As Katrina approached, we all knew it was time to get out of Dodge. Here is Lora, somewhere out on I-10 enjoying her peaceful evactuation. 

Many of you Blog visitors have met Lora. Meet her husband Ryan. This is tha man that called me on my way out of town and told me I was a wuss for being scared of a little rain. "Dude lets get a hotel room and watch the whole thing go down. What, are you scared of a little rain?" A few days later, when we saw the pictures of all the windows being blown out of one side of the Sheraton downtown, Ryan mused "Wow, that would have been up there in the pantheon of bad ideas." Good call dude. Good call. 

If your place is going down, you might as well evacuate to paradise. Ladies and gentlemen, Panama City Florida. 

Once we got there we spent a lot of late nights watching Katrina inch closer, and talking about how the destruction of New Orleans would affect us. Now, for all of those of you out there who have wondered, in your private moments "I wonder if sitting around and waiting for the Fubaring (yes it is a verb) of my life would be enjoyable?" Well my friend, let me put your question to rest. It sucks, and it suck hard. After a while we figured we had to get out of the hotel or we were going to go Jim Jones. 

We figured the best idea to keep our minds off the eminent destruction of our house was to keep our minds from focusing on anything at all. Lucky for us, Panama City is full of mindless activities. Here is the whole group of us in Go-Carts, but the fun didn't stop there. (By the way Rob, should you read this, You know the only reason you won is because I was merciful. I just wanted your baby to have a father, you know, other than the mailman. You remember that.) 

So bowling did not go so well for me. I never have really figured out how to have any ball control. So usually, I just try to chuck the ball as hard as I can. I figure that the less time the ball has to screw up on the way down the lane, the better the outcome. There are drawbacks to this strategy. First, it doesn't work. Second... 

I was trying my best to will the ball into the proper position. Little did I know I would land on my a**. (This blog is edited to protect the eyes and ears of your children. Not to mention the fact that if I swear on it, Jen kicks my a**) 

Here, as you can see, is the result. Bowling never was my sport. All finesse and you can't hit anything. Seems like a pretty poor sport, but keep in mind that I likely say that cause i suck at it. 

Appparently, Lora's camera was doing acid at the bowling alley. I can't say I blame it 

For all of Ryan's talk about not being a good bowler, he destroyed the competition, much like rising flood waters destroy a poorly built levee flood wall. I'd like to thank the hundreds of Washington Bureaucrats that underfunded a strong New Orleans levee. May maggots eat out your eyes. 

So after sittng around and watching the Hurrican wreck havoc on everything we owned, Lora's mom scored us a few nights in the spacious and luxurious Orlando Condo. Orlando was underwhelmingly fun at that point 

I have no idea what Ryan and Lora did in this tub, and to be honest, I don't want to know 

Kurse Katrina

So it's been a while since we updated this thing, but we are back by somewhat popular demand. By that I mean, everyone wanted to see what was happening with Liam. We are cool with that fact that everyone wants to see the cutest baby north of the equator.

Below are some images from my evacuation from Hurricane Katrina. I think Herbie Hancock said it best when he said "It was the best of times; it was the worst of times." Right on Herbie. Wait... I think some one else said that. Jimmy Carter? Either way, he knew what he was talking about.

I evacuated to Panama City with my friends Rob and Andrea Beck. My friends Ryan and Lora McDonald came a little later. These are their pictures. Jen (who was in Utah at the time for the wedding of friend) had our camera with her. Below is how we dealt witht he fact that the whole country was watching, waiting to watch Katrina rip New Orleans a new one.

To fill you in a little, since these pictures have been taken I joined Jen in Utah. We have been here a for about a month and a half now. To continue my schooling, I am doing a rotation at the University of Utah in Pediatrics at Primary Children's Medical Center. After I finish with that, and after Jen and I buy a new car (since our Jeep got trashed by Katrina) Jen and I will move to Houston with the rest of my class to do a rotation in Houston. Hopefully, we will be able to return to New Orleans in January.

Enjoy..

Everybody, meet our new friend Lora. She and her husband are out here for a few years for his residency in Internal Medicine. Liam has taken quite a liking to her. 

Lora most generously donates the use of her pool to the swimming education of Liam. He clearly excels at the activity. I had to add this one cause I love the look on his face. Peace and serenity with a touch of "Mom!! You are embarassing me in front of our friends. Put the camera down." 

Now sit right back and hear a tale, a tale of a fateful ship.... The question you have to ask yourself is, is he more a Gilligan or a Skipper? 

Jen tries to take Liam swimming as much as possible. Its a great way to beat the heat down here, which is pretty brutal. 

It has become pretty clear that Liam loves the water. If we skip bath time, he cries. 

Liam on the way home to New Orleans after a long stay in Utah over the summer. He slept most of the way home, much to the joy of Jen who was flying all by herself with him. 

This has been our family interaction as of late. Liam and Jen came to the hospital to bring me lunch. Ahh, the Lakeiside country club. What a great place to start. It was an easy place to start out.