Adam, Leah and Aimee are doing well and live about 30 minutes north of us so we get to see them often; and they are close to Bill and Jill’s new home. Aimee celebrated her first birthday in September and has become quite mobile. In the spring, Adam left Baker-Hughes to work for Forum Technologies, a oil field services company, where he is responsible for developing new manufacturing techniques. They enjoy updating their home and this summer added a large covered patio where they can relax and entertain.  

In early June, the family headed to Florida for a four day cruise on the Disney Dream, that included stops at Nassau and Disney’s private island, Castaway Cove, followed by a week in Orlando to visit the various parks. It was a grand trip and the kids had a blast on the boat with all the Disney characters and many activities to keep them entertained. In Castaway Cove they got to snorkel and take a glass bottom boat ride. The parents just sit back and enjoyed it! On land we rented a house and visited the adventure parks in the area including EPCOT, Magic Kingdom and Cape Canaveral.

In October we headed to the Northeast to see the fall foliage colors as well as friends and relatives. The first stop was in Branford, Connecticut where we had a wonderful visit with Jon and Sally Wormley that included excursions to several quaint New England towns, scenic walks, train/boat rides, and a swim in Long Island Sound. This was the second visit of the year for Karen as she was there in early July as well. Then we drove north into the mountains of Maine, passing through all stages of the color change with the climb in elevation. We dropped our rental car off in Quebec City where we boarded a cruise ship for a 10 day trip down the St Lawrence Seaway to the Atlantic, then along the coastline to Brooklyn, stopping at various ports along the way in Canada and the US for sightseeing tours. The towns and countryside were most pleasant and scenic; definitely places to consider for a longer stay in the future. At St. Johns, we saw the Bay of Fundy with its huge tides and a place that Thor had wanted to see for many years. After disembarking, we drove a rental car to the home of Karen’s cousins, Phil and Stephanie Hill, in Pennsylvania. They live in a beautiful location and the colors were the most magnificent of anywhere on our trip. Then we traveled to Thurmont, MD where Karen’s Aunt Jana lives and met up with Dean, her mother, and Aunt Glenn who were visiting. We all went to a wedding of Jana’s granddaughter and got to meet up with more family members. From there we returned home after three weeks of travel with many memories of the magnificent fall foliage colors, the quaint villages and the folks we visited.

We also visited Dale and his family in Denver In September shortly after they moved into their new home and from there Thor joined up with some Iowa State friends for a few days in northern New Mexico for some hiking and sightseeing. In November, Thor traveled to the NW where he made a presentation at a conference in Seattle for a consortium he does part time work with, visited his father’s birthplace in Lynden, WA where he plans to donate several of his father’s instruments for display in the town’s Pioneer Museum and then saw his cousin, Glenyce, in Portland where they reviewed letters that her father had saved for information on the family history which Thor is compiling.   

The only sad note was the death of our family dog, Maggie, in early December after she contracted an auto-immune disorder that destroyed her red blood cells at an alarming rate and couldn’t be controlled despite repeated visits to the vet. She was a fine dog and will be missed.  

All in all it has been a very busy year and productive year for us. We are so happy that the family transitions went as smoothly as they did and all are now settled down in their new environments. We are looking forward to 2014 and the adventures that it will bring.