Aaron's b-day...a bit late

Okay, so my sister-in-law, Taunya is anxious to see pics from Aaron's birthday party.
Fortunately, the weather cooperated. Otherwise we would have been in a bit of trouble. Our home would not have accomodated the 25 people who showed up. We are truly blessed with some great friends over here.
Here is a picture of Andi, Marissa and I.

Aaron and Travis

Tony, Roberta, Jean and Jim are two couples we met at our marriage retreat in March. We do a Bible study with them twice a month, along with Stephanie and Antuan (not pictured)

Have you seen a 34 year old more excited about an ice cream cake??!!

My dear friend Jess and I

Chris, me, and Aaron

By the fire

Jim, Jean, Roberta, and Aaron


Last weekend, we went to the British Open at Royal Birkdale near Liverpool. It was awesome! Although, the weather could have cooperated a bit more, but this is England.... Saturday was in the 60s with 40-50mph wind gusts and rain. Sunday was still windy but at least the sun was out. We enjoyed seats at the 18th hole grandstand for most of the time, but were able to walk around the course and see much of the action. It was fun to see the players up close! At one point we could reach out and practically touch Phil Mickelson...which was not good for him because it meant he was in the rough and not where he wanted to be. And, on the last day, we were able to watch all of the players walk up to the final hole. Although the ending wasn't a nail-biter, it was fun none-the-less. I was rooting for Greg Norman, but was excited Padraig won.
There were 4 other dentists that went and we all had a great time (the only downside was returning at 3:30am on monday morning just to have to be in the OR for a 6 hour case at 7 am--nothing Starbucks couldn't handle)
We all checked into our hotel in Manchester and went out for a night on the town.



Well, I am having trouble transferring photos from Chris's email to this blog. My camera was confiscated on sunday at security...long story...so I will post more photos when I can. We will be without the internet for about a week during our move, so we will post pics when we get settled.

Greek Isles Part 3

Okay, so that was a bit of an extended break. Things have been extremely hectic here...will explain in another post.
Day 9 ( 12 Jun) Kusadasi, Turkey
This had to be my favorite stop! Not only was the Turkish culture fascinating, but it was a stop of profound Religious meaning! We did a tour to Ephesus. The apostle Paul wrote his Letter to the Ephesians here, St. John likely wrote his Gospel here, and it is recognized by the Vatican as the final resting place of Mary. It was incredible to walk among the ruins where such important people in Christianity lived! The first part of our tour involved a private, Catholic Eucharistic Mass. It was an outdoor mass, right outside of the Shrine of the Virgin Mary located in the Solmissos Mountains. The experience was beyond moving!
Here is me in front of the shrine dedicated to St. Mary

This is the marble-paved road that led through town. You can see by this photo how crowded it was. What you can't see is how HOT it was--over 95 degrees with little refuge from the sun!

This is the Library

The Great Theater that accommodates 25,000 people and is where St. Paul lectured to the Ephesians. We were able to walk up into the stadium and sit in the seats in which the Ephesians did thousands of years ago.

I really enjoyed this tour because I had just read the book of Ephesians and was able to visualize the readings by walking through the ruins. Turkey is also known for high quality rugs. We went to a carpet weaving demonstration and ended up buying a great souvenir -- 100% silk Turkish rug. It as the message of the Tree of Life and we were told it took a person 9 months to create it.


Day 10 (13 Jun) Greek Isle--RHODES
I elected to stay on the ship today and relax by the pool. I brought an incredible book on the trip The Pillars of the Earth. I finished the entire book (a feat of 1100 pages) and I highly recommend it! Aaron got off of the ship for a couple of hours just to walk into the town. Here are pics of his journey.


We ended up hearing how great the beaches were here....after we sailed away. Maybe next time....
The ship had several dining options available. We made a reservation at the Crown Steak Grill and enjoyed the best Filet Mignon and Lobster we have ever had. Unfortunately we needed a wheelchair to leave. Here is us at our table.


Day 11 (14 Jun) Santorini--a Greek Island of the Cyclades.
This was one of the more enchanting islands of Greece and was a place Aaron and I have wanted to visit for years. All of the towns are situated on the steep rim of the volcanic crater. To get to the top to the villages, you can take a cable car, take a donkey, or walk up the switch back (used by the donkies and covered with their you-know-what). We were feeling up for a bit of an adventure.....


I wish I could include the video Aaron took during his ride. It is hilarious! His donkey decided to race another donkey around a curve, almost sending Aaron over the brick wall.
Here is a pic of Aaron and I at a Greek restaurant that overlooked the village of Fira and the sea.

The scenic village of Fira.

We took a bus to OIA and were even more impressed. The bright blue domes atop of the whitewashed homes were beautiful.

All throughout the villages, you would be walking along the cobblestone streets, and see these doors. Due to the steepness of the rim, you would open the door and just look out over the sea. This door led (via extremely steep steps) to a cafe.


Day 12 (15 Jun) At Sea
Traveling to a different port was exhausting, so we enjoyed some much need down time on the Lido Deck. We had chairs near the couples we dined with and enjoyed live music, ice carving demonstrations, etc.
We were invited to a bridge tour that evening. You can see the Senior Captain in the first pic and then the second one is of Aaron and I with the First Officer. It was interesting to see the bridge and listen to how the ship's navigation system worked and how they embark/disembark in each port. The Bridge is manned 24 hours a day by 2 Officers working 4 hours on, 8 hours off in a 3 watch system. Whenever we are coming into a new port, a pilot from that port will embark on the cruise ship (while we are sailing at approx 17 Knots) and assist the crew members in anchoring or docking.


Our 2nd (and last) formal night.

A pic of the people we dined with.

Day 13 (16 Jun) Naples, Italy
Naples in a word....DIRTY. They have not had trash collection in over 6 months. They said that in some of the suburbs trash is stacked up 3 meters high for miles. Our tour guide said that it is due to a corrupt government and the Italian Mafia. Here is a little sample

We hiked to the top of Mount Vesuveus. An active volcano that erupts every 50 years. The last eruption was in the 1940's...you do the math.


It provided some amazing scenery of the Almafi coast and the town of Naples.


Next, we went to Pompeii. One word: AMAZING! Pompeii was buried by a volcanic eruption in 79 A.D. When it started to erupt, many people fled. However, those that didn't were either initially killed by the fumes or buried in 8 meters of ash. The initial excavation of this town began in 1748 and is currently, only 30% excavated. They did the plaster casts of people during excavation....the excavators saw many voids in the ash and they decided to pour plaster down into the voids. The result was a mold of human bodies buried in the ash. The first is one of a villager who is believed to be pregnant. It was sad to think that over 2000 people were buried in the ash and suffocated to death.


Some pics of the village of Pompeii. It is interesting to think of the how the people lived over 2000 years ago...perfectly preserved!


The amazing part was preservation of frescos!

Aaron and I on the cruise deck with Mt Vesuveus in the background.

Day 14 (17 Jun)--Rome (final day)
Well, our trip concluded with a stop in Rome. Since we did not fly out until early evening, we did a final excursion through our cruise. A whirlwind tour of the Vatican and the colosseum. We definitely want to go back to spend more time at The Vatican (we only spent 1 1/2 hours there) and sightseeing in Rome.
Here are some pics of St. Peter's Basilica and St. Peter's Square.








So, there you have it. We have a ton of more pics....
I will post more pics later of Aaron's b-day party we had here last weekend. 25 people ended up coming over, so it was a lot of work to prepare for it, but we ended up having a blast!
Aaron found out he got a job!!! He will be bartending at the sports bar on base. It was one of the few part time jobs that gave any flexibility! A lot of the other jobs (ex. working part time at the grocery store on base) would not let you take any leave for 6 months....
I have been busy running (I signed up for a half marathon in Bristol in Sept with a friend), doing a Bible study with four friends from work, and packing. Yes, we are moving. Our friends are moving back to the states and we decided to move into their home. It was an old Rectory and is HUGE!! For those who have seen our current house, know that our "4" bedroom house is anything but. One room is the size of my old walk in closet. One bedroom has a queen bed in it with 1 ft on each side. So, when we do get to adding to the family, there is really little room to spare. This new place has 4 large bedrooms (each would easily accommodate a king bed), a kitchen with lots of storage space, lots of character, a huge backyard with a brick gazebo and large willow tree...and, being next to a Church, we get Church bells. The Church is what the Brits call Redundant, so it is no longer used for services, but the bells go off on Friday evenings and Sun mornings. We move Aug 1st, so I will post pics when we get all settled.

Greek Isles Part 2

Day 6 (9 Jun) Katakolon, Greece
Initially, we were just going to stroll through the village, a quaint fishing village....but then we decided to hire a taxi to take us to the site of the first Olympiad in 776 B.C. Our cab driver, Nicholas, was awesome! he drove us to the olympia archeological site and then took us to his friend's house that overlooks the coast and to his friend's bar on the beach! Quite the tour!
Here is a pic of Aaron and I in the Temple of Zeus

The Entrance to the Stadium (The Krypte)

The Stadium where more than 40,000 people would witness contests ranging from foot races o the pentathlon.

The Temple of Hera in the background

Temple of Zeus in the Background.

Here is the view of the sea from a bar on the beach (our cab driver's friend owns it). We enjoyed a cocktail before heading back to the ship.
There were several dining options on the ship. We did the late seating and had a set table each night at 8:30pm. That is where we met some great people. Pat and Leslie were cruising with their two sons and are from Canada. Lowell and Louise split their time between NYC and Florida. We enjoyed evening cocktail parties at sailaway. Here we came back to our stateroom from some wine on the balcony. We really enjoyed their company!


Day 7 (10 Jun) Athens
Because Athens is such a large city with so much to see, we decided to do a tour of the major sites: Temple of Poseidon, Temple of Olympian Zeus, The acropolis (which was undergoing restoration at the time and was covered with scaffolding), and the Plaka. Our tour guide was incredible and gave us a detailed description of Greek Mythology along the way.
Overall, we were not overly impressed with Athens....very crowded, run-down buildings (okay so some of the buildings date back to 5th century BC, but I am talking about apartments and "modern" businesses....)
This is the Temple of Poseidon that sits on the tip of Cape Sounion (about a 45 minute ride from Athens). It was build in 5th Century BC...dedicated to the sea god.

The Acropolis...a bit disappointed about all the scaffolding up, but it is in need of major restoration.

A view of the Old Olympic Stadium (host of the first modern olympic games in 1896) and the Temple of Olympian Zeus (the columns to the right).

A wonderful self portrait with the city of Athens in the background.

Aaron and I at sunset on the lido deck.


Day 8 (11 Jun) Mykonos
Aaron and I were exhausted after the long tour in Athens. We pretty much agreed that we are not the kind of people that will ever be able to do tour-oriented vacations. Feeling like herded cattle, having to stick to a schedule....we are more laid back and like to do things at our own pace. So, that being said....we just strolled in the local port town of Mykonos. This is a Greek island that belongs to the island group known as the Cyclades. This island was polar opposite from the lush island of Corfu...sparse vegetation and very arid/dry soil. The white buildings in the village decorated the coast and provided a beautiful contrast with the turquoise waters.



Okay, need another break.