RIP kelly-green Jetta

September 19th was a sad day in our household when the faithful Jetta took its final spin around the block! On Karen's way to work she was rear-ended and pushed into another car causing the Jetta to fold up like an accordion. It turned out to be totaled, so we are looking for a replacement. In the meantime it is the bus and max for Karen! We will update you all soon when we get the new auto!

Barcelona, Southern France and Italy

After our two-day stint in Paris we flew to Barcelona via Ryan Air. (If you have never heard of Ryan Air, it is a small airline company that models itself after Southwest. They have incredibly cheap flights throughout Europe at small, out of the way airports.) We spent a couple of days touring the famous spots (Sagrada Familia, Park Guell, Las Ramblas, etc) before boarding our cruise to southern France and Italy. Here we are sitting in front of Guadi's famous lizard in Park Guell.


The cruise ports were amazing! We had 5 full days at ports with only one day at sea. Here is a picture of Adam in front of the Grand Casino in Monaco.... too bad lady-luck wasn't on our side that day (although we definitely made up for it at the cruise casino).

Oh, here is a little known fact: the leaning tower of Pisa is actually not a gravity defying phenomenon, but really held up by Adam's sheer head/neck strength.

Our favorite had to be Rome. There was definitely too much to see in a 6 hour sprint across the city, but we tried to fit as much of the big stuff in as possible. We were able to see the Coliseum, Pantheon, Forum, Trevi Fountain, and St. Peter's Basilica. Our only regret was not having the time to see the Sistine Chapel, but a two-hour wait was out of the question. Here we are throwing our coins into the Trevi Fountain, guaranteeing our return to Rome (next time we'll see the Sistine chapel).

One of the most interesting places we visited was Pompeii. If you ever have the chance to see the ruins it is well worth it. We were amazed by how accesible it was; we were able to walk through streets and homes that were built ~2,000 years ago.... Pompeii was a fitting end to our great European adventure, and after returning to Barcelona we flew back to Frankfurt and then home.

Germany and Paris!

During the summer we decided to make the cross-atlantic trek to visit Sarah and Tuan, (and do some European site-seeing). We spent 3 fantastic days in Germany with the Nguyens taking day trips to Luxembourg and Burg Eltz. The drive to these places was almost as much fun as the sites themselves: the autobahn was an adventure in a ford-focus size car! Sarah, Tuan, and Mochi were gracious enough to show us the best restaurants and ice cream shops.... Ping-pong was a pre-requisite, as was drinking the 1/2 beer, 1/2 Sprite concoction served at the Castle behind their home. Yum.

After 3 days of jaeger-schnitchel and bratwursts it was time to take the train westward to Paris! We were lucky enough to be in Paris on Bastille day (the French Independence day) and got to witness the best fireworks display ever (it even beat San Francisco's millenium celebration). Another highly recommended activity that we enjoyed was a dinner cruise on the Seinne river. 2 bottles of wine later, it became difficult to find our way back to the hotel (but worth it)!

Of course the other main tourist attractions were also spectacular. The Louvre, Arch de Triomph, and Notre Dame weren't neglected. We definitely got our mileage in those 2 days!

Puerto Rico!

In the spring of '05 Adam qualified for the national sales conference, held in Puerto Rico! Being our 3rd year at sales conference, we knew what to expect and took full advantage of the activities. Golfing, spa, a rainforest hike and jet skiing.... who could ask for more? Like usual, the entertainment didn't disappoint either. The pointer sisters made a showing, but karen's favorite was the survivor night theme (not to mention the stiff drinks) with buffs and a zip-line across a river in the rainforest!

2004

2004 was an eventful time in our household. Spring of '04 began with the arrival of our newest family member, Bailey. Pictured on the right is Bailey and little Kathryn when she came to visit for her 8th birthday. The summer of '04 entailed potty-training and puppy pre-school. Look at her now!




















In the fall of '04 we had the privilege of hosting Karen's parents' 30th wedding anniversary! It was a surprise party and was almost succesful until Jim and Jean decided to show up early.... (We think they had a hunch anyway when we asked Jim to make 2 cakes for the occassion)! It turned out to be a big bash as witnessed by the cigar smoking, brandy drinking group below.

Some friendship, snowboarding, good food/wine, and late-night cranium wrapped up '04 out in Bend. We rang in the new year with Di Ha, Jen, Drew, and Megan.