Gone to Texas!

With so much coming up over the next several months, we took advantage of the Presidents Day weekend to head back to Texas for a quick visit.



With so much rain, there were plenty of clouds to create a beautiful canvas for the sunset to paint upon.



The main purpose of our visit was to catch up with family, including a family member we had never met, baby Alice. Granted, this isn't the first time Alice has appeared in our blog.



This was also the first time we got to see Jackiemom's new house. Located in central Austin, it has enough room to fit both of us along with Christopher, who was in town for a visit.



With the two brothers in town, you knew there was going to be some competition. While Christopher won their round of golf and Justin dominated the basketball court, the most impressive game came when Justin went over 200 for the first time while bowling at the Texas Union.



Finally, no visit to Texas is ever complete without visiting the oldest married couple in the family, Granny and Papa Rogers. Even after all these years, they're still making smart choices (particularly Papa when it comes to his headgear!)

The Real World - West Wing

As part of our exploration of Washington DC, we were fortunate enough to have a chance to go on a West Wing tour, given by our good college friend, Katie.



Here's a photo of Jessica just inside the door leading to the downstairs lobby. You'll notice the large seal on the wall clearly indicating whose house it is.



Technically, we're not allowed to take photos inside the West Wing, but Justin got some anyways. All along the walls are a series of photos featuring President Obama and the First Family at a variety of different events. The photos shown here feature the first family on vacation in the Hawaiian Islands.



Here you see the Cabinet Room. Interesting note, the President's chair is actually a little taller than any of the other chairs. Can you spot the President's chair?



The Roosevelt Room is probably the second most well-known room in the West Wing. As many fans of the TV show "The West Wing" will notice, the room does not feature windows along every wall. The room does feature portraits of both President Roosevelts, a Congressional medal of honor, and a Noble Peace prize. Do you know which Roosevelt earned which award?



Finally, the Oval Office. A remarkable room that is surprisingly well lit, but is also somewhat small compared to what you see on TV. Granted, they never have to film a movie in the real Oval Office, so they don't need the extra space.



Here we are outside the front entrance of the West Wing, which was actually the end of our tour. Not the most exciting photo of the bunch, but we look good so why not share it?



Finally, here we are with our generous and gracious tour guide. Hook 'em!

The Burniske Super Bowl

In case you're wondering who still watches the Super Bowl for the game instead of the commercials, well, this family does:



On one side you have Grandpa Burniske, who has been a Giants fan for a long time. While he grew up in western Massachusetts, and thus geographically should be a Patriots fan, he's been watching the New York Giants since the beginning. On the flip side you have his daughter, Brenda, and her family, who still live in Massachusetts and have become regulars at the Patriots home games. So what's on the line this Sunday? Well, let's just say that after Super Bowl 42, when these two teams previously met in the Super Bowl, the losing faction didn't talk to the winner until sometime in June. To hear more about the Giants side of the family history, enjoy this podcast:

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