Gabriel's first offical roll (from the back to the stomach) at 3 1/2 months

Mmm, that hand is tasting so good. I want to eat it but I can't reach it from this angle.


Oh no, I got a little carried away and now I'm stuck. Mommy, help me please.


Now I'm in trouble. How do I roll over from here? And where'd my fist go? I'm getting mad now.

Ah! Summer time!

Our favorite thing to do is enjoy the awesome german swimming pools. We went earlier this week with lots of friends. Eva and her friend Grace seemed to have more fun in the sand box however. P.S. sorry I don't know how to photoshop that discusting looking man in a speedo in the background.

.....after the sandbox. Eva's really not enjoying the taste of sand in her mouth.

Our Retreat in Willingen, Germany

This last weekend, the kids and I took a trip. The army was sponsoring a free retreat for women/men who have deployed spouses. Kids were welcome and free babysitting was provided during the classes. We had lots of free time too. On our time off from classes, the kids and I walked down to the center of town and found a fun park for Eva. The bridge was a great view on this very very steep hilly walk. I won't be doing that again with a double stoller!

When I saw this, I imidiately thought of you dad. This pigeon loft was across the street from the park. The pigeons were flying around the entire time we were down there and right when we left, they all landed on the roof of the loft. Eva really loved to watch them fly in circles. She kept saying "bird, bird, bird" over and over until it became extremely annoying.

It was a little chilly that day. I feel bad for Gabe. He gets the short end of the stick. He just has to watch while Eva gets to be mobile and run around like crazy. I think he has thoughts of jumping out of his carseat and going and tackling her to the ground. I actually can't wait for that day. :)

Ok, I just couldn't help myself. I saw this adorable hat and purse at H&M the other day. They were only 5 Euro combined, so I hoped on that deal imediately. Eva loves purses and hats. She's been roaming around the house these days with my big white floppy hat, so of course I saw this and knew I could finally keep her away from my hat if she had one of her own. She runs around everywhere with her new stuff now. I get lots of comments from people saying how much they love that hat. The outfit was one of the dresses that oma and opa sent her. We love it.

Can you see the total and complete happiness in her face? She's such a girl! Heaven help us all! She's already the world's biggest pre-madona.

Pictures for Daddy

I just started putting Gabe in his saucer and he seems to really like it. He's become really aware of things lately. It's been fun to watch him start to grab for toys. He's a great little boy.


A couple mornings ago, Eva woke up at 5:30 in the morning, found her floaties and a sun hat, walked into my bedroom and said, "pool". She then grabbed my hand, pulled me out of bed, and walked me to the patio where we have a little blow-up pool filled with water. Of course, I had to tell her no because it was too early and of course, she threw a fit, but she got over it. She did get to swim a few hours later. I thought it was hilarious to see her get herself all ready to go, pajamas and all. She's such a nut. She's even trying to grab my hand in this picture to take me over to the patio.

Having Fun in Germany

We went to the Neuswanstein castle on our way down to Garmisch. This bridge we were on scares the crap out of me!! It's really high up and the boards move when you walk on them.



Once in Garmisch, we took a cable ride up a mountain to check out the view. Nice huh! P.S. I did have Eva's hair in pig-tails, but she kept pulling them out, hence her hair looks horrid.



A couple days after we got back from Garmisch, we hit the road again and visited the Wurzburg Residence. I love the grounds here.


This is one of the views from the top of the cable ride. We wanted to take the Zugspite lift because that's the tallest peak in Germany and you can see four countries from up there, but it would have set us back $68 per person just to ride a dang lift. I can't justify that. This one was pretty enough for me.

Random Pics of the Week

Ok, I couldn't decide which on of these pictures to post because they are both so cute. I know I sound conceded, but aren't my kids cute in their matching Philly outfits?!! Gabe has blue eyes and I'm so excited about it.




This picture of Lance is in front of the Dom Cathedral in Koln, Germany. It's the largest cathedral in all of Europe. I couldn't even get 1/3 of the church in a picture. It's amazing.

These were taken on the Rhine River. We took a boat ride from Rudesheim to St. Goar and then took a train back to Rudesheim. It's was a beautiful day and I got a nice sunburn to show for it.

Before and After

Hans had the opportunity to finally grow some hair while he was here on R and R. I love when he grows a beard. So, we thought it would be fun to take pictures of while he was here with hair and then the day before he left when he had to shave it all off. Sad day.

Video of the lake

We took this at the lake we went to down in Garmisch.

Our trip to Garmisch

We had the opportunity to go down to the southern tip of Germany at the beginning of the week. We had such a great time. We went to a restaurant that serves the world's largest cream puffs! I couldn't even eat half of it and that was without eating lunch. Eva was a total mess after getting her hands on it. On Wed, we went on a hike to this beautiful lake that was so crystal clear we could see all the way to the bottom and saw every fish in it. We rented a row boat and took the kids out. It was lots of fun.

Gabriel and Hans

Gabriel continues to grow... Hans came home to an instant family for 18 days of r and r leave. Check back in a few days for more pics. We are going to Garmisch next week so we'll have more pics to post. If you're wondering how Eva reacted to her Daddy after 7 months not seeing him, she was a little jealous the 1st day and irratible because she was taken out of her routine by a new presence who took away mommy's attention. By the third day she loved her daddy though and now will be hard when he leaves again.

Brother and sister love each other

I got bored this morning so I decided to bug my kids by taking pictures. I thought it was funny that they both looked at me when I went to the side of them.

Happy Easter!

We were invited over to our friends house tonight for a bbq and a little easter egg hunt. The weather was too bad to go outside, but we had a great time finding eggs thru-out the house. Eva had fun with all the kids and of course finding candy and chocolate. I didn't think she would understand what to do, but she caught on really quickly that we were "hunting" for eggs. She found a whole basket full.

More pictures of the kids

The pictures you've all been asking for

I had to throw one in of Eva. That's the look she gets on her face when she sees her brother in the morning. She then says in a really high pitched voice, "baby", over and over again. It's really cute until she starts malling the pour child!

The Hospital: Part 4

This is my favorite part!!

The Hospital: Part 3

The Hospital: Part 2

More to come....

The hospital: Part 1

I don't know if this will work or not. I'm not that savy with the computer.

Merry Christmas

Eva and I had a great day today. Grandma made her traditional homemade pizza this year for dinner. It was wonderful as usual. Eva loved the orange and clementine that were in her stocking. She made the coolest sounds every time she saw a new toy to play with. Hans did a great job knowing what to get me too. I got a Zune and I'm still trying to figure out how it works. I love you. I hope everyone had a wonderful christmas.

Lindsey