Gabe Turns Six

 Gabe and Eva decided to dress up as pirates in the morning of Gabe's birthday.  We were lucky to have them home.  They didn't have school due to a teacher work day.  I love when my kids are off from school.  We had a busy day planned.  First on the agenda was to open up presents from Oma and Opa.  Gabe was so excited about that race car track. 

 Second on the agenda was to change clothes.  As cute as the pirates were, I wasn't taking them in public like that. ;)  I took the kids to this really cool place in Manhattan, KS called the Flint Hills Discovery Center.  We went with a few of our new friends on the street.  Of course, I forgot to bring the camera.

 That evening, Hans and I took the kids bowling.  We invited our next door neighbors to join us since Gabe is buddies with their little boy Hayden. 

 This is silly Hayden.  Cecily copies everything he does.  Sometimes that can lead to problems...This kid is busy!  She thinks he's pretty funny and they have a great time playing together.  You just have to watch them like a hawk!

Happy 6th birthday to Gabriel.  We are so happy you joined our family.  You have been so much fun and it just keeps getting better and better.  You are growing into such a fine young man.  I love how sweet you are.  You are always giving me compliments.  You're good for my ego. ;)  All your school teachers love you!  You are a wonderful example to other kids.  You are so good at building things.  One thing I absolutely love about you is your ability to clean your room and do it quickly.  I love how you can fold your own clothes.  I love how well you help take care of your baby sister.  You are such a responsible little boy and I can't wait to continue to see you grow and develop into an amazing man.  Mom and Dad love you so much little man!

Florida

 Hans and I took a much needed vacation without the kids.  We were able to head to Fort Lauderdale, Florida for five days.  The weather couldn't have been more perfect. 

 These are a few pictures from the Intercoastal Waterway.  The homes here were out of this world.  They each had their own private docks for their massive yachts too.  What a site to see.

 We headed down through Miami on our way to the Florida Keys.  We took the long, scenic route along highway 1 and A1A.  Miami is very busy.

 Above: these were just some of the many, many condos that dot the whole coast of Miami beach.

 When we reached Key Largo, we took a glass bottom boat ride to see all the cool fish.  Florida is home to the world's third largest coral reef.  While at the reef, we saw a few baracuta, sea turtle, and even a shark.  It was pretty impressive and a good way to see fish without having to snorkle or scuba dive (which I will never have a desire to do).

 The last full day of our trip was mostly spent down in the Everglades National Forest.  We were able to take a great airboat ride.  We saw lots of alligators along the way as well as some pretty cool looking birds. 

 The Everglades is sometimes called the river of glass.  It was easy to see why when we were on that airboat.  It was such a beautiful place. 

 Hans and I were able to hold a three year old alligator.  I was really proud of myself.  Reptiles usually freak me out.

 After the boat ride, we took a senic loop drive through more of the everglades.  This picture above is just some of the beauty we saw.  Of course, the nasty snake in the road didn't make me feel that great.  We were on that road for about an hour and a half and I only remember passing two other vehicles the entire time.  It was definitely isolated.  Once we got back on the main road, we realized we were really close to the opposite side of Florida so we decided to keep going all the way to the Gulf of Mexico.  We ended up on Marco Island (just south of Naples).  We ended that afternoon swimming in the Gulf.  Of course, it wouldn't be the Gulf without running into some sting ray.  I was swimming some laps when all the sudden, I looked down and saw a few sting ray circling around me.  NOT A FUN SIGHT!  Needless to say, I don't think I've ever swam so fast in my life.

 On our last night, we took a little stroll around Fort Lauderdale again.  The Hilton in the background was our hotel.  It was right on the Marina. 

Visit from Family!

We just came off of a great high.  We had Jason, Michelle, Alyssa and Scott come for a visit.  We were also lucky enough to have Sage Teichert come as well.  They all got here on Thursday night and left today (Sunday).  I of course forgot to take pictures with my camera but luckily Michelle was smart enough to take some from hers.  We had such a fun filled weekend.  I wish every weekend was like this.  I really appreciate everyone coming out. 

The last time I saw Sage was in college.  I still haven't met his wife but hope to soon.  It was great catching up on old times.  I even discovered he does the dishes. :) 

On Friday Sage had some people to visit (he served his mission here).  Hans had to work for a little bit, so Jason's family came with the kids and I to Worlds of Fun.  Wow!  What a great day that was.  I did feel a bit sorry for Gabe because he was too short to ride most of the big rides.  Eva was just big enough.  I was so proud to call her my daughter that day (and every day).  She wasn't scared at all to ride the big roller coasters.  She loved them.  Definitely my child!  Gabe was really bummed he could ride the coasters with us so Jason took him and Scott to the water park while Michelle, Eva, Alyssa and I rode the coasters to our hearts content.  After the great day, we hung out and relaxed by the pool in the backyard.  We roasted hotdogs and marshmellows over the firepit with Sage and Hans too.  It was just nice to kick back and have a great visit.

On Saturday we took everyone to Fort Leavenworth for a quick visit.  After that we hung out at the house and got ready for our race.  It was a glow run so it didn't start until 9:15pm.  This was my very first race and I have to say, what a perfect race for the first time.  It was only 5K so I was able to run the entire way without stopping (even if it was really slow).  There were 11,000 people running so it was really crowded, but super fun too.  So many people were decked out in all kinds of glow in the dark things.  I would loved to do another one of these races.  Michelle and Alyssa were kind enough to stay back with me and run at my pace.  It was fun to watch Michelle pick up all the glow sticks that would fall on the ground from other people as they were running.  By the end of the race, she had about 100 glow sticks she was running with.  Crazy lady!  That's why I love her to pieces. 

I just want to say thank you to Jason and his family for coming out for such a fun time.  Next time, Hans and I will have to come do a race up in your neck of the woods.  Thank you to Sage also for coming for a visit.  He's so much like his dad it cracks me up.  I sure love him!

Here's the link to Michelle's pictures of the trip:
https://www.facebook.com/#!/michelle.l.clark.94/media_set?set=a.10151532872170852.1073741839.655155851&type=1

Lindsey

 

 

Happy Father's Day to both Papa Doc and Opa Joe!  We've made some great memories.  Above is a nice video conveying the spirit of Father's Day, below photo is from our pre-Christmas 2012 visit and bottom is from Lindsey's visit to UT for Gillian's wedding.  Looking forward to many more memories to come.

Love,
Hans and Lindsey
Eva & Gabe
Cecily

Here's an update with pics

Here's a link to pictures we've taken over the last month.  I will try and update more often.  Let me know if this link works.
https://plus.google.com/photos/106423386814720883019/albums/5887943223949941137#photos/106423386814720883019/albums/5887943223949941137

Lindsey

A much needed update

Our whole world has changed since our last post.  Life has run away with us.  My head starts to spin just thinking about what has happened in the last three months.  Here is a list of just a few things:

-Around the first week of November we received orders to Fort Leavenworth, KS with a fly out date of 4 December.  As soon as we got orders, we were able to schedule our household goods to be packed and shipped off.

-Nov. 14th and 15th our movers were packing most of our things.  We have pretty much been living out of suitcases ever since.

-Nov. 21 we shipped one car off

-We hosted Thanksgiving at our house (even though we had temporary government furniture and not many dishes) with three other families.

-Hans and I got the flu on Thanksgiving night and ended up getting everyone who came to our house sick too.  No, it was not food poisoning. :)  It was such a bad night that it is worth mentioning.

-The last week of Nov was a blur.  We were cleaning the apartment and our other vehicle.  In order to ship your car, it has to be completely spotless in order for it to pass customs.  When I say spotless, it has to pretty much look brand new right off the lot. 

Nov. 30th we shipped off our second car and had our final out appointment from our apartment.  Thankfully we passed both inspections.  Then, off to the hotel we went.

That last weekend of Nov./first of Dec. was very sad because we had to say goodbye to some amazing people.  We were so grateful for the help we received from people watching our kids so we could clean, to giving us a ride where we needed to be. 

Dec. 4th we flew to Baltimore and rented a car to drive up to Hans' parents house in Philadelphia.  We spent a few days with them and were able o have an early Christmas with them.

Dec. 9th we drove back down to Baltimore to catch a flight to Kansas.  We stayed at one of my best friends houses who also lives in KC area.  She was kind enough to offer her home to us. 

Dec. 10th we went house hunting while my friend watched the kids.  We found a house on the first day and put an offer down the next.  It was accepted and we started the process of getting an inspector out and such.

Dec. 11-12th we got cell phones since our German ones didn't work in the states.  We ran errands and spent time with our friends.

Dec. 13th we drove (with our rental car from KS) to Colorado Springs to stay with my sister for a few days.

Dec. 15th we headed out to Utah for the Christmas season. 

Between the 15th to the 1st of Jan., we were in Utah visiting family and friends and had a great time.  However, there was some stress involved.  The kids were sick and things weren't going well with the inspection of the house we wanted to buy.  We ended up paying for specialist to come out and inspect the EIFS on the outside of the house.  After much thought and prayer, we decided to back out of the deal.  However, this all took quite awhile to get all the inspections and things done.  So by they time we found out all this, it was already Jan. 4th.

Jan. 1st we drove back to Colorado Springs to spend more time with my sister's family. 

Jan. 6th, we finally arrived back in Kansas City.

Jan. 7th, we went house hunting all day with the kids and our realtor.  We saw five homes and we loved two of them.  We narrowed them down and have decided to put an offer on one in the morning.  This house had a cute little dog and my kids keep saying the want the house with the dog.  I think they think he comes with the house. :)  We keep telling them if we get the house, the dog won't be there.  Hopefully they will understand. :)  Another interesting little fact is that this house is right next door to the one we backed out of.  Kind of funny huh?  Let's hope the neighbors don't discover who we are and if they do, let's hope they find a buyer for their home soon. :)

So, what does this mean you ask?  We will be living in a small hotel room for at least another month until we can close on this home.  Please pray for my sanity and my kids lives...

here are a few pics of our trip taken from our Surface tablet.  the kids slept some of the way making it more enjoyable. 

we visited Boulder and Denver - sitting on a swinging bench on Arapahoe avenue outside the naropa university campus. 

A melting creek running down the mountain in Boulder.

I'm looking at it this way...it gives us more time together as a family.  We have missed having daddy around after his last job was so busy, so this is a good chance to spend more time with him.  We are very excited to be in Kansas City.  It looks like a great city with lots to offer.  New experiences are always good.  I will miss Germany so much and the wonderful friends we made there, but they will always be my friends, no matter where I go.  And, we will get to make new ones here.  So, here's to an exciting and new year!!!  Wish us luck!

Happy Halloween!

 Of course, Gabe was Batman.  What else would he have been? :)

 And then there's our little chicken...

 Cecily was really into it.  She loved running around like crazy.  In fact, she was sort of like a chicken with her head cut off. hee hee hee (I know, I'm so funny right?).  We finally had to just keep her in her chicken coop (aka stroller) because we couldn't keep up with her.

 Eva made up her own costume.  She wouldn't be anything I suggested.  They weren't girlie enough suggestions apparently.  So, she was a "ballerina butterfly".  You can't see her full costume because of the coat, but it turned out pretty cute.

What really made the night was the incredible moon!  It was a full moon that started out burnt orange/yellow.  It was absolutely incredible.  It was awesome since it was on Halloween.  I wish I could have gotten a better picture of it, but this will have to do.

I hope you all had a great and safe Halloween.  Ours was really nice and relaxing this year.