DECEMBER 2021

More goodbyes

Top left: Rosmarie H

Top Right: the Powells

Bottom left: Tiffany

Bottom right: Heike at the Landstuhl library

The first night, we moved into a hotel room next to Tiffany's restaurant as it would be easier to get kids from school.  Then we took most of our luggage to the Harshbargers.  And then we went to a cute upstairs apartment in Rodenbach.  We have had a rental car for the last month because our little toyota corolla died.  It couldn't last just a few more days.  So we have been in a little rental car but all of us and our luggage dont fit at the same time.  We have to plan out every step we make and it gets pretty complicated.  We are lucky to have great friends that are willing to help.  

We left the kids with a babysitter and went with the Harshbargers to two Christmas markets, Metz and Nancy.  I got my last authentic mille feuille, in honor of dad.  We stopped at a fun thrift store in Nancy that had amazing treasures.  We ate loaded bake potatoes and got Christmas mugs.

Saying goodbye to Isaiah and Melissa, Zoe and Eve. 

Goodbye to Mila

While I ran around saying goodbye to Melissa and Mila with Tessa, Ryan took the boys to the Nanstein castle for one last visit.  We have such fond memories of visiting this castle for the first time.  We were in the hotel on Landstuhl base and wanted to walk and venture down into the city.  We heard about there being a castle and we hiked up the hill until we found it.  There was a medievil festival at the castle.  It was like the world revolved around us.  This castle has been a wonderful constant for these last 4 1/2 years.  

The goodbye to the Harshbargers was the hardest.

It was an ugly cry.  We have been so lucky to live near them and have them as our chosen family. 

There was no way to get our luggage to the airport and us at the same time.  We went over our allotted kilometers with the rental car and we just mentioned it to Kate Powell.  Her husband was flying into Frankfurt and she was going to have to pack up her 4 kids and go pick him up.  She offered for us to use their 2nd car so we could pack up all of our luggage and get it to Frankfurt and not have to pay out the nose for the rental car. Also, it worked because Ryan could go pick up Myles at the same time. 

The kids and I went to church and I balled my eyes out.  Ryan picked us up.  I didn't want to go.  By the time we got to the center of Landstuhl (where we used to play in the splash pad), we waited in line for a Covid test.  We were literally the next in line and they closed!  They turned everyone away.  

We returned the car, at the rental place near Ramstein, and got on the train to Frankfurt airport. We were able to get our Covid tests!

Ryan had stashed our luggage at the hotel in the airport.  We got into our room and Ryan and I left them to go to one more Christmas market for some hot chocolate and a mug.  It was really nice!  It was the perfect last night (besides me getting mad at Ryan for no good reason). 

It was a little crazy getting 27 (cant remember the exact number) pieces of luggage from the hotel on a few trams and onto buggies and off of buggies and finding new buggies.  We finally made it to check in only to find out that they anyone traveling with the military do not need to have a COVID test.  (Why didn't they let us know earlier? And how is that keep people safe on the plane?)

Recreating the photo that the kids took at the SLC airport on the way to Germany

And just like that we were back in the US of A.

 We flew into Tallahassee. Dad picked us up in the Sequoia and everything and everyone fit. 

We were able to enjoy all the magic of the Christmas season in warm Georgia.

Below:

 Branch Christmas pagent

 Bearcats basketball

 Christmas parade

Crazy southern people

Parade

Lights

Ryan enjoyed walking to the nearby cemetary

Warm enough for kayaking and a little jump in the water.

Girls night to watch the Nutcracker.  

This used to be a something mom would do every year with Aunt Becky.  

A visit to Tifton.  We got to meet Bay's cow.

We went to ancient Native American mounds.

Buc-ees in Macon

Sights in Bville

A visit with the Belisles

CHRISTMAS EVE

CHRISTMAS DAY

We went to visit the Giddens at Jamie's house.  They were all getting together for the holidays.  We missed John and fam but got to see everyone else.  Jamie made room for all of us to stay the night.  We stayed up so late playing games and talking about the good ol' days.  The next day we went to Stone Mountain.  Some hiked to the top while the others played at the playground.  Jamie was 8 months pregnant with a baby boy.  

Helping Pop Pop.  Dad had chores all ready for the kids.  

We had a tea party for the girls' and their dolls and then walked into town to window shop and get some ice cream.  

More fun in Bville

Getting ready for Tessa's baptism

We went kayaking again behind Jenny's old house (now the Orton's).  We let the boys do it all by themselves.  Sam got cocky and stood up while paddling.  The kayak got shaky and Sam went plunged into the water.  

Baptism day with the Dot, Kathy, the Belisles, Valters and Brother, Bran, Claire and girls, and the Harpers came in from Tifton.  We had the whole thing on Zoom for family that live far away.

December 31

Pop Pop: gave the baptism talk; Mimzy gave the holy ghost talk

Luke and Sam were the witnesses

The kids sang "I will Walk with Jesus"

Then we had an upside down backwards birthday party. 

So fun that Jenny came to my 8th backwards party and now her family is coming to my child's.

Then we rang in the new year together.  We had a huge bonfire and played telephone pictionary.  

Happy 2022!!!!

NOVEMBER 2021

We can't get enough pictures of our beautiful our surroundings.

Our house is getting all packed up.  Ryan and I kept the double mattress and then we kept some of the kids' mattresses too.  We kept the dinner table and then gave them all away at the last minute.  Besides that our house was empty.

The movers stole our silver coins and some jewelry.  Hind site we should have been more careful with or things.

American Gothic

 

This was our third trip to Gondwana - Das Prehistorium

1st on our own, 2nd with the Andersons and now with the Harshbargers and friends.

The flashflood was a crowd pleaser.

After, we found a park for the kids to play and the dads to get some food.

Saying goodbye to Anna Lena Prien and Pepper

How to say goodbye to that view???

Rusty teased months ago that he might be able to visit.  His work wanted to send him to Bordeaux but the date kept getting pushed back.  I was so worried that we would be gone by the time he came out but luck and now I know, divine intervention, would let him come just in time. 

He took a train to Saarbruken.  It was so natural and wonderful to have this time with Rusty.  We came home and ate dinner and enjoyed catching up.  He got a Covid test for return to Montreal in Bordeaux but they never posted the results.  We were going to need to do another test.  The next morning, we tried a place in Ramstein but the results would not get back in time.  We were going to need a rapid test at the airport, so Ryan and I drove Rusty to Frankfurt and then to Mainz.  In Mainz, we toured the Gutenberg museum, walked around the city and found an authentic German restaurant.  I introduced Rusty to bitter lemon drink and he treated us.  He was really so happy.  Charlotte had been living with him for a while and they had a great routine.  He was really happy with his job and was hoping any day now, he, Charlotte and Madeleine would get citizenship in Canada.  As soon as that happened, the girls would get free university.  We reminisced about our time in Togo and Benin.  Our kids asked him all about making video games.  It was like meeting a celebrity for them.  We played some games and showed walked around Oberarnbach with the village to celebrate Sankt Martin's day.  We introduced Rusty to gluhwein.  The next morning, I drove Rusty back to Frankfurt.  This time to say goodbye forever. We called my mom on the way and Rusty got to talk to her for a few minutes.  As I was saying goodbye to him at the airport entrance, I felt it necessary to be vulnerable and tell Rusty how much he meant to me.  I teared up and told him that I loved him so much.  So much that I followed him to Los Angeles, and because I did that I found Ryan.  That was the best decision I could have ever made.  I gave him a big hug and watched him go inside.

Tessa and Mila have been practicing for this performance for months.  They can this "gymnastics" but it is really a free dance class.  We would take turns taking the girls to the Hermersberg Grund schule gymnasium.  They were really nervous about how they were going to do their performance because it would be too many parents and would break the Covid rules of how many people could be together.  So, they split the parents up and had the girls do several performances.  The girls did great and it was a darling dance.  

Yeji and Kim invited us over for an authentic Korean dinner.

They went all out and were so generous.

Saying goodbye to the Bucks

 

Luxembourg Christmas Market

We were determined to get to a few Christmas markets as there were not any last year.  They were smaller this year and fenced off with an entrance and exit.  Only those with a vaccination card or resent test result were allowed to enter.  I made the kids take off their masks for the pictures.

We thought it was so funny that they would have parking slots just for women.

We would go to Tiffany's family's Shanghai restaurant.  They would feed us for free and were so generous and kind.  They were such a nice family and Tiffany was Tessa's favorite friend from her German school.

We were able to squeeze in one more trip over Thanksgiving.  We went to Sicily with the Harshbargers.

We flew into Catania and were able to get a couple of apartments.  Our first outing was a 2 hour drive to Agrigento.  We made a stop for some real Italian food and cannolis.  

Some of the best-preserved ancient Greek temples in the world—yes, even better than those in Greece itself—dot a ridge near the modern city of Agrigento. They’re the remnants of Akragas, a powerful and storied city founded by the Greeks in the 6th century B.C.

 Although the Temple of Olympian Zeus is all but gone today, a particularly evocative part of it does remain: one of its Telamons, giant stone figures that once held up the temple.

Temple of Juno

 The Temple of Concord, one of the best-preserved Greek temples in the world.

The bottom let out of the sky right after I took this photo.  We were way behind the others and we ran all the way to the exit to meet up with everyone.  We tried to wait for the rain to die down before making it to the rental cars but the rain kept pouring down.  The 2 hour drive back turned into a 4 hour drive back.  The roads were bumpy and flooded.  It was difficult to find our way and poor Ryan had a headache.  We were able to find some pizza for dinner and get some sleep.

The next day we went to Taormina, Sicily's legendary resort town perched on the top of a winding hill.  It has twisting medieval streets and a 2nd century Greek theater.

We stopped in the town for a nice sit down lunch and then walked to find a funicular to the beach.

The funicular was either not going as it was off-season so we kept walking all the way down.  There was a lady at the beach asking if she could give me a massage.  I declined.  Luckily we brought some swimsuits for the kids, they changed behind towels and ran into the Ionion Sea.  There was a little island, and if you timed it right you could get there without waves crashing into you.  We all tried and came away with wet pant legs.

We then had to hike our way back up to the top and got a gelato.

The next day we went to Syracuse.  On the way, our car was making a thumping sound.  At first we couldn't decide if it was the highway or our car.  We pulled over and found that the undercarriage was dragging on the ground.  Apparently the Sicilian roads are rough on cars.  There was nothing along the roads to Syracuse but we needed to do something.  We took the next exit and were so lucky that there were some stores!!  They were furniture and decor stores.  I was walking around trying to find something to MacGyver it together like a Christmas ornament tie.  Ryan walked around and was able to find a different store with actual zip ties.  The perfect thing.  He was able to tie it up and we continued our journey to meet the Harshbargers at Syracuse.  

Our first stop was for lunch at a place that sold horse meat!  None for us.

The city is notable for its rich Greek and Roman history, culture, amphitheatres, architecture, and as the birthplace and home of the pre-eminent mathematician and engineer Archimedes. This 2,700-year-old city played a key role in ancient times, when it was one of the major powers of the Mediterranean world.

The Basilica of the Madonna delle Lacrime (Our Lady of the Tears), is a 20th-century Roman Catholic Marian shrine church in Siracusa in Sicily, Italy. The modern building, derided by some as an inverted ice-cream cone, dominates the skyline.

We had a little time to kill before our flight back so we walked around Catania.  

We went to this cool restaurant that was kind of like a deli.  It was so crowded and yummy.  There were fun shops and a mini Christmas market.  I got a copper angel made by the seller.  

We separated from the Harshbargers to walk and explore a bit.  We found some churches, a fountain, ruins and a government building.

 On our second to last Sunday, we got to see Elder Hill (Justin's brother's son).  It was a bummer that we didn't get to have more time with him but we got him some treats from the commissary and got a picture for the Hills.

Another night with Tiffany

Saying goodbye to our house

All clean and empty

Fina flew in from Florida to check us out.  We were worried that she wouldn't give us our deposit back.  She was very kind to us and gave us back every penny.  

All of our luggage for the next month.