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The Bramble Family |
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 Hello, all! I haven't blogged for a l-o-n-g time. But, I so badly wanted to take part in the this Pay It Forward opportunity, and I've been wanting to start back up again...so today's the day! I saw it on one of the girls' blogs that works in our craft shop on Patch that is ALWAYS so willing to help/explain! And, she's sweet to my girls! And, she's SO talented! So, here it is:
Here are the rules: I will make a little something for the first three people who comment on this post. I will have 365 days to do it in. If you would like to play you must have a blog and post your Pay it Foward on your blog to keep the fun going.
And, here's Corinnea's blog: www.corinneas-chaos.blogspot.com/ Like I said, she's talented!!
Thanks!
Jaclyn
Week Ending 11/29/08 -- I hope you all had a Happy Thanksgiving and that your tummies are full! We had an unusual Thanksgiving. We decided to show our German neighbors/friends how we Americans celebrate this holiday, so we invited 26 people! I was cooking ALL day on Thursday! We actually celebrated on Friday b/c if we would've had it on Thursday, I worried that they would feel the pressure to get home early since they had to work on Friday. Vince and Zach cleaned a good part of the day and picked up tables and chairs from our church. The girls were so excited...they kept asking, "Mommy, is it time yet for everybody to come?" The cooking was by far the hardest part of the effort b/c remember...German ovens are very small. I had room in the oven to cook one turkey...nothing else! I cooked one turkey ahead of time and just sliced it up and put it in broth. We had one ham that we farmed out to some American friends that were coming as well, so they could warm it up. Plus, I made several things ahead of time and froze them. So, they also had the carrot casserole to thaw and cook! We had two turkeys, one ham, 20 pounds of mashed potatoes, carrot casserole, stuffing, spinach salad, cranberry relish, rolls, green beans, corn, sweet potatoes, latte punch, pumpkin pie, pecan pie & pumpkin cheesecake! It was a lot of food! We had enough too -- I was a bit worried about that! The meat was almost all gone, so I was happy! Everybody had a good time and we were so happy to share this American holiday with them. Vince gave a little "speech" and told everybody what Thanksgiving was about and why we celebrate it every year. They loved it! We're so blessed with good friends over here...thank you, God! Now for us...the best part -- When Vince was explaining to them about Thanksgiving, he told them that we wanted to go around the table(s) and have everyone say something they were thankful for. The neat part for me was that we had so many people at our table that answered in different languages: English, German, Croatian & Spanish! Vince started it off and then it went around the table to me and I ended it. After I spoke, Vince started to tell everyone that we were ready for dessert. But! He was interrupted by COL Salomone (a friend of ours that celebrated Thanksgiving with us last year as well... He's also kind of Vince's boss...it's complicated!) who said something that went like this, "Vince, I need to say something else. Since it's Thanksgiving, I feel the need to let everyone know that I just received notice on Wednesday that MAJ Vince Bramble was accepted for promotion to LTC Vince Bramble!!!!" After that, I think he was still speaking, but I absolutely cannot tell you what he said b/c I was too busy hugging and kissing my LTC-to-be! It was SO exciting and I loved how COL Salomone "presented" the news to us! Everybody was cheering and so happy for Vince (us!). It was a LOT of fun! We think Vince will "pin-on" his new rank sometime this summer... After the excitement wore off a bit, I went to find the girls and explained to them that Daddy got a promotion at work and that he just found out about it. I said to them, "Let's go tell Daddy how happy you are for him." "Okay, Mommy!" When we found Daddy, the girls said to him, "Thank you, Daddy!" I was like, "No, girls! What did we practice?" They said, "Oh..oh..oh! We forgot! Daddy, we're so happy for you!" It was pretty cute! :) When Sophia got up the other morning, she yawned and then said to Vince, "Daddy, my mouth is still tired!" Chloe has been fighting a bit of a cold. She has a sore throat, but it doesn't seem to be slowing her down any! We've had snow this week, so she's been outside with Sophia and their friends playing in it. Zach loved his 4-day break from school! He seems to have a bunch of homework every night. But, he also seems to be getting a bit more organized with his school work! He had a friend over the weekend before Thanksgiving and they were up until 3:00 a.m. playing video games! Zach is DEFINITELY more of a night person than a morning person. Love to all! Jaclyn Week Ending 11/8/08 -- Hello, all! I'll try to catch-up where I left off in my previous blog, but first I want to get this week's activities down... Let's see -- Sophia no longer wears diapers to bed! We're completely potty-trained! No more diapers...ever! That makes me SO happy! And, she's even started waking up during the night when she needs to go potty, does her business and then gets back in bed and goes back to sleep!! :"Big girl" things happening in this house! This past Sunday, I decided to wear black pantyhose. I cannot remember the last time I wore a pair...hate 'em. But, it was cold out and I my new boots hadn't arrived yet, so I didn't really have a choice. Anyway, when Chloe saw me putting them on, she said, "Momma, what are those?" I explained to her... The she laughed and said, "Momma! People are going to thing you painted your legs black!" She thought it was so funny! Zach started his second quarter at school this week. He had a fairly successful first quarter...could've been a bit better, but still...he got an A in Chemistry and that's impressive to me! We had dinner over at a friend's house one night this week. It was SO good! We met them b/c he put an ad in the Community Post (military newsletter) trying to find someone to watch his dogs for him when he and his wife were going away for the weekend. I replied to the add and the rest is history. In fact, their dogs (2 labs) are over here right now as they went to the Czech Republic this weekend. Anyway, Dave and Mayra are both Americans, but her mom (who lives with them) is from the Dominican Republic. So, we had Caribbean food that night; it was reminiscent of our days in Puerto Rico. I wouldn't want to eat that type of food every day, but it sure was good! It brought back a lot of memories too... Oh! And, Chloe made me so proud that night... Soon after we arrived, Mayra asked us if she could get us something to drink. Chloe walked right up to her and said, "Would you like some help with anything?" Our little girl is so grown up sometimes! We purchased a new TV last weekend. The movers broke our last one during the move over here. We finally got the money for that claim right before I left for the states. Vince is going to mount it up on the wall today! Halloween was a blast! Chloe went as Snow White and Sophia was a cheerleader. They had so much fun trick-or-treating this year! They were SO good about saying "trick-or-treat" and "thank you." Last year, they were both so quiet about saying anything -- you could hardly hear them! This year...loud! And, we took a couple of the neighborhood girls with us (we trick-or-treat on post) as the Germans are just beginning to do Halloween, but really only with decorations. They haven't started the trick-or-treating yet (the best part!). It was a fun nigh! (To see the Halloween slideshow below, push the "play" button and then there will be another "play" button that appears...push that as well. There will be several pictures...)
Christmas and birthday shopping for the girls is done! Now, I have to buckle down and get the rest of our shopping done. I'm almost finished. But, then there's the packing and shipping...ugh. OK -- now to pick up where I left off last week regarding our trip to the States! Let's see...from FL, we headed back to IL. We spent a little over a week at Mom and Dad's house. Mostly, it was just relaxing and more shopping! Plus, we took in a couple of movies, visited Jay and his family and ate out a bit more! The girls and I took the train again back to MD. We stayed with Chris and Janel again. I was able to get together with a dear friend from high school and sweet his wife for lunch one day! We haven't seen each other in appr. 20 years. They recently moved to PA and only live a couple of hours from Annapolis. So, we met in the middle at a Cracker Barrel and had lunch. The girls were a bit shy with them at first, but quickly warmed up! It was great to catch up a bit... I was also able to have lunch with my girlfriend, Kelly one day and Amy another day. Got in a couple of Ryan and Gavin's soccer games. Saw my brand new nephew, Matthew, in the hospital (I begged Kelly to have that baby before we had to go back to Germany -- I know she did it just for me! ;) ) and the girls got to play with so many of their cousins (Ryan, Gavin, Carly & Aaron). We saw Randi (girl I used to nanny for...) one afternoon -- she's now SO grown up! It was a good trip...loved being back in the states where all is familiar! But, we were also ready to get back home to our boys. We flew the military hop back out of BWI to Ramstein. We were able to get on the first flight we signed for!! So, we flew back on an overnight flight -- the girls slept the entire trip...I had to wake them up when we landed! It was GREAT! We got our car loaded, picked up some lunch at Burger King and headed home. It was so good to see Vince & Zach and to get settled back in our house. The jetlag SUCKED for all three of us. We got back to Germany on Monday and on Wednesday night, we were all up all night long. Not fun... But, good to be back! I've added several new pics, so be sure to check out the "Pictures" page. Love to all, jaclyn Week Ending 10/25/08 -- The girls and I have been in the states, so that's the reason for no current updates on the blog... I've been too busy! Let's see -- We left the
airport at Ramstein Air Base on September 13. We took a military hop...of sorts. When we were stationed in We arrived at BWI around 10:30, checked ourselves through customs and then retrieved our baggage. On the way out of the airport, there was a large group of people there clapping, whistling, handing out goody bags, waving the American flag and posters with support for the troops! I was so surprised and completely unprepared for that. This guy was ushering all of us on the flight through the airport so we could easily find our way out. On the way, we passed through this group of people. I was a bit embarrassed b/c, obviously, I'm not a soldier! (There were several soldiers on our flight though...they were coming home from Iraq!) Whenever one of these people tried to give us something or tell me how proud they were of me, I kept saying, "I'm not the soldier...I'm a soldier's wife just here to visit home." Over and over they said, "We're proud of you too and you deserve this as much as they do." It was humbling... Chris (Vince's brother) picked us up at the airport and we spent the next couple of days with them at their house. It was SO good to visit with them. I especially loved having Chloe & Sophia get to visit with their cousins. And, Janel and I haven't been together since we left for Germany. We were able to be there for Gavin's birthday party and we saw lots of family & friends there as well. I think it was Tuesday or Wednesday that we hopped on a train and headed to Chicago to visit with Mom and Dad. I promised the girls I'd take them on a train ride. They were so excited when we got on ... it was fun for them to look out the window and sit together. They only have seats in twos, so the girls got to sit together and I sat beside them. I think they thought they were big stuff! The train left in the evening, so we traveled all night and arrived in Chicago around 11:00 in the morning. They did OK sleeping on the train. Sophia was a bit restless, but overall, they did well. Mom and Dad picked us up and we headed directly to lunch at a Mexican restaurant! Oh, how I missed Mexican food! They do have Mexican restaurants here in Germany, but they're terrible. It was SO good in Chicago! From there, we made our way to the American Girl store. If you haven't been to one and you have a little girl -- it's a wonderland! Both of the girls have a Bitty Twin that Mom and Dad got them for Christmas last year. Well, one day a couple of months ago, Chloe managed to get the hairdryer out of the bathroom downstairs and plug it into an outlet in her room. She decided to style her doll's hair with the dryer. Problem is...it melted it instead! And, Sophia decided to put make-up on her doll's face...in the form of an ink pen! ugh! So, we took them to the "hospital" at the AG store. They do things so cute there. They put hospital gowns on the dolls and assured the girls that they would be very well taken care of. "They'll get new hairdos and a facial as well! They'll miss you, but they'll have a very good time and they'll be back to you soon." As we were walking out, I went back and said, "So really, you just pop their heads off and put on a new one, right?!" :) I had one day at home with Mom and Dad and then hopped on another train and headed to Leavenworth to visit with my friend, Kim, and shop! The girls stayed with Mom and Dad. Oh my gosh! I had such a grand time...visited with Kim and her mom, Shirley, saw Kim's kids again and her new baby, ate out, went to a movie, had the world's best coffee, had my highlights fixed, shopped and talked! It was GREAT! Then I was supposed to go back to IL via the train on Monday...but, I missed my train! I literally was standing on the platform watching it pull away. I'm still not sure how much my subconscious had to do with that! ;) Kim came back and picked me up and we ate and shopped some more!! I did make the train the next day and got back to Mom and Dad's and my girlies. I had to pack again though b/c the next day Mom, the girls and I got in the car and drove to FL to visit Gma and Gpa! It took us two days to get there. Our girls travel so well...lucky! It was so good to be with Gma and Gpa. They've moved since the last time I was in PCB, so we stayed at their new townhouse...really nice! I was able to get some more shopping in there too! Plus, my cousin, Guy, owns his own fishing boat and he took us all out on the bay one afternoon -- one of my all-time favorite things to do! The girls really enjoyed it too. Guy is SUCH a good guide! He took us to this one spot where the dolphins are known to hangout. Not only did we get to see them having fun and playing, but they came right up to the boat!! We also got to see my uncle and Kirsten and her kids. We went to the zoo one morning, the movies, played games, ate out... Allisa (Kirsten's daughter) gave my girls a make-up "makeover" one evening...oh my gosh! Talk about knowing how to make their day! They were beside themselves! GG made several good meals and it was just good to be there. That's one drawback to the military -- never enough time with our family. So, I'm going to end this post here. I still have more to tell, but it'll have to wait until next week! Love, jaclyn
Week Ending 8/30/08 -- Happy Birthday, Vince!! He turned 42 this week and we had fun celebrating it. The girls helped me bake a chocolate cake. And then they frosted it with chocolate frosting and sprinkles. Then we all ate it with triple chocolate ice cream!! Vince likes chocolate...can you tell?? .jpg) Zach went to Europa Park today with the youth group from our church. http://www.europapark.de/lang-en/c51/default.html This is Europe's version of an amusement park with hints of the Epcot Center. Looks pretty fun to me, actually! We're thinking about going there in October with Andreas and Larissa... Zach said that he had some people mistake him for being 18...again! (He loves that!!) HUGE news on the homefront!! VJ received a "Letter of Assurance" from West Point!!!!!!!!!!!! We are so proud of him...and so happy for him!! He's worked really hard toward this goal...and he is on his way toward achieving it!!!!! WAY TO GO, VJ!! A letter of assurance basically states that they are still waiting to receive a few things from VJ, but that they have decided, based on what they already know about him, that they are holding a spot for him to be part of WP's graduating class of 2013!! Hoo-aah!! We celebrated our 12th wedding anniversary on the 18th! We went out to dinner at a local restaurant and then went to McCafe for coffee and dessert!! I love McCafe...I hope America gets them... I count my blessings for the family I have... Vince, you're perfect for me and I love you! Zach started his sophomore year on 8/25 (Monday)! Hence, the countdown ticker for summer on the home page of my website...yes, he's already counting the days!! :) He's taking AVID (https://www.avidonline.org/info/?tabid=1&ID=549 -- this website explains it a bit...), Chemistry, Geometry, Honors English & History, JROTC & Spanish II. He also decided to try out for the Cross Country team. He's been running about 5-6 miles after school each day. During this 3-day weekend, he has to run 45 minutes - three times. He ran on Friday, so he has two more runs to fit in. Patch High School had their open house this past Friday which we attended. We met all of his teachers and saw each of the classrooms. I LOVED his Geometry and Spanish II teachers. Zach loves his Chemistry teachers (not sure how I feel about him yet...). The AVID teacher I'm neutral on, but the kids in her class seemed to like and respect her. The only teacher I'm a little concerned about is his English/History teacher. I couldn't quite "read" her, and to be honest, she didn't give us too much insight into her class and her personality. Or...maybe she did! ha! At any rate, it was a good day and I pray it'll be a great school year for Zach!  Chloe said to me this past week, "Mom! Sophia is bothering me for no apparent reason!" Too funny! Sophia is feeling a bit under-the-weather. She seems to be on the mend. Yesterday, she had a fever and just felt terrible. But, today, her fever has gone down and her energy level is coming back!! Differences in the USA and Germany: There isn't a house over here that has air-conditioning installed. I know of no one who has it. But, to be honest, you really don't need it. We've had a couple of "hot" days, but if I lived here "full-time," I would not put an air conditioning system into the house. Love to all, jaclyn Week Ending 8/16/08 -- Hello, all! Talk about cold weather setting in (see past post...), it is damp and quite chilly here! I remember when we moved into this house last year (Aug. 8), we had a fire in the fireplace that month! That may be happening again...a fire in August...crazy! The season premiere for the second season of Meerkat Manor starts tomorrow! I know...silly, but I love that show! I took the girls to my hair stylist to get their haircut last weekend. I've been taking Chloe to a girl here in our little village, but I really wasn't happy with how she was cutting it. And, she doesn't speak English, so that makes it pretty difficult for me to explain to her what I'm wanting. I didn't take them to my girl b/c she's a lot more expensive. But, I finally bit the bullet and I'm SO glad I did. She speaks great English (although she and Chloe spoke Deutsch the whole time!), is fantastic with kids (nice surprise) and -- and! -- she charged less for their haircuts than I pay in our town!! Win - win... We've all been enjoying the Olympics -- Go Team USA!! But, none of us takes it as seriously as Zach. That boy LOVES the Olympics! He sets his alarm for 3:00 a.m. to watch them...b/c that's when it seems the "good stuff" is on here. But still -- 3:00 in the morning??! ugh! VJ had an interview yesterday with a major in the Army regarding his (hopeful!) acceptance into West Point!! We heard that it went very well. VJ said that the man told him that he was very confident that he would receive a letter of assurance soon!! Raspberries...mmmmm! I love raspberries! I've been looking at many of the local farms around here trying to find one that'll let me pick my own. Would you believe that NONE of them do that! Except...except the farm literally 4 blocks down the road from our house! We walk there all the time to get fresh fruit & veggies. I was so excited...obviously, it doesn't take much! :) Chloe and I went and picked a whole bunch yesterday. Sophia was WAY too cranky to go. They have a minimum amount that you have to pay for...so you may as well pick that much! Their minimum is 2.5 kg -- which means absolutely nothing to me! I have no concept of what that would look like! I finally had to quit picking b/c they were closing. When they weighed it, I only had 1.87 kg...ugh. But, the girl was a sweetie and only made me pay for what we picked!!!! I made my FAVORITE raspberry muffins, 9 jars of jam and froze the rest (about 4 cups).  Differences in Germany and the USA: USA ** Gold - 14 Silver - 13 Bronze - 19 TOTAL - 46 GER ** Gold - 8 Silver - 2 Bronze - 4 TOTAL - 14 Love to all, jaclyn Week
Ending 8/2/08 -- Chloe is doing really well! She's still taking the antibiotics, but we'll be finished with that this week. The spot on her arm is fading and her energy level is completely back to normal. Thank you all for your prayers...we appreciate them! And please continue to pray that she recovers 100% from this. Sophia is now completely potty trained!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! It's wonderful! When she was ready -- she was ready! I tried to build up her "big girl" panties to her. But, she didn't want to wear those; she wanted to wear her "Deizisau" panties! We have no idea where she came up with that, but we went with it!! Differences in
Week Ending 7/26/08 --
Well, it's been a bit of a sad week for us. First and foremost, we just found out yesterday that Chloe has Lyme disease...ugh. Here's how we found out... On Thursday, I noticed a bright, red spot under Chloe's arm. "Chloe, what happened here...do you know?" She didn't even realize that it was there until I pointed it out to her. The good thing was she told me that it didn't itch or hurt her. On Friday, it was a bit larger. I showed it to Vince. At this point, you could tell that it was some sort of bug bite, but Chloe wasn't complaining about it at all...in fact, told us it didn't itch or hurt at all. OK, so we'll keep watching it. She had NO other symptoms at this point. In fact, she played outside the entire day on Thursday with her friends and then was her normal, busy self on Friday as well. Enter Saturday morning...she and I woke up earlier than the rest of the house. I was doing laundry and she was watching cartoons. She came downstairs to find me and started crying. "Chloe, what's wrong?" "That spot hurts, Mommy." We went upstairs and I checked her out. The spot was larger and had a bit of a "bullseye" effect to it. Now, I was starting to get concerned. She didn't cry much...just a little. When Vince woke up, I showed it to him. I looked up pictures of the rash online and everything I could find pointed to Lyme disease. We thought about taking her to the doctor, but the problem with that was that the military health clinic is closed on weekends. That means that we would have to take her to the German emergency room. OK, it's not the worst thing ever, but it's an emergency room...waiting, sick people, waiting, waiting. I decided to take her over to Kirsten and get her opinion first. She thought the same thing I did...tick bite. She suggested that I take her to the local pharmacy and see if they could suggest anything. I did that and the pharmacist, right after looking at the spot, said, "I really think you should take her to a doctor and let them look at her." I then took Chloe back home (it's only about 1 mile from our house...), told Vince what we were doing and made the preparations to go to the German ER. Before we head out to a civilian ER, we're supposed to call the MPs to advise them of our situation. They will then call the nurse on duty and she'll call us back to discuss which hospital to take her to, etc. Obviously, if this was a life or death situation, they wouldn't expect us to call...but, in a situation like our's, they want us to follow this protocol. OK, so we call and we're told that the nurse should be calling us right back. No phone call. Vince calls back and the guy apologized saying that he hadn't called the nurse yet b/c right after he got off the phone with us they received a call reporting an assault on a child. Anyway, he called the nurse and she did call us right back. She told us where to go and "paved the way" for us by calling the hospital ahead of us. Chloe & I drove right over there (it's about a 20-25 minute drive). I knew exactly where the nurse wanted us to go b/c (fortunately) Vince and I decided that it would behoove us to take the tour of the local hospitals offered when we first moved here...whew! They were expecting us and we then just waited for the doctor to show up. Our wait time was only about 40 minutes...not too bad. Chloe was fine as well...no pain. She played with some of their games and then watched a part of a Scooby Doo episode on my iPod. The doctor was really great and spoke very clear English!! He checked her out and diagnosed her with Lyme disease. He presribed a 10-day supply of antiobiotics and told me that she had Stage 1 of the disease that that usually the recovery rate is 100% for this stage. (Sometimes, I hate the word "usually...") He also advised that she could show signs/symptoms of the flu...fever, chills, achiness. Wouldn't you know that she started running a fever yesterday afternoon? Her spirits are good though and her energy lever corresponds to the Motrin! We started her on the antiobiotics yesterday...19 more doses to go! BTW, it doesn't taste good. Please keep Chloe and her 100% recovery in your prayers. If you're interested, here's a good website from Mayo Clinic about Lyme disease (you know I was researching it!): http://www.mayoclinic.com/health/lyme-disease/DS00116
Then yesterday we had to say goodbye to VJ as it was time for him to head back to Alabama. It was especially sad this time b/c we may not see him for quite some time now, if he gets accepted to West Point. If he gets accepted, he will have to start his experience with them during the summer. Vince, of course, is definitely planning on going back for his high school graduation, but it's up the air right now for the rest of us. We'd love to go, but we'll have to see...
Vince went back to work this week -- vacation's over. They were having an "exercise" at work this week as well, so he had several late nights. One morning Chloe said, "Mommy, where is Daddy?" I told her he was at work. "Still?!!" All she knew is that she hadn't seen him before she went to bed, so I guess she just assumed that he hadn't come home from work! Zach has to read two books this summer for a class he's taking this coming school year. The books are A Tale of Two Cities and The Prince. I had to read ATOTC when I was in high school as well. I can't say that I enjoyed it that much...Dickens tends to be so wordy! He got a little behind in the reading schedule during our vacation, but got caught up this week. I made cinnamon rolls for the kids this week...from scratch! It was the first time that I've made them from scratch. It was SO easy and Chloe loved helping me with the sprinkling of the cinnamon/sugar. They were so, so, so good! We all loved them! I made a huge batch of them (good thing they were good!) and froze most of them. I don't get up as early as Vince and Zach during the school year, but I'd still like for him to have some options for breakfast other than cereal! We also have lots of zucchini coming out of the garden now (!!), so I've made seven loaves of zucchini bread and froze most of them as well. I just learned that he loves zucchini and pumpkin bread. Plus, the girls and I like all that too, so we'll all enjoy it. It's just easier with the girls though b/c I'm "here" for their breakfasts...
We've been picking blackberries from our yard each day as they ripen...so much fun! The kids enjoy helping with that. That God for Zach's height...he can really reach up there! I've just been freezing the berries right now. I want to make some jam, but that'll have to wait. I did make one blackberry cobbler with our first batch of berries though...SO yummy! I've had several requests to see pictures of our yard and trees. I posted a bunch of pics on the "Pictures" page, so please check them out. There's also extra pics of the kids as well...
Differences between Germany and the USA: In America, you go to the pharmacy and pick up your prescription. In most cases, it's ready to go. However, in Germany, you go to the pharmacy (apoteke), they give you the medicine...but you have to mix it at home! So, I have Chloe's antibiotic in powder form and then I need to mix it with water. It's not difficult, but I find it strange... Well, I think that's about it for now! Love to all, jaclyn Week Ending 7/19/08 -- Wow! I'm having trouble keeping up with my blog lately! We've been really busy and doing some traveling. Well, that means I have a LOT to catch you up on... VJ's here! He arrived on 6/29. He flew directly into Stuttgart, which is, obviously, SO convenient for us.
Our German friends, Andreas & Larissa (Vince met Andreas during his tour in Kosovo...and then both of them came and stayed with us in Puerto Rico for their vacation), tied the knot! We didn't go to the wedding, but they had a celebration for friends near their home. They live in Offenburg, Germany. Anyway, VJ wasn't here yet, but the rest of us went and celebrated with them! FUN! They rented an old log cabin up the woods (felt like it was out of the pioneer days in America) which was really great. We were able to meet their brothers (no sisters for either of them...). It's funny b/c we're "the Americans!" "Oh! You're their American friends!" ha! There was a BBQ setup there that Vince liked so much he asked me to take pictures of it so he can have one someday! They came to our house the next weekend...
Vince has been on vacation from work since July 1!! We've been doing a bunch of yard work, pool work, some napping and a few trips! He doesn't go back to work until the 21st! Our neighbors, Kerstin & Ali, asked us if they could use our "garden" for their wedding party! (Germans refer to the yard as garden. Funny story...when we first arrived here and we were looking for a house, each time we'd go look at a new one, we were given an info sheet about the house. Many times it would say, "large garden." I kept looking for these garden areas, with images of great harvests! Every single house had no garden. However, I eventually learned that it meant yard...not garden!) We definitely have the biggest yard in the area; German yards are usually quite small. So, we told them we'd love to have it. Well, actually, I told them that. Vince was up for it, but I can't honestly say that he "loved" doing it! But, our yard has never looked better! The hedges were trimmed, trees were trimmed, lawn was mown, patio was power-washed, garage was cleaned out, walkways were swept, toys were all put in one place...yeah! They had the party catered, so on Friday night the caterer brought over all the tables, chairs, drinks & refrigerators...two of them! Our garage was packed! The party was on Saturday evening and it was a definitely success. The weather was perfect too...whew! The food was great and people poored in. I think there were probably 60+ in our yard. Domino was beside himself with all of the food scraps he was finding... In a way, it was quite strange having all of these people in our area and not being able to speak very well to 90% of them!
So, on Monday we made our way to Baumholder, Germany. This is where Vince was stationed the last time he lived in Germany. It's also where VJ was born. Well, actually, VJ was born in the town of Kusel, but you know what I mean! Vince has talked for years about hoping to get to take VJ back some day to see it. His wish was granted! We stayed at the lodge on post...quite nice. We were able to stay in a suite in the new section of the lodge. Vince showed us where he used to work (building is now vacant), used to live, the "personnel carrier" (no longer used) that was the heart of the 8th ID (now disbanded). The next morning, Vince took us to Kusel so VJ could see the hospital (no longer has an Labor & Delivery Department) where he was born. Strange how much things can change in 18 years!
From Kusel, we headed to Trier...Germany's oldest city (now that's OLD!). Trier used to be part of the Roman Empire and many of it's wealthy citizens lived there. As a result, you can still see the Roman influence in their architecture. The city boasts the oldest Roman gate in the world outside of Rome, as well as the largest collection of gold Roman coins. Vince and the boys decided that they wanted to go to one of the museums to see a bunch of old artifacts (something I can miss!). I told them that I'd take the girls to the park and they could meet us there after they were finished. The museum was closing in a little over an hour, so it wouldn't be that long...right?!? Well, about 35-40 minutes into our park adventure, it starts pouring rain! Oh! and did I mention that it was c-o-l-d?!! We had no way to contact Vince b/c he didn't have his cell phone with him...ugh! There was no where close to go to get out of the rain/cold...it was miserable! We sat under the trees, which did offer some cover for awhile. But, it was DEFINITELY a good sight to see when Vince and the boys arrived. Domino was with us as well and I just recently gave him his summer haircut (short!) and his whole body was just shivering!
On Wednesday, we had a couple of West Point cadets and an '08 graduate over for dinner. I heard that they were "in town" on TDY and asked Vince if he would ask them over for dinner. Of course, he said yes and liked the idea b/c it would give VJ some time to ask them any questions he might have about West Point...getting accepted there, classes, life, etc. Of course, they said they'd come over...they hadn't had a home-cooked meal in awhile! They were just great; I really liked them. I know they had a good time too b/c they stayed until after midnight! When it was over, VJ said to me, "Thanks, Jaclyn...I really liked that!" He thanked his dad as well. He asked lots and lots of questions and the guys filled him in with all kinds of information. On Friday it was Kirsten and Ali's wedding. Vince and I went...left the kids at home. It was a neat experience going to a German wedding. They had it in the local protestant church in our town. The church was built in 1591! It was really beautiful... From there, we went about 30 miles down the road to this old manor...gorgeous and rustic! I loved it! Everything at the reception was pretty much what we're used to...eating, drinking, dancing...fun! They started off the course with a cauldron of soup that was cooked over an open fire. So, you get the bowl, crack an egg into and then have the soup ladeled into it. The egg cooks up in the soup. Pretty neat (except I don't like eggs unless their in cookies! ha!). I'm really glad we were able to experience the wedding here in Germany...
So, on Monday we drove to Vicenza, Italy. We're staying there in a house that belongs to a classmate of Vince's from SAMS (school he went to in KS). He had to go to Stuttgart this week for business and offered up his house for us!!!! So, we swapped houses and it's saving us a bundle of money. Gotta love that! His place is in a great location as ,well. We can walk to the US Army Post (Camp Ederle). It's great to have access to the post b/c we can purchase our gas there, as well as groceries. The drive was about 7 hours, but with stopping for dinner it took us about 8-1/2 hours. The drive took us throught the Alps and it was beyond beautiful! I'm so glad that we've been able to see that part of God's creation. And, during our drive through them, we saw one of the most beautiful rainbows -- we could see it from one side to the other side! On Tuesday, Vince took all four of the kids for the day (!!) and let me go to Nove, Italy by myself for some FUN pottery shopping!!!!!!! Oh my gosh...it was a sight for this shopper's eyes! It's about 20 miles from Vicenza, which isn't far. But, I'm SO glad we have a GPS system...makes things oh-so-much-easier! Anyway, I'm really not too crazy about the Polish pottery...it's just not my thing. But, I went to a luncheon shortly after we arrived here in Germany and they had each table set up to represent different countries that the US has a military presence on. One of them was Italian and I fell way-deep-in-love with what I saw! I found out about it and Nove is one of the best places to shop for it. I was SO happy to be there! The factory that I was most interested in going to makes pottery for Tiffany, Lenox, Williams-Sonoma, etc. Did I mention what fun it was?! I spent some of our money there too! Got some great stuff! I thanked Vince for giving me such an easy & fun day... And, oh yeah...I'm not planning on that being my last trip there either! ;)
On Wednesday, we went to Venice! OK, I have to say one thing here...I had SO many people tell us that they weren't that impressed with Venice and that it was a disappointment to them. For us, it was WONDERFUL! The day was perfect...sunny, warm (not hot), clear and a gentle breeze all day. It really is one of those places that a person needs to see for themselves, if possible. I can describe it to you (e.g., the doors to the houses literally are right on the water!), but until you see if for yourself, you can't really "feel" it. One person told me that it was so dreary and not at all colorful. Maybe I've been living in Germany too long (probably 95% of the houses are the same color...white), but it seemed to explode color to me. Every building was painted a different color -- coral, yellow, brown. And the window shades were colorful as well -- red, blue, green, etc. I loved it! Several people told us how much Venice stuck like sewage. I smelled something stinky literally one time for a moment...that was it! Other than that...nothing but fresh air. When I say that Venice is a sight to behold and worth the trip -- in my humble opinion, I mean it! When Vince & I went to Rome in December, they had Murano/Venetian glass for sale everywhere. I looked and looked for something, but ended not purchasing anything. But, I found exactly what I wanted in Venice (a funky glass ring), but couldn't find in Rome (couldn't find it small enough to fit my finger!)! I'm quite happy with my souvenir... We saw all of the sights we wanted to see. I know the girls favorite was San Marco Square -- where all of the pigeons are! Chloe was beyond excited to go there, but when we arrived, she was a bit timid. I can't blame her a bit as I am completely scared of birds myself!! I could see though that she SO wanted to have them on her, so VJ helped her feed (entice!) the birds and I held her arm so that she couldn't immediatly shake them off. She loved it and then was doing by herself... Sophia was asleep on with her head on Daddy's shoulders during the first part of our time at the Square, but that didn't stop the pigeons! I have a picture of them on her back and her head! At the Bridge of Sighs, there were a couple of ladies there from Australia. I took their picture for them and then took our picture. Anyway, they said to me, "You have so many kids! They don't have TV where you live?!" I thought that was funny!
One downside to our excursion to Venice was that everyone we talked to advised us to go there from Vicenza via the train. OK, that's what we did. The trip there was relatively uneventful. However, the trip back to Vicenza was terrible! When we were about halfway home, the train stopped at one of the stations to let people off. But, it didn't start going again. Finally (after 20 minutes or so...), some guy that works for the train came through the cars and told us that the track up ahead wasn't useable and they didn't know when the train would get going again. We heard there probably was a suicide -- "Happens all of the time over here. This is not uncommon at all." OK... So, they told us that if we were on the train to go to Vicenza, to get off the train and there would be a bus waiting for us. We get off the train and find the bus. The problem was that our train car was the last car to be notified, so the "line" (and I use that term very loosely!) was packed already. And, there was only one bus! There was total mayhem...the bus driver wasn't letting anyone on the bus b/c he had no idea what was going on. After a LOT of yelling and screaming, he finally lets people on. But, there was NO order whatsoever...chaos. So, here we are at 10:00 at night with four tired kids who've been sightseeing all day...all the way in the back of the line. There was no getting on that bus for us. I went up to ask the bus driver if another bus was coming. He, of course, spoke no English. I tried to communicate with him, but it was useless. I turned around and loudly asked if anybody there spoke English. One guy said to me, "Yes, but I don't speak Italian either!" ugh! Vince spoke to another guy and he told him that nobody knew if another bus was coming or not -- "this is the way it is..." So, we haven't had dinner yet (had a late lunch) and we see a McDonalds (thank God for McDonalds!!) across the street. We go over there to get something to eat and decided to get back on the train. OK...it might be sitting at the station for awhile, but eventually it has to get going again. Once we're done eating, the train guy comes back on and once again says that all people going to Vicenza need to get on the train on Track 3 b/c it's going there. We gather everyone and everything back up and head to Track 3. Only to find out that now we need to get on another train! No, wait...change of plans again! Now there's another bus they want us to get on. We head to the bus and sure enough, we get on it! On the way to the bus, there was this guy that I passed and he said, "Ma'am, are you going to Vicenza?" "Yeah." "The bus is right out the door waiting for you guys. All I can say is that is a good introduction to life in Italy!" ha! Now we have another problem...the last bus from the train station in Vicenza (which is where the bus was taking us) to our stop by the house left at 11:00 p.m...long gone! We were just going to take a taxi, but Vince saw that we were going to go right past our stop. He went up and asked the driver to let us off there instead...he did! We were all SO tired by the time we got home...even the girls slept in the next morning!! So, if I get back to Venice, I'll definitely be driving there!! The people here aren't as nice as the people in Paris were. They're not rude, but they aren't accommodating. And it's much harder to find English-speaking people here than it is at home. I told Vince, "Thank God we're stationed in Germany and we can visit Italy. Thank God it's not the other way around!!" I would not enjoy living here as much as I do living in Germany. Germany is clean; Italy...not so much. German people (especially our generation and younger) speak English; haven't found that to be the case here in this part of Italy. Theft in Germany isn't a real problem; Italy has a real problem with it. Germans like their rules (I'm a rule person too...l I've never really been a "rule-breaker."); Italians do have lines in the road, but I have NO idea why!! :) The food and ice cream is great here though! We didn't bring Domino with us on this trip. He's staying with a friend of mine for the week. When she found out that Domino was coming over to Germany to be with us again, she said, "Hey, let's dogsit for each other during our vacations!" Great! Kennels over here are very expensive -- and they're in Euro...ugh! So, he's with her and then I'm watching her dog (very sweet boxer) next week! Domino must be in dog heaven! Differences in Italy and the USA: This week I'll do Italy since that's where we are! I guess the first thing that comes to mind is the driving. It's quite eratic and there's NO space. It's such a pain to park our Odessey -- go a little forward, go a little backward -- forward, backward! Plus, there are roundabouts everywhere! We have them in Germany as well, but they're pretty much only in the towns and country roads. Here, they're everywhere...highways, towns, "interstates." Sometimes, it can be confusing. Zach said that he notices the architectural differences. He's right...it's just so much older over here than in America and their buildings are either quite ornate or starkly plain. There's a bunch more pictures on the "Pictures" page, so please check them out! Arrivederci! Jaclyn Week Ending 6/21/08 -- Our garden is growing quite nicely! We have tomatoes on a couple of the tomato plants already as do my green pepper plants!! I have about four green peppers growing out there! Mmmmmm...can't wait to eat them! The corn is growing tall and the zucchini is starting to take over it's side of the garden and blooming. The peas are still quite small, but growing! I weeded yesterday.
Plus, our cherry tree has produced LOTS of bright cherries! We really need to harvest them today and tomorrow so that the birds don't get to them first. It's a HUGE tree...and probably about 35 feet with branches all over! Fortunately, we have an extension ladder, so we'll be able to get a good portion of the cherries. I'm going to freeze some of them and make jam with most of them. Of course, some will just be eaten fresh as well!
I'm really "into" making jam right now. I just put up 21 jars of strawberry jam this week! I had NO idea it was SO easy... Kirsten makes it every year, so I asked her if she'd let me do a batch with her so I could learn how -- and get over the intimidation I felt when thinking about making homemade jam! So, we did that last week and then she took me to this fantastic store that sells jars, jars, jars...all kinds of jars! Canning jars, decorative jars, wine bottles, etc...it was so much fun! Then, as I said, this week I made jam. The kids LOVE it! It's requested every day...several times! We also have a local farm in our town and they have a store on their property to sell their yummy goods. It's called the "Berghof." It's about 4-5 blocks from our house, so we walk there quite often to get romaine lettuce, apples, cream, etc. They have a HUGE section on their farm that is for strawberries. Of course, you can purchase them in their store, but if you really want to have fun, they allow you to pick your own. I took all the kids to pick the strawberries for the jam. It was so much fun! They allow you to eat them as you pick them! For most of us, that's OK. But, where Sophia is concerned...yeah, they probably got the short end of the stick on that one! Her face was pink when we left! ha! Domino is loving life here in Germany. Get this -- he's a HUGE neighborhood "draw!" Kirsten's daughter, Sophie, is about 10 years old and is crazy about dogs. They don't have a dog (yet!), so she comes over just about every day and takes Domino out for a walk. Chloe goes with her almost every time as well. Then there's a new group of girls that Peggy brought over to our house to introduce to us (they asked her too...) b/c they wanted to know if it would be OK with us if they walked Domino every now and then! :) Are you kidding??! They also come over every day. So, with Domino's diet dog food (yes, I'm serious!), his one cup of food a day (I know, Donna...it doesn't seem like much, but he's fine...really!) and all of these walks -- plus, his time out in our yard -- he's actually starting to get back in shape. I noticed it yesterday when we were walking to the Berghof. If I would take the time to trim his hair, he'd look much thinner as well. Chloe's German has improved by leaps and bounds in the last month or so. It's so amazing! For awhile now I've noticed that she seems to be able to understand a great deal of what people are saying to her, but she's always responded in English. Now...she's starting to speak in German to them! I picked her up from Kindergarten yesterday and when she was coming towards me, she stopped and spoke in German to another mom! I couldn't believe it! And -- here's the scary part -- I had NO idea what she said! ha! I had to ask Kirsten and she laughed and told me that she was telling that mom something her daughter and Chloe did that day! Our really big news this week though is that VJ will be arriving on Sunday!! It's going to be SO good to have him here with us... I have to get a mattress for the bed downstairs though...mattress shopping is sooo boring! It's not at all like looking for the perfect pair of shoes (and they're out there...oh, yes they are!)! Zach was out mowing the lawn this morning only to be told by our neighbors that he wasn't allowed to do that. Of course, he had NO idea what they were saying to him, so he asked Vince for help. Vince, consequently, found out that Germany has a law which states that you can't make any outdoor noise beween the hours of 10:00 p.m. - 9:00 a.m. and 1:00 p.m. - 3:00 p.m. (no, I'm not kidding...it's actually a law!). I guess these particular neighbors had had it with us (since we had no idea this law existed, I'm SURE that we've loudly broken it many, many times...such "rude" Americans we are!)! Vince told them of our ignorance and apologized...and Zach turned off the mower. Sigh... Then some other neighbors stuck their head out their window and said, "It's not us...we don't mind at all! It's those neighbors..." ha! I think I'm going to have to share my jam with them! There is a really big soccer (fusball) tournament going on over here...between the European countries. You know they take their soccer very seriously. It's really not a game as much as it is a statement of who rules! At any rate, we noticed that all of a sudden the German flags were popping up everywhere...hanging out windows, attached to cars, etc. I was wondering what was going on b/c the Germans do not typically show their patriotism via the flag. Well, I soon found out about this tournament b/c our neighborhood was screaming and hollering (yes! hollering!) whenever a score was made for Germany. They are SO loud! And, believe me...they do not care about their no-noise German law when it comes to their soccer dominance. So far, they're winning. They beat Portugual (which I've been told has the #1 and #2 best players in league) last week. For me this only means for me...more noise, horn honking, firecrackers and German hollering! Chloe told me that America had the best team and they were going to beat them all! I had to tell her that the USA wasn't playing in this tournament b/c it was only for European countries. She said, "Well, they're still the best!" ha! We're going to invite them all over for the SuperBowl this year and show them what a real game is all about! ;) Differences between Germany and the USA: The emergency sirens... Well, of course, you know what the ambulance in American sounds like. The European ones sound like...well, think of the Bourne movies...or any action flick that takes place in Europe. Or, better yet...click here and take a listen to a German ambulance!
At first, I HATED it...it sounded so melancholy. But, I guess I've gotten used to it b/c it doesn't bother me anymore. Love to all, jaclyn
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