Salt Lake City Layover

June 9, 2012

Stopped by Kelly Jewelers to see the Nephews and they took us on a tour of the store and their house, which is the same place.  Had a good time and they showed me all their guns (and you can tell that I never completed a gun safety course as I am aiming my machine gun right at Herschel's head) and enjoyed the first-hand description in detail of the infamous robbery.

Got together with the entire family and ate mexican food.  Enjoyed everyone's company and it was especially wonderful to see Adam.  Kids are doing well and seem happy.

Maria was off for 13 days (loves her new job and all the time off it provides) so she was already in SLC visiting the kids/family/friends when I arrived for my 22 hour layover.  She stayed with me at the hotel, we ate lunch at the BlueLemon (my new favorite downtown SLC food spot) and caught up with old friends.

Amsterdam, The Netherlands

June 2012

 I am so excited to be back to flying international trips again.  I am based in Atlanta now as of June first and this is my first international trip in my new base.  I have been to Amsterdam before, while I was based in NYC, but actually never left the hotel because it was raining.  Had a beautiful day this time, so I got out and about.  I must say, this is not my favorite European city, but it sure beats Omaha, Nebraska or the like, places I only got to layover while based in Orlando.

There are more bike riders than car drivers in this city.  You'll notice in the photo above, a bicycle parking lot that you'd find located all over the city. Not sure how one would find his bike at the end of the day.  And this photo is a parking ticket this bike owner got for chaining his bike to a lamp post.  Never seen a bike parking ticket before. Speaking of bikes, I also got run over by a bike....like I said, EVERYONE is riding bikes through the city, and at a busy intersection, I neglected to look both ways before leaving the curb and stepped right into the middle of a herd of oncoming cyclists.  The lady that hit me while she fell off her bike, was screaming something in Dutch which probably translated into something like, "Moron American tourist....GO HOME!"

And then there is the food.  The Waffle apparently is the staple food item of the country.  Not only served for breakfast, but also dipped in white chocolate and served as a snack and then there are these little cinnamon waffle cookies filled with caramel that you can't stop eating once you start.  And french fries with mayo.  I had to try as there was a full blown store selling just fries every 50 feet on every street.  Next time I'll just stick with the standard american ketchup rather than the Dutch mayo version.

Gidget

2001-2012
Dean & Maria and family are mourning the loss of our sweet puppy Gidget. And although we adopted her out 9 year ago when we moved to Florida so she could have a better life in Utah, the knowledge of her death wasn't any less sad. She was hit by a car yesterday which took her life.

These photos where taken in 2008 when we were in Utah visiting Gidget at her new adopted home after five years had past since her adoption. It was so fun to see her and her excitement to see me when I thought that she may had forgotten me. She never left my side the entire visit. She loved me and I her.

Dean the DJ

My flight attendant friend Bert, pictured here in the red, is also a part-time DJ at a community radio station in Tampa. Monday was the anniversary of the death of Buddy Holly who died in a plane crash. The producers of the station thought it a great idea to do a show playing tribute to musicians that have died in plane crashes. So what would be more fitting than to have flight attendants running the in-between the music commentary. The subject matter being somewhat heavy...with the thought of dead people going down in a ball of flames, they figured a bit of humor on the side would lighten the mood. Hence, my invitiation to participate (because Bert thinks I'm funny). I was alittle nervous at the thought of it, but once we got started and I got on a roll, it was a blast. So if you have 2.5 hours to kill and you want to hear me on the radio, log on and enjoy.

Here's how:

Go to: WMNF.ORG
click: On Demand
click: Archives
click: "It's the Music" (noon time slot)
click: Monday-Flee
click: Listen

The show will expire next Monday, February 13.

We all miss you, especially today.
October 17, 1922 - January 15, 2009

The best gift of the season was spending Christmas with Great Grandma Kelly.

We had a 'Girls Only' tea party 

It was delicous and full of stories from the past.

The great grandkids couldn't get enough of her.  They were so excited to see her everyday and sad to see her leave at night.

Jeff Kip came over a couple times to go through old photos he had from Lois.  It was such a treat to look through his collection.

                                      Nita is such a beauty queen.  Always has been.

 The gang at 450 S. Nelson back in the day.

Thank you for spending your time with us Mom, Grandma and Great Grandma.

We love you dearly.

Happy 85th Birthday

23 October 2011

Mom had a great birthday celebration. Attended church, got lots of cards and gifts and special dinner invitation at Ward Bishop's house and an evening at a chruch fireside meeting.
She sends love and thank you's to all who remembered.
(and will expect the same showering of gifts and cards next year.)

Drew and Lynette

Hello wonderful family! Drew and I recently celebrated our third anniversary and we have some great photos to share! Also, Drew's barber shop is doing really well and  I just sold my tailoring shop. We're putting the money toward retirement, and we're hoping the have a baby someday. Things are wonderful and we're happy. Love you all.

Columbus, Ohio

I'm having a great time at my new job going places and having tons of fun. Although me and Dean don't get to fly together yet because we are based in different cities, we do however get to rendvouz for special private time layovers every chance we get.

I had a long layover in Columbus, so Dean flew in so we could be together. The weather was beautiful and the food divine.

We ate at Schmidt's German resturant and it was divine. We were going to share the german chocolate cake, but it was so divine, we had to order a second peice.

London, England

Had a great time in London. The weather was perfect and it was fun to see the city in the daylight. Last time I was here with Dean, we were in and out in one evening and saw everything in the dark.

Of course a visit to London wouldn't be complete without a pop-in to Harrod's. Of course got me a teddy-bear.

Natural History Museum

The garden at the Albert & Victoria Museum

Seattle, Washington

Had a nice, and long layover in Seattle, Washington. My Mom, who lived in Seattle forty years ago, and had not been back since moving to Utah, met up with me to share my first layover there with me. We had the most fun and she was amazed how much the city had changed in forty years.

Pike's Market

Delicous fresh fish and food.

We took a ferry across the Puget Sound and it was georgous.

I'm so glad my Mom could be with me and she loves her new travel perks too.

Sao Paulo, Brazil

Had a great trip to Sao Paulo. I got assigned this trip on my "on-call" days so that made it extra special. (because usually I get Omaha, Nebraska for assignments on my "on-call" days.)

My hotel was beautiful, modern and very cozy.

I spent the day with one of my Brazilian crew members who was from Sao Paulo. We jumped on a train and bus and he took us into the heart of the city to this famous market. It was so colorful and beautiful.

How could I pass up a bowl of fresh strawberries and banana's covered in dark chocolate?

Over all the trip was great, until the parasite I got from that delicious bowl of chocolate covered fruit that had been washed with ameba infested water....made me sick. And of course it hit me while working my flight back to New York. Luckily for me, I had a few days off after the trip and my Doctor put me on antibiotics to kill the bug. I'm back to normal now...lesson learned. Don't eat the local strawberries.