Where did May go? Where did June go??? (Part 1)

Is it already the beginning of July? The months of May and June just flew by, and now we are gearing up towards the end of our first year in Germany! Incredible! One year ago we were in the middle of the ups and downs of not knowing what God was doing. These last two months have been busy. Since I last posted, Heather was still in Oregon! I want to try to bring you up to speed.

May

On May 1st we celebrated May Day in Germany, complete with a giant Flea Market (except no fleas) and a soap box derby. Notice the scruff, that's what happens with no wife for a week.

Best seats for the soap box derby.

Mommy comes home!!!

  

I'll start where I last left off, Heather returned safely to Germany. Seems like an obvious statement, but we were very thankful for safe travels. She was so thankful that she was able to go, but she was also glad to come back home to Germany. God blessed her on the return trip with people to help her with her bags. She was able to rest on the flights, which you're not able to do when traveling with kids.

Something that started in April, but continued into May and even June was a project that Heather worked on with a friend from church. Heike (HI-ka) does an outreach ministry in Weimar West (one of the low income parts of town) which involves guitar lessons. As a final performance she was going to do well know children's song called, Ein Vogel wollte Hochzeit machen (A bird wanted to get married) So Heike enlisted Heather's help in making the costumes for this performance. It was a painstaking process of cutting out each feather for each costume using different scrap fabric patterns. But the results were awesome. The cool thing about it, is that the costumes have reappeared several times. First, with Stanley's Kindergarten we had a "Wandertag" (Hiking day) at Tiefurt park. There the kids did a mini performance and we were surprised to see the same costumes come out to be used. One of the teachers had seen the performance in Weimar West and wanted to do the same thing with the Kindergarten group. Then recently we had a church service in the park and Heike brought the group of kids from Weimar West to perform at our service. Some projects you never see the fruit of your labor, so it is nice when you get to see the results several times over.

 Each feather had to be individually cut out then sewn together. 

But what a cool finished product!

During the month of May we were blessed with some absolutely gorgeous weather. We had weather consistently in the 70's or 80's Fahrenheit. With the nice weather we were able to enjoy several meals on our back patio.

Enjoying the view from our patio.

Dinner on the Patio

Relaxing after the kids went to bed.

During one of those meals, Heather heard some singing coming from somewhere nearby. After dinner she wanted to go explore where the singing was coming from. I put the kids to bed and she set off. Turns out it was a gospel choir rehearsal at a church meeting hall behind our house. A gospel choir in English! Heather sat in on it that week and again the week after that. Now she joins them on Tuesday nights and will hopefully sing with them at their concert in December! It has been a great way to meet new people and a fun activity for Heather to take part in.

As Stanley and Holly grow they are able to play together more and more. Sometimes we have to remind ourselves that they are only four and two. Well one of those times that we forgot was when they were playing in their room, unattended, with wooden swords. It was one of those bad parenting moments. As we were working in the kitchen preparing a meal or cleaning up we hear a thump, then silence, then a terrible scream. I race into their room to find a wooden sword on the floor, Holly screaming, and a huge goose egg (a large bruise that protrudes from the head) on her forehead. Stanley had "bumped" her head with the sword (it probably was more like a thump). We immediately put ice on it to reduce the swelling and were trying to decided if we needed to take her to the hospital. We decided not to, because one of the amazing things about Holly is that she bounces back very quickly (much more so then her brother). When she gets thumped, she is likely to only need a little bit of comfort and cuddle time, and then she is ready to run off and play. We kept on eye on her "oww-wa" but there didn't seem to be any sign of a concussion. The only lingering effect of this episode was that the wooden swords are now in the cellar and no longer in commission. When you asked her what happened she'll say, "Knight...Danley...Oww-wa"

Stanley and Holly being "Bees" notice their yellow antennae.

Holly's injury from the sword.

Playing in the sand box at the Divan Restaurant (Turkish food

Lunch at the Divan Restaurant. Delicious.

Almost to 8 years together and loving married life more every day!

I will say a little more about Holly right now. She can be extremely independent and opinionated. She wants to be like her brother and often wants to do things herself. She loves to play dress up and pick her own clothes. We let her pick out her clothes sometimes and we're working with her on having a good attitude when we don't let her choose. She is also extremely empathetic. If she hears a baby crying she'll get a concerned look on her face and start asking, "Baby?" She loves to give hugs and being as small and petite as she is, other children love giving her hugs back.

Holly loves to play dress up.

She's a cutie!

During the month of May there are several holiday weekends. We had a day off for May Day, Ascension Day, another third day for Pentacost. Plus the first two were on Tuesday and Thursday respectfully, so we got the Monday and Friday off too! (Two different weeks.) During the Ascension day weekend we traveled to IKEA in Erfurt. The distance to the IKEA is probably about the same from Sandy to the IKEA by the Airport (maybe even closer), but to get there we had to travel by bus, train, tram, tram, and bus (one way). It was a fun family adventure and we are feeling pretty good with ourselves for being able to travel freely around here. While at IKEA Stanley was brave enough to go into Smaland. We enjoyed a familiar IKEA meal, complete with free refills! (most places do not have free reflills in Germany). After we were done with our shopping we realized that we just missed the bus home, so we got some ice cream and waited. In the mean time we saw someone we knew from Weimar (that happens a lot here), and met someone we needed to know. Aryn comes from Canada (so he speaks English), he is a student in Weimar and has tutored students from my school even though I had never met him. I had actually just recommended him to a student a couple of days prior to our meeting. He and his girlfriend were also going back to Weimar via public transportation so we had a chance to get to know them. She was also able to tell Heather about a German Music Therapist in Weimar. We are going to get together with them hopefully soon to meet this gal and continue to get to know Aryn and his girlfriend.

Out with my two favorite ladies.

The two handsome men being "copycats" with their Deutschland shirts.

With Stanley's brave and fun time in Smaland at IKEA I wanted to let you know that he is doing great socially. He has turned a corner in his language ability and comfortableness here. We no longer have battles at Kindergarten or at church. In fact, he is often telling us that he is ok and he doesn't need us! At church he will remind me every time that I don't need to go upstairs with him. It is really nice to see him have this confidence and success. When interacting with German speakers he will transition between German and English like we would transition between conversations. He will do his "crazy boy dancing" to impress people. He is a lot like his Nana, an exuberant performer with great social skills. This is not how we would have described him 6 months ago. When we first came, he really really really did not like to have any attention on him. Stanley's teacher's are very impressed with his improvement and he is constantly amazing us. We are starting to ask him more, "how do you say that auf Deutsch (in German)?"

Mr. Goofy.

Stanley doing one of his other favorite things: "Mommy School" aka 1:1 time with Mommy

Also during the month of May, Heather celebrated her 29th birthday. For her birthday she got some kitchen things that she's been really wanting including a crock-pot! She has absolutely loved it and has made some amazing meals with it.

Opening a mother's day card from Stanley.

Heather's birthday Crock-Pot

On memorial day weekend we still got the day off, but for Pentecost (Pfingsten) instead. For memorial day we invited our neighbors over for a BBQ chicken meal. The problem with that was that in Germany stores are closed on Sundays and Holidays. So we had not been to the store since Saturday and we were not anticipating hosting a family of 5 (it was a spur of the moment inviataion). So Heather in her creativity came up with a great meal with what we had (Pasta salad, Roasted chicken with homemade BBQ sauce, shrimp/pinnapple side dish, and homemade Lemonade). It all worked out beautifully and we had a great time with them. Stanley and Holly have really taken a liking to their kids and it has been fun seeing them interact together. They will often go to the backyard/garten and play together with bikes, scooters, soccer balls, chalk, bunnies (our neighbors have two white rabbits and had an additional 2 bunnies for awhile), strollers, etc. We are blessed to have such great neighbors (they even introduced us to our new favorite Eis (ice cream) Cafe here in Weimar).

The Americans in Germany.

At school the Seniors finished in the month of May with their IB exams. For those of you who complain about American schools "teaching to the test" it is nothing compared to the IB (International Baccalaureate) and the British GCSEs. In other school systems the exams are the end all. If you don't do well on your exams then you don't move on or have the same opportunities. I was talking to a collegue and he was saying that in some Universities in England (the Red Bricks) your entire education is based on exams at the end of three years. Well in the IB the students take a series of exams at the end of a 2 year curriculum. They are spaced out over a series of weeks and whether or not they earn their IB Diploma is based on these exams (and some other internal assessments done throughout the year). In Math the exams are 80% of the final Diploma grade. So the seniors were done at the end of April and took their exams during the month of May. I won't get the results of my students until August but I am eager to see how they did.

With the nice weather I have also been able to bike a lot more. I don't bike like I run (for recreation). I bike for getting around town. When Heather was in America I was able to take Stanley to Kindergarten and Holly to friends' houses. When Heather returned we decided that I would continue to take Stanley to Kindergarten because it was working so well and it made it so much easier on Heather. So every morning Stanley and I leave the house around 7:20 and I bike him up to Kindergarten. It has worked really well and it is nice for Heather to have only 1 round trip on the bus instead of 2. It gives her and Holly more time together in the morning and makes the day less stressed. (one round trip on the bus would take about an hour so by the time she took Stanley and came home she would only have about an hour and a half (to do house work, errands, and make lunch) before having to do it again). I've enjoyed the extra exercise. In all my morning commute is about 4.5 miles, plus my ride home giving me about 6 miles total every day. Then on top of that I have been running about 30 miles a week. It has felt really good being this physically active and living in a place that is very conducive to physical activity.

Goethe's Garten Hause. A must stop for all tourists.

Biking on our way to the Meichsner's for a game night with pack & play and all bed time gear for the kids so we could put them down for bed, play games, and then bring them home with us later.

I think I will stop with May for now and hopefully get June's update out within the next couple of days. Thank you for taking the time to read about our adventures. It truly has been an adventure. Feel free to email us and we'd love to catch up with you. Blessings from the Overbys!

April Update

This last month sure has been crazy. Since our last post we had just started Spring break. Since then we had Spring break, Stanley and I had birthdays, back to work, and then an emergency trip to America for Heather. I don't even know where to start with this. So I think I'll start with the biggest event, Heather's trip to America. I will put a disclaimer in right now. With Heather gone, this post has not gone through it's normal editing. Please be patient with any of my typos and grammatical mistakes.

On Saturday April 21st in America one of our good friend's 18 month old daughter was injured a tragic accident on their farm. It was Sunday for us, and we didn't get word of what happened until after Olivia had already passed away because we were gone all day with some friends from church. So Heather found out Sunday night, and we were trying to decided whether she should go back for the funeral and help her friend during this crisis. God said yes and provided a way. A friend of Heather donated her family's frequent flyer miles and by Wednesday morning Heather was on a plane for America. It was a crazy whirlwind of events, and Heather had to leave the house at 4 am to be on a 4:45 train for Frankfurt.

That left me at home with Stanley and Holly. Our friends here in Germany were great in stepping in to help out. Heather arranged who would go where so all I had to do was get the kids to the right place and pick them up. Stanley was at Kindergarten in the morning and Susanne picked him up, except for Friday when he went to Miriam's house. Holly was with Uli Wednesday, Susanne Thursday, and Andrea Friday. I had a little trouble timing it on when I needed to leave the house, but it all worked out. Fortunately I did not have classes first period Wednesday or Thursday so it gave me some extra flexibility.

On Saturday I had the crazy idea of still doing the run I registered for in Chemnitz (about 2.5 hours by train). I packed up the night before, and then woke up the kids at 6:10 to catch the 7 am train. I actually got to the train station and to the platform with 25 minutes to spare. The kids stayed in the Pajamas for most of the trip to Chemnitz.

Morning breakfast in the stroller.

Train ride to Chemnitz. "Who's ready for a race?"

When we arrived in Chemnitz we made our way to the park by bus, got checked in and got ready for the run. Since Heather was not here I was going to run with the kids in the stroller. Of course I always get some strange looks and lots of smiles when running with the kids, but especially during a "race." Turns out it wasn't much of a race, just a fitness run. For the first 200 meters I ended up off-roading it to clear the crowd. Lots of slow people like to start in the front. Or maybe I need to be more aggressive to move myself to the front of the line. Either way, I feel sorry for the guy who's heel I clipped with the jogging wheel. I made it to the front and joined the lead runner. We started talking and I found out that it was not supposed to be a competitive race. So we ran together the whole way. By the way, he spoke great English! He is a triathlete who was running this as a training run. At one point someone caught up with us, but then we dropped him over the last loop (it was a 1.25 km loop we did 6 times). Our last mile was about 5:40 pace. Because we did so many loops the lead biker and myself kept dinging our bells to get people to move. Having a warning bell on your bike (or running stroller) is practically a must. I didn't start my watch at the beginning. But my last 5k was 18:22 and Robin said we were just under 28 minutes (about 6 minute mile pace). I'm guessing our total time was about 27:45ish.

Robin and I after the run

After the run we hung out for a bit, had some fruit, Bratwurst, and water. Stanley played in the bouncy castle, and we had a good time. It was nice not to be in a rush to go anywhere.

Stanley in the bouncy house (white shirt). He is getting bolder every day, because in Oktober he wouldn't even go into a bouncy house.

A really tired Holly. She got a little sleep during the run but not enough.

It was really hot (80's Fahrenheit). We then made our way back into Chemnitz because a lady I was talking to recommending stopping at the Zentralstation. We did and bought some Blueberries and Strawberries at the open air market, and then went into the mall to get some ice cream.

In central Chemnitz with Stanley being goofy.

Dancing in the square. Notice many of our pictures Stanley and Holly are doing the same thing. That's because Holly loves to mimic her big brother.

The Strawberries were a lifesaver!

Sharing Ice Cream at the mall. 

Auf Deutsch it is called Eis "I-s" and it is one of Holly's favorite words.

Making one of our many connections. I love to see our kids have fun together.

Afterwards we made it to the train station to head home. When we arrived I found out that we had just missed a train and the next one wasn't for another 2 hours! So we hung out in the station, got some Burger King for an early dinner, and tried to waste as much time as possible. The kids did really well considering the circumstances. They also got really messy from Strawberries, Blueberries, Nougat cream cookies, and just playing. I decided not to stress about the germs and messiness too much otherwise I would just go crazy trying to manage all that.

You can't go wrong with Burger King and the crowns.

About an hour before our train I started to notice alot of police in riot gear. Then I saw some people with football team scarves. Turns out a Football game between Chemnitz and Erfurt was just finishing, and those going to Erfurt would be on our train! About 20 minutes before the train left Stanley got one of his really bad bloody noses. Fortunately I had grabbed a bunch of paper towels earlier in the day. As our departure time got closer I had to have him squeeze his own nose. It was a little awkward trying to push the stroller past Polizei holding my son's nose with bloody paper towels. But we made it and his bloodynose did stop. Dealing with these Football fan hooligans is something the Polizei are obviously used to. They had all the fans on one train and other travelers on the other. But the Polizei are still are on both trains. So we had 4 officers with us the entire time.

The Polizei corralling the fans.

Stanley with one of the Polizei

The ride home was the hardest part of the day. The kids were a mess, we were all tired, and the train was unbearably hot. But we finally made it, and we were so glad to be home. We stopped at the store on the way home because the stores aren't open on Sunday, and walked in the door about 7:30pm. Just over 13 hours after we left that morning! What a day. I gave the kids baths, fed them a peanut butter and honey sandwich, and put them to bed. I finished up Schindler's list that I had started Friday night, then started to watch the documentary with interviews of the actual survivors, but soon fell asleep. Unfortunately, Stanley's bloody nose wasn't really done and twice he was up with it bleeding some more, so I was very tired Sunday morning.

Not the most flattering picture of Stanley, but it captures how we felt. Very tired, but happy.

A nice family picture taken by the Polizei

Despite how tired we all felt we still made it to church Sunday morning. A group was doing a fundraiser so we also had lunch at church. After church Holly took a nap while Stanley played quietly in his room. After naps we went out to a coworker's house that afternoon and evening. It has been nice not having to cook very many meals. I did leftover Lasagna on Thursday, the Meichsners fed us Thursday, and Friday we had Donor Kebap. The kids had a great time Sunday evening playing with one of my coworker's daughters (who is in high school) and 2 young boys of another family who was there. It was a nice relaxing afternoon and evening. The only problem was that we didn't get home until after 9 and Stanley didn't fall asleep until almost 10!

At church when all the kids come forward before going to Sunday School.

Of course the next morning they didn't sleep in. We had breakfast, cleaned up the house, then went for a run. 8 miles, picnic, and then 4 miles back home. It was one of those beautiful spring days where you just have to get out.

The kids get to ride in style.

Playing at the part on the beautiful spring morning.

Meanwhile in America Heather is glad she went. She has been able to support Courtenay and the family. On Friday, the day of the memorial service, she was at Courtenay's right hand. She made sure Courtaney ate, drank water, sat down, etc. Heather really felt like she fulfilled her purpose in going to America to help Courtenay during this hard time. She has also enjoyed seeing friends, family, and doing a little shopping. She has said it has also been an interesting feeling of not being at home there. Home right now is in Germany, and not in America.

Heather with Sarah and Sue Overby

I hear Holly waking up from her nap so I need to go. Thank you for taking the time to read this. Hopefully I'll be able to post more on the rest of our incredibly busy April. In the mean time please pray for Heather's travels as she leaves Oregon Tuesday morning and won't arrive in Weimar until Wednesday afternoon/evening. Have a great day.

Scott

Happy April

For the past 5 days I’ve been trying to get a blog update out, but every night something would come up or I would be too tired and it just hasn’t happened. Hopefully today (Monday) ok now today (Tuesday) will be the day. We have a bunch of exciting things that have been happening so we’d like to bring you up to speed.

The first thing that has happened is that we finally feel like we’ve settled. A couple of weeks ago now (Wednesday, March 21st) we were formally made members of our church here in Weimar. That evening we had another teacher babysit our kids. This is also her first year at Thuringia International School, but not her first year teaching at international schools. During dinner we were talking with her about settling in and how it just happens at some point and sometimes in the least likely circumstances. That night at church we shared our testimony and how we came to Weimar. Another couple from work were also there to officially become members. Afterwards we were able to talk to several people (in their limited English or our really limited Deutsch), and when we got home we really felt at peace in where we are at in life.

Sharing our testimony at church. Susanne did a wonderful job translating for us.

The next Sunday at church we were again recognized along with the other new members and those being baptized. After church we had a church potluck and many people came up to say hi to us. We had previously just been the non-German speaking family with the large stroller (gross Kinderwagen). Now they knew who we were and they felt comfortable reaching out to us. Our German readers can correct me on this, but from our experience in Eastern European countries is that people will have a harder exterior and be less friendly up front, but once you get to know them or they get to know you they are really friendly and welcoming. We feel that happened at church. Now they know who we are and a piece of our story, we are now family. Heather literally had three girls sitting on the blanket with her and Holly during the potluck. So since then we have been in a sweeter space emotionally and feeling more settled in our life in Germany.

My morning routine with the kids is that they help me make my lunch.

Riding bikes is a common part of life in Weimar. On this day we were riding through the park to see the 12th grade art show at my work. We also like to bike to church when the weather is nicer.

Along those lines I (Scott) have also decided to let go of the drama happening back in the Gresham-Barlow School District. In my last post that drama was starting to consume me. Heather in her wisdom suggested to let it go and not keep up on the drama. When it’s time to make a decision we’ll look at where things are at. In the meantime we will be content where we are at and not worry about the whole job situation in Oregon. Doesn’t the Bible say something about that?

Matthew 6:25-34 (New Living Translation) Bold emphasis mine

"No one can serve two masters. For you will hate one and love the other; you will be devoted to one and despise the other. You cannot serve both God and money. That is why I tell you not to worry about everyday life—whether you have enough food and drink, or enough clothes to wear. Isn’t life more than food, and your body more than clothing? Look at the birds. They don’t plant or harvest or store food in barns, for your heavenly Father feeds them. And aren’t you far more valuable to him than they are? Can all your worries add a single moment to your life? And why worry about your clothing? Look at the lilies of the field and how they grow. They don’t work or make their clothing, yet Solomon in all his glory was not dressed as beautifully as they are. And if God cares so wonderfully for wildflowers that are here today and thrown into the fire tomorrow, he will certainly care for you. Why do you have so little faith?

So don’t worry about these things, saying, ‘What will we eat? What will we drink? What will we wear?’ These things dominate the thoughts of unbelievers, but your heavenly Father already knows all your needs. Seek the Kingdom of God above all else, and live righteously, and he will give you everything you need. So don’t worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will bring its own worries. Today’s trouble is enough for today.

I know the first part was talking about God and money, but I can’t be working in both Germany and Oregon. I need to focus my time and attention on one or the other. None of my worrying will make anything better in either place it will just stress me out. God knows our needs and we believe He brought us here for a purpose. It’s not our place to worry about what will come next. In the meantime we need to seek His kingdom, do His work, and walk in a manner worthy of the calling. Tomorrow will come when it comes, but for today we will walk by faith and trust in Him. I was just reading to Stanley tonight the story of Jesus asleep on the boat as the storm raged around them. The disciples woke Jesus up screaming, “Don’t you care that we’re about to die!” Jesus’ response was simple, “Why were you afraid? Don’t you trust me?” (Mark 4:35-41 my paraphrase) So we will trust Him and wait and see what will happen.

Holly says it best on our what our attitude should be.

Still on the theme of being more settled in, Stanley had a huge compliment from his Kindergarten teacher that same week. She had been out for almost a month (in Germany if you are sick or going through something extra hard you can easily get a note from your doctor to take time off work) and she returned that week. She was telling Heather how impressed she was of Stanley’s progress. He is much more comfortable at school, learning German very well, and making friends. Yes he still has issues to work through, and yes we expect him to behave properly even when we’re not around (really Stanley pushing your classmates is not good), but he is doing better. Give him a couple more months and his German will continue to take off. He is already correcting us on some of our pronunciations.

A fun European thing to do is go out for Eis (Ice Cream) on a nice day which is just what we did on this day.

New life in spring. Getting to hold our neighbor's baby bunnies.

That same week we also decided to step out and go somewhere. We asked our friends the Meichsners and Erik suggested we go to Gotha (Go-Tah). So on Saturday we bought a hopper ticket and hopped on a train to Gotha. It was a fun outing to see another city and to have the confidence that we can do this. We can travel around Thuringia and see the different cities and sites. We got to see the Gotha Castle (more of a palace estate) and see the old town. It is hard not being able to really do museums with two squirrely kids. But it was still a fun outing. On the way home however our train was stopped for over 30 minutes. Apparently there was a medical emergency (some security guy went running down the train asking if there was a doctor aboard). That didn’t help the kids squirreliness. We finally did make it home with good memories and a sense of accomplishment.

Here is a video of us on the train getting ready to head to Gotha

Watching the countryside go by.

In old town Gotha.

Seven and a half years of marriage and still going strong.

Last week we got to celebrate Holly’s second birthday. It’s crazy to think that Holly is already two. She is using more and more words and they are becoming more and more clear. I think we’ve mentioned before that her vocabulary is quite bilingual. Her birthday was not terribly exciting because I had staff meetings and Heather had manual therapy (massage). We were able to skype with some family and friends that evening as well. But over the week we got to make it a special week doing special things. Our Saturday trip to Gotha (pre birthday) was part of it. Holly has been wanting to go on a Train for awhile now. (side note here on how we’re starting to think more in German, all nouns are capitalized, as I unintentionally just capitalized Train.) Our big present for Holly was a toy stroller for her doll. She had been wanting one for awhile and whenever she would see one she would call out “Baby” and want to play with it. Heather picked out a great one and it has been a hit. We also got her a stuffed animal horse that she absolutely loves. She got a great Hello Kitty gift set from Aunt Beth (Hello Kitty is another thing Holly is into right now “Meow! Meow!”). Boz and Baby Beethoven DVDs from Grandma Sue and Grandpa Steve. An Eeyore and bear stuffed animals from Grandma Bettie. And don’t forget this incredible laptop from the Overbys, Tilgners, and Russells.

Holly's new Kinderwagen for her Baby.

Now, in Germany it is considered bad luck to celebrate a birthday before the birthday. So Holly’s birthday was Monday and we had to wait until Saturday to have a birthday party. We had a nice party with the Meichsners, Uli, Rolph and their daughter Elin, and our friend Doerte. So there were 5 kids which was a perfect number. Heather’s theme was candy shop, lollipop shoppe, and Holly Lolly. (Lollipops are just called Lollys). Heather had incredible arrangements of candy and cupcakes, which was way more then we could all eat and guests to take home so we’ll be having lots of candy at HausKreis for awhile. But the party was a perfect size and a perfect mix. Susanne brought Balloons for the kids which brought tons of laughter and entertainment. We played a little cake walk game. Sang happy birthday (in English) and ate cupcakes and Flamkuchen. After that we hung out and let the kids play. A sweet time with some sweet friends. It was really neat to have Doerte there as she now works more than full time as a doctor and she was able to take time out of her busy schedule to be there for Holly’s birthday.

Heather's amazing candy display.

The balloons were a hit.

Our kids with the the Meichsner kids.

Here is a glimpse of Holly's Birthday Party.

The crazy thing for us and Birthdays right now is that we have two more birthdays next week! Stanley’s is Thursday April 12th and mine is the 14th! So in 19 days we have 3 birthdays, and then Heather’s is a month later. Heather is already talking about a Knight theme for Stanley’s. More on that later.

Now for the really great news! On Holly’s birthday she also received another gift that will take 9 months to prepare. I mentioned that she has really been excited about Baby strollers and always shouting out “Baby!” She also does this whenever she sees another baby, even if the baby is older and/or bigger then her. Well we found out on Holly’s birthday, March 26th, that we’re going to have another baby! Heather had been feeling a little off, but I wouldn’t let her take a pregnancy test until Holly’s birthday. She obliged, and the test came out positive. We’re really excited. We have been hoping to add another child to our family for a couple of months now, but waiting on God’s timing and not worrying about it in the process. The baby should arrive in November.

She sure looks good. You can't even tell she's pregnant!

Two lines means positive! Happy Day!

Here is our 6 week ultrasound pictures. It is amazing what modern technology can do. We even got to see the heart beat!

One last final note before I call it a night. While writing this, Heather has been asleep in Stanley and Holly’s room (although Holly has been sleeping in the large half room next to our bedroom). We have an extra mattress in the kid's room as well and Heather fell asleep as I was tucking Stanley in around 7:15pm. She just got up at 9:15pm. She was telling me that after I left Stanley got up and went to her and said, “Let me pray for you Mommy.” Then he prayed for Heather in his sweet Stanley voice, tucked her in and went back to bed himself. Today has been an especially draining day with Stanley and Holly both being sick. Holly had a fever of 104 F and Stanley has had an ear ache. So having a moment like that is especially touching.

A sweet brother and sister moment on Holly's Birthday.

Ok, one more thing. During our HausKreis on Friday evening we got to watch “Courageous.” It was just us and the Meichsners. WOW, what a movie. It was an early birthday present and I am so glad to have seen it. What a great call to men. I can’t wait to watch it again and then to watch it with the commentary, and then to watch it with other men. If you haven’t seen the movie, you need to.

Really, that’s all. Thank you for reading this novel of a post. I hope you enjoyed it and it was encouraging for you as well. Feel free to leave a comment or send us an email.

If you haven't spent enough time on our blog you can check out our March web album here.

Fruhe Oster! (Happy Easter)

Scott, Heather, Stanley, Holly, and Baby #3!

He has risen! He has risen indeed!

This video is just really awesome and a great way to remember the celebration of Easter! It also struck a special chord with us being in Eastern Europe.

Happy St. Patrick's Day from Germany

It is always interesting to find what holidays are different in Germany compared to the United States. I worked on Labor Day, Veteran's Day, Thanksgiving, MLK day (although Germany celebrates the original Martin Luther!) and President's day. And Valentine's Day isn't that big of a deal in Germany. Well St Patrick's Day is also not celebrated in Germany. Makes sense though, it is an Irish holiday. We only celebrate it in the USA because so many Americans have Irish heritage. So today we dressed in Green, had waffles with a green white chocolate topping Heather creation, did a green scavenger hunt, went out for green ice cream, and other fun green themed things.

In preparation Heather did some research on who St. Patrick really was. For those of you who don't know, he was a missionary to Ireland. He was not Irish but was British and was captured by the Irish and brought to Ireland as a slave. He found Christ in Ireland, and later escaped back to his home. He then became a priest and felt it was his calling to return to Ireland as a missionary. He did return and successfully converted many Irish people to Christianity. It is said that he used the Shamrock to explain the Holy Trinity to the Irish. St. Patrick died on March 17th around 460 AD. So we had a fun day talking about the trinity, missionaries, enjoying the color green and the beautiful weather!

Here's a little slideshow of our fun day. (Sorry there is no music. iTunes converted all our songs to m4a files which don't work with Picasa. If any of you know how to get around this please let us know!)

In other news...we had a visitor two weeks ago. Our dear friend Elizabeth Reese (Auntie Lizzy to the kids) took her one vacation week to come to Germany to visit us! Wow, what a blessing! Heather and Elizabeth and the kids had a great time together while I had to work. Elizabeth got to experience the sights, sounds, and flavors of Weimar and we even were able to get out to the zoo the last day she was here. She also was able to bring many treats from America including a new laptop from our families. The laptop we got before we came to Germany died so we were in need of a new computer. We didn't want one with a German keyboard and German operating system so my dad picked one out for us in America. It is a huge blessing, and my dad said it was partially selfish to get us this new computer because it has a great webcam for Skype. :-)

Now we are in the general flow of life. We are healthy (my foot is not broken for those who remember out last post), and life marches on. I have spring break in a couple of weeks. Spring break here is the week before and after Easter. That's right, two weeks! Hopefully we can work on studying to get our German driver's license during that time.

It's crazy to think that we have almost been here for 8 months (Holly's birthday will be the 8th month mark). In another 8 months we will be in the decision making process on whether to stay in Germany or return to Oregon in the summer of 2013. We were talking about that decision this afternoon and it is a hard one. We have a lot of very good reasons to stay in Germany and a lot of very good reasons to return to Oregon. Seeing how much our lives have changed from a year ago, who knows what will be happening in another year.

I think that is enough for now. Thank you for reading and please feel free to leave a comment or send us an email. We always appreciate your notes so much.

From Germany,

Scott, Heather, Stanley, and Holly

Welcome March

It's now March and our sub sub freezing Siberian temperatures are a memory of the past. Recently we've had temps between 5° and 15° Celsius. Which is between 40° and 60° Fahrenheit.

It was cold outside

Work has been really busy these past 3 weeks. These past weeks have also been fairly uneventful. In our last post we told you about Grandpa Dick going to be with Jesus. On Monday February 13^th we were able to attend his memorial service via skype. It was really neat to be able to “be there.” We are so thankful for modern technology. It was fun to also see some of you at the memorial service.

Last week we dealt with a nasty seasonal cold in our home. First Stanley was sick, then Holly got sick, and finally Heather. I was able to avoid it during that time, but then on Monday it began to get me too. Fortunately, with the help of some EmergenC, Gatoraide, and lots of water I was able to avoid getting sick. Now we are all well except for the occasional drippy nose.

Our sick King Stanley and Queen Holly.

Our sick kids about to enjoy a muffin tin lunch.

This week has been interesting in several ways. First, Stanley is beginning to get more comfortable at Kindergarten (Praise the Lord J ). We’re seeing him grow more comfortable with the German language. We recently rented some Caillou movies from the library, and Stanley has wanted to watch them auf Deutsch, and he has been singing more songs auf Deutsch as well! At home he is talking more about the other students at Kindergarten, and this last week he actually shook the assistant teacher’s hand when he left. Hopefully this continues and he becomes more and more comfortable in these situations. Three weeks ago at church he absolutely refused to go to Sunday School. Two weeks ago he went with me and he actually had a good time when I explained what was going on. No my German is not that good, but I recognized some of the songs, and our friend Erik was leading Stanley’s class and told me what the story was about ahead of time. This really made us think that his refusal tantrums are due primarily to the fact that he doesn’t understand what is going on and is therefore quite uncomfortable. When he knows what is happening he likes it. He didn’t go to Kindergarten or church at all last week because he was sick with fever. And going back to Kindergarten this whole past week was so much better.

Stanley focusing on an drawing. He's really into drawing pictures now. He even took it upon himself to redecorate our living room with his art work.

Stanley tracing the letters of his name.

This past week Heather has had some neat interactions with different ladies in Weimar. It is fun to see how God is bringing these ladies into Heather’s life, or bringing Heather into their lives. However you want to look at it. J She has had the privilege of praying with one friend on the bus and having others really open up their hearts to her.

For me, this past week has probably been the most exciting. It started off with me winning a pair of running shoes! I entered a contest on my favorite running website letsrun.com. The entry question was “why I should get a new pair of Puma FAAS running shoes.” I entered a few weeks ago, and then readers of letsrun.com were able to vote on the entries. This week I found out that I was one of the winners! How fun. You can read my entry here. I’m the third one down. Also this week I finally got back to running again. I wasn’t able to get out much in February due to the extreme cold and the family illnesses. I ran with the kids Saturday and Sunday, and then Tuesday through Friday after work. Now for the really weird news. I hurt my foot Friday afternoon. After all the good things happening regarding running I hurt my foot. Now here’s the real kicker. I hurt my foot while kicking the presenter at our staff meeting Friday afternoon. Yes that sounds strange but the meeting was on bullying and the presenter was focusing on physically bullying and it almost became a self defense class. I was the one that he chose to help show how to protect yourself in a physical conflict. So he first asked me to slap him harder and harder on the cheek. I got one slap in and then he showed how to deflect the slap. After that he asked me to kick him in the arm showing that a kick in the arm isn’t a big deal compared to a kick in other sensitive areas. Anyways, it was weird and the kick in the arm did me in. Note: he was once on the German National Karate Team, and is a master karate instructor. Now my right foot is slightly swollen and hurts when I push off my toes. Hopefully it isn’t broken. L

So there you go, that’s what we’ve been up to in the month of February. What do we have coming up? First, Heather’s good friend Elizabeth is coming to visit us on Monday! Her husband Matt works as a commercial pilot so she was able to get tickets to visit us. Unfortunately Matt is working so he won’t be able to come out too. But we are really looking forward to having Elizabeth here. After that we only have another 4 weeks and then I have two weeks off for spring break! We really like these breaks during the year. The down side is that I’ll have a much shorter summer vacation.

We hope and pray all is well with you. Please feel free to leave a comment.

From Germany, Scott, Heather, Stanley and Holly

A note from Stanley while I was writing this.

Stanley says “I love Germany love Katey.” and “I really love you love Blake. I really liked when you gave the turtle Blake stuffed animal.” and “I really love you Grandma Sue and I’m drawing pictures for you.”

Holly says, “Hallelujah!”

Happy Valentine's Day 2012

Click picture to zoom in!

More Winter Staycation Pictures and Videos

Here is a webalbum of some photos from our winter staycation.

Winter Staycation Feb 4 to 12, 2012

Here is a video of our time at Schwanseebad.

Here is a video of some fun music time at home, and Stanley doing his crazy boy dance.

Here is Stanley going down a snowy slide at the park.

Here is Stanley and Daddy at the park on a snowy day.

Thanks for checking these out. Have a great day.

See you later Grandpa Dick and Winter in Weimar

It has been such a long time since our last post. Sunday night I wrote this post, but since then there have been some major events. This morning (Tuesday) Grandpa Dick finally got to meet Jesus face to face. It has been a slow decline over the last 4 years. We remember back in December 2007 praying that Grandpa would live long enough to meet Stanley. Well, God answered that prayer and he got to meet Holly as well. When we left for Germany we knew that we very well could be saying good bye to him this side of Heaven. Because we serve a Mighty God, we have hope and assurance that death is not the end of Grandpa Dick, because he loved and served Jesus with all of his heart, soul, mind and strength. Now he gets to love and serve Jesus with Him. What an honor! We still have a purpose here on earth, so we want to continue to serve Jesus here in Germany, but oh what a day when we get to see our Savior face to face as well. On that day we will get to see Grandpa Dick again. But now he is without any pain or suffering. So please be praying for those of us still here on earth. That we will remember what Grandpa was all about, and that we'll love Jesus even more as we move through this transition.

So, now here is the post that we previously had written.

Work has been super busy, which keeps me from having the extra time to write blog posts. But now it is winter break. That’s right, we have a week off during the first full week of February. I think it used to be called ski week, or something like that. It is a much needed break, especially after Semester 1 final ended. This evening we were going through photos and realized how much has happened over the past month. There is no way that I’ll be able to do it justice, but here are some highlights. I’ll start with most recent things, and then work my way back to our last post.

This week we are going to do a stay-cation. We will stay in Weimar and explore it as if we were on vacation. We will take the time to do extra special activities, and to cherish the little moments. Like dancing in the living room before dinner, take an extra walk as a family, or have a picnic on the living room floor instead of normal dinner. You get the idea. So far it has been wonderful.

Tuesday:

I got to take Stanley to Kindergarten in -17° C weather. It was fun seeing what Heather does every day. Relaxing afternoon with a trip to the library. In the evening Heather and I finally got to watch Blind Side which we got from Steve and Sue back in October!

Monday:

We woke up to -15° C weather, and thought, "What a great day for a swim!" So we went to the local INDOOR pool to go swimming! Well, first Heather made Parfaits for breakfast. The pool was great, we played with the kids in the kiddie pool for over an hour. They loved the little slide into the water, especially Holly. She would come down and then go right back to the slide over and over and over again. We had to teach her to walk so she didn't slip and fall. Holly and I got to take naps, while Heather entertained our non-napping 3 year old. That evening, we got to have dinner with our friends the Meichsners, and afterwards Heather had a fun girls night with a few ladies from church. I enjoyed some Pepsi and a Milka bar while watching field of Dreams auf Deutsch (with English subtitles).

Weekend:

Heather let me sleep in on Saturday! She made an amazing Quiche that we ate when I woke up at 8:30 am. Went to the store to prepare for our Stay-cation, and Holly got a new potty training seat! Kids and I played at the park in the afternoon (it was -10° C). The next morning we went to Church (this week is marriage week) and then went to Munzer Kebap for lunch, and they served us some special OJ for the kids, and amazing Green Apple Tea for Heather and I. Before naps Holly successfully went potty on the toilet for the first time! Took a family walk after naps, and got to walk on a frozen pond for the first time in our lives! The Weimarhalle reflecting pool was completely frozen over. After our walk, we had a special picnic dinner in the living room. The kids loved it! We’ll keep you posted on our future Stay-cation outings.

Here is a couple of videos of the frozen pond.

First Snow! We finally had our first real snow on the 28^th of January! We’ve had a few flurries here and there these past couple months, but nothing significant that stuck around. Friday the 27th it started to snow, and I joked with my students about whether or not it would continue. I even took a poll in one class and only 5 of the 13 thought it would still be snowing by the end of class. Well it was, but it was only a “misty” snow. Well it continued all day Saturday and we probably got about 4 to 5 centimeters (just under 2 inches). Plus on Saturday, I was helping our friends the Meichsners move! So I got to be out in the snow most of the day. Since then, temperatures have been well below freezing. Life is different when the weather gets cold, or wet, or ugly, but you still have to go out in it. We take a bus that gets us close to church (still over a half mile walk there), but then we walk well over a mile to get home after church. Today it was -11°C.

For those of you who haven’t been watching the news, we’ve had a cold snap here in Europe for the past couple of weeks. It started about the 26^th of January, and then got colder and colder and colder. The lowest it got in Weimar was -22°C last Friday (that’s -7°F), and yet I was still going to work, walking to and from the bus stops, and Heather was taking Stanley to Kindergarten. On January 20^th, the students from our school walked nearly 2 km in a snow downpour. You would never see that in America, we don’t expect people to walk anywhere, especially in th snow. I have not had the courage to go for a run in this cold, but I finally got myself out the door Saturday night (Feb 4^th). It was -13°C, and I was wearing spandex and running pants, long sleeve running shirt, hooded sweatshirt, windbreaker jacket, and warm running vest, warm hat, two pairs of gloves, and facemask. I had to curl my hands into a fist in my gloves because my fingers were freezing and my facemask only helped for the first 3 miles, the next 5.5 miles were with it just as a neck warmer. When I returned, my hooded sweatshirt rim was a rim of ice, and I had icicles on my eyelashes. But it was really neat, because it was nearly a full moon so I didn’t need my head lamp because the snow reflected the moonlight to light up Goethe Park.

Before the cold hit, we did have a chance to get out as a family on January 14^th. Heather had a great idea to go for a family run/bike. I pushed the kids in the jogging stroller, and heather rde her bike. We had a great time going out into the country. Heather was amazed at the beauty of the countryside here. She kept saying,

“Wow, we’re living in Europe! I can’t believe the beauty of the land. I feel like I’m in a Jane Austin movie.”

My reply was,

“Yes, now you know one of the reasons I love running out here so much!”

We hope to be able to do that more, once the weather gets warmer. Heather was a trooper, we went 10 miles, and for someone who does not bike often especially not for long distances, she was able to keep up very well.

We’ve also had fun moments here and there with our kids. Laughter, silliness, sweet tender times. Of course there are moments of frustration and “you just did what!” But we’re trying to have a sense of humor in it all.

Some other things we’ve been up to. Heather has been continuing to amaze me with her craftiness. She has refurbished a jacket she was given. She has sewn Stanley and Holly each a circle scarf. She has sewn a baby blanket and bedding for Holly’s doll. She is quite the seamstress. Stanley is still enjoying Kindergarten, and continues to use more German phrases in his daily life. Holly is becoming more and more talkative and we’re seeing more of her personality. She is a tough little cookie. The other day she was playing in our laundry basket, and tipped herself over. In trying to compensate, she banged her lip against the side that was coming up, knocking her back to the floor. She came up crying with a bloody lip. Well when Stanley went for the laundry basket 15 seconds later, Holly immediately stopped crying and went back to the laundry basket licking her bloody lip. She was not going to be phased by a little fall. But she is also sensitive and sad when Stanley gets in trouble, and wants to go cheer him up. It is so fun watching our kids become best friends. Moments like these are the ones that you hold on to, when things are not so rosy.

Here are a couple of videos of our kids. Warning, only us and grandparents will probably truely appreciate these. :-)

Thank you for taking the time to read our blog post. Please leave a comment or email us. We always love to hear from our friends. You can even call us for free at 503-489-4300. Have a wonderful day.

Back to "Normalcy"

It is funny how "normal" changes. A year ago "normal" was very different than it is now. Here in Germany we just finished our first week back after Christmas break. Classes, lesson planning, kindergarten, church, shopping, running, bloody noses, sweet kids, crazy kids-all those things that make up normal life for us.

Work is work. I'm enjoying the classes, but teaching is always stressful. End of Semester 1 is only 2 weeks away, so I'm getting last tests, quizzes, and assignments in before the end. A difference here is that End of Semester 1, beginning of Semester 2 is a lot more fluid as far as content because classes don't change, and you don't really have end of Semester 1 exams. However, the end of Semester 2 exams are huge. Commuting to work is also different, Bus or Bike. I bought a rain cover for my backpack this last week, so that now gives me the freedom to ride to work even if it is raining. On Friday I did that, and then after work it was absolutely beautiful. Speaking of weather, it has been a lot like Oregon recently, wet and hovering around mid to upper 30's. No snow. We even have the wind to remind us of the Eastern winds we'd get from the Gorge!

Stanley is back at Kindergarten after Christmas break and he's still enjoying it. Heather tried taking him there earlier (8:30 instead of 9am 'til noon), but that was too long for him, so we'll stick with 3 hours a day , which feels really good. Heather's routine involves catching the 8:50 bus, and drop Stanley off around 9 am, and then she goes and tries to catch the 9:33 bus to bring her back home. She and Holly will go to a park, do some shopping, or just play at home, before they have to catch the 11:50 bus to be back at Kindergarten to pick up Stanley at noon. Even though it is alot of bus riding, Heather likes it because it forces her to get outside. During the second week of Christmas Break I saw how easy it was to not go outside if you don't have to. In Germany, going outside is very important. In America we fault on staying inside too much and not getting enough fresh air.

Rice cakes with Peanut Butter and Raisin faces was a special "Daddy snack".

Church is still the best thing for us with all the support that we get from the Christian community. (Church is not the building or the service, church is believers learning together to live like Christ and reaching out in His name.) We started our English Speaking "Growth Group" or "Haus Kreis" (Home Circle) on Wednesday. We only had 2 other people there (Olga and Jele "Yay-la"), but we only announced that we were going to meet on New Years, and there were alot of people not at church that morning. We had a great time of fellowship, and during our time of prayer Heather and I prayed in English, Jele prayed in German, and Olga prayed in Russian (she's originally from Belarus). How Awesome.

Shopping still has its difficulties, although I will say that Heather is becoming very proficient with her German food vocab. We have to go to the store two to three times a week because we can only carry so much at one time. One neat thing that I think stores in America should do is that when you get a shopping cart you have to put a Euro coin in as a deposit. You get it back when you return the cart and connect it to the one in front. This makes certain people don't leave stray carts all over the place.

The kids watching a movie together and playing their shaker eggs with the music. They are becoming great friends!

Our kids have been doing really well recently. We are all healthy, and active. Stanley still struggles with bloody noses. We actually spent nearly an hour with him Thursday night trying to get him to calm down and get his nose to stop bleeding. He's three and a half and Holly is one and a half so they struggle with whining and complaining, but we're trying to work with them on that and there are some really sweet moments with them. Holly's Thank you "Muh muh" (short sounds-as in "Danke") when it is unprompted is adorable. Stanley sharing his last bite of cookie with me was a warrior moment. And we love it when he says, "Mommy, (or Daddy) I love you" when he looks at us. We're trying to teach him about being a tender warrior. One who looks after the needs of others, who is strong but not a bully. So whenever we see him do something kind or selfless we call it a warrior moment. The kids also love to play together. Stanley will help his sister, and Holly loves to try and explore new things. One of her favorite things now is stacking the large Melissa and Doug blocks Nana brought from America. Holly can build a tower that is almost as tall as her. She also learned how to open the doors yesterday and is practicing that skill often. And yesterday Heather was surprised when going it to get Holly up from her nap, opened the door to the walk-in closet (dark and quiet away from Mr. Noisy) and Holly was standing in front of the pack and play. That was a surprise! Stanley is super active, joyful and a little bit crazy and he loves to play outside. In his quiet moments he loves to watch his BOZ movie that he got for Christmas.

Here is a picture of Stanley's favorite game right now. Acting out Bible Stories. In this picture we are walking around Jericho. We also play David and Goliath, "We Three Kings of are" and Baby Jesus, Jonah, and Joseph.

Stanley just woke up from his nap and I asked him what he likes about living in Germany. His unprompted answer was "I like sleeping in our house." What do you mean Stanley? "I like that we don't have to sleep in our Hauptbahnhof house anymore." We are very thankful for our new home. Our dishwasher went out this week so we're back to washing dishes by hand, but our first home in Germany really helped us to be thankful for where we are now. Thanks for taking the time to read this. We hope all is well for you. We would love to get a little snippet on how life is for you right now.

I think that's a wrap for tonight. (Now it's almost 11 pm and Scott still has a lot of work to do for school tomorrow. -Heather the Editor)