Kaitlin's First Day of School

How is it possible that my little girl is in 4th grade already????

Luxembourg and Bastogne

Last weekend we took a little drive through Luxembourg and Belgium. We visited the American Military Cemetery in Luxembourg. It is very sobering walking through and seeing all the white crosses. Especially when you think about how young most of the men were, and the fact that they gave their lives that others would have freedom. After that we drove to Bastogne, where the Battle of the Bulge was fought. The story of the battle was engraved on the walls of the memorial. It was a fascinating battle. The countryside of Belgium reminded me of the Midwest, too. Most of the time when you're driving through European villages they are just so cute and old fashioned. In Belgium I felt like I was back home in Iowa there for a little bit.

Summer is almost over...

and I haven't been posting updates. My mom and Aunt Marian were here at the beginning of the summer. Mom came before school let out, and Marian came at the end of the summer. We did A LOT of running and sightseeing while they were here. We went to Paris of the 4th of July and did a few day trips in between. It was a lot of fun and I enjoyed having company:)

Jamie had surgery last week to repair the damage to the nerves in his arm. He is on leave until next week. We go back on Tuesday for a follow up.

We probably won't have any exciting trips or pictures for the rest of the summer. Our excitement now consists of going to the Macaroni Grill (just opened last month!) and Chili's, and I know that's just not too exciting for those of you that live near yummy restaurants. But for us....ahhhh it is a treat to go there!

Graduation Day

It's finally happened. After years of hoping and praying A.J. has finally graduated PRE-SCHOOL! Ha ha! Yesterday was A.J.'s preschool graduation. His school went all out. They had an outer space theme, complete with planets and a rocket ship. They sang a song about blasting off to kindergarten, and were given diplomas. It was absolutely fantastic! We really enjoyed the whole program, and I only cried a little (at graduation anyway)

Opening Night!

Last night was the opening night for Kaitlin's current play, Our Town. Once again, the cast did amazing (especially Kaitlin, although I am a little biased) We're not allowed to video (copy write laws) or take pictures (theater rules) but I did get a photo of Kaitlin after the show with her flowers. Here she is:

So, I've been slacking...

I have a good reason (other than that I am a huge procrastinator!) We have been so busy, with soccer, theater, and just life!

Anyway, two weeks ago we had beautiful weather, and no extra activities so we did a little sightseeing over the weekend. On Saturday we headed over to Cologne. We went to the cathedral there, and the chocolate factory.

Then on Sunday we headed over to Ronnenburg Castle for a Medieval Festival. The kids were able to bake bread over an open fire, and watch some knights sword fighting, and even saw a peacock!

Dreamland Everlasting: "Be careful what you wish for"

Kaitlin has been involved in SKIES (School of Knowledge, Inspiration, Exploration, and Skill) theater classes here at Wiesbaden since last summer. This last session, the kids actually wrote and then performed a play. They performed it on Sat. April, 25, and did a FANTASTIC job! We were impressed at the ideas they took and made a play out of. There are three sisters, Katrina, Kaitlin, and Christina. Kaitlin doesn't believe in dreamland, and that night the good fairy comes in to send all the girls to Dreamland, but gets into a fight with the witch. The fairy manages to send Kaitlin and Christina to Dreamland, but the witch sends Katrina to the Land of Nightmares. It is up to the other two girls to rescue her, with the help of a necklace given to them by the queen of Dreamland. The girls rescue their sister, and then wake up and think it's all a dream, except Christina still has the necklace (which their mother thinks makes her feel like a queen while wearing it) And then, their babysitter shows up, and she looks just like the witch from the Land of Nightmares, and the girls run away screaming-and that is how it ends. It was really entertaining and fun to watch.