A Medieval City in the East

Shannon took an hour train ride south to the city of Koln.  Koln is located on the eastern side of Germany. It is much more touristy than Monchengladenbach, but still not much english spoken. He was excited to have an American burger at the Hard Rock Cafe, that was a menu he could read. The cathedral at Koln is said to be one of the most beautiful sights in Europe. It was originally constructed sometime in the 1500's. It took quite a beating during the second world war, and is going under some constructive surgery still. Shannon spent 4 or 5 hours in Koln, then headed back to Monchengladenbach. I am so proud of him, he is taking this opportunity that has been handed to him and living it to the fullest. He will be touring more of Germany tomorrow with Joe. Shannon and Joe became well acquainted here at Brevini, Joe set up the machine Shannon will eventually be running. I know he is probably labeling me as a "pest", but here are his favorites from his trip today.

Just a Couple

I asked Shannon to send me two of his favorite pictures from his trip so far, and this is what he sent me first. He took a train ride to Koln (Cologne) today. I am so excited to get his two favorite from that trip. He told me already that there is no website, picture, description that would do that city justice.

He took Brevini's point and shoot camera, so of course, I had to be sure that there was an image on it of his favorite girls. We were hanging out at the airport before it was time for him to board. Needless to say, there were some tears shed about 15 minutes after this was taken. 

I asked Abby to take some pictures of the girls and I so that I could make him a book to take with him. I was so gun-ho about just slipping it in his suitcase and him finding it once he was at his destination. So we were packing the night before and he mentioned taking pictures with him a couple of times. I gave in, so I went and got it from Grandma's buffet and handed it to him. He only looked at the cover and said he would view the rest when he got there. He loves it and the pictures are beautiful.  Thank you from the bottom of my heart, Abby.

This is the entrance to the restaurant on the ground floor of his hotel. This is where he eats the majority of the time.  At the left side of the picture is the portico where the picture of him was taken a couple of posts ago. He says the food here is amazing. I asked him if he could duplicate it.............. he said nothing. 

All Hallows Eve

I feel like Halloween has lasted for two whole weeks. The girls get invited, every year, to a Halloween party that takes place in our neighborhood. Shannon normally does the hayride for it, and it is a lot of fun. This year they had to have it early with the kids getting older, sports schedules, and this year, trick-or-treating. So we have had costumes ready for quite sometime. We have had so much time, Lillie was actually able to dress-up as two different things, she was a pumpkin for the the party and a ladybug for trick -or-treat.
Last night was trick-or-treating for Muncie, and we had a ball. Before hand, we went over to the Jackson's and had chili with friends and neighbors. We love our neighbors! The costumes were as follow's: Scarecrow, Ladybug, Best Friends Heart (Annie and McKenna were the two seperate sides), Storm Trooper, Ladybug(2), Chicago Bears Fan, and finally a little Kitty. We ventured out as a pack and had so much fun. There was plenty of candy collected, so our neighborhood was the extent of our trick-or-treating. When we were getting ready to go over to GG's, Ainzli wanted to know if we could hit up their neighborhood. Negative was the plain answer from this mean-o!
When we were growing up Mom and Poppa would only take us to people we knew, and so that is the way  it is done with our girls. Halloween was a big thing, Mom made the most elaborate costumes. One year, Audri was a Christmas tree, she actually lit up! Battery operated Christmas lights had just come out, and WOW! That is all I can say. The costume Ainzli is wearing is one Mom had made for Audri, Ainzli told everyone that her aunt had worn it. And of course, it looks like the real deal, so it was awesome. Thanks Mom!

Shannon Grismore: International Traveler

"What an experience!". I cannot tell you how many times I have heard that from him. Shannon started his new job with Brevini Wind on July 26 of this year knowing there would be some amazing opportunities granted to him. He is half way through one of them right now. He flew out of Indy on the 23rd to arrive in Dusseldorf, Germany 16 hours later. He was then picked up at the airport by a car service and dropped off in Monchengladenbach, Germany at a lovely motel downtown. Can we say country boy from Farmland, Indiana is feeling a little out of sorts........ absolutely! He started his training on that Monday and finished it at noon yesterday. He feels like it cannot be all he will get, there is just way to much, but it was a good start. Germany is six hours ahead of us, so when Shannon got done with training, he would come back to the room and we have been using Skype daily. It was perfect timing. What an amazing thing Skype is! Being all alone in a different country, and for the first time, I know being able to see our faces has been a huge relief.
His day would consist of someone from Dorries picking him up every morning, training, lunch (with 16 Chinese men who are there to train on another type of machine, and who do not speak a lick of English either, they had a translator traveling with them), more training in the afternoon, and then the rest of the day to himself.
He is truly looking forward to his travel to Italy. That is when he will tour Brevini, and get to see where it all began. That is so exciting. Brevini is striving to become a huge part of our community here at home and that makes us feel like Shannon has gotten a once in a lifetime opportunity to be apart of them getting their factory up and running.

This is just a view down a street in Monchengladenbach. He says they all pretty much look just like this. Amazing how clean it is. The natives tell him that this is not a pretty town at all. They keep telling him wait till he goes to Cologne!

"Secret Agent Man" standing outside of his hotel. He told me he would not have survived without 4 things: backpack, coat, phone, and computer. I suppose next time he can pack much lighter!