2001: An exciting summer has passed. In July, Lockheed/Martin, Jim's employer finished their contract with the Air Force in Misawa, Japan, and we were sent back to the US. We came to LA, where our mothers live, with every intention of spending the summer wandering around the States visiting places and people in our motorhome. Unfortunately, the motorhome was a dud and we spent most of our time annoying our mothers. We did get to go to Disneyland and have a WONDERFUL family reunion week with Jim's family an visit all Janet's sisters and their families. So, it was ok.
The bright side, though, was we both got jobs in beautiful Bavaria, Germany!!! Janet is teaching computer science at Ansbach Middle/ High School on a US Army post and Jim is on another Lockheed/Martin project about 250 km away at an Army post in Bad Aibling. Janet, Marie, and Danielle cameover first and found a house for the dog. Jim took care of moving the household goods and selling the accursed motor home and got here in Oct. He's now situated in a beautiful apartment--2nd floor of a farmhouse with a view of the Austrian Alps while Janet and the girls are in a three story house just north of the high school with a view of a national forest and a farm valley and small town. It's like living in a happy fairy tale!
Wow, I guess it's been a while since I updated this site! The message (below) was from when we first moved to Germany. Things have changed just a little bit in five years!
1. Jim now lives in Darmstadt (just south of Frankfurt), Danielle is starting life at BYU, and Marie and I are living in the great house we bought in Petersaurach a couple of years ago.
2. Jim works for KBR now. Lockheed/Martin lost their contract to them, but the new employer just picked up the current employees, so he stayed on. A raise thrown in didn't hurt the decision.
3. I'm teaching computers at Ansbach Middle/High School. I teach MS Office, computer animation, website design, etc. and some certification prep courses in computer repair (for the CompTIA A+ exam) and Cisco networking (CCNA).
4. Marie is now a sophomore in high school. She's doing really well--loves honors history and advanced quickly in the schools Junior ROTC program. She's considering going into a college with an ROTC scholarship and joining the Air Force.
5. Danielle, much to everyone's surprise, is not an art major. She decided she'd rather enjoy art and work on computers. So she's entering BYU Provo with a plan to major in IT. Right now she's in their Freshman Academy and Wells Hall with a lot of other science geeks. They figure if they stick them together, they can help each other. Hopefully, it'll work out well.
6. Since going to Ansbach, we've become really involved in the Future Business Leaders of America program. After I first heard of it, I organized a chapter at our school, and then was asked to be an advisor on the Europe area board. Last year, I convinced both girls to run for state office so they would travel to planning meeting with me. It worked. They both won and were state officers. We went to the National Leadership Conference in Nashville. Marie went on to become the State Treasurer this year and went to the NLC in Chicago by herself this summer.
7. We've had fun traveling in Europe. So far we've gone to Austria, Italy, Switzerland, France, The Netherlands, and all over southern Germany. We've seen castles and cathedrals, tulips and towers, skied in the Alps and walked in the rain.
8. Last, but certainly not least is church. The temple here is very near Jim's house in Darmstadt, so it's easy to go to the temple now. In our small ward, we have a mixture of Germans and Americans. Everything is translated, so our missionaries become very good translators, as well as a couple of residents. I finally broke down this summer and decided to seriously study German. This was brought on by a call to be the Relief Society president and a need to communicate with all the sisters in the ward. I used to be the seminary teacher, with only American students, so I had a semi-excuse. The girls are active and attend Girls' Camp and/or EFY every summer.
Busy, busy, busy!!!
