Birthday Celebration

 

Since Colin's birthday was actually on Friday, we let him open up one of his gifts Friday evening.

 

He grew out of his boots a few months ago, and if you know Colin, you know that those boots are a daily wardrobe item.  He was excited to get a new pair and he wore them around the house the rest of the night!!

 



We aren't big Birthday-Party-Throwers. Or at least I'm not. Up until this year we normally just have a small family gathering.  On Saturday we invited a few friends over to celebrate Colin's birthday with us. 

 

 

Apparently, the gift of a Pez dispenser was amazing enough to get a dropped jaw!  (Making note of that one for the future!)

 



 

Me and cakes don't get along so well.  At least the decorating part.  I had a plan to decorate his cake like Captain America's shield.  Like this....

 

(pic source)

 

 

I have the tools.  It seemed doable and simple enough.  1.  I don't think I allowed myself enough time overall.  (Never seem too.)  2.  I normally remain pretty confident in my idea to decorate the cake right up until the time that I'm decorating the cake and then all my confidence flies out the window and I'm left standing there saying, "Uuuhhhhhh...."  3.  I always forget until last minute, and when I say last minute, I mean as I'm stirring the coloring into the icing, that over the counter food coloring red and blue DOES NOT make red and blue.  It makes pink and baby blue.  I started to decorate the cake like a shield, but I just couldn't bring myself to make Captain America's shield pink and baby blue, nor present that to my kid for his birthday.  The outer ring of pink got gently scraped off and I ended up covering the whole thing in a light blue icing and plopping a toy on top.  :)  He definitely didn't mind, nor could care less...it's my own self ambition that needs satisfaction!  I just pray that 10 years from now I can say my cake decorating skills have advanced.  Once we get back to the states I'm taking that Wilton Cake Decorating Class at Hobby Lobby!!!

 

Anyways...

Miss. Emma was all about hanging out with Tim.

Blaine with my friend, Marque...



 

We are grateful for great friends who love Colin and made the time to celebrate with us!!!



Homemade Donuts!

 

We had our first attempt at some homemade donuts a few weekends ago.  They weren't anything like Top Donuts (in TX); which we miss our monthly Saturday morning trip too....but they're still donuts!  And donuts are GOOD!

 

 

 

We even had a few friends come over and join us!

Tim skipped on the donuts and enjoyed some fried Oreos for breakfast instead!  (If you haven't ever had a fried Oreo you need to put that on your To Do list ASAP!!!)

 



Tim did 99% of the work that morning, plus cleaned up the kitchen while Marque and I chatted it up in the other room and when we came out of the room we found this....

 



 

{Love.} 

August {In Pictures}

Blaine didn't wear a lot of clothes during the summer unless he had to....

 

 

Blaine's new bike!!!  (Retails from anywhere from $50-$200 and I got it for $15 at a yard sale!!  Whoot, whoot!!!)

Smooshy face...

 



Kissing the smooshy face...

 



 

Ryan's first soccer practice!  (Tim decided to try and give a thumbs up and wink or something at the last second.)

Sean, Colin, and Miss Kelsie hanging out at practice!

 



 

 

Visible Pain

We live on a small post.  I'm not good with numbers...but it's small.  This past week a majority of the 173rd deployed.  It is a very visible pain.

The Lord saw fit to keep Timothy behind and we couldn't be more grateful for that blessing!  We just surpassed his one year mark returning home from his last deployment and if you haven't heard already, we are expecting baby #4!

It has been really hard to watch everyone go.  It has been even harder to watch the families left behind struggle through the first few days.  My heart hurts for them.  Tears have been shed for them.  It seems everywhere you turn there is someone else who's husband just left. 

In our three deployments I don't think we have ever felt the weight of a deployment like we do now.  For the first, we were only dating/engaged and I was no where near his post.  The second..I was in OK, he deployed out of TX.  At that time, I only knew one other woman who's husband deployed.  Our deployments overlapped for a bit, so we spent a lot of time together for a while.  :)  The most recent, back in Texas it was more of a reality.  There were many other ladies of the church that we went to who's husbands were military and they had either just come off a deployment or were going into a deployment within the next year. 

This past week not everyone was deployed, but out of the friends we have made so far, and the soldiers that have been coming over on the weekends...they have all gone.  All but one...and he leaves within the next two weeks. :( 

Again, I'm not great with numbers, but with the Unit that just left, and another Unit that is already gone, and one more about to leave, I would say it's safe to say that a majority of the post that is left are wives and children.

Even the chapel was more barren than normal this past Sunday and there seemed to be an unspoken weight that surrounded the morning.

In PWOC we have been going thru the Basic Series by Francis Chan.  This past week was the video on Fellowship and what God intended it to be; demonstrated in the early church.  There was a topic interwoven through the morning though that was obviously only orchestrated by God Himself.  Lonliness.  In a post this small, so far away from everything that is "familiar", a lot of women tend to pull into themselves and struggle with isolation and lonliness.  Add on top of that a deployment. 

For me, this truth seemed to cry out this past week.  The pain that is so real to this post became much more evident.

The pain is visible in the faces of the wives left behind. The wound is deep. In the last five days alone three new faces/names of women have been laid heavy on my heart as the Lord has revealed them to me. They are hurting. They are struggling.  They are crying out psalms of desperation.  Some are Christians.  Some of them are not.

Again I looked and saw all the oppression that was taking place under the sun:

I saw the tears of the oppressed—
and they have no comforter;
power was on the side of their oppressors—
and they have no comforter.  -Ecclesiastes 4:1

My heart wishes to take their pain away.  How can I possibly be a friend to all of them?!  How can I possibly serve all of them?!  But as another friend said recently in her blog, "I am not their Savior."  He is.  Such a great reminder that nothing I do for these women is as great as what He can give them.  Generally speaking, I can provide dinner, a playdate, and a listening ear.  He can provide a peace that surpasses all understanding (Phil 4:7).  He IS the great comfortor.  He is the great sustainer!

The Son (Jesus) is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn over all creation. For in him all things were created: things in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or powers or rulers or authorities; all things have been created through him and for him.  He is before all things, and in him all things hold together. (OUR SUSTAINER!)  And he is the head of the body, the church; he is the beginning and the firstborn from among the dead, so that in everything he might have the supremacy. For God was pleased to have all his fullness dwell in him,  and through him to reconcile to himself all things, whether things on earth or things in heaven, by making peace through his blood, shed on the cross. -Colossians 1:15-20

There is nothing greater than to be securely held in the arms of our Creator!

I just pray that we would be able to create a fellowship with everyone the Lord leads our way; leaving them more deeply aware of the Savior that He is.

For this reason I kneel before the Father, from whom every family in heaven and on earth derives its name. I pray that out of his glorious riches he may strengthen you with power through his Spirit in your inner being,  so that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith. And I pray that you, being rooted and established in love,  may have power, together with all the Lord’s holy people, to grasp how wide and long and high and deep is the love of Christ, and to know this love that surpasses knowledge —that you may be filled to the measure of all the fullness of God.

Now to him who is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine, according to his power that is at work within us, to him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations, for ever and ever! Amen. -Ephesians 3:14-21

 Even though my husband is here, I believe my heart will continue aching and I will be praying just as ferevently as the rest for the next 9 months to pass quickly!

The Strawberry Fields

This past Saturday we hooked up with some friends and we headed out to the Strawberry Fields!  There are a few different options around here, but this particular one is no more than 10 minutes away!  So much tastier and cheaper than the store bought ones too!!!! 

Photoshoot {Brian & Marque}

I got to do my first photo shoot in Germany!!!  Meet Brian, Marque, Liam, and Kelsie...

Crazy enough, I met Marque on the on-post bus a few weeks after we moved here in January.  Generally speaking, we seemed to keep the same schedules and we kept running into each other.  One thing led to another..(haha), we set up a play date, and wa-la....great friends!  I know the Lord had this friendship pre-appointed for me/us!

Liam is one year older than Ryan and they both love Legos.  Ms. Kelsie, as we call her, is also 3 and loves dressing up like a princess!  Her and Colin have become great friends and there aren't too many mornings that Colin doesn't ask if we can go to Ms. Kelsie's house.  (It's real convenient too since she lives right next to the Elementary School.)  Brian is in the same Unit as Tim, just a different company, and is currently scheduled to deploy sometime this month.

I tried choosing a few of my favorites.  It's always hard to narrow it down!



My heart aches as I know the pain and struggles they will face during the upcoming separation, but I'm so glad that I was able to do these photos for them!! I know they would appreciate your prayers!

The Basics

Quick version on what has happened and what we’ve learned so far: 

1.  Tim passed his driver’s test (Yeah!!)
2. The German’s tax is 19%.
3. They don’t sell DP on the German Economy.  We've been told that we could buy a case of DP for $4.00 walk off post, stand on the corner, and probably sell it for double. (Although I’m sure that’s not kosher.)
4. Although a lot of people walk around post, few make eye contact and say hello.  I did a little experiment one day and out of the 10 people I passed and tried making eye contact with to say hello, only two did the same.  It was mainly the younger soldiers who avoided any type of greeting/eye contact. 
5. No right turns on red.
6. Useless piece of info….the rugs in the children’s part of the library cost around $500 a piece!  We were scolded and offered this piece of information when we entered for the first time with our shoes on.  There was apparently one sign, among the fifteen, hung on the door asking you to remove your shoes.  We won’t miss that one again! 
7.  Do not trust the hours written in the phone book of any office on post.  I went to Self Help three days in a row, at different times, based upon what the phone book said only to find he was closed every time I went.
8. We received our unaccompanied goods on January 31^st!  Having real sheets/blankets on the bed make them look 10x more comfortable than they really are. 
9. Ryan started Kindergarten at the school on post on February 1^st.  It’s a few blocks away; about a 10/15 minute walk…depending on how far behind Colin chooses to lag.
10. Ordering pizza in Germany, but at an Italian restaurant, turns out nothing like you thought it would.  This is very disappointing when you thought that it was going to be the redeemer to a pretty failed attempt at a day.  
11. There are about five different bus drivers.  They all drive different.  There’s one that’s really hard on the brakes.  A few will just roll by a stop if no one is waiting, so make sure you press the button if you want to get off!  One likes to whistle, and he’s also more gentlemen-ly than the rest.  I like him.  He always helps the moms off and on the bus with their strollers that are loaded with kids/groceries and he occasionally stops to pick up a random walker in between the bus stops.
12. I passed my drivers’ test!  (YEAH!!)
13. Most stores (including on post) open up around 10 or 11 AM and close at 6 PM.  A majority of stores are closed on Sundays.
14. Our van arrived on/arround February 15th.
15. The remainder of our household goods surprised us by being here early, and they were delivered on February 24^th.  We could have gone longer without many of our other items, but it is SO, SO, SO, SO, SO, SO, SO, SO amazingly wonderful to have our bed!  It makes you want to cry when you get in it, it feels that good. 
16. Although I'm far from fluent in Spanish...there have been a few times that Spanish has naturally flowed out of my mouth instead of German. Oh...and on that note....Ryan takes Spanish twice a week in school.  Does anyone else find that odd?
17. Tim for the field on March 2^nd and is there till the last week in March.  (Sadly, he is not getting to enjoy our bed for the next few weeks.)
18. Recent discovery:  Most of the stores downtown have escalators in them.  You can take your strollers on most of them, but a friend and I did find one in particular this past weekend that does NOT.  As my friend moved her stroller forward the entire thing shut down.  The gentlemen behind us and the fifteen people behind him all starred at us as the gentlemen pointed to the sign on the side of the escalator that apparently said no strollers.  Oooops.  We successfully found an elevator and took it to the next floor up.  As we walked around the corner we felt horrible, but were still laughing, seeing an 80 year old woman walking off the top of the broken escalator.

Photo Shoot: {Matt & Sarah}

Before we left Texas I was able to get one more photo shoot in for some dear friends.  This was the third time I've taken pictures for them, but I think the first time I've posted on it. 

Matt, Sarah, Connor, Cameron, and Avery (the dog).

We met Matt & Sarah right after we moved to Texas.  They were currently the leaders of our Connection Group at church and Matt was also the Minister of Discipleship.  Within a few weeks of joining the church and visiting the Connection Group (aka Sunday School) they had us and another family (also our good friends now) over for supper.  I remember telling Tim that night when we left that I already knew I was going to have a really hard time leaving Texas.  

Needless to say our friendship started that night and continued to grow.  I hate that we had to leave them behind, but I know that God has allowed us a friendship that will last a lifetime.  Among many things Sarah became my birthing coach and my fashion consultant/personal shopper (I gave her money on a few occasions and she bought clothes for me!), Colin's Sunday School teacher, and a great encouragement!  One of the best things though is that she loves the Lord and seeks his face regularly.  And right behind that she loves people deeply.

Matt was not only a good friend to Tim, but to me and the boys!  He watched the boys on multiple occasions so I could join in on the Girls Night Out while Tim was deployed.  His leadership in our class also brought many great conversations and great studies.

And then there's Connor and Cameron.  Sarah was pregnant with Cam when we first met and I was able to do some of his newborn photos.  Now he's walking and talking and he is such a cute little boy.  Connor has been one of Ryan's greatest fan's and Colin's best friends!  You can go here to Sarah's blog to see her post on their sweet friendship.  Connor has one of the sweetest hearts of a 3 year old I know and Tim says Connor gives the best hugs.

We were even blessed with some great clouds that evening which made for a perfect backdrop!

I think this has definitely got to be up there with one of my favorite shoots so far.  I love how they turned out. I had so many favorites it was hard to choose just a few to share.  Sarah did a lot of the "prep" work for the shoot.  She knew what she wanted and she brought her own props.  That made it SO much easier and that much more interesting.  She would also pin things on Pinterest and I would get to see what she liked and the style she was going for.  And since we lived the next town over she even went out driving and found a great location!! 

I can't explain how much I cherish your friendship Matt & Sarah!!!!  Thank you for being such a great example of how to love God and love others!