and of course all the festivals in acadiana. i've been on so many pickup trucks and fire trucks, including an infamous one that broke down in the mud at all of those acadiana festivals, the rice festival and sugar festival and frog festival, crawfish festival, the fun list goes on and on. even though it's technically work, i certainly enjoyed all that time with nicole and the heberhebert family and found myf with a stomach cramp when i left the region not because i ate or drank too much although that happened, too, but because i was always laughing so hard in their company. nicole and tommy and their parents and their two girls hanna and meredith who i've really enjoyed watching grow up have all been a huge part of our vitter family life. we count them as dear friends and we certainly will keep up with them through the rest of our lives. david doss, our state director was one of my earliest hires when i was first elected to the u.s. house. he is my state director and before that served as my district director in the u.s. house.