Super Bowl Sunday!

Rick and Amy are going to run the Surf City Half Marathon in Huntington Beach on Feb. 1, the morning of Super Bowl Sunday.

They have also decided to write down every mile they traverse during their training and will donate $1 per mile to the Lance Armstrong's Livestrong Foundation.

As many of you know, Rick was diagnosed with testicular cancer on May 1, 2000. With the love and support of his family and friends, he was able to beat the disease. Now he and his wish to help others in their fight against this disease.

Rick has set up a training program, and if he runs fairly fast during all of his runs, he should get up to $181. He already has a side bet with a friend regarding the overall time it will take to complete the 13.1 mile run down Main Street, through the wetlands and up PCH toward the pier.

Any and all donations are appreciated.

Maui

Amy and Rick took a well- deserved vacation during the first week of September.

The trip was sort of a celebration of both of their birthdays, but mostly just an excuse to get away from the mainland and travel to beautiful Maui for seven days!

The first day (Saturday, August 30) was an early wake up in Camas, Washington in order to make the flight. The flight was uneventful - Amy slept and Rick read and watched Ironman as the in-flight movie. Once in Maui, the rental car's trunk would not close. Switching to an SUV made everything comfortable - especially considering there were two couples (and all of their luggage and two sets of golf clubs) in the car. That night the whole gang - there were two other couples with Amy and Rick - ate together at Kimo's and watched a beautiful sunset.

Sunday, Amy and Rick went to Wailea and checked out the spa at the Grand Wailea. The two actually had reserved a date and time to originally have their wedding at Grand Wailea before switching to the Highlands Inn at Carmel. Viewing the grounds of the Grand Wailea made both visualize how their ceremony would have looked. One word - beautiful. The spa and couples' massage was nice (actually Rick really liked it but Amy was only so-so on the spa).

Monday was a super-windy day at the beach. It was too windy, really. The sand would pelt your skin, and laying out at the pool was not much more enjoyable. It died down later in the day though, in time for a nice sunset and dinner.

Tuesday, the guys went golfing at Kapalua's Plantation Course. While the boys were happy to be playing such a prestigious course, all were a little disappointed by the level of service there. The driving range was not that great and then the attendant was slow and rude. The course was being airated, so it was more on the brown side than was expected. Still, the views were great and the course layout was fantastic. Rick's best shots on the course came from the camera and not from any club in his bag, but he still enjoyed himself.

The girls went to the Marriott spa while the guys were golfing . Fantastic massages had by all, but their attempts to blend in at the pool were thwarted.

Wednesday was Rick's birthday and Amy gave him the gift he asked for - surfing lessons!

Overdue

It has been too long since an update...

Amy and rick were married for a third time. Well, their marriage was convalidated by the Catholic Church. The two have now had wedding ceremonies in California, Mexico and now in Washington. Be on the look out for a Devereux wedding in your state!

Amy and Rick were also in Southern California for a week. This was no Disneyland vacation, though. The happy couple were in Long Beach for the baptism of Julia Grace and then in Temecula for the wedding of one of Rick's former college roommate and fraternity brother.

Fort Vancouver, just a few miles from Chateau Devereux, boasts it has the largest firework show west of the Mississippi. Amy's co-workers (with help from Rick) tried to give the Fort a run for its money on the Fourth of July. Rick and Amy attended a great get together that had wonderful food, excellent friends and fun conversation. And when the sun went down, there was an impressive display of explosives!

The summer days are nice and warm, and Rick's new job schedule allows him to grill everyday for lunch. Amy isn't complaining, as she comes home for lunch and loves the home cooking - especially the fish tacos with fresh guacamole!

Till next time...

It's been a year!

Amy and Rick have officially survived the Pacific Northwest for one year.

Back in 2007, the newlyweds were ignorant as what to expect from the Rose City (or at least a suburb of the Rose City). Now, in 2008, the still-newly married couple are just as ignorant but are at least getting a handle on how to get from Point A to Point B without a Thomas Guide (sometimes).

The Portland area has become less foreign as favorite resturants are discovered (Arawan, Portland City Grill, Bay 13), and the quickest routes are deteremined by trial-and-error.

While they are not seasoned veterans of Portland just yet, Rick and Amy are excited about exploring as much as they can.

And there is a standing offer to anyone who wants to visit - we love to have guests!

Call me 'Don'

On the last day of January in the year of our Lord 2008, at 2:14 in the afternoon, Julia Grace was born to my sister and brother-in-law.

This bundle of joy entered the world at 19 1/2 inches long and 7 pounds 11 1/2 ounces with dark hair and healthy lungs.

I am honored to say Amy and I have been asked to be Godparents, the first Godchild for either of us. Julia will also be the first niece or nephew to know my wife only as Aunt Amy.

The mother and child are both doing extremely well and recovering at home in Long Beach.

The Couple Who Works Out Together...

Big news at Chateau Devereux! To burn off all those prom snacks and holiday calories both Rick and Amy have signed up for some big challenges coming up this April, and have jumped on the workout bandwagon!

First up, Rick is training for his first triathlon! Set April 5th, Rick has already started getting into fantastic shape to swim, bike, run and crush his way right through the event!

Next up, Amy and Kerry have pledged to up the challenge of their annual 'Race in a Different State' this year and have signed on to run the Nashville Country Music 1/2 Marathon on April 26th. Tennessee here we come!

We'll be sure to keep you updated on how our training is coming along, but feel free to pass along words of encouragement or your favorite training tips!

Are you ready for some football?

Ahhh, the first week of the New Year.

A time when football is on television every night for approximately 10 straight days (Ha! Two nights better than the Beatles 'Eight Days a Week!')

Well, needless to say, Rick is one happy camper.

New Years day was spent mostly on the couch watching the Michigan-Florida game, followed by the USC-Illinois game, followed by the Hawai'i-Georgia game. The allegiance to watching each game varied, as Rick likes the Florida colors (reminds him of Cal State Fullerton) but also has an affinity for the Wolverine fight song (Hail to the victors!).

Cheering for USC was easy as Rick is a homer for the Pac-10, he has been to Trojan games with his sister Nicole and brother-in-law John, and he is deeply offended by Illinois mascot (must the Illini always be 'fighting?').

He was split on the Hawai'i-Georgia game, though. Rick's family has ties to Hawai'i, his good friend Rob Chai is Hawaiian, and his grandfather got blown off a toilet when the Pearl Harbor attack happened. But Rick thinks bulldogs are cool. It was a tough game to root against any one team. Luckily, Hawai'i's (that's a lot of apostrophes) lack of an offensive or defensive line made the game a lopsided affair.

And then, over the weekend, the San Diego 'Super' Chargers generously let the Tennessee Titans have an entire half to try to score as many points as possible. The Chargers even told the Titans they would spot them the first half in order to make it a fair fight. Tennessee could only muster 6 points. It was an easy speed bump for the mighty Charger offense to overcome in the second half (even without Superman, I mean tight end Antonio Gates). Now the Chargers must travel to Indianapolis, uh, Indy, and face the Colts this upcoming Sunday.

Also, Sunday morning Rick played flag football in the near-freezing rain (it was snowing at one point) and he re-broke a finger that got jammed two months earlier. At least this time he has set an appointment to see a doctor.

Monday night, Rick was back to watching college football as LSU and Ohio State faced off in the BCS National Championship. Again, Rick was torn. He likes LSU because he likes the color purple and he likes Shaq. But he likes the Buckeyes because his mom is from the state of Ohio (not to be confused with The Ohio State). But the tipping point in his cheering decision comes from the fact the purple and yellow remind him of SAE, so Rick obviously yelled himself hoarse for Ohio State.

Oh well. You can't win them all.

Till next time...

Happy 2008!

Chateau Devereux was the sight of one of the most entertaining New Year's Eve parties ever as guests were encouraged to relive their youth and attend donning prom attire.

The costumes were - as Jem and the Holograms would say - truly, truly, truly outrageous. There was even a 'pregnant' Prom Queen and King (from Washougal)!

It was a blast from the past as ladies wore side ponytails and the gents sported skinny ties, pink polo shirts and ruffled tuxedos.

There was some debate during the night, however, on which dance rendition was more entertaining - the Running Man, the Roger Rabbit, the Robot or the Worm. In a surprising turn of events, the best was probably Kevin and Tara's Rhythmic Gymnastics routine, a la Frank the Tank in 'Old School.'

After a go at Trivial Pursuit was abandoned, a spirited round of Taboo ended the evening with many laughs!

Hope your 2008 is as 'totally tubular' as our party was!

If you'd like to see more fun photos, click on the link below, or over in our 'Links' area. Happy New Year everyone!
http://www.kodakgallery.com/I.jsp?c=18x6hh3p.caefbqd9&x=0&y=mwk1zx