Rob's 40th Birthday Weekend & Other Photos

Umphrey's McGee's tour bus has just arrived in front of our house...it's about 8:30 am and they left San Diego around 2:30 am.  Most of the band is still asleep.  Rob is just off the bus and yes, that is a cigarette in his hand.  We have been up early cooking breakfast for them.  They play in Tempe tonight.  That green plant to Rob's right is Rosemary.  Just break of some twigs and cook!  Next to the Rosemary is a Staghorn Cholla...not the kind that I backed into but still very thorny.  Yes, we rake the rocks...no grass. 

Andy (one of the two drummers), Joel (keyboardist) & Rob pose for Sally.  Joel & his wife Dasha stayed with us for a couple of days.  This was the last stop on their tour and Joel and Dasha were going to visit Sedona and friends in Flagstaff.  The rest of the band flew back to Chicago the next morning.

Joel, Robbie, Kris (other drummer) & Andy and the end of the driveway.  All of the crew decided they would not shave for this tour so that is about a 3-week growth of beard for Robbie.  The first thing his mother said was why was he hiding his pretty face behind that beard?  Rob predicted that would be the first thing Sal would say...some things are very predicable.  The band formed while all were students at Notre Dame and decided to try to make a living as a band.  That was about 12 or 13 years ago.  That is a 30 foot high Saguaro cactus in the background...probably 200 years old.  They built the house around it.  That is a Crucifixion Thorn tree behind Kris and a Palo Verde over Andy's shoulder.

Rob & Kris.  Most of the band members and crew have amazing relationships and are friends and get along well.  There are always moments and there is one 'prima donna' in the band that all of the other band members talk about.  It is interesting dynamics.  Kris has his masters in music and is an incredible drummer.  It is so much fun to watch him...such energy and strength.

Sally, Sanae, Robbie & me at side stage just before the concert began.  Sanae (pronounced Sa-Ni) is from Yokohama and flies over at least twice a year to attend Umphrey's McGee Concerts.  She is a favorite of the band and they always make sure she has front row tickets.  She discovered the band when they played in Japan 4 years ago and has been following the band ever since.  Rob says she spoke no English at the beginning and she can now communicate quite well.  Some of her phrasing is "fun" but she is understandable nonetheless.  She came out to the house the next morning.

Sanae and Robbie backstage before the concert.  This is a very common hand sign these days, I first saw it in Hawaii years ago.  I'm sure exactly what it means but it is a good happy sign.  When I was growing up, it meant a double middle finger and in Texas, with your palm facing forward, it means "hook 'em horns" which is used by U of Texas Longhorn football fans.  Ann-E & Ellie are quite adept at "hook 'em horns".

Robbie being surprised on his birthday on stage during the middle of the concert.  Brendon (the guitarist behind Rob who is laughing) set up Rob by feigning an electrical problem to get him out on stage.  They stopped playing and announced to the crowd it was his birthday.

Rob realizing he has been "had".

Bringing out the birthday cake.  Jake (the other guitarist on the left) is leading the crowd in singing Happy Birthday.  Rob is embarrassed but mostly at the fact he has the reputation of knowing 'everything' that is going on with the band and he was totally surprised.  The guys were quite proud they pulled this off.....

Brendon lighting the candles.  I think Sanae took this photo.

Blowing out the candles.  Many of the band members are vegans or at least eat very healthy diets.  Rob, on the other hand, is a professed carnivore (as are his parents and brother) so they honored him with a "Bacon Cake".  It is a red velvet cake with frosting and decorations that looked like bacon.  You can see some of the 'bacon' surrounding the bottom of the cake.  It was yummy!

Sanae came out to the house the next morning and we were eating leftovers for breakfast...birthday cake, sticky buns and mixed fruit.  Sanae is giving a different two finger sign...it's all good, I think.  On the right is Dasha, Joel's wife.  You can see a bit of the house...pic was taken from the kitchen island (the cook top is just out of sight at the bottom) looking towards the breakfast nook and family room at the back.  Behind the family room are two large guest bedroom, bath and an office.  House guests are on one side of the house and we are on the other which works out nicely without anyone being disturbed by the other.

Rob, Sanae & Keeton.  In the background near the balloons are three poster boards Sally made up with photos of Rob as a kid and young man.  Keeton is our 10-year old neighbor boy who is my special friend.  He loves to come down and work with me in the garage...I wanted him to meet Rob.  Keeton and I have these special conversations. like:  "Is there a Santa Claus and what about the Tooth Fairy". 

Joel's Dad is a retired high school math teacher from Chicago and now works for a company that consults with school districts on their curriculums and was in Arizona on business and was able to come out and join us for dinner.  His trip was a surprise to us all as it was not coordinated with the bands tour schedule.  We meet Joel's Dad and Mom a couple of years ago when he was in Arizona.  Very nice and fun people.  Rob is now clean shaven.  Hmmm, I need to lose a few pounds!!!

Ann-E & Rob in Austin this past Christmas.

Hunter and Ann-E loving on their Papa Ray this past Christmas in Austin.  Whatever was on the TV was more interesting to them than me, I think.  The grandkids just love to climb all over me and I just love it and will really miss that when they get older.  Hunter's is Thomas Hunter Williams and was named after Sally's father.  Ryan and Tom were very close when Ryan was growing up. 

Ryan & family flew in for a long weekend in early March when Tara ran in the PF Chang Marathon.  I can't imagine raising a family of four kids and training and running in a marathon.  She is a wonder women!!!  We have found the best time to talk to her on the phone is after 11pm when she finally has time to herself and catches up on things.  We are enjoying our 'breakfast' --- Hunter, Ann-E and Elli.

Chillin' out in the master bedroom with my girlfriend Elli.  She has such spirit and while I love all of my grandkids, Elli is special to me.  She asked me to marry her four times during the weekend.  Of course, I said 'yes'.  We still have some of our antique furniture we collected and refinished when we were first married and lived in Wisconsin.  That is a walnut commode next to me.

Taking Elli on her first motorcycle ride.  Ryan and Ann-E followed on the quad (you can just see the wheel on the left).  This is the bike I will be riding on the Trans American Trail across Utah, Nevada and Oregon on dirt roads and trails.

Later I took all the kids on a quad ride.  Lucy Lee (with her back to the camera) didn't want to be left out of all the fun.  Keeton didn't miss out either.  We live in the desert and all of the plants in our subdivision must be native species.  They take very little water and yet they grow amazingly fast (well, the Saguaro's don't).

Hunt-man ready to start riding.  The Teddy Bear Cholla that I backed into and stuck all over my arm and back can just be seen at the top of Hunter's head.  It is those little 'arms' that are about the size of a Kiwi fruit and are covered with spines with a hook on the end that are so painful to pull out.  That Cholla is now only a painful memory.

Signing up for the Marathon the day before.  ASU Sun Devil Stadium in the background.  I have a tape of a Rolling Stones concert that was played in that stadium.  The kids got to sign up, too, and there was a special kids marathon of maybe 1/4 mile they ran.  The event is extremely well organized.  Tara is getting into running again...she ran her first marathon in Napa Valley right after they were married.  We went to that--what a nice weekend in the wine country.  She is thinking of running the Boston Marathon next year.  If she does, we will go out and support her and then head up to New Hampshire to see some old friends and neighbors from when we lived in Bedford.

Right after running the marathon.  Tara is a wonderful wife, mother and daughter-in-law.  She is not a princess and is very 'low maintenance'...as is Sally.  Now Tara's sister is another story.

Another picture of Tara after the marathon.  She is a beautiful person and rarely wears makeup...but is stunning when she is all dressed up!!

Linda (Sal's older sister and only sibling), Nana and Sal taken Christmas 2009 in Austin.  Lot's of people who don't know either Linda or Sal very well tend to mix them up.  I can see that looking at this photo---but they are nothing alike.  Nana and Sal are extremely close and they are both two of the nicest most loving people I have ever known.  Linda has had her 'issues' and it is hard to believe they grew up in the same family.  Our boy's call Linda the 'wicked witch of the west'....a bit harsh,  but they both have some not-so-pleasant memories of her. 

Another photo of Sal and Nana taken earlier this year.  Behind Sal is a high school friend of Sal's. 

Another photo of Sal & Linda taken Christmas 2009 in Austin.

Ellie just lost her first tooth just a few days ago and big sister pulled it out for her.  Elli called me right afterwards and she said it didn't hurt.  She assured me she was saving her tooth to put under her pillow that night.  The next day she said the Tooth Fairy left her $7...a five and two ones!!!  I'm glad inflation hasn't hit the Austin Tooth Fairly as badly as it has other areas!!