Went on a cool vacation to Saint Lucia.
Michael got a new job.
Things slowed down a bit for us this year. No new spouses or houses for us. We were so embarrassed by our lack of events that Heather left her job at BAC and started a new career as a dwarf herder.
OK, her new job is actually as a Software Engineer at MAPICS, INC. Heather gets to work with talented coworkers under helpful job processes that let her focus on her primary tasks. If only MAPICS would move to downtown instead of the "backwoods" of Alpharetta, Heather would be in Job Utopia!
We did have one big vacation- the East Coast Lotts and the West Coast Lotts got together for weekend in Las Vegas. We had a blast; we could watch Uncle John shoot craps for hours. He can run up (or down) a few hundred bucks in minutes! We...er... Michael lost everything he bet. Luckily that was only $15.
Seeing the incredible production of Cirque Du Soleil's Mystere.
The three block long overhead light show of the Fremont Street Experience.
The Egyptian world of the Luxor Pyramid hotel.
Escaping the Big Head at Rio.
Heather grew up in the town of Oxford, Mississippi, but with her parents moving to Atlanta at the same time as she started at Georgia Tech, she has only been back to town for a wedding or two. She nearly went into a medical state of shock when we drove up to the site of her old high school building, the little one that had been there for decades and never been changed, and saw the brand new two-story high school. She loved catching up with her best friend from high school, Tami, and her husband and enjoyed meeting Tami's adorable little girl. Michael loved getting a visual sense of all the places Heather had told him about. Oxford is a great small town; it is the hometown of William Faulkner, has great folk art museums, is the site of Ole Miss University and has a bustling town square with late night cafes and bookstores.
We really didn't have to go anywhere this year with the steady stream of visiting relatives. Michael got to see his uncle John Lott, uncle Ron Tabutton (with aunt-to-be Laura), grandmother Martha Tabutton, and grandfather Earle Lott (all the way from California).Heather got to see her Aunt Linda and Uncle Roland Shugarts and Aunt Trevie Hammett. Also one of Michael's father's cousins moved to Atlanta with his family; a hearty "welcome y'all" to the Dunn's: Paul, Jeanine, Chelsea & Jordan.
We spent our one year anniversary at this beautiful botanical resort.
Our blissful marriage life was enhanced by this well done retreat in the Blue Ridge Mountains.
Heather took a lot of neat needlework classes and started several hundred new projects. We stayed at historic Hotel St. Oliver in downtown Knoxville. Yes, the sunsphere is still there. No, it doesn't contain wigs.
Last year Heather had her first taste of snowsking, this year Michael and his parents exposed her to Whitewater rafting. Michael thinks she's ready for some class-five rapids!
We stayed for a Mystery Weekend at Huntington Hall where the guest are the characters. Very well done. We really want to go back and we think it would be great fun to go with a whole group that we know. Any takers? While in the area, we went to Brasstown, NC, where everyone in town seems to create art for a living, and we bought pricey art pieces!
Heather baked a BUNCH of gingerbread and we had friends over for a house construction and decorating party. We all had great time and the houses looked wonderful, but next year someone else will have to bake the gingerbread! Roll your cursor over the house to see the back.
Our home was on the Tour of Lofts and was scouted by Metropolitan Home magazine (didn't make the cut this year).
Heather threw a great surprise birthday party for Michael at Art & Soul, an art and crafts cafe.
We fell in love with Quidam, the Cirque Du Soleil show on tour here in Atlanta. We even bought the Cirque du Soleil tree at the Festival of Trees.
That's all for now. Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!