Momentous

From June 20, 1977 to TODAY:  Oct 31, 2013.  First and last day that Tom works for the US Government.  36 plus years.  His first boss was Don Drain.  The last boss is Peter Scaruppe. And as Tom put it:  lots of weirdos in between.  He started  with a temporary position at GSA.  President Carter had a freeze on government hiring.  I remember while I was in the hospital after the birth of Dan that Tom came in the hospital room and announced he had officially been hired as a permanent employee. (luckily they counted the temporary months).  His first job was to decipher the IFB(invitation for bid) and to train and teach others how to put them together.  He didn't stay long with GSA and applied and was accepted into procurement with the Navy (buying airplanes).  A lady at a training was saying: "the secret to going where you want to go and live where you want to live was to get into a line of business that every company/business needs."  He hadn't consciously gotten into something like that, but he realized procurement was exactly that line of business.
Congrats Tom.  Good job!
Tom had 5 days of use or lose leave.  He had to be home on Sat for a Stake meeting.  He also had to report to work today on his last day, Oct 31.  To use up the 5 days, we took an overnight to Bonn, then back for the stake mtg.  Then off to Normandy/Brittany France until today.  We stayed in a manor home and a chateau.  We ate lots of great food and enjoyed history and scenery.  We biked and hiked.  And we talked and talked and remembered and reminisced and reflected.  And truly, there was a rainbow at the end. No actually make that a double rainbow!

Manor home near Alencon.  

Fougere

Chateau (hotel) near Fougere

Vitre

Brittany Coastline near Cancale.  The colors are stunning.

Jumiege Abbey

Double Rainbow at the end of the Journey

Thanks for the Present

Thanks to all of our kids....we took advantage of your Christmas gift and spent Conference Week-end in the Ardennes! In the background you can see the castle in Bouillon.

It was a beautiful day and the Fall colors were just coming out.

We took a hike in the hills.  After our hike we dropped down to the water and had a rest on the bench and soaked in the view.  See Dad on the bench?

Just over the Belgian border in the small town of Sedan France.  Tom is in the courtyard of the Castle/Fort and behind him is the hotel where we spent the night.  It is one wing of the castle.

We played two games and we each had a win....oh yea!  I won the second game because he hit the 8 ball in the hole!

Lit up at night.  Always fun to walk around the small village.  We ate dinner at Lucifer's Grill where they served Italian pizza cooked from a wood fire.  Appropriate for Conference Week-end we thought.

On the walls of the castle (did I say it is the largest medieval castle in Europe still standing?)

Just one wall of the castle.  It was HUGE.

The inner courtyard, but again, only a small section of it.

One entrance to the fort.  I think the walls were 35 meters thick.  Massive.

So thanks everyone for a fabulous Christmas gift.  The great part?  We already have the gift for this Christmas.....so we still have another week-end coming up to enjoy.  It's a perfect gift and we thank you all!  

Seth,Heidi and Boys visit

The harvest in the farmer's field this year was potatoes.  Seth and the boys gathered up a bucket full and we made potato soup!  

We visited a concentration camp in Belgium.  I didn't even know it was there.  Halfway between Brussels and Antwerp.  The name of the camp is Breendonk.  3,500 Jews passed through.  

Heidi looking at pictures/names.  It really hits home when you see the faces.... 

Hard to keep the somber mood with a 4 and 2 year old.  I think they just thought it was fun.

See?  Boys just have too much fun.  

While the parents were off to the Loire Valley, I took the boys to Technopolis.  A fun place where it is really a hands on experience.  Taft is delivering pizza...see it in the back of his cycle?  Luke is inside making the pizza....

The ambulance driver

Thanks Natalie for telling us to take a picture of us all together.  We remembered to take a picture literally on the way to the airport on their way home!

Besides the potato crop, the boys also harvested the last crop of Rhubarb.  I made cobbler but the boys weren't fans...even smothered in ice cream.

Taft is the Drum Set

Thanks Taft.  In fact, Pop is picking on me now instead of you....come back!