Skip-Line Sale

Over the past few years, Vic and Maxine have received several offers to sell Skip-Line. A company called Hi-Lite Airfield Services made an offer this fall that felt right, and it finally went through on January 16th. Andy and the Shinsels are no longer owners of Skip-Line, and Andy is now the manager of the research and development department. It is quite an adjustment for him, but he says he is willing to learn and thinks it will help him stretch his skills.

Before the sale was even finalized, we went up to Syracuse, New York with the other heads of Skip-Line's new management team for the guys to have training and then celebrate the company's 30 year anniversary. Andy and I had never gone to such a formal event! Even though it was a bit awkward for both of us, in the end we had fun. Andy mostly works directly with the Spec-Rite segment of Hi-Lite and we are excited to see what the future holds in this new opportunity for us. We are grateful for Skip-Line's legacy and the opportunities it has given our family. We have been really blessed by it in our lives.

New Years Day run

We started off the New Year by getting up and running a "5K" or so thats what Lindsey told us. Turns out it was 5 miles.... but thats the same thing right?! NOT. Sydney did amazing and ran her first two miles stretch without stopping. I was super proud of her.

River Cruise - Basel, Switzerland

Basel is a super classy, upscale town. The main shopping areas had huge light displays and extravagant window arrangements. They also have tons of fountains and basilisk statues. The basilisk is the heraldic animal of Basel. The streets are well kept and less medieval looking than the other cities we've seen. They are still quaint but newer. We visited a toy museum with over 2000 teddy bears and dolls as well as several markets. Time to go home!!

River Cruise - Riquewihr, France

Meet the quaint little village of Riquewihr that sits on a hill. Its the city that the village in Beauty adn the Beast was based off of. Its illegal in this village to paint your house the same color as your neighbor. I loved the colors. The market was super small and cute. AMAZING HOT CHOCOLATE!  There are also tons of swans in the area, but my picture doesn't do them justice. We're getting so tired at this point in the trip, we fall asleep any time we sit down! Frederico, the cruise manager's, soft, lulling voice doesn't help anything :D.

River Cruise - Gegenbach, Germany

Gegenbach is the home of the world's largest advent calendar even though its a town of only about 400 people. This year's theme was "A Little Prince," and the local children put on a play portraying a different segment of the story each night. The show ends with a new window being lit up every day until Christmas eve.

River Cruise - Strasbourg, France

Strasbourg is adorable! The desserts looked amazing.... they weren't quite as tasty as they looked but still good. The cathedral was similar to the one in Cologne but has a large astronomical clock inside. The whole city was decked out for Christmas! My favorite part was seeing the stork nests in the trees. This is where they raise their young in the spring, and I'd love to see that. 

River Cruise - Heidelberg, Germany

Heidelberg highlights included:

1. Heidelberg castle - all fours towers have been knocked down fully or partially over the wars and the last few hundred years.
2. Buying my authentic cuckoo clock
3. Drinking hot cider at the market and discovering Schneeballen cookies!