Back in Budapest!

Okay, it's been so long since I wrote (I thank my ghost writer during my absence) that I can't remember where I left off....so to recap, we started our vacation with a trip up to Maryville, Tennessee to visit with Chris and Kate for a few days.


Aren't they cute?



While in Tennessee, we took a ride over to Townsend to take in the scenery and to eat at this wonderful, quaint restaurant. It was beautiful! Glenn has always said that if God ever moves us to the mountains of Tennessee, it will be our last move on this side of eternity because once he gets there, he won't ever leave.

After a few days in Maryville, Glenn and Chris went backpacking for a few days, and Kate and I drove on down to Marietta, welcoming Glenn and Chris a few days later.



Soon after, Kari and Jonathan flew in from France.


"The best Christmas gift of all is the presence of a happy family all wrapped up with one another."

It was GREAT to all be together again!

Now, let me stop you here and tell you that this blog entry is probably going to bore you to death if you're not related to any of us or if you've already seen Kari and Kate's blogs (I'm trying not to duplicate pictures). I'm warning you, it's a long blog, but I didn't know what to leave out. Just be thankful that I accidently forgot to take pictures of some of the folks we visited with or of the things we did or all the pizza's we ate, or the blog would be EVEN LONGER!


We loved worshipping with West Cobb Baptist Church on Christmas Eve



Playing Catch Phrase

Our "Christmas dinner" was actually eaten at Emogene's house on December 23rd so that my sister and her family from South Carolina could join us. We made a day of it!


There was plenty of food!



I got to see my nephew, Christian, who is 7.

And Dannelly and Corrie, two of my nieces

All six of us stayed at my Dad's house but because none of us wanted to take the time to put up a Christmas tree (and then have to take it down), we settled for decorating the piano!

Christmas day was a relaxing but full day. We ate our traditional Christmas casserole (made by Kate), opened stockings and then our gifts from one another. It was a great day. I don't know about the other 5 there with me, but I was thanking God for allowing us to all be together for Christmas all day long! What a treat! Who knows when the next time will be?

Jonathan shows off his "techniques" on Kari

Now he's showing off his new red slippers!

Even Tundra (Left-Pop's dog) and Shadow (Chris & Kate's) are tired of the excitement

(Pop and Emogene, I hope you aren't reading this aloud with Tundra in the room. I know how she doesn't like to be told that she's a d-o-g.)

The King and Queen rest after a long day

Okay, for those of you who were there, this picture is out of order, I know. I just wanted to put in a picture of one of the 12 times we ate pizza. My sister Karin and brother Jim love it as much as we do!

And my other brother Jay and other sister Elizabeth

I enjoyed spending time with my Dad, even though he was often running errands and shopping in East Egypt. While I was home, he and Emogene bought two ranch condos, side by side, in Marietta. Now my Dad and Emogene begin the somewhat painful process of downsizing, but it will be worth it in the end for both of them! (Don't you just love his sporty hat? I do!)

But I love this one more!

Kari's roommate from Senegal, Jana, who lives in Texas right now, is moving to Auburn, Alabama, so Kari, Jonathan, Chris and Kate drove over to see them one day while they were in Auburn house-hunting. Kari and Kate had this picture taken in front of the famous (infamous?) Toomer's Drug Store, home of the world's best fresh squeezed lemonade since at least 1974 when I was a student at Auburn University! Thanks Kari and Kate!

And who are these handsome blokes? Well, not only is my Dad downsizing, but so are Glenn's parents! All their "chillen" (as Marguerite likes to say) gathered one day to go through the old

family homestead indicate the things in the house that were special to them and to take the things that Bill and Marguerite would not need in their new place, which is with their son Darden and Becky.

The house is fabulous, built in the 1860's after the Civil War ended. Grandson Stephen and wife Beth are moving into it eventually and remodeling it. Maybe I should rephrase that... they are remodeling it and then moving into it??? Or maybe they will live in it while it is being remodeled. As Kari says, "Anywho..." (instead of anyhow...)

Anywho... the distribution of "assets" went very smoothly, and I think everyone was civil and pleased with what they got. Things went so well that afterward, all the cousins and their spouses went out for coffee together. I think this is the first time in about 20 years that they have all been together at one time!

A little down time to refresh ourselves with a snack

Chit chatting on another day (sorry-out of order)

See, no fighting as everyone looks through the china and crystal

While the cousins drank coffee, the siblings ate pizza!

Chris loved his hat so much that he wouldn't take it off!

Moving on to another aspect of our visit...

Sushi at Kroger???

We spent a good bit of time in the stores, either shopping for Christmas gifts or for things to bring back with us to Budapest.

We also spent a lot of time eating!

For over a year Jonathan has been looking for a pair of casual leather shoes that are brown and very comfortable for walking because he has worn out two pairs already! He walks during his lunch break to get some exercise and to clear his head of body parts, and he often has to walk home from school whenever there is a bus/metro strike, which is fairly often! Plus, he and Kari walk for fun. He even looked for them when he was here in Budapest over the summer! Fortunately, he found a pair here!

While Kari and Kate wrapped dishes....

Another thing we did while home was to "move" Emogene from her house out in East Egypt to the new condo she bought next door to Pop's new condo.

...the guys loaded furniture!

And at the end of the day, I got a fountain drink!

As you can see, we had a great time with family in the States, but it wouldn't be complete without visiting some of our dearest friends. Truly, we ran out of time, and didn't get to visit everyone we would have liked to see. (Yes, you!) And some of them we got to see, but I forgot to take pictures!

Ed and Jo Chupp, the best neighbors ever

(Ed, next time (November) we'll come in the evening when you are home!)

Lunch with friends at Olive Garden. I miss you all!

And "Grandma" Whitfield, because our kids didn't have a "grandma"

Friends-they don't get any better than this one!

Most of the time we got together with our friends over a meal in a restaurant, which is a treat for us since we can't get our favorites like La Parilla Mexican Restaurant, Longhorn's, etc. but it was also nice to get a home-cooked meal occasionally...

Oops! Pizza again!

Glenn and I were in Marietta for two full weeks, and I only cooked once! We fixed Hungarian goulash soup and Chicken Paprika, which is also a poplular Hungarian dish. We did eat home-cooked meals, but they were always in someone else's home!

We said "good-bye" to Chris and Kate on January 2nd as they returned to Maryville and to Kari and Jonathan on the 3rd as they flew back to France. Then, on January 5th, Glenn and I boarded our plane to Budapest.

Oreos-handcarried so they wouldn't break!

Four inches of snow greeted us!

We had a wonderful time with family and friends, but it was good to be home again.

And tomorrow, we go to the airport to pick up our beloved co-workers, Mary and Alvin Doyle after being in the States for 6 months. WELCOME BACK! You were missed!