Getting all Griswald….

Yes, we like Christmas lights and lawn ornaments.  And yes, we would put way more lights on our house, but we have maxed out our outdoor circuits. 

But we like to think we keep it classy because they are all white lights. 

Any electrical engineers are free to come over and offer up suggestions about how we can add more lights without burning down our house.

Thanksgiving

Good food, good wine, lots of friends and family.   The only thing missing was Dom & the DH!

Supermodel “cousins” – always ready to have our pictures taken!

The fun table – formerly known as the “kids” table

 

 

Happy Birthday!

Happy Birthday to my beautiful mom!

Trick-or-Treat!

Trick: So the damage to my car was worse than it looked.  My car was totaled earlier this week.  R.I.P. my lovely Acura.  I loved you so much.  You were such a great little car and will miss you.

 

 

Treat: But I can learn to love again.  Meet the newest member of the Taylor family….. 

 

I hate car shopping, but it was surprisingly painless.   The only down shot is that we missed most of the adorable trick-or-treaters in our neighborhood because we didn’t get home until 8pm.

Happy Halloween!!

Nope – not our Halloween decorations – just an actual spider web covered in frost.

BRRR!

For some reason winter seems to have come much quicker this year – and I’m not ready for it!

 

This is what we woke up to this morning.

Kiss Kiss Bang Bang

My poor car!!  Someone who was driving too fast and not looking where they were going hit my car in the parking lot at work. 

And now it gets to spend a couple weeks in the shop.

Paris!

Our final stop on this trip was Paris.  What a great way to end our vacation!  Paris is beautiful.  Unfortunately, we didn’t have the best weather.  It was really cold and overcast – not ideal for site seeing or viewing the city from the Eiffel Tower.  Regardless, we still had a great time and would love to come back some day!

 

Eiffel Tower by day

Overcast view from the Eiffel Tower

Eiffel Tower by night

 

Versailles

The Halls of Mirrors inside Versailles

 

The Arc de Triomphe

A list of all the battles Napoleon won and the generals who fought for him are listed on the walls of the Arc de Triomphe

 

 

 The Conciergerie – used as a prison during the French Revolution – this is where Marie Antoinette was held

 

The Metro – I love all the public transportation in Europe!!  It makes it so easy to get around.

 

Notre Dame 

 

Cheers to our last night in Paris – Place du Tertre – Montmartre

 

Sacré-Cœur by night

 

 

Switzerland – Lucerne

  After Italy, we drove into Switzerland on our way to France.  Switzerland is very beautiful, but SO expensive!  We stayed a couple of nights in the Swiss Alps in a city called Lucerne.   There definitely weren’t a lot of famous sites to see here, but it was fun to have a few days to relax and catch our breath after such a busy schedule!

 

 Lake Lugano

Views from Lake Lucerne

 The Lion Monument – to commemorate the Swiss Guards killed during the French Revolution.   Apparently the artist didn’t like what he was paid for it, and so he snuck back at night and carved out more so the inset that the lion was sitting in was the shape of a pig.  You can see the snout on the left and the ear just above the lion’s head

 

Sights around Lucerne

 

Kapellbrücke (the Chapel Bridge)

Italy – Florence

 Our next stop was Florence.  Florence and the surrounding region of Tuscany are beautiful.  This city is known for its importance in the Renaissance and the beautiful architecture.  We liked this city much better then Rome, and would love to come back and spend more time exploring the Tuscan countryside!

 

 

Views overlooking Florence

 

The Duomo

The doors of the baptistery of the Duomo called “the gates of paradise”

The copy of “David” in front of Palazzo Vecchio (this was it’s original location)

 

The fountain of Neptune in the Piazza della Signoria

 

Basilica of Santa Croce – where Michelangelo and Galileo are buried.  The architect of the church was Jewish, hence the Star of David on top.

Inside the Basilica of Santa Croce looking out on the Piazza di Santa Croce

 

Our favorite trees that you can see all over the Tuscan countryside.