WARD 8/95-3/06

Ward our first service dog puppy was a great joy in our life fot the 13 months he was in our care. We know that Miah's family appreciated Ward and he had a very rewarding life
Ward died 3/23/2006 after being diagnosed with cancer. He was our first of 4 pups we have raised so far.
Marty and Ward had a special bond.
Ward was a special dog.
Hopefully there is an afterlife for him to enjoy.

DAN

Hi,(From Karl)Well we're in Egypt and checked into our hotel. We got here safely, if not interestingly. We are still having trouble adjusting to the cultural differences but English is widely spoken here and its not too bad. We just had supper and it wasn't too bad, and not too expensive either. We're getting things figured out and hopefully our week won't be too bad. The pool looks really nice so we will probably spend some time down there tomorrow. We can see the pyramids and there is a place on the roof of the main building that you can stand and watch the sunset behind the pyramids, its really neat. Right now we're just waiting for Adam, Jeff and Sara to get here, they should be here shortly and then we can figure out what we're doing from there.

And now from Katy-so the trip was a bit confusing. We flew Swiss airlines so everything was in English as well as German so Karl and I had a little understanding of that. Our first flight left London and then we connected in Zurich and thought we were going to miss our connection because there was only a 45 minute window and the first plane got in 10 minutes late and then the line to go through security was like a bizzilion people long. We did make it though and were not the last people on because a lot people were making the same connection that we were. We landed in Cairo and after getting off the plane all signs were in Eglish as well as Aribic it was still a bit confusing though because we had to buy stamps for our visa's before going through "passport inspection" no problems there. Got a cab which brought us to the hotel and they drive like crazies here. Our driver spoke English very well and was telling us that the traffic laws are in each drivers head. I discovered that lanes are more of a suggestion than any thing else and if you don't want to drive in them well then I guess you just don't. We do of course want to go to the Pyramids, the Sphinx, Egyptian Museum and then who knows. Getting there and back should be intersting. I suggested walking, but Karl did not think that was such a good idea so after the other Riponites arrive we will work out the days that lie ahead. I hope you are all well. Jenny did you make it to Liz's alive? I hope your family has a blast and that the toe is doing better! The internet here is actually very expensive it breaks down to about $1 a minute! So I am not sure how much communication we will be able to allow for. Once we are back in the UK though there are rather cheap internet cafes so more will follow. OK then that is all for me-tomorrow I plan to sit by the pool in the 90 degree weather with my sunscreen of course and enjoy knowing that it will not rain on me in 2 minutes. Bye for now!! =)Katy and Karl

Spring Break

Hi all,
Sorry this is so last minute and we didn't have time to send out individual e-mails but we've been really busy getting all our stuff done here. We're leaving in a couple hours to catch our bus to London. From there we fly out early Saturday morning for Egypt where we will stay for a week. After that we're going to Ireland, then to Germany and then we aren't quite sure what we're doing but we're plannning on Italy, Spain and probably Paris. We don't know how much internet access we'll have but we'll try to keep you posted and keep checking for new pictures as we'll post them as often as possible.
Grandpa, I'm glad to hear your knee is feeling better and that you can get back out on the golf course and I'm glad to hear the redecorating is coming together so well.
Karl

Snow

I should be studying but I thought I'd check the blog first.
We got into Omaha late Friday night (actually early Sat. AM). Chris drove about half the way. The weather was good all the way here.
It started snowing Sunday morning and has been snowing on and off since. Fortunately it has been warm enough that the streets aren't to bad. Just a lot of slush. I think there has been about 10 inches of snow, but it's hard to tell since a lot of it has melted right away. School was cancelled yesterday and today, which surprised us since the roads weren't bad.
We are hoping to head home tomorrow but will need to see in the morning. The interstate is closed still this morning between Lincoln and York so we'll have to see in the morning. Chris really wants to get back tomorrow because he has plans with friends, but I told him that obviously we weren't going if the interstate was still closed.
Melinda, I thought about you yesterday when we had lunch at Romeos. It was very good as usual.
We'll let people know when we get home.
Barb

Update from Arizone

After four plus weeks of living in chaos, we have arrived at some semblance of order. The painter left at about 1 PM Saturday having finished his work. The Plantation shutters were installed Thursday. The designer will be here Monday morning to hang pictures, set things around and rearrange furniture. By tomorrow we should have a bright new look. The office is still a mess and the chore of reconnecting the computer and all the electronic equipment remains. Hopefull all of that will be resolved today. The wood for the Arizone room floor should be in in two or three weeks. When we get that installed we will be done.

On another subject, after a record 143 days with no rain, yesterday we received 1.1 inches here with larger amounts in other parts of the valley.

New Look

Hey all,
I'm working on the blog a little bit to try and fix the problem with the sidebar not showing up at the top of the page so the blog's look may be changing a little bit here and there until I get it fixed.
Karl