Author: Carrie

A little bit of bragging … and a lot to be thankful for.

Because Ed is such a modest guy, I am taking the liberty of spilling the beans on a very exciting thing that happened two weeks ago. He was in Germany visiting some of his European clients … BMW, Audi, Porshe, and Volkswagon. During his meeting at Volkswagon, the one of the directors was so impressed with Ed and his extensive knowledge that he asked Ed to return to Germany this week to be a Keynote Speaker at the Global Volkswagon conference in Hamburg! It was a really big deal. Such a big deal in fact that we ALL (all = family & every friend who heard about this!) insisted that he return to Deutschland to make his presentation.

The downside? The conference was during Thanksgiving. So we made the best of it. We got together with all of our parents the weekend before an had a lovely dinner at the Facey Parents house. Afterall, there was no way my mom was going to let him go without her stuffing this year!


That’s Dad carving the duck my mom made.


Our awesome parents with Ed!

Thanksgiving Day was delicious as usual, but we definitely missed Ed. The happiest part of the day was when I got a call from Germany …

And of course … here is me with my family!

Each year, I feel like the holidays get better and better. I am so thanksful for my wonderful family & friends!

p.s. Ed’s presentation went great! He’s on his way back from Germany as I write this!

Dad’s 60th is a success!

Today we celebrated Carrie’s Dad’s 60th Birthday with a bang! He has been planning this extravaganza for a long, long time – and our family was lucky to reap the rewards of his plan! Basically, we all checked in to the Disneyland Hotel on Monday night, enjoyed a delicious dinner at The Storybook Cafe, and woke up early this a.m. to go to the park. As hotel guests, we were granted access to the park an hour earlier than the general public. Then, at 5pm, we headed over to Goofy’s Kitchen, for a buffet dinner and party with some dear friends. It was a blast. We get to spend one more night here at the hotel, and tomorrow we’ll return to the park for another complete day of fun! Lucky us.

We’re beat, so it’s off to bed for us … but check out the album for Day One of the extravaganza!*

Dad’s 60th Birthday

*11/6/08 – the album now has photos from both days. Enjoy!

International political discussion

Just a quick update today: we had a full conversation with our cab driver, en español! The summary:


Him: ¿Americanos?
Us: ¡Sí! Vivimos en California.
Him: ¡¡¡SCHWARZENEGGER!!!
Us: ¡Ha! ¡Sí!
Him: Obama o McCain?
Us: OBAMA!
Him: Todos americanos quién tienen 20 años – Obama. 30 años – Obama. 40 años, 50 años, 60 años … McCain!
Us: Pero, nos padres tienen 60 años y los quieren Obama – pero vivimos en California!

There was a little more, but you get the picture. Also, this is not the first time we have gotten the “Schwarzenegger” response after saying we’re from California!

Mausoleums and Monuments …

Today we headed out to visit the Cemetario de Recoleta, where there are hundreds of the most ornate gravesites you ever seen – the most famous being the grave of Eva Perón. After our history day yesterday, we felt like paying some respects. These graves are fascinating – they are huge and very old, some going back as far as the 1700s. Walking through the grounds is like walking through a concrete maze. Call us morbid, but there was something kinda magical about it. Either that, or it was the kick we were getting out of humming the Haunted Mansion theme song during the stroll (wait, that’s kinda wrong, isn’t it?).

Kinda spooky:

As we mentioned, this is where Eva Perón has been laid to rest. The aisles are narrow and the monuments are huge, so it was difficult to get good pics of the site, but here is her tomb:

We even got a short kitty fix, as there were lots of cats hanging out at the cemetary …

ThoseScaryKims:

We decided to lighten up and go visit the polar opposite of the cemetery – the Floralis Genérica, which is a monument depicting a living flower. It’s pretty amazing actually, and the severe size and materials of it are akin to a Gehry building. The “flower” actually has built in hydraulics that make it open up in the morning, and close at night – just like a real flower.

It really stands out in the park, as it contrasts with the majority of the classic French architecture in Recoleta. We dig it.

Lucky we caught all this today, as its raining again tonight in Buenos Aires!