Bring Him Home

 Antonio sang Bring Him Home (from Les Miserables) at Monument Community Presbyterian Church this morning as part of their Veterans Day service. It was very well received by the congregation (which had a large percentage of vets). He had a great time chatting with folks after the service. We hadn't been to a Presbyterian Sunday morning service in 30-some years. Some still very familiar (order of worship), some new (songs). Lexi belted out the new songs and participated in the Children's Message, and the older portion of us remembered things like the Lord's Prayer and singing the Doxology after the collection plates were passed.

Grand European Tour

We (Nana and Papa) did Viking's Grand European Tour for our 50th Anniversary. It was fabulous, of course, and below is something of a summary to go with the photos (all of which start here).

We stayed at the Denver Airport's Westin Hotel the night before the flight out (which was kinda early). We flew to Amsterdam, Netherlands where we had a weekend stay at the Pulitzer Hotel (very nice!) We mostly strolled around in the vicinity of the hotel in the canal district and took a canal ride one evening. The Anne Frank Museum was a highlight (photos not allowed). The ostrich beer was quite good. Our first excursion from the boat was to visit some windmills and a Dutch Cheese making farm.

Then Cologne, Germany. Here we did a walking tour of Cologne and a side excursion to Bruhl (a UNESCO site). The photos for this segment start here.

Next stop, Koblenz, Germany. Here we toured the Ehrenbreitstein Fortress. Photos start here.

Then Freudenburg, Germany where we did a Miltenburg walking tour. Photos start here.

Then Karlstadt and Wurzburg, Germany where we toured the Rothenburg ob der Tauber. Photos start here.

Then Bamberg, Germany where we did a walking tour around the city that began in 902. Photos start here.

Then Nuremburg, Germany where we did a fascinating tour of the underground tunnels that saved important pieces of artwork during World War 2. Photos start here.

Then Regensburg, Austria where we toured the Jewish district and later visited a hops farm outside of town. Photos start here.

Then Passau, Austria where we took an all-day trip out to visit Salzburg highlights, many of which included filming locations for The Sound of Music movie. Photos start here.

Then Melk, Austria with a trip to explore the Melk Abby including some cruising along the river with castles on various hillsides. Photos start here.

The final Austrian stop was Vienna where we did a walking tour. Photos start here.

The next day we took a bus from Vienna to explore Bratislava, the capital of Slovakia followed by some more scenic cruising. Photos start here.

More scenic sailing took us to Budapest, Hungary where we did a walking tour in the morning and made a trip out into the countryside to see a Hungarian Horses facility and show. We did a little more exploring in Budapest. Photos start here.

Then off to Prague in the Czech Republic for our final few days staying at the Augistine Marriot in the old town where more castles, palaces, and churches provided plenty of oohs and aahs just like the  previous parts of the trip provided. Photos start here.

There are lots of photos in the gallery (over 2100). The good news is that you can review manageable numbers of thumbnails at a time, very quickly, and select the ones you want to see full size. You can also run a slideshow, but at a few seconds a shot it'll take some time.

Underwoods' Visit

Bob and Sandy spent a week with us enjoying Colorado Springs and environs.

The Airplane Restaurant

Fancy drinks at The Aviator atop Hotel Polaris.

Pamela's, also at Hotel Polaris.

Will Rogers Shrine above the
Cheyenne Mountain Zoo.

Cheyenne Mountain Zoo

Grand View Dining Room's backyard.

Eagle nest at Glen Eyrie.

High Tea in the Glen Eyrie Castle.

Georgetown Loop Railroad

Garden of the Gods

Matteo's Senior Parking Space

Perfect for our fisherman!

Fina's space 2022-2023.

Ruff and Ridiculous Dog Show

Nana, Papa, and Bonnie attended today's Ruff and Ridiculous Dog Show put on by the Ray Brown Team (Re/Max). Our family has known Ray since doing Chitty Chitty Bang Bang together a few years ago. It was our kind of "dog show" - food, relaxed, all in fun. Each dog got a brief introduction as they walked the red carpet and at the end, as the grand finale for each, were asked to sit. The crowd roared (no matter what). And Lynn got her very first shot at taking a dog into a show - and won a prize - Best Sit! This may well have been the first time ever that a sheepdog won an obedience-related award.

4th of July at Palmer Lake

The bulk of the day was spent at Palmer Lake with darn near the entire family and a few friends! Burgers for dinner then fireworks at the Club for the balance of the day. A good time was had by all.

Snack when everyone got home

Meet "Bonnie Lass" !

After roughly 30 years without a sheepdog (we did raise German Shepherd guide-dog puppies and have a Doodle in the meantime), we're very excited to welcome Bonnie Lass to the household. Her name derives from Scottish/French meaning something like "Pretty Girl." She's going on 3 years old and weighs in at about 65 pounds. She comes to us from Bugaboo Old English Sheepdogs right here in Colorado Springs. Most of the older photos below were taken in the 1970s and early 1980s when we still lived in the Kansas City area. Pictured at the bottom is Jamie's family's sheepdog, Harriclown Hornblower, in the late 1960s or so. He would accompany Jamie and Lynn on most of their every-Thursday-night walks/dates on the Country Club Plaza (over 50 years ago!). As you might imagine, Harriclown drew much attention.

Our first meet-n-greet with Bonnie
about a week ago.

Way back when... (from here on down)

This is the dog that started it all back when Jamie
was in high school, Harriclown Hornblower.