a major purchase

Hey all! It's been a very busy couple of weeks. When I wrote to you last we were gearing up for our trip to the Grand Canyon. As I may have mentioned previously, the trip was Brenda's gift to her father for his most recent birthday. They had a great time photographing the Grand Canyon over a few days, and one day they even hiked down into it a bit. Brenda helped out some fellow hikers along the trail who had run out of water and were looking a little parched. They happened to be German and were very surprised when Brenda started speaking their native tongue. Meanwhile, back in Williams, AZ, Joanne, Rowan, and I explored all the playgrounds and kid-friendly attractions the town had to offer. Rowan skinned both of his knees while we were there, which was more traumatic for me, but don't worry, I'm recovering well.

After driving back to Santa Fe we had just a couple of days left before we had to pack up and hit the road. Brenda's last performance was the night before we left, and Justice Ginsburg, her family, and accompanying U.S. Marshals were all in attendance. Justice Ginsburg is a big opera fan, and she attends the Santa Fe Opera every summer. At a dinner in the Justice's honor the night before, I had the opportunity to get to know Justice Ginsburg's daughter-in-law who also happened to be Brenda's voice teacher during her freshman year of college. Small world!

On Friday night we arrived in Minneapolis and descended upon Drew and his tidy apartment. We quickly turned his home into a disaster zone, but in spite of that he has been a kind and generous host. As I may have mentioned in a previous post, we are interested in buying a home in Minneapolis, so on Saturday we looked at houses for the first time. We toured seven houses, found one we really liked, and made an offer on Sunday. Later that day the offer was accepted. Buying a house is easy! (Just kidding.) We're super excited. Please keep your fingers crossed for us that everything works out with the sale.

So that's what we've been up to more or less. I hope all is well with you, and we'll talk to you next time!

changing states

Hey folks! Brenda, her parents, Rowan, and I are all getting packed up to drive to the Grand Canyon today. Its been around thirty years since I've been there, and I'm looking forward to seeing it again. For most of the trip, however, Rowan, Brenda's mom, and I will be hanging back at our Airbnb house while Brenda and her dad explore the canyon and take a bunch of photos. So prepare yourselves for some Grand Canyon photos next week.

And speaking of photos...

I posed for a picture with my brother, his wife Tracy, and their son Tyler earlier this week before we went to see Brenda sing Lucia di Lammermoor.

After the show we met up with Brenda in her dressing room.

Brenda and I tried hiking on Big Tesuque Trail, but we cut our hike short after storm clouds rolled in.

So many aspen trees!

I hope you all have a great week, and we'll talk to you next time!

picture perfect

Hi folks! We've been busy entertaining, hiking, and parenting, and are once again delinquent with our blog post. Brenda had her eighth (of ten) performance of Lucia di Lammermoor last night. My brother, Brad, and his family were in town visiting, and he, his wife Tracy, and their son Tyler attended the performance. I tagged along too so I could show them around the opera campus a bit (and because I'm a Brenda groupie). We took some pictures that I don't have at the moment, but I'll share them with you in the next blog post.

A view of the mountains from the opera grounds.

The opera gift shop has been having the artists do signings before some of the performances. Here Brenda is pictured with Lucia conductor Corrado Rovaris on their night to sign autographs.

Brenda has a another show in a few days, but after that she has a week off before her final performance of the summer. We're going to take that time to travel to the Grand Canyon with Brenda's parents. Neither Brenda nor her dad have ever been to the Grand Canyon, and I think they're really looking forward to it. Plus, Brenda just got a new camera and is looking for an excuse to try it out (although she has, of course, been taking a bazillion pictures of our adorable son). 

Nap time is about over so I should wrap this up. I hope you all have a great week, and we'll talk to you next time!

the joy of not studying

Hello all! We're enjoying a little more down time here in Santa Fe now that the bar exam is finished. I was even able to join Brenda at the gym the other day, although my legs were quite sore afterwards. (Two months of being chained to my computer studying didn't seem to do much for my physical fitness.) My parents were kind enough to look after Rowan on Monday so I could see Brenda's fifth Lucia performance. She was amazing, as were her castmates. We also saw the first Alcina performance over the weekend. It's a really fun production, and the singing is top notch. Santa Fe Opera has put together a really nice season this summer.

I thought you might enjoy seeing a few photos we took recently...

 This is where I took the bar exam. Yeah, it's a barn.

 After I finished taking the test I met up with our friends Dan and Whitney.

 It's monsoon season in Santa Fe, and we've enjoyed some really beautiful rainbows.

A friendly snake was hanging out on our patio last week. We named him Gary.

Brenda and I attempted to hike to the top of a nearby peak (Atalaya) on Sunday, but we decided to cut the hike short after seeing some ominous clouds and lightening as we neared the top.

Last night we took advantage of my parents' open invitation to babysit and went to Die Fledermaus. Tonight we have a dinner at the opera house, and tomorrow Dan and Whitney come to town. I think we're going to have a great last few weeks in Santa Fe with so many friends and family coming to visit.

I hope you all have a great week, and we'll talk to you next time!

testing complete

Greetings from 30,000 feet! I'm currently on my way back to New Mexico after finishing the bar exam yesterday in Minnesota. The test was exactly what I expected - hard. I felt I did well on the essay portion, but I have no idea how to judge my performance on the multiple choice questions. The results don't come in until early October. I'm going to do my best to forget about it until then.

Now that the test is behind me, I'm looking forward to spending more time with my family without feeling like I should be studying. Brenda and I will also be attending some dinners with opera supporters in Santa Fe to thank them for their generous support of the opera and to get to know them a little better. Many friends and family members will be coming to Santa Fe in the next few weeks to see Brenda's opera, and we're really excited to see everyone. Also, Brenda and I are hoping to get in a few more hikes before we have to leave the Land of Enchantment next month. I'm so glad I get to enjoy some time there without having to study!

While I've been gone it seems that Rowan has developed an interest in helping my parents work on a big puzzle (1000 pieces, I think). It also seems that he's cutting his first molar. A full set of chompers are on their way.

Drew was kind enough to let me stay with him in Minneapolis. Brenda and I are very interested in moving there, so it was fun to drive around the neighborhoods a little bit and get a feel for them. It seems like it would be a really good fit for us.

I'm about to be offered peanuts or pretzels, so I should probably wrap this up. I hope you all have a great weekend, and we'll talk to you next week!

two weeks and a day late

Hello all! So sorry we didn't have a chance to write last week. Chad is using all his spare time to study for the Bar Exam, and I have to say, I'm really impressed by the way he's balancing having a kid, a wife who still has to work sometimes, AND studying for many many hours in a day! I know he's looking forward to being done by this time next week!

We had a great week hanging out with my twin, and wish he could have stayed longer! Chad looked after Rowan so Drew and I could go on a hike for some twin time, and the next day we even took Rowan for a short hike! Well, Rowan didn't do much hiking, since he just rode on Chad's back in our Ergobaby carrier! He seemed to have fun treating his Papa like a horse!

Drew and I at the summit of the Circle Trail. We needed to do a short hike since he had hiked about TWELVE miles the day before!! Good ol' crazy Drew!

The day after Drew left, I got to see what it would be like to have two kids for about five and a half hours. Our good friends Alek and Daniela are both singing here this summer, and they lost their childcare on rather short notice, so I offered to help look after their 2 year old, Eva. She and Rowan had a lot of fun playing together, and I have to say I was surprised at how well it went! We got together the next day as well (although she had a babysitter that day) and went to the park and then the mall for some much needed air conditioning! Young kids are so cute: any place is fun to play if it's new and different! They each had fun running up and down a ramp in the middle of the mall. They were then rewarded with their own cup of ice water, which Eva seemed totally excited about. Adorable!

Three days after Drew left, one of my oldest friends, Olivia, came to visit us from Portland. It was her first time meeting Rowan, and she was also supposed to come see me sing Lucia, but because of some flight attendants that overslept, she missed her connection and ended up arriving a day later than planned. I still got to show her the opera house though, since The Golden Cockerel was opening that weekend, and she and I went to the final dress rehearsal. I actually went to see the show twice, since Olivia was kind enough to babysit while Chad and I went to the opening night! We had a great time seeing our awesome friends onstage, and our friends offstage were shocked to see that I let Chad out of the house. Haha... 

Since Olivia and I hadn't seen each other for two and a half years, some catch up time was needed, and Chad again came to the rescue! He looked after Rowan while Olivia and I went to a new destination (since 2016) in Santa Fe called Meow Wolf: The House of Eternal Return. So, it's hard to describe how cool this place was. I'm so excited to take Rowan there at some point in his life, because this place is so magical and simply imagination come to life! 

A view from a fantastical indoor treehouse. 

Olivia with her 3D glasses on!

Driving a tipped over school bus through space!

Chad also let us go on a short hike, and we went to our old stomping grounds, the Dale Ball trails!

A cute little house that was by one of the trail markers. I like the little cactus heart!

Chad and I are without visitors for just four more days, and then we're joined by Chad's parents again. They're coming to help me look after Rowan while Chad is in Minnesota, and I'm so grateful to them! I know Rowan will love to see his Iowa grandparents again too! 

Well, I'm going to wrap it up here. Hope you all have a great week, and we'll try not to be as late with the blog next week! :-D

Lucia madness

Hey all! Brenda and her castmates had a wonderful first performance of Lucia di Lammermoor on Saturday. We found a babysitter so my parents and I could all go to the show. Rowan ended up sleeping the whole night so the babysitter had a pretty relaxing evening (I think she might have even taken a nap). Normally I would tell you about how amazing Brenda was (which she was), but this time I'll let you discover that for yourselves. Santa Fe Opera posted several video clips on YouTube from the final dress rehearsal. I hope you enjoy seeing a bit of the show!

I've got just under three weeks until I take the bar exam. I'm looking forward to taking it so I can be done studying for it. There are way too many hiking trails in Santa Fe for me to be stuck in doors all day sitting at my computer.

I hope you all have a great week, and we'll talk to you next time!