The heat is on here in Sacramento. This past weekend was a scorcher just in time for July 4th. Jennifer made her return to California and she is certainly enjoying herself. She flew in on Thursday afternoon and she has already been water skiing, out to see a band at a local venue, to several parties, out with friends and out to dinner with me last Friday night. Jennifer looks great and is back to 105 pounds of soldier, after losing 13 pounds in Iraq. Jennifer did get as high as 122 pounds during basic training, but her musculature around her neck and arms has softened as she has evolved in the Army from a workout monster to a soldier. Jennifer continues to rack up Personal Training marks and is one of the few soldiers in her unit to max out her PT test. The maximum score is 300 and she had hit 299 in Basic, but re-tested just before her vacation and maxed the test with 300 points. She got a day off work and has a four-day pass waiting for her when she returns.

Jennifer had a really nice visit to Pittsburgh with her friend, Ryan. They stayed at Ryan's parents house in the suburbs of Pittsburgh and visited with Ryan's friends and buddies while they were there.

Darla and I will treat Jennifer to a trip up to Lake Tahoe and Reno this weekend. Jennifer's Mom is having a party for her at their home in Folsom on Saturday. Jennifer will stay with us on Saturday night and then we are off to Lake Tahoe after church on Sunday. We'll spend the day at the beach over on the Incline Village side of the lake and then drive over to Reno, where we will stay at one of the luxury rooms at the Atlantis casino. The Atlantis has spent over a half million dollars renovating their 13 year-old casino and they now have rooms with all cherrywood furniture, granite and marble in the bathrooms and flat screen televisions in the rooms. The rooms are a little higher than the normal rack rate in Reno, but I think Jennifer deserves it.

Darla and the boys spent the weekend up in Lake Almanor with her folks. The boys skiied and swam to their hearts content. Jennifer and I joined them Sunday morning and spent the day on the boat. Jennifer was whipped from the night before where she saw the band with the lead singer who was formerly with the Smashing Pumpkins and Hole. I guess she had a blast, but got back to my place about 3 a.m. I rousted her at six a.m. and poured her in the Mustang for the three hour drive to Lake Almanor. Jennifer was chatting up a storm early in the drive, but was soon fast asleep. I woke her about 7:30 and we had breakfast in Oroville. She proceeded to tell me every story that she told me at six a.m. She swears she didn't remember being awake and told the family that she was dead to the world until I woke her up for breakfast. She slept part of the rest of the trip to Almanor after breakfast.

Jennifer is full of stories from Baghdad and Augusta. It's a good thing as a golfing buddy of mine is friends with a reporter from the local Roseville paper and she wants to interview Jennifer for a story in the paper. She wants to see Jennifer's pictures from Iraq and do a story that will put a local spin on the war in Iraq. Jennifer isn't thrilled about meeting the reporter, but I'm guessing that she will warm to the idea when they meet later this week. I'll try to get a link to the paper's website and add it to my blog if and when the story runs.

The boys made it back from their football camps. David had a blast with the Stanford coaching staff and worked out with one of the top quarterback recruits in the country. He is a quarterback from Florida where he won the high school state championship. He was at the camp as a guest of the Stanford coaching staff (I thought that was illegal???). He is a recruit for Stanford as well and will make up his mind on a college this Spring. David said the kid has a rocket for an arm. David learned alot from not only the coaches, but from the other quarterbacks in camp as well. He learned proper footwork and how to read defenses and setup drills, etc. He said it was well worth his time and our money.

The temperatures are supposed to remain near 100 for a few days and then cool off. I'm hoping it warms back up next weekend as Tahoe is especially nice when it is 100 degrees in the valley. I hope all are well. Jennifer is in town until July 15th and it is a blast to spend time with her and hear her stories. I'm really enjoying myself. The blog will be late again next week as we'll be in Nevada with Jennifer. Take care.