On Saturday I told y'all that Aaron was discharged from Bethesda Naval Hospital and expected to be admitted to Walter Reed as an outpatient sometime this week. As far as we know, that's still the plan. However, there may be a problem, and we would appreciate your prayers about it. When I talked to Aaron on Sunday, he said that a small part of the skin graft that he had on his leg doesn't seem to be looking or acting quite like the rest of it. The majority of the graft is doing very well and taking on the look of healthy, normal skin, but a small section of it is peeling in kind of a strange way. The main doctor who is overseeing Aaron's care is going to take a look at the graft on Tuesday to see if that spot looks like it will be able to heal like they want it to without any further intervention from the doctors. That would be ideal. But there's also the possibility that they could have to do part of the skin graft again, which would mean that Aaron would be back in Bethesda and yet again on bedrest for another skin graft. If that's what has to happen for Aaron to heal, then it will have to happen. But obviously Aaron and all the rest of us would much prefer that he not have to go through all that again. Please pray for wisdom for Aaron's doctors so they can make the best possible decision if there is a tough decision to be made. Pray for the skin to heal on its own as much as possible, and please pray for Aaron and Kelly. This may not turn out to be anything that sets Aaron back, but at this point I'm pretty sure that even the thought of more time in Bethesda is very stressful to them. Like I said, Aaron told me that his doctor is supposed to take a look on Tuesday, so we'll keep everyone posted about that.
Aside from that, it sounded like Aaron and Kelly really had a great weekend. They were able to go to church for the first time since all of this happened, and Aaron said that was really encouraging. They met a lot of people at the church, saw a lot of people who have already been visiting Aaron in the hospital, and stayed for potluck dinner after the service, which I'm sure was a nice break from hospital food and fast food.
That's all for now. I think Aaron and Kelly have Internet access at the moment and may be dropping by to check out the site, so leave them a comment if you want to say hello. Thanks for all your prayers.

Everyone drop what you're doing and smile a big, happy smile.
Why? Because I'm happy to say that Aaron's release from Bethesda Naval is looking more and more like a permanent thing. I told you on Monday that there was some concern that part of the skin graft Aaron had at the site of his amputation might have to be repeated, a process that would mean he would be readmitted to Bethesda and put on bed rest for another several weeks. That was a depressing prospect to say the least. But today, Aaron's head doctor said that it looks like Aaron's skin graft is 60 percent "taken," meaning that 60 percent of the skin that was grafted on has taken root and begun to grow, and the 40 percent that didn't "take" should be able to heal on its own because of the healthy skin surrounding it. This is very, very good news. I know I've said it before, but the hardest part of this so far for Aaron has been the time he's had to spent just sitting in the hospital waiting to be well enough to move on to physical therapy. He still has some healing to do, but it's good to know that his doctors are confident that he's seen the last of the operating room for the time being. Please join us in thanking God for that.
When I spoke to Aaron, it sounded like he had an all-around encouraging day. In addition to knowing that he doesn't have to check back into the hospital, he was seen by a wound care specialist who he had not seen before. Aaron can't start physical therapy in earnest until all the skin on what he affectionately refers to as his "stump" is healed and healthy. In addition to that wound, he has had trouble with a big gash on his right foot. It had to be stitched up, and the place where it was stitched seems to have healed well enough, but the surrounding area has had trouble healing completely, which would also be a problem once he needs it to bear weight in therapy. The specialist has completely changed the way that his wounds are going to be treated and dressed, and seems to think she can have him in much better shape soon. It's been frustrating for Aaron because those wounds healed to a point and then hit kind of a plateua and didn't seem to be improving very much. But it sounds like this doctor knows her stuff, so there's reason to believe he'll be improving soon.
Tomorrow, Aaron will go to an appointment at Walter Reed and will start his therapy. Until he's healed up enough to start learning to walk, Aaron's therapy will probably consist of just building his strength and weight back up. We've all been telling Aaron that he's lost a lot of weight since the attack, but today he said he realized for the first time that we're right about that. He put on a pair of his pants that used to fit really snugly and realized that they now have to be cinched up with a belt just to stay on. He and Kelly think he's probably lost 20 to 30 pounds in this whole ordeal. Part of the reason for that is that the medications Aaron is on have killed his appetite, so his doctors have started encouraging him to drink protein shakes and eat small meals throughout the day to keep his nutrient levels up until his appetite returns. When that happens, Maryland better hide anything they don't want eaten. It's a well-known fact that you don't get between the Rices and food.
I hope this good news cheers all of you up as much as it has me. Rejoice with us, and I'll talk to you again tomorrow. We love you all.

Charles Randall Rice married Deborah Ann Lowry on May 5, 1973 at Temple Baptist Church in Hattiesburg, Mississippi. He was 22 years old, and a recent graduate of the School of Forestry at Louisiana Tech University in Ruston, Louisiana. She was 20 years old and a student at the University of Southern Mississippi. They met on December 31, 1971, the night the year turned to 1972, on a blind date set up so that Dad would have a date to a dinner party he was supposed to attend. His date had stood him up at the last minute. Apparently, her fiancee' came to town unexpectedly. (In his defense, Daddy didn't know she was engaged, but I had to put that in, because you just can't make this stuff up.) Mom was supposed to work that night at the telephone company, but just as she got to work, her boss, the hostess of the dinner party Dad was threatening to back out of, told Mom she would give her New Year's Eve off of work if she would come to her house for a dinner party. Mom accepted her generous offer, and aren't we glad. By Thanksgiving, they were engaged.
Thirty-two years and five children later, I'd say it's pretty clear it was all meant to be.
This photo was taken in 1978, and it's one of my favorites of Mom and Dad. Isn't my mom a pretty lady? Isn't my dad handsome? And isn't his hair awfully long?

Happy Anniversary, Mom and Daddy. We love you so much and wish you many, many more years of your happy marriage.

I spoke to Aaron and Kelly today, and they have much good news to report. First off, they will be moving tomorrow. They're leaving the Bethesda Naval Lodge behind for nicer digs at the Malogne House, where they'll have a much nicer room and a cafeteria sponsored by the U.S. Army, which according to Aaron has much better food than any other branch of the service. For the sake of those of you who have sent mail in the last few days, Kelly is going to go by the Lodge for the next week or so to check and see if any mail has arrived for them since they left. I'll get a new address posted for them as soon as possible.
Aaron also had his first appointment at Walter Reed today and met a lot of other amputees and otherwise injured military men who Aaron will probably be seeing a lot of over the next few months. Most of them are much more badly hurt than Aaron was, but it does sound like his stay at Walter Reed will take longer than we originally thought. Aaron was told that the shortest stay the physical therapists there had seen for someone with similar injuries to Aaron's was four months. Also, Aaron has still got a lot of healing to do before he can really get started on his therapy. That's OK though, because the most important thing is for Aaron to heal properly and completely. Aaron said that his and Kellys "main objectives" at the moment are to move and to make friends at Walter Reed. I always laugh when Aaron talks like such a military man, but I think he's right about what their major goals should be right now. Please pray that their settling into the Malogne House will go well and that Aaron will make progress in his physical training in the time before he can start learning to walk with a prosthetic. Aaron said he could tell how much strength he's lost in all the time he's spent in bed, so it's important for him to build his strength back up. One piece of good news is that Aaron said there is a Dunkin Donuts in the lobby of Walter Reed on his way to his physical therapy appointments, and I'm sure that will help him gain some weight.
I told Aaron to call me as soon as they have a new phone number, so hopefully I'll be able to post something else tomorrow. Until then, please keep praying for Aaron and Kelly, and know that we love you all.

What a good feeling to have muffins and coffee and just generally not have to get in the car and rush off anywhere. Time really is the greatest luxury in the world since there's so little of it. This morning, I haven't got a lot to say, but I do have a new address for Aaron and Kelly that I thought everyone might want. They love their mail.

Lcpl Aaron Rice and Mrs. Kelly Rice
c/o The Malogne House Hotel
6900 Georgia Ave. NW Building 20
Room 162
Washington, D.C. 20307-5001

Since today is Saturday, I'm assuming that Aaron won't have therapy appointments, so I hope to talk to him later, and when I do I'll tell y'all what's going on. Until then, everyone enjoy your weekend.

I talked to Aaron this morning, and he told me that he was on his way out the door to email me some photos that a friend of his from his Mobile Assault Platoon had emailed to him. He told me they were pictures from Iraq and that some of them were of his Hummer after it was attacked.
Several years ago, when I was still in college, Ryan was in a really bad car accident on the two-lane road out to our house. His truck left the road and broke several small pine trees in half before it stopped. The truck was destroyed, and one of the pine trees fell down and knocked Ryan's left hand rearview mirror off a few seconds after the crash, when Ryan could have been trying to get out of the truck. It would have killed him. But he wasn't out of the truck yet. I remember that when I heard about that, I thought I was going to throw up. I think the little details of things sometimes frighten me more than the big picture. Ryan was in this horrible crash and survived it, and that's the big picture. But the thought of how close he was to being crushed by a tree after the impact gave me this sickening feeling of inertia, like on fair rides, like the world had stopped moving and I was still flying forward. I haven't had very many moments like that in my life, and I'm thankful. But I think it's in those moments when I have most realized how very much God has protected me and my family at every turn, both in the big picture and in the small details. And in a strange way, after the initial sickenss of those moments, I have been less afraid. I think if I could see God's hold on my life that clearly all the time, I would live my life much more boldly. But we only get glimpses.
Looking at these photos was one of those glimpses.

Aaron in Iraq. Isn't he all rugged and unshaved looking?

Aaron's Hummer after the explosion. Obviously, the driver's seat, where Aaron was, is the one you see.

I just wanted to let y'all know that although I haven't talked to Aaron today, he told me last time I spoke to him that he was supposed to have a follow-up appointment regarding his skin graft and the cut on his foot today. Please pray that that will go well. I'm not sure if he was meeting with his general doctor or his wound care specialist, but good news from either one of them about how Aaron's skin is healing would be nice. Good skin means Aaron can really start his rehab.
Also, Aaron told me that sometime in the next couple of days he would get online and write all of you a letter for me to post here, so look forward to that soon, assuming that I can threaten him enough to make him actually do it. Feel free to threaten him yourself via the comments section.
Moving on to other members of the family, Mom got a call from Ryan on Saturday, but she only got to talk to him for about three minutes before he had to get off the phone unexpectedly. So we don't have much news from him, but we do know he's apparently surviving his training OK. That's always good news.
Happy Tuesday.

We have heard sad, sad news today and ask that you pray with us. Aaron learned today that four of the men in his twenty-man MAP-7 platoon were killed in a car bombing and an ensuing gun fight at Haditha Dam. I’m not sure when this happened, but it was within the last few days. Aaron’s Staff Seargeant called to let him know what had happened. Seven men also were wounded, and four of those are on their way to Bethesda now. Aaron plans to see them when they arrive. Please pray for the families of the men who were killed, and pray for the lives of the wounded. So that there is no confusion, Aaron's platoon did not go to Iraq with the Reserve unit from Jackson that was deployed to Iraq as a Motor T group, and it was not that group that was attacked. Aaron was later reassigned to a special platoon made up of twenty men from a couple of different places. But we know there are four families grieving this terrible loss now, wherever they live. Pray for them. Pray also for Aaron. These were men who were very dear friends to him and he is heartbroken, as we all are, to learn that they are gone.
I am sorry that I have to do this now, but I am leaving town this afternoon to attend the wedding of a friend. There may be a break in posts for a while, so please just pray for Aaron's platoon and for he and Kelly dealing with this sad news until I can give you more information.

I am back from the wedding I attended in Nebraska this weekend, and I am aware that I need to post an update here soon. I have every intention of doing that once I am able to sit still for ten whole minutes in somewhere other than the Omaha airport, where I spent about six hours yesterday. Please bear with me. Once I write about how Aaron is doing, I also plan to write about my weekend, including the fact that I have now been to Nebraska three whole times, which is exactly three times more than I ever thought I would go to Nebraska, and the beautiful wedding that I was privileged to attend there this weekend. So more words to come. But first, I have a few things to take care of such as work, eating, and sleeping. Especially sleeping. Wow, I need sleep.
Hang in there.

So there's been a bit of a communication snafu in the last few days between New Mexico, Mississippi and Washington, D.C. I spoke to Aaron very briefly this morning, but he had apparently woken up late and was about to miss a therapy appointment, so he had to run. I just talked to Mom, who was on the other line with Dad, who is on a business trip in northern Mississippi. Both of them had tried to contact Aaron and Kelly today and didn't catch them. So we're assuming that today was very busy day for them and we'll talk to them tomorrow. Sorry there isn't much to report.
I do know that on Monday, the men from Aaron's platoon who were injured in the car bombing and gun fight in Haditha Dam were supposed to arrive at Bethesda and Aaron was planning to spend some time with them and their families, so it's entirely possible that he got caught up with that and hasn't been in his room as much as he would be otherwise. Please continue to pray for these men. I am going to ask Aaron for their names soon. We haven't been told the extent of their injuries, but we do know that it took longer for them to be moved from Germany to Bethesda than it took Aaron, so we assume they are more severely injured. Please, please pray for them and their families. We know all too well what they're going through right now, and they have a tough road ahead.
More on Aaron whenever I finally get to talk to him. Thanks for checking up with us.

I have found Aaron, and he is well. I thought you'd all want to know, since he's been kind of un-findable the last few days. I talked to him on Wednesday. In case you're keeping track, that was the 18th, which means it's been two months since the attack. Hard to believe. Aaron said Wednesday was kind of a hard day because he feels like he should be farther along in the rehabilitation process than he is two months later. In the grand scheme of things, it's not going to matter how long it takes him to get walking again, but the weeks since Aaron had his skin grafts have been trying because it's involved a lot of waiting and not a lot of action. But progress is being made. Aaron said his skin graft is healing up under the supervision of his wound care specialist, who is fast becoming our favorite person. The gash on his foot is 99 percent healed, and only a small part of the tissue is still inflamed. Praise God for that.
In the meantime, Aaron is working out, trying to build his strenth up, and trying to gain some weight. At last count, Aaron weight 140 pounds. He weighed about 180 when he left, so he's lost a lot of weight, and now weighs less than me. This makes me feel just great. Our of revenge, I've threatened to sit on him and force feed him if he doesn't start bulking up soon, since I could apparently pin him to the floor for the first time in about ten years.
In the rest of their time, Aaron and Kelly are spending a lot of time with the men from Aaron's platoon who were hurt at Haditha Dam. They are seriously injured, but they haven't lost any limbs and they should be coming along nicely soon. It's good for Aaron to spend some time with them, since they are probably some of the only people who really understand what losing the men who died means to all of them. Please continue to keep these men in your prayers. I am going to post their names soon, but in the meantime, be as faithful to them and their families as you have been to us. They are family, too.
There is a break for Aaron and Kelly on the horizon. In early June, they are going home to attend the wedding of Kelly's dear friend, Megan. (Congratulations, Megan!) Then they are going to spend some time with family. When I talked to Aaron, he said he's starting to think this trip is going to be really good for them, because of being able to see people from home but also because they really need a break from the endless barrage of appointments with doctors and time in hospitals. Our family has been blessed to not spend a lot of time in hospitals over the years, but we've learned from this experience that hospitals, no matter how good they are at what they do, are inherently hard places to be. Please pray that Aaron and Kelly will have a good couple of weeks and then be able to really relax in the time they spend away from D.C.
In other news, Aaron and Kelly have recently dined at the home of the Marine Commandant along with other combat veterans, met an injured Marine who, weirdly enough, lives on the EXACT SAME ROAD where our family home is in Mississippi (what a small world!), and made friends with some very kind people from the church they've been attending in D.C. They are going to have dinner with a young married couple from the Sunday School class they've been attending soon. Somehow it's really comforting to hear about them doing something that's so very normal for the stage of life they're at. It makes me believe that one day, life will seem normal again. That's a happy thought.
As a matter of housekeeping, Kelly said she recently went back to collect their mail from the Naval Lodge and received all the packages people sent them there. Many thanks to all of you for your kindness and generosity to them via the U.S. Postal Service. We especially want to thank the students of Covenant Christian School in Yazoo City, Mississippi, where all us Rice kids attended elementary school at one time or another. The students held some kind of fundraiser for Aaron and Kelly recently and sent them the money, and that was so kind of them. Aaron and Kelly really appreciate it, y'all. Give your teachers big hugs for us ... odds are, they taught us once, and we love them.
More to come ... I have a lot of things to post from the last few weeks, but I knew you all wanted to know about Aaron and Kelly first. Feel free to send them love through the comments section, and please, please keep praying for all of us. The first few weeks of this whole process seemed like a frantic sprint, but now it's starting to feel more like a marathon, and everyone, especially Aaron and Kelly, are going to need endurance to get through the long road ahead. We're glad we have such good friends to run with.
Thanks.

My baby sister, Hannah Ruth Rice, nicknamed Hammer Roo in our family because the boys couldn't say her name when Mom and Dad brought her home from the hospital, graduates from high school this Saturday. In honor of that great occasion that I won't be able to attend, I wrote a letter that was read during her senior roast on Wednesday night at our family's church, Woodland PCA in Hattiesburg. They have a nice meal for the graduating seniors, then drag out every naked baby photo and embarassing story they can get from their families. I love this tradition, especially since I graduated a long time ago and now I have immunity. So in celebration of the big day tomorrow, here's that letter, as well as a photo of Hannah that I totally stole from her boyfriend's web site. Hopefully he doesn't sue me for stealing his work. Enjoy, and leave Hannah your congratulations in the comments section.

Dear Hannah,
You didn’t really think you were going to get out of this whole thing without hearing from me, did you? Silly girl. I’m really sorry I can’t be there to say all this in person, but you know I don’t easily pass up opportunities to embarrass my siblings.
I remember that when the boys graduated a few years ago, I felt kind of weird about it, but I couldn’t quite put my finger on why. Now that you’re graduating, I know exactly wht it’s weird. Because it makes me feel old. Very, very old. Older than I felt when the boys graduated. Their advent into the world is somewhat hazy in my mind, since I was only three years old. But I remember you. When you were little, I thought you were my baby as much as anyone else’s. Mom brought you into this world, and it’s thanks to her and dad that you’re a well-adjusted member of society, but there are an awful lot of photos of me hauling you around on my hip when you were a baby. And since we all know that shortly after Audrey’s debut in the family, she announced her exclusive rights to Mom’s attention with her first words, “MY mama,” you were even more at my mercy. This was unfortunate for you. I am pretty sure it’s my fault that in one of our family portraits you have stitches in your lower lip. The night before those photos were taken, I started playing a game with you in the pitch-black living room and got you all hyped up and then let you run around. It was kind of like letting go of one of those wind-up toy cars. You, predictably, whacked your face on the coffee table and started bleeding.
Come to think of it, that may not have been entirely my fault. Some of my more vivid memories of you as a kid have to do with you running into things. When we lived on East 16th Street in Yazoo City, our house had a split-level dining room and living room area, meaning that there was one stair step between the two rooms. Everyone else in the family figured out the whole thing about the step pretty quickly, but not you. We got used to the sound of you running full-speed across the dining room, failing to notice the step into the kitchen, and running into it with your shins. You always wiped out onto the kitchen floor and lay there for a minute, with this expression of shock on your face, like someone had come in at night and installed a step in the kitchen in an attempt to sabotage you.
Then there was the incident with the porch swing at the cabin. It was probably not the smartest thing for Aaron and Ryan and I to spend large chunks of time seeing how high we could make the porch swing go, but we did it without any bloodshed until one day when you walked out onto the porch, looked at the swing arching back and forth at the speed of a rocket, and then decided it would be a great idea to just, you know, WALK TOWARDS THE SWING. We couldn’t have stopped it at that point. Of course, when the swing caught you under the chin and sent you flying across the porch, the carnage was deemed to have been “All Our Our Fault For Not Watching Out For Our Baby Sister,” like we were just supposed to know that you were planning to take a lunge at the swing. I won’t even get into the time you jumped off the side of the pool and mananged to bust open both your face and Mom’s head. I don’t think you developed any depth perception until you were about ten. But, nonetheless, I’m sorry if you have any permanent scars.
When you got older, there was a protracted period of time when the boys and I were pretty mean to you, and I’m also sorry about that. In our defense, you were the world’s worst tattletale as a child. But I’m pretty sure that didn’t justify some of the things we did. I do like to think that the boys were worse than me. Bear in mind that it was the two of them who cut your hair off with safety scissors, not me, and I also didn’t make fun of your resulting short haircut. Still, I wasn’t always the greatest sister, and I’m sure you rejoiced when I went away to college. But one of my favorite things about our family now is that somewhere between the days when we used to beat each other up over who was going to sit in the front seat and now, when you’re 18 and headed off to college, we all became really good friends.
And you turned out to be a pretty cool person, much cooler than I am, even though I like to think I had something to do with the fact that you have good musical taste. You’re a good friend and you’re funny and you think about important things and you don’t really care too much what everybody else thinks about you, which is good, trust me. Also, you don’t run into furniture and walls nearly as much as you used to. I’m really proud that you’re my sister.
One of the things I told the boys at their roast was that they should always remember that family are the people who will always be there for you. That doesn’t mean nothing will change. We’ll come and go around the country and the world. We’ll get married and bring new people into the family, and we’ll be richer and laugh harder for it. But when bad things happen, and when you need to remember who you are and who loves you no matter what happens, you will go home. And even though I and the boys and Audrey won’t always be there in the house and you won’t either, you’ll learn that home and the people who are home to you will never be more than a phone call away. And when you need to know that, I hope you’ll call me. I love you. Congratulations on your graduation. Be careful, keep an eye out for all those stairs and watch your head.
Your big sister,
Haley

When I talked to Aaron on Sunday, he was on his way to have dinner with some friends who were in D.C., but he quickly told me some interesting things, including the fact that this weekend, he and Kelly got to attend the White House Photojournalists' Awards Banquet. Don't ask me how that happened, because if I knew, I would get myself tickets way before I would tell you how to get them. President George W. Bush spoke, which Aaron enjoyed. That's all well and good, but what makes me really jealous about the whole thing is that Aaron got to sit with the editor of The Washington Post. Apparently, they had a nice chat about life and Aaron got his business card. I think he should frame it, but it's probably going to live in his wallet forever. It's probably better that this happened to Aaron than that it ever happen to me, because I would have been so awestruck that I wouldn't have managed a whole sentence, but still. Aaron did at least have the sense to preface that story by telling me "I told him that when my reporter sister found out who I was sitting with, she was going to die of jealousy." That's pretty much true.
Once Aaron was done making his rounds with the famous people, he also went on a bike ride. An organization called Creative Mobility or something like that came by to let some of the amputees and other injured men try out their custom bicycles. They took the left pedal off of one of the three-wheel bikes because those offer more stability, and Aaron rode it all around the park. He said it was really fun and he may want to get into cycling once he gets a prosthetic and can handle two pedals. He sounded really excited about it, which was great to hear.
Other than that, not a lot of news to report today. Please pray that Aaron's skin grafts continue to heal, and I'll post more when I talk to him again. Thanks.

Found this article on CNN and thought I would pass it on. Apparently, there is a major military operation going on in Haditha, which is where Aaron was stationed and where his platoon is still located. Pray for their safety and for their families, since this must cause them some anxiety. The last few weeks have been very violent in that area. Please pray that there will be as little bloodshed as possible on both sides.

BAGHDAD, Iraq (CNN) -- U.S. forces launched a wide-ranging offensive Wednesday against insurgents in western Iraq, involving about 1,000 American and Iraqi troops in Sunni-dominated Anbar province, the Marines said.

"The operation is successful to this point," said Marine Col. Steven Davis. "We were able to achieve what we believe is total surprise, and and we continue to do our series of coordinated searches for insurgents and for caches of munitions and weapons."

A Marine statement issued earlier described the offensive -- Operation New Market -- as "focused on disrupting insurgent activity in the vicinity of Haditha and maintaining the pressure on insurgents begun with Operation Matador" earlier this month.

That offensive -- conducted between May 7 and 14 -- was launched farther west near Syria, around Qaim. It was designed to disrupt cross-border infiltration by insurgents organizing for attacks in Ramadi, Falluja, Baghdad and Mosul.

Wednesday's resistance by insurgents is "less severe" than what forces found during Matador, Davis said at Al Asad Air Base in western Iraq. "A number of different types of groups that make up the insurgency here." But unlike Matador, Davis said, "we believe most of these are probably Iraqi insurgents at this point."

"This particular area has been subject to a very fierce intimidation campaign of the citizens" by insurgents, Davis said. "Insurgents have been targeting the military and the infrastructure installations."

Hello, all. Aaron and Kelly sent me some photos today from their adventure with Creative Mobility, a bicycling outfit that took some of the wounded veterans for a demonstration of their products last weekend. Aaron really had a great time riding around in the park ... he said all the green reminded him of Mississippi and made him homesick. I thought y'all might enjoy seeing these.

This is Aaron and Kelly getting all safety geared-up. Aren't they cute?

Aaron pedaling away.

For Memorial Day, Aaron and Kelly have been invited to go to Colorado to attend a rally of physically handicapped bicyclists so Aaron can meet other people who have gotten into this and try out some products. It sounds like it will be a really nice weekend for them, which is great. They also get to go fly fishing, and I greatly look forward to hearing about their adventures doing that. I'll keep y'all posted.

Here's a story about how air travel can change your life.
In the summer of 1995, which is ten years ago this summer for anyone who's counting, my friend Autumn Fredericks, long may she live and prosper, convinced my parents to let me get on a plane with her and go to Horn Creek, a summer camp in Colorado. I know for a fact that this caused a major schism in the Rice household since I had A) never flown anywhere before B) never been out of the Deep South. But in the end, I went, and I'm pretty sure my mom cried the entire time we were on the plane. In fact, when we arrived safely and were registering, the people in charge of the camp gave me my name tag and said "Oh, you're Haley Rice. Your mom has called here three times wanting to know if you made it yet." (I love you, Mom. And that wasn't at all embarrasing.) Truth be told, I was terrified too. As shocking as it sounds now, when I was 15, I wasn't a big fan of talking to strangers, and I was pretty sure the week was going to involve a lot of people I'd never met.
I turned out to be right.
Accounts differ as to whether or not it all started the first night of camp or the second day of camp, but ten years later, the undisputed facts are that very early into the week, Autumn and I met three girls named Rebecca, Charity and Bryonie, and although we're pretty sure the earth didn't actually move when that happened, it was a very important moment.
Autumn was assigned to stay in Cabin #2 with Charity and Rebecca and Bryonie for the week, and I was assigned to Cabin #7. I liked my cabin group alright, but because Autumn was the only person I really knew, I ended up hanging out with her cabin so much that I was declared an honorary resident of Cabin #2 for that year. And the next year, and the next year, and the next year all through high school.
We all went to college, some of us went overseas, we graduated from college, moved all over the place, four of us have gotten married and one of us is the mother to a beautiful one-year-old baby. But through it all, we've kept in touch. Several years ago we started to notice that, post-camp and post-college, it was getting more and more difficult to see each other aside from the occasional wedding. So we started what is affectionately known as the Horn Creek Cabin #2 Reunion Tour. The Reunion Tour is always on Labor Day weekend, and for the last three years, we have spent those three glorious days in Autumn's parents' lake cabin in Minnesota. None of us lives in Minnesota, but it's the closest thing we've been able to find to a middle point between Albuquerque, Nebraska, Washington D.C. and St Louis. This year, things have gotten even more complicated. Bryonie and her husband moved to England, and soon, Charity and her new husband, Andy, will be living in North Carolina. Change, it seems, is everywhere. But some things don't change.
All the Cabin #2 girls were able to attend Charity and Andy's wedding two weeks ago in Lincoln, Nebraska, and it was just such a fantastic weekend. Here we all are together. From left are Rebecca, Bryonie, Charity, Autumn and me. Trust me when I tell you that this is a much better-looking photo than some of the ones we took as teenagers.

Each time we get together, I realize again how important these ladies have been in my life, and I'm thankful all over again that I know them. The more time passes and the more things change, the more comforting it is to get together with friends who have known me for longer than I've been a newspaper reporter or a New Mexico resident or, for that matter, had my driver's license. Every time I'm with them, I just feel like things are simpler and I can be myself.
So here's to the first ten years of my friendship with these women. Here are a few more photos from the weekend of the wedding.

Rebecca with Livia, she and her husband Jeremy's baby girl:

Bryonie and I grin for the cameras at the reception:

And, finally, the happy couple, Charity and Andy, getting hitched on a beautiful spring morning in Nebraska. This photo is crooked because I was all choked up when I was trying to take it. Joy and love to the new couple.

Addendum: Aaron said today that the segment he was interviewed for is supposed to run right at 6 p.m. Central Time. You should probably tune in the hour before in case it runs early, but wait until 6 p.m. before you turn the TV off completely. Thanks.
I wanted to let you all know that Aaron has been interviewed by Fox News for a story they did about the Wounded Warriors group. I'm not totally clear on whether or not Wounded Warriors is the group that sponsors the bicycling rally Aaron and Kelly are at in Colorado this weekend or if they are just the group that sent Aaron and Kelly to it, but in any event, they got some coverage for Fox News' Memorial Day programming. The reporter who interviewed Aaron said the segment would air on Fox between 5 p.m. and 6 p.m. Central Time on Memorial Day. Aaron said she interviewed him for about ten minutes. There's no telling how much of that interview will get aired, but make the appropriate time adjustements according to your time zone and tune in if you want to see more of Aaron's bicycling self. I am probably going to overcome my absolute loathing of cable network news channels and watch it myself. The sacrifices I make for my family. :)
I now return to my regularly scheduled programming of watching the San Antonio Spurs (hopefully) whup up on the Phoenix Suns in the NBA playoffs. Go, Spurs, Go!

Those of you who tuned in when I told you to today in an effort to catch the Fox News segment that featured Aaron and Kelly are, no doubt, dissapointed right about now because you didn't see it. I didn't either. Here is what happened, as best we can tell: The reporter who interviewed Aaron and Kelly did say that the segment would air on Monday. Obviously, it didn't, and I can understand how that happened, because the reporter probably has no real control over when it airs. But all is not lost. We as a family have an old saying. It goes like this: "WHAT DID YOU SAY? I CAN'T HEAR YOU OVER THE FOX NEWS THEME SONG!"
Yes, my mom is a Fox News fanatic. In fact, if you walk into our house on any given day, I will bet you twenty dollars that Fox News is playing on the TV. Normally, I consider this to be a bad thing because I find cable network news to be second only to AM talk radio in the ranking of Things I Would Rather Scrape My Fingernails Across a Chalkboard Than Listen To. But that is beside the point. On Sunday (note: SUNDAY) afternoon at around 6 p.m. Central Time, Mom was folding some clothes and watching Fox News when the announcer started talking about a bicycling rally for the physically handicapped in Colorado. Mom popped a tape into the VCR just in time to tape the segment with Aaron and Kelly. On SUNDAY. So in this case, although it pains me to admit it, Mom's TV news-junkie habits turned out to be a good thing. Sorry that y'all probably missed the segment. I'm going to check around and see if there is any link for the video on the Fox News site and if there is, we'll post it here. Otherwise, you can call my mom and ask her how it was.
If you can convince her to turn the volume down.

This is a little late in the day, but it's still May 31, so it's OK. Everyone please wish a very happy birthday to my baby-est sister Audrey, whose nickname, in case you're wondering, is AudgieMoPaudge, Queen of the Audgie Paudgies, or, if we don't have much time, "Moosie Baby." Both of those names were thought up by Dad, who has given all of us bizarre nicknames. Someday I'll do a whole entry just based on our family's various aliases. But in the meantime, wish Audrey a happy Sweet Sixteen. We love you, Audge!

Haley: "I think I'm just kind of in a funk."

Dan: "You mean like this?" (Sings) "Play that funky MUUUUsic, white boy. Play that funky music Rii-ght." (Starts dancing)

The sight of Dan getting down with his bad self would get anybody out of a funk. I can never say I am short on things to laugh about.