Robyn and Joel's Blog: Chronicling our Copenhagen Adventures

Yes, we're that interesting.


Wednesday, June 20, 2007

They're Hitched!





Jason and Amber are husband and wife! Joel, my mother and I had the privilege of witnessing Jason and Amber exchange marriage vows Sunday, June 17th. The ceremony took place in a beautiful garden in Denver, Colorado -- in record heat! Even with the heat, their wedding was perfect. Their friends provided the music, the delicious home-brewed beer, and even served as the officiant at the ceremony!
It was lovely to see our old friends from Pennsylvania, including the Freelands (in the picture on the top) and Jason's parents.

Sunday, June 17, 2007

Sunburn, Sharks, and Sad goodbyes


Well... our time at the beach house is over... on Saturday my mother, Joel and I traveled to Denver, Colorado to attend the wedding of my best friend, Jason Stevens. I am currently sitting in our hotel room in Denver -- the beautiful mountains in the not-so-far distance. I should probably be getting ready for the wedding, which begins in just a few hours. But, I thought I would take a minute to update our blog.

As our week at the beach house progressed more and more family members returned to their homes -- Rochelle and Dad left early Wednesday morning and Ronnie followed Thursday morning. The house became increasingly quiet. That said, several extended family members joined us on Friday for a swim and we celebrated my Uncle Lynn's 60th birthday!

We had a great time at the beach, although I did manage to sunburn my back. I had two layers of 50+ sunblock on, but I stayed out too long and in the heat of the day. I just couldn't help it. The weather was beautiful, the water warm, and my brother, sister, and I had a great time looking for shells. I was reminded of all the summers I spent at the beach... looking for shells, diving for sand dollars (we always returned them unharmed!), and body surfing. I think Joel enjoyed the water -- it is very different from California beaches. And, of course, being on the gulf side of Florida, there is no surf... just lots of gentle waves of warm water. But he enjoyed diving for sea treasures and swimming.

We had a bit of excitement in the water: my brother and cousin, Michelle spotted two small sharks swimming just a few feet from them (Ronnie and Michelle were out near the sand bar). We decided to come out of the water and go for a walk. It was low tide and the walk was beautiful -- a much better view of the sea life. In fact, there were several schools of fish trapped in the tidal pools! Several little children were catching the fish and throwing them to the seagulls.

Overall is was a wonderful week -- a beautiful way to honor the 60 years of my grandparent's marriage. We even managed to get a family portrait of all the extended family (my grandparents, their three daughters and their families) except for 1! Not bad for families always on the go... and spread out all over the country (and soon to be world!).

So... this is our last stop on the Robyn and Joel Magical Mystery Tour. We return to Austin tomorrow evening where we will spend 2 days repacking and taking care of all the little details (and there are LOTS of details!) associated with our move to Copenhagen (like tracking down our visas!!!). We leave the country in 8 days and my anxiety is increasing. I am very excited and happy. I am thrilled that Joel will finally have the opportunity to work with colleagues who truly understand and value his intellectual gifts. I am looking forward to meeting my Copenhagen colleagues, who have extended numerous expressions of welcome (and been very helpful with some of the details of moving!). There are just lots of details to take care of... and my "to do" list is growing larger and larger (and I keep checking things off!). It is always hard to say goodbye to our friends and family, but we are excited that many of you are already making plans to visit!

Well, I should get ready. I don't want to be late for the wedding! I will write more about the wedding... until later...

Tuesday, June 12, 2007

Relaxing at the beach...











We all gathered at a beach house in St. Petersberg beach to celebrate our grandparents' 60th Wedding Anniversary. My grandparents' actual anniversary was in December, but this was the first opportunity we could all get together. We've had a wonderful time meeting and playing with the triplets -- William, Caleb, and Jacob (Paul and Kelly's children) -- and celebrating their first birthday! We also got to spend a bit more time with Laura, Mike's new wife. The weather is beautiful and water warm and inviting. And, the best part... no sunburn (yet!).

Party in C-Bad!!!




Yep... we hosted our obligatory party at the Krueger's house. The usual gang (including Joel's family from AZ) was all there including Ted and Courtney who drove down from LA and Ryan and Geannie who brought little Ryan over (he was the hit of the party!). Joel used the Krueger's new grill to grill kabobs, which were a huge hit. Not a single kabob left! The evening ended with a trip to Travis's house to celebrate his roommate's (Bryan) 30th birthday.

TWO YEARS!


We can hardly believe it, but Joel and I celebrated our 2 year anniversary on May 29th. We took Joel's parents to Vigalluci's for dinner -- it was a wonderful meal with an incredible view of the beach. Two years... it seems like we got married just yesterday and we feel like we've been married forever! Married life definitely agrees with us! (the picture is in front of the Krueger's fireplace after our meal!)

Family visit in Carlsbad!


We had a wonderful time visiting with Joel's family: Grandma Toben, Uncle Bill, cousin Lisa and her daughters Marissa and Lexi were able to visit from Tucson. They drove over on Thursday and stayed until Sunday morning. Grandma Toben still exceeds everyone's expectations -- her health continues to improve everyday. Marissa and Lexi were able to play with their cousins in San Diego and Uncle Bill got plenty of "beach time." This is a picture from Sunday morning -- apparently blue was the color of the day!

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