Bonfire Night (a day late...)

November 5th in England is Bonfire Night. For almost 400 years, bonfires have burned on November 5th to mark the failed Gunpowder Plot. (see "Guy Fawkes and Bonfire Night" (http://www.bonefire.org/guy/bonfire.php) for more information - it's a great site that tells an interesting story)

We celebrated too! We had an English Dinner:

• Beef Wellington
• Roasted Potatoes
• Carrots and Peas
• Crusty Bread
• Pints of Guinness

and topped off by a tasty Guinness Cake!

We lit a lovely bonfire (in our screened outdoor fire place - no brush fires started by us!) and we all threw our Guy Fawkes effigies onto the fire! We watched the fire from our dinner table and enjoyed the celebration.

Happy Birthday!

Happy Birthday Grandpa!

Sunday was Bob's 70th Birthday - and we had quite a day. We started with Bob and Erik playing handbells at the church service in the morning. Kathy joined them as she sang in the kid's choir.

Then we headed to Coronado for brunch at Peohe's. We ordered the decadent lava cake for dessert and got to sing our first "Happy Birthday" to Bob.

Later, we took our Sunday Dinner on the road - to Grandma and Grandpa's house!

To set the stage for the celebration, we loaded the dinner table with 71 balloons (Erik and Kathy blew all of them up!!!), one for each of Bob's years and one to grow on.


















Our dinner was delicious.

• Caesar Salad


• Grilled Tri-tip with Green Peppercorn Sauce


• Rustic Port Wine Cheese Smashed Potatoes


• Glazed Carrots


• Donna's INCREDIBLE Rum Cake

The dinner was capped off by a fabulous bottle of Bob's favorite wine - Justin Vineyard's Isosceles, a very smooth Bordeaux blend.

Then it was time to open the presents!


























Happy 70th!!

A Spamalot Celebration

We just reserved our tickets for the Broadway show Spamalot! in December and figured that this was the ideal time to have a Spamalot Celebration!

Check out the menu:

Oyez Oyez!

The Supreme Court is now in session...

On the Docket for October 9, 2005

Opening Statements:

• Wendell Holmes Olive Trays
  
  

Presentation of the Case:

• Warren Burgers on "Nine"-grain Rolls
• Clarence Thomas Salad
• Supreme Vegetables
• Grilled Sweet Potato and Scalia Salad

Closing Arguments:

• Sunday O'Connors (with Just-ice Cream)
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  

On the Court:

John Marshall

• Appointed by John Adams
• February 4, 1801
• From Virginia
• At 45, the youngest Chief Justice
• Served under 5 Presidents
• Principal founder of American Constitutional Law and Judicial Review
• Liked ham sandwiches
  

Thurgood Marshall

• Appointed by Lyndon Johnson
• October 2, 1967
• From New York
• Represented plaintiff in Brown v Board of Education
• 1st African-American on the Court
• Supporter of individual rights

Sandra Day O’Connor

Appointed by Ronald Reagan
September 25, 1981
From Arizona
1st woman on the Court
Moderate and often the "swing vote"
In 2004 Forbes Magazine named her 4th most powerful woman in the world
Announced her retirement July 1, 2005

Ruth Bader Ginsburg

• Appointed by Bill Clinton
• August 10, 1993
• From New York
• Advocate of women’s rights
• Dissented in Bush v Gore
• Attended Harvard and Columbia Law Schools

Clarence Thomas

• Appointed by George H. W. Bush
• October 23, 1991
• From Georgia
• Controversially confirmed by the Senate 52 - 48
• 2nd African-American to serve on the Court
• Dissented on case upholding Roe v Wade
• Dissented on Adarand Constructors v Pena, on the side against Affirmative Action

William Howard Taft

• Appointed by Warren Harding
• July 11, 1911
• From Connecticut
• Only President to ever serve on the Supreme Court
• Chief from 1921- 1930
• Upheld the Judges Act enabling the Supreme Court to give precedence to cases of national importance

Henry Billings Brown

Appointed by Benjamin Harrison
January 5, 1891
From Michigan
Studied law at both Harvard and Yale
Wrote the majority opinion in Plessy v Ferguson
Supported federal income tax







Warren Earl Burger

Appointed by Richard Nixon
June 23, 1969
From Virginia
Born in St. Paul, MN
Chief Justice 1969 - 1986
Landmark case - Roe v Wade

Edward Douglass White

Appointed by Grover Cleveland
March 12, 1894
From Louisiana
Chief Justice from 1910 - 1924
Was once a member of the KKK
Authored "rule of reason" decisions in major anti-trust cases
Upheld Adamson Act, Establishing 8 hour work day