From around the world

We've been meaning to post some pics of Sherry's brother and his wife, Brad and Adair, and we finally have some! They are living in Bahrain right now. How 'bout them camels? They have traveled the entire globe, much of it with their two daughters Brooke and Allison, since the time they married at a young age-- before Sherry was even born! They've been to just about every continent. We are always praying for their safety because Brad's job takes him long distances, to some rather unsafe places.

Speaking of long distances, we watched the sad defeat of the beloved Bruins last night from 3,000 miles away. We've received word from Bruin fans far and wide in the past few days; from good friends still in LA, to Sherry's college sorority sister Dana who said she would be representing the Bruins in a wave of Gator fans down in Atlanta, where she is now an architect. Well, we were going to express how we felt watching the loss from so far away, but we got this e-mail from our friend Ann (another sorority sister), who is a writer living in Beijing with her husband Chris, a diplomat for the Department of State. Ann sums it up so nicely:

Chris and I watched the game this morning (for us) at
the embassy cafeteria, where they get armed forces tv.
I am so sad we lost! And I am so surprised at how sad
I am! I didn't really follow this season until the
tournament, but wasn't it easy to fall in love with
the team? I love them all - Mbah a Moute, Jordan
Farmar, Afflalo, Mata - they all seem to represent the
best of UCLA, don't you think?
I stayed until the final minute and a half when the
embassy Gators fans came in and started celebrating.
It's too sad, but the tournament did remind me of
happier sports WINS! Remember when we won in '95...
and Jake shaved his head and his mom saw him on TV?
I taught Chris how to do an 8-clap...
xx Ann

For reference, Jake is a college friend of Ann and Sherry's who shaved his head for the championship game when UCLA won back in 1995 (and Sherry was lucky enough to have season tickets!). Jake's mother discovered that he'd shaved his head while watching the game on TV, and seeing her bald son in the stands. Ah, the good old days . . .