Our big trip this year was to go to Europe for vacation. We went starting on Memorial Day.

We landed in Amsterdam (we were using the last of David's frequent flier miles from when he was a globetrotter - it was the easiest place to get in and out of Europe from).

We took a bullet train from Amsterdam to Paris. There was a big "to-do" there as someone was skateboarding off of the Eiffel tower (you can see the ramp in the middle between the legs).

We spent a couple of days sightseeing in Paris and then flew to Venice.

We had a great hotel there along the Grand Canal. Helen especially enjoyed the rooftop pool, which had a great view of the city.

Bonnie and David really enjoyed the historical sites, the other Venice picture shows Bonnie and Helen outside the Doge's palace (the ruler of Venice).

From Venice we went to Florence. Bonnie had read a lot about the city and the cathedral dome (the world's largest). We had a great time viewing the artwork and the city. Florence and Venice were two places that David didn't go to when he was single and traveling a lot because he wanted to save some special places to visit with his family later.

From Venice, we drove down to Rome. Rome is one of David's favorite places, due to all the history. We spent a lot of time at the ruins around the forum and at Carcalla's baths. Very impressive construction for people without machines. In the photo of us together in Rome you can see the dome of St. Peter's in the background.

It was a great trip and we had a memorable time.

After about 7 and a half years of being mobilized for the Army Reserve, David went back to civilian life this summer. His last assignment while on Active Duty was handling the mobilization of medical personnel for Iraq and Afghanistan. The one difficult crisis was the Fort Hood shootings, where David and his team had to quickly find replacements for the casualties so the units could continue to deploy. Here is David with his mobilization team, CPT Allen and Sergeant Martial.

Three of the Penado's (David's nieces and nephew) came to visit us in Christmas 2009. We had a great time together and did all kinds of activities. The trip to the zoo was especially memorable, as the male tiger laid down right in front of us and played on his back to entertain us. We also did laser tag, dinosaur museums, and watched lots of movies. We wish we could see them more often!