Soccer Tournament in Des Moines

Libby and the Woodbury "Attack" had a soccer tournament in Des Moines, Iowa this weekend. The girls had a great time on and off the field - despite some wet, windy and cold conditions! They had a rough time of it - one loss and two ties; but they were playing some tough teams, and it was a good early wake up call early in the season before it counts in their league...

Luke came along, too, and managed to have some fun along the sidelines!

Here is the Iowa state capitol building in Des Moines.

The Original Yellow Ribbon is FOUND!!!

Here is a note from my cousin, Chris Laingen (this is about the ribbon that was around the oak tree in our front yard in Bethesda during the Hostage Crisis):

Bruce & Penne: It was great meeting you both for lunch the other day. I made my way to the Library of Congress (Madison Building) yesterday to try to track down the yellow ribbon. After 30 minutes of trying to track down the right person (who knew exactly where it was at), we were soon directed to the Jefferson Building and the American Folklife Center...



So it is at the Library of Congress, just in a different building than you thought, and it's kept in a box in the archive room. We were told that the reason you thought it was in the Madison Building was because during the Gulf War they had it up as part of a display which was in the Madison Building. It was great to be able to see it! All the best, Chris

Outdoor Baseball Returns to Minnesota!

Here we are at the brand new, beautiful Target Field! Minnesota has been waiting nearly 30 years to get baseball back outside, and the day finally came this week. We made it to Game #2 against the Boston Red Sox!

It was a day game, with periods of rain and sun, but the game was never delayed, we were under the overhang out of the rain, and it was a balmy 70 degrees!

The Twins didn't win today, but it was an exciting game, and they are already at 6-3 on the season. Below is our very own Joe Mauer showing off his unbelievable swing!

The Red Bulls Return!

The "Red Bulls" of the 34th Infantry Division, Minnesota National Guard, have returned from Iraq after a year in the combat zone. The Red Bulls, which became renowned in World War II, were the command and control division for Ground Forces, South, Iraq, and just last month passed the flag to the Army's 1st Infantry Division. Their successful tour was celebrated at the official return ceremony at the Minneapolis Convention Center this afternoon.



Luke and his Dad went to the reception and met just a few of the VIPs, including: Senator Al Franken and his wife; the Mayor of St. Paul, Chris Coleman; TV anchor Don Shelby; and the Commanding General of the Minnesota National Guard... Luke was most interested in the Deputy CG of the 34th, Brigadier General Dave Elicerio, who said to Luke: "Tanks... heck yeah, we have tanks young man... I own them. Come on up to Camp Ripley anytime and I'll get you into a few!" Luke plans on holding him to it.

It was a fantastic tribute to the men and women who brought security to the southern half of Iraq for the past year, and helped to build infrastructure and democratic institutions. If this young democracy survives, Minnesota citizen-Soldiers will have been a large part of their success... how great is that!

The ceremony included a flag presentation, the playing of Taps for the 14 who were killed in action during the deployment, and a special performance by the Minnesota band GB Leighton, in their honor.

Learn more about the 34th Infantry Division HERE...

... and see the awesome 4 minute rock video "Troop" featuring the Red Bulls HERE!

Malta Re-visited II

More memories from Malta - 1977 - 1979... here is the entire family at our Malta-shaped pool in our beautiful back yard of the Ambassador's residence. The silver spoon was truly yanked out of our mouths after we left this little paradise!


Here are the Laingen brothers at the Marina where we kept our boat, in Marxamxett Harbor, "around the bend" from the historic Grand Harbor of Malta.



And here are the three dudes at the Malta International Airport. We used to go there just to check out the planes - both commercial and military; for this was still a British colony until 1979, and the Royal Air Force was there with Nimrod patrol aircraft and Canberra light fighter-bombers.

Stylin' in front of the limo... (Starsky and Hutch?)

This is at the U.S. Embassy in Valetta, during the visit of U.S. Ambassador Andrew Young (L-R: Will Wilson, Mike Radday, Jim Laingen, Ambassador Young, Chip Laingen, Tom Jellison, Jim Wilson). Note the cool Catholic school uniforms from De Le Salle...

Ambassador Laingen in front of the "tank" - so named after it was bullet-proofed in 1978.

This is our afore-mentioned "back yard..." Note the grove of orange trees that provided fresh-squeezed orange juice on most mornings. Why did we leave?

Happy Easter Birthday!

Libby enjoyed a fun Easter the day after her birthday, with many of her cousins at our house. She also shares her birthday with her Godmother and virtual twin, Aunt Gayle!



The younger cousins enjoyed an egg hunt outside on a beautiful spring day, while some of the guys took a beer break on the patio...

Malta Memories

Here are some old images from the island country of Malta, circa 1977-1979... they are a bit grainy, but it's fun to look back at those great times. Liz (Radday) Starr has managed to re-surface some friends from those times, and they have shared some images with me on Facebook!

Above: Sailing in Marxamxett Harbor, Christmas Day, 1977 - that's us in the lower left hand corner, in the leaky but great-sailing USS Enterprise (Jim and me). Below: in the Grand Harbor, in front of the Italian tall ship training vessel Amerigo Vespuci.

... and here we are greeting the HMS Ark Royal... This photo made the front page of the Malta Times!

Here are Mom and Dad square dancing at the American School on the 4th of July - and the Raddays, too, at the very left!

Rock climbing - unbeknownst to our parents... if they only knew - how crazy were we!

With the Wilsons - Jim and Will.

This is me diving into one of our favorite places - Peter's Pool!

Libby is a Teenager!

Happy Birthday, Libby! Turning 13 is worthy of a 'girls night out.' So she took two good friends to see the Minnesota Roller Girls at the River Centre in St. Paul.

What a crazy deal the Roller Derby is! Two hours of women on a short track with skates, trying to knock each other out of the rink - with names like "Glitter Ninja" and "Hanna-Belle Lechter."

Half time was just as awesome, because there was a live polka band, and we all got to dance on the roller rink floor. Libby learned to polka for the first time!