This next picture is of all of us after we toured the Neuschwanstein Castle. This castle is what Walt Disney made his Disney Castle look like. It was quite impressive inside. They would not let us take any pictures inside the castle which completely sucked since the artwork on the walls and ceiling were amazing. From left to right starting in the front row is: Jon, Lotta, Netta, Allison, Me, Ilke, Kathleen, Rachael, Larry, and Pekka.

Here are a few pictures from our vacation. The first one is of all of us on New Year's Eve in front of the Christmas tree that they had at the resort. From left to right is Jon, Allison, Me, Larry, Kathleen, Rachael , and Ilke. We were getting ready to head to the party that they were having at the resort.

So, I have been a little behind on my posts. I promise to write a lengthy post on how our vacation to Germany was. We just got home last Sunday and have been trying to get adjusted back to our own time zone and get everything put away and all the laundry done. Needless to say, it has been a long week at work for me since we had been closed for two weeks there was much to be done to catch up. We took lots of pictures and I hope to post many of them here on the blog so everyone can see where we were and what we did. As far as Larry's retirement video goes, we are having trouble get it copied so I am not sure if I will be able to get it up and running here or not. I will keep trying. Check back in a few days to see if I have pictures and another post on our holiday vacation to Germany. We did have an excellant time.

Happy Holidays

I have to apoligize for not having Larry's retirement video up and running. I am having trouble getting it to work on here. I have tried several ways including You Tube and cannot get it to work. I will keep trying. Sorry for the delay.

Allison comes home from Washington, DC next weekend. She has enjoyed her time there and is sad to leave all the hussle and bussle, but she knows she has business here to finish at college so she can graduate.

Rachael will be home on December 19 for the winter break. It has been a tough semester for her, but she is finally settling in I believe.

Larry is adjusting to his new job. He doesn't do too much right now but work is starting to pick up so he comes home a lot happier each day.

We are all off to Germany for Christmas vacation. The girls, Alli's boyfriend , and I leave on December 23. Larry will leave on December 24. We did not know he would be able to come until about 2 weeks ago so this is why the different date for his arrival. We all come home on January 3, 2009. Our Finnish exchange student, Lotta, and her husband and daughter will be there with us from Decembe r25 to December 30 and our German exchange student, Kathleen and her sister will be there with us from December 27 until we leave. This was a great opportunity to be able to spend the holidays with them and get to see them again. We are sorry that they all could not come to be with us but understand as they all have busy lives.

We want to wish everyone a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year. I will not be mailing out Christmas cards to anyone and I apoligize. We will be thinking of all of you this holiday season.

Happy Thanksgiving

I still have not been able to upload the video of Larry's retirement to here or to You Tube. Please be patient and I will work on it after the holidays. We are off this evening to head to New York City to watch the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade. We will come back on Friday morning. Yes, I know the Roach's are crazy and the weather will most likely be brutally cold or raining. We did this 9 years ago and it poured down rain. They do not stop that parade for anything. Rachael came home last night from college and Allison will be in this AM on the train. They will both be here for the holiday. We are all headed to Germany for Christmas to stay at the Edelweiss Resort and Lodge. The girl, Jon (Allison's boyfriend), and I leave on December 23 and Larry will leave on December 24. Our Finnish exchage student Lotta is going to meet us there with her husband and daugther along with Kathleen, our German student, and her sister for the holidays. We are all looking forward to this vacation. It will most likely be the last one we take as a family since the girls are getting so old. I was happy Larry is able to go. He gets the time off due to shutdown. However, 4 of those days will not be paid. That did not make me too happy. He is still trying to get acclamated to his new job. It is a different world for him. I hope everyone has a Happy Thanksgiving. Please keep checking. I will get this video up here one way or another.

Retirement Video

Sorry that it has taken so long for me to post anything. I have been waiting to get the video from Larry's retirement. We finally got it tonight. Larry and I have watched it. It isn't the best video, but you will all be able to see and get an idea of what went on. The guy that recorded it added some stuff in the end and at the beginning along with most of the music that you will hear playing. Sometimes it drowned others that were talking out. We are grateful to be able to have had it done since usually you don't have your retirement video taped. As soon as I can figure out how to get it on here or You Tube, I will send links to everyone. My friend Kris was having a hard time getting the video of the triplets birthday on her blog because it was too large so I am not sure if I am going to have the same problems or not.

In other related news Larry start his new job at Electric Boat on October 27. He is not completely sure yet if he likes it. He will tell you that it is different. In the Navy if there wasn't anything going on you went home. In the real world you cannot leave until you have put in your 8 hours. I just keep telling him "Welcome to my world."

Rachael has also had a few changes at college. She has decided to change her major from Forensic Biology to Forensic Chemistry. She was having trouble in Biology and needed to drop it and after exploring what her interests were in what she was taking now realized she enjoyed Chemistry more. We are just happy she has found what she likes. She cannot picture herself doing anything else.

Allison is having a great time in Washington, DC. This has been a great experience for her. I know she hates to come back home and go back to Eastern. She has been accepted for another internship here in Connecticut for the spring semester. She will be working in the policy deparment in the legistative office in Hartford as a lobbyist for the Governor. This has made her extremely excited and happy as this is exactly where she wants to be and what she wants to be doing. Larry and I could not be more proud of her.

As for me, I will be graduating in December with my Associate Degree in General Studies with my major concentration in Sociology. I will then continue on to obtain my Bachelors in Sociology. Who knows how long this will take me. I am quite proud of myself that I have managed to accomplish what I have.

Here are the pictures that were taken at Larry's retirement. I've added some music to the video slides to make it more interesting. It is quite long about 10 minutes. Once I have the video that they took I will add that on here as well.