MERRY CHRISTMAS!!!

I am so sorry to do this!!!!! My favorite part of the Christmas season is writing AND receiving cards with updates on all my family and friends. But this year it is just too much. I have too much to do to get it done before Christmas and I know we'll be busy after Christmas with the move. (Oh, how I love this once a year moving life. JK) So, this is my family update that I would have put in a card. I still hope to get letters from all of you. Our address is an American address so it's just a simple stamp for mail.:) Email me if you need my address.
(I wrote this last night and this morning found out that John is leaving on Sunday! Yeah!!!!!!! Pray he gets here in time for Christmas. He's flying Space A and there's a lot of military going home. He's at the very back of the line.)

Love to you all I hope you have a wonderful holiday!

Family update:

In January we moved to Bamberg, Germany. It was quite a change from sunny Sierra Vista, Arizona!!! Short days and lots of cold. We are grateful our first German duty station was a self contained one. Meaning, everything is all in one area. Most of the others have housing in one area of the city, offices in another area and often the comissary and clinics in yet another area. We were lucky. And it's all within walking distance. (At least to the Germans it is, and those of us who love to walk). Germany is a BEAUTIFUL country! Most people live in apartments and walk or ride bikes. I have been amazed to see very old people out riding their bikes in cold. Driving is different here. Thankfully, we drive on the same side of the street as Americans. And yes, they do have speed limits, even on the autobann. And I have speeding tickets to show for that. :)

In February Jakob turned 3. I didn't know the "terrible two's" got worse when they turned 3 :). Jakob is a VERY head-strong, independant little boy and that makes for a lot of fights with mom. I am slowly learning that I really just need to sit back and let him figure things out on his own. He is so smart! He can spell his whole name, mom and dad and he can identify Zackary's and Iain's when written. He loves to type and play on the computer and has become quite good at it. He learned almost all the primary songs for the primary program but did not sing on the stand with either ward we were in (to his total disappointment). So, as most of you read, he stood on his seat and sang his little heart out. He played baseball in the Spring and went to preschool when we were in Utah. Oh how he LOVED that! I sure wish I could find something like that in Germany.

In March John left for a 15 month deployment. I'm grateful that they have since shortened the time allowed for a deployment, now I wish they would put a limit on the number of deployments one is allowed. I'm sure there are families who have experiences 4 more and my hats off to them. But this third one has made us stand back and see if this career is what we really want.

There are lessons to be learned in every trial we face and we are grateful for those lessons we've learned this deployment! As very hard as this deployment has been, I am truly grateful for it. Both John and I have grown and experienced things that we would not have otherwise.

In April, Zack turned 1yr old. He is my cuddly child. He is so sensitive and wants to be held ALL the time. I am now, finally, learning that maybe it's not ALL about wanting to cuddle with Mom as much as it is he wants to see everything from my point of view. He too learned a lot of primary songs. Of course, you can't understand what he's singing when he does, except for the ABC song. He learned to walk this year, ride a scooter and jump on the trampoline He hates long sleeve shirts, hats and bed times and shopping. He loves to laugh and make others laugh and he thinks everything is funny. I sure love his smile. He recently learned to say, "I love you" and he laughs every time he does. He too is very independent and quite head strong. Such a cutie he is!

During the summer months we enjoyed the outdoors. We went to Legoland and for lots of walks through the trails of Bavaria. That is a very common thing to walk the trails around here. We have not been out traveling much. It is very difficult with two little ones on my own. Zack is not a happy traveler. We did get to the WWII sites in Nuremberg. Very touching! Hopefully, we will do a lot more when John returns.

In September we headed to Utah to live until John's deployment was over. We bought a house and enjoyed our back yard and having an American washer and dryer inside the same house. However, our time in Utah was shortened by 6 months and we are back in Germany.

John was offered a company command job in Wiesbaden and given authorization to leave Iraq early in order to fill that job.

We are back to short, dark and cold days but this time I am loving it! We are finally feeling the Christmas spirit and taking the time to reflect on how grateful we are for our abundant blessings!!!