 |
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. 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.
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.