Stephanie and Christopher

Saturday evening Julie and I attended the wedding of Stephanie Pipkin and Christopher Rudin. Lucky for us they scheduled their wedding on our holiday just so we could attend. We have been family friends and neighbors of the Pipkin's for some 20 years both here in Wenatchee Washington and in Scottsdale Arizona. So this wedding was actually quite emotional for both Julie and I. We have watched Steph grow up from a small girl to a beautiful lady, so she seems like family to us. The setting was at the Silvara Vineyards, in Leavenworth Washington. It was a memorable evening for us as we saw many wonderful friends that we hadn't seen in over 10 years. We will look forward to moving back here with people that mean so much to us, when Julie's London tour of duty ends. All the best to Stephanie and Christopher. As they say in England "Bloody good Party"

1996 Canary Wharf Bomb, London

Here's a bit of local history... In 1996 the IRA admitted planting the bomb that exploded here in Canary Wharf about 30 yards from where we now live. The 1/2 ton bomb made up of ammonium nitrate and fuel oil was in a small truck 80 yards from the South Quay rail station that we use regularly. There were 2 reported deaths and 39 injuries in the blast and would have been much worse if a telephone warning hadn't been called in. The damage estimated at 85 million pounds nearly destroyed all surrounding buildings. Bottom picture is taken from my deck on the 22 nd floor above, it is close to that tree, where the bomb was planted. Click on this utube link and see the actual blast recorded from a CCTV camera on the street. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-fWbuUQw5j8&feature=related

Barclays Premier League Trophy

This prestigious trophy was crafted in 2004 when Barclay's became the title sponsor of the British football league. The trophy is made of sterling silver, 24 carat gold and the base has precious opaque green stone from Africa, representing the fields of play. It's weigh is over 50 pounds and is always flanked by two security officers when on display as it is classed as priceless. Each year the trophy passes to the winning team of the premier league. Talent scouts accompany the cup and are always looking for someone very distinguished, and worthy enough to be photographed with the trophy for the British press. As I came out of the gym this morning I was picked out of a huge crowd for this photo. I didn't even have my hair done yet. I am deeply honored.

Lake Geneva

With such a hot beautiful day we couldn't resist getting on the lake for the afternoon. After we toured the old historic part of the city we boarded the Steam Boat "Savoie" This was a 100 year old Steam Ship, and we enjoyed lounging on the forward bow in the sun. In the center of the ship everyone could view the massive steam pistons in action. For all of the face book junkies, I've published all of our Geneva, Switzerland pictures there.

Geneva, Switzerland

Last Friday Julie and I took one of our "short breaks", with our first trip to Geneva. In less than 2 hours, we flew from London Heathrow to the Geneva Airport only minutes from town, and were back home Sunday evening at 6:00. This is a city of 190,000 on beautiful Lake Geneva and has the highest density of billionaires in the world. I figured the economy must be bad if they let us "PO" folks in town. Private Swiss Banks, Rolex watch dealers, and Swiss army knife vendors were on every street. Here is a photo from the city looking out on the Lake with the fountain in action. Julie finally found a glass of wine that she couldn't handle and a shot of Julie in front of the Brunswick Memorial

Greese

Saturday night we saw another West London show with some great UK friends. Greese is the original high school musical that features many unforgettable hit songs. Playing at the Piccadilly Theater this was a very entertaining musical that we all enjoyed. Shown here, 8 year old Daniel who was with our group, stayed awake through the entire show keeping beat to the music.