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A wonderful New Year's Eve spent with Kirk and Lindsey at Andy
and Danielle's.
Christmas in Hawaii.
We spent Christmas in Huntington Beach with Roland and
Daniel. During our time there we got to see The Christmas Pagent
at the Crystal Cathedral.
Tara and Christian spent some time in Huntington Beach over
Christmas break. While we were there we had the wonderful
opportunity of taking Keira to Disneyland. We had a ton of
fun! It's always a joy to spend time with our niece.
Tara and Janet spend a day in San Francisco. Christian
joined them that evening for Handel's Messiah.
Thanksgiving at Tara's parents in Quincy.
Birthday celebration for Janet and Grandma Gail in San
Francisco.
Another great week at Oracle OpenWorld. Lots of long hours
spent working but we were rewarded with a chance to go to the OpenWorld
Party and see Elton John. It was an amazing show.
To celebrate his special day, Janet, Gary, Kirk and Lindsey
joined us in Capitola for the weekend. We had a wonderful dinner
at the Shadowbrook Restaurant, a favorite of ours.
While in Iraq, Kurt communicated with students from Tara's
kindergarten class and their third grade buddies. They wrote many
letters back and forth and Kurt even sent video messages to the
kids. Upon his return, those kindergartners were in first grade,
the third graders now fourth graders and they all were estatic to meet
him! We were also estatic to have him home and have the
opportunity to spend time together.
Tara's brother, Kurt, had been serving in Baghdad, Iraq for a
year and was finally home! We were blessed to be able to be at
Tara's parents house to celebrate his homecoming with family and
friends.
VMworld 2007
One of Tara's lifelong goals has been to run a half marathon,
maybe even more than one! She was able to accomplish that goal
thanks to sister-in-law, Kelly. Kelly had been planning to
participate in the Disneyland 1/2 Marathon but got sick the weekend of
the race. Tara was happy to fill in for her! She got up
early Monday morning and began the race with Christian's Uncle Danny
and cousin Rick. She had the best time running through
Disneyland, California Disney, Anaheim and finally finishing back at
the entrance to Disneyland. She made pretty good time, finishing
in just over two hours!
Once again we headed to Galt and spent some time skiing on the
Delta.
After returning from Michigan and Shanghai, the two of us
packed up again and headed to Las Vegas for eight days! Christian
was working at Cisco Global Sales and Tara was there to relax before
school began. The highlight of the week was the opportunity to
attend the Aerosmith concert with several of Christian's
co-workers. We had the best time!!
Although Christian had to be in Shanghai, Tara was able to fly
to Michigan to spend a week with her brothers, parents and grandparents
at The Farm in Calumet. Chad and Keira made a surprise visit
which pleased us all to have them there. It was a wonderful week!
Christian visits Shanghai for Oracle OpenWorld event.
Another trip to Southern California. This time to watch
Christian's cousin's compete in the annual Long Beach to Catalina
race. We spent the morning and afternoon with the Anderson's at
the Long Beach pier watching the race on the JumboTron. We had a
ton of fun playing with the little cousins, catching up with the
newlyweds and celebrating Andy and Glen's accomplishments. We
were so glad that Chad and Keira were able to come spend the afternoon
and evening with us as well.
We traveled to Southern California to celebrate the wedding of
Christian's brother, Kirk, to Lindsey Johnston. It was a
beautiful weekend filled with family, friends, food and fun. They
were married in a quaint chapel at The Mission Inn. The bride was
stunning and the groom, completely smitten. Congratulations Kirk
and Lindsey!! We love you!
The perfect kick-off to summer vacation! We spent a week
at the Marriott Resort in Kauai. It was a beautiful, relaxing
setting and we enjoyed every minute of it! Surprisingly, Tara
took the opportunity to brave SCUBA diving for the first time.
She took a four hour lesson in the hotel pool, then headed out the next
day with Christian and the instructor. It was quite the
experience and although she's glad she tried it, she's not sure when
she would ever do it again!
The theme was to choose your favorite decade. We were
never able to fully appreciate the Disco Era but we love the clothes
and the music! We had a very fun night with staff and parents
from Woodside Elementary. Tara was offered $200 for the
boots...but she still has them.
After having taken Keira to Disneyland numerous times, Tara
decided it would be the ideal place to celebrate her 28th
birthday. Chad, Kelly and Keira joined us for the day as did
Kirk, Lindsey, Roland, Daniel and even Janet who was there for a Dental
Convention. What a fun memory!
We flew down to Southern California to spend time with
Christian's dad, Roland who had recently returned from Africa. We
were able to spend time with the Anderson's as well as Chad and Keira,
Tara's brother and niece.
Christian worked the Cisco Partner Summit event in Las
Vegas. Tara flew down for the weekend to enjoy the hotel and
visit with Kirk and Lindsey who drove over from Loma Linda.
Tara had the opportunity to spend the weekend in Southern
California celebrating niece, Keira's, first birthday! She was
very excited to be there on the actual day and be able to take her out
and show her a good time. Where else would you take a
one-year-old than....Rodeo Drive, baby! They were joined by
Daniel and all three had a wonderful time without doing too much damage.
Christian got Tara a Nintendo Wii for Valentine's Day this
year. We thought it would be fun to have our niece, Brandon,
break it in with us. She came over and had a sleepover at our
place in Redwood City.
Christian flew to Orlando for a week to work at the Citrix
event.
Christmas in Galt and a wonderful time skiing at Kirkwood.
Also a big announcement by Kirk and Lindsey. They are engaged.
A wonderful Christmas in with Tara's family in Quincy, IL.
Roland and Daniel came to Redwood City to spend early
Christmas with us. We went to Nutcracker Ballet in the city
courtesy of a white limo.
Thanksgiving was spent at Zac and Bonnie's. We also
visited Chad, Kelly and Kiera.
Many long nights at the Los Angeles Convention Center running
network cable and setting up registration for the VMware VMworld 2006
event. Christian stayed at the Wilshire Grand Hotel. Tara
drove down to visit the last few days. Kirk and Lindsey came over for a
night to visit as well. After the event was over we went to see
Carley's baptism in Loma Linda.
Oracle OpenWorld was another big event this year with a
concert by Elton John and Joan Jett. We stayed at the Hotel Nikko
near Union Square. The last night of the event
we took Gary, Janet and Grandma Gail to see Chicago with Huey Lewis.
Christian celebrates his 28th birthday in Burlingame at one of
his favorite Italian restaurants.
Janet and Gary came to visit us for a beautiful day in San Francisco to watch the Blue Angels for the annual Fleet Week.
The IHG event in Toronto was more like a vacation for
Christian than work. Christian and Tara flew out together a day
early so they could enjoy some of the sites in Toronto. They
stayed in the beautiful Fairmont Royal York Hotel and visited a few
sites. Tara ran a
race one morning while Christian was working. The last night of
the event Christian went to see the season opener for ther Toronto
Maple Leafs.
Christian works IDF Fall event at Moscone Center. Tara
comes too and enjoy's a few days in San Franciso at the Grand Hyatt
Union Square.
Christian in New York on Sept 11, 2006 for the Sun Network
Computing event. On September 11 Christian went to visit Ground
Zero for the 5 year anniversary of the Terrorist Attacks. It was
an amazing site to see. Tara wasn't able to fly out this
trip. Christian stayed at The Roosevelt Hotel.
Christian goes to Seattle for Sun Tech Days event. The
Inn at Queen Anne was a very interesting hotel to say the least.
A day of skiing and boating out on the Delta.
Cisco Global Sales was another huge event this year in Las
Vegas. Tara visited for several days and was able to enjoy the room at
THEhotel. Bill Clinton spoke as well as Lance Armstrong.
To celebrate our three-year anniversary, Christian kidnapped me and took me to the coast to the little town of Capitola. Capitola is a favorite beach down of ours that Christian has been visiting since he was very young. We stayed in a quaint little hotel that was right on the beach. For dinner, Christian made reservations at Shadowbrook, a wonderful restaurant near-by. We had a very tasty dinner and enjoyed an evening stroll around town before heading back to the hotel.
This summer we took a trip up to Lake Tulloch, near Sonora, to visit Uncle Danny, Aunt Diane and cousins Erik and Heather. We spent a fun couple of days out on the boat. During this time both of us learned how to surf behind a boat which helped a great deal in teaching Tara how to wakeboard! Heather was the perfect instructor when it came to wakeboarding. She’s a pro!
Our weekend with Keira was truly that. It was Chad and Kelly’s one year anniversary weekend, so Christian and I volunteered go take care of Keira while they had some time to themselves to celebrate. We spent as much time with her as we could for the couple days we were in Southern California. Keira also came with us to the Anderson Family picnic and got to meet lots of Anderson relatives!
For the 4th of July I was able to be fly home to be with my family as we bid farewell to my brother, Kurt, who was heading to Iraq. It was a bittersweet time for all of us. Grandpa Russell and Granny Ann came as well as Uncle Randy and Aunt Linda. Kurt will be home for two weeks during Christmas, which we all are looking forward to!
After the wedding weekend the fun continued when we loaded up the houseboat and headed out on the Delta. We were a group of six with Gary, Janet, Kirk, Brandon (Abby’s daughter), Tara and me. It was a relaxing and memorable time for all of us. We’re looking forward to doing it again next summer!
On June 25th I had the pleasure of being a bridesmaid in my friend Brandi’s wedding to Michael Aiken. The wedding took place in Fresno, which gave me and another friend, Andrea, the chance to have a road trip together. It was a beautiful wedding and lots of fun!
Just as I finished with school for the year we headed off to the Mandalay Bay in Las Vegas for eight days for a conference Christian had. Roland, Daniel and Kirk came to visit for a few days over the weekend; which was very enjoyable for me to have some company. Christian stayed busy during the day, but was able to join us for dinner a couple nights. It was a wonderful way to bring on the summer!
Yes, once again we packed our belongings and moved this time to a different city and zip code. We are now living in Redwood City, less than 10 minutes from work for both of us. It is a smaller but cozy apartment right across from a nice park and YMCA where we are now members. We are getting more and more settled, trying to make it as “homey” as possible.
Every year for one weekend a Woodside estate is opened to the public to view local artists work as well as the collection of the owners. We were joined by Janet and Gary and had a lovely picnic in the parking lot of a local college before heading over for the afternoon.
The much-anticipated week of spring break brought mom and dad Russell along with Kurt and Bret out to southern California. We were blessed to be able to stay at Roland and Daniel’s house for the week as they were in Europe. This week was our opportunity to meet the newest addition to the Russell family, Keira Aisling. She is beautiful and we spent the whole week soaking up every minute we could with her. It was a wonderful time to be together as a family!
In April we joined in celebrating Roland and Daniel’s commitment ceremony held in San Francisco. We spent a beautiful weekend in the city with family.
This turned out to be our last ski trip of the season. We were lucky to be joined by Kirk and Lindsey, and at the last moment Janet decided to come too! Tara was far more confident and continued to be even after she took a bad spill! It was a beautiful day in Kirkwood!
We stayed at the Hyatt at Union Square for this show. Lucky for both of us that the show was in San Francisco so that Tara could stay there and commute to school each day. While we were there we had a fun visit from Janet and Auntie Pam.
Unfortunately, Christian had to leave right after the surgery took place. He headed to Dallas for the Texas Instruments Developer Conference. Although a little nervous, I made it through his absence, and I was incredibly grateful to have him home again!
At the end of February Tara’s much anticipated LASIK surgery took place. All went well and she is very excited about her “new” eyes.
In February we were so happy to attend the wedding of Tara’s Aunt Shirley to Ted Utt. The wedding took place in the chapel at PUC and was attended by many friends and family members. It was a beautiful wedding and a fun time to catch up with everyone.
While Christian was busy at work, I got to enjoy the hotel room at the St. Regis in San Francisco. It was is in a great location, close to Moscone center (which is where Christian spent most of his time) as well as Union Square and Embaradero.
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The day after Christmas we took a train to Paris with Kirk and Lindsey. It was a whirlwind two days but we had a wonderful time! We visited as many tourist sites as we could, ate as many crepes as our bodies could handle and the best part was that it SNOWED! It didn't just snow, we were right in the middle of a blizzard! It was so magical! It ended too quickly but the memories will last forever...
After a year of planning the day finally came when we, along with Roland, Daniel, Kirk, Lindsey, Jerry and Auntie Carol arrived in Switzerland. We spent a week in the mountain village of Champoussin and two days in Geneva. Champoussin was a very quaint place high up in the Alps. We spent the week snowshoeing, skiing down the mountains and eating...ALOT! We spent Christmas in Geneva and were able to attend a Christmas Eve service at the old cathedral, St. Pierre. It was a beautiful service and a perfect way to welcome Christmas. Auntie Carol hosted us in her hotel room for our Christmas party which was quite a treat! The next day we parted ways with Roland, Daniel, Auntie Carol and Jerry heading to Florence and we along with Kirk and Lindsey heading to Paris.
- Movies - A Must See!!!!
December was a busy month. The week of Dec 8 - 16 I was in Cannes, France working at the Palais des Festivals et des Congres. This is the same place that the Cannes Film Festival takes place. I was very lucky this trip as my mom was able to come along. We didn't get too much time together but she had a wonderful time seeing Cannes.
I spent December 3 - 7 in Toronto working on the Tech Days event for Sun Microsystems. It was a very busy week as I was the only tech onsite from our company. I setup the network for registration, exhibitor floor, our show office, the Sun show office, as well as general session and breakout session rooms. It was a busy few days and not much sleep. I flew back Dec 7 to see Tara for a couple hours before I flew out on the 8th to Cannes for the Cisco Networkers event.
- Toronto Photos - Coming Soon
For Thanksgiving we headed to Quincy, IL being that we would be traveling over Christmas. We were thankful for the time we had to see Tara's parents, Kurt and Bret. On Thanksgiving day we were joined by dear friends of Gary and Diane's, Reggie and Amparo. Grandma Amparo, Nineta and her husband also joined us. It was a wonderful feast and always wonderful to be home with friends and family.
We don't normally get dressed up but we were invited to a Halloween party at a co-worker of Tara's. We look a little spooooooky!.
In October, Christian traveled to Boston for the Siebel CustomerWorld event. He was gone for 10 days but did manage to make it home in time to celebrate his birthday on the 20th.
Just a week after we went to New York, Tara and I flew to Las Vegas. We met up with my mom and Gary who had also flown in. We spent a long weekend at the Mandalay Bay with Tara and my mom soaking up the sun by the pool during the day and the four of us meeting up in the evening after work was done. We highly recommend the dualing pianos at the New York New York!
In September I was scheduled to be in New York. Luckily Tara was able to take a couple days off work and come with me. Although I was there for work, we did manage to squeeze in some time to take in the sights of the city. We took the ferry out to Ellis Island, walked to ground zero, to the top of the Empire State Building and stood in the middle of Time Square. We stayed at the Millennium Broadway Hotel which was right in time Square. Being that it was Tara's first time there she did a pretty good job of packing her days with lots of sight seeing. On September 11, she and her friend Michele spent the day together beginning and ending it at Ground Zero.Truly memorable trip.
In August for the third year in a row Tara and I camped out at the Palomar Hotel while I had to be onsite in San Francisco. During the last week we were there we had the opportunity to go to a Giants game. No star sightings this time, but we had a lot of fun and the Giants won!
We were all very excited to travel to Camarillo for the wedding of Christian's cousin, Zac to Bonnie Nelson. They were married on August 7 at Camarillo Seventh Day Adventist Church. A lovely reception was held at the church and a dinner at the Sterling Hills Country Club. It was a beautiful day and an added bonus to watch these two become husband and wife. Congratulations Zac and Bonnie!
To celebrate our two year anniversary we headed to Kihei, Maui for a little fun in the sun. The weather was perfect and we were able to see and do quite a bit! We stayed at the Maui Vista Resort in Kihei right across from Kamaole Beach III. During our time we surfed, snorkeled, layed in the sun, played in the water and went to a Hawaiian luau. Christian got 2 dives in, Molokini Crater and Turtle Town. Tara came out on the boat and snorkeled. We saw lots of fish, a few turtles, and even a small reef shark. Christian tried to get up close and personal with a black viper moray eel, but luckily was held back by the guide who later explained that these are very dangerous and actually attack unprovoked. One of the biggest highlights was seeing dolphins about 100 feet off shore during our lunch on Sabbath. It all happened way to fast, and we are very anxious to return!
Stayed in San Jose and the San Jose Marriott Hotel.
Stayed at the MGM Grand Hotel. Tara flew down for the weekend and we went out to the Dueling Piano Bar inside New York, New York.
In early June we traveled to Quincy to celebrate Bret's graduation and Grandpa Rendel's 80th birthday. It was so wonderful to see so many friends and family members gathered to celebrate these two milestones. Bret is now a Freshman at Andrews University and Grandpa continues to be very active tromping around the farm in Northern Michigan.
Every year in May San Francisco hosts the world renowned Bay to Breakers. It's a huge 7.5 mile run packed with people and bands and celebrating! Last year Tara ran it with her friend Andrea and they enjoyed it so much that they decided to run again and talked me in to it as well. It is quite the experience and well worth it!
In early May I was sent to Washington D.C. once again. Unfortunately, Tara was unable to go with me this time. Thankfully it was a short trip. I stayed at the Metro Marriott Hotel just blocks away from the White House.
Here are some photos from my trip to Barcelona working at an event for Siebel. There were about 1700 attendees and I was Onsite DB Admin and also a zone leader for session scanning. Event went very well. I was only onsite for 3 full days so it was a quick trip. As always it was very fun seeing the London office crew and working with them.
We were so lucky this year to be able to visit "The Farm" in the U.P. Michigan. It was quite a treat to be there during the winter season and enjoy some of the snow. We loved watching the deer come up to the house every evening to collect their meal that Grandpa would put out for them. It was a wonderful trip and we're hoping to do it again soon!
The day after moving into our new apartment we forgot about the boxes and headed to the island of Oahu. We were lucky to be able to enjoy our week of vacation with my mom and Gary. We spent most of our time by the pool or walking around all the little shops in Waikiki. I was fortunate to be able to scuba dive and finish up my certification. We took a day and toured Pearl Harbor which is a place Tara had always wanted to visit. It was a great trip and we're hoping to go back the same time next year!
In January we put our condo up for sale and were shocked when it sold in three days! The new buyers were relocating from the East Coast and it worked out so that we could stay until the end of February. We loaded up a truck and drove 12 blocks north and unloaded into our new home. We now live on the third floor at Hillsborough Plaza. It's in a great location right in downtown, close to everything. We love it and especially enjoy the balcony where we can sit and watch the planes on their final approach into San Francisco International.Our new address is: 250 Baldwin Avenue #318, San Mateo, CA 94401
In January we were excited to spend a weekend at Lake Tahoe with Uncle Danny. My dad and Daniel and Heather joined us and we spent two days enjoying the views from the tops of the mountains. It was Tara's first time downhill skiing but she was trooper and did very well.
We headed to Illinois for Christmas this year hoping for some snow. There wasn't any while we were there, but it sure got cold! We had a wonderful time with Tara's family and the friends from Quincy church that joined us for our Christmas Day celebration.
One of the London office's biggest shows every year is Cisco Networkers. I was asked to work at the show and manage the lead retrieval and be the backup onsite database administrator. The event took place in Cannes, France and the Palais de Festivals which is the same convention center that the Cannes Film Festival is at. There were many long hours but I enjoyed working at the show. Sadly it was Tara's last week teaching before the Christmas break so she was unable to come over. Next year we're hoping she can come too.
We drove down on Thursday to Chad and Kelly's to have an early Thanksgiving dinner with them. We spent the night at their place then went to Mike and Susie's in Camarillo to celebrate my mom's and grandma's birthday. Saturday we had wonderful lunch with everyone. Chad and Kelly even drove over for the afternoon. Sunday night I had to setup for a 1 day Sun Network Computing event in San Jose at the Tech Museum. Tara and I stayed at the Marriott there in downtown San Jose.
Christian's Birthday
Here's some photos of my trip to India. Still traveling and I will try to update every day with new photos.
Here are some photos of our work in the Guest Bedroom. Now that the 2 bedrooms are looking good, we get to start on the bathroom.
Novell BrainShare was held in Barcelona.
Just as Tara was beginning school, I was scheduled to work back to back shows, first in London then on to Barcelona. My dad and Daniel were able to go with me, but it was still way too long to be away from home.
On Labor Day weekend Tara was able to fly to Michigan's Upper Peninsula to be at a family reunion. It was so fun to see Grandpa and Grandma Rendel, mom and dad, and all three of her brothers (two of them even brought their girlfriends!). They enjoyed hiking around the farm, going to the Porcupine Mountains, and visiting Calumet and Copper Harbor. An enjoyable time for all!
Cisco Global Sales Conference was held at Moscone Center this year. I stayed and the Palomar Hotel on 6th and market. Tara came with me to the attendee party at SBC Park. There was a Cisco Idol concert that was great. There are several videos of the singers that participated. All food and drinks were free and the entire park was open for us to roam around and play games. Very fun.
Tara and I stayed in SF while I was working the Cisco Global Sales FY05 conference at Moscone Center. On Tuesday night one of the hotels gave our company 4 tickets to the Giants game. Great seats, row 6 right behind 1st base. Then about 30 minutes into the game, Owen Wilson came and sat in the 1st row, directly in front of us. Tara went down to get a picture with him. A few minutes after that, Owen's brother Luke showed up too.
Tara took some photos of her kindergarten classroom to show me what she's been working on. She's not done yet but here are some of the photos.
For our one year anniversary we had the privilege of returning to the Grand Island Mansion for a complimentary breakfast. It was so much fun to make the drive back. We both laughed at how we had butterflies in our stomachers even a year later and really enjoyed the time we spent remembering our special day.
Here are some photos of our new condo. These are photos before we moved in.
Here are some photos of the work we have been doing on the master bedroom. Took us a week to finish. Now we are going to start on the guest bedroom.
At the end of July I had to work a conference in Washington D.C. at the Marriott Renaissance Hotel the week before we were scheduled to move. Originally, Tara was planning to fly out the day my conference was over so we could travel the D.C. area and then go to New York for a few days to celebrate our 1 year anniversary. This all was cancelled because we were to move into our condo that same week. Instead Tara flew the same day I left and spent 3 days in D.C.. I didn't get to see her much except in the evenings but at least she had a chance to see Washington D.C. Her cousin, Devin, lives close by with girlfriend Raven and the three of them had a great time catching up and touring the city. Here are some of her pictures.
- Day 1
- Day 2
- Day 3
- Photos for Tara - Tara had to get back to get back home but I took a few pictures of me to send her while I was on the phone with her.
- Server Room and Registration Area - This is where I spent my week while in D.C.
In the middle of July, we once again headed down to Southern California. We spent some time at Kirk's apartment in Loma Linda and got to visit Auntie Pam and see the tigers. On Saturday we headed to a park where we met up with the rest of the Anderson family for a reunion. It was a very fun day seeing those we hadn't seen for many months and meeting the newest Anderson, Jillian Claire. The next day we were lucky to squeeze in brunch with Chad and Kelly and happy that Wesley and his girlfriend Nicole were able to join us as well.
What a great 4th of July. It was so fun having all of us together. Mike and Susie's house is gorgeous.
It was with great pride that we headed up to PUC on June 11 to celebrate Kirk's graduation from PUC. Celebrations began with Friday evening Consecration, continued with Sabbath morning Baccalaureate, and ended with Sundays Graduation ceremonies. It was a fun filled weekend with lots of family and friends. Kirk is now at Loma Linda Medical School.
It was Memorial Day weekend when we headed up to Tahoe with my dad and Daniel. We stayed at the Embassy Suites in South Lake. We had perfect weather the whole weekend and spent a lot of time outside walking around as well as taking a bike ride. Tara really enjoys the swing band "Big Bad Voodoo Daddy" and lucky for us, they were playing that weekend. She was so excited to see the show and even got to meet and take pictures with them after the show.
In April, Tara and I took a trip to London and met up with my cousins and brother, Kirk, who was studying there. We stayed the week in a great 3 bedroom 2 bath flat which we shared with Andy, Danielle, Jake, and Ally. We spent our time sightseeing and reminiscing of the time when Andy, Danielle, and I were studying there as well. On the 8th of April, Tara and I took the train up to Edinburgh, Scotland and spent the rest our time there in another spacious flat. We met up with Kirk, almost by chance, as he was there with a group from his school. While in Scotland we were able to do alot of sightseeing, went to a musical, and really enjoyed the beauty that Scotland had to offer. One of the best parts was being able to celebrate the Easter holiday with the people of Edinburgh. They really go all out!