2018 - A Common Theme

It has been a great year from start to finish.  From the Disney Marathon to Carlisle, PA to NYC, to Regensburg, Germany the best part of 2018 was sharing it with Lisa.  

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Christmas 2018

As we head into the New Year here are some memories from Christmas:

For his 8th birthday, Grant went to Chicago with me for the unit holiday party and had a great time!  I took him to Giordano's for deep dish pizza and he was only able to eat one piece!  He also enjoyed playing in the snow banks - not something you can get in North Carolina too often.  

Our tree went up a little late this year because of our trip to Germany.  But once it was up it was filled with family ornaments and presents. Sam was in NY by the time we got settled enough to decorate the tree but we sent her pictures of her decorations going up.  We have had this tree for almost nine years and putting it up still requires Lisa to pull in the pieces because she is the only one who can do it correctly.

Christmas morning and the boys (and Lucie) waited patiently for pictures and presents. This is a family tradition that extends back to the Blockus family. The kids pose for a picture on the stairs before being allowed to see what Santa left. Going back through old albums there are pictures from Homosassa from our first year married with Sam and her cousins, Miller Street with Sam and TJ, and Fuquay with all three kids.  

We visited Bobby in the rehabilitation center in Clayton and played "Dirty Santa".  He suffered heart failure and pneumonia and is going through a long recovery. To make sure Bobby was included in Christmas we took his presents over to him along with bag of small gifts, thanks to Linda.  Betty pulled out this pirate headband and stuck out her tongue for a great memory!

Lisa learned that toys bought in Germany come with German directions and lots and lots of parts.  This toy looked like a great idea at the time - something to engage Grant's STEM mind.  Unfortunately, Grant is still of the mindset that the toys are built for him and then he plays with them.  While I quietly built my Lego set - Lisa took on the task of building the marble-maze-monstrosity.

(Still a work in progress)  

We spent a nice evening with two of my former Cadets who are now Majors in the Army.  It is always fun to catch up with my students who are now out in the world doing great things. it is a reminder of how much I love the Army and dedicated part of my life to developing people like these two into leaders.  Of course - I just started the process.  I refined the raw material and cast the die.  Their abilities were developed for years after I taught them.  It's a proud moment to see them all grown up.