Sac vs. Iraq

There has been ample travel in the Woodland family over the past few weeks.

The third weekend of August Matt's brother Philip returned from a two-year stint in Fiji...lucky guy!! Matt and Kelly were able to see him arrive in Sacramento and try to re-acclimate to such novelties as furniture (he literally had callouses on his ankles from sitting cross-legged on the dirt floors of the Fijian homes~as is customary in that culture!) and root beer!! When prompted about what American things he missed most over the past 24 months Philip answered with a resounding "ROOT BEER!!" but then he reneged on that admission, stating that although he had missed root beer, he was going to miss Rugby (Fiji's national pastime) FAR more!!

The entire Woodland Clan engaged in some heavy-duty picture-taking fun. It was quite the extravaganza cramming two parents, seven children, their spouses and children (15 of us in all!) into a small photo studio and attempting to take "the perfect family picture". In all honesty, the perfect family picture would have captured the ensuing chaos that tends to occur among this group...but we DID manage to turn out some fantastic shots! Although I think the collective group would agree that the grandkids (Alaina, Tiana, and Jayden) outshone the rest of us!

On that same weekend Kelly got a SUPER-AWESOME surprise when her lovely brother, Clark, arrived in Sac on leave from Iraq where he has been serving in the U.S. Army. It was like the return of TWO prodigal sons all at once!

This is a picture of Kelly's Army-ed out brother looking ecstatic to be in Taji, Iraq:

Clark's requests somehow went beyond simply "root beer" and ventured further into the realm of "real beer" which is strictly forbade on foreign military posts. Additional forbidden materials:

• Beds
• Toilets
• Yummy Food
• Anything that may make life in the high desert more enjoyable (i.e. Peanut Butter

Needless to say, it soon became clear that Clark would choose Sac over Iraq anyday.

And now for some comparative pictures:

Doesn't Iraq look like FUUUN!!!
And here's the SACTOWN festivities!!!

We were all glad to have both Clark AND Philip home and safe...