October 29, 2008

Oklahoma Adventure!

Our Oklahoma trip came and went without a hitch, except for Nikki and Lee's! Of course that doesn't mean I don't have an interesting story to tell. Let's begin...

SPACE A Travel
S show up early
P pray for a seat (or 3)
A alter your travel plans
C control your emotions
E everything is free

A Adventure!

So we planned on taking a commercial military plane, but instead we got a tanker! Tankers are great flights when you plan for them, like bringing blankets and lots of snacks because they are so cold to fly on. The kids were able to run around and scam free trips to the cockpit from the crew. The seats are comfortable and you can lay on the floor to stretch out if you want. Unfortunately, the tanker flight was too long to allow for our connection in Baltimore. A minor mommy meltdown ensued and thus we were rerouted to OKC that same evening. Whew! Phase 1 of our trip, getting there, complete.

She Always Looks So Happy

We were blessed to meet many new and wonderful people as well as run into some old friends at the wedding. I think there were people from at least 15 states there. Brad was quick to make friends with Lee's sister Kellie. He loved her! And Brad don't like nobody but Mommy. They even shared the same hairstyle. Lee's mom and step dad also had many great things to say about Germany and I hope they get to come visit us someday. I have special thanks for Peg and Kellie for accompanying us to the ER. I'll get to that later. Lee's dad flew in from Panama City and he happened to sit next to our friend Melissa (going on vacation) who is also coming to Germany in the winter. What a small world!

Brad and Kellie

Oklahoma City is not at all what I expected. It is very flat but incredibly built up and spread out. Nikki and Lee have a beautiful house and yard. I know now we will be ok to live there someday because all roads lead to Tinker. Anyway, we managed to squeeze in a little shopping and a visit to old friends from Delaware and on rehearsal day my son decided to steal the thunder. He tripped and banged his head on the coffee table splitting his ear open. We were in and out of the ER with hours to spare (unheard of) and a wound that was nothing a little glue couldn't fix. He made me nervous from then on...

Rhiannon, Cameron, Brad and Maggie
Old Buddies from Delaware

The rehearsal dinner was at a restaurant in Bricktown OKC. It's a great part of the downtown area with shops and restaurants and bars. Rhiannon got a special surprise for her birthday during the dinner; cupcakes with princess rings, some new jewelry and a purse. Brad needed to take a load off from his busy day.

Darcy, Evangeline, Brandon (Nikki's Brother and Family)

John and Geri (Bride's Parents)

Happy Birthday Rhi

Long Day for Brad

The day of the wedding was perfect in every way. It went so fast and of course I want to post a million photos but I chose just a few of the best.

Getting Ready

Lee's Mom and Step Dad

Lee's Dad

We had such a great time on our trip and got to see Jim for 2 days but now we are glad to be home. It is a little colder here than when we left but so many things need to be done (like burn the cell phone bill) before Jim gets home. Unfortunately we are still so tired and a little under the weather ourselves but are hoping to pull through for the Halloween events this weekend and the arrival of our friends the Horrocks' on Monday. One other important note. Brad started saying Good Morning this week and has been imitating much of what we are saying to him. Yay for Brad finally going vocal!

Anyway, we love you Nikki and Lee. Thanks for letting us be a part of your special day. We had a blast and we wish you the happiest life together. Please get stationed with us again soon because we miss you!!

October 8, 2008

Brugges, Belgium

We finally have internet and phone connected in our house. It has definitely taken long enough. So the number I posted last time is working for anyone to call us. So much has happened since I last posted. Our stuff and our car came in early so that was a huge blessing. As soon as we finished unpacking the house, Jim got sent back to Alabama for 6 weeks. I should be used to this by now but I was a little upset at first. Now it has been almost a week and we are falling into place and getting into a routine with school and some mom groups for me and Brad and also trying to finish the house. I have some pictures of it now but it is still a work in progress.

When last I wrote, we were leaving the kids with a sitter to go to Octoberfest. Everything seemed to go well with her. But the next morning I noticed the cat was gone. We asked Rhiannon if the girl opened the door to the house because we couln't imagine how the cat got out. Turns out, she left them there and went home to get biscuits for herself and Rhi. She told Rhi not to light anything on fire and she would be right back. So she left my kids and she lost my cat. I was furious and still am a little miffed when I think about it. So in the future I guess I have to specify that you don't leave the kids alone to my new sitter. Anyway, Jim found the cat at a barn down the street the next day but we couldn't get her before she disappeared again. Luckily the owners of the house helped us out and spoke a little English and we got her back a day or so later when she got hungry and came out of hiding.

Beastly Creature (I think it has a tooth)

Old and New Chairs!

So the new house is great and is turning out to be quite large. We don't have enough furniture to fill it. It takes a bit to clean it and I am having to dust the ceiling corners almost every day for the spiders. Yes it's that bad. I have included a picture of one of the little beasts that has taken up residence in the window (outside). I am told that they are very active in the fall and the spring so bring on that first frost please! Continuing with the house...I finally bought some great fabric that is a soft vinyl to cover my white dining room chair cushions that aren't really white anymore. I love it and I have enough material leftover to spice up the curtains in the dining room. I love the little changes that come with each new house and finding new and creative ways to store things, especially since we don't have closets.

Office

Kitchen

Courtyard

Driveway-The garage is on the side and next to our driveway is a horse pasture

Foyer

Guest Bath

Dining Room

Living Room

Stairs

Guest Room

Brad's Room

Rhiannon's Room

Our Room

Master Bath-I had to drill the brackets for the rod into the ceiling because the tub had no door and no place to hang a curtain. Just call me Handy Dani. It is way bigger than the guest bath so I had to do it.

The day before Jim left we took a road trip to Brugges, Belgium. It is on the coast and a quick 2.5 hour drive. From there you can actually take a ferry to London, but that's a trip for another time. Anyway, we went to a chocolate museum and learned a lot about it. I never knew how much work actually goes into making those delicious little treats. We also got downpoured on the whole time we were there with gale force winds. So we were only able to do the museum and have dinner. It was a memorable last day for sure.

The kids are growing and changing of course. Rhiannon loves school and has told us she doesn't like coming home because she wants to learn. Brad now can say coffee, thank you and yay yo which means Rhi Rhi. He is all boy and continually bangs himself up and throws fits all over the place. I am trying to socialize him and me more for both of our benefits. He loves to throw things down the stairs and a part of me wants to let him because he can go at it for awhile but it gets so loud and I am afraid something will eventually break. He sleeps in his big boy toddler bed now and is doing pretty well I must say. At first he would stand at the doorway and scream but now he just sits there and when he gets tired enough, he goes right into his bed. I got Rhi an alarm clock to help wake her in the morning because she is awful to wake up. Yesterday she got up and shut it off and went back to sleep. Oh well. We also had a little fun with chocolate pudding as you can see. I know it's gross but Rhiannon said something funny that reminded me of when me and my sister were kids eating chocolate pudding. She said, "It looks like poop!" When me and Alyssa were little we would take a bite and say, "Mmm poop." I know, it's nasty. But I guess we all think the same things.

Long Day at School

Pudding Fun

Our landlord Regina took us to the wild animal park in Gangelt today. It has lots of deer, pigs, bears, birds, etc. It was fun for the kids and they got to play in the mud a little bit too.

Interesting Things About Germany So Far...
Lots of spiders
Not many people speak English
All of our bills are in German (feel a little taken advantage of there)
Very green
Very few traffic lights
Lots of wind farms
Recycle EVERYTHING
It rains all the time
Absolutely nothing is open on Sundays
Driving anything bigger than a scooter is impossible and life threatening
Everyone rides bikes everywhere & they disregard other vehicle traffic
Getting gas is expensive and majorly inconvenient
Very relaxed attitudes and close knit communities

So far we are loving it here and are anxious to continue exploring. We miss everyone back home so much and I hope these posts are keeping you connected to us a little bit. Please call our Boston phone number and we'll call everyone too. It's only a 6 hour time difference. It was really hard for me at first not being able to call the people I talk to every day but now I will be barking my way into a new rate policy at Vonage. We love you all and are setting up the guestroom for anyone who can visit. Til next time...

P.S. I don't know what the hell is wrong with my formatting on this post but I have spent 2 hours trying to fix it. You know it's bugging me because I am very particular about my layouts. Anyway, I just felt like I had to mention it, and I will fix it on my mac when Jim gets home. Sorry if the picture captions are confusing.

September 20, 2008

Welcome to Germany!

Ok so here we are in Germany, and have been for about a month now. I know I have been really bad lately with keeping in touch and answering emails and I apologize because we are super busy. Things should start to quiet down this coming week. We have a new baby (BMW) and a house that we can move into Friday. Our other car arrived yesterday and we finally have working cell phones. We are officially licensed to drive in Europe but are still getting lost. GPS is our new best friend, but it's moody and takes us wherever it feels like most of the time. There are about 100 different ways to get from point A to point B but I just want to learn one. There are a million spiders in our front doorway and about a billion on our street. Needless to say, I will be stocking up on raid because I HATE spiders! I get the shivers just writing about it. It's very green here and it always smells like poop. There are farms everywhere and in fact, we are going to live in an old farmhouse. We have already met some wonderful people and they have helped us out to no end, especially because almost nobody in Germany speaks English. We have had some interesting conversations with our hands and hopeless faces. It has been an interesting adjustment and we've mostly just been tired but things are looking better every day. Jim is going to Munich next week for the real Octoberfest and we are both going to one on base tonight. I am so jealous but I'm ready to go for next year. I'm sorry I don't have many pictures yet, just the one of our new baby, the front of our house, and some of the kids playing.


The house is really great. It doesn't look like much from the outside but inside is completely redone. The entire downstairs is modern and has a huge living room, a dining room that is separate so we won't be watching TV and eating anymore, and an office and a kitchen with an enormous pantry off of it and a laundry room. Outside the laundry room is the garage and it opens up to a large large large courtyard complete with cobblestones. The people who live there now are leaving their stone BBQ and hopefully their patio furniture. They have lots of plants outside and it has given me many ideas for what I want to do out there. There is also a barn off the courtyard where we can store some stuff. It is perfect for the kids to play out there. They can't escape and I don't have a lawn to mow! Hopefully less spiders too. Next to our long driveway there is a horse pasture. Rhiannon is crazy about horses. Upstairs is the older part of the house. Part of it was rebuilt after the war. It has four bedrooms, three of which are very big, and we have two full bathrooms. There is also an attic for more storage if we need it. The best part for me is the wine cellar. It was a bunker during the war and now I will make my spirits down there. Hope not to encounter any... Ok so I will post some more pictures once we get moved in and I need to go for now and get ready for my first Octoberfest. It's also my first time using a completely random babysitter so wish me luck! Oh, one more thing. Rhiannon loves school. She wants to do homework every night. It was a good thing to get her in so early. She fits right in without any trouble. She'll be riding the bus from our new house and I am still nervous about that. Talk to you all later. Tschüs (choos) Almost forgot. Our new phone number should be working Friday. It's 617-307-1277.