The sun has gone down on our third day in Germany. Our trip here was
long. We flew to Dallas the first day, and stayed in a hotel.
Everything from trying to balance 8 pieces of luggage, blankets, dolls,
jackets, a car seat, a stroller, AND three kids made an exciting trip to
and from our motel. The kids were so excited to stay in a motel and
that made it all worth it. On Wednesday we got on our plane to
Frankfurt in the late afternoon. The kids were so excited to get little
gifts every hour, and thought the plane ride was great. Unfortunately,
Lukas did not quite understand the idea of getting a new toy every
hour. His greatest desire was to walk around! Even though we brought
his car seat he did not think sitting was something he wanted to do for
ten hours! We were certainly relieved to get off that plane...only to
find people packed in like cattle at the German customs. We tried to
pull out our last reserves of strength and keep the kids entertained
while standing in line. At last we had our luggage and saw a much
awaited for sight...Oma and Opa! Matt's parents were waiting for us,
and his brother, wife, and two little boys came along to surprise us.
We packed the bags and prepared to drive to our new home. I was
surprised to find that it is a short 45 minute drive from Frankfurt.
This was such a pleasant surprise. Our first impressions of the city
were amazing, we loved it right away. It is a small, but not tiny
village tucked away between several "wine mountains". The vineyards
cover the whole mountain...it is beautiful. Then came our greatest
surprise...our new house. It was so much more than I had imagined!
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| This is our house! It has five bedrooms! We have five "levels" on our house. A large completely finished basement/laundry area, first floor, three bedrooms on the second floor, two bedrooms on the third floor, and an attic! |
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| Our new van...from Matt's sister and family! |
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| Our front door/entry way. |
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| As you can see we are far from being organized! This is a view of our living area/dining room. We have a lot of furniture to buy, but as you can see Matt's family did an absolutely amazing job of setting things up for us! |
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| Our new table, and banner. Matt's sister-in-law made the banner for us! And for the record her baby is 2 weeks old! Amazing. Translated it says: a heartfelt welcome to your new home. |
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| The kitchen! Please not in the bottem right corner a dishwasher! It is new and works great!!! All the appliance are new...I am loving all the colors! |
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The most noticeable adjustment for us has been learning what it means to live with German architecture. The walls are made of stone, the tiles are made of stone, the stairs are made of stone...I think you get the idea. The reality is that the kids have been surprised to find that when they bang their head on the wall it is really, really hard! When they jump off the stairs and fall on their face their teeth really hurt. We tried to prepare them for the change, but nothing is the same as the realization when they hit stone floors. They are all looking a little beat up. Poor kids! I don't know about you, but I often literally have to learn things the "hard" way. It is such a painful way to learn! God is so patient with us, and just like we welcome our kids into our arms after we have told them not to slide on granite floors, God also welcomes us to a safe place to heal when we hit "rock bottom".
