Wilkommen in Deutschland...

Well, we made it to Germany. We have been here for about 10 days now. We are still in TLF (Temporary Lodging Facility-much bigger and nicer than the ones in Florida) and it looks like we are going to be here for a couple more weeks. We found a house, but it won't be ready for us to move into until about September 15th because they are renovating it. We are all looking forward to getting into our own home and getting all our stuff back. For right now we are living out of suit cases. We left Florida sweating and dying from the extreme humidity only to be surprised with cold weather here in Germany. We packed all shorts and Tee shirts expecting it to be summer but it was seriously freezing our first week here. It has warmed up a lot. The last minute I brought sweatshirts for the girls and I just because I thought it would be cold on the plane. I'm sure glad I brought them!

The flight over here went really smooth. We left Florida around 10 am and flew to Dallas and then from Dallas to Frankfurt was 9 hours. The girls were up for a few hours but once bedtime hit they slept the rest of the time. We got our very own row of 5 seats in the middle and we just all sprawled out. It was really quite comfortable.

So far what we have seen of Germany is amazingly beautiful. We are so excited to explore it more. There is so much to see here in Germany and in all of Europe that we are really not sure we can see it all in 3 years. But we will die trying! We have already been on a few very fun adventures. We don't have a car yet but everyone here has been super generous and very friendly and welcoming. Two people have even loaned us their cars, which helped us accomplish some major milestones. Like successfully driving on the Autobahn, going to work and church without getting too lost, and even finding our way back home. So the last few days we have been driving around checking out the area. On the 19th it was our 6 year wedding anniversary. We didn't have a babysitter so as a family we went and explored Bernkastel-Kues on the Mosel river. It was spectacular. We tried a very delicious doner, which we were able to purchase, eat, and pay for with several awkward moments. Moments that can be referred to as "international incidents". And yesterday we went to our very first Pig Fest! We tried the traditional Bratwurst. YUM! This time the ordering process went much more smoothly. So smoothly, in fact, that we proceeded to venture out and buy ice cream, chocolate, more ice cream, and other various treats. Sadie is a big beneficiary of us learning to order treats in German. The food here already has exceeded our expectations.

One of our favorite things is to just drive around and enjoy the breathtaking sceneries. We came across this town that is called Kyllburg. It is a city built on a very steep valley around the Kyll river. It was amazing! All the towns here are little villages surrounded by beautiful countryside and farmland. But the towns have narrow, skinny little streets with very European-looking houses and cars.

Pictures and more about the Pig fest in Wittlich and Bernkastel-Kues later. We have some seriously slow internet right now!