Just cause I can

Not the best pic but he was rushing out the door and I love my man in uniform!!

Goodbye 2008

This is a hotel across downtown from our house and this is what we see everynight. It is gorgeous. It also makes me reflect a little on this past year.
To say that this year had ups and downs does not even cover it.
~Hai and I rang in the New Year without Lee (in Afghanistan) or my sister (in Kosovo).
~Lee came home in February. It was the most amazing feeling ever!!
~Sold the Mazda Tribute. Our first family car we bought when we were 8 mon preggo with Hailee. It has seen us through alot. It sounds silly to be sentimental over a car. But it literally took us through alot of changes as a fam. Bullet chewed the seatbelts as a puppy and was also the cause of why the rear windshield wiper never worked. It drove us home from the hospital with Hai. It drove us across country when we went to flight school. It was literally the first big purchase we made as a married couple. Wow- this paragraph is longer than the one about Lee coming back from war!! (BTW- we bought a gorgeous Accord)
~Took Hai for a week to Disney World in Fl. Had a blast!!
~Sold out beloved Jeep Wrangler! It was both our dream cars! But as gas prices steadily climbed to $4, it was time to face the news that a lifted Wrangler with big tires was not the most practical car. Bought my perfect little Civic with my built in Pioneer DVD player/Nav system. Awwwweee....
~In a matter of 2 weeks in June/July- we got orders to Germany. Got our house on the market. Brenna had surgery. Lee left for 6 weeks school in Alabama. Got our entire house into storage. Sold the house. Had my parents for a visit. Shannon came home from Kosovo and we got to have her with us for awhile!!
~August was tough. As much as I was ready to leave Fayetteville, it was tough leaving our first home as a family. Fayetteville is where Lee and I met. Where we got married. Where we bought our first home (the second time there). In August we lost Bulley. He had been struggling for awhile and we could not take him to Germany with us. So in the end it was a blessing in disquise. He was Lee and I's first baby! We got him when he was like 12 weeks old. He was the absolute BEST dog ever. I miss my fat head!! Anyways- the rest of August brought me signing at the closing of our house (Lee was still in Alabama). He did return the last week of August though. Just in time to have the movers pick up our stuff from storage to ship to Germany and to take our car to Charleston to ship it over. We lived with our dear Ry and Crystal for a week. Then Hai and I had to move to Pat and Eds (my in laws) so Hai could start Kindergarten.
~Sept saw us all living at P and E's. Lee left the 3 of Sept for Germany. Hai and I stayed and loved being able to spend so much time with Gigi and Papa before we flew across the world. Hai and I also were able to fly home to Cali for a week to see my parents and friends before we left. We also did the Gondola ride up at Heavenly so that my sis and mom could do the zipline at the top of the hill.
~Oct saw Hai, Bane (our dog) and I heading to Germany. We left the 1 of Oct, arriving in Nurenberg on the 2nd. I fell in love with our house. It made it even sweeter when Kim and all the kiddos arrived two days later! We saw castles, walled cities and ate German food. Two weeks later we were able to spend 24 hrs with my inlaws and Lees fabulous aunt & uncle. They had planned a trip months ago through Austria, Poland, Switzerland and Germany (before we knew we were moving there!) So they altered their trip a tiny bit to be able to stay 24 hrs with us which was awesome!!
~November brought lots of adventure. There was a ton of snow this month!! We took a trip at the end of the month to Euro Disney in Paris for Hais birthday. She had no clue! Literally no idea until we arrived! It is only 6 hrs away. We also found out that there is a Chili's in Ramstein Air Force Base (2 1/2 hr away). I thought I had died and gone to heaven! We also spent an AMAZING day touring downtown Paris. We saw the Louvre. Went up the River Seine on a boat. Went up the Eiffle Tower. We also found out that Kim and Jay were not only moving onto Bleidorn Housing (where we live) but in our building!! WOOHOO! Hai started girl scouts and is having a blast as a Daisey Scout!
~December has gone quick. Brenna finished her 5 UNCP classes for the semester (all A's!!). Lots more snow this month!!! Hai started cheerleading and is absolutely adorable! We have not had a single day in like 3-4 weeks that there is not at least remnants of snow on the ground!! But it has pretty much snowed for like 3 weeks straight! We got our household goods delivered. Made such a difference seeing our couches/kitchen stuff/table etc. Kim and Jay moved in finally next door and they are currently trying to sort out their household goods. Keep them in your prayers- lol. We just found out that Lee is going to school (again) in Alabama in March. We are a week from Christmas and 2 weeks from the new year.


**So at the end of the year, all I can say is whew! Was a good year but glad it is over! Ready to see what next year has for us. February will bring us Hailees godparents. They are not only moving here also but coming to Lees company! Which means that Crystal and I will once again deal with a deployment together!! Looking forward to some visits from both sets of parents in the summer, my bestie in spring. This year will also bring us a trip to Austria and Italy for sure. Hoping to make it to Ireland before Lee is scheduled to deploy again this next November/December timeframe. Hais will finish Kindergarten and be a big first grader. We will continure to keep you updated!!

Hais Cheer

Here is a video of her cheering yesterday. Pretty stinkin cute!

GO Ansbach!

So, Hailee has officially fallen in love with cheerleading. To be truthful, I think she may be in love with the pom poms, outfit. I also think it is due to being told she is for once, supposed to be loud and sort of obnoxious! Ha ha. Her and Lillianna had a blast!

Making Houses

I went to Hais school today and helped them do Gingerbread houses. It was a lot of fun. There were 11 parents there in all. That is one thing I can say about what I love here. There is a lot of parent involvement. There was SO much candy it was a childs (and my) dream! There was more than enough of everything. Plus the fact that there were 11 parents there to help is amazing. Plus it was cool that there were 2 dads. Lee wanted to go to but he had to be at work for a change of command ceremony practice.

Here is Hais finishd product. It was a lot of fun and I am pretty sure that there was more candy consumed than probably placed on the houses!

Here is Hailee and Tia. Tia is at our busstop and Hais little friend. The best part of this whole thing was that after they were done, they put on their snow stuff and went out on the playground and played in the snow to burn off some energy.

Walking in a Winter Wonderland

So, I helped today at Hai's school. Her class was making gingerbread houses. Imagine 21 kindergartners, icing, graham crackers and loads of candy! It went really well and I will be doing a post on that in a minute. Afterwards, I walked home. It is roughly a mile from the house to the school. It is cold out but not too bad. But it is gorgeous!! The snow is so thick. The picture above is of the pond on the way home that is frozen over.

The nice thing about Germany though, they clear the roads really quick! They also have little plows that clear the walking trails. You can go on about life even when it snows for 2 days straight.

A quick update

So I know I posted two other posts and they were sort of long. Yet there are a few other big things happening. Kim and Jay got their house. They move in on the 12th of December. The best part, they are in our building! Our building has 2 stairwells. We are in B6 (building B apartment 6- top floor on the left stairwell) and they are in B12 (building B apartment 12- top floor on the right stairwell!). This is exciting cause all I will have to do is walk outside, walk about 100 feet and into their stairwell!! WOOHOO!
Today all our Army loan furniture is getting picked up. So while we will not have a table, couches, bed etc for 24 hours, that is alright. Cause tomorrow--- our household goods arrive!! Our own beds, couches, tables, clothes, dishes etc. YEAH!! It will finally feel like a home. It is feeling better cause we did do some painting. Hais room is a light purple and the main room (dining, living, hall) is a light beige. Painting just makes it feel so much more like home and not just white walls everywhere.
While I am excited to have our stuff here it will be really overwhelming for awhile. We only have 923 sq feet. What is coming is all our furniture and 70 boxes! All here in this little apartment! haha.
This is also my last week of school for the semester. I will be done on the 8th of December (my mommas birthday!!). Then I will have a month off, yeah!!

Euro Disney and Paris

What a perfect way to start this blog! This is classic Lee! He is such a ham!!







Here is Hai. I love this smile! These colored panels were on the side of the autobahn going into France. There were also rainbow colored triangles, blocks and towers.
Below is Hailee at the Rainforest Cafe. And Lee & Hailee in Alice in Wonderlands Castle













I love this pic of Hai in the Alice in Wonderland Maze. And here is a pic of Hailee and Lee in the teacups.



















We got to go up to the 2nd floor of the castle. The stain glass windows were amazing! It was neat to see the storybooks completely in French!



















Hailee and Lee were shooting up the Buzz Lightyear ride. In fact we rode it 4 times in a row! I love how they are mirror images of one another!





















The entrance to Disney Village is above. This is at 8:30 in the morning!


My mom wanted me to have coffee at some cafe in Paris. What better place than 500 feet up in the Eiffel Tower??






This is when we are standing below the Eiffel Tower.


















When we were leaving, they lit the Tower. It was GORGEOUS! A light blue/purple with twinkling stars.











Our family pic on the Eiffel Tower.

















Looking down from the first level of the Eiffel Tower. I am wondering if this is the lake that the dog jumped into in the National Lampoons European Vacation movie?? Lol













Looking down at the lines. This is from about 500 feet up.












One of the castles along the River Seine.
















The Mayor of France lives here.

Notre-Dame! It is absolutely beautiful!!

A family picture on our boat tour along the River Seine. It was a gorgeous way to see the heart of France.

Lee in front of the Louvre.

Hailee had a blast chasing the birds near the Louvre.

This is one of the most beautiful buildings we saw.

The Arch de Triumph. Look at the traffic. It was insane and I was glad I was not driving! It was literally a mess of cars going every which way.

The eye of Paris. This round about is so pretty!

We ate at the Ratatouille Rest. Where Hai saw Remy!!

Hailee with Santa Goofy~~

Dad and Hai waiting in line.

She had a blast on the Dumbo ride. Really the first time she rode one by herself

Looking down Main Street. The castle looked beautiful and all the Xmas decorations were amazing.

A great family pic in front of the entrance to Euro Disney.

Hailee discovering where we are! In Disney!!