Posted by Michelle on Oct 4, 2023 in Jeff, Michelle
Jeff and I went to London for eight days for our 25th anniversary! It was a magical trip – Stonehenge, Westminster Abbey coronation chair since 1200 and the Graves of Elizabeth I and Mary Queen of Scots, Shakespeare, Dickens, Darwin, Kipling, Churchill, Isaac Newton, Stephen Hawking, etc. MacBeth at the Globe for open theatre in the round, Wicked at the Victoria Apollo. Beatles private taxi tour with walking across Abbey Road. Lillywhites – 5 story, 160 year old sporting goods store. British Museum private tour with Rosetta Stone, Parthenon Sculptures, mummies and the Bust of Rameses the Great. Soho, Carnaby Street, Chinatown, Beefmaster Guards…
Well after Mom, Dad and Cathie all died and all the Covid isolation, I didn’t feel like updating anything much. But it’s time to get back to normal.
As tough as things were, a lot of good things happened too. Trips to Boston, DC, Charlotte, Annapolis, West Jefferson and more. Visits with extended family, old and new friends. New babies, adoptions and graduations. Swearing ins, Galas, all sorts of great events. We even painted the house and I got a new Mercedes Benz (Hayley has my Jeep, lol). I’m healthy and loved – so much to be grateful for in my life.
Had an amazing vacation to Pittsburgh, Niagara Falls on the Canadian side and Toronto. Can’t wait to go back to Canada – I have family in BC and one of my grandmothers was from Nova Scotia.
We spent eight days in a lovely oceanfront cottage for Hayley’s spring break. I think my favorite part was this amazing deck that overlooked the beach with our own little walkway down there. We had friends staying nearby as well so it was a really fun week. We saw an old college roommate of mine Kelli and then Hayley got her license!
Our dear old friend Bryan married his longtime girlfriend Tina at the beach so we went down for the weekend and a mini-vacation – lots of seafood, old friends and even got out on the water in Beaufort.
We went up to Blacksburg again for the July 4th holiday. Jeff’s grandmother Faye is now living in Blacksburg full-time so it was nice to see her. Hayley took a selfie with Jay and her great-grandmother Faye that still cracks me up. Jeff, Hayley and his folks ran the Shawsville 5k again. They came in 4th in the fastest family category and got their photo in the paper. Hayley and her Grandma Sharen both picked up hardware in their age groups. We also got to see Jeff’s folks new house that is under-construction – it’s going to be really nice.
