In Germany fireworks are as prevelant on New Year's Eve as they are on the 4th of July in the USA.

One of the great things about our European adventure is the opportunity to make new friends in other parts of the world. We feel incredibly blessed to have moved in next door to Ina and Rainer who have become good friends. They rescued us when we first moved to Germany by inviting us over for New Year's Eve '05-'06. In this picture we had them over to our house for New Year's Eve '06-'07 which was a much happier ocassion for us.

Here are our good friends Kim and Tony Nethercott--phenomenal people. Unfortunately, they're not with us in Europe in this picture (I think they're in Washington) but I had to put a picture of them on this blog. They have been the most wonderful friends who have helped us in countless ways to make the transition to life in Europe. We love you guys and we WILL see Kim here in September. Kim and Lesley will be having a girls trip to Rome and Positano. Italy here we come!!

Lorenzo and Steven at the Louvre in Paris, Summer 2006

We had good luck when our friends from Lake Oswego--Nadia, Noor and Laila Sheikh--passed through the Frankfurt airport (on their way to Paris last summer) the same day that we took Lorenzo to the airport to head back to school in LA. Even though it was a very short visit it was wonderful to see friendly faces from home.

WORLD CUP 2006

We were lucky enough to get tickets to the opening game of World Cup Soccer in June 2006. In this picture Carlo, Cara and her friend Davide stand in front of the stadium in Munich.

The game was Germany against Costa Rica and the German fans went crazy. It was so exciting!
This is a giant flag that the fans helped to display. The opening ceremonies were impressive.
Yes, we were sitting in the last row. Even from this high up it was still worth being there.

London Trip, May 2006

Last spring we took a trip to London for 4 days. This was one of the 3 hours of sunshine we had while we were there. It was cool to see some of the famous sights including the London Eye. It's behind us in the first picture and we're at the top of the Eye in the 2nd picture.

LONDON: Here we are in front of the Tower Bridge which is sometimes, mistakenly, called the London Bridge. It's even prettier in person than it looks in pictures.

LONDON: Here are Carlo, Cara and her friend Thassie at the fountain in front of Buckingham Palace.

LONDON: As you can see we had the chance to meet some famous people. Well, they ARE wax figures at Madame Tussauds, but it was fun to pretend.

Mom & Dad Nardini in Europe

Carlo's parents came to visit us in September, 2006 and we had a wonderful time together. We got to meet Mom's cousins who drove down from Holland to visit. One picture shows Mom with her 2 cousins, Ad and Cis. The other picture shows the cousins and their husbands in front of the world's largest cuckoo clock.

Our home in Germany

Here are a few pictures of our house in Germany. Top to bottom: Front of the house; front yard & patio; 1/2 of the living room; the other 1/2 of the living room; kitchen; dining room; master bedroom; Lorenzo's room; master bathroom; one of Cara's 2 large rooms.

Paris road trip, Summer 2006

I adore my gorgeous daughter Cara and cherish moments like this.

Carlo & Lesley in Paris

Here we are, my fabulous husband Carlo and me, in the beautiful city of lights.

First trip home to Oregon April 2006

On our first trip back to Oregon we stayed with our good friends Bruce and Molly Studer. The Studers are some of the best people in the world and they were wonderful hosts who made us feel very welcome. We love you and we miss you!

Our first trip back to Oregon was last April (2006) for the wedding of my niece Summer and her amazing new husband Mike. They are perfect together and their wedding was full of love and joy. Our trips home are an important part of our European Adventure. We value our family and friends above everything else and being away from home reminds us how important these relationships are to us.

Our first visitor from America

Our first visitor in Europe was my fabulous friend Ginger Gene. It was so nice to see a familiar face from America. We were incredibly homesick the first few months and Ginger was the perfect person to cheer us up.

She and I went to Rome together for a few days and here we are in front of the Trevi Fountain--it's unlike any other fountain I've ever seen. I have a hard time deciding if Rome or Paris is my favorite European city so I'll just call it a tie.

Family from California

Last October (2006) Carlo's sister, Chiara, and her family came to visit us. That's her in the front next to her husband Gianni whose brother lives near us in the Stuttgart area. Their son Franco (our nephew) is in the red hat with his awesome wife Anna. Our gorgeous niece Margherita (Ghita) is behind Chiara with her boyfriend Kenny. We all think Kenny looks like Sting! They are all great people and we loved having the family stay with us while they were in Europe for 2 weeks!! You can also see Milo, the wonder-dog, who hiked up a trail with us to see the tallest waterfall in Germany. It's hidden behind us but you can see a little bit of it near Franco's feet. Milo is getting older and we hope he stays with us long enough to move back to America in August of 2008.

Road Trip to Paris, Summer 2006

Here are our beautiful children, Lorenzo and Cara in front of the Notre Dame cathedral in Paris. While on his summer break from university in L.A., Lorenzo came to visit us last summer and we took a road trip to my favorite European city.

Welcome to my blogspot. Now that we've been in Europe for a year and a half, I'm finally figuring out how to make a blog (with the help of Cara) to record our European Adventure. I'll post pictures and comments of our travels to stay in touch with our friends and family in America and let you know what we're up to. This first picture is of the 4 of us in Paris last summer.

I also plan to post pictures of my journey as Mrs. Europe. From July 15-22, 2007 I'll be in Chicago for the Mrs. International pageant so stay tuned for pictures and comments during pageant week.

Love and hugs,
Lesley