Merry Christmas

Well, we have almost made it thru the holiday season. I however, have still not finished shopping and it's 2:15 in the afternoon on the 23rd. Nothing like waiting till last minute right? I must be my mother's daughter. :)

Here are some things that have been going on with us recently:

1. We had a big leak in our radiator two nights ago. I turned it on in the afternoon then left the house. We didn't get home that night until around 9pm. We discovered the leak after noticing that our huge rug in the living room was totally soaked. So, at 9:30 at night, a guy had to come fix the radiator. It was completely broken so he just took the whole thing off and we're still waiting for a new one. As far as the rug goes, we had to move everything out of that room, including the rug and try and dry the floor. We are still dealing with a very wet rug two days later. It is way too big to move it far. We are trying to dry it, but it's just not working. It has now started to smell the entire house up.

2. I've been living at the gym recently. My gym is having a biggest loser compitition. They started in November and it goes until mid January. I'm on a team with three other girls. We are totally killing the compition. I've lost 17 pounds so far and hope to lose a lot more. I've started running a lot more lately. I spend two hours at the gym almost every day. I've discovered that it's almost an addiction. I have to exercise. I think it's the only thing that makes me sane. My cousin Renee is trying to convince me that I can run the half marathon in Paris in March. Call me crazy, but I'm actually considering it. There's a ten K in January and if I can run that, I'm going to keep training and try the 1/2 marathon. Renee is my trainer. :) Every day she tells me how far I need to run for that day. Monday I ran 4 miles, yesterday 2 and today 3. I have really big blisters on the bottom of my feet. That's a good sign right? :)

3. Hans is staying extremely busy with work and school. He just finished his finals for this semester so we are looking forward to having a quite, enjoyable time together as a family. It's must needed. We miss him around. We can't wait till his unit moves up here to Wiesbaden so he doesn't have to commute so far every day.

4. Eva is attending German Kindergarten every morning from 8:30 to 12:00. She seems to like it most days. Her teacher told me today that Eva is picking up on the language very quickly and she's now responding back in German to the kids and teachers. This has been a very good thing for her. As she gets older, she's easier and funner to have around. She's got quite the personality.

5. Gabe is very jelous that Eva gets to go to school and he doesn't. All the kids in Eva's school know his name though. He bolts straight for her classroom as soon as we walk into the school. He loves going to the gym with me every morning. He's my little buddy. However, if there are days when I don't have time to play basketball with him, he screams and throws the biggest fits. He LOVES basketball. He's even trying to dribble the ball now, which is a pretty advanced thing for his age. He might be getting tubes in his ears in Feb. The doctor wants to re-evalute him on the 1st of Feb., then go from there. I'm hoping it happens because he's having a little bit of a speech problem. He has also had nine ear infections in one year. Poor kid.

Ok, I think that was random enough for one day. Sorry it's so scattered. I feel like a chicken with my head cut off these days. I hope you all have a very merry christmas and happy new year. We love you all!

Lindsey

Scotland

Hi everyone. We finally got the pictures from Scotland uploaded to our computer. If you'd like to check them out, go to: http://picasaweb.google.com/roberrabbit/Scotland#. Let me know if this works. I hope you enjoy them.

Lindsey

One more year of fun!

Happy Birthday to you (cha, cha, cha). Happy Birthday to you (cha cha cha). Happy Birthday dear Hansie poo. Happy birthday to you. And yes...he does live in a zoo. And sometimes he smells like a monkey, but he never looks like one. :)

I love you Hans. I hope you enjoy your remaining year in the twenties. The kids and I are so grateful for all the hard work and sacrifices you have made for our family. We love you so much.

We are alive.

Yes, we are alive, just in case some of you were wondering. We are still in the hotel. I know, you are all thinking what!!?? Well, if you're not, I sure am. I'm so sick of being in this dang hotel I could just throw up. When we first got here, they told us we'd only be in here for about two to three weeks. We are going on 30 days now. Yesterday we were told we could move into an apartment in Mainz-Kastel this friday. We scheduled the transportation people to come deliver all our household goods on Friday, since they showed up on Monday. Well, I got a call today informing me that the apartment isn't done yet and we won't get in until the 12th, which is next Thursday. I feel like crying! This whole housing situation has been extremely frustrating. People in the housing department don't know what they are talking about. You get totally different information from everyone you talk to in there. They aren't communicating with maintanance or with eachother. After this is all done, I will be filing a complaint!

I haven't been able to get to a computer very often since we don't get any wireless connection in our room. We have a huge tree in front of the window blocking any service. We do have cell phones those. We also bought an additional car since Hans has to travel an hour each way to work. We bought an old BMW that I drive around and Hans takes the corolla to and from work. Hans has stayed very busy. He has started another semester of his masters program. He does online courses. He gets home around 7 or 7:15pm and then does homework til bedtime. We will be glad when he's done. This is going to be very good for him to have his MBA. The kids and I spend our days playing with friends and finding anything and everything to do just to get us out of our hotel room. We've had lots of friends have us over for dinner so we don't have to eat frozen burritos or cup of noodles every night (we have a mini fridge and a microwave in our room).

It's absolutely gorgeous here right now. The leaves are all so many different colors. I love germany in the fall. It lasts forever. I'm just so happy to be back. The ward here has changed a ton, but it's still great. I however am not happy at all about my calling. Maybe I shouldn't say that, but I'm just trying to be honest. :) I was called to be in the nursery. I really don't think they should stick women down there when both their kids are still in nursery. There are 29 kids in there and 24 of them are active. The other woman down there happens to be one of my best friends though. She was stuck down there even though her husband is deployed and she has five kids of her own. So, she's never getting a break from kids.

Ok, this post has been extremely negative. I'm sorry. I really am happy to be back. I can't wait to get into an apartment and start a schedule of some sorts. We are planning a few trips for the near future and we're really looking forward to the amazing christmas markets. We're having fun hanging out with our cousin Renee and her family. She and my friend Lisa just ran the Frankfurt Marathon. I'm so proud of her. Renee ran a half marathon a few weeks before the full marathon and was 1st out of all the women. She's my inspiration. I'm so proud to call her my cousin. :)

Well, that's what's going on in our lives right now. Hope all is well with everyone else. Talk to you all soon. We can't call the states on our cell phones, that's why no one ever gets calls from us. We will be getting a home phone with international calling as soon as we get into a place. Until then, I'll be periodically checking email, blog, and facebook. Love you all.

Lindsey

So long, farwell, Auf Wiedersehen

Well, the time has come. We are headed back to Wiesbaden Germany. I feel like this has just been a very long extended summer vacation and a very stressful one at that. Don't get me wrong, I really enjoy South Carolina. I had some very good experiences here and met some really great people. What I mean by stressful is having to move overseas twice in the space of six months. However, I still feel very lucky to be given the chance to live in Germany so the aweful moves are totally worth it. Hans was also very busy with school here so we didn't see him much for a couple of months. At least he wasn't deployed though.

Anyway, here are some things I will miss about America:
Target
TJ Max
24 hour Walmarts
24 hour gas stations
Stores that stay open past 8pm
paying for my gas at the pump and not having to drag both my kids in just to pay.
Things that are cheap!
Options, aka being given more than one or two choices in clothes, brands at the grocery store etc
THE SUN!!!
Bigger parking spots
Not having to pay for shipping
Customer service (I don't think the German language has a word for customer service)
Politeness

Ok, there's my ode to America. Thank you for your convienence and kindness. It's been a good ride these six months. Europe awaits me. I'm so excited to have more time to experience other countries and cultures. My goal is to take full advantage of traveling and experiencing life. I'm so grateful for this change. I consider myself a very lucky person to be given the opportunites in life to meet amazing people from all over the world. I sincerely wish and pray that my friends and family will be able to come visit me while I'm out there. I love visitors! My door will always be open. I will miss you all. Don't forget about me. :) See you in three or more years.

Lindsey

Cold season

I'm really not looking forward to this cold season. Gabe woke up this morning with a really nasty cold. We were at the breakfast table and he sneezed. There were boogers dripping down his entire face and before I could reach him to wipe it off, he spread it all over his face and hair. Then right before we left to drop Hans off to work, I came downstairs and noticed Gabe had a huge glob of booger above his eye and some dripping down his chin. I wanted to puke! Then once again, while I was driving back home, he sneezed again and wiped it all over his face and hair. This was all within one hour. It's going to be a long and very discusting day.

My friend Leah told me they already have 10 reports of H1N1 in her kids elementary school and they've only been going for two weeks. Wow! What a way to start the school year. I'm grateful my kids aren't in school yet.

Utah Trip Pics

All my brothers and sisters finally together for the first time in six years. It makes for a very loud and crazy house.




These pictures are totally not in order, but here they are. Gabe and Eva both loved the pigeons. Grandpa was so sweet to take them to Utah Lake with him to let the birds go. Thanks dad!




At the reception, Gabe was totally in love with this baby. He followed her around all night and kissed her.

At the reception.

At the temple waiting for the bride.

Aren't they a pretty couple?

Uncle Dave and Gabe strikin' a pose.

Uncle Dave teasing Gabe and him lovin' every minute of it.

Talk about your stinky eye face...

At the rehearsal dinner. I think I have some of the cutiest nieces and nephews.

I love Ella's eyes. They are so unique.

Ammon was getting ready to wipe off my kiss. How rude! I have good germs Ammon. :)

The bride and groom to be.

Jason, Jake, Chelsey, Brent, and Adam just chillin at the party.

"I uh mess"

The other day, I had put Gabe down for a nap and turned on a kid show for Eva so I could have a shower by myself for once. After I got done getting dressed, I came down to check on Eva. This is how I found her.


My first instinct was to kill her. I wanted to scream so bad but as soon as I opened my mouth to yell at her she just smiled really big and said "I uh mess" and gave me another smile with a cute laugh. She was so proud of herself. So, instead of screaming, I had to run out of the room so she wouldn't see me laugh my head off. Of course, the funnies wore off as soon as I had to clean her up. This nestle chocolate mix was completely full when she got it down from the pantry and when I grabbed it from her, it was completely empty.

The problem was this: I didn't have time to be cleaning this all up. I had to take the kids to the doctor and I was going to be late already. So, I picked her up very carefully so the powder wouldn't get all over the carpet (even though it was already all over) and I made her stand on the deck outside. I then turned on the hose and sprayed her down. I had to leave the mess on the floor and couch for when I got home. What a crazy child I have.

Visit from Oma and Opa

Grandma and Grandpa Erhmann (Lokodi) came to visit us during the fourth of July weekend. We enjoyed having them over and the kids loved playing with them. We went to the Zoo and the beach in Charleston. Oma and Opa brought the kids some new chairs. Eva is having a great time trying on their shoes while sitting in her new chair.


We went to the harley davidson store in Charleston. The A/C felt real good in there after spending an entire morning out in the heat and humidity.

At the zoo.

Mom and son.

My wonderful trip to Florida

There are certain people in this world that you meet and become instant and eternal friends with and this is one of them. This is Brandee. She and Alisha Johnson were two of my very dearest friends in Germany. Brandee has been in Florida visiting her mom for a couple of weeks. I was able to drive down with my two kids to stay with them for one of those weeks. We had such a great time. It would have been even better without the kids, but you gotta do what you gotta do right? :) It was fun to see her kids again. I taught her three oldest kids piano lessons when I was in Germany so I got to know them quite well.


This is Josh, her oldest. I love this picture because he is almost 12 years old and so he never wants to smile for anything or anyone. Well, if you look at him, he's trying so hard not to smile and he just can't help cracking a little one for me. He's such a great kid. He's a lot of help to his mom and I genuinely love this boy.

Brandee's mom lives in a retirement community outside of Tampa. She's got a crazy neighbor who feeds all the birds and pretty much any other kind of animal that wonders about (including this really huge raccoon). This is in Brandee's mom's backyard. She has a pond with alligators and lots of turtles. It was pretty cool. I felt like I was living in a wild jungle.

One day we went on an airboat ride. I would like to say it was awesome, but it just wasn't. It was 105 degrees and you could cut the humidity with a knife. My kids were really miserable and I was very cranky. By the end of the boat ride, I was tempted to throw them both in with the alligators!

These two pictures of the alligator were in the pond in Melissa's (Brandee's mom's name) back yard. Pretty cool huh? I felt like he was staring at me. Kind of creapy.

One of the days we were there, we went to Anna Maria island to the beach on the golf coast. It was absolutely beautiful. The water was terquoise (spelling?). The sand was very white and soft. The water was so clear you could see everything on the bottom and the waves were great for body serfing. We had so much fun.

On the last day we were there, we went to a cool science museum. There were lots of fun things for the kids to do. They had a wheel chair with a ramp and a gate. You had to sit in the chair and try and wheel yourself up the ramp and thru the gate. It was really hard and it puts things into perspective how hard people in wheelchairs really have it. Eva however, thought it was pretty fun.

They had a bed of nails for you to lay on. When you lay flat, you have to press this button and the actual nails come up and you are lifted up entirely by the nails. It was pretty cool. I even did it. Eva wanted to try. Am I a bad mother for letting my child lay on a bed of nails? She didn't have a problem with it.

The dinosour got hungry and ate Gabe.

This was my favorite part. Caleb, Brandee's third child, did the velcro wall. He was totally stuck and couldn't get down himself so the guy had to come and pull him off. We were all laughing so hard we had tears running down our faces. I wanted to try but I was too big. Not fair!

This is a wind tunnel. When you close the door on it, there are a few fans that start blowing and go all the way to 80 mph. It's supposed to simulate a hurricane. It was pretty embarrasing for me. As you see, the doors are see-thru. There were a ton of people waiting their turn to go in so everyone just stands around and watches everyone else in the tunnel. Well, I didn't notice that my shirt had blown completely down. The top of my shirt had gone way below my chest. I was horrified. Brandee started cracking up and told me to look. I then had to hold my shirt from the bottom and the top so it wouldn't blow up or down. We were both laughing. When I got out, some lady said, "don't worry, I'm sure no one noticed". She said this as she was laughing. Pretty embarrassing, but too funny.

Happy Father's Day to Joe

Just wanted to recognize Joe Ehrmann today. He came along and made my mother happy. He has always been a great example of warmness and calmness in the home, never quick to anger, and good hearted at the core. He has eagerly reached out to my wife, children and I as a father. The only negative thing I can say about him is: what took him so long? Happy Father's Day Joe!

Hans, Lindsey + kids

Fun at the beach with the Pughs

Jake's pants refused to stay up but it sure made for a cute picture.


Wow! Who's that hot model on that rock? Oh wait, isn't that Chelsey Pugh? Man, she sure looks hot.

Look at the pink skin! Can you say ouch? I love this shot of all the boys though. We had a great time having the Pughs at our home. Thank you for coming and sharing your time with us. We hope you had a great time too. I loved getting to know little Jakie. Eva has been asking for him all day today.

Kids will be kids

Well, it rained really hard the other day. Our back yard gets puddles from up the hill. It's quite frustrating to me, but my kids apparently love it. Eva and Gabe both went outside the other morning and had a great time. Eva started taking off all her clothes (which is what she's best at). I told her she had to keep at least her panties on and she said, "ok mommy". Then I let them both go out in the backyard and get dirty. It didn't take long for me to look outside and see that Eva was completely naked. I guess she decided to wash her panties in the puddle.


I think this is my favorite picture of Gabe. He picked up Eva's underware and started swinging it around his head. The water from the panties was flying everywhere.

I had to put this picture on here because it reminded me of a similar picture of me as a child. I have a picture of my brother David and I standing side by side in little white buckets filled with water. I was in a swimming suit and he was only in a diaper. I love that picture because it brings back wonderful memories of my childhood. We always played outside and didn't need the top of the line blow up swimming pools to have a good time. My mom let us get dirty and just be kids.

As much as Eva loves to be naked, she will also dress up and put on everything she's got. She is wearing shorts, a tank top, a too-too skirt, a white slip, a hat and a bandana all at the same time. I love that she can be so tomboyish one minute and a complete pre-madona the next.