Our Christmas picture at Eva's parent's house.
As mentioned in an earlier blog, Eva's grandfather was quite a hunter...here are the mounted deer in one of the sitting rooms. I especially like the light made of horns.
Tanja and Rene also posing with the grapes.
When we came back, we checked out the house. And, to our surprise, we had creme colored windows with bright white hinges (most German windows are either wooden or white...creme is not normal).
By sheer fortune, the Buffs made it to the Big XII championship game, which just happened to be in KC that year. So, we got some tix and went tailgaiting...
Here's us before kickoff.
Interestingly enough, we were chatting with this couple during the tailgate. They noticed Eva's slight accent and asked if she was German. As it turns out, the couple below was stationed in Erlangen in the 50's. It was pretty cool to chat about the landmarks of the city.
Close to Folsom field with me posing with my favorite animal...and rubbing the horns for good luck.
Eva sitting with her friend, Robert Frost, a Boulder resident and, of course, poet.
This one picture probably doesn't do Pearl Street justice. I will always remember the spring days where there are literally thousands of tulips blooming.
But, the 'Lady on a Swing' is still a Pearl Street landmark...and brings back many good memories.
The beloved Flatirons in November. Ize has a great picture of the Flatirons in each of the seasons. Hopefully, over the next years, I can create my own...
In LoDo with BW. This was one of those pictures that I almost didn't take, but it turned out much better than I had expected. 
Jake and Ben with Abby in the middle. This was the first year with kids for the group, and it was very cool the 'group parenting' that was going on. I think the kids liked it because there were 10+ adults to play with.
The group picture. We had tons of snow in the morning and took us a while to dig out. All in all, it was a great time - as always. We didn't eat or drink healthy, and Deborah still had problems with 'one'. Nina learned a a few american drinking games.
Most important of all, we got to spend time with good friends...unfortunately, we can't make it to the mountains every Thanksgiving, but we try to make it as often as posible.
Of course, everything in Texas is bigger. Here we are on a Texas sized rocking chair.
My mom's famous cheesecake, made from scratch without machines. As a kid growing up, we weren't allowed to walk in the kitchen when a cheesecake was baking - to help prevent the cake from cracking.
Obviously, by the cracked cheesecake, I still can't follow directions as a grown up.
From the first Godiva that I bought Eva for Valentine's Day at the Pittsburgh airport (why at the airport...because I procrastinated and didn't have anything...), Godiva has had a special meaning for us.
When we got home, we had our frozen wedding cake. It tasted better than we thought it would. No comments on the coffee mug, but those of you that went to CU with me, I know, will chuckle. (Eva put the coffee mug in the picture.)
Eva's grandfather was an avid hunter. In his house, there is a room with racks of mounted deer skulls (I'm sure there is a more technical hunting term for these things). Above, his hunting club is playing a few traditional hunting songs. Note how straight Eva's grandfather is standing on the right. Very impressive the close knit hunting community.
Above the three sons reading a birthday poem.
Me and Eva's gradfather, Kurt.
But first, we had to drive there. Here's me with some of our camping gear. Let's just say that the trunk of our little VW Golf Cabrio was packed.
We left at about 4am to make it to the Italian coast. From there, we would take a ferry to the island. Our port was not too far from Pisa, so we took the chance to be 'real' tourists.
Above is the typical tourist picture of me holding up the Leaning Tower.
Self Portrait. Some other tourist, not pictured, held up the tower for me while we took our picture ;-)
We had some delays with the ferry - like a 5 hour delay. We got up at 5am for a 6am ferry that was 'delayed'. Ironically, we took off with next ferry around noon.
Not allowing my honeymoon to be spoiled by a delay, I pulled up one of our camping chairs and had a beer - at 10am.
Here we are at one of the campgrounds having our four course meal. While simple, it was great food, and the wine (despite the plastic camping cups) was very good.
One of the beauties of Corsica was the lack of cars. We think we saw only one traffic light the 12 days we were there. There is, however, traffic jams, as you can see by the above picture. We had similar encounters with pigs, cows, and a stubborn horse that wouldn't move.
A romantic dinner on the beach during sunset. I'm really lucky to have a wife that really thinks that eating fresh fruits and veggies on plastic camping plates is fun and can be romantic.
The coast as viewed from Cap Rossu. The hike to the top was long and hot, but well worth it.
Alonge the GR20, the hiking trail that runs through the island. The fat man in the picture is me. It was this picture that convinced me to finally lose some weight. In this picture I weighed over 180 pounds.
Eva doesn't like this picture...but it was a great dinner at a good restaurant in Porto ;-) We walked to dinner from our 4 star campground (we had never heard of a 4 star campground before...)
Sunset on the island.
Corsica was a strategic military outpost for many centuries. Here is the view of the coast from one of the very important stronghold in Bonafacio.
Self portrait from the same location.
After spending a few days at a campground, we wanted to really splurge on the luxurious things - like a bed and a shower. So, in Bonafacio, we found a great hotel overlooking the bay and dock. The dock was packed with million dollar yachts. As we walked around the dock that night after dinner, we saw the 'Jerome' docked. It was hilarious to find this simple unmotorized boat next to these huge yachts, catamarans, and other large ocean-going vessels.
Eva imitating some of the local art.
In Ajaccio, I wanted to go into the Napolean museum. It was closed, and I threw a fake fit for the camera. Eva was relieved the museum was closed - she hates museums.
For our last night in Corsica, we found a great campground (pictured below) only a few meters from a great beach with the view that you see above. It was a great way to end our time in Corsica.
After we left Corsica, we stopped over in Florence. The Duomo above is absolutely amazing. At first, I thought all the different colors were just painted. As I got closer, I realized that it was different colored marble.
I love signs that seem a bit different or odd. I'm sure this makes sense in Italian...but in English it is a bit funny.
After the serenity of Corsica, the hustle and bustle of Florence and Italy was a bit much. We got into Florence late, didn't feel like a large meal at 10pm, and ended up eating at McDonald's.
The honeymoon was great and better than we could have ever imagined. Corsica will always have a soft spot in our hearts. The country was simple and simply beautiful.
