Hello everyone - I know it's been a while, but I have been absolutely slammed at work. In the last month, I've worked an average of 75 hours a week - it's been pretty rough! The weather is nice at the moment, but we've been having typical English weather - in one day it was sunny and warm, then cloudy and cold, then it rained, then hailed, and finally it was sunny and warm again. You just never know what you're going to get around here. But the days are getting longer now - daylight rolls in around 4am and lasts until after 9pm.

Shae and Billy's visit:
We finally got my sister Shae and brother-in-law Billy a little cultured - they got here in mid-April and stayed with us for a week. This was their first trip out of the U.S. and their longest time away from their kids. But Gigi had a great time keeping the little ones for them while they enjoyed a little bit of Europe. And other than the time Landon said that Gigi was being mean to Ryan, I think they were ok. We had a few video conferences with them over instant messenger - they'll never know what it was like growing up without a video phone. I guess we're old fashioned now.

Jill met Shae and Billy at Victoria Station, and they took a quick nap when they got to our flat. I think they realize how big their house is now after spending seven days in our 300 square foot palace. After they woke up from their jetlag power-nap, we started off with a pint of beer in the Jekyll and Hyde pub. We enjoyed some typical British weather - some nice light rain coming in sideways by the wind. We walked across the footbridge for a nice view of Big Ben and the Parliament, but the rain made that a little cruddy. But the worst was behind us - the rest of their trip was really nice with little rain.

We took them to Jill's favorite restaurant in Richmond that night - Nando's - it's the Portuguese restaurant that has really good grilled chicken and peri chips (seasoned french fries). We all had a laugh at a woman that was walking around with a ring of toilet paper hanging out of her pants - in a perfect circle - she couldn't have placed it any better.

The next day I got to work while they got to go tour around London. They all went to Buckingham Palace to see the Changing of the Guard, and then went on the double -ecker bus tour for the rest of the major sights. They went to a pub for lunch, and this is when it started - Shae got a smoked salmon and prawn sandwich, and she about freaked out because it looked a little raw. For those of you who don't know, when it comes to food, Shae is pickier than the anal retentive chef on SNL. She had an interesting time finding food that she liked around here, and Billy often got to eat two meals. They met me back in Richmond that night and we went to Pizza Express (which turned out to be Shae's favorite restaurant as she ordered the "American Pizza").

I got to earn a living again the next day while the three musketeers went to Westminster Abbey and the Tower of London. Have you ever seen the guys on the news that climb the London sites to protest? Well, they saw two guys that had climbed up Westminster Abbey that day doing some kind of protest. The "Bobbies" told Jill that they had taken their food and drinks away and they were just waiting them out. This was Easter weekend, and they stayed up there long enough to disrupt the church service. I think Shae and Billy saw enough tombs inside - the first thing they said when they came out was that they didn't need to go into the crypt of St. Paul's to see those tombs.

They met me in Richmond once again for dinner - strike two - we took them to our favorite Japanese Noodle Bar called Wagamama. Shae got the chicken katsu curry, which is an excellent dish, but there was one problem - she didn't like the curry sauce - so that didn't work out too well.

The next day we all jumped on the Eurostar and headed to Paris. We had four seats together with a table in the middle, so Billy and I faced Jill and Shae. There was this couple right behind Jill and Shae, and apparently they haven't seen each other in years since they were all over each other - she was in his lap and they were smacking the whole way to Paris. The problem is that Billy and I could see them through the cracks of Jill and Shae's seats, and we couldn't keep ourselves from laughing. So to compose himself, Billy looks out the window to try to take his mind off of it and stop laughing so hard, but he catches the girl's eye through the window while she's still lip-locked - and that does it, he lost it. I didn't realize what happened, so I look out the window to stop from laughing at Billy and then I lost it too. Keep in mind that they are right behind Jill and Shae, and people are all around - we're trying so hard not to laugh, but it was impossible. Jill and Shae knew what was going on because of the smacking in their ears, but they couldn't see them like we could. Welcome to Paris - the PDA capital of the world.

After we got Billy up off the floor, we showed them around Paris. Believe it or not, I didn't even bring my camera - I had a few withdrawals, but I got to use Jill's when I couldn't stand it anymore. It was a beautiful day in Paris, and we started off by going up to Sacre Coeur (beautiful church on top of a hill with a great view of the city of Paris). We had lunch at a nice cafe that Jill and I found while we were there in February for our anniversary. We sat outside at one of the little tables on the sidewalk and watched the people. Shae took the safe route and ordered pizza, but struck out - she didn't like the pizza. So at this point, we had come to the conclusion that Shae doesn't like any food over here. It was going to be a long week for her. One interesting thing to note about this restaurant - it's free to use the bathroom - that is, if it's #1 - to get in the stalls you had to pay 50 cents.

We walked through the Red Light District and saw the Moulin Rouge, saw the Arc de Triomphe as we walked along Champs-Elysees, and went up in the Eiffel Tower. While we were up there, I got a page about Taege - our sister, Ashley, gave birth to her son Taege Stephen. He was a few weeks early and was born on April 14 at 11:53am (CDT), weighed 5 pounds, 6 ounces, and was 17 inches long. Congratulations to the Ellsworth family - we are very excited and we can't wait to see him (and all of you) when we come to visit in July!

We took Shae and Billy to our favorite steak restaurant in the world while we were there, but it was closed - we were so bummed out. The problem is that finding a restaurant in another country on your own is a crap shoot, and like the game, you usually lose. We gave one a shot and Shae and I ordered scallops - we knew Shae was going to hate it since it wasn't a hamburger, but to everyone's surprise, she actually liked it. That was good news - now she's had two meals that she's liked. Before we went to bed, we went by the Eiffel Tower again to see it all lit up in the night - great views as usual. We went to an Irish pub for a night cap, and then off to bed (Shae, did you ever get all of the bed bugs out?)

The next day we went to Notre Dame, the Opera House, and then we dropped Shae and Billy off at the Louvre Museum. We had to talk them into going because they aren't the biggest museum fans in the world. We convinced them that there was a lot of cool stuff in there to see, including the Mona Lisa - you can't go to Paris and not see the Mona Lisa. We decided to meet them back after three hours, and Jill and I were worried that this wouldn't be enough time for them (remember, this is the largest and arguably the most famous museum in the world). After we shopped around for a little bit, we met them again and they had been finished like two hours earlier. I think they ate lunch, saw the Mona Lisa, and left. So much for "once they get in there they'll realize that they do like all of this famous ancient stuff"! Overall, they really liked Paris and they enjoyed seeing the sights first hand. Jill and I love Paris, so it was great to be back.

We took them to our church on Easter Sunday, and then we had a traditional Sunday roast at a local pub. We shopped around Camden Market and walked through Covent Garden, Leicester Square, and Piccadilly Circus. We took the safe route for dinner that night and headed back to Pizza Express. On their last day, we had fish and chips, went to the Natural History Museum, visited St. Paul's Cathedral, and toured the Clink Prison Museum (the site of an old prison - possibly the oldest in England). We took a chance and scored on our final meal - we went to the Thai Elephant, a place we've wanted to try for some time - and everyone liked it, including Mikey.

I think Shae's most common question was, "How much further to the bus stop?" By the way, you own Bus 493! Billy, we hope you had enough towels during your visit. We had a lot of fun with you guys and we've missed you ever since you left. We're glad that you got to come and see a little bit of the world outside of Alabama. We really enjoyed showing you the sights, going to Paris, playing games, and going to all of the pubs. They tried all kinds of different beers, and both of them liked Kronenbourg (French) the best. We'll see you again in June!

Wimbledon:
Jill and I finally went and toured Wimbledon. The official name of the club is The All England Croquet and Lawn Tennis Club. There are 50 courts, but only 400 members. Membership only costs 100 pounds, but you have to be preferred by four existing members just to get on the waiting list (which has over 1000 names on it now). It costs 25,000 pounds to get a seat on center court for five years. Each member gets two seats on center court each day during the Wimbledon Championship. Center Court (built in 1922 and currently has 13,810 seats) and Court #1 (built in 1997 and currently has 11,429 seats) are only used during the Championship two weeks out of the year.

40,000 people are present to watch the Championship each day during the two week event. An additional 3,000 people can sit in the complex on Henman Hill and watch the event on the big screen. Henman Hill was created from the dirt they dug up to create the tunnels for the players and press to enter the complex. From this hill, spectators also have a great view of the city of London. So, how do you get tickets to Center Court? It's all about luck - all seats are the same price, and the seats are sold by ballot.

A few more tidbits about Wimbledon - it is the only Grand Slam event that is played on grass courts - the grass is cut to 6mm for the Championships. There are fourteen full-time groundskeepers, and even more are hired before the matches in June/July. 132 players are invited to the event (and possibly some wildcard players). There is a contract in which the players have to go to the press room to talk about the matches once they are over. Court #2 (the third largest court which seats around 3,000) is commonly referred to as the "Graveyard of Champions" due to its reputation as the court on which many seeded players have been eliminated during the early rounds. They are currently building a retractable roof for Center Court, and it is planned to be completed in 2009.

Other:
Jill's been busy working at MOPS (Mothers of Preschoolers) - this is a daycare at our church during the week. She recently had a part on the Basil Brush show as a cheerleader - she's now been on that show four times! This shoot was on a Sunday, so I got to go with her and check out the Maidstone Studios. She has been able to go to the data centers with me lately - there's nice shopping on the High Street in Guildford, and there's a big mall two stops up from Winnersh - she gets to shop and I get company on my train rides.

We recently went to the London Golf Show in ExCeL London - it's basically a golfing "theme park". They had all kinds of sales, indoor driving ranges, golf simulators, free lessons, putting greens, country club representatives from all over the world, newer inventions, etc. I got a few accessories, some free golf lessons from a pro, and we entered some free putting contests. We determined that Jill is a better putter than I am - she was the 12th best putter of the day and won a green fee to a posh golf club in France - all I won was a hat!

Usually when I get packages in the mail they are for my job. We got a nice surprise a few weeks ago - a "care package" from my sister Ashley. It was like Christmas! We got Girl Scout Cookies, American peanut butter and jelly, spaghetti, macaroni and cheese, cookie mix - all kinds of stuff we can't get around here. We let our neighbors try some Girl Scout Cookies - they have only seen them on TV and have never seen any. A big "thank you" goes out to the Ellsworth family - we really appreciate you thinking about us and sending everything to us - we enjoyed every bit of it!

Jill went to get some rubbing alcohol the other day, but the pharmacy (chemist) had never heard of it. She tried describing it, but they still didn't know what she was talking about. She called me and had me look it up on the internet, and I found that they call it "surgical spirit" - once she said that she had no problem getting it. This is just one example of the small differences that we often go through over here.

A big congratulations goes out to Rusty and Vicki - Melissa Ann Fowler was born on May 25 at 7:32am. She weighed 6 pounds, 13 ounces and was 18.5 inches long. Everyone is doing fine and big brother Mason is ready to take care of his little sis. We are very happy and excited for you guys and we can't wait to see everyone in June!

Congratulations also goes out to Taylor Hicks - the 2006 American Idol! We downloaded and watched every episode in London, and we even stayed up to call in to vote for you in the middle of the night. We are very excited for you and we enjoyed every one of your performances. It seems like it was only yesterday that I was booking your band "Passing Through" to come play for us at the University of Alabama. We wish you the best with your future, and we can't wait for your new album!

We're heading to Greece in about a week and a half - that will be a nice break from my work. Check out the updated pictures here - London, Paris, Wimbledon. We hope you all enjoy your Memorial Day holiday - be careful over there. We love and miss you all - take care and God bless!