Halloween Cuties

No scary costume here. Emma is a beautiful Bee princess
Anna and Megan dressed as princesses when they visited this week-end.
Stella's first Halloween as a very cute pumpkin.
Sweet Wyatt takes the cake with his scary vampire costume. (ode to his mother's obsession with "Twilight")
Vera looks much older than her two years as a beautiful fairy princess to match her sister's
regal pink princess outfit with sparkly magic make-up.
The New York Stratfords opted for Harry Potter attire. I think Calder has the right look as Harry.
Scout looks like a wizard from Hogwarts. No photos of Hank as Spiderman or Crosby but I'm sure they were darling.

The Rest of the Trip

While not neccesarily in order here are 1/10 of the photos we took. This one is where we went to a really wonderful Vivaldi concert in Venice.
The whole purpose of the trip was to take a gondola ride with someone I really loved. Even though riding the gondola cost an arm and a leg..it was a dream realized.
Beautiful setting for dinner before the concert.
Our guy didn't sing but he showed us the home that "The Italian Job" was filmed.
Our hotel was near the Rialto Bridge.
Our hotel. We had a pretty hard time finding it.
Everything was picturesque.
San Marco Square
Ephasus Turkey where Paul taught and the Apostle John and Mary spent the last of their lives.
The Grand Bazaar in Istanbul. We made a quick trip through since David isn't as much a shopper as Amy and Sally and I. The girls and I spent hours in there.

The Blue Mosque
One of the best parts of the trip was sitting around reading and relaxing.
Dubovnik, Coatia. We thought it was wonderful and charming. We'd like to go back there someday.

Kataloon Greece
Bari, Italy watching babies being baptized.
Medieval Castle in Bari
Our huge cabin on the boat. We had a wonderful time and are so glad we went. Amy gave us a piggy bank with an Italian flag on it and started a trip fund for us to motivate us to go. Calder arranged the flights which went off without a hitch. Greg drove us to the airport and left our car there when we got home. Thanks to everyone for encouraging us to go.

Venice

Happy to be in Venice. I'd send more photos but now that we are on the cruise ship we are finding they are making up for the low fare by charging extra for every possible thing. We even had to buy a "water package" for $25 as well as a "Coca Cola" package for $35". We are of course paying through the nose for internet access..all of which 'annoys me no end..so you'll get the full scoop and photos when we get home. We're having a wonderful time.


I did include 4 photos but the poor internet access just deleted them all.

Paris Day 2

Leaving for the bus. We've had perfect "just right" weather to sit on the top and enjoy the beauty of the city.

We went to the market.

Then the Eiffel Tower. Only one side was open..too long of a line so we opted for walking and pictures from the bottom.
The market was one of the highlights of the day. David know how I like "just looking."
Back to Notre Dame and the surrounding quaint neighborhood.

This evening we went to Pont Alexandre III Bridge. Beautiful Sunset..very romantic.

We walked back on Avenue Des Champs Elysees to all the high fashion design houses..Amy, this is for Ella

.David, the pirate and the skull
Wishful thinking.
Ending the Evening at Amy's favorite place for DELICIOUS macaroons. Now to bed because we are getting up at 4AM to go to the airport to do the flight stand by to Venice. We want to be the first ones there so we are sure to get on during the day. Good night..We love you.

Paris Day 1

We're actually here and having such a good time. We made the plane by the skin of our teeth in Salt Lake and were so thankful to hear our names called. THANK YOU CALDER!! I read half of the new Dan Brown novel on the plane so didn't get much sleep. We had great seats with an empty seat between us. We took a nap as soon as we got to our very trendy (lots of people look like Travis and Enoch..skinny pants). We are in the more trendy part of town (lots of modern design) just a block away from the Arc de Triomphe. We took a double decker tour bus that let us off at different places..a good way to see things. Tonight we walked around the streets and are now ready to turn in. We have "The Little Black Book of Paris" that Amy sent us and will plan out our day tomorrow. We love you all.
This might take the place of a trip to the Louvre..with only one day..and since I've already been there we might take the time to see some other things.









More to come tomorrow.