Happy Spring!

I have concluded it is spring. Our grass is green, the birds are chirping, we had a thunderstorm with lightening last week, and I raked in front of our house today. Winter appears to be a bust in Germany. We have not seen snow since we moved here at the end of March. Our full salt bucked is still sitting by the door. I even ran the car through the car wash today is was so beautiful out. This has to be the weirdest 10 months of weather ever for Germany. However, I think everyone seems to be loving it as this morning the neighbor kids were on the street playing like it is summer. We live on a kid friendly street so this is normal that they play in the street. It's allowed!

We started putting together a puzzle, but can't even complete it because it isn't puzzle weather. I was hoping for real snow this year as we haven't seen much living in India the past few winters. We even bought snow boots in the US that are good for -50 weather, but we only needed them on the plane ride to keep our feet warm in the exit row. Snow, snow, snow where are you?

Merry Christmas & Happy New Year to All!

A very Merry Christmas and Happy New Year to all! One of my New Year resolutions is to improve my blogging. I have fallen behind and apologize, but hope to improve. I think that after India things just don't seem so important or interesting to blog anymore.

A short recap of our last month. December 16th we flew out of Frankfurt to the US for 2.5 weeks of fun in America. We enjoyed shopping in Minneapolis, taking in a Vikings game, visiting friends Jess & Nick, and then arrived on the farm Dec. 20th. We enjoyed catching up with family members and seeing how much the kids had grown. The weather was absolutely beautiful and allowed for more outdoor time than normal. We attended Christmas Eve services with the family, ate oyster stew, drank Tom & Jerry's, and played cards. We celebrated my mom's birthday on the 29th and then headed to visit my aunt and uncle near Chamberlain. By the end of our trip we were ready to get back to our own bed and schedule. We visited friends and family in Sioux Falls and then welcomed in the new year with friends Justin, Leah, and Westin on their farm near Brookings.

January 2nd we both breathed a huge sigh of relief as our 4 giant suitcases all near or over 50 pounds were checked in. The funny thing is that our two carry ons also weighed in over 30 pounds. We definitely got our money's worth out of the flight just in our 250+ pounds of luggage.

January 3rd we landed in Frankfurt and were greeted by Ben's parents. We then enjoyed lunch with one set of grandparents and had coffee/cake with the other set. The evening ended with dinner by Ben's God daughter Amy and her family. By the time we crawled into bed it had been 30+ hours since we had last slept.

January 4th we drove from Ben's parents house to our house in around 4 hours.

Since returning home we have been catching up on laundry and unpacking. Our Christmas cards arrived after we left for the US so I am now working to get those in the mail. Ben is studying hard for his next rubber test on Monday. He will be in Hannover from Monday-Thursday as he does this every month for one year to get his specialization in rubber. I am getting ready for a very busy time at work.

All the news from Team Stabe!