The First Decade of the Century

Decade wrap-up (our discussion and conclusions on our way to Domus!)
In the decade of 2000 to 2010.
Politics: 9/11 and the terrorist reign, which changed all of our lives, most notably at the airport.
Economic: Bush for 8 years, and the government goes from the ‘black’ to billions in debt, so much so that we can barely make the interest payments. The banks over extend credit to people and all the big lending institutions would have gone bankrupt had the govt not bailed them out.
Technology: laptops and cellphones become common household items.
Fashion: anything goes, from styles of baggy pants falling off the bum to boot tight skinny jeans.

The Tom/Anita Herway decade wrap-up.
MARRIAGES: We rejoiced in 4 marriages in the space of 5 years.

GRANDCHILDREN: We welcomed 9 grandchildren to our family...4 in the space of one year.

GRADUATIONS: High school (4) (…Dan/Seth were in the 90’s)
BYU (4) add (1) in 2010
Grad school (1)
MBA (1) add (1) in 2010
Medical school graduate in 2010
Then add the in-laws and we get to add 4 more college graduates! Woohoo, quite an educated group!

MISSIONS: Seth counts because he returned in 2000. (Dan was 96-98) (Noel 97-99)
Then we have Jake and Nicole, who served and finished in this decade. Steve is currently serving.

HOUSE PURCHASES:
Dan/Lara bought a house
Seth/Heidi bought a condo
Jake/Mel bought a house
Natalie/Noel have bought a townhouse and a house.
Tom/Anita bought a house

And to sum it all up, our first Herway reunion in 2009, looking forward to our second reunion in Rehoboth in 2011.

I probably left out some good details...please feel free to add to the list!

Isn't He Sweet

I know this might be a dumb picture. But isn't he sweet? I was sitting on the couch in the piano room and he landed on the railing out front. I wonder if he wishes he had flown south? But he is pretty round and feathery, so maybe he prepared for the cold weather and has a nice cozy nest somewhere.

Colie's mission again

We had a great second tour of Colie's mission. We went to Paris first...and it's still lit up beautifully for Christmas. (Remember Herway's last Christmas in Paris?) Then we took off to Caen for a visit there. On the way we stopped in Rouen. This was the town where Joan of Arc was burnt in 1431. The Rouen cathedral was the subject for a series of paintings by Monet, that are now in the Musee d'Orsay. It is stunning. And to top it off, while we were in the cathedral, the organist was giving a concert and he let out all the stops, literally! He even played the Star Spangled Banner. We all stood mesmerized and there was lively applause at the end.
Rouen is also noted for its surviving half-timbered housing. It's as impressive as Strasbourg and Colmar. I would love to go back to that city. Certainly a hidden gem that we had never seen before.
The other discoery was Pointe du Hoc. (no pictures from me, all on Colie's camera)
The Germans had built, as part of the Atlantic Wall, six casemates to house a battery of captured French 155mm guns. With Pointe Du Hoc situated between Utah Beach to the west and Omaha Beach to the east, these guns threatened Allied landings on both beaches, risking heavy casualties in the landing forces. Although there were several bombardments from the air and by naval guns, intelligence reports assumed that the fortifications were too strong, and would also require attack by ground forces. The U.S. 2nd Ranger Battalion was therefore given the task of destroying the strongpoint early on D-Day.
Problem is, the guns had been moved. The rangers regrouped and went in search of the guns. The costliest part of the battle for the Rangers came after the cliff assault. Determined to hold the vital ground, yet isolated from other assault forces, they fended off several German counterattacks over the next two days, until reinforced from Omaha Beach.

The site is speckled with bomb craters. It really gives you a feel for what those men had to endure. Tom got 'Band of Brothers' for Christmas. Now after visiting Bastogne and now Pointe du Hoc, it seems more real than ever. In the movie one man says, "you just figure you are dead." I'm sure there wasn't much thought of survival under those conditions.

Another blessing. To live in the part of the world where there is peace. I certainly am grateful to those who risk their lives so I can live mine in peace. We also visited the German cemetery, La Combe. The stories there are just as moving. Over 21,000 soldiers buried there. Many of the German soldiers didn't want to be there. They served because they had to. Some were as young as 14 years old. Most were around 19. Sobering.

Christmas 2009

Lucky we had Nicole....and even though she lights up a room when she walks in, it was a rather quiet Christmas. But nice, don't get me wrong.
We had our Christmas Eve dinner. A full out turkey, dressing and the works, which you know is not my style, but hey, it was Christmas, right? We even bought a 'bouche' which is symbolic of the wood that the manger was made out of. (Picture of) Dad under the tree picking out which gift he would open for Christmas Eve. I got myself a new Pyramid which I love, mostly because it spins so easily! And I got new boot jeans and new boots. Colie put my outfit together. She is my fashion consultant. I'll probably fall back into my old ways once she leaves. Sigh.

It was great to talk to Elder Herway. My favorite was when his companion got on the phone and was paying compliments to Elder Herway. "He is very cheerful, and very well equipped to serve a mission, etc. etc." Then Steve-o gets back on the line and says, "I just want to testify that what Elder Grisson has just said is true!"
Oh and the story about the guy that he was walking and talking with and Elder Herway asks, "do you ever wonder about why you are here and where you came from?" and the guy stops dead in his tracks, takes a deep breath, closes his eyes, and says, "All the time." We take the knowledge of the Gospel so, so for granted!

Thanks to all of you for calling, and for your letters and gifts. You are way too good to Dad and I. I did get both of your messages Seth! Sorry we kept missing each other. Hope you had a grand day on the slopes! Yipee! Can you believe in all the excitement that I forgot to call MY mom. And to make it worse? She was all alone for the first time in her life for Christmas Eve and Christmas morning. I'll be repenting of this the rest of my life.

We had a very Merry Christmas. We missed all of you, but felt your love and we send our love right back!

Vladimir and Reema

Well, it's actually Tom and Nicole, but with the winter coats and furry hats we felt very Eastern European! Lucky for us, even though it was negative 13 degrees Celsius, we did have sunny skies. Our favorite goodie from the markets was a pastry called a Tredlinik, or something similar to that. It was fresh bread wrapped around an iron rod and baked over an open fire. Then dipped in sugar and cinnamon. (picture) Prague is a beautiful city. Ranks above London in my opinion. And the prices have shot up since we were there last. (15 years ago?) Oh well, inevitable I guess.

Jewish cemetery in Prague

According to halakhah, Jews must not destroy Jewish graves and in particular it is not allowed to remove the tombstone. This meant that when the cemetery ran out of space and purchasing extra land was impossible, more layers of soil were placed on the existing graves, the old tombstones taken out and placed upon the new layer of soil. This explains why the tombstones in the cemetery are placed so closely to each other. This resulted in the cemetery having 12 layers of graves.
The numbers of grave stones and numbers of people buried there are uncertain, because there are layers of tombs. However, it has been estimated that there are approximately 12,000 tombstones presently visible and there may be as many as 100,000 burials in all.

Collie turns 23

Yep. Everyone remembered her birthday, right???
One of the advantages of having your birthday during the holiday season is that you have some unusual birthdays....
This year: lunch in Prague, dinner in Brussels. We ate lunch on a hillside overlooking the city. Had the BEST soup we have ever eaten. EVER. Dinner, we headed up to Domus but it was closed. How dare they??? So we went around the corner to an Italian restaurant. Pleasantly surprised. Great Italian pizza and pasta....a new Italian restaurant to add to the favorites list.
Happy 23rd Colie!

2,829

I was on youtube looking at old movies I had posted. Most of them have been viewed maybe 50 times or so. This one? 2,829!!! What in the world??? Oh well, maybe we can bump up that number some more!

A past Christmas



Battle at Bastogne

Dad and I went to Bastogne today. They had a commemorative re-enactment. Seemed like it was real. The foxholes were in the exact positions of the original foxholes. The uniforms, ammunition and guns, the trucks/tank/jeeps were all authentic. It was fascinating. But what I want you to really remember is the part that POP played in this famous battle. From his journal:

We returned from a mission one time from within Germany to the vicinity of Bastogne, Belgium. One of the pilots in my squadron, Willie Davis, called in German tanks on the ground. We circled back and sure enough they were there headed in the direction of Bastogne. What was probably more important, in the wooded area surrounding Bastogne we saw that there were marshaled untold numbers of tanks and other vehicles. I called this sighting in to the air controller who in turn expressed surprise. We had no external stores or ammunition left from our mission so we could not attack and returned to Etain, France, amidst a beehive of activity. We had given the FIRST (caps added) warning of the famous attack on Bastogne. Thereafter for a day or two we were airborne all the time in two flight sections of the squadron so as to provide continuous support in the defense of Bastogne.

Bastogne engagement was the last ditch stand by the Germans to sever the Allied lines and march to the coast. They had marshalled everything they had in the effort and a major battle ensued with the American Forces in a precarious situation. In fact the US forces, the 101st Airborn Division in particular, became surrounded at Bastogne and the surrender seemed imminent. The cause seemed lost primarliy because bad weather (again and again) set in and there was a period in which no air support could be provided. It was during this time that the German commander sent a message asking for the surrender of the Americna commander who in turn responded with the famous historic message "nuts". This was from General MacAllufe, the Commander of the 101st Airborne Division at Bastogne. Later the 377th received a direct communication from General MaAllufe in appreciation of our support and a commendation in our performance in that defense.

One morning while asleep in the Chateau we were awakened by the most awful noise and sound of powerful engines. We looked out the window and observed an endless number of tanks rounding the road at our Chateau heading north at full speed. These were the tanks of the 3rd Army from Metz, France commanded by General Patton headed north to the defense of Bastogne. Later reports indicated that during a crucial meeting regarding the Bastogne situation, General Patton calmly said that if so ordered he could be in position and fighting within 12 hours from his position in Metz. Every one thought he was bragging, but indeed he did arrive and was in combat with tired and sleepless troops who would probably never have responded in such a manner except for a commander of the type of Patton. They did salvage the situation. The weather again was the villain, which prevented Air Operations, and it was revealed that Patton went to a church and prayed for the weather to lift. (see the movie "Patton"). It did, and Bastogne was not only saved, but the event was a prelude to the invasion of Germany and their subsequent defeat.

All this you can read in Pop's journal. It was a sobering day...and it did rain and we had snow flurries.

Girls Get Away

We had a blast. Robyn, Charlotte, Rhonda and myself were in one car. We had 2 other cars go as well, but this was the core group that I traveled with. First stop was Seiffen Germany where the nutcrackers and pyramids originated. We stayed in a castle and had a lovely meal in their restaurant (the bottom 2 pictures). I guess after the wall fell in 1989, the Russians had to give back all the property they had confiscated from the local people. The deal was that if you could prove the property had belonged to you before the Russians gained control, then you could buy it back for one euro. The castle we stayed in was owned by 'royalty' and the guy who it rightly belonged to declined it b/c he didn't have the money to bring it back into glory. So it went for sale to the public. A dutch businessman who makes it his business to buy up 'cheap' castles bought this one. It is being turned into a luxury resort. It opened in October! We were among the first guests. It was fabulous in every respect.
The second stop was Dresden. We loved the Christmas markets. The hotel had an outside jacuzzi and we spent the late evening chatting and gabbing there. The picture I posted is inside a restaurant/brocante shop where Nicole and I actually had been before. She wanted me to see if a ring she found was still there. It had been for sale for 600euros and she wanted me to buy it! Well, too bad Colie. It wasn't there. Next time, maybe...
The last stop was Prague Czech Republic. Love that city! And at Christmas time it is more magical than you can imagine. Most beautiful outside Christmas tree I can remember seeing. Next to that Cinderella type building, well the picture kind of lets you know what I'm trying to convey. Lots of great shopping there as well, as my friends loaded up on crystal and glass.
We left Prague Saturday morning and made it back in time for me to make it to Stake meetings that started at 6:30pm. We had Elder Causee staying with us which was a real treat. The man was called into the quorum of the seventy at age 45 (he is 46 now) and it is a calling that lasts until they are 70 years old. What dedication! I am very impressed with him. Very personable. Our stake meetings today were really spiritually high.
Everybody have a happy St. Nick day???

Farewell SF

We are home now. Actually it feels good. Just a couple of ending pictures of SF. The famous trolley cars...we did get to ride them and I LOVED it. And Alamo Square. The old/new of SF.
See the coat I am wearing on the trolley? I left it in the SF airport. Really makes me mad. At least the zipper was broken. Some consolation in that. Anyway, I think it is hard to find a cute, short coat. Although I have ordered a couple more...but I usually don't have much luck with catalog orders. Send them back and only lose money with all the shipping. Ah, the joys of overseas living.
Oh, and speaking of mad. We flew Air France, which was lovely, but we got ZERO miles! They are aligned with Delta and I was feeling really smug about getting all those miles, and I was going to have enough to bump me into Silver Medallion. BUT, if you fly a certain class with Air France they don't transfer the miles to Delta. I could cry! Boo hoo! I'll survive, but I'm still ticked.
Leaving tomorrow for Dresden and Poland. I should have my head examined. But it's a girls get-away. The massages have already been booked!