Christmas 2004 and Happy 2005

On the 23rd we drove over the Brenner Pass to Germany. It took us all day, 11 hours to be exact, until we reached Dresden. Christmas Eve we spent at home with family. On the 25th the parties started, since we had two birthdays that day in Ivonne's family.

Brenner Pass	Beautiful weather, but when we hit Munich it turned
Dresden's new train station by Foster	Happy to see Susi
Waiting for the train from Hamburg	My sister Susann arrived
Christmas presents	Christmas Eve

The big double birthday - on the 25th	Happy birthday mom!!!
My grandmas	and my grandpa after we told them the news
Birthday surprise - my friend Alin with Val and Armin	My parents - soon to be grandparents - they knew already and are still very happy!!!
Birthday surprise number two - David, an old school friend joins the party	On the right my best friend Markus - now a musician with the group HUTCH

The 27th we flew to Toronto, which is about the longest flight over the Atlantic - nine and a half hours ... And if that is not enough, lets drive to Rochester the same day - another 3 hours. I guess that would have been ok, if our reserved car was actually there - we waited 3 hours for another one. That was truly a 24 hour day! After a night in Webster we went on another hour to the beach house which became our base camp for the time in the US. That same day we had a family reunion with the 9 nieces and nephews.

Snow at the beach in Sodus	7 of the nieces and nephews
Rebekah and Helen unwrapping gifts	Helen
Dad trying to get the whole family in a picture	Matthew and Doug having fun
Two older nieces Natasha and Alex	Good-bye photo

On the 29th we visited with Leach's and met their new additions, a baby (Ben) and a puppy (Sadie). That night we drove to New York City. In the afternoon of the 30th we saw cousin David and his wife Martha for a long lunch in NYC and then stopped in Albany on our way back for dinner with Iris and Peter Girzone. We had a great time, but our return to Sodus got quite late.
On the morning of the last day of the year we picked up Sean and Carrie Gahagan (the Fish's), in from Maryland, at the airport in Rochester. They were joining us for a couple of days of relaxing at the cottage. They are parents of an 8 months old boy, Owen. He could almost stand up, but not quite yet.

HAPPY NEW YEAR 2005 EVERYONE!!!!! Carrie, Sean and Owen joined us in Sodus.	Carrie and Owen in Sodus - they left beautiful Maryland to spend some time in cold NY
Doug trying to figure this out ...	we did get to take a stroll afterall.
Yes, we will be able to handle this!	For more pictures see our friends website

The trip back to Toronto on the 2nd was flawless. The flight was long, but since it took off so late in the evening (11 pm) we both took to the airline’s small pillows and blankets right away. It wasn’t comfortable, but we got some sleep. We arrived in Germany at around noon and had to wait 4 hours for the connecting flight to Dresden. Lina and Ivonne's mom welcomed us in Dresden. Lina was so happy to see us. The trip back to Italy was just another day for such practiced travellers.

We would not have done it different, mainly because this clears the way for being completely sedentary next Christmas. We are told that kids are very portable in the first year, but I would much rather host than travel next time around.

Website last updated February 19, 2005