It's the little things

We have a playlist we use every road trip. It's called "road trip." I should call it "enjoy these moments" or "every second counts" or something like that. I love it when the four of us are in the car together. We hop in, crank up the stereo, and start singing as soon as we hit the interstate. Or Autobahn, as the case was in the picture above. 

Our playlist includes a couple songs from the Narnia soundtrack and at least one song from Lord of the Rings. It includes some country songs with "Carolina" as the theme (Mayberry, Carolina, Wagon Wheel, etc), a sentimental favorite called "Somewhere Only We Know", and the staple of all road trip songs, Journey's "Don't Stop Believing." That one gets the stereo up a little louder and we all belt it out at the tops of our lungs. 

I have been known to tear up a time or two on some of the songs. Because I know how precious those times together are and how infrequent they have become...

There's another country song that goes:

You're gonna miss this

You're gonna want this back

You're gonna wish these days

Hadn't gone by so fast

These are the good times

So take a good look around

You may not know it now

But you're gonna miss this

I miss when they were little and cuddled up on the couch with me. I miss cheering them on in their sports from the sidelines. I miss all six of us gathered around the table playing Settlers. I miss seeing them bent over their schoolbooks at the table. And one day I'll miss road trips with these three...

What it feels like...

We're home. I brought back with me two shirts with baby spit up stains on them, a phone camera roll completely full of baby pictures, and a brain completely full of memories.

Someone asked me what it feels like to be a grandma. Lots of people have asked me what it feels like to be so far away from my first grandchild.

I'm not sure of the answer to the first question. I'm a grandma? I love that little person as much as I loved my own children the first time I saw them. Yet he's not my own. I won't be the one making parenting decisions for him; I won't be the one handling the day to day difficulties of discipline; I won't be the one staying up at night wondering if I'm doing everything right for him. I just get to love him and pray for him.

The second question is easier for me to answer: it's HARD. I am not selfish enough to believe that I have it worse than anyone else who doesn't live by their grandchildren. My own children's grandparents were far away from their grandchildren for their entire lives. The past few weeks (he's almost a month old already!) have given me such an appreciation for what they experienced.

My extended family was close growing up. Holidays were spent with most of the cousins lined up in sleeping bags on the living room floor of my grandma's house. My grandma tucked us all in and put crocheted afghans across the bottom of our sleeping bags "just in case" we got cold, in the tiny house that was heated by dozens of people and a wood stove to about 100 degrees.
I didn't even consider it at the time, but looking back I can see how much my grandma loved having us all there. It was work for her. She made big dinners (usually a full Thanksgiving meal, no matter the occasion) and found places for everyone to sleep and indulged our wishes for sack lunches to take on horseback rides and homemade Barbie clothes on rainy days. When she finally sat down there was usually someone right there with her. She loved it.

We moved away from my parents when the first baby was 5 months old. Except for one year, we have not lived closer than a 9-hour drive from any grandparents since then. Oh, we've gone back to visit many times and my children have wonderful memories of visiting all of their grandparents, but it wasn't the same as what I had. And for my mom, it certainly wasn't the experience she had when we were growing up close to her parents. I know some of that heartache now.

Now we have a grandchild. And we live 4000 miles away from him. How my heart longs to tuck him in at night and make him toys and games and read books to him and watch the delight on his face as he discovers his new world. I am wondering what role we will play in his life and wondering just how to stay a part of his life even while we are far away...

Space-a is ok!

After a failed attempt to get a space-a flight for Alyson, and having to purchase a commercial ticket for her, we were a little wary of getting the four of us out. We were two categories higher (since we were traveling with the Soldier) but there were few flights to where we wanted to go and still a lot of vacationers trying to get home. 

We got the leave paperwork signed, got ourselves on the list, and war gamed the flights with our best chances. It's nerve-wracking to sit in a crowded terminal hearing names called off, hoping yours is one.  

But ours was!

After arriving at 8:30 pm for a 1am flight, we were on! (By the way, the USO at Ramstein is awesome! It made passing the time much nicer...)

We had an up eventful overnight trip to Baltimore and after clearing customs and waiting an hour for our luggage, then renting a car, we were on the road! Very tired, but on the road.

We had one important stop before we got too far. 

Oh, was it worth the wait!

We got to Greensboro, checked into the hotel early, and then had to wait a little while for his daddy to get off work before we could go see our baby....

It was worth the wait, too. ❤️

And that is pretty much what we've been doing all week. Space-a came through and got us to our baby boy. 

Happy New Year! and other random things

 This little guy celebrated New Year's Eve at home with his mommy and daddy. I heard it was a pretty wild night....

"Eh, I was just getting used to 2014....."

We celebrated the New Year with some good friends--games and lots of food, and when the time came, many, many awesome and incredibly dangerous fireworks, as is the tradition in Germany. There is no need to go watch "official" fireworks anywhere, every neighborhood sets off its own arsenal of fireworks that could rival any display you'd see in the US.

the crew before the big show

the neighborhood lighting it up

There were some other things over this wonderful Christmas break that I didn't add yet.

We had our annual cookie frosting extravaganza

We had some good friends over for a scaled-back version of Thanksgiving. We got to practice a little German but mostly they got to practice their English. :) If I could add a video, I'd show you Alyson and adorable little Lina speaking German to each other. So precious.

We had a shopping trip to Saarbrucken. The Middles had been waiting to get some their old favorites from the Marktplatz. Yum!

We visited Mainz-the beautiful cathedral, the Gutenberg museum, and a French cafe with eclairs and macaroons...

had fun playing with Christmas presents

Went to get Spaghetti Eis!

did a lot of resting up for the semester ahead

and got exhausted playing at Yabadoo.

And then it was the end. Alyson has gone home and the rest of us are (patiently) waiting for a space-available flight out soon. This time with them home refilled my heart enough to make it through til the next time. Our new baby completed our Christmas and as we head into the new year with its highs and lows and a bit of uncertainty, I am so inspired to BE. To abide. To be settled. And trust Him that everything we do has a purpose and fits into His plan. And to make knowing Him my primary focus.

The passage I have chosen to focus my heart on this year is John 15:4.
Abide in Me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit of itself, unless it abides in the vine, neither can you, unless you abide in Me. 

Happy New Year.

Die Zweite Weihnachten

The second day of Christmas is actually a real holiday here. We celebrated by heading down to Bavaria for three days!

If you remember our trip last month, that is the castle and hanging bridge we visited in Austria! Quite a different view in the snow...

Our main goal was to hit the slopes and since God allowed it to snow for two straight days, we were going to get to do just that!

Getting fitted for his first-ever ski boots

all set to go!

Joshua took a five-hour long lesson while the rest of us headed right out. He picked it up quickly and when his lesson was over, kept skiing with us!

We're old, but hanging in there!

Warming up and filling up in the lodge...

One of  my favorite pictures

After skiing we headed to the Schwimmbad in Oberammergau for some R&R.

the awesome German waterslides lived up to the stories the big kids had told him!

Best thing about Christmas break-new books to read in your down time

That is Nick-after he was released from custody for not having his military ID, driver's license, or passport on him while we travelled through two countries!!! :-O

Before we left we visited Partnach-Klamm again. So beautiful. These pictures were all taken by @nickgercken. If you have instagram, he's worth following. :)