Last post in Germany

Teresa and Steve








oops, that looks so much like me I got confused.
My computer gets shipped today, so I am doing my last blog in Germany. I didn't want to leave on an Angry note with my last post. I still haven't found my camera, but I wrote an email to all my friends at church and asked them if anyone had an old digital lying around that they didn't throw away when they upgraded. I got about 6 people who said they did. So, hopefully I will get one on Sunday to use. Yahoo!

We had Jacobs birthday on the 20th and had a wonderful time. We went to an amusement park with friends on Saturday, and then I took him chocolate chip cookies to his class on Tuesday. I have horrible pictures of the days, but my friend Zadell may have some for me. I may blog about that in a month or two. haha

Today movers come to take our first shipment of stuff that will arrive in Georgia in 2 weeks. It has a computer, bikes, towels, and dishes in that shipment. We have the weekend to get everything out of the house that we don't want the movers to take. Monday morning the movers come and clear this place out. On Tuesday through Thursday we clean and paint. Of course my cleaning lady will help with the cleaning and she is good and fast, so I am not too worried about that. We have decided that we would rather sleep here on air mattresses until we hand the keys over on Friday instead of being in a small unfamiliar hotel. We will go to the hotel Friday night May 30th. Then we go to church one last time June 1st and fly out with at least 10 suitcases on June 2nd. Just in time to get to the USA for Steven's bday June 3rd.

We will stay in a hotel near Ft. Stewart until June 14th looking for a house and a car. Then we will drive to Williamsburg to stay with Steve's parents for about a month while he is doing training in DC. So, I will be back on the computer mid July.

We are all so excited to go and it is nice watching the stuff leave our house. Everything that goes out is one less thing I have to worry about.

We have LOVED our experience here and will always think of it fondly.

VERY Angry

I am so mad!! The restaurant that I lost my camera at says they can't find it and that no one ever remembers telling me that it was there. OHHH I hate this! What's worse is I know it has to be there because since we are moving out, we are going through every little corner and box of our house. There is no way it is misplaced here. And... here we are with two weeks left of our life in Deutschland and I am having to use our ancient camera that takes 4 AA batteries and goes through them like crazy. It tells me I have an error constantly and now I just looked at the pictures and half of them are blurry. All of my remembrance pictures are going to be blurry. My neighbor says I should call the polezi and ask them what to do about the restaurant, but I am afraid it won't do any good. Especially since we leave in such a short time. I will get a new one when we get there to Georgia, but I refuse to pay the Euro price for it here, when it is half the price in the states.

Anyway, I am going to put up some blurry pictures and hopefully I don't get too frustrated with them. Steve and I saw that the boys needed haircuts the other day, and Steve asked if he should cut their hair as short as he cuts his. I didn't see a problem with that since we are going somewhere very hot and they have always worn their hair short anyway. He said, are you sure you want it that short, it is very short, and I said why not. It will grow back. I guess I didn't realize how short it was. All our friends and neighbors have been asking what happened to their hair. I am sure they think the boys have lice or something. Nope. They just want to look like Dad.


We wanted to get the old man look with just the top cut off. hahaDon't the eyes just add to the look? On Nathan's too. Jacob didn't need a haircut that day, so he is still looking quite normal.

I am also sharing one of our memorable German pictures with you. This is the fastest we can go in the van. We are on the Autobahn, which much to most peoples surprise just means freeway in Germany. It is not one special street where you can go as fast as you want. It is the word for all the freeways in the whole country. I thought it was one street when I first got here, and my sister Laura thought the same thing until she came a couple of weeks ago, so I wanted to make sure that everyone who knows me knows what an autobahn is. :)
This is about 118 mph. Our van handles it without a problem, and the people in the van don't even feel like they are going very fast. Boy are we going to miss the cars and the speed here.

Visit with Laura

OK you guys, so here is the story.
1. I never blog when I have company and even though Laura was only here for 6 days, and I haven't blogged in about a month, it is still an excuse.
2. The night Laura got here we went out to dinner, and I accidentally left my camera at the restaurant. So, I will be using Laura's pictures and I wanted to give her a chance to use them before I did. I mean after all, this was her vacation and her pictures. On a side note, I went in to the restaurant to get my camera back this week and they now have no idea where it is or if they even have it. I am going to be so mad if it got stolen or lost!!

We had such a FABULOUS time with Laura! Everything was so foreign to her, so she didn't have any expectations which always makes things more interesting and exciting. It was very fun for me to have her just to ourselves. I don't know why that seemed so special to me. Maybe because she lives close to Mom and Dad, so I feel like when we go to her house, it is never a special visit just to see her. I don't know, but it was wonderful.

The first day we took her out to eat at Auerbach Castle. The one that Steve and I always have our anniversary dinners at.

this picture is blurry, but cute.
this is the view from our window at the restaurant
The next day the boys and I showed her the Rhine River. This is one of my Favorite places in Germany and if you come at the right time, I think it is one of the most spectacular things you will ever see. Alicia, we did go to St. Goar and saw the cuckoo clock, and we rode on the train ride that we went on with Mom and Dad. And yes true to form, we got to the end of the line, and were lost on how to get back to the car. This is a favorite memory of mine that I have with Mom & Dad, Alicia & Scott, and now Laura. The first time I saw the Rhine I was with Jessica, but I am not remembering any trouble. I think we rode the boat back.

view from the boat
here we are waiting at the infamous train stop. :)
Then on Saturday my darling hubby took the boys for a Fathers and sons adventure, and Laura, Brandon and I went to Strasbourg France. Everything worked out so good for us that day. The weather was gorgeous. We had our trusty GPS so we found it without difficulty, we got to have uninterrupted wonderful conversation on our way up and back, we had quite an adventure in an over crowded tight fitting parking garage, and we got to spend the day doing whatever we wanted. We walked around and observed people, then ate at an outdoor cafe, which unfortunately didn't give Laura a good experience with French crepes although from my past experience, they are very good. Then we took a little boat tour and headed home. It was a fun city to see and a great day with my sister.

at the outdoor cafe where we crepes


Laura in the city center of Strasbourg
Sunday we took a break and just played a game of cities and knights before heading off to church. Then Steve grilled us steak for dinner and Laura had the most fattening meal she has had in a long time. I always warn people that Steve's secret ingredient is heavy cream and butter. :)

Monday we headed to Holland for us to have one last look at the tulips and for Laura to experience how beautiful they are. They did not disappoint this year (last year they were dead when we got there). It is amazing to see the garden at Kuekenhof in the spring. Then we went to Zaanse Schans which is a perfect little Holland tourist town with the windmills, the cheese shop, the wooden shoe making shop, etc. This is another place we have been to with Alicia & Scott, Fran & Lyle and now Laura. I have rich memories of touring Europe with the people that I love.

So, now Laura's big adventure and the Hughes' families last vacation in Europe is over. We will move out of our house in less than two weeks and plan on buying a home a car and lots of electronics that we can't bring with us from here. We also plan on seeing most of our family members from both sides. It is going to be so nice to live in the states again and be able to be close to family.