The Schmidts

A year later and I'm finally getting around to updating our blog. Let's just say it's taken us a while to get settled and caught up with this move. A few weeks in the TLF were enough. We were so ready to have a place of our own after being a month in Utah between houses, and a month in the TLF. At one point Sam said, "I want to go home". It broke my heart because we didn't even have a home to go back to. Time to start over again. We were especially excited about this place because we knew we'd be here for at least 3 years -- we'll practically be established!! While in the TLF Justin had me try on some of his gear he was being issued, do I look the part?  We did have a park behind our hotel. A convenient get away for us all at times. Sam making some friends. :) It's funny to watch a 2 year old learn or not know what the social norms are.  Yes we were building bridges out of our diaper boxes -- we were limited on our toys.  While...

The flight to Germany was quite the adventure. We flew from Utah to Baltimore, MD and then Baltimore, MD to Ramstein Air Base. I can't remember what time we left Utah, but I do remember that we left Baltimore in the evening. I was so hoping to get at least 4 hours of sleep in order to be able to be somewhat alert for the day we would have ahead of us in Germany. Justin and I were ready to conk out, but Sam fought hard for a good couple of hours. We got close to 2 hours of sleep. ha. Upon arrival we were all a little cloudy in the mind to say the least. We were in no hurry to get off the huge airplane. The line to exit the Airplane was one of many lines we would be in for the next 3 months trying to set up house and life in Germany. Pictures from our flight:  Doing our best to make the flight as easy for all of us as possible We made Sam a comfortable 'bed' in hopes he would fall asleep quickly. But with the lights on and food being delivered, it was w/o success unti...

On Sunday we went to check on the yard sale page that we have been using constantly to look for cars and houses and found this: -- which I thought was awesome! I had great feelings about Germany and our time here --but as you'll read below, I haven't felt that all week. :) It's been a rough first week in Germany-- but I was reminded today God is watching over us. Closed Sundays Wide Open Every Other Day Today is Sunday, the new official yard sale addict recovery day. We're all taking time away from our computers to enjoy the sunshine, life, friends, church, and our families. If you are having a particularly difficult withdrawal day, here are the yard-sale-addict recovery steps: Read a book Take a long walk Lay on your back and look at the clouds Make fresh-squeezed lemonade Find the big dipper Play tag with your kids Paint a picture with watercolors Call a friend you haven't talked to in a while Call y...

  We were able to do family pictures with the Schmidts before leaving. They turned out great. Thanks Laura for your good friend who did such a good job. Even though Sam was being a bit grumpy she was able to get him to smile.

As Justin flew to SERE training, Sam and I flew to Utah where we were welcomed and picked up by Mom and Dad Schmidt. We were excited to spend lots of time with family before making the far away move to Germany. What fun we had. Sam still asks to go to Utah. He knows where his family fun is. :) Prepare yourself, there are lots of pictures! We hit the "This is the Place" park with Melanie, Brandon, Lily and Mom Schmidt. It was a great time, lots of fun for the littles. Waiting to ride the train seemed forever for these littles. Yes, we found water to play in. Yes, Sam did get stuck in the mud. :) He isn't one of those kids who falls asleep in car seats. It's rare for this child. We wore this kid right out with all our fun. Sam did pretty darn good adjusting to sleeping at different houses and in different beds. It helped that they were at Grandma's and Grandpa's houses. Sam dug right in on the Schmidt farm. We got to go swimming...