Okay, here it is. Since Ryan and I are in Washington, I suppose this would be a great way to keep yall updated. (But I have no idea what I'm doing, so Mabry News is really up to the mercy of Jess.)
Well, Ryan's not here yet. He's still in the Scout Leadership Course at Fort Knox, Kentucky. He graduates 08/10/2007 and will head out here shortly after. Renee and I left EARLY Wednesday morning with Dax stowed amongst luggage, finally stopping at North Platte, Nebraska. We toured Buffalo Bill's manor and think we even found some photos of her great-grandfather, who was in Buffalo Bill's Wild West Show. 
Renee had a lot of fun...
...I did too.
We survived the switch-back passageway between Wyoming and Utah and stopped at a friend's home in Providence. But we couldn't find the home and enlisted the help of some locals. (It took them quite awhile to figure out their own instructions on how to find the house.) On our way to Washington, we stopped in Oregon at the Horsetail, Multnomah, and Latourell Waterfalls. They were gorgeous! We attempted to hike up a few extremely steep and switch-back trails... that didn't last long... Dax was disappointed.
Another long day of driving and we finally made it to Dan and Jess's late Friday night. After a good night's sleep, Jess gave us a tour of the surrounding communities. Later, Dan gave us a tour of Fort Lewis, complete with the buildings where Ryan will probably work. We were able to take lots of pictures. Renee especially liked Mount Rainier. It was great having her drive out with me and sad to see her off Sunday morning. We're already looking at airline tickets for Thanksgiving. 
Dax and Lucy (Dan & Jess's weiner dog) are getting along. Lucy harasses him endlessly, trying to get him to play. He usually tries to ignore her attempts to get his attention. When he doesn't respond, she retorts to THROWING herself up against, on, under, and over him. It's hilarious. She also thinks it's okay to take his bed, bones and toys for herself. She tries to hide his things when he's not looking. When one of us catches her, she plays it off like she's not even in the room or like she was busy doing something else. Of course Dax doesn't care when she takes his things, but it becomes a problem when he wants something of hers... typical girl.
I've submitted our Housing application and we're the last of 15 applicants. Jess and I stalked the neighborhood late the other night, scoping out empty houses. There appeared to be several, so hopefully our wait won't be too long. Jess states she was given a three month wait time and they were offered a house in one. Hopefully, we'll have the same luck. Ryan will be here soon. I've very excited. But we haven't lived together since the end of January, so pray that one of us doesn't kill the other!
