What Happened in 1959

1959:

• First Barbie Doll produced.

• Alaska and Hawaii admitted to the Union as U.S. States.

• The chartered plane transporting musicians Buddy Holly, Richie Valens, and the Big Bopper goes down in an Iowa snowstorm, killing all four occupants on board. The tragedy is later termed "The Day the Music Died," popularized in Don McLean's song, "American Pie."
• Popular Movies
  

Ben Hur
Summer Place
Anatomy of a Murder
Gidget
North by Northwest
Pillow Talk
Some Like it Hot
On the Beach

• Cost of Living

Average yearly wages: $5010
Yearly inflation rate: 1.01%
Cost of a gallon of gas: 25 cents
Average cost of a new house: $12,500
Average cost of a new car: $2200
Movie ticket: $1.00

Then and Now

50 Years Ago!

Yesterday was a great day! Our children gave us the nicest party to celebrate our 50th wedding anniversary!

This is the toast our daughter wrote for us:

On this day, Fifty years ago,
Jim and Yvonne stood, hand in hand, toe to toe.
They promised together, forever they'd stay,
And so is the reason we gather today.

To stay true for so long is a mighty rare feat,
To which not many this day can compete.
But Jim and Yvonne show it can be done,
Not everyone, tho, agrees that it's fun.

Their marriage, tho' long, had troubles, it's ture
Tim and Gloria, in fact, to name but just two.
Their plans for six kids soon changed, you'll see,
For Margaret came next, and made troubles three.

Seriously tho', as parents, they're great,
The best in the world, or at least, in this state.
Their legacy grew, with grandchildren 9,
Each one given love, by grandparents divine.

You may think that's grand, but still more's to come,
Before this year's over, Great Grandchild One!
And so today, as we honor your Fiftieth,
We kids want to say...
As parents, you're Niftieth!!

Egypt Pictures

Sorry I have not been a very good blogger since my return-no excuses. This picture is very knitting related! It is an island in the Nile River, named Kitchner island. Yes, there was a person-man actually-named Kitchner. He was an army man who helped the Egyptians fight the Sudanese. Because the soldiers were getting blisters from the seams in the seams of their socks, he developed the Kitchner stitch. This is his island which he has developed with plants from all over the world-a beautiful place even from the river which is as close as we got.

Before we left, many people asked if we weren't worried about going to this part of the world. At that point my answer was that I trusted the company we travel with and they wouldn't take us some place that wasn't safe. When we got there I don't know if we felt safe or threatened as security was so good as you can see by the gun in the back pocket of this guard.

We saw so many temples we got bored with them, so I'm only putting one picture of a temple on my blog. This is Luxor Temple. It is overwhelming to see all this ancient wonders!

The pyramids are much larger than a person imagines. We are standing by the stones at the base of the pyramids and that is the size of all of them.

The Sphinx

One of the things on my "bucket list" was to take a hot air balloon ride, so got the opportunity to take one over Egypt. What could be better!

Israel Pictures

Here are a few of my pictures from Israel. It is a wonderful country!Haifa

Mediterranean Sea

Sea of Galilee

Jerusalem-Via Dolorosa

Jerusalem-Wailing Wall

Jerusalem

Most of you know I do not go on these trips with my husband as he doesn't like to travel, so my travel buddy is a college classmate. She's like a sister to me.