Events of 2004

Last Helicopter Flight

A major event for Jana was the restructuring of Boeing's Executive Flight Operation - the place where Jana had spent over 5 years of her life working as a flight attendant and aircraft dispatcher. The operation, which included included airplanes and helicopters, was consolidated and moved to Chicago. This led to Jana taking the voluntary layoff package that Boeing had offered.

After announcing the restructuring, it was also announced that the helicopters would seize to fly within a week of the announcement. After the last passenger had been flown to his destination, one of the pilots took Jana and Shannon for one last flight around Boeing Helicopter Country.

Photo Gallery from Last Helo Flight

Jana's office at the Airflite building (smaller building in the middle) at Long Beach airport, next to the Boeing C-17 plant	Helicopter cockpit	Coast at Huntington Beach	Queen Mary and downtown Long Beach	Dodger stadium
Hollywood sign	Universal Studios	Miss Shannon	Southern California coast line	Boeing's Sea Launch
Coast at Santa Monica	Santa Monica Pier	The last hug goodbye	The final farewell pose

Boating to Catalina with Eric and Laurie

During the Easter weekend in April, our friends Eric and Laurie took us on their boat again to Catalina island. We spent the weekend at Two Harbors. We stayed at the Banning House Lodge and had fun exploring an area of Catalina that we had not seen before. Eric and Laurie invited us to the Easter Egg Hunt at the 4th of July Cove Yacht Club. Eric and Marc went SCUBA diving and saw some huge crabs (at least 2-3 feet leg-span). We took a tour around the interior of the island, and saw Buffalo, deserted beaches, the horse ranch of the Wrigley family and very remote areas of the island.

Photo Gallery from Catalina

Boats lined up at Catalina's Two Harbors	The captain of his boat		Banning House Lodge	Inside
View of east side of Two Harbors	View towards west side of Two Harbors	Jana finds some old relics from her home state (see newspaper title)	Out for a good dinner	Tour around Catalina island
The interior of Catalina has lots of canyons and remote countryside	The day was quite foggy	Planes at Catalina airport		"The airport in the sky"
Wrigley horse ranch		Buffalo roaming around the interior of Catalina	"Taxi service" to and from the boat	4th of July Cove
Let's go diving	...but only with the proper protection	Come on in...the water is quite refreshing

Birthday Party In Germany

At the end of May we traveled to Germany to celebrate the 60th birthday of Frank, Marc's dad. Sylvia had organized a big fest for family and friends. Friends and relatives from all over Germany traveled to Meckenheim to wish the birthday boy all the best.

Unfortunately, our time was cut short by a severe illness that put both of us (and others in our family) to bed for the remainder of the time we had in Germany. One bright spot though was the great care that we received from Marc's parents and that we were able to see Caroline, Martin and their newborn Sebastiaan.

Photo Gallery from Birthday Party

Immediately after our arrival everyone wanted to see the wedding pictures we brought along	Sylvia is enjoying the company	...but Frank gets the gifts	The Pill Tree - an East-German tradition with a pill for each ailment that you get after 60	Leoni is eagerly awaiting the guests
One of Sylvia's famous deserts that Jana topped	One of the more interesting gifts	Frank is celebrated by his friends	Frank is made fun of by Marc's godmother	Martin, Caroline and Sebastiaan

Vicky and James' Wedding

On June 19th, our friends Vicky and James tied the knot. It was a beautiful ceremony in a very elegant setting. We enjoyed being there at their special day

Photo Gallery from Vicky and James' Wedding

Jacksonville for 4th of July

For 4th of July we visited Tracy's family in Jacksonville. As soon as we arrived, Dylan was the center of attention. He showed us his jumping and head-butting skills. We took a day to explore St. Augustine, one of the earliest settlements in North America. It was the landing point for Ponce de Leon and many artifacts from those times are still present.

We also spent a lot of time with Dylan playing at home and in the pool.

Photo Gallery from Jacksonville

	Dylan's head-butting technique	St. Augustine	The location of the Fountain of Youth
	Old Cannons		One cool dude	Former city walls
	The oldest house in St. Augustine	Fort St. Augustine	Soldiers' bunk beds
Cannon presentation

San Jose

While working at eBay in San Jose, Jana visited Marc. During the day, she took the opportunity to explore San Jose and its surroundings. She visited the Mystery Spot - a very unusual spot. Take a look at the pictures below. Normal gravitational laws don't seem to apply in this place.

Jana also visited the Winchester Mystery House. It is a very interesting place, built by the heiress to the Winchester fortune. Stairs are leading to nowhere and rooms have no entry doors.

Photo Gallery from San Jose

Dinner at Bella Mia's

Visit to Oklahoma

In early September, Jana visited family and friends in Oklahoma. She visited her dad, and her friends Tana and Angela.

Photo Gallery from Oklahoma

	McKinzie	Jeff, Bryce, McKinzie	Tana and Jana	Bryce
Rylie	Madison		Rylie, Angela and Jana	The McKenzie's

Wedding Anniversary in Seattle

On September 14 our first wedding anniversary  arrived. How quickly the year had flown by. We started the celebration by cutting our cake top (lucky for us it was actually a fresh cake prepared by our bakery ). Then we hopped onto a plane for Seattle.

We spent the weekend in Seattle, exploring the city, including Pike Place Market and the Seattle Aquarium. We met our friends Kathy, Bonnie and Tiffany. At night, we celebrated our anniversary on top of the Space Needle.

On Sunday, we went to the San Juan islands to watch Orca whales. We had a great time. We saw approximately 40 whales, and one even surfaced directly next to our boat. On the way back we saw giant elephant seals and harbor seals.

Photo Gallery from Seattle

The view from our hotel onto Puget Sound	The original Starbucks	Pike Place Market		Look at the selection of seafood
...and flowers	...and peppers	Oh my God Peaches - literally	Jana, Kathy, Bonnie and Tiffany	The girls
Kathy and Bonnie	Jana and Tiffany		Giant Pacific Octopus	The "Finding Nemo" characters
Ghost Pipefish	Seahorse	Squids	Sea Otter
Fur Seal	Space Needle		Downtown Seattle
Our anniversary	The special desert			Whale watching boat
It started off a little cold		Whales in sight		Surfacing next to the boat
Elephant seals		Excited after seeing orcas and seals	Harbor seals

Las Vegas with Gail

In early October, Jana's friend Gail attended a work-related conference in Las Vegas. Jana took the opportunity to visit with her for a few days.

Photo Gallery from Las Vegas

Paris, Las Vegas

Monte Carlo

Excalibur

New York, New York

Jacksonville for 3rd Birthday of dylan

In late October we traveled again to Jacksonville for Dylan's 3rd birthday. Dylan had a birthday party with several other kids. The following day, we went to a "Wiggles" concert. Jana was able to stay a little longer and also got to experience Halloween with her nephew.

Photo Gallery from Jacksonville

		Dylan's birthday cake	Happy Birthday Dylan	Dylan loved the cake
"Flyboy"	At the Jacksonville Zoo		Dylan loves his new toy from his aunt	At the Wiggles concert
Dylan is excited about the Wiggles	...but it definitely took a lot out of him	Halloween wonders

Melting Pot Party

At the beginning of November, we got together with some of our friends at the Melting Pot in Irvine. It is a fondue restaurant, and we enjoyed spending time with our friends and also prepared for entering the baby chapter in our lives .

Thanksgiving with Shannon and KC

In October, Shannon and KC moved to Glendale into a cute cottage house. To celebrate their first holiday in their new home, Shannon and KC hosted Thanksgiving in their backyard . It was a beautiful day at 75 degrees, and the turkey was served with all the fixings .

Disneyland with Shannon and KC

To celebrate the holidays the Disneyland park is always specially decorated. We spent the day with Shannon and KC roaming around California Adventure and then watched the holiday parade in Disneyland. In between we hopped onto some of the fairy tale rides, went through the Haunted Mansion and even experienced the very different ride on "It's a Small World".

Photo Gallery from Disneyland

	California Adventure		View over California Adventure
The Holiday Parade		The Magic Castle	KC and Shannon on the Storybook Ride
Casey Jr.			It's a Small World in Holiday decoration
			The Holiday Parade