The Virgin River

In the Zion Narrows.  Given its size, some might not even call it a river.  But it has dug a canyon 2,000 feet deep, and it's not done yet.  Not bad for a little guy.

Withdrawing Our Candidacy

It is with deep regret that Ye Stewart Clan announces today the withdrawal of our candidacy for the office of the Presidency of the United States.  We had a lot going for us:

1. Tait's personality;
2. Tennyson's skills;
3. Suzy's gravitas; and
4. Jeremy's age (cool constitutional issue:  Article II of the Constitution requires candidates to attain 35 years of age to be eligible for the presidency; Jeremy will not be 35 at the time of the 2012 election, but will be by the time of the inauguration; withholding our candidacy saves the country from the otherwise inevitable launch of the "ager" movement).

But in the end, our candidacy had one fatal flaw:  you simply cannot win with these demographics.

That map shows the visits to Ye Stewart Clan in the last year.  Even assuming we could carry California, Texas, Illinois, Virginia, DC, Maryland, New York and Utah (which is not inevitable since we would be splitting the Mormon vote, again), we cannot envision a path to the White House without a single vote from Vermont.  Seriously, 49 states and dozens of countries, but not a single visit from Vermont?  What's wrong with those people?

In any case, you'll now need to start thinking about your second best option.  See you in 2016!

Oopsie!

Oopsie! from Jeremy Stewart on Vimeo.

Enjoy your weekend!

Did I ever envision my son singing songs written by my childhood friend?

No.  But I never anticipated getting old and boring, either.  These things just happen.  In any case, Danny (and his collaborator, Michelle) wrote a genius children's musical, which we were lucky enough to go see in NYC, and we've been enjoying the recording of the music ever since.  Tennyson loves car rides now because he gets to listen to "the butterfly music."  And he's memorized the whole CD and would now like to perform a snippet for you.  Enjoy.  (And thanks again, Danny, for contributing to our son's happiness.)

Tennyson Sings About Butterfly Migration from Jeremy Stewart on Vimeo.

National Shrine

The National Shrine of the Immaculate Conception is one of our favorite pieces of architecture in DC.  It's big, it's beautiful, and it's got a really cool mosaic dome on top.  We recently drove past during sunset and stopped to capture the moment.

We also almost killed Newt Gingrich here recently.  We were driving past after services let out, and suddenly a man with a large head and a wife in tow stepped out into the road to cross over to the parking lot.  I stopped, they stopped, we looked at each other, and I realized that I had almost killed the Newt.  He was looking at me like:  "You almost just killed the Newt."  I'm guessing that would have drawn varied reactions throughout the country.  In any case, the Newt should find a cross walk and look both ways before crossing.  Oh, and he goes to a really pretty church.

We were recently forced to get a Costco membership.

No really.  We had no choice.  But the experience taught us that there is one thing to love about Costco:  enormous shopping carts with tandem child seats that can facilitate hours of entertainment while you work your way back to the produce section.

Thank heavens for cell phone cameras to help capture the moment.  And also, we're really grateful to have boys who love each other so much.  Here's hoping that continues!

Mac Store in the Big Apple

In the city that never sleeps, you can buy the latest iWhatever at the coolest underground retail establishment on your way home from work at 1:30 a.m.  Or you can just snap a picture of it and then walk away quickly before the pudgy security guard can catch up to you to tell you why he's outraged.  In any case, this place is cool on multiple levels.

Eleven Months

Just one more month until the warranty expires.  But this one's definitely a keeper.