Legos, Parks, and Swaddles

This is one of those random posts that has no purpose other than to document our normal, everyday lives. Memories that matter even if they aren't spectacular.

My boys love Legos. They are the "Scuba Steve" of our existence, that's for sure. (Movie reference. You get 4,000 points if you can name the movie.) One thing about Legos is that they are always evolving. We don't have the kind of boys who build a work of art and set it on a shelf. We have the kind of boys whose mother captures every moment on film and preserves it that way. So, what would boys with that kind of mother do when they build something? Borrow her camera, of course. That way they can tear it down and build something else, while saving the memory of that creation forever. And here are their latest creations, photographed by them:

Yes, this is a Lego gun, taped together by Duct tape sent to Hayden from Grammy.

Indiana Jones scene.

And Indy captures the idol.

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We love the park. We love to go outside and run and play, but we had a cold spell a couple of weeks ago. Parker was cold and tired, so I used one of his favorite blankets and swaddled him, just as we do to put him to bed. He was in heaven... outside, swaddled, watching his brothers play.

With a bib ever-ready to capture the spit-up created by his severe acid reflux issues.

Can you spot Carson?

A Day in Heidelberg

Friendship. It knows no boundaries. My friends are all over the world, literally. But how blessed am I that one of my closest friends from Colorado moved to Germany just a few months before I did? While she lives 2 1/2 hours south of me, we have made great efforts to see each other ever other month or so. Though I admit, even if we met weekly, it wouldn't be enough. Here are some pictures from a day we met halfway for lunch. The time we had was short, but it was very much worth the drive! And we got to try something unique to that area: Flammkucken. Check out the picture below.

Count down continued...

I could write for hours on my experiences over the past week! I do hope I'm able to journal my thoughts because they are priceless to me. Over my time as a mother I have learned more and more the meaning expressed in Luke when he wrote that "Mary pondered these things in her heart." I bet she would have been a journaling lady... I want to remember every detail but do not trust my memory to do so.

8 March - Monday was one of the worst days I've had in many years. I believe it may have been influenced by normal pregnancy hormones but amplified by the pitocin still coursing through me, as well as the fact that instead of holding my infant I was "doing school" with the boys. Anticlimactic may be a word to describe it, but either way, it was rough. Bailey struggled with reading which sent me into a crying spell which could compete with any rotten two-year-old. During another part of school, after I had composed myself, Hayden came over and told me that an MP was writing something near my car. I went outside in socks, big belly, and pj pants, and a tee-shirt the boys had made that said, "World's Best Mommy" on it. We've been parking facing traffic every since we got here, along with 10 or so other cars on our street. I like to do this as I can open the automatic van door and my boys jump right out of the car onto the sidewalk in front of our house. They don't have to cross the street at all when we park like this. Well, when I kindly asked what was wrong he explained that "there have been complaints" about all the cars parking the wrong way. I asked if I could simply turn it around and I think he may have detected a wildness in my spirit that he was safest to avoid and he said, "I think I can do that." He quit writing my ticket and went on to the next car. I felt so bad the rest of the day for all the other car owners who had pink tickets flapping in the breeze. So - Hayden saved the day, as did Parker, whose presence reached the MP a full minute before I did! Something about a pregnant belly can speak volumes!

Later that day I ran to the commissary and while there used the restroom (can't make it in and out without a stop in the restroom). I got home with my loot and tried to find my phone. No where. I called it three times hoping I'd hear it in one of the bags. Eventually someone answered it. She was in the restroom at the commissary! I thanked her for answering and asked if she'd leave it with the manager. She did better than that... She brought it to me! And as it turns out, while I was thanking her and we were getting to know each other, she and Matt sat together at a recent function and her husband is in our unit. Small world and God put her in the restroom "for such a time as this." Never thought I'd put the word "restroom" and that scripture together...

So on a day that was as difficult emotionally as I could have endured God broke through and intervened on my behalf, saving me a ticket and a lost iPhone. In the midst of my hard day He reminded me that he's still here and still cares about my life. And if he still cares about the silly stuff I just described then he MUST still care about my baby, the timing in which he arrives, and the health concerns related to the pregnancy.

Tuesday and Wednesday were much better days but Thursday was beautiful! We had prepared the house once again for Parker's arrival so when we woke up on Thursday all 5 of us were able to just relax and watch TV. The boys had put in a "Dirty Jobs" on high-rise window washing and while I had planned to get ready to go get Nana and Papa I got engrossed in that episode. It was a fun, spontaneous, relaxed moment in which our very last few hours as a family of five were just perfect. We laughed till we hurt and then we loaded our van and headed to the airport. We got there in plenty of time and after only about 30 minutes of waiting we saw Nana and Papa!!!

Because it was close to noon, the Hamricks were ready for lunch and, though they were arriving at 5 am on their body-clocks, Nana and Papa were up for a quick lunch at the PX. We decided to keep it low-key and let them get settled in at home so we headed there after we ate. It was a great day of talking and of me showing mom all the things I had done in an attempt to make our lives easier while they were here and I was not working at 100%. We all went to bed early as we had had a big day and the next held hope of meeting Mr. Parker...

Two months down...

Where has January gone? It seems like just yesterday I was hurriedly writing our "Year in Review" blog waiting on Matt to get home with our new (but very old) car. Much has happened in the past few weeks, though most of it mundane. I'm okay with mundane!

I'll fill you in as I'm sure you've been waiting impatiently for me to do just that! But first, one observation: We've been in Germany 2 months and 1 day. In many ways I feel like we just got here, but in others I feel like we have been here much longer. 2 months ago today was Thanksgiving and we celebrated it with the Keslings. We had only been in country 24 hours and were so jetlagged. We were glad to be out of the confines of the hotel but were still looking around dazed and confused. Fast forward to today and I sit here in my house, fully furnished with my things that arrived (mostly) unharmed. I not only have my house set up, I have a baby nursery completely finished just waiting on its new occupant. How in the world did we get from hotel to home in such a short time? My only answer is that many prayers have been prayed and all have been answered. We are so thankful for the many prayer warriors we have standing behind us, lifting us up in their homes, churches, and small groups. Without those prayers, we very well may still be in a hotel waiting for a house to come available.

Now that I have shared that observation, I will look back at the past few weeks in a bit more detail.

10 Dec. We got our unaccompanied baggage, a WONDERFUL day! I put our Christmas tree up and a few of our personal photos around the house.

11 Dec. I took my second 3-hour glucose test and failed miserably. (I had passed the first one in the states, so I developed Gestational Diabetes at around 26 weeks.)

17 Dec. MY STUFF ARRIVED! Oh, what fun I had putting things where they belonged. Okay, fun might not be the word, but I was glad to fill our empty house with our things!

22 Dec. I finally had my diabetes appointment which opened my eyes to a whole new world. I never had any idea what managing one's blood sugar levels entailed. (The day before, Stephanie drove 2 hours here to get me, drove me and all 5 of our kids an hour and a half away to a Pharmacy that had what I needed for my appointment, the drove us back home. Then, of course, she had another 2 hour drive back home. Army is just family waiting to be introduced. I am blessed!)

31 Dec. We get our new (but old) car and have the freedom to drive to Ramstein Air Base to see our friends who had taken the ultimate adventure and flown Space-A to Germany!! We welcomed the New Year in but only barely, as the boys fell asleep 20 minutes before midnight and we had to work hard to keep our eyes open. It was very strange not being able to see the ball drop this year. I was NOT about to wake up at 6 am to see that... sleep was more important!

1 Jan. We spent almost the entire day at the Ramstein BX/PX because we had told the boys that our treat for the afternoon would be to see the "Squeakquel." When we got there to buy our tickets they were sold out. We were VERY disappointed. I decided to head back to the cashier and ask if there were any tickets left for the later showing and she said there were. But only 4. She sold them to me and then told me that Bailey would just have to sit in Matt's lap. NO PROBLEM! Only thing was that movie was much later than I expected. We ended up at the Bailey's house after 7, if I remember correctly. But we still had time to chat and visit before bedtime.

2 Jan. We took our first trip to a touristy destination: Triberg, Germany, home of the "House of 1000 Clocks." We ate real Black Forest Cake in the real Black Forest. We about froze as the temps were much cooler there than we had expected. We didn't get to see the largest waterfall in Germany because we didn't realize we'd have to pay to see it. None of us has the energy to spend the time outside to see it, plus we didn't really want to pay for it. So, we headed back to the Bailey's house for our 2nd night and had the men go get Doners for dinner. YUM.

3 Jan. What fun we had that morning! We got the kids as bundled up as we could and let them sled for about an hour! I believe that was the highlight of the weekend for my boys, considering the trip to Triberg was mostly an adult-fun kind of day.

4 Jan. I take my DRIVER'S TEST! And I pass! I studied a lot because I had heard what a tough test it was going to be. It was worth it and I was SO thankful to have passed! (Small note, today, the 26th, I got my real license in the mail! I've had the temporary one in my wallet thus far!)

5 Jan. I get a call at 4 pm stating that my car is here. WHAT?!? I asked if we could come right then but he said there wasn't time. I had to wait until the next day.

6 Jan. Now, I don't mean to undermine any of the previously mentioned amazing things I had experienced thus far, but there was something truly blessed in having my van returned to me. After being squashed in a tiny BMW, which we are absolutely grateful for, having my van which perfectly fits my family was truly a God-send. I love having my independence and I love being able to fit my family into one car without having everyone touch each other. Being in a BMW with 3 kids is like trying to fit all 5 of us in a queen sized bed and trying to get a good night's sleep. Could we sleep? Maybe. Could we get a good night's sleep? Uh, no. SO, spreading out in my van was glorious! And, on top of that, I had freedom to come and go as I pleased while Matt was at work. I had a drs apt later that week and was able to take myself! (I've learned that my van will fit in the parking garage but on level 4 my antenna will scrape the ceiling, freaking me out every time!)

12 Jan. I attended the required New Parent Orientation class at WAAF giving me a prized possession: A tag to place in my car giving me access to the "Expectant Mom" parking places at the post office, commissary, and PX! YEAH! And it lasts until Parker's 6 weeks old! LOVE parking up close, especially when it's snowing!

I also had another diabetes appointment (haven't been listing them all as they're mostly boring) but at this one the dr threatened me with hospitalization if my numbers weren't better in 48 hours. I cried when I got home, got over it, mentioned it in FB and had many people praying for me very soon. My dad fasted from sweets and soft drinks which is a very difficult thing for him to do, as he's the one who unashamedly eats dessert before meals whenever possible. I appreciated this more than he'll know!

13 Jan. I attended my first Chaplains' Spouses Coffee. It's good to be around other people in similar situations! Starting to get back into a normal lifestyle!

19 Jan. My first PWOC in Germany! Oh, how sweet it is. I actually had tears streaming down my face during worship as we sang, "In Christ Alone." So great worshipping with other women and then getting to sit and learn in an intimate setting with them. So great I can't put it into words.

I meant to mention that at some point the boys started going to AWANA. The first week all three were hesitant, but Carson and Bailey dove right in. Hayden said several times that he didn't want to go. The next week all three went and again and Hayden was still hesitant. Matt asked him afterwards if he had a good time and his much-too-mature-for-his-own-good response was, "If you're asking if I want to go back next week, the answer is, "no." Well, tonight happens to be AWANA night and he has not complained since and goes with no trouble at all. He actually has fun! It just takes him a while to warm up to new situations. He gets that from Matt, not me, but I'm sure that's pretty obvious to anyone who knows us! :)

22 Jan. I take the boys to our first homeschool co-op thing since Hayden was in Kindergarten. Physical Ed at WAAF and they really enjoyed it!

23 Jan. Oh, was this a lovely day! Matt had scheduled a Pedicure for me and gave me several hours off in the middle of the day. I went to Babies R Us and looked like an idiot trying to get a buggy. You have to put a Euro in the slot to release the buggy from the buggy in front of it, but I misread the sign and was trying to put in the wrong coin. I asked help from a German lady who sifted through my change only to discover I didn't have the right coin. She, thankfully, had left her buggy unsnapped and walked over and got it for me. I'm sure she walked to her car thinking to herself all sorts of less-than-flattering thoughts about me. Oh well, I got a buggy and shopped by myself for over an hour. It was heavenly!

25 Jan. I had my 2nd opinion diabetologist review my numbers and insulin levels. She told me that all looked fine and I should continue on as I have been. What a relief to know that so far I'm doing a good job!

26 Jan. And here we are, to today! Another great day of PWOC and AWANA for my family. Chapel services are what we get as a formal time of worship with other believers. I consider these two ministries as what "Sunday School" might be in the civilian world. Our SS class in Forest City was a group of people in a similar age group in similar life settings doing life together. We welcomed each others babies into the world, worked hard at Upward basketball, and played hard at softball. Not to mention, we ate together every Sunday night after church at Bantam Chef!

We don't have that same luxury in the military setting, but PWOC offers part of that to me, AWANA offers that to the boys. I wish there was something like this for Matt.

27 Jan - TOMORROW we get to go tour the hospital where I'll have Parker! Can't wait to see what is in store for me! I've heard so many stories!

It's hard to believe that all of the above has happened in 2 months. And even harder to believe that our 4th son is due in 51 days... less than 2 months! I love adventure and having a life that is sometimes a whirlwind! But I'm glad that we're here for 3 years and can get settled in and get more of a routine! Speaking of that, when I left the homeschool co-op Friday, a friend I had met at PWOC 3 days earlier said, "I guess I'll see you on Tuesday." That small comment made me realize that I am finally getting into a routine, one in which I'll see friends on a regular basis. It made me start to feel at home here. While I already feel at home in my home, it is great to begin to feel that way when out and about with other people!

Some thoughts on Germany...

This entry may be a bit scatterbrained, but at least I’m admitting it up front. The past several weeks have been a complete whirlwind and I’ve loved almost every bit of it. Six weeks ago today we entered the Colorado Inn at Fort Carson since much of our stuff was in boxes and it was next to impossible to be comfortable in our house. We loved that place very much and hated to leave it at all, but with me being pregnant and the boys being, well, boys, we needed to get away from the boxes and on to a place that would house us. Staying at that hotel afforded us the chance to still be on post, near our friends, and among our familiar surroundings. We had a great view of our mountain and the boys had plenty of room to run around. After six nights there we loaded up our van and drove across the country. We chose a southern route in order to see new sights! We stayed in Amarillo and Dallas TX, Lafayette, LA, Pensacola, FL, and finally made it to Orlando a day early. We stayed in a non-Disney hotel for 3 nights before the grandparents arrived for our real vacation and we got settled in Port Orleans, Riverside for six nights. Great hotel with wonderful food, on site with a convenient shuttle bus system to take us back and forth to the parks. That trip was a dream come true, one we had waited and waited for. I so appreciate Disney for offering the Military Discounts that made the magic possible! The only disappointing part was Animal Kingdom but Matt and I had suspected that and, as it was our last day, all of us were pretty much ready to be done and none were too sad to leave the park early. (Not much on animals in the first place.) After we completed our stay at Riverside we moved into a hotel I had selected along with the help of our fabulous Travel Agent, Melissa Sims. It was within walking distance to the POV Processing Center where we were to drop off the van for shipping and it had a free shuttle to the airport. We spent 3 nights in this hotel waiting for our flight to Germany. I’ve written about our experience getting to the airport, about the flight, and our first night in the German hotel in this blog.

So I want to write a bit about our time here in Germany with some pictures I’ve taken of random things I have found neat or interesting.

I’m going to start with some things I noticed at my doctor’s appointment.

* When they had me drink the sugar water, it was not an “orange soda” kind of drink at all! It was 75 g of water that they had mixed up probably the day before with some serious sugar or something. It was just in a mason jar and the nurse poured it into a Dixie cup. I had to drink it all right then…no 5 minute window.

* There is only one chair for giving blood in the offices that I saw, so when they needed to take my blood and the chair was occupied, the nurse just took it in the lobby.

* When they take a vial of blood, they take it to the lobby and put it on the receptionist’s desk. You’d never see that in America. (Not saying there’s anything wrong with this, but it just doesn’t happen in America. Blood doesn’t come to the lobby for any reason!)

* They do an ultrasound at every visit, and the dr. does it herself. She was very quick and I’d say she was better at it than any technician I’ve ever had in America. Got a beautiful picture of Parker in just seconds!

(I took a picture of myself at the request of a few friends wanting to see the baby bump. Here it is at 25 weeks 5 days.)

Here are some random things I’ve experienced:

* Drinks in restaurants – they don’t give you ice in your drinks and since I was prepared for this, I just accept it. I don’t try to order ice, I just drink my coke as it comes. There are no refills so we tell the boys to go easy on it. There is a neat concoction that I had been told about before we came that my boys really like – coke mix. It’s a mixture of sprite and coke! The boys love to go to fountain machines and get a little of everything (GAG) so this is like a toned down version of that!

* It stays dark until 8:30 am and is dark again at 5 pm. I have heard that the summer is the opposite, with it light at 5 am and still a bit bright out at 10 pm.

* It rains almost every day. This leaves everything, sidewalks, streets, playgrounds, benches, etc, soggy and moist all the time. I am using a LOT of stain remover on their clothes and washing their coats all the time due to moss and mud. But at least they’re playing outside. We are currently borrowing a car from some friends and it is SPOTLESS. They don’t have small children with muddy shoes so we’re putting walmart bags on the boys’ feet before they pull their feet in the car. Works pretty well! (And, of course, they don’t get in with muddy clothes. We only get muddy at the playground and if we’re going somewhere in the car, they change into clean clothes.)

* The dollar is very weak. We had to pay 50 Euros for something and we can just use our debit card. The receipt always shows the Euros and the dollar amount, which was something like $76.00. (This pic is of our first ATM withdrawal of Euros - I blurred out important info...)

* The windows are strange here. There’s a handle on the side that turns ¼ of a turn to open the window like a door or ½ a turn for the window to crack open from the top. Odd, but effective

* There are water shut off valves on wall above sink and toilets in my house and they were in the hotel as well… strange placement.

* The houses around here are beautiful and very old! Most were probably single family homes for very wealthy people years ago and have been converted into multi-family apartments. (Wiesbaden is an upscale town, very wealthy. We have seen stuffed animals in store windows downtown that cost 700 Euro, and that is $1025.19!!!!)

* Most of the cars are SUPER small! They look hilarious to me, considering I have 4 kids and these cars often don’t even have a back seat or any storage at all.

* There are few bathrooms in public, if any, and those you run across might require a fee to be able to use them. This picture was taken in a restaurant we ate in. The sign says that if you are a customer of the restaurant you don’t have to pay, but if not, place 50 Euro Cents in the box.

So, to wrap up the past few weeks since arriving in Germany:

We got here on the 25^th of NOV and had Thanksgiving with friends we had met in Columbia a few years ago. We spent 9 nights in the American Arms hotel, ready to be home. We had no trouble sleeping the first several nights after just being so exhausted. But then the time change caught up with us and we needed to “help” our systems adjust so Benedryl became our friend. (I even had to give the boys some two nights… wide awake at 11:00 pm is not my idea of okay, but their systems thought it was somewhere between 3-5 pm…not sure if their body’s were on Mountain time or East Coast time). I also started having my annoying issue with hives again, though until this past Sunday they were not severe. During the time in the hotel Hayden felt Parker kick, and was the first one other than me to feel him. Matt felt him a few hours later. Bailey asked the funniest question: (he's 5 years old) "When Parker comes out, are you gonna love him?" Me: "Oh yes, I will love him so much." Bailey: "If he's not our color, you'll still love him." Me: "I sure will." (But if he's not our color, I'll have some serious explaining to do to Matt!)

And we purchased iPhones after waiting years for them. Very pleased with our purchases and haven’t regretted it for one moment!

We moved into our house with just the things we flew here with on 4 DEC and have felt at home ever since. The Army had placed beds, couch and chairs, and a dining set in the house for us to use until our goods come. A friend in Matt's new unit loaned us enough bedding and linens as well as some curtains to tide us over, and CH Kesling loaned us a TV and DVD player. My what a blessing! Since I can’t purchase coffee yet (must have a ration card for that) Heather gave me some from her house. I think Matt and I would have been growing beans out back if we hadn’t had that gift given to us! He’s going to try to find out about getting our ration cards tomorrow, his first official day on the job.

Our Unaccompanied Baggage (that we had shipped 7 OCT) was delivered 10 DEC and I put our tree up right away. (Our Unaccompanied Baggage in front of our Colorado house being packed for shipping.) (Our baggage being unloaded here in Germany.) Found out that night as I was putting lights on that half of them were out. Matt bought more the next day and we’ve had a beautiful tree up since then! We are lamp people, using overhead lighting very seldom. Being in this house without our belongings, however, has caused us to have to use overhead lights. Now that we have the tree up we can turn off all the rest of the lights and watch TV by the light of the tree, which gives a much more homey feel. LOVE those moments! Oh, and I had asked my facebook friends to pray that my sentimental ornaments arrive unharmed… they did! Not a single one damaged! These are so special to me as Matt and I have been collecting them since we met.

We have had one crying spell with Hayden (8 years old) because he misses his friend, Jeremy. It breaks my heart but at the same time, I know this is part of the experience. He’s learning hard lessons and how to handle them well. He’s written several notes and now I just need to get them stamped and in the mail. We have a trip planned to visit our great friends, the Baileys, for New Years. Stephanie is one of my closest friends and our kids are close as well. I have missed her since she left Colorado ahead of us back in the summer. We’re only 2 hours apart and once I get my van (and driver’s license) it’ll be MUCH easier to visit. For now, we’re excited about getting to see them soon!

I failed my one hour, then my 3 hour glucose tests, so I have to go to a diabetologist. Never heard that word before, but I’m going to see one.

Love the milk… Army milk and its organic. Who knew?!?

Carson lost his 3^rd tooth and he says, “I have an “L” in my mouth!”

I got my internet and phone turned on yesterday and feel SO much better. Access to the outside world and the ability to type with both hands makes me happy! It’s the little things in life…

Well, I’ve been under the weather for the past 4 days and the boys have had to fend for themselves for the most part. I think I’m feeling better so we may attempt a walk around the neighborhood. Tomorrow I go to WAAF (the Army post where Matt works) to schedule my diabetologist appointment and to see if I can get my glucometer. Yuck. Glad to be feeling better!

Merry Christmas, my friends and family! If you celebrate a holiday other than Christmas, then Happy Holidays! (But I must say I'm a bit annoyed that so many TV stations are ignoring that this is actually a Christmas Season and refuse to say that word. I don't mind if they want to add the other Holidays to their well wishes to their viewers, but I wish they would recognize my holiday!) At least they're still showing movies that say Christmas, like 'A Charlie Brown Christmas.' Off my soap box for now!

~Jennifer

From hotel to home...

This very long entry journals the process of our family getting from the hotel in Wiesbaden to our new apartment.

Before I left the states I emailed the Assistant Housing Manager of Wiesbaden Army Air Field (where we are stationed). She was able to tell me that they had several units open that we qualified for and no one with 4 kids, at the time, was scheduled to come here. We arrived here on the day before Thanksgiving, which meant we were not going to be able to go to housing until after the 4-day weekend. Matt headed to work bright and early on Monday and began in-processing, to include a trip to housing. Because we didn’t have one piece of paper (a statement of pregnancy) they had to put us on the list for a 4 bedroom unit. No worries. The next day I was off to run a few errands, to include a stop at the Clinic to get that ever-so-handy piece of paper that would give us an additional bedroom. Since we don’t have a car, our Sponsor brought Matt back after he finished what he was doing, arriving around 3 pm. This would be PLENTY of time to get the piece of paper signed and over to Housing by 4 pm. The lady who was responsible for getting the paper generated did a more than thorough job and explained so much to me. Quite helpful information, but I missed getting to housing by 5 minutes. I had Matt take the paper over the next day (Wednesday) and they put us on the list for a 5 br. As far as giving us an estimated wait time, all they would tell Matt was that there were several empty but they were on hold, needing something else done to the before they were going to be made available. At this point we had been in the hotel one week. Not that a week was a long time, but after having been in hotels for the past month, we were pretty anxious to be home. That night I had a girls’ night out with a new friend, Heather, whom I had met at the PX. (On our 3^rd day here in Germany I noticed a lady nursing a baby and she was using one of those fancy nursing covers I’ve heard about. I wanted to ask if she thought it was worth the price, so I asked. Well, we’ve become fast friends and she’s been invaluable to me since that meeting!) During our dinner at Vapiano’s Heather, and another hotel guest, Katy suggested I stay on top of the housing office because Katy had already been in the hotel almost 4 weeks. I decided to be proactive, so Thursday morning I packed my boys up and we rode the bus to the Airfield. I walked in and immediately was introduced to “G” who checked the list again. I had a few questions about the houses we could get into and sat there leisurely asking my questions while the boys sat in the hallway coloring. After hearing the same thing, that there were houses empty but still on hold waiting something like painting, cleaning, etc. I informed “G” that I’d be back on Monday to see. Her first comment was, “No, that won’t be possible.” I thought maybe Housing was going to be closed or something so innocently, I asked why? She got a bit flustered and I said that I didn’t mind coming back out to check. We stumbled over a few sentences, and I don’t really remember what she said but basically, she was trying to get across the idea that nothing was going to change between then and Monday so there was no use even coming back. After this strange exchange of jibberish, she said “Hang on.” She reached over and placed a phone call. She told the person on the other end of the line that she had a mother in her office with three sons, one on the way. That we were still in the hotel and that the houses that we qualified for were on Hold status. She asked if she could find out what exactly they were waiting to be completed before releasing the houses for availability. I sat there hardly breathing, trying to keep my composure. The boys were getting restless at this point so we started a game of, “I SPY.” I was trying so hard to act interested in that silly game while hearing what I could of the conversation on the phone. After she hung up she said that the person who was in charge of the contractors, the same person who had the keys to all the houses we were qualified for, was out to lunch. She’d be back in 2 hours. I said, “I’ll be back here in 2 hours and we’ll call again.” “G” didn’t seem to mind that, so I headed to the clinic to get my OB appointment scheduled and a prescription refilled. Waiting those 2 hours was difficult, but we managed. When we returned, we found that “G” was missing. I about had a heart attack, but her desk-neighbor, “S,” was willing to help. She said that she knew “G” had called but that the houses were still on hold. She decided to get into the system, as I looked pretty comfy in her chair and the boys were back to their coloring. As she pulled up the screen she noticed that the statuses had changed for two of the units. (Air from the room was sucked out by a preggo lady trying not to get her hopes up.) I tried to breathe normally as I realized that there was a chance we were going to be moving into a house within the next couple of weeks! The only catch was that Matt was taking his driving test and not able to sign the paperwork. She let me do that, and told me that I needed to get the keys. The next catch was that we didn’t have a car and the keys had to be picked up within 30 minutes, as the lady with the keys was leaving for the day. No worries… “S” found someone willing to drive me over there. As we were walking to the car, the kind gentleman realized I was not alone. That I had 3 kids in tow. He was either worried about his car or their safety, as I didn’t have their booster seats…most likely the former which doesn’t bother me at all! He decided he’d run over to get the keys and meet me at the Food Court in a few minutes. He returned and handed me the keys to two apartments that I got to take my choice of. I was speechless, which is pretty much a rare occurrence. Eventually I found my voice, well, my fingers, and typed that as my Facebook status. We had to have the keys returned by 4 pm, as all Civilian offices close at 4 (that may be a sarcastic remark…not sure). We were hungry and the bus back to the housing area where these two apartments were located wasn’t due to arrive for 30 minutes. I got the boys settled with pizza from Anthony’s and ordered a steak and cheese from some strange place that severely pales in comparison to Charley’s Steakery. (We have one of those at Mainz-Kastel, but not at the Airfield.) I determined that if Matt didn’t finish his test in time that the boys and I were leaving for the house without him, as we needed to get to the house and back by 4. Fortunately, Matt finished (and passed) his test in time and we were off as a family to see our possible new home. Before we loaded the bus I bought a box of 9 Cinnabon’s fresh out of the oven and dropped it off at the housing office. My new friends were out to lunch but the lady at the front desk said she’d give it to them when they returned. The address was 29 Merkurstrasse 1. We had never had to read a German address before and so we tried our keys on 2 houses before we got to the right one. Fortunately, either the incorrect houses were under construction or the tenants weren’t home. When we saw our house it looked better than the two we had mistaken for ours, which was good, but we still had no idea what the inside looked like. We tried the key and for the first time, the lock turned! We were in! I really wanted to be on the bottom floor, so that’s the one we tried first, as the other option was in the same building, one floor up. We walked in and were absolutely amazed at the sight. Our house is huge. Bigger, even, than our house in Colorado! We had expected to gain a room and lose a few hundred square feet. We actually gained several hundred square feet! The kitchen is 3X the size of my CO one, my dining room is over 2X the size, and my living room is at least 3X the size. The boys’ rooms are average size and ours is pretty big! We don’t have 3 bathrooms but you won’t hear me complain! Just two to swish-and-swipe every night! We were thrilled and didn’t want to leave. I let Matt go explore the basement, which turned out to be huge, as well! What had originally served 4 families is now shared by two. We have the space under half our building, and the apartment above will have the other half. There are 220v outlets inside the basement so I’ll be able to put a chest freezer down there. PUMPED about that! Matt also ran upstairs to make sure that apartment was the same and didn’t have something we would really rather have than the 1^st floor apartment. They are identical, so we decided we’d take the lower level. This particular house was originally a 4-unit building and they’ve converted it into a 2-unit building, and for now, we’re the only family in the entire building. We look forward to when another large family moves in above us and are praying for good friends for the boys.

(This picture shows 2/3rds of our house. The far left balcony is our living room, the two windows to the right are our bedroom, and you can see the balcony that stretches the rest of the way to the right side of the building in the edge of the picture. In that balcony are windows for our bathroom and Hayden's room).

We got on the bus back to the Airfield where we reluctantly turned in the key. We accepted the lower one and declined the upper level one. Matt could come in at 8:00 am and get them for real! Less than 24 hours after I made my first appearance in front of “G” we had keys and full access to our house! God really paved a way for us and we were thrilled!

Friday morning came and I couldn’t sleep past 5 am! SO excited to know that I had spent my last night in a hotel for a while! It was a crazy day, with Matt at work for the first couple of hours, my first OB appointment at 10:00, housing inspector at 2:00, Matt was going to purchase a car at 2:30. Our sponsor took me to the apt just for me to find out that I didn’t have the one sheet of paper I needed. I rescheduled and he had to turn around to get me back. He dropped me off at the PX so I could purchase a few things. He finished getting the boys and Matt, as well as the last of our belongings, over to the house before coming to back for me. I picked up $40 worth of Burger King (gag) and we had our first meal in our house. As of yet, I haven’t mentioned that housing put a kitchen table, 6 chairs, a living room set, and 5 beds in the house so we would be able to get by until our goods come. So we ate lunch with our Sponsor in our new dining room on borrowed furniture. And it was grand!

Matt left after a while to buy the car only to call me later saying that the deal fell through. We prayed for wisdom and discernment and we both feel a peace about not having made that purchase. While riding the bus is getting old, it is doable and sufficient during the week. And God has provided me with a friend, the previously mentioned Heather, who took me to my rescheduled OB appointment.

So there is our journey from hotel to home! More to come as I find the time to write!

(This is a 3-minute walk-through video of our house as we saw it the first time we saw it. We moved in less than 24 hours later.)

From Disney World to Germany

So I pick up where I left off... Animal Kingdom. I could go back to Disney World and never enter the gates of Animal Kingdom again. Matt and I had been there years ago and we told ourselves that the main reason we didn't like it then was because it was so new and very few attractions were open. Nope, just don't like it. Hayden enjoyed Expedition Everest, but his favorite ride of the week was the Rockin' Roller Coaster at Hollywood Studios. We all enjoyed the Nemo show, but not enough to make us spend a day there just to see it. So, when we take Parker in 5-6 years, we'll do 2 Magic Kingdom Days, 2 Hollywood Studios Days, and 1 Epcot day.

We had half a day left on our tickets after Animal Kingdom and had planned on going back to Magic Kingdom for a few hours, but we decided we'd rather go back to our hotel and prepare for our flight the next day. We stopped by Target and got a few odds and ends before returning to the hotel. Matt took the car to be cleaned and the boys got settled in with their Legos while I began the serious task of packing our stuff. It looked like we were going to need to purchase another duffle bag to fit the expansion of our belongings. I had done this before we left Colorado and ended up with a couple too many, so I gave those extras to my mom. I was determined that I was not going to have to re-purchase bags... it was the principle of the matter! The next day as I was able to get serious and pack things for real (meaning I could pack everything since we had already showered and put on new clothes) I was able to get all our things in the suitcases we had.

When Tuesday came we were given a measly 2 hour extended check out. We would have appreciated being allowed to stay in the hotel until 3-4 but the manager was not very giving. I was quite nervous about what to do with the boys for 7 hours in the airport so we drove the three miles to check it out. Matt dropped me off at the correct departing airline gate and I walked in and looked around. I found this airport to be MUCH more conducive to waiting with children than the one in Charlotte. In Charlotte, as soon as you walk in the door, you're faced with the baggage check desks. There is nowhere to go other than the desks, then through security. This would be fine if we were within 3 hours prior to our departing flight, but since we were getting there 7 hours early we couldn't check our baggage yet. BUT PRAISE THE LORD, the Orlando Airport is mostly open to all visitors and you don't have to check your bags or go through security to get to the restaurants and stores. While I was scoping it out I saw there were many groupings of chairs and tables which gave me so much relief! I left the airport knowing that while the specific prayers I had prayed were not answered the way I had asked them to be (for there to be someplace to store our luggage, etc) the prayers were answered in a different way.

After we went back to our room Matt left to drop off our van. It will arrive in Germany no later than 8 Jan. Oh, I do hope it's before then! While he was gone I inventoried our luggage. This was for my own peace of mind in case we arrived in Germany missing something. I wanted to easily know which piece was missing and a general idea of what was inside. As I rearranged stuff to fit and to hopefully be under the 50 lb mark, I wrote a number on the luggage tag with a Sharpie. After I numbered each bag and listed the contents, I put neon green curling ribbon on the top. Down in lobby I took a picture of the boys in front of the mountain of luggage. Quite funny!

After being dropped off at the airport, we rented 3 of those carts and filled them as full as we could. Here's our breakdown: 10 checked bags, 7 carry-0n bags, 3 car seats, 3 kids, 1 stroller, 1 dad, and 1 pregnant lady. HA! It was a sight! But we found a great place to turn into our mini home for a few hours.

We took turns running for food while the other parent stayed with the luggage and kids and ate lunch pretty late, around 2. (During the day I splurged and had 3 of my favorite Fast Foods: Starbucks, Chick-fil-a, and Krispy Kreme! YES, they had KK in the airport!!) The boys played with Legos, they colored, they played UNO, and for the most part, they did just fine. During our time waiting Matt took a few of the heavier pieces of luggage to the scales and found that only one was over weight, and by only 5 lbs. So he rearranged it and all the bags were within our limit. At around 5 pm we went to get in the massively long line of people flying to Germany and it only took about 20 minutes to get through the line to the desk where we checked our bags. Then it took about another 15 minutes to get our stuff handed over. We returned our carts, receiving $0.25 back for each of them out of the $4.00 per cart we had spent. Oh well. They were a necessity.

Then we were off to security. The nice lady saw our posse coming and sent us through a new line and with relative ease we were cleared to go through the gate. After picking up some Burger King for the boys we sat and waited for our flight. I got to speak with my brother, my mom, and Anna before we boarded the plane.

Our flight was long, 9 hours, but pretty painless, I guess. The food was gross so I'm really glad someone suggested we feed the boys something before we boarded. Our first taste of Germany was the water... one of the boys wanted water with their dinner and they got "bubble water." Plain soda water, which is gross! I tried several times during the flight to just get plain water, which I knew they had because I had seen it when the flight attendant walked by. I ended up slightly dehydrated since I hadn't eaten since 2 pm and was only able to get about 3 small glasses of plain water all evening. I felt parched and worried that the dehydration sickness I had experienced before was going to kick in. I think it was starting to toward the end because I started feeling queasy, which is rare for me. I found my Seabands and that helped me make it through the rest of the flight.

I watched 2 movies and 2 TV shows, thankful to have the ability to pause, rewind, and select what I wanted to watch. I didn't sleep at all because I was afraid my boys would to do the stranger next to them what the toddler next to me was doing to me. She was completely asleep and sprawled on her mom with her feet facing me. Every now and then she'd try to stretch out (who wouldn't?!?) and her feet would land on my stomach or arm. At one point she kicked so hard I grunted and it actually made the mom pay attention. I'm not sure which I disliked more... the kicking or when she'd lay her head on my arm rest, getting all in my personal space. I eventually stuck a pillow between us so at least there was some layer of distance between us. I was terrified my boys would do this to some poor stranger that I stayed up watching. Bailey slept upright the entire time, and Carson and Hayden, who were seated next to each other, slept with their heads sharing pillows on the same arm rest. For the most part they weren't a bother. Around 2 am (east coast time) Hayden yelled out, "WE'RE HERE!!" I was so glad he didn't wake anyone and that he went right back to sleep.

I enjoyed watching the flight on the map. I tracked us all the way across the ocean and into Frankfurt. It was a lot like watching a pot of water boil so I tried to focus mainly on the movies. I had packed a lot of stuff for the boys to do and had planned on getting my pictures from Disney edited while on the flight, but the space was so limited and the bags were stored in overhead compartments, so we just made do with the TVs. No one complained and we arrived at 5:15 am (east coast time) after eating a breakfast around 3:30 am...that was strange. Local time was 11:15 am and we made it through the passport guy with ease. All our luggage arrived and our Sponsor was waiting for us as soon as we walked out the door.

Our ride from the airport to the hotel was uneventful and we were able learn from Matt's Chaplain assistant, who has lived here for much of his life. (Dad was Army, mom is German.) We're fortunate to have someone who is so familiar with Germany to work with! Matt had to ride on a charter bus to do some serious in-processing so the assistant and our Sponsor brought the boys and me to the hotel. While checking in the hotel clerk said someone had dropped off some stuff for us. The hotel gives a bag to each guest that has paper towels and a few snacks. Our bag was stuffed to the brim with juice boxes, poptarts, popcorn, oatmeal cookies, nutrigrain bars, and more. There was a card on it and it was signed by another Chaplain and his wife! How thoughtful! It was such a treat to have someone think of us and have something ready for us the moment we arrived! Our Sponsor has been super and has gotten us well set up. AND, on top of all that, we received in invitation from Matt's Brigade Chaplain to spend Thanksgiving with them. As it turns out, we had met this family at Jackson several years ago so they aren't strangers! And our Sponsor and his wife will be there as well as the Chaplain and wife who gave us the treats at the hotel! We are amazed and blessed and we have only been here 24 hours.

Last night we ate dinner in the hotel downstairs which was pricy but it turned out to be a really good meal. Plus, we have a fridge and microwave so our leftovers will be consumed sometime soon! After dinner we walked to the PX. It's probably about a mile and a half away, and after a week at Disney, seems like nothing. We purchased a few things that will make hotel-living easier: adapters so we can charge our computers, laundry detergent (since I accidentally left mine at the Disney hotel), and a huge rubbermaid box with lid for the massive quantities of Legos the boys got from the grandparents for Christmas.

(Oh, cool, I'm hearing a police car outside and it's so "European." I've only heard that sound on TV before!).

Between our hotel and the PX is the hospital I've been told that I'll have Parker at so it was neat to see.

When we got home we got the boys settled in "their room" and that is a beautiful thing! The last time we had 2 rooms was the 8th of NOV in Colorado. It didn't make much sense to spend double the money for suites or two rooms when we were traveling, but now that we're parked for a while, it becomes worth it. We set them up with popcorn, juice boxes, and headed to bed. I think I was asleep before 10 and our entire family slept until 8:30. We had to get up then and rush downstairs for breakfast. I'll laugh at that 6 months from now because I'll know of so many pastry places that will blow this place out of the water, but for now, I just want something close and free. Breakfast ended at 9 so we got moving.

Now the boys are in their room watching a movie with Matt while I update this journal. If I don't do it every few days, I'll forget and will regret not taking the time.

As today is Thanksgiving I am reminded of how much I have to be thankful for. I'm extremely thankful that even though we're not with our family on this day we are still part of amazing families who will think of us and are praying for us as we start this new adventure. I'm thankful that God has ordained our steps and that this Thanksgiving was planned years before I was even born and he set in place the very people we are to be with today, some of whom I've never met. I'm thankful for a Country worth defending and for the chance to see other parts of the world as a result of my husband's obedience to the Lord. I'm thankful for Benedryl that clears itchy hives even though it makes me want to take a nap. And I'm thankful that it's Thanksgiving, a day made just for napping!

Disney World Journal

So here I am, with only 40 hours left in the US before we fly to Germany and I sit here wide awake. It's 3 am and the rest of the US is happily snoozing away and I'm WIDE AWAKE! I'm going to blame it on preggo insomnia but it's more likely that I've just got so much to do in the next 2 days that I want to get started now.

We have had an amazing time getting to this point and I wish I had had the time to journal each step of the way. I must say I'm grateful for Facebook as I've updated statuses along the way and can go back and read bits and pieces of our adventure later.

Our packers were efficient, though I won't know their level of quality until I receive my goods on the other side. We had one set of movers come out in early OCT and that stuff, our unaccompanied baggage, has already arrived in Germany. Our 2nd set of packers came 2-4 NOV and packed/loaded our HHG (household goods... almost everything we own). The 3rd and final set came 5 NOV to get the things that we had decided not to take with us, as well as the things that were decided for us that we couldn't take. Among these items there are 4 things I will miss the most: my side-by-side large fridge, my deep freezer, my super-capacity washing machine, and my new, AMAZING front loader dryer. I got them prepared for storage down to putting a tube sock full of charcoal in the deep freezer and my refrigerator. The moving company says this is the most effective way to keep them smelling fresh for 3+ years.

We began our hotel adventures on the 3rd of NOV to simplify matters... many people are willing to "rough it" in their house with no beds, plates, cups, etc. but since I'm expecting and, on top of that, have 3 active boys to entertain, there was no way I was going to do that. The hours we spent at the house with the movers were enough to confirm that we made the right choice in staying at the Colorado Inn. We had 2 rooms connected by a non-functioning kitchen area but each room had a microwave and mini-fridge. We made do just fine and appreciated the free laundry room at the end of the hallway. On Saturday the 7th the carpet cleaners came to do their magic and the next day we spent our last Sunday at New Life. I was given some adorable gifts for Parker by friends both at New Life and Fort Carson. I can't wait to see the little guy wearing them! I also celebrated my birthday that week and we went to Olive Garden to celebrate. YUMMY!

Monday, the 9th, we met our housing representative at the house for the final walk through quite nervous about what he'd find. Specifically speaking, when we moved in I had painted the downstairs walls a beautiful color (Contemplation, by Behr, if you're curious) and we had to prime over it before clearing. I was terrified the rep would walk in and say, "I don't think so... Go get more primer and add another coat." Let me stop here and say that on Thursday Matt sent me and the boys to the hotel to rest while he sat with the Non-temp packers. At 4 I called to check in and he had surprised me by painting 2 coats on these walls... something I had expected to have to do myself. Turns out it was good that he had done it since the Kilz was not safe for me to be around while pregnant. But my fears that these two coats were insufficient were not realized and we cleared quarters with no unexpected fees. The fees we did have to pay were the lost key fees. Over the 3 years I had lost a mailbox key and a house key... expensive mistakes, but at least I knew what to expect.

So after we left the house we headed to the housing office and Matt did the final-out paper work while the boys and I played on "Aidan's playground" one last time. I snapped a few pictures of my mountain while they played and I got a picture of Corie's house just for sentimental purposes. I'm gonna miss her! Once we left there we stopped at 4-10 CAV for Matt to officially sign out and I got to say good-bye to our FRSA one last time. Then, we were on the road to Amarillo!

That first night we were SPOILED by the Holiday Inn Express. Beautiful lobby, amazingly large and well decorated rooms, great pool with mood lighting, and the manager sent us on our way the next day by gathering 5 bananas and 5 bottles of water so we'd have snacks on our way. We decided at that point we'd stay in as many HI Expresses as possible. Though none of our nights compared to that first one, we were satisfied each night nonetheless. The only down side of our hotel nights was that first night Hayden had a major chemical reaction to the pool and spent quite a long time in pain and it spoiled swimming for him. He has yet to get into a pool since. I'm praying that once we get to Germany and find that the pools are treated with something other than Chlorine that he'll try swimming again. He's so good at it and it is such a shame for him to have to sit out while the others play.

Here is a quick list of where we stayed over the next few days:
Tuesday night we stayed in Dallas, TX and visited the Sixth Floor Museum.
Wednesday night we stayed in Lafayette, LA and Matt took the boys to see Astroboy and gave me the night off.
Thursday we drove through New Orleans at lunch time and ate at Landry's for lunch and Cafe du Monde for dessert. I wasn't really impressed with the city itself and left nothing there, but now we can say we've been there! We slept in Pensacola that night.
Friday we arrived in Orlando, a day earlier than expected. (Mapquest said it was 8 hours from Pensacola to Orlando but our GPS got us there in 6...)

Our amazing travel Agent, Melissa Sims, had recommended a hotel for us to stay in for the few days before our actual Disney trip started so we had 3 nights in Comfort Inn, Orlando. It didn't quite match the quality of HI Express but we were close to Downtown Disney! (If I had to do it over again, I'd stay in the HI Express next door but we wanted to go on recommendation and overall got a good deal on the hotel.) It was a nice change to be able to leave my shower stuff in the bathroom for 3 nights instead of having to pack it up for another day on the road.

Saturday the 14th we took advantage of the great military family deal that Sea World offers and we spent all day with Shamu. For $63 total we got our money's worth and more! These deals are very much appreciated and I can't even begin to express our thanks to Anheuser-Busch for running this special for the last several years.

Sunday the 15th we enjoyed breakfast at Cracker-Barrel and then explored Downtown Disney. We had no idea where we were going or what we'd see, but we happened to park right near the Lego Store. As we walked up we saw tons of kids and people and a GIANT Buzz Lightyear being built in the center of the store. We had entered the side doorway and realized that if we were to go in the front, the boys would get to help build this massive super hero. Bailey is the biggest Buzz fan I know so this made his day and mine as well! We didn't have to wait long to get a table and start working. This was a treat and we went back the next day to see the finished product. He is an impressive feature, for sure!

Monday, the 16th the grandparents arrived and set up the motorcoach at Disney's Fort Wilderness. We checked out of our temporary hotel and drove the 2 miles to Port Orleans, Riverside, getting checked in. Since our room wasn't quite ready and they said they'd text me when it was, we drove over to see Grammy (Matt's mom) and Nana and Papa (my parents). The boys enjoyed running around in the woods and stretching their legs in and among trees, something which Colorado severely lacks (along the front range, high desert area, anyway). We all took a bus to Downtown Disney for lunch (Wolfgang Puck Express --- YUM!!!) and had to show the grandparents the boys' handiwork at the Lego Store. That evening we had a dinner reservation at our hotel's nice restaurant, Boatwright's, and the grandparents whipped up something in their home-away-from-home. (They didn't do the meal plan this time, but after seeing the value in it, they might do that next time.) We headed back to their coach for some late-night fun and saw that some people go all out in decorating their motorcoaches for Christmas and/or Disney themes. That was a fun ride around the campgrounds by golf cart. We decided to skip the movie under the stars as Bailey was getting close to losing control and it turned out to be a good choice. We avoided meltdown by being willing to miss something that would have been fun but not at a good time.

Tuesday the 17th we had a most magical day. I wouldn't change anything about this day. The weather was great, the crowds were minimal, the boys were amazing, and the Character meal was delicious. As an added benefit, the grandparents joined us for this one reservation and as it was our first meal with characters, it was a very special one. We had allowed each kid to pick one ride to do first at one of the parks and we were fortunate that the rides they selected were at 3 separate parks. Bailey had chosen Buzz at Disney World as his top choice and we got to ride that several times. Of course we hit Dumbo, Peter Pan, and we learned that Hayden LOVES roller coasters. Carson rode Big Thunder Mountain twice, a feat I'm quite proud of. That's his size roller coaster, though Hayden wanted bigger and scarier. (Bailey needed to be brushed once during the day and he recovered from the brink of a melt-down with charm and grace, making me extremely proud of him and thankful for Ms. Kirstin and the tips she had given us during our time in OT.) Space Mountain had been closed all day for testing and I was terribly disappointed that Hayden would leave this magical place without the chance to ride it. Toward the end of the day we rode the Blue Line (a slow tram-like ride that takes you around Tomorrowland (?) and inside Space Mountain. We heard the roller coaster going and also heard people screaming and wondered about that. When we exited that part of the ride Dad noticed that they were letting people on Space Mountain. We called Mom immediately (who had Hayden on the race track ride) and they ran to get in line. Matt and Dad headed over there as well, while Grammy, the boys, and myself went back for more Buzz. As it turns out, Matt and Dad's car rode just fine, but Mom's and Hayden's got stuck at the top of the track. FOR 20 MINUTES! But once it got going again, Hayden loved it and I'm happy to say that his Magic Kingdom experience was complete. We left that park at 7:30, half an hour after it officially closed for the day. We had arrived at 9...it was a full day!

Wednesday the 18th was EPCOT day. We had worn Grammy out at Magic Kingdom so she stayed behind at the coach and rested for this day. Hayden had chosen as his first pick to ride Test Track. We went straight there and they rode it first thing. HE LOVED IT! We grabbed Fast Passes for later on so they could go back and ride it again. Our posse headed from there to the section to the right of the giant ball and spent much of the day there. I honestly can't remember what all is over there right now but we did many things. I do remember that this was the day we had dinner reservations in Epcot so we decided to take a nap time during the middle of the day. Hayden was the FIRST one asleep! Driving test cars will wear a kid out! One fun thing I had never done before and was glad to do was the ride inside the ball. Bailey was quite nervous about this one (after being freaked out a bit by the big dip in Pirate's of the Caribbean the day before) and the lady who put us in our car handed him a flashlight. How thoughtful was that?!? He did great and enjoyed his time, using the flashlight only occasionally, when it would get totally dark. That evening we went back to the park for a dinner reservation at the rotating restaurant, Garden Grill, I think it's called. We met my parents for a walk around the lake and stopped in Germany for them to enjoy sights, sounds, and tastes of where we're moving to. We stayed for the fireworks and, frankly, were disappointed. I wish we had seen the ones at Magic Kingdom, but we weren't in that park on the days they had them. Eh, small thing. Nothing to complain about.

Thursday the 19th was our Hollywood Studios day after a character breakfast at the Beach Club. Grammy had recovered enough to join us and this was Carson's day to pick the first attraction. He made me happy as Indiana Jones Stunt show was the first thing on the map and it worked well in the timing of our morning! The first part of our day went incredibly smoothly. We hit Indiana Jones (AMAZING!) then the Star Wars ride (all 3 boys loved this), the Jedi training show, (adults were bored, kids enjoyed it) and then my favorite, the Stunt Car Show. After that we sort of lost our mo-jo and things didn't work as well for us the rest of the day. Buzz had an hour wait and it was too late to get a Fast Pass (and if we had gotten them earlier it would have messed up the plans for the things we DID get to do). Matt, Dad, and Hayden went off to ride Tower of Terror and Rockin' Roller Coaster, and let me say, they had a great afternoon. Hayden is not afraid of any ride, that kid! They were able to do both rides twice. Mom, Grammy, and myself, however, were not so lucky. Every ride/show we wanted to do was either full or already starting. We eventually got into the Playhouse Disney and by then the day was done. We knew early on that we'd revisit Hollywood studios before our vacation was complete. That evening was the night my kids had been waiting for... SOUVENIR DAY! I had told them that we would get them a souvenir but not until Thursday, since I wanted to be sure they had seen all there was to see and could make a good choice. The grandparents all decided to do Christmas for the boys as well, so you can imagine the joyous occasion this was! We left Downtown Disney with each person carrying bags and 3 boys who were ITCHING to get into their packages.

Friday the 20th was the grandparents last day with us. My kids needed a break so we decided to not go to a park at all. My parents headed to Hollywood Studios so mom could ride the two big rides with Dad and then they went to Animal Kingdom for a few hours. Matt, myself and the boys stayed at the hotel and grammy joined us for the day. We spent this day partly by the pool, with the remainder of the day in the room building the Lego creations that were designed for someone with a higher level of education than I have been blessed to receive. We had an absolutely relaxing, wonderful day and highly recommend a day off rather than forcing 5 straight days of Disney fun. It was really hard to see the grandparents leave, but it helped that we had dinner reservations at the Grand Floridian that made us get the good-byes done and our minds off of the sadness. Let's just say this Character meal was not my boys' favorite, as it was the Cinderella one. I got my picture taken with the most beautiful Cinderella I've ever seen!

Saturday we headed back to Hollywood Studios and had the magic this time! We got to do EVERYTHING we wanted. We made sure that the first thing we did when we entered the park was to get our Fast Passes for Buzz. Then we got in the line and rode it then, knowing we had another turn coming up later on in the day. On top of that, we got to meet Indiana and take pics with him. Then I got to do my favorite again, the Stunt Car show! This park was our favorite so far... we only lack going to Animal Kingdom and we do that tomorrow. Saturday's Character meal was at the Contemporary Hotel (the triangle one that the Monorail goes through). Food was good and the characters were fun, though we were worn out by this point. The boys had wanted to ride the Monorail but since it really didn't go where we were going all week, it was never really an option. BUT, since we were in the Contemporary and needed to get to Magic Kingdom for a transfer bus, they were able to ride it after all. Just helping to fill out their Disney Experience a bit more!

And that leads us to today. Shew. I've been writing a while! I wonder if Blogspot will let me have this much text in one blog... Anyway, since we had to check out of our Disney hotel today we decided to take another day off and rest. (I highly recommend that if you're going to do a 5 day pass, stay at least 7 nights in a Disney hotel and take 2 rest days. I wish we had stayed one more night, but eh, no biggie.) We saw a movie this afternoon, got the car unpacked in our final hotel, took the boys for a swim (the two who will get in, at least) and ordered pizza in. Tomorrow is Animal Kingdom, the next day we prepare our car and ship it (the place to drop it off is 1/2 a mile away), and fly outta here.

So, that's what I've been up to... How about you?

(Pics to come sooner or later.)

* Upcoming post *

Here is the "upcoming post" as I mentioned at the bottom of the previous one that discusses our next assignment. :)

I have had so much fun in the state of Colorado observing wild life. We have seen elk, rams, deer, and plenty of ground hogs, moles, and prairie dogs. But I really wanted to see a bear! Not in the zoo, anyone can see a bear in the zoo. Many of my friends have had bears visit them at their house, even having them peek in their windows. While I don't want to be in danger, nor do I want to put my family in danger, I would LOVE to see a wild bear just roaming around. I even joked that I didn't want to move from here until I got to see that bear.

Well, in early June we were driving home going South on 115. (For those of you who are familiar with Colorado Springs, we were on Nevada/115 leaving downtown. We had just passed Southgate on our left and were coming up on the Myron Stratton Home.) Just as we passed the Home, I saw a bear on the right hand side of the street. I about jumped out of my seat, which was not good, as I was the driver! But I pointed and yelled for everyone to look! As we passed it, we noticed it crossing the street behind us. I made a u-turn and headed back toward him (now facing toward downtown).

The bear walked to the entrance of the Home and climbed over the fence, while just 3 feet to the left was the wide open drive way. (Not the smartest bear in the wild.) We followed him for about 15 minutes and I got some very poor quality videos. He came within about 5 feet of the front of my van, making Matt a bit nervous since I had my window down.

On the way home from this momentous experience I said, "We can move now." Strangely enough, I really meant it. While I love Colorado, I really do feel like I am ready to move on.

The next few weeks brought us to the point where we needed to get CO drivers' licenses and tags. We began one of the most annoying aspects of the nomadic lifestyle and it was quite painful, requiring several trips to the MP station for VIN verification and then to the license offices. But in the end, we left with new tags and licenses on the way. Here, they mail you the actual driver's license and you use your old one (that they punch a hole in) along with a printed piece of paper in the meantime. Matt's comment during this very annoying ordeal was, "Just watch...as soon as we get this process completed we'll get orders.

A couple of weeks later, on June 30th I had one of our New Life friends' kids for a couple of nights. In order to keep everyone entertained the boys and I went out to the motor pool to climb in and on all the bradleys and humvees that belong to 4-10. I grabbed the mail on the way out the door and flipped through it. THEY HAD ARRIVED! Our official, COLORADO driver's licenses! When we got to the motor pool the first thing I did was give Matt's his to inspect his picture (you know you do that too!). He glanced at it and then said, "You wanna know where we're going next?!?!?" First of all, I was DYING to know! When he told me Germany I could NOT believe it! This is what we had wanted all along! We really want to see as much of the world as the Army will allow (except for certain parts of the Middle East, at least for a while). Living in Germany will provide our boys amazing educational opportunities that don't "feel" educational at all! They'll get to see where major world events took place...and honestly, I want to see these places. (I must say, they're mostly excited about LegoLand, but we'll work on that!) What was so interesting was that, just as Matt had joked, we got the word about our move on the day we got our licenses!

We waited about a week before we told anyone. We were hoping to get some more information as to when/where. But eventually we needed to share this so our families could begin to get used to the idea. (And we want them to start saving so they can come visit us!)

Fast forward a few weeks and we still didn't have information, but we were told that someone here wants Matt to stay on with 4-1o for the next deployment. This deflated our excitement to a degree, but we kept trying to keep our hopes up. There are definitely pros and cons to both options. I may list them, if I have the time.

And now to today, August 12, 2009, we're still at the point where we are keeping our fingers crossed. We would like to report to Germany on or around December 3rd. This MIGHT just allow us a very quick visit back to NC before flying out. (If so, this visit most likely not be a whirlwind of activity as our previous visits have been, but we'll try to lay low and relax as much as possible.) After as much research as one can do without knowing which unit he'd be sent to, Matt thinks the earliest he'd deploy would be May 2010. That means our baby would be about 8 weeks old when he deployed, IF he deployed soon. Still a slim chance we could get over there to a unit that didn't deploy for a year or so.

However, we're still hearing that "they" want to keep Matt here. If that is the case, he'd deploy in March, same month the baby is due. Maybe even before he/she arrives.

If this happens, we'll look at the positive note: we love Colorado and at least the boys and I are happy in this neighborhood; we would get to continue going to New Life, a place that feels like home to us; several of my New Life friends have vowed to help me take care of the older boys a little bit in the weeks after the baby comes...THIS will be huge!!; and the #1 reason we could keep our chin up?!? Deployment means extra income and we would KILL our debt! We could be calling Dave Ramsey to give our FREEDOM SCREAM sooner than we ever expected! (Stupid Student Loan, bye-bye!!! - also known as albatross of debt!).

But as you probably know, our hearts are really set toward going to Germany. As an adventurous family, one who loves to travel, Germany would offer us the chance of a lifetime to visit MANY countries in just a few hour's drive. I plan to take the boys to see the Ann Frank House. I have always been fascinated with how people can follow a monster like Hitler, so I want to teach the boys (on their appropriate levels, of course) about Auschwitz and how following any MAN the way one is supposed to follow God leads to destruction. On a lighter note, I want to take the boys to Austria to show parts of where The Sound of Music was filmed. I want my boys to witness the lifestyles of other cultures, the stuff that makes our world so colorful! To experience the German culture by being there and interacting (especially if we end up living off post) with German neighbors... Some German culture is simple to learn, like, if you order water at a restaurant it will have "bubbles." Meaning, it is plain soda water. If I want regular water, I may or may not get it, but I ask for it by saying (in English until I learn German), "water, no bubbles." (This lesson was given to me by a neighbor who IS German!) Other cultural considerations will be more difficult to discover. Growing up in America, the word "German" was synonymous with "Hitler" or "Schindler's List." I don't think that's exactly what the German people would like to be remembered for. But these are the kinds of things I want to learn, to experience, and to offer to my children. If we get the blessing of living there, they will, of course, learn the history of Nazi Germany, but they will KNOW the beauty of the country and the people as they are today.

Or, we could stay in Colorado for another few years.

My heart is really trying to stay objective on this. I know what it's like to force God's hand in order to get what I want...say, a big, pretty, yellow house. But I've also experience the consequences of doing so. (Losing MONEY at the sale of the house just to be done with it.) I'd rather face the immediate and relatively minor disappointment of not getting to go than FORCE God's hand and suffer the unbearable consequences of disobedience.

So, if you have made it this far in my wordy blog entry, please join us in prayer that Matt and I will gladly accept God's will for our next assignment, even if it is disappointing. (But I also don't think it hurts to pray for what we want, and we want to go to Germany, so we're praying for both! Germany, but for a peace regardless of whichever way the orders send us.)