December 12 was the longest day of the year for us! We woke up at 3 am Germany time to make our 6am flight, and arrived at my parents home at 7pm (3am Germany time). We had 20 hours of actual travel time, the last 1 hour of which was spent sleeping. You get to a point when you are just too tired to sleep! We were all so exhausted that we made the transition easily into bed around 9. Easy. East to West...always doable. Except for one morning when I woke up at 3am, the transition was effortless.

My gifted mother and sister turned an empty room into a magical room for the 4 grandkids. This tent covered 4 sweet sleeping places and twinkle lights dangled from the middle. The amenities included a cd player, manger scene, mini-christmas tree and name cards on the front of the door. It didn’t always work, of course, to have the kids all sleeping together in here—and more than once, Ben and I fell asleep next to the kids. My favorite memory of this room was when each of my 3 younger siblings all came in on our last night there and excitedly told the kids they cared for them and that they would miss them.

Jill my sister in law is a photographer (jillthomasphotography.com) and has recently switched from digital to film. She is so talented and offered to take our family picture! Though this is not the picture my parents will hang on the wall (or might they….), I thought it captured well the personality of my fam.

My brother Sam holds a sweet spot in my Christmas 2009 memory. There were many times that I saw him playing with our kids or helping them. There is nothing sweeter than knowing that your siblings love your children too.

My mom gives the kids ornaments each year as their snowman gift. Here is a Thomas tradition that I absolutely love. My mom decorates a room with just snowmen things. She picks a special gift for each of her kids and in-law kids to represent something that they have experienced in the past year. She writes beautiful poetic letters to match the gift and explain what it means. It is something that we all look forward to every year and it makes Christmas just a little sweeter.

Lexi, my parents oversized horse-dog towers over most small children. Her tail swings at the same level of Natalee’s face which explains Natalee’s morbid fear of this sweet dog for the first week of our stay. By the end of the week, they were best friends.

Typical scene at the Thomas home. Balderdash cards. Crumpled up paper. Treats.

Okay, Jenga does sound kind of lame I know—but we had SUCH a blast playing. This game went on and on, and yours truly made the fatal move.



Christmas tradition that never dies—Gingerbread houses. This year we went for blue house theme, combined with Asian flair. (??) Gingerbreadhouse making in my family becomes somewhat of a competition and we usually fail—but we love admiring my siblings' houses!

Intermission during the Nutcracker Ballet at my old highschool. The 3 children pictured below are: Noah, our 4 year old nephew. He looks like a wild man there, eh? He is such a cute boy—loves to talk and loves Spiderman. Bentley is the other blonde dancing with our brunette. I was so pleased that these 2 girls, though 18 months apart, became such good friends on this trip. It is hard when kids are just 3 and 4 to really connect with each other. This was the first year that they really clicked. I often saw them walking around holding hands and being all girly together. Love it!

My super fabulous 20 year old sister Sydnee. She lives in LA, goes to school at the Fashion Institute of Design Management. She was a nanny for a while, so we exchanged many child rearing woe-stories…but has since seen a new light and is going to be working for my sister in law as a photography assistant. Though so many years apart in age, different religious beliefs, and in different stages of life, we connect and love each other and I am so grateful for her. We went to the Improv, a comedy club by the university, drank virgin daqueries and laughed at lame jokes. (“you should totally GET IT!!”)

Our sweet girls in front of my mom’s house in Phoenix.

These are the Farrows--Ken and Sue. The almost-empty nesters. Ken is an engineer. He has a contagious laugh and is really easy to talk to. He loves to hold his grandkids and was often seen just sitting and holding his newest granddaughter. His greatest accomplishment is of course raising my husband. I will always be grateful for this man--he has made such a difference in my life. Sue is a financial secretary part time and a mother of one last 17 year old-boy at home. She is helpful and thoughtful beyond comparison and does so many little things to help us know she cares. She is skilled at quilting and crocheting, and has given many-a- quilts to the girls and we love them!

My sport-loving husband lucked out and got tickets to 2 different football games while we were there. Football airs in Germany almost next to never, so Ben got his fill for the year (er…maybe not the whole year)

We took family pictures illegally on a golf course. Downtime proved productive for my father in law, who aptly depicted with golf balls how the photography session was going.

What are uncles for? Keeping my kids entertained and occupied while there is nothing else to do!! Mark, Bryan and Greg are fun, playful and enduring. These guys hold a special place in the hearts of Natalee and Kaitlyn.

One of the highlights of the trip to Arizona was meeting cousin Brenna. Natalee, already obsessed with babydolls, immediately went to Brenna the first morning we were there. I sat in awe and wondered….what would it be like to have a calm infant?

One of my favorite nights at the Farrows was when we stayed up til 130 am playing Settlers of Catan. Sue, my mother in law always wins games, so I was not surprised when she won this one!

I always give Ben and his dad a hard time for talking with their hands so much. Like father, like son! These guys like to talk and I love that!

One of our nights with the Farrows was spent up in Payson at a cabin. It was decorated in German fashion, actually, and was also called "Das Waldhaus"! We felt so right at home! We played card games, did fondue, and did a murder mystery game. Kaitlyns favorite feature was the preserved deer that hung on the wall. She named it Rudolph.

One of the best parts of our trip was going out onto Saguaro Lake with Mark and Greg, Bens 2 brothers. Mark owns a few jet skis as a business, and he needed an excuse to get them out on the water. It was a warm day—probably 70 degrees, but the water was quite chilly. One crooked turn on the jetski brought a huge splash of water onto my leg, so I had to roll up my pant leg and borrow Marks water shoes. I had fun, though I have to admit, going 40 mph on a jet ski was a bit scary for me. I took my turn driving the ski as well, probably only getting up to 25mph, making turns that a grandma would laugh at. It was so beautiful—where else can someone go jet skiing in the winter besides Arizona?

Our trip ended on January 6 and we continue to feel the effects of leaving.

They are 3-fold.

1.We miss our families terribly and have experienced a deeper longing for them returning back to Germany than our initial trip here over a year ago. We know what life is like here without them. That made leaving harder. It might be safe to say that we will probably not be living here the full 5 years. Our hearts couldn't take it!

2. Sleep, oh sleep. Why can't you just come to us in a pretty little package? I will never forget one night, watching Barney with my girls at 2am. Kaitlyn trooped the whole night out without shutting her eyes once. Later on that next evening, she was a zombie. To this day, 2 weeks after returning, we fight the jet lag demons and hope that they will soon go and haunt someone else!

3. Yin and Yang, hot and cold. 70 degrees in Phoenix. Too warm to wear long sleeves during the day. 35 degrees and snow in Düsseldorf--and the sun has shown its face once since we have been back.

{Arriving in Düsseldorf}