Josiah's 5th birthday

Josiah's birthday was extra special because he had Papa, Grandma, and Aunt Ninny here to help celebrate! He chose a knight birthday and had lots of being the center of attention.

The crown he is wearing in the first picture was made by his kindergarten teacher. When he walked in the door to the kindergarten the whole class started singing. They sang in German and English and he got to wear the crown for the whole day.

St. Martin's Day

Josiah got to participate in St. Martin's day at his kindergarten. The story is St. Martin was on his horse. A goose made a noise which made him turn around. Then he saw a homeless man who was cold. He tore off half his cloak and gave it to the man and somehow the two halves became wholes and they both had cloaks.

So the kids get to make this lanterns and they all learn songs in German. The kids put on a small play of how St. Martin gave part of his cloak away.

The coolest part was hearing Josiah sing songs in German. We are so proud of him.

The House

Here is the front and back of the house. We live here and the YouthCompass kids come here every week for club.

It's been awhile...

It has been awhile and with good reason. We are busy! The summer wasn't and so I have no excuse there.

The summer was pretty slow. The kids we work with went home to their passport countries. We spent most of our time planning for the coming school year and getting the house more suited for us. In July, we got to have our first house guests. Nick's parents came for two weeks and we loved it. The kids had a blast and we showed them all over Dusseldorf.

Since the end of August we have been super busy. Lots of meetings, events, and clubs every week it seems like. Keeping busy helps us get through the fact we are so far away from all our family.

We love it here but there are days I get annoyed. I miss a lot of things and conveniences. I can't wait to step into Costco and Target when we visit the states-you have no idea! I also miss me some Red Robin and grossly enough, Taco Bell.

We know we are in the right place and we are greatly enjoying YouthCompass and the kids that are involved. Our kids love the big kids too. It's great to watch them interact.

Updates..sorry no pictures

Our computer is very slow or it's the internet connection..i dont know.

I've tried to upload photos several times but it takes FOREVER. 10 min and it was only at 18%.

Anyway.

We are loving it here in Germany. We have been going like crazy ever since we arrived here. Nick left for 10 days for Albania with the students to build medical clinics.

He came back and it has been just one event after another. It's been fun.

School's out tomorrow for the students and most of them head back to their passport country or some of them are moving back. The summer slows way down for us. We've taken the last three days to hang out in town. We found an English Library and the kids loved it!

My job for the summer is to get the house organized and finish decorating the kids' room.

Josiah starts kindergarten on Monday and he's very excited. I think he's getting to the age where mommy isn't as much fun as before. He's ready to meet new friends, but knows they only speak German. I'm told there is one English speaking boy in his class. His teachers can speak English as well but the whole point of him being in kindergarten is to learn the language.

Kindergartens here are not academic but more of a day care type setting. They said they like to train the body before they train the mind. They do a lot of play. They have a room for dancing and jumping on big mats. He'll love it.

Grocery stores aren't as hard as I imagined. There is a store here that used to be a walmart-it has everything you need. However, they have a different way of organizing where they put things. And certain things are super expensive. Poptarts are about 6 euro (probably $9). Popcorn and maple syrup are expensive too.

We go to Frankfurt in a couple weeks for a friends wedding and we are excited to see another part of the country. It's only two hours away but they call it another region of the country.

Our shipment arrives in a week!! Yay!

Hallo

Wir haben es nach Deutschland (We made it to Germany)!

It's been crazy trying to get the kids on the right schedule and time zone.
We went on several trips to grocery stores, trying to find food for the kiddos. We were quite successful!
Today we went to a park that is close to the house. It was beautiful and the kids had a great time. I'm sure we will make frequent trips there.
Soon we will upload some pictures of Dusseldorf.

Auf Wiedersehen!

Sophia 15 months

She's still our little peanut! I love this last picture. She was trying to smile for the camera and the flash made her blink.

She hasn't had her 15 month well child check yet. She was sick earlier and she couldn't get her shots. I'm guessing she's 20 lbs. maybe a little more.

She's talking all the time and she loves tackling her big brother. She'll let you know when she's mad. She's pretty hilarious and loves to make her daddy laugh.

Christmas Performance

He did such a great job and then it came time for the colored fabric ( couldn't think of what to call it). He asked for green and they gave him a different color and he started to cry. It was the saddest face and I wanted to go grab him. They ran back and gave him green, but he was still sad. Poor kid. It was good for him to learn that he can't have what he wants all the time. I felt bad for taking pictures of him being sad though.

Josiah's 4th Birthday

Josiah had a Toy Story birthday party. Unfortunately, I can't find pictures of him opening presents and playing. He had his 4 year check up and all is good. He's 50% in height and weight. We are working on eating more veggies and new things. He doesn't like to try new things, so it's been a battle.

He loves trains, puzzles, books. He loves movies, computer games and making his own books.

He likes to tell me a story and have me write it down. Then we staple it together and he draws the pictures. He's pretty imaginative.