casacollins

Okay, here are the photos...Jacobs Family and Collinses (minus Wynne who didn't want to pose) in front of their old, cool barn/house in Prevessin-Moens, France near Geneva. John and Mark went to college together and John works in marketing for the UN. Amy has inspired us to take Omega 3 and Justice League vitamins! Owen told Reed from about 1 cm. from Reed's face, "I just love that you're nine!" Emma keeps the family organized and is a dedicated "mother" to her baby dolls.

Then we have a photo of a plaza in "Old Town" of Geneva where every other store hocks chocolate or watches! The blue lights are illuminated glass tiles in the otherwise brick plaza. They each say a greeting of some sort many different languages. We found Spanish, English, French, German, Russian, Greek and Japanese! Muy internacional! That is Wynne in the green jacket running around like the crazy americana that she is!

Next we have Ben Saper, Mark and Tony Lozano eating, drinking, and laughing at the fish restaurant in the Albaycin. Too bad you can't see more of Lydia. She was wearing a new, cute, apple green skirt and tights which were so matchy matchy with her hat and gloves AND she was eating all kinds of yummy fish. No beer for her! We wish Ben was going to be in Madrid longer because we had a great time getting to know him. His visit helped renew our faith in the 20 somethings. Not that we needed it, but if the world were in his hands (as someone once said of Chris Emrich), we'd be in good shape! Funny how being in a far away place brings you closer to people and reminds you that people all over the place are really good. Thanks Ben.

Jamon!!!!! Finally we have a photo of our beloved ham leg. Not pleasant for vegetarians, but really an important part of the culture here. Jamon serrano is sooooo good. And it fits nicely into the South Beach low-carb diet! Tony's dad cured hams for his living. He and his family would drive all day to the coastal city of Malaga and spend a week there taking the hams to all his customers. Tony taught Mark how to slice the jamon off the leg under the watchful eye of Sandra and daughter, Lucy. To eat jamon with Tony is what we consider the epitome of the jamon experience. While he stands there slicing he tells you about the history, culture and current events of Spain. Tony is a professor by trade and he is a natural teacher. Needless to say, we have learned so much from him and Sandra (and their girls)!

Lastly is our photo of our soccer stars! Lydia was bummed that her team didn't win her division, but she scored and had a great game with all those boys and girls. Her class/team had a lot of girls show up and we like to think maybe her determination to play (with the indoor boys team) inspired them! Reed's team was on top from the first minute of their first game. Reed often plays goalie, but is a stellar defender as well. Nothing like a winning medal to make his day! Look at the Sierra Nevadas behind us. Aren't they beautiful? We see them on our 10 minute walk home from school every day!

If you want to see a bigger version of the photos just click on them and they'll "blow up". Reed likes that phrase! Also, let us know if you're looking at our blog. We are curious to learn how many people actually read this and what you think. Just leave a quick comment telling us you read it, please.

Hope you had a wonderful Thanksgiving!

Ciao for now!