament in Savannah but had to get off the phone to go back into the game. At the end of the weekend, he stated that he doesn't think he has ever been quite so sore.

Rachael, Congratulations,.....keep those academic wheels rolling. Things are just beginning to sprout around here, little bits of green poking up. The snow has finally melted although, we may not have seen the last of it.

P.S

Due to the changing seasons I've once again decided a colour scheme change is in order! It's autumn in this country so some nice oranges and browns would suit...

Enjoy!

Rachael

Back to school

Hello!

I thought I'd announce that after some consideration and then some reconsideration and then some re-reconsideration, I have decided to start university this year. I'm studying Social Work at Queensland Institute of Technology or QUT and enjoying it. I've been there for two weeks and its a lot of fun. I am taking three classes in order to be classified as full time and they are; Introduction to Human Services and Social Work, Introduction to Human Rights and Ethics and The Human Condition. I have one two hour lecture each week for each subject as well as a one hour tutorial per class.

So far the lectures have been general information and outlines. However I know I will be doing a literature review of articles written about the Queensland floods and the help and humanity shown by people in Queensland during that time for my 'The Human Condition Class"

For Intro. to Human Rights and Ethics I will be doing a group assignment on women's rights (not my first choice, but I'm sure it will be interesting) I'm not sure about the assessment for my third subject but I'm sure I'll find out before long!

I'm glad I decided to start this year, it's a big commitment but my contact time with the University is only spread across three days, leaving me two days to work, and two days of free/(soon to be) study time. I'm more interested in doing psychology, and am in the process of looking to changing asap! I don't know what the requirements are at this stage, I may have to do a semester, or a year I'm not sure, but hopefully I'll be able to slide into a psych degree quickly and hassle free.

That's all for now. I'm going to go back to my book, which I am quite enjoying! House Rules, by Jodi Picoult. It's about a boy with Asperges accused of murder... I don't know if falsely yet!

Have fun in NH Babbo and Yia-Yia I'm incredibly jealous and say Hi to Anne Sayce for me!

-Rachael

Another book, travel, and good food in Boulder

I've just finished another book, Blood Brothers, I need to mention to others. I heard about it at a dinner recently where the guest of honor was a Palestinian Christian who spoke of the difficulties of living in the occupied West Bank. This book came up. It is the autobiography of Elias Chacour written in 1984 (new edition in 2004.) He is a Palestinian Christian (a Melkite - never heard of this sect before) and was born in a small village of Galilee. He makes lots of references to Jesus growing up in the same area. He weaves in the horrors of the War of Independence (so named by the Israelis) and a childhood in an idyllic setting. He went on to become a priest, studied at Hebrew University (first Palestinian admitted) and in Paris and returned to Galilee with the life work of reconciliation between the blood brothers - Arab and Jew -the commonn descendants of Abraham. It is a story of faith, hard work, small successes at the personal level against the backdrop of massive political and economic forces that control the Israeli-Palestinian mess. It provides a glimmer of hope, of personal valor, and human decency in that Zionist controlled country. I had a very personal response to the story - a combination of a number of years when I thought I'd go into the Episcopal Ministry, the realization in 1977 of how the average Americans view of Israel has been corrupted by the Jewish Lobby and the press, and the fact Israel was established in 1948 when I was 20 so I have lived my adult life with the Israeli-Palestinian conflict as background. I think it is worth reading by everyone and particularly thought of Matt as I read it.

We leave for NH on Wednesday -three days in Boston with Paul, Saturday in Portsmouth seeing the Davises and Millers (separately), then Concord's Holiday Inn for two nights, and Anne's from Tuesday through Thursday and back here the 18th in time for Saturday's Boulder Philharmonic Concert.

This has been Denver Restaurant Week and 17 local Boulder Restaurant joined in providing us with some fine food. They offer a three course dinner for a set price - $26 pp. We go for our third dinner tomorrow night and they are at upper quality places - Greenbriar Inn, Arugula, and the St. Julien Hotel have been our choices. Pretty neat price if you don't have a drink!