Merry Christmas

This will be our official 2009 Christmas Card. Now Daughter Brooke is back home in Arizona after a 10 day holiday with us. Now we will try to figure out what to do with ourselves for the Holidays. We visited 8 different countries this year in Europe, which were Spain, Italy, The Vatican City, France, Germany, Ireland, The Czech Republic, and of course the USA. We have also had some occasional visitors, including both of our children, that have made our boring life a little more fun. Julie has changed jobs this year as Barclay's moved her from her Southern England Region, where she was very successful, to the more condensed South London Region. She has also signed another 2 year contract which will take us through 2011. Since we've recently moved, I am starting over finding things to do here in London and still doing a bit of work in Washington State. We do wish all of our family and friends a happy holiday and want everyone to know that we miss y'all. CHEERS!

Billy Elliott

Julie and I took Brooke to a couple West London Shows this weekend. We saw Billy Elliott, Peter Pan, and Wicked. Billy Elliott was my favorite of all the shows that we have seen. It's a story of an England coal mine strike in 1980. Billy, a young lad of a coal miners family got a chance at a dancing career, and hit the big time. Aren't I getting good at taking my own picture? We had already seen Wicked. Billy Elliott is hitting it's 10 th year at the Victoria Palace, and is called the best show on the London Stage.

London Movie Museum

This was an interesting museum that Brooke and I took in to get out of the cold. It had many props and costumes from several well known British movies. How about these shots of Beauty and the Brooke, oh I mean Beast.

Westminster

I got Brooke out to see some sights today despite the bloody cold. We have snow in the forecast and I'm not liking it. Here is Brooke in front of Big Ben and the House of Parliament. These phone booths are still everywhere here, we had to get inside every chance we could to survive the bitter cold and the wind.

Greenwich Observatory

The Greenwich Observatory is on the short list of places to see in London. This is the clock that everyone in the world sets their time by. It's called Greenwich Meridian Time, or Greenwich Mean Time. This is really a very interesting museum of many of the old clocks that were built and the observatory where astronomers lived. Here is a picture of Brooke standing with one foot in the Eastern Hemisphere and the other in the Western.

The Thames Tunnel

Brooke came for a holiday visit so we took advantage of a clear cold day here in London. As Julie went off to work in a nice warm office, Brooke and I braved the bitter cold and walked to Greenwich through this tunnel that goes under the Thames River. The tunnel was built in 1902 and is used by many people daily as a quick way to cross the river. This tunnel was built in 1902 so we take our chewing gum to stop the occasional leaks. The light rail trains that operate here also cross under the river.

Tyler

We met some wonderful neighbors last night from the flat below us. Tyler brought up his parents, Tanya and David, for some holiday cheer. They are from Philadelphia and have been here for 2 years like us. It's fun getting to know some of the locals and make some new mates.

5 K Run

Today Julie and I did a 5 K run in Greenwich Park. The run was for charity and there was over 1000 people who participated. The wind was blowing and it was raining like a cow pissing on a flat rock. We were dressed for it but our feet got plenty wet. Santa outfits were handed out to everyone and the run ended with a blue sky and the sunshine. We live on an island and the weather can change in 5 minutes so when you leave home you try to be prepared for the worst. If this kinda get's you in the Christmas sprit, and it should,,,,start sending us some gifts.

Bogey

Our faithful Cairn Terrier Bogey has a new home. We will be here in England for two more years, we think. Since daughter Brooke might move after college we did a home search for bogey. Our great friends Gene and Sara agreed to take Bogey until we return. We got all of his shots caught up, packed up all of his furniture and moved him to Mesa Arizona. He now is living the dream, on a golf course where he can get daily walks and bark at any golfers that get too close. He will miss his little companion Lola, who he's lived with for the last 2 years.

Thanksgiving in Arizona

There are two things we don't have in England. Family and Thanksgiving. Now that we are back in London we reflect on our US holiday. They don't celebrate Thanksgiving here so we sure enjoyed an invite from Daughter in Law Sandra's family for a great feast. Since we don't have any family in England, we don't have anyone to argue with. We get along with everyone...funny how that works.

Dermatology

Here I am in Arizona with my second trip to the Dermatologist. I was checked over and had a few spots removed from my back. I asked the Doctor about a small mole on the top of my foot. He said that it was not a raised mole and that it looked Ok. Since a Doctor 5 years ago told me to keep an eye on that spot, I said to take it off. Well guess what, the lab came back as positive result. It was called a Dysplastic Nevus. Being a type of skin cancer it had to be removed again. Here the doc. gouges a deeper hole in my foot and closes it with 5 stitches. Of course I'm taking pictures because this might be the last time I see my right foot. If this doesn't get it they will no doubt have to take my foot off, and who knows what else. My advice to anyone is get your check-ups and if a Doctor tells you to keep an eye on a spot, take the dam thing off.

Denver Colorado

Yesterday I was in Denver on business where I flew in and out on the same day. I'm always impressed with this unique International Airport. Built in 1995 it is the largest airport in the country and 3rd largest in the world covering 53 square miles. Moving over 52 million passengers last year makes it the 5th busiest. The fabric roof covering over the main terminal looks a bit like a circus tent from the inside. I did have to take a shot of the snow covered mountains surrounding Denver on a gorgeous sunny day. This week in Arizona has not been much fun for me with appointments every day when I should be playing golf. Each year I schedule my annual physical checkups like we all should. It starts with the EKG and the Blood work, next the annual dermatology check, then the Dental check up, and of course my favorite appointment with Dr. Big finger checking the prostate and PSA. I'm feeling a little used.

Kiana

I'm back in sunny Arizona for 2 weeks and Julie will join me this weekend. I had a chance to babysit my Granddaughter for a night as Brent and Sandra needed a break. It was a good time for us to get reacquainted since I hadn't seen her for a year. She is a very smart little lady for 2 1/2 years old. She could only have gotten that from me. After raising two children who are now on their own, I finally figured out parenting. With Kiana, if I wanted her to do or not do something, all I had to do was offer her a treat. And of course as the kids get older the treats get more expensive. It's just that simple! I must have missed that paragraph in the parenting handbook 30 years ago. I wonder if that would work the same with a wife?

Czech Money

The currency here is the Czech Crown. There are 25 Crowns to one Euro so when we exchanged a few hundred Euros, we ended up with thousands. Of course we were feeling real smug until an 8 minute cab ride cost us 400 Crown. As always we were being carefull with our money but still spending one thousand every hour. So it seems like anywhere we go we still come home with nothing.

Food Vendors

In the Old Town Square the food vendors were everywhere. With the big cannibal pots cooking, chickens and hams on the spit, hot wine and cheese, everyone got full. We even got to watch these two knights in a sword fight but chose not to publish the picture of an arm being cut off. Do you believe it!

The Vitus Cathedral

This massive Cathedral is in the heart of the Prague Castle. The Gothic Roman Catholic Church was built in 1419 and was open to the public. We were allowed to take pictures which is unusual in a lot of these Historic buildings.

Old Town

Old Town Prague was where we spent Sunday and was busy with tourists. We went to the top of the famous old town City Hall where this picture was taken high in the old city center. This building also housed the Apostle Clock where every hour the small doors would open and the Apostle figures would pass by. All visitors had cameras out every hour to catch this.

The Prague Castle

Just a 10 minute walk from our Hotel we visited the Prague Castle. We joined thousands of tourists and watched the Changing of the Guards. This is quite sight similar to Buckingham Palace in London, and is all about tradition. Julie and I had a picture with this guard who never moved a bit. I'll tell you why...there was snow in the forecast and dam cold, I think he was froze to the ground. We had to keep going into the pubs just to survive the cold.

Television Tower

The Prague Television tower at 700 ft. is the tallest building in the country. We took advantage of this tourist stop and had a proper Czech dinner in the restaurant high on the tower.

Prague

Prague is the Capitol of the Czech Republic which lies in the center of Europe. It is a beautiful and Historic city of 1.3 million and hosts over 4 million International visitors annually. We came for a weekend visit with only a 2 hour flight out of London Heathrow. We stayed in the Hotel Savoy close to the city center, and had a great room and wonderful staff.

A View to a Kill

This building we are in is equipped with eye bolts that are used to tie off the window washers. The building wasn't built with a crane and winch system to carry a window washing cradle. This crew inspects these hooks every 6 months for safety. They insert a small camera into the soffit to check the bolts from behind, for rust or corrosion. Since I live on the top, I got to visit a bit with this crew. They obviously depend on their equipment for safety as I would with my diving gear. They are very well trained, and their ropes and clips are also inspected on a regular basis. Now this is my kind of a job where the view is great. I could just climb over the rail and hang out all day long.

Cement Plant

The local construction here is slow but still continues. This is a floating Batch Plant in the canal below us. The tug boats move these huge barges of sand, gravel, and rock, through the locks from the Thames River. The cement trucks drive out on this floating cement plant to get loaded up. The barges are emptied daily and replaced. This entire operation can be floated to any location on the river.

New House

Here we are in London in out new flat. We finally got things put away or thrown out. We have very little storage so we get rid of the things that we would never use anyway. I got some paint on the walls to warm it up a bit and get rid of the white. Here are 2 pics of the living room and kitchen, which is one room a bit like a great room. Also a shot of the master bedroom on the opposite corner. Windows take up all of the outside walls allowing views from every room. Click on the pics for the full view. We love it.

Anniversary # 26

Here's a blast from the past on our wedding day, and today after 26 years now the King & Queen. We are on a roll now as our time together gets better each year. Son Brent and Sandra left this morning after 2 1/2 weeks here in Europe. They figured we needed our time alone for our Anniversary. We are both very proud of them and thankful for the special time we shared together. I believe they took full advantage of their time here as they visited 4 countries and saw as many historic sites as time allowed. They were of course anxious to get home and take care of our grand daughter. Now we will have a quiet night to ourselves and plan our next adventure.

Windsor Castle

Back in London after a 3 night stay in Paris, the tour continues. We had a beautiful sunny day so we headed to West London to see Windsor Castle. With Julie back to work, I took our honored guests through the castle that I had not yet seen. Founded in 1066 this has been the home of 39 monarchs and is the oldest royal residence still in use. Windsor is the largest castle in the world, and is a weekend residence for the Royal family. It is used as an alternative to Buckingham Palace for ceremonial visits by foreign heads of state. The Queen at 83 years old still rides her horse each day when she is at the Castle.