Summer 2007

Summer is officially over. Shannon's back to school, I'm in my 4 Fantasy Football leagues, the Broncos won their first game, and all is well.

BUT, before we start blogging about recent events, we must recap our fantastic Summer Europe Trip '07!

So, Shannon finished her first year of teaching 2nd grade, and a week later was on a flight to Scotland. I couldn't take a full month off work, so Shannon ditched me and left a week before I did to get some good time in with her sister Holly, brother-in-law Luke, and our beautiful new nephew Isaiah, who live in St. Andrews, Scotland. I arrived a week later and we all had an amazing time.

Luke even hooked me up with 18 holes of a golfer's dream:

When then said our goodbyes and hopped a flight to Paris for three nights. The people weren't the friendliest, but we had a great time seeing the sights.

While in Paris, we got to spend some time with our friends, Eric and Meredith.

After eating too many croissants, we made our way to Venice, Italy.

Then, it was off to Florence by train to meet up with our friends: Toobie (Dave) and Emily.

Then a quick stop in Pisa:

And then off to Cinqueterra - absolutely amazing. I can't believe this place truly exists. The hike between the 5 towns took all day and was very intense...but incredible:

We then made our way south to visit Pompei at the bottom of the famous volcano: Mt. Vesuvious.

Rome was our final stop with the Machts before saying our goodbyes.

Shannon and I hopped a small flight to Athens...

...and then to the island of Santorini a few days later - where we finally found some time to relax.

Our trip ended back in London for 3 days, where we enjoyed speaking English, seeing Mary Poppins the musical, and all the fish and chips we could eat!

After it all, we were excited to get back home to our normal routine, which is exactly what every good vacation should accomplish.

I realize I way over-did this first major post...but I had to get it all out. Our life is now back to normal!

Drumroll Please...

Thanks to the peer pressure from our dear friends, Jeremy and Amber Johnson, us we are beginning a blog! We originally thought that we didn't really have any reason to blog. We don't have any kids, we aren't living in a foreign country, and life is pretty normal. However, after realizing that we both can get stuck for hours at the computer blog hopping and getting the most up-to-date news on our friends around the country and the world, we decided it is a fun way to stay connected to everyone. So, here we go!

So, here's a quick overview of our lives these days. David is working as a bank manager at a very busy, active downtown bank. Overall he enjoys his job even though he works quite long hours. I (Shannon) am in my second year of teaching second grade. Besides getting sick constantly, the job is great. The kids keep me constantly entertained, and there is never a dull day! We are lucky to be living near both of our families, and so we are able to spend quite a bit of time with them. Both of us are really active in our church, which we love. I actually am the worship leader, and David is the sound guy. It's really a blessing to be able to work side-by-side at church together. We love it!

So, that's our lives in a nutshell. We do have a dog named Bella. She is our sweet little girl, except for days like today when she eats a little bit of drywall! Anyway, thanks for reading. Thanks, Jeremy and Amber, for thinking we are interesting enough to have a blog! We love you guys!