Change

Change is so hard for me. I suppose it is for everyone. I don't imagine anyone likes for their "norm" to get all messed up and have to settle into a new normal. Living overseas for 5 1/2 years now we've said our share of goodbyes. Most other Americans are only here for a 2-3 year tour, so we seem to see people come, establish friendships, then say goodbye and send them on their way. For that reason it's hard for me to want to reach out and become friends with people here. I do have a few friends, but in the back of my mind I know that they, too, will be leaving soon and it makes me want to just bury my head in the sand and act like it won't really happen. Anyhow, I know that comes with living in a military community, but it doesn't make the goodbyes any easier.

Today we said goodbye to our pastor. They are heading back to the states after being here for 3 years. It hurt more than I expected it to. I just felt broken. Another goodbye.  They came when Elly was just 4 months old and we've come to really love them as our pastors. He's brought so much good to the church here and it's a great loss for us. I'll miss the sermons. I'll miss the spiritual leadership. I'll miss the fatherly hugs.

The new pastor and wife are already here. We met them today. They seem really nice and I'm sure they will be wonderful pastors, but today I just miss what we had.  I don't want to have to get to know a new pastor who will, most likely, only be here for a few years.  It's just hard and I'm kind of having a pity party :(

On a more positive note, I have some serious catch up work to get done on this blog. I haven't posted anything since before we left for Alaska, so it's been 2-3 months and I wasn't even up to date at that point. I'm going to try to get caught up, which means there will be some old posts going up, but I really like to have it all in chronological order, so bear with me while I get it back up to date. Wish me luck...

Traumland

One Sunday after church at the beginning of June, Sam suggested we head out to explore Traumland. It's a small amusement park about 45 minutes away. It's on the same property as Bear Cave which we had been to before, but had never gone in. Anyhow, we spent the afternoon there and LOVED it.  More importantly....Elly loved it!  Almost all the rides were perfect for her.  Some places we go to have a ride or two that are appropriate for her age, but this whole park was perfect for her age.  On our way out we actually got season passes for Elly and me since it's something I'm sure we'll be going back to from time to time.

View from the Ferris Wheel

This was the first time Elly rode a horse and she would not stop giggling.  I so wish I had gotten a video of it.  She giggled non-stop.  So cute!

Another ride that Elly loved.  Anything she can do all on her own is fun for her :)

Oma and Opa's visit

This has certainly been the summer for visitors!  Sam's parents came in May and early June.  Friends from Florida came a week later for 10 days.  Sam's sister and family are coming in August and his aunt will be here in September.  We're really enjoying our guests so far and look forward to the others who will be coming. 

Elly LOVED having Oma and Opa here.  Oma is so great with her and has more stamina than anyone I know.  She would literally play with Elly for hours at a time and didn't seem to tire of it.  Elly loved spending time with them and loved the fact that Oma had a seemingly never ending supply of chocolate in her purse :)  I would hear Elly say (quietly so I couldn't get on to her about it) "Oma...what's in your purse?".  Knowing full well that she had chocolate in there, but not wanting to be bold enough to just ask for it.  One day I was driving and looked in the back seat and there was Elly with a mouth full of chocolate wearing all of Oma's jewelry. She was always asking to wear her rings and bracelets.  It made her feel like such a big girl I guess :) 

Having such a great time with them here made it harder on Elly when they left.  When Oma left to go to Bad Kreuznach to see her family Elly really cried and kept saying "I miss she!" (I love how she gets her pronouns confused!) It's so hard to explain distance to a three year old.  She doesn't understand why we can't see them more.  I wish we all lived closer so she could grow up with her grandparents nearby.  That would be ideal in my world.

We did enjoy having them here though. They arrived the day before Elly's birthday so they were able to be here for her party.  The day after her birthday we went to Legoland.  Opa wasn't feeling up to it so he stayed at home.  Elly had a blast, of course.

This is the very first ride Elly has done all on her own.  I was so nervous to let her go on it because she was on this "horse" by herself and it went on a path out away from us so we couldn't even see her for most of the ride.  My girl's growing up though because she did great and LOVED it.  I wish I would have gotten a video of her when she first got on it.  She kept giggling.  It was so cute!

Here is Elly waiting her turn to ride a car around the track.  She could not get the hang of steering and giving it gas, so...she kept running into the curb. She would get stuck there until the girl running the ride came and got her back on the road and 5 seconds later she would hit the curb again.  I don't think the lady was having too much fun with it, but Elly was so tickled every time she hit the curb.  She would hit and start giggling.  This is another time I should have taken a video.

One day we went out to the monastery close to our home.  It's called Kloster Bebenhausen.  We love it there.  It's so peaceful and beautiful.  We've been there many times, since we take almost all our guests there, but we still enjoy it. It's also where we had our maternity photos taken, so it's kind of special to us. 

It was a really hot day, so Elly had fun playing in the water fountain.  I loves these pictures :) 

There were about 10 of these round rocks.  I have a picture of Elly on each and every one of them.  She had to have me take a picture each time she sat on a new one.

 

She gets the best seat in the house :)

A day trip to beautiful Rothenburg o.d. Tauber.  Love that place!  Elly loved this huge teddy bear :)

Mother's Day 2012

I am so blessed to be called "Mama" by this little girl.  I'm so thankful I've been given the opportunity to experience motherhood.  Such a challenge and yet so rewarding. I love her!

Another beautiful town that we love to go to is Esslingen.  Such a beautiful place!

This swing was in the park in Esslingen.  I think Elly could have gone to sleep in it.  We all took our turn swinging in it with her. 

A family of beautiful swans.  Love this!

I just love to watch Elly play.  I could watch her for hours.  She's like a little kitten.  We were waiting for a train in Esslingen and everyone was talking, but I was taking pictures of my sweet little girl.  She was being silly and checking things out. Taking off her shoe and just being a busy 3 year old.  I sure love her!

While Sam's parents were here we had some good friends come visit.  Jerry and Heide have been friends of Sam's family for years and it just so happened that they were in Germany at the same time.  They visited us here once before when Elly was just a few months old.  It was great to see them again.

Another day Oma, Elly and I met some friends at the zoo.  I love having a season pass there.  It's such a nice zoo and a great place for Elly to run off some energy.  Of course I had to check in on the baby gorillas :)

Elly with her little friends, Maddie and Sammie.

Love this!

Sam's Mom spent the last week or so of her time in Germany in Bad Kreuznach visiting her friends and family there.  Elly really missed her Oma and so Sam suggested we go up one weekend and go on a Rhine river cruise with her.  We didn't tell Elly we were going to see Oma so she was really happy to have a bonus day with her.  We missed the first boat so we had some time to kill waiting for the next one.  This nice playground area was near the boat dock.

Finally, we got on the boat and Elly went right to the window by our table and sat there watching the other boats go by.

There are so many castles to see along the Rhine.  It was really beautiful.  It's amazing how castles can actually become mundane once you've seen so many.  We still really enjoy them though.

The boat stopped in one town and we all got off.  Our plan was to get some lunch there, but we didn't realize that was the plan of everyone else too.  It looked like several boats stopped there and all the restaurants were flooded with people.  We were told by one restaurant that they could not serve us in the time we had. We ended up just getting an ice cream and heading back to wait for the boat's return.

While waiting for the boat's return Oma, Elly and I walked down to an area where Elly could play in the water for a few minutes. 

When we got back on the boat Sam and Heide managed to get a table on the top deck.  The sun had finally come out after a very chilly morning.  It was beautiful, but I was concerned about the sun on Elly's head and I didn't have a hat for her.  Thankfully, Oma had a scarf which helped keep the sun from baking Elly's head.

Feeding Baby :)

Kisses for Daddy :)

This is the boat we were on.

Leaving the hotel the next morning Elly hitched a ride on the suitcase :)

Our sleepy little girl knocked out on the drive back to Stuttgart. 

We really enjoyed having Sam's parents here.  I always wish we lived closer to our families.  I would like nothing better than to live close enough so Elly could have them all in her life.  We don't though so we'll take what time we can get :)