busy-ness

We've had visitors...

(Jay & Amy)

We've made some awesome food...

(Mongolian Beef)

I've practiced my dessert skills...

(chocolate cup cakes with almond icing - and flowers!)

I'm SO close to finishing the stitching on my Christmas stocking...

(this means I get to start David's soon!)

I've given tours of Metz...traveled to Nancy for the billionth time...and done a bunch of errands for my terribly forgetful sister...

And we have our tickets home! We leave France early August to travel to Ireland with my family, then on August 13th we leave Ireland, stop by Rochester (to visit more of my family) and then we arrive in Georgia on the 16th! Fun fun!

Bourgogne

Welcome to the premier of the very first production of Swafford.Dunlap Films!

The second weekend in May we took our first weekend vacation with Rocky and Maria since their arrival. We went to the Burgundy (Bourgogne) region of France, known for it's wine, and saw MANY vineyards, chateaux, and French countrysides.

We hope to continue the trend of making videos of our adventures. I'll try to keep them a decent length. This one is on the long side...a little over 9 minutes. Enjoy!

...and this little doggie goes "arf! arf! arf!" all the way home...

At 3am we load the car to bring Duncan to Frankfurt.

At 6am he will be in the hands of PetAir headed to Atlanta.

Super Dog!

Our little world traveler is off again! ...even though he hasn't realized it yet.

Duncan has a flight out of Frankfurt on Friday. (Well, it was Friday bu tnow the date is changing...maybe Monday or Tuesday, thanks to customs in Atlanta) We are supposed to get him there by 6am - yikes! And then he will arrive in Atlanta around 1:55pm local time. And, Metz has decided to give him a traditional Metz going-away present...rain! How nice.

arrivals and departures

It's not everyday that members of your family move abroad to live in the same city as you. We have been lucky enough to have this experience.

After a fun adventure at the airport and quick TGV ride...
...the Dunlaps are here!They are predictably jet lagged but hopefully we'll keep them busy enough to get over it fast.

In other news, it is official that we will be returning to Georgia mid-August. David needs to return to the Atlanta campus to use their lab again, but this time we will stay. This doesn't mean that David has finished his PhD or anything, cause he hasn't. But, returning to Atlanta might speed along this process because he'll have access to a wider variety of classes and people experienced in what he's working on.

This also means I get to try to find a job. Good timing huh? It's probably the worst time to be looking for work... I'm ready for a real job though.

Duncan will be returning to Georgia Friday, May 15th before the weather gets really warm :o( It will be sad to see him go, but he'll enjoy the Georgia summer sun and ability to have free roam of his invisible fenced in yard again. I know he misses it.

So, we'll be busy this summer! Traveling with Rocky and Maria, our other visiting family, packing, and moving our lives back the land of the free and the home of the brave!

Maheen.

Katherine,
This is mostly for you.