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Christmas Greetings

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Hello dear family and friends! Carsten and I send the very best greetings to you and all those you treasure. We are thankful for the community we have been blessed with, both near and far. 2025 was a hard year for us. We had no idea back in January what the new year would bring. Life is always full of ups and downs but my mom's rapid health decline and death just floored us. A loss like this reminds you of how precious life is and how important it is to be thankful for every moment we are given. We are navigating the holidays like a soldier thru a minefield - no idea when grief will knock us down again. It is hard to write but, besides Mom's death, we are all doing well.  Austin and Jamie moved back to Houston after 18 months in Detroit. They bought a house about 1.5 miles from Marieke and Alex. We are overjoyed that they are home and the dogs are happy too! Austin and Jamie are rooting for their Texas Tech Red Raiders in the college football playoffs! The Longhorns in the grou...
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Ljubljana, Slivenia

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Hello! We are getting ready to head home, time to wrap things up. As I lay here in bed I hear the church bells chiming in the Old Town of Ljubljana. We enjoyed a lovely, if a little cool, four days here.  We had a little hiccup in our travels from Venice to Ljubjana, no big deal, we just had to take a bus part of the way where the rail was under construction. This is just part of traveling in Europe. Regardless, we arrived and found our studio apartment. The manager told us about the market on Saturday - I love a market! We bought honey, cheese and some salami. All delicious! Ljubljana has several famous bridges. This is from the Dragon Bridge. This dragon is the one Jason and the Argonauts fought when returning from stealing the golden fleece. The dragon is the protector of the city.  This Jesuit church was originally red but faded and was repainted this lovely salmon color. This statue in Preseren square is of Preseren. He was a poet as well as a general letch. He was marrie...
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Venice!!!!

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Hello from a train headed to Ljubljana. We had such a wonderful time in Venice with our friends. We hugged them goodbye with a tear in our eye today as they travel back to Houston. We arrived into the port at Trieste, disembarked and walked to the train station. Easy enough to hop on a train to Venice - it was a lovely journey, mostly along the coast. Arriving in Venice with lots of luggage, we employed a porter to bring our luggage to our apartment - this was money well spent! Arrival in Venice! So excited!! After getting food and wine we did a gondola ride! Saw these guys and Carsten said "the garbage men are here", a reference to a favorite movie! LOL We visited this beautiful church - Mary Frari. There were many important pieces of art inside by guys I have at least heard of ... The Assumption of Virgin Mary (by Titian 1515 1518) The choir area The Lion of Venice. Apparently the position of the wings, tail and paws tells you the disposition of the lion, i.e., is he teachi...
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