A brave little girl at the Makhtesh Ramon Crater

Grandmother and I drove through the Wilderness of Zin. This is a place mentioned in the Bible. The Israelites lived in the wilderness for many years.

We came to a place called Makhtesh (pronounced Mac Tesh) Ramon Crater. It is the largest crater in the world. There were some people getting ready to rappel down the steep cliff. One of them was a little girl. Her friends told us she was almost six years old. I thought about you and wondered if you would like to do this.

The man is getting her ropes ready and explaining to her how to hold on. This was the first time she had gone down this high cliff, but I think she had gone down some smaller cliffs before. Don't you?

Just horseing around

One of our stops today along the Nile River was the site of Edfu. There is a large ancient temple from the period of the Ptolemies in the second century B.C.

From the cruise boat to the temple we took the local carriages. The carriage parking lot looked like our shopping mall parking lots on the day after Thanksgiving.

We had a great visit, but two of our couples, riding in the same carriage, had a little spill. It resulted in two small skinned places on Joe's left elbow and a skinned place on Doris's left hand. They are all fine. Here is a photo we made about four hours later at Kom Ombo.

Tonight we have already docked at Aswan. Looking forward to some nice visits in the morning.

At a famous Egyptian Temple

The temple in the background, built against the mountain, belonged to a Queen in Egypt by the name of Hatshepsut (pronounced HAT-shep-suit). She ruled Egypt about 3500 years ago. That was before Granddad was born. :-)

I think you can click on the picture for a larger one. Show this to Mom and Dad. We love you.

Let us hear from you.

Drew at the Pyramids

Drew, here is the picture I prepared to show you with Grandmother and Granddad at the Pyramids in Egypt. We think about you a lot and look forward to coming home to see you. Tell Mom and Dad "hi" for us.

Please Q Here

Drew, today we went to a famous old library in Dublin to see a very old book call The Book of Kells.

Here is grandmother waiting in line to go in.

What does it mean to Q Here?

 

 

 

The Irish and British talk about a Queue when they are waiting to go into a building. They say Queue up, and we say wait in line. It means the same thing. So, in this sign Q stands for Queue. Have you ever been in a Q?

We hope to get home tomorrow night. We look forward to seeing you and your Mom and Dad.

We found a McDonald's in Londonderry

This afternoon Grandmother and I went to a shopping mall near our hotel in Londonderry, North Ireland. When we saw the McDonald's Grandmother said, "Let's split a Quarter Pounder with cheese." We did, and it was good. You would have enjoyed being with us.

Here is a picture I made of Grandmother eating her half of the Quarter Pounder. How much would 1/2 of a 1/4 (Quarter) pounder be? Ask Mom or Dad to help you figure this.

We miss you. Tell Mom and Dad hello for us.

Is this Granddad's store?

Who is Brown?

I caught a Leprechaun using my computer

Drew, look who I caught using my computer to look at your picture.

A Singing Leprechaun using my computer.

Click on the picture for a larger image. Would you like me to put him in a cage and bring him to you?

Someday we must go to eat at Long John Silver's and we can have CHIPS. There are several restaurants in Tampa that serve fish and chips. The British and Irish put vinegar on their chips instead of ketchup. I think you like potato chips with vinegar flavor.

Tell Mom and Dad "Hi" for us.

What would you like for lunch?

Today we ate at a restaurant in Blarney, Ireland. Grandmother and I split a ham and cheese sandwich. I noticed on the board that the restaurant had a Kid's Menu. What would you order? I know you like chicken nuggets, but what are CHIPS?

Chips are not what you may be thinking. In England and Ireland the terms chips is used for what we call french fries. Check chips in your dictionary to see if it mentions that.

There was a local fair in the Blarney Woolen Mill parking lot. Grandmother bought some fudge.

She also found some nice things for you.

Call and leave us a message sometime. We love you. Tell Mom and Dad hi for us. We hope you are having a good week at school.

Love,
Granddad

Leprehauns for Drew

Grandmother located some LEPRECHAUNS for you at Glendalough (pronounced GLENDA LOCK) in County Wicklow, Ireland. We thought you would like it. So, we bought it for you.

Tonight we are in Waterford, Ireland. We love you. Tell Mom and Dad hi for us.

Your Dad and Uncle Ferrell in Washington, D.C.

Here is an old picture I made of your Dad and Uncle Ferrell in Washington, D.C., in 1974.

 Would you like to go to Washington?

Our Funny Balls

These are the balls we play with in the pool. When I saw the sun shining through them I decided to make a picture. Then I thought of something funny. When a group of friends get together, there is always an odd ball. Ask Mom or Dad to explain this.

My grandson, the clown

Drew wanted me to make him look like a clown. The cherry he got with his drink was just the right size.

For Drew: Grandmother at Nebi Samwil

Drew, this morning Grandmother and I went to a place north of Jerusalem called Nebi Samwil (pronounced NEB-ee SAM-WILL). The word Nebi means prophet. The word Samwil means Samuel. Some Bible scholars think this was a place called Mizpah in the Bible. Samuel, the last judge of Israel, called all of the people of Israel to Mizpah and judged them (1 Samuel 7:5-6).

Samuel also anointed Saul to be the first king of Israel at Mizpah (1 Samuel 10:1).

We are already at the airport to get our flight for Atlanta. We look forward to seeing you soon. Tell Mom and Dad we said "Hi."

Love,
Granddad

Would you like a Banana split?

Drew, I saw these bananas growing near the Sea of Galilee and thought of you. Have you ever seen bananas on the plant before? We don't see them like that at the grocery store, do we?

These bananas are too green for eating, aren't they? Do you know what the blue bag is for? It is covering a stalk of bananas to keep away bugs and to cause the bananas to ripen sooner.

Grandmother and I will be home soon, Lord willing. We look forward to seeing you.

Look where we ate today

Drew, today Grandmother and I stopped to get some chicken nuggets, fries, and a chocolate sundae. We thought of you. Would you have enjoyed that menu?

Look at the place we stopped. Can you read the sign? It is in Hebrew. The young lady who took our order spoke Hebrew, but we still got our food.

We are having a great time. Every now and then I say that I hope you can come with us to Israel sometime. Would you like to do that?

Love,
Granddad

Sheep and goats

We saw many sheep and goats yesterday. The picture shows a shepherd and his flock near the town known as Gath in the Bible. Jesus used illustrations of sheep and goats in Matthew 25. Get your Bible and see if you can read the story.

If you click on the photo it will show large.

We love you. Grandmother and Granddad

Riding a Camel

Drew, I saw a little boy, younger than you, riding a camel at Petra in Jordan. I thought about you and wondered if you would like to ride a camel.

I hope you are having a good time visiting Disney.

Drew is flying high

Yesterday we took Drew by the Executive Airport near Temple Terrace, so Grandmother could shop for Drew's Christmas present for next year! In this first photo Drew shows off his Taekwondo moves as a small plane taxis to the runway.

Here Drew tries out the cockpit of a new Cessna. He found I-75 immediately on the navigation system. I think he may make a good pilot.

Click on the photos for a larger image.

Some photos for Drew - Monday, Dec. 14

Hi Drew,

I saw a lot of things today that I thought you would enjoy. I went to a museum in Tel Aviv, Israel. There were a lot of school children on a field trip. A clown was standing at the door holding a big rag doll. You can see what he was doing with the doll.


Would you want a big rag doll with his leg around your neck?

This picture of Granddad was made at a place mentioned in the Bible. It is called Gezer. I am standing in a gate that dates back to the time of King Solomon of the Bible.

I haven't had an Email from you in a long time.

I love you,
Granddad