Check out extra Japan pics

The theme for this update: Travel and Visitors....

 

B u t   f i r s t   . . . .

Before we get to the theme of this update -- Travel and Family -- a quick update on the general stuff. First, Rita and #3 are doing great. For those of you who lost your scorecards, our latest draft pick is due to arrive in the beginning of January. (And for those tax accountants out there, yes, I'm going to force Rita to do jumping jacks and eat nothing but spicy food after Christmas -- gotta get that tax break!)

Seriously, Rita and the baby are doing well, but we do still have a problem - names! We still don't know if it will be a boy or a girl, and we are struggling for names right now. Any suggestions? For a girl, I'm pushing for Tatiana (it goes with Foss, doesn't it), and for a boy, my favorite is Harrison (how cool would that be - Harrison Foss). Needless to say, I'm lucky that Rita includes me in any parenting decision anymore.

Good ol' Lucky	Yeah, I'm a superstar!	The Con-Man...

The boys are also doing fine. Nate turns 4 soon and can't wait for winter. We may have to fly north sometime because the kid won't stop talking about snow. He doesn't seem to realize that Virginia considers 1/2 of an inch as a blizzard. Connor is also doing well. He has finally started talking, but now the problem is that his favorite word is an emphatic "No!" That only lasts a few weeks, right? ... right!?? Oh well....

Got Milk?	Peace man!	Cape and all.

And now for the trips and visitors...

We've gone on a lot of trips lately, but Japan definitely takes the cake. For those of you who don't know, Nate and I took a week off and travelled to the land of the rising sun to visit Uncle Pat and Aunt Nobuko. Wow. In a nutshell, we had a GREAT time.

Word of advice: If you ever what to feel like a celebrity, take a small, white, blond-haired child to Japan. I'm telling you, I felt like I was walking around with Tom Cruise. EVERYBODY stared and smiled at us. We had teenage girls come up begging to take pictures with Nate. We had old women shopkeepers fall over themselves trying to give him little trinkets. We had old men pat him on the head and beg for him to say anything in English (one time, Nate said "thank you" in Japanese, and I swear I thought the guy was going to pass out).

Aside from the instant celebrity status, the rest of the trip was fun too. We got to see a ton of neat sites and, of course, got to spend some time with Aunt Nobuko and Uncle Pat. They were great and really went out of their way to make sure that we had a good time. We explored Osaka, Nara, and Kyoto and saw some amazing sights.

Patrick feeding us cow tongue and the like	Nate and I feeding random deer that hang out in front of a thousand year old temple.	Aunt Nobuko feeding us to a giant crocodile

Of course, we had a few hiccups here and there....

More words of advice: if you ever go to Japan with a small American child, be sure to bring a lot of packets of Mac & Cheese, Spaghetti O's, oatmeal, etc. By the end of the week, I thought Nate might smack me if he heard "Try this one, I'm sure you'll like it..." one more time! (For whatever reason, he wouldn't even try the grasshoppers... go figure).

Nate and the Godfather	Nobu translating on the fly	Obligatory Pagoda shot

For more great Japan/Pat & Nobuko pics, check out the Japan page!

 

N e w    E n g l a n d

At the end of the summer, we traveled through New York, Rhode Island, and Connecticut and got to see a lot of our family.

First we went to cousin Lee and Tucker's wedding where Nathan was the super-cute ring bearer. We had a great time and got to see most of the Fosses while we were there. I just feel sorry for the next Foss cousin to take the plunge -- this wedding was awesome! Good weather, great food, beautiful scenery, and, of course, fun people! L & T, thanks for throwing a great party (Lee, don't worry, the video is coming!)

Next stop on the way back home was to see some of the Lataille side. Fortunately, Uncle Bob and Tante Linda don't know me very well, so they didn't hesitate to let us crash with them and coordinate everything. Thanks to them, we were able to see Tante Louise, Dee, Babette, Matt, Noah, Emily and Hope (whew!) The kids all had a great time, and it was nice to spend some time with the Lataille clan.

Last stop: New York to see Uncle Mike. But.... you have to skip down to Busch Gardens for pics of Mike!

 

B u s c h   G a r d e n s

Ok, get this. Rita is sitting at home and gets a phone call from a local radio station congratulating her on winning free passes to Busch Gardens. Rita's response: "Aren't I supposed to call you? and how exactly did I win this.... I don't even listen to your radio station!" Man, I wish that had been live on the air. Oh well, we had a great time anyway!

 

	Who's been drinkin' - the driver or the photographer?

 

S u m m e r   i n    S t . L o u i s

Earlier in the summer, Rita and I attended our 10 year high - school reunion.... Good God! I've been out of high school for 10 years, I have 2.7 children, and I own a mini-van!!!! Whodda thunk?

Anyway, it was a great excuse to hang out with Rita's folks and Yvonne, Mike, and the twins. Next time the site gets updated, we'll have a lot more pics of the Latailles as we are having a reunion at Thanksgiving again this year. Stay tuned...

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