I don't know what makes one week harder to cope with than others, but this week has been such a challenging week. However, the Lord keeps teaching us and opening up doors for us, literally, in some cases.
Last Sunday, we got home from church to find that we could not get into our house because our other pair of house keys was inside...in the door. We tried for a while with no results and then finally realized we needed to pray. Almost immediately after we said the prayer, Ben put the key in, pushed the door, and we were in. We were just glad we didn't have to break yet another window!

I managed to lose my wallet...but I knew I'd find it because we always find things that we lose. After tearing through our whole house, I still couldn't find it. Later that day,though, I got a call from a man asking for me--but by my full name. Nobody here knows me by that name--except someone looking at my drivers license. Turns out, this man lived right by the doctors office that I had gone to the day before and found it on the street. EHH?? On the street?? Thank goodness for honest people. Everything was in my wallet. Again, I was amazed at the Lord's mercy and humbled at His time table. I so often want things to be found or fixed right away. Many times there's a lesson to learn.

A few highlights from our week:

We spent Saturday afternoon at the AquaZoo and the girls enjoyed seeing the penguins and sealions. Afterwards we went to a park and had some frenchfries.

We were pleased to finally get our freezer down the narrow curvy stairs to the basement--thanks to our friendly, helpful landlord, Andy. Ben and I tried to do it the night he brought it home and I about sent it down the stairs on top of him--but since he's so cute, I decided that smashing him wouldn't be a good idea.

For family night, we assembled a fort in the laundry room out of wardrobe boxes from our move. Ben even cut windows that opened and shut. Kaitlyn has since decorated it with crayons. Sometimes all a kid needs is a good box to play in, right?

I have a very understanding and "in-tune" husband. He has noticed my difficulty lately with the girls and so he took a day off work and encouraged me to get away for the day and come home whenever I wanted. Once I got over feeling totally guilty, I planned some activities and then I was outta there. I drove about an hour and a half south through some very beautiful countryside. There are some parts of Germany that are kind of bland, old and industrial--but once you get outside of the city, there are open fields and small towns dotted with church steeples and pitched roofs. I arrived at the Landschafts Museum which sat atop a hill and, while feeling very cold and wearing heeled boots on cobblestone, took a 1 hour walking tour through historical villages and homes. It was a very calm and peaceful day for me.

Then I came upon an exhibition building with these freaky wax people inside, depicting life of a German family in the 19th century--having tea of course.

I felt like Will Smith in Legacy as I approached one scene of a wife and child saying goodbye to their husband and father who was going off to fight in the war. Their feelings were so tangible and their expressions so life-like...I wanted to ask them how hard it was to say goodbye.

My next stop was the movie theater in Koln (Cologne) where I finally got to see Twilight. I quite enjoyed it and left secretly hoping that Ben was really a vampire.

But then I realized that I have something much better--a husband who makes sacrifices and knows my needs. A husband who had the kids in bed and the dishes done when I got home. And I do get to have him forever.

Big Ooops

Today, I earned the mother-of-the-year award from Natalee. I also earned neighbor of the year from my landlord next door.

I was heading out to run some errands and to pick up Kaitlyn from Kindergarten. I had my keys in my hand. I strapped Natalee in her carseat, threw my keys on the middle console and then shut the door. I walked around to the drivers side door and it was locked...infact, all the doors were locked. Normally, I would've grabbed our spare set of keys, but alas, they have been missing for several weeks.

I ran to my neighbor, who is our landlord and who has been a lifesaver time and again. This was certainly a time that my life needed saving. In my simple German, I tried to explain to her what had happened. Between me,her and her maid, we came up with a plan. We decided to call the insurance company and they were going to send someone right away.

I kept running out to Natalee to see if she was okay. As time passed, tears came (from me and from Natalee), her shoes and socks came off, her face became pale and her nose became red. In the mean time, Corni and I were doing all we could to console the locked-in Natalee.--singing, dancing, you name it. My heart was broken for her! If only she could unbuckle herself and climb to the keys and hit the right button...but there was no possible way!

So, the man showed up and broke a small window, attached a wire to the end of my broom handle and oh so carefully got the keys. Talk about technology at work. 50 Euros and a broken window later, I grabbed Natalee and kissed and hugged her. It felt like she'd been trapped in there for a lifetime.

I told the man I wanted to snap some pictures for the memory books and he played along and was so funny!

Here is my neighbor helping Natalee after we got the car unlocked. She is the best! I couldn't have asked for a better neighbor/landlord. Her German is a little fast for me, but I am learning so much. Last week, Ben called me from a city 20 minutes away saying, "I took the wrong train from the airport, can you come get me?" So at 8:30pm, I called her up and she came over so I could go pick up Ben. There is so much more I could tell.

SCHNEE!!

Last week, we saw our first significant snow fall. Snow is not common in this region of the country because we are closer to the North Sea and aren't close to any mountains. So, we were quite excited when we woke up to a beautiful white blanket covering the landscape. Being totally unequipped for the snow, I ran to the local "Walmart" (its called Real here) and bought some snow gear for the kids. Kaitlyn loved being out in the snow and Natalee just cried and fell over a few times!

Now the snow is starting to melt and the streets are all scraped and salted and its actually quite disgusting looking. Its miserable to walk in parking lots and on streets that haven't been scraped--especially when I'm wearing boot cut jeans or if the girls trip and fall. Its like falling in mud.

Kaitlyn must have been very thirsty or hungry...or maybe just curious. She just ate and ate the snow.

We continue to have near freezing temperatures. Last week, however, the temperatures dropped to -15 celcius at night and in the mornings. It was tolerable ONLY because it was sunny.

Missing warm Arizona summers!

2009, ready to shine

Ring out wild bells! So it's a new year...and we welcomed it with a bang (even if we were party poopers). The Germans know how to party. From midnight until about 12:45 fireworks went off non-stop. The sky was lit-up and Natalee and Jess stared out the window in awe. Kaitlyn slept through the whole thing, despite my best efforts to get her to wake up. I don't know how she did because it was loud and it was fun.

2008 was a wild ride and we look forward to the adventures of 2009. Here's a quick view into our last year (so if you're already bored, then I'd recommend taking a nap at this point).

1. Kaitlyn started pre-school (and now a German kindergarten) and absolutely loves it.

2. I got to visit Red China in April...and even learned a few Chinese words.

3. Jess got her Oncology nursing certification in May. She moved to the Scottsdale-Shea Hospital, but that ended up only being for a few weeks because we moved. There are high hopes that after we get settled in, Jess might find an opportunity at a hospital here (sorry no picture could be located of this beauty in her scrubs).

4. Nat celebrated her first birthday.

5. I celebrated my 30th.

6. I finished my MBA at Thunderbird in August and tortured all of my classmates with an embarrasing ending to the National Anthem (I swear the stupid tassel got stuck in my mouth and messed me up). I will miss my T-bird friends, but I'm enjoying not having homework at the moment.

7. In September I was offered a job in Germany...and we accepted. That meant we had a LOT of work to do to get ready (I only had a month to get things in order).

7a. So we sold the house in one week after we worked hard getting it ready to sell (painting, etc.)


7b. HOA couldn't approve our paint in time and then latter threatened us and made us pay a fine! What a joke.

7c. The VA refused to provide a loan to the buyer for the price and tried lowering it significantly (although we priced ours 10-15k lower than other houses were trying to go for in the area).

7d. Finally were able to sell the cars, furniture, and almost the kitchen sink.

7e. Had to buy everything in Germany including the kitchen sink (German's like to take their kitchens with them, so when you move in...there is literally nothing in the house...no lights, no kitchen, only a toilet)!

7f. Should have bought IKEA stock, because we spent(spend) quite a bit of time there. Here is about a fourth of a basement room piled up in furniture boxes and moving boxes (no they don't have a Home Depot over here).


7g. Had to buy a car without financing it (have a standard probation time on my work contract)...fortunately made enough on the house that we didn't have to walk everywhere.


8. Moved the family over to Germany after being apart for 4 weeks...we felt blessed to be together again so quickly.

8a. Lived for a couple of days with some great friends, the Wheelers (same ones who let me stay with them for a month).

8b. Finally found a temporary furnished apartment that would accept kids.

8c. Got kicked out of the temporary apartment after two weeks because she wasn't supposed to rent it (it was a basement apartment and the ceilings were too low according to code...they were still 7 feet high and we were dealing with it).

8d. Moved into a hotel (daughter of the lady who was renting to us). The good was we had two rooms. The bad was the windows let in so much cold air it was pretty darn cold in the rooms (15 degrees celsius...whatever that is in Fahrenheit. Speaking of Fahrenheit...that sounds pretty German to me!).

8e. Moved into our house nearly a month early and slept on an inflatable matress until we could get our furniture. We were that desperate to move into our house.

8f. Finally received the rest of our shipment the Tuesday before Christmas. We are still unpacking and situating ourselves, but are starting to feel at home.

There are many more adventures to share with you, so if you are still awake...stay tuned for more boring stories from the Fatherland.

Love and miss you all,

Benjamin, Jessica, et. al.

P.S. this posting was delayed a few days due to our phone and internet not working at all this weekend, not because I'm a procrastinator (at least not so early in the year).

My Favorite Christmas Gift

This being our first Christmas as just our little family, we had to take pleasure in the little delights that came our way. This morning, we woke up and saw something that we haven't seen in quite some time.

Though the temperatures dropped by 10 degrees, we got bundled up and enjoyed the sun. We never thought we would miss the sun. We have come to believe that the sun, like the Son, is not to be taken for granted. There may be dark times where we cannot feel warmth or see much light. Embrace the days when we can bask in His light, feel His warmth, and let His love fill us with peace.

Merry Christmas

Would you like to take off your coat?

I was shopping one day in a fairly large deparment store--similar to Macy's. I had been in the store for quite some time and chasing Natalee around warmed me up. So, I took my jacket off and put it in my cart. I wandered into the book deparment, walked away from my cart for a moment, and, before long, a woman approached me and asked if I knew where the children's Christmas books were. I said, no I'm sorry I don't. She replied with something I didn't completely understand, but I realized she was quite shocked that I didn't know. It occured to me that she thought I worked at the store. I wondered why. Then, I looked at the checkout line and saw every single person wearing their large winter coat...except for the cashier. So, because I was not wearing my coat, someone thought I worked there.


Do people not know that there is heating in the stores? Don't they know that if they take their coats off inside that they'll be warmer when they go back out into the winter air?


I now reluctantly wear my winter coat inside stores.

Germans also really bundle up their children. It could be only about 45 degrees outside and children are dressed like Eskimos. Infants--tucked every so snuggly into their covered strollers.

My rule of thumb has always been--if I am comfortable wearing something, then my children should also be just as comfortable. One day at the grocery store, Natalee's leg was exposed because her pants had ridden up and a stranger in the parking lot approached us and commented how cold Natalee must be.

I am now getting used to putting hats, gloves, scarves and boots on the girls even when its not overly cold.

Luggage

Over the past 6 weeks, we have hauled around 8 suitcases, 2 carseats, and a stroller (oh yah, and 2 kids). This was no one way trip, however! We made several stops along the way from our home in Chandler, Arizona to Ratingen, Germany...our final destination:

1. Ben leaves
(only 2 bags for him)

2. Jess packs the rest

3. Resituate luggage at Thomases
4. Unpack at Ben and Jill's in Washington D.C.
5. Repack at Ben and Jill's
6. Unpack at the Wheelers
7. Repack at the Wheelers
8. Unpack at temporary apartment
9. Repack at temporary apartment

10. Unpack in hotel

11. Repack in hotel

12. Unpack in new house

(still working on that)

It wasn't all bad. We had fun along the way. Take a look....

Luggage Fun

Atlanta Airport: I forgot to mention that we each had 2 carryon bags. That equalled 8 carryons. We also had Natalee's carseat on the plane. We land in Atlanta and have only a 30 minute layover. We have no stroller, as we let it get transferred to the next plane to decrease our wait time. So we have to carry Natalee. How we manage to get from the end of the terminal --to the escalators-- to the train-- back up the escalators and back down to the far end of the other terminal with 8 carryon bags and 2 whiney kids in 30 minutes...is an absolute miracle.

Washington D.C. Airport: Ben is getting the luggage off the carousel while I find 2 carts. Kaitlyn gets a bloody nose while I'm gone. Natalee is all over the place. Finally load it up and can barely see over the top. Kaitlyn has to push Natalee in the stroller while we push the carts--and its a slanted exit. It was fabulous.

Before any of you decide to pack everything you own, including small children, and move across the Atlantic Ocean, talk with us. We may have some tips.