January 2007: Maldives

In an attempt to escape the British winter weather, we heading to Anantara in the Maldives for a week. It was beautiful! John got to swim with the reef sharks and huge manta rays. Snorkeling on the reefs was out of this world.

January 2006: Gotta love your local

John went over to the local pub tonight to grab a pint. He told the owner Phil that I was not feeling well, a little bit lightheaded.

What did Phil do??? He created a magic potion that will make me feel better. Guiness and orange juice in a half pint. Phil wrapped it up in clear wrap and sent it home with John. Gotta love your local... taking care of the whole village.

January 2006: Frost

Winter has finally arrived. After a very lovely October, November and December, winter has finally hit our area of England. The morning frost has been really pretty.

December 2006: Bath

John & I decided to take the new car for a spin around England and settled on Bath as our destination. A visit to the baths, shopping around town and a stop at the noodle house made for a great after Christmas break.

Christmas at the Old Rectory

Christmas this year was spent in our little house with some great friends Lucky & Allison and Erin & Shannon. After a great dinner prepared by John, we invited the neighbors round for board games and dessert. As the little girl across the street proclaimed... this was the best Christmas ever!

December 2006: Christmas Draw

John & I before heading out for the Christmas Draw. Also a picture of Erin & Shannon Hudson, the Aussies. Erin... is 9 months pregnant in this picture! She looks amazing and is due Jan 8th.

December 2006: Oh Christmas Tree

Our Christmas Tree with grandma endicott's decorations.

December 2006: Photo shoot Barton Bendish

Dress up and photo shoot for the magazine. Location: The Old Rectory. Cynthia was a photo editor for seventeen magazine and came out to shoot the girls across the street during a make believe dress up. The girls, their mother, and cousin came round for fun in the closet.

December 2006: Erin & Cindy

Erin & Cindy came to visit the Old Rectory in Barton Bendish. We had a great weekend eating, walking, sleeping, and freezing. Great time had by all!

December 2006: Erin's Show

My friend Erin had a great show. There is a good chance that this concept will launch a magazine. The show was attended by John Smith, the Elle magazine folks, and a famous designer Zandra Rhodes. A big compliment that these people showed up (especially John to an art exhibit...).

November 2006: Egypt

In an effort to drown our sorrows that we were not going back to the States for Thanksgiving, we decided to go out and see the world...

So, Egypt it was with our moms and brother John in tow. We spent two days in Cairo seeing the museum and the pyramids before heading to Luxor to see the Valley of the Kings and the Luxor Temple. Then back to Cairo to see Islamic Cairo and the do some shopping in the markets.

Egypt was amazing and the people were so friendly. I am ready to move there, but John suggested that we visit in the Summer time before we decide to move. Apparently it is not 70 degrees year round!

October 2006: Bordeaux France

What an amazing part of the world. We stayed at beautiful chateau's with the decor to match. John said that his grandmother would have loved the decor of our hotels, I said that my friend Erin would have liked them even more. I never knew you could put that much fabric in one room! We visited the Medoc wine region and a few of the famous vineyards there, then headed to St. Emillon where we enjoyed the wineries in the region and the great food. Anyone interested in buying a vacation home/vineyard in France? Let us know, we might be interested in participating!

October 2006: Roma!

As usual, I crashed my sister's vacation to Europe! This time the destination was Rome, and I had no excuse not to go considering John was off in a foreign land working and I have plenty of vacation time burning a hole in my backpocket. I joined Carol, her friend Mary, and a host of Santa Clara grads for a tour of Rome. Despite the down pour that hit us at the Vatican and my fight with the poor guy who was selling umbrellas, it was a great trip and I can not wait to take John back there for some proper pasta and gelato! Thank you Carol!!