Dec. 23-29, 2006: Munich, Salzburg, and Innsbruck (or some variation of the three or others). Why not? Jump on a plane for $540 and see where you can go. Be on the lookout for our REAL pictures from Europe post New Year's. Another reason to keep your passport up-to-date and readily accessible.
John and Sue Lancaster, good friends of Mama and Papa, were also at Thanksgiving this year. It was great to see them! L-R: Mama, Sue, John, and Papa.
After our Mitchell/McNeil thanksgiving, we headed over to Saluda, NC, to celebrate Thanksgiving with the McLeod/Harman clan. Here we all are for our holiday photo. L:R- Ashley, me, Holly, Carey, Weston (lower), Kleck, Robert, Ryan (in R's arms) and Debbie.
Carey and Kleck also attempted a family photo...the boys were cracking us up!
And this picture shows just how cute my nephews are! Ryan, 2, and Weston, 4.
And then we found a perfect sign for Charles A. Mitchell, aka Papa!
That Friday we drove to Vail to spend the night. Kelsey, Joshua's girlfriend, came along. She's great! It snowed on our way there...here's a photo as we're making our way over Loveland Pass. 
Perfect Mountain scene!
On the way back from Vail on Saturday, we stopped at the Coor's factory and got to taste the freshest beer ever. Yum!
One of Joshua's projects....restoring this old Winnebago for a cross country snowboarding trip in February. I'm looking forward to hearing about that adventure.
Now Ashley and I will have to head out to visit. We're hoping to maybe go out to go snowmobiling.
Ashley does his classic "hold the nose pencil" approach
Lyndsey and I
Missy and Josh and Miss Arnold, Missy's adventurous dog
Our beloved Max relaxing for a bit.
The golf cart is always a source of entertainment. This is probably one of my favorite pictures of Ashley because it captures him in his craziness (that's why we're a good fit).
Fourth of July in Gilbert is a HUGE holiday because of the annual Gilbert Peach Festival. Because of our involvement with the Webelos/Cub Scouts we helped a lot. We started the day off pulling the float (designed by Ashley--and the 2nd place winner in the civic non-professionally decorated category). It was a camping scene, complete with a tent and fire.
The younger boys rode in the back of the flatbed truck and pretended to be fishing.
After the parade, we helped with the Car Show. Here's my favorite entry: Herby!!
"Sometimes I wonder why they even make candy."
The Cat Man was not as great as I remembered from my other trips (he seemed to be on some serious drugs this time) but his felines still had talent. Here they are, jumping through a flaming hoop, over each other. 
The Custom House was beautiful, particularly in the sunset.
Here is the Southernmost Point on Wednesday...much sunnier!
We rented a scooter on Wednesday and zoomed all over the island. This was probably one of our favorite things.
Key West doesn't have a very large beach but it does have that tropical feel. We spent Wednesday afternoon beneath a palm tree, soaking up some sun. 
US Highway 1 (which runs through Gilbert, SC, among other places along the east coast) ends in Key West. Here's Ashley on our flashy scooter at the Mile 0 marker. 
I took a lot of pictures as we were zooming by on the scooter, including a few of us.
Wednesday evening, Mama, Papa, Ashley and I went on a sunset cruise on a Fury catamaran. It was a perfect ending to our vacation. The pictures were amazing. My favorite is of a schooner as it glided past the setting sun. 
Ashley got to help raise the sail on the catamaran.
On Thursday, we drove all the way home. In case you are curious...it takes 14 hours to drive from Key West to Gilbert (includes an oil change for the truck, lunch, gas, dinner, and gas again). 
Classic Anna and Ashley--using the "we'll take our own picture" approach.
Notice the lady at the bottom of this picture..that puts the waterfall into perspective. We climbed up to the ledge on the left-hand corner to get a better view. Amazing up there.
This view is looking down the Green River in Saluda, NC (about 30 minutes from the waterfall country of Transylvania County, NC. Ashley's parents' mountain house is in a valley after a 15 plus switchback road leading down from the top.
And in other news...the pontoon is getting ready to hit the lake. We've painted the sides, Ashley has laid the carpet...now he has to put all of the electronics back on and we'll be ready to go. Yippee!
with Minuette Floyd, the art education professor
Oxford University's Christchurch College, aka Hogwarts from Harry Potter
The complete group, plus our tour guide Adrian. The students were fantastic!
We went to see The Woman in Black and it gave us all a good scare. A great play to see if you are in London!
The classic doubledecker bus.
and the beautiful Tower Bridge
*Unfortunately I accidently deleted the first 200 pictures from my digital camera so you will just have to use your imagination to see the changing of the guard, Stonehenge, Westminster Abbey, the River Thames cruise, Bath, Harrod's, etc.
