Christmas Performance

Here are some pictures of Gracie at the Holiday Performance! She was so cute, much better than the dance recital... there were no tears, or complete state of panic!! She went right out there and cheered and danced her little heart out!

Austria

Over Thanksgiving Break we went to Zel am See, Austria. The Alps are the most beautiful mountains I have ever seen! We had a great time. We stayed at the Gasthaus Schett. It was nice but a little different than your typical Holiday Inn. As in I don't think they have changed the decor since about 1970!! Dean and Grace skiied all weekend long. I was really nervous about her skiing but she did awesome. Dean took her to Ski Kindergarten the first day and by the end of the day she had graduated and needed a lift pass to go to the mountain! Yes my baby rode on an open ski lift. It makes me nervous just thinking about! But she loved it and can't wait to go again. I am going to take lessons next time so that I can ski as well. Gracie tells me she will teach me how to ski! Here are some pictures from the weekend! Sorry it is late!

Thankful... a few days behind!

We were in Austria skiing on Thanksgiving and I didn't have access to the internet while we were gone so this post is a few days behind. I will post pictures of that soon.
Thankful...
It is that time of year again when we all reflect on the past year. I am thankful for that God loves me with all my faults unconditionally, I am thankful for the trails the Lord has given me this yeay and although I didn't enjoy going through them I am grateful for the lessons I have learned. I am thankful for my sweet husband who is the funniest person I know and no one will believe me because he is soooo serious all the time outside the house. I am thankful for the belief he has in me and his support as I take on this new venture in my life. I am thankful for my three beautiful children. I am thankful that although I have a unique family situation with my boys they are happy and healthy and have two sets of parents that love them very much. I am thankful for Daxton's strong loving personality and Dawson's happy go lucky atitude. I am thankful for my sweet little Grace. I am so grateful for her.I am thankful that she is overcoming so much of her anxiety and she is blossoming like a little flower. I am thankful for my parents who love me always. I am thankful for my friends, old and new. I am thankful for the great country we have and all the men and women who serve.I am thankful for my puppies and my sweet kitty and thankful she is finally learning how to go to the potty box!!!Yeah lola!
Silly things I am thankful for.... coffee, and hazelnut creamer, the HOGS!!!, german chocolate and pastries,the two days of sunshine a month we get here in Germany, my 7 channels of AFN, my computer and many many more things!! Happy Late Thanksgiving and Merry Christmas!!

Snow!!!!!!!

We had our first snow Saturday Morning!!! It was so much fun! Here are some pictures of Grace enjoying the weather!

Long time no write...

It has been awhile since I have had time to sit down for two minutes to blog! Nothing much new in Germany rain....rain....rain...some more rain... I think you get the point! I actually find myself getting excited when I see the suns faint reflection under the clouds. They say we might get snow on Sat that would be fun.
The fall baazar is this weekend and I am sure that will be fun. Gracie has her first cheer performance in a couple of weeks, I am praying that it goes well. She is so much better than when she first started. We visited a new church on Sunday and it was really nice. More like what we are used to from home. I miss our church so much, I think that has been the toughest part about moving here. So I am hopeful that this might be the place we belong until we are back home.

On a completely other note I have decided I have the dumbest cat in America and in Germany!! She can not figure out how to potty in her box so Lola Seraphina has been evicted and is now an outside kitty. Gracie is not very happy that her kitty got the boot but I am a much happier mommy! And when mommy is happy all is good! haha

Last friday I got the privelage of watching my husband recieve an award. This was my first time to actually get to be there. I was the only one in attendance that was not donning acu's so it was a little overwhelming, I hid in the back by the ficus. It was very nice to be able to watch him recieve his medal.He recieved a Meritorious Service Medal and SNCO of the quarter. I sat and listened as they read the description of what he had done to recieve the award and I am very proud. I love you babe! I am so grateful for your service and all the other men and women who serve our great country! I think all to often everyone gets caught up in the politics of it all and forget about the ones who actually serve!!!





Isn't he the cutest in his uniform!! I love it!!! Anyhow I guess that is all for now and will try to be a better blogger for all of my faithful blogging buddies! haha Now the spaghetti is calling!

St Martin's Day

This week we celebrated St. Martin's Day. At school Gracie and I made a latern she picked a pink pig. On Thursday evening we went to the church and they had a children's service, they did a play about St. Martin and sang songs. It was all in German so we did not understand a thing but it was fun. After we all went outside and the children put little lights in their laterns and we paraded down about 6 blocks following a man a horse that was dressed as St. Martin. At the school we all ate sugared pretzels and had hot cider around a bonfire. It was so much fun! I finally researched who St. Martin was and he was a man who helped the poor and dedicated himself to helping people. Here are few pictures from that evening.

Dance Recital

On Thursday Grace had her first ever dance recital. She was very excited all day long, giddy more like it! She took a shower, fixed her hair and even added a little lip smacker vanilla lip gloss to boot! Everything was going right on schedule! We left headed to the show met Dean and everyone was very excited!! We all sat down in our assigned seats, ( we are by all means military) I thought that was a little much but anyhow. The light went down and the show was on! Grace danced the fourth dance. She began to watch the girls go up and perform and I could see a slight bit of nerves beginning to show. It was very cute. she is my daughter after all and I hate getting up in front of people!!! It was her groups turn to be on deck and while the little bitties were wiggling away to the wiggles "mashed potato mashed potato" my sweet grace was having a massive panic attack. Giant alligator tears and screaming she did NOT want to go. I pushed my way through with her and we headed for the stage all while she is boohooing!! I am comforting her and telling her it will be alright, because I know how that panic feels, I am telling her that we are so proud and I really want to see you on that stage but it is ok. I myself am screaming in my head for dean and then I see him running throught the back of theater carrying the sweet little pink roses he brought for her. He grabs her up and shows her the flowers and tells her that he brought them just for her and he really really wanted her to dance and that was it, a little push and she was off. She reached down deep climbed those stairs and danced!!! She smiled and while you could see that she was still a little unsure she was dancing!! I am crying as I type this because this was such a big moment for her! We have prayed that she would be brave and she was. It was a such a blessing! I know that a month ago she would never have gotten on that stage but she did it!! Of course as soon as she saw Dean she wanted those flowers!! Such a girl! She was so proud of herself when she sat back down, although she kept asking if she had to go back up there again!! Here are some pictures of my little ballerina!! I am so proud of you LilliGrace! I love you so much!!