Hello again! Time to play catch-up. Sorry it's been a while with the updates lately, but we've been swamped. I've had a lot going on with work - I recently tested and installed a couple of new servers at ntl, and I have another big project I'm working on now. In addition to that, we've also been updating our entire website (pardon the mess - it's not all complete quite yet) - a big thanks to Justin for all of his help! Well, the last update only covered through May, so this one will cover from June until now. The biggest news is the arrival of our newest nephew, Ryan Thomas Reed. He was born on June 23, and was 6 pounds, 4 ounces, and 22 inches long. Shae had to have an emergency C-Section because the cord was wrapped around his neck. He had to stay in the hospital for over a week, but he's fine and has been home for a while now. He was a little early, so we didn't get to see him with his eyes open much, but we did get to hold and feed him before we left. He's a cutie and we can't wait to see him again in a couple of weeks! Big congratulations go out to Shae and Billy!

We were in the States during the month of June, and we spent lots of time in the hospital after Ryan was born. Ashley and her kids were in town as well, and John surprised everyone with a visit right before we left. My mom and dad had a house full that month - I bet they didn't know what to do when we all left (except enjoy a little peace and quiet)! Reilly, Kelsey, Landon, and Billy are all doing well. We had lots of fun playing with all of the kids. Reilly is really involved in tae kwon do - he's getting way up there on his belt colors (better not mess with him)! Kelsey is really good with Landon - she plays with him a lot and takes really good care of him. Speaking of Landon, we dressed him up as a girl one night - that was great! You'll have to check out the pictures - and I'll be sure to save them so I can show his girlfriends when he gets older! He is talking up a storm too - he's just like his daddy! Billy is still playing lots of sports - we went out with his dad to the driving range while we were home - he can hit the ball really well - I'm pretty sure that he'll be able to beat me soon! As most of you know, when Ashley shows up with the video camera, we usually don't let it go to waste. We made a few shows like we usually do, and we got some good footage of Landon doing his new "trick" - you'll have to see that one (but don't tell Shae)! By the way, we're still at "0" with overseas flights with all of our luggage - this time they only managed to get one of our four bags all the way to Birmingham - still waiting on a perfect overseas return flight with no issues...

While we were home, I was in Matt McNeese's wedding - the rehearsal dinner and wedding were great - thank you all for everything! It was great to get to hang out with everyone - don't get to do that often enough! Love is in the air over there - Tim Braswell and John Pfaudler have recently gotten married (not to each other - Tim married Heather, and John married Nikki), and John Day and Lindsay are engaged. A big congratulations to all of you - we wish you the best! I did get to play golf once while we were home, but only once - I'm not sure it was worth lugging my clubs 4000 miles to shoot about that high! We also made it to a few lunches/dinners with friends and got to see all of the babies - the newest of Heather and Geno, the beautiful Camden Lindley. Most things are about the same when we come back home, but the kids grow so fast and are constantly changing - always great to see every one of you!!!

I had a company meeting in Vegas in June as well (at the Palms), and Jill got to come out to make sure I didn't lose the flat. The meeting went really well - we had a bunch of customers come over and held a 3-day training session for them - I learned some new stuff as well. Jill and I went a day early, and we stayed at the Hard Rock - ate some good Mexican food (Pink Taco), laid out by the pool, and I played a little blackjack - lost overall, but not much - it's all good! Jill brought back more luggage than she started with - something about shopping while I play cards seems to work out to her advantage... Jackie met us out there, and she and Jill soaked up the sun, shopped, and ate some good food - Jill really enjoyed spending time with her out there. Jenny McCarthy was filming her "Party at the Palms" show, so we got to see a little of that footage. The dinners were outstanding - you know we always love good US food when we come home - and this was no exception - actually, maybe it was - we had some of the best dinners we've ever had - Vegas has some really nice restaurants - man I could go for another filet from Caesar's right now! We met Steve and Chance out during our last night at the club "Rain" at the Palms. That was a lot of fun - stayed up late that night - I'm not sure if Steve and Chance even made it to bed before their flight the next morning.

When I wasn't working or chipping my tooth playing with the kids, I managed to get in a poker tournament or two. Jill and Shae have come a long way - they beat the guys on more than one occasion. I figured that I needed some more practice, so I've played a time or two on the internet at partypoker.com - I've done pretty well - they'll have to look out for me next time! Can anybody guess what Jill was up to in the US this time? Yep, you got it - shopping, eating, and spending time with her family. She and my mom drove down to Mobile while we were home - Jill visited her dad and relatives, and my mom went to visit her sister Pat. She had a great time getting together and seeing everyone, and my mom loved your new house, Pat! We finally found another place for Levi - Jill took him to a husky ranch where he'll stay for the rest of the year. This place was full of huskies running around all over the place. Levi jumped right in and made lots of new friends. He's doing great out there. A big thanks goes out to all who have helped with Levi over the past year and a half - our families, Bart and Kerry, and now Mavis - we appreciate everything you've done! Mike had a really nice cookout at his pool - Ashley, Reilly, Kelsey, Jackie, David, Angie, Brooks, Isabella, Jill, and I all went. We had a blast - played chicken, pool basketball, and had some good ole hotdogs and burgers - thanks again Mike for such a good time! It was great to get back to my Bible Study group as well - I made it to a meeting and I was able to help out with some signs for the community service project that they've been working on - it was great to see you guys, and kudos on the hard work you've done for those signs - they look great! We got to spend Father's Day with our dads! Thank you for being such wonderful fathers - we love you very much! I can't forget to send my thanks to Kerry Bagby for helping me out with some computer work - you da man!

Our flight back to London was nice - we left later than usual, so we decided not to take a nap when we got home and we just went to bed early. Since we knew we'd wake up in the middle of the night until we got over our jetlag, we decided to sleep on the blow-up aero bed (aka euro bed according to Jill) in the den so we could watch TV as we dozed in and out of consciousness. Well, we've been home for over a month now, and we're still sleeping on this thing - we haven't slept in our normal bed since May 31st! It got really hot when we got back, and we realized that sleeping closer to the floor made it cooler during the night (the sun rises around 4:30am right into our bedroom window - I can get a tan while I sleep - the den is on the other side of the house, so we avoid sunburn by sleeping in there) - and remember that we don't have an air conditioner - just a little plastic fan. The weather over here has been fantastic - nice and sunny - however, the last few days have been a bit chilly - we still can't get used to walking around in long sleeves and pants during August!

Good news and bad news - London won the 2012 Olympic bid, but were attacked by terrorist the next day. It was two days of totally different feelings - happiness and excitement one day, then sadness and fear the next. On July 7th, there were four bombs - three went off in the tubes and one in a bus. The three on the tubes went off at almost the exact same time, and the one on the bus went off almost an hour later. This is pretty scary - we've been to all of the stations where the bombs went off, and one is only about four miles away from our flat. Around 55 people died from these attacks. Our thoughts and prayers go out to the family and friends of all of them. We went to see the memorial at King's Cross shortly after it happened, and signed the book of condolences. There we so many flowers, cards, and notes over there - we've never seen so many flowers in our lives. Very sad! We appreciate all of the thoughts, prayers, emails, and phone calls from everyone who checked up on us that day - that really means a lot to us! As you know, there was a failed attack on July 21st - four bombs again, but thank God that none of them went off. I was on a train to the data center when this happened, and Jill called me - I was a little worried about taking the train home that night! The people around here have positive attitudes and are determined not to let the terrorists beat them - they got right back on the tubes and buses the next day. We're trying not to let this change the way we live, but we can't help but think twice about taking the tubes and staying away from as many as we can (for now at least).

Jill's dad made it through another hurricane - Emily was not too bad on Mobile, but no one knew that before. Gary has a history of staying home and "riding the hurricanes out". We certainly glad he's ok, but this turns Jill into a nervous wreck! We watch Fox News over here and they talk about how everyone is heading up north to get out of the way. But Jill's dad always stays - and Jill stays up watching the news all night long waiting to make sure everything is ok - hopefully next time he'll get out of Mobile - PLEASE - Jill gets so worried about you! Jill's cousin Mendy is a travel agent in Mobile, and WKRG News called her to set up an interview about how the London bombings were affecting overseas travel. When she told them about Jill living over here, they asked if they could call her during the interview. Jill's getting on TV in Alabama even while we live over here.

We checked out Guildford the other day - I had to go to the data center, so Jill went with me and shopped while I worked. I met up with her for lunch. Guildford is a nice, quaint little town, with a really nice High Street. Jill liked it so much that she keeps trying to break the servers so I'll need to go back to that data center. We've taken a couple of nice Saturday walks with Justin and Rachel lately. We walked along the river from Richmond to Kew and had a "Full English Breakfast" at Cafe Rouge, and we walked the other way to Teddington and had some grilled burgers at Anglers Pub. Both served really good food, and I'm sure we'll be taking these walks again! We recently saw the play, "Some Girls" starring David Schwimmer from "Friends". It was really neat to see him perform live, and we couldn't help but think of "Ross" the whole time - really good show!

We're getting ready for football season - roll tide! We'll be at the first two home games, but that's it. I've been reading some magazines that I bought over there in June, and I'm getting really excited. My boys back home (Kiker, Mika, OBR, and Sham) are stepping it up a notch with their tailgate - new satellite, big screen projector, new tents, etc. - looking forward to the new and improved tailgate on the quad! Wish we could be there for all of the games - but we may be in a better position to watch the games this year. As you know, last year we had a subscription to Yahoo Sports - we got to listen to all of the games and watch a few. Steve showed me a new product called Slingbox - if this thing works like it says, we're in business - it supposedly hooks up to your TV and allows you to access it from your computer from anywhere in the world - it allows you to change the channels remotely and everything. I'm going to pick one up before the season starts, set it up at my parents' house, and hopefully get to watch all of the games in London - granted it may be 3am, but it's Alabama Football we're talking about! This could be HUGE! We'll see how it works (and hope they're not sold out)!

Well, that about wraps it up. We hope you like the new website interface - not all pages have been updated, so please excuse those parts for now. We're working hard to get it all fixed up and hope to have everything converted soon. We're heading to the French Riviera (Monoco, St. Tropez, Nice, and Cannes) next Thursday for a nice relaxing trip - we usually run around all over the place sight-seeing, so we're hoping to enjoy some down time laying out by the pool and at the beach. We're also heading back to the US at the end of the month - it's time for another Fantasy Football Draft and Golf Weekend. We're playing at the Robert Trent Jones in Prattville - we're playing 90 holes over a three-day period (plus any early practice holes). We have new teams this year - this time it's me, Rusty, Smitty, and Wade against Carter, Geno, Steve, and Trey. I've only played golf a few times this year (including 36 holes in St. Andrews), so I'm going to be struggling! I have the first draft pick once again - not sure who I'm going to pick yet. I also have a couple of day’s worth of meetings in Atlanta. Really looking forward to this trip! Be sure to check out our updated pictures - Family, Friends, Las Vegas, Unique, and London. Until next time, we love and miss you all! Take care and God bless!