My brother introduced me to a site called anonymous thank yous, and I just noticed that they published my story here.
What's your story?
2021 Reading!
1 year ago
Wednesday, September 25, 2013
Looking up to her Big Sister
Macy: Mom, I think Ivy's having a growth sprout.
Carly: Mom, Ivy's more in fashion than you are.
First day of School
Robyn 7th grade
Notice the German scarf. She still gets to ride her bike to school, has physics added to her schedule, and is looking forward to trying out tennis.
Carly 4th grade
This year, she's in the oldest class in elementary school and will get to be a recess monitor. She's going to continue playing the recorder.
Macy 2nd grade
Notice the cute, little owl her friend made. She's now one of the bigger kids, and will be trying out hand ball.
This year, starting school was a breeze. After 2 years, we finally know what's going on! Although, I had to laugh when somehow we missed the memo that school started one hour late for Macy and Carly on the first day. At least we weren't the only ones. Better early than late, right?
Trip to The States
We were blessed to have a healthy baby with her passport in hand in time for the girls' summer break to make our first trek back to The States as a family. Of course, the best part about it was the people we could see again! Family traveled from Washington DC to Oregon and in between to meet for reunions. What could be better than that?
On our longest flight (about 10 hours), the "big" girls were in 7th heaven with their own TV/movie monitors, and Ivy did amazingly well. Unfortunately, our connecting flight was canceled...and canceled..and then postponed. It was so unbelievable, we had to laugh, and we did enjoy getting American food at the airport with our food vouchers. We were discouraged and exhausted (days of traveling plus an 8-hr time difference), but decided to make the best of it and found a really cool aquarium where we saw a live mermaid show and got to feed sting rays.
Our first culture shock came when we had to stop at a grocery store to buy sunscreen and some band-aids. There were just way too many choices. Because we were without a car during our extended layover and were riding trains, we felt like we were still in Germany. (One time while we were waiting at a stop and some people started walking toward us, I even thought, "We should start speaking German" because that's what we try to do when we're in public here). Except that everywhere we went, we all kept saying, "I'm freezing. I'm freezing." We weren't used to having AC. We did enjoy having drinking fountains again, though.
Once we finally arrived (at midnight) and saw our family, then we knew we were really back!
We were glad the timing worked out to meet my bro's fiance and spend time with her. We also got to meet new cousins, and see all of my siblings and Myles'--quite amazing!
A few days before we came back, I dreamt that I couldn't speak German anymore. I was afraid that I had forgotten a lot, but after coming back, I felt like it was actually better than before we left. I thought maybe it was just me, but someone else said he noticed an improvement, too. I thought this was surprising. Maybe just having a break was good, or maybe I had more confidence after going home, not sure.
It was nice coming back to an established life--much easier than the first time we came!
On our longest flight (about 10 hours), the "big" girls were in 7th heaven with their own TV/movie monitors, and Ivy did amazingly well. Unfortunately, our connecting flight was canceled...and canceled..and then postponed. It was so unbelievable, we had to laugh, and we did enjoy getting American food at the airport with our food vouchers. We were discouraged and exhausted (days of traveling plus an 8-hr time difference), but decided to make the best of it and found a really cool aquarium where we saw a live mermaid show and got to feed sting rays.
Our first culture shock came when we had to stop at a grocery store to buy sunscreen and some band-aids. There were just way too many choices. Because we were without a car during our extended layover and were riding trains, we felt like we were still in Germany. (One time while we were waiting at a stop and some people started walking toward us, I even thought, "We should start speaking German" because that's what we try to do when we're in public here). Except that everywhere we went, we all kept saying, "I'm freezing. I'm freezing." We weren't used to having AC. We did enjoy having drinking fountains again, though.
Once we finally arrived (at midnight) and saw our family, then we knew we were really back!
We were glad the timing worked out to meet my bro's fiance and spend time with her. We also got to meet new cousins, and see all of my siblings and Myles'--quite amazing!
A few days before we came back, I dreamt that I couldn't speak German anymore. I was afraid that I had forgotten a lot, but after coming back, I felt like it was actually better than before we left. I thought maybe it was just me, but someone else said he noticed an improvement, too. I thought this was surprising. Maybe just having a break was good, or maybe I had more confidence after going home, not sure.
It was nice coming back to an established life--much easier than the first time we came!
Saturday, September 14, 2013
Ivy's Blessing Day
I am a child of God
and He has sent me here
Has given me an earthly home
with parents kind and dear
Lead me, guide me, walk beside me,
help me find the way
Teach me all that I must do
to live with Him someday
Ivy was happy or sleeping the whole time. She is such a joy and we are so blessed to have her in our family!
and He has sent me here
Has given me an earthly home
with parents kind and dear
Lead me, guide me, walk beside me,
help me find the way
Teach me all that I must do
to live with Him someday
Ivy was happy or sleeping the whole time. She is such a joy and we are so blessed to have her in our family!
All the girls
The proud Daddy who blessed her, along with some other members of our German congregation who also hold the priesthood--the authority to act in God's name, the same power Christ used when He was on the earth to bless the little children one by one.
Proud sister #1
Proud sister #2
Proud sister #3
We are grateful for our friend who took pictures for us and for all of our friends who came and supported us, especially nice while we're so far away from family.
The day of her blessing, it was too hot to wear the hat, but here is the whole outfit, which a friend used for her baby here about 20 years ago.
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