Christmas Comes to Our House

Come on in, y'all!

The entryway...

Our Christmas card wreath just waiting to be filled...

The living room is filled with a variety of items, but front and center is the nativity.  No matter what else is put out, this comes out every year.

Christmas villages on two half walls...

And a lighthouse on the trunk...

There are carolers on the mantel...

And a few more with their piano player on the stereo...

There are three tall wise men on the dining room table.

And even some pretty dishes in the china cabinet.

The kitchen is filled with gingerbread men and women!

Including a village on the shelf by the sink.

I even brought out my Christmas dishes this year...

Snowmen, snowmen, snowmen in the family room!

Now let's head up the stairs...

Halfway up, on the landing, is another village but this one is a little different - it's Bethlehem!  I love this one.  I created "mountains" out of thin cork...

The mantel in the master bedroom.

And a giant angel in the guestroom.  She lights up the night!

One final look at the living room from upstairs.

Have you decorated yet?  Whole house or just the living room?

P.S.  I haven't bought any new decorations in years and many of these items were gifts.  It takes a long time to get a Christmas house ;)

The End (Day 14 - Rome and Home)

June 2nd is Italy's Republic Day.  This is a national holiday celebrating the day when Italians voted to abolish the monarchy in 1946 so their country could become a republic.  It was also the last day of our vacation. Because of the holiday, Martina had warned us that the streets would be busy and she might not be able to see us before we left since she rides the train in to Rome each morning.  We were fine with one more breakfast across the street with our new friend, Carlos.

We were the first ones in and enjoyed cappuccinos and pastries.  While we were finishing up, several groups came in and it looked like it was going to be a busy day in Rome.

I had Martina schedule a shuttle to the airport.  Our driver was on time and drove like a normal person.  Much better than the driver we had from Expedia  Live and learn! 

We breezed our way through luggage and security and had a couple of hours to just hang out at the airport until it was time for our 13 hour flight home.

I had contacted our travel agent after we arrived in Rome to see if we could upgrade our seats.  We were able to get bulkhead seats so we had more legroom.  The seats were still narrow and broken down, but we did have a little more space.  I had the aisle seat, while Les was in the middle.  It appeared that no one paid for the window seat so we had several ask us if it was available.  One guy ended up taking it.  The flight home was long, the service was typical airline service.

We were finally back in America!  Since we had a direct flight, we were able to get our luggage, go through about four security checks (no kidding!) and then were out on the sidewalk waiting for our shuttle van.  We shared a van with one other couple and we were fortunate enough to be dropped off first.  Traffic was pretty heavy, but we eventually made it.  Home, sweet home!

The End.

(If you've gotten behind, all the posts are now in order HERE.  And all our pictures are HERE.)

Parting Shots

We were without internet service in our condo for our final day and half.  Of course I still took pictures!  Thursday night we went to Duke's Waikiki for dinner.  Ocean view dining:

Our final sunset on Oahu:

Diamond Head:

The Royal Hawaiian Hotel:

After we boarded our flight Friday afternoon, we had mixed emotions about going home.  We were sad to leave beautiful Hawaii...

But happy to be going home!

Diamond Head from the runway...

Oahu from the air...

Diamond Head from the sky...

It will be a year we will never forget!  Les and I both agree that we enjoyed living on Oahu more than we thought we would.  We lived as locals instead of tourists, we learned more about the island and its beauty up close instead of from the window of a tour bus!