The prettiest one yet!!!

Joe's favorite time of the evening is when he can come in to the living room, turn off all the lights, light the fire and stare at the Christmas tree. And every time he says "this is the prettiest tree we've ever had... "

My 50th Birthday Celebration

Friends joined Joe and I to celebrate my 50th birthday.

No that's not me on that hang glider...

just one of the sights from the

Castle Hohenneuffen where

we had lunch.

the sunset from the Castle

All the friends that joined us to celebrate

Borowski.... Dresden.. flowers .... speckled horses...

What do all of those have in common?????

I took a 3 night trip to Dresden (DE), Poland and

Czechoslovakia and along the way saw

Borowski Glass Art...

This is his frog....

This is his Chameleon

This was outside the Borowski showroom

This is a pic of Karlovy Vary, Czechoslovakia

Just a random garden along the road in Poland

One of the Dresden Government Offices

The City Church in Dresden's Square

Beautiful Horses in Dresden's City Square

More Borowski Lawn Art

Borowski's most famous piece (25,000 euros to buy)

Birthdays.... new and old...

Happy Birthday to you...

Happy Birthday to you

Happy Birthday Dear J and S

Happy Birthday to you..

Schwarzwald Fall Colors

We got out and enjoyed the countryside.

We drove deep into the Schwarzwald and saw beautiful colors

Friends.. Friends.. everywhere..

One of the highlights of our vacations at home is the opportunity to see friends wherever we go....

Our buddies C and E - we miss them all the time. They used to live across the street.

Our buddy J that also used to live across the street from us.

My friend K's daughter, L. We always get to celebrate her birthday when we visit.

Our friend, S, and kinder goofing around in a fabulous BnB in Plains, GA.

Southern Livin'

We have been staying at a friend's family home

in Richland, GA since last Tuesday.

This plantation home was built in 1853....

Now... Close your eyes ....

listen to the cicadas in the background..

feel the sweltering heat all around you...

swat the pestering gnats from your eyes .....

and feel the warm southern breeze all around..

Thank heaven for ceiling fans in every fabulous room...

the view from the front door looking toward the back door

and from the back door looking out toward the front lawn...

A beautiful kitchen table set for Sunday Dinner

The fabulous screened in (thank heaven) back porch

that runs the length of the house

And my friend Helen celebrating German home

ownership and her birthday all at one time

Sweet Georgia Pie!!!!

This is the last leg of our 2 month vacation. We have

two night in Plains, Ga. We took a train ride

to the home of President Jimmy Carter.

Very simple beginnings.

And then returned to our hotel in Plains, GA. The hotel, a former funeral home, was decorated by Mrs. Carter and has 7 fabulously luxurious rooms, each decorated for a decade of President Carter's life up to 1980.

J and I stayed in the 1970 Room - the Presidential Suite

Helen's girls' and S stayed in a wonderful 1980s room.

The boys stayed in a fabulous 1940s arrangement.

We strolled down the boardwalk of Plains, Ga...

Don't blink or you'll miss it..

But.. the highlight of the day was...

having a bible study with President Carter...

and having our picture take with he and Mrs. Carter..

TRY AND BEAT THAT!!!!

Hodge Podge of Luxor Photos

We went sailing on the Nile.  

The highpoint for Joe!!!

Palm trees in the middle of the ruins.

The kids and Joe played chess every day.

A typical mode of transportation.

The kids on - who knows how old - a tree

near the Temple.

The infinity pool from our hotel room.