Mothers Day 2011

Joslyn and Allison made such sweet, sweet, cards for me. Allison wrote and illustrated a book for me! Joslyn went shopping with her bff and bought a beautiful gift for me. Joslyn also made some cute decorations! I will forever treasure these gifts the girls made for me. They put sooo much LOVE into everything they make for me. I can feel the love that they put into their artwork!! I tear up every time I read the notes and poems the girls give me! I love, LOVE my girls so much!

Philip surprised me with beautiful flowers and a gorgeous necklace with diamonds! I had a relaxing day. Towards the evening I sat outside in the back and had a drink with my neighbor!

Joslyn Accepted into NJHS!

A few weeks ago Joslyn filled out an application for National Junior Honor Society at her school. Today she came home with the acceptance letter!!! I am so proud and so happy for her!! However Joslyn is not as thrilled as I am. She is not looking forward to all the responsibilities that come along with being a member- 100% participation in NJHS activities, meetings and projects. Joslyn is not sure about all that NJHS members do, but she keeps reiterating, "They do A LOT of stuff and have lots of meetings after school". I am trying to encourage Joslyn that this will look VERY good on her school records, this is a HIGH achievement and NJHS members are the "cream of the crop" at each school!
Joslyn's induction ceremony will be held on May 16th! I'm am just bursting with pride and JOY!!!

I just found this picture in my camera I guess Philip is trying to tell me something. Maybe slow down on buying shoes for Moriah?!

Spring Break, Easter and Berlin Vacation!

Joslyn had so much fun at Adventure Camp!She was sad that she had to come back home. I remember having that same feeling when I was younger after a week at Camp Lone Star in Texas. So one of the many activities Joslyn participated in was mountain bike riding. Somewhere while on the bike trail she dropped her camera...it's gone :( I was told that some of the leaders were working on making a CD with pictures of the kids and activities. I hope I am able to get one and I can share pictures with you all.
Joslyn came home on Wednesday evening and we all left for Berlin Thursday afternoon. We had so much fun in Berlin and saw so much!! I am still loading pictures onto our flickr website. We saw a lot of the Berlin wall, Check Point Charlie, the Holocaust Memorial, The USA Embassy, the Brandenburger Gate, the Sony Center, Stood in front of the Plenary Hall (the German Parliament bldg), Humboldt University (where Albert Einstein went to school), St Hedwigs Kathedrale, had dinner at the top of the rotating Television Tower (Philip made VIP reservations for us and we were able to go straight to the front of the long line! Thank goodness!), and soo much more!! Philip did a awesome job planning the entire trip! The girls were not thrilled at all by the hotel we stayed in. Philip's response to the girl's was, "I have just spoiled y'all with nice hotels". I was so happy with our trip to Berlin!!! Many memories!

We got home from Berlin at about midnight. I was still able to get up at 6:30 Sunday morning and make it to the Sunrise service at the chapel! After the sunrise service I came home and dropped Joslyn off. I went back to the chapel and stayed for the 9:30 service as well. After church we went to have Easter brunch at the Conn Club. The Garrison Easter egg hunt was right behind the Conn Club so we took the girls with their baskets to hunt eggs! We came home and I took a long nap!!

One of our friends invited us over to a Easter Monday BBQ. We had hamburgers and hot dogs with lots of side dishes! It was nice!

I sent Philip out to run some errands and do some light grocery shopping, gotta wash all bedding, towels and bath rugs, finish cleaning up rooms, dinner, baths and bed!!! Have a happy Tuesday!

Last Day Before Berlin!

I dropped Allison off at church camp this morning. Then I went to pick up some jewlery for Joslyn's Easter basket, detailed the inside of the car in preparation for our trip, laundry and now folding. Philip went to his 5pm formation and will stop at the commissary for a few last minute items (I am on the phone with him now, sending him to the PX to get a few things for Allison's and Moriah's basket too).
Joslyn called a few hours ago to let us know that she would arrive at 7:30pm. Hopefully she isn't too tired and will share some highlights of her trip. If not we can all hear about it tomorrow on our drive to Berlin! I am signing off for now. Need to charge the girls cameras, put laundry away, and PACK. Please keep us in your prayers as we travel. Happy Easter! I will be back to blogging Monday morning!
Oh and yesterday I planted flowers to hang on our balcony. I forgot to show the pictures in yesterdays post...

....they smell so good too!! Spring is here!

Catching You Up on Our Family's Activities!

Recently Allison, Moriah and I made a 30 minutes drive on the autobahn and our destination was Toys 'R' Us in Bamberg! We have not been to a Toys 'R' Us since we lived in the states. Allison bought a electric keyboard (99 euro) with her own money! She was so happy!!

Allison is now taking piano lessons twice a week. She loves it! She is learning quickly! One of the teachers at the elementary school teaches the piano lessons and he invites the the students to come to school early and practice on the piano he has in his classroom (this also motivates Allison to leave the house early!)
Allison is also taking horse back riding lessons every Monday for 2 hours. Of course she LOVES that!! Allison was able to go into the pin and pick a horse to train on. She found out later the horse she picked was named Daisey, just like our dog. Allison was taught the proper way to walk the horse. She walked Daisey from the pin to the barn. Allison brushed the horse, cleaned her shoes, saddled her (Allison is training on a English saddled opposed to the western saddle we are used to in the states) and jumped right into the saddle on Daisey's back. Allison learned the rhythm of the horse while walking, trotting and running!! I think I will continue her lessons until we leave Germany!

This week is our Spring Break. Allison is going to church camp from 9:30-12:30 every morning. Thursday the church camp is going to the Nurnberg Zoo. However Allison will not be able to go because we are leaving for Berlin!! We took the girl's to the Nurnberg Zoo once before anyway.
Joslyn is now at Durbuy Adventure Park in Belgium with Club Beyond. Joslyn had 2 other girls spend the night with us on Friday night. I woke the girls up at 5:45am Saturday morning and had them at the chapel by 7am! My car was packed with LOTS of luggage!! They will return from Belgium tomorrow night. I can't wait to hear all about it. Joslyn took her camera. I hope she didn't forget to take pictures (I will share some with you too). I hope her camera comes home in one piece too!

Saturday April 16th Moriah turned 2! Can you believe it?! We had her birthday party at Kinderland in Wurzburg. It is about 30 minutes from our home. We had about 9 families come and help us celebrate her 2nd birthday! Everyone had so much fun.

Now I'm off to cook dinner and help Allison clean her room. Tomorrow I plan to pack for our trip to Berlin, and get a few more things for Easter baskets! Busy, busy, BUSY!!! Before I go here are a few pictures for you to enjoy of Moriah playing with a few of her birthday presents...

End of March- Beginning of April 2011

Allison was a member of the Chorus Club at her school. The Chorus Club met every Wednesday after school for an hour and a half. The Chorus group performed a Spring concert for the student body and parents on March 24th. Allison had a solo part in German!! She did so well!
(Alliosn is wearing the black dress)

Allison with a few of her friends from Chorus Club after the concert!

Last week I drove to Vilseck to say good-bye to my friend Sarah and her family. They were stationed here in Germany for 1 year before they made their way back to San Antonio. I grew-up with Sarah through our church family back in our home town.

Joslyn went on a day trip to Nurnberg, Germany (it is about a 1 hour and a half drive from our home). She went with a Christian club called Club Beyond (the club meets every Tuesday after school in the lunch room). Joslyn and Club Beyond spent the day at Palm Beach. Joslyn had so much fun. Palm Beach is an indoor water park. Spring Break begins on April 16th. Joslyn is going to Belgium with Club Beyond for 5 days!! She is so EXCITED! When Joslyn returns from her trip our family is going to Berlin for a few days. Philip is our Travel Agent! He booked our hotel, made reservations at a restaurant similar to the Tower of Americas in San Antonio. Philip has each day planned out- what we will do and see! He is great at planning trips and all the details that go along with that!

Fun times with Friends!

This weekend involved a lot of friends sleeping over at our house! Friday night Joslyn had 2 friends sleep-over. Joslyn had a lot of fun. Lots of giggles, food and memories! We ordered pizzas for dinner. Allison also had her good friend spend the night on Friday. They played a dancing game on the Wii, watched a movie, and giggled themselves to sleep in Allison's room!
Saturday morning I made pancakes for all 6 girls (including Moriah). I took Allison, her friend and Moriah to the indoor swimming pool. We swam for about an hour and a half. After swimming I had plans to take Allison and her friend to the movies and have Moriah take a nap at home with Philip. Unfortunately the movie that I thought was playing at the theater, Rango is not showing until next weekend. The girls were a bit disappointed as was I. So we came home and Allison played outside with her friend.
Joslyn spent all day outside with her friends on Saturday. I gave the girls permission to walk to the food court and have lunch together.
Allison and Joslyn had a great weekend with their friends (Moriah enjoyed the attention from all of the girl's too)!

Schweinfurt Beauty Pageant

Allison came home from school last Thursday with a entry form for the Schweinfurt Beauty Pageant. The Beauty Pageant was in a few days (last Saturday). Allison was so excited and practically begged me to enter in the pageant. I agreed, filled out the entry form, had Philip jump in the car and turn in the form with the $60 entry fee. After school on Friday Allison and I went to the PX to buy a nice pair of heels. We also picked up a few cute hair accessories.
Saturday morning we arrived at the school at 9:30am. Allison did a few practice runs on the stage. A few of Allison's friends were in the pageant as well. The pageant began at about 10:30am. For the first 3 hours of the pageant the baby were on stage being judged in the different categories. The baby contestants were as young as 10 days old!!
Allison was in the pre-teen age group. She did an awesome job on stage! She wasn't nervous at all! One question that the host asked Allison was, "What is your favorite hobby"? Allison answered, "Drawing". The host also asked her, "what do you really like to draw". Allison responded, "Trees and a sunset".
Allison did not win the title of Miss Schweinfurt. The 12 year old who won last year won again this year. Her name is Joslyn too. Joslyn is friends with Joslyn. They are in the same grade and have classes together.
Allison had so much fun getting all dressed up, having make-up on and being on stage!

Allison earns a Wilbur Award!

Allison is doing very well in reading. Along with 3 other students in her class, Allison received a Wilbur Award for her constant improvement in reading! We are proud of you Allison!

Diet Time!

I started a diet. My goal is to loose 15 pounds. I work out every day in my living room for 1 hour to a DVD while my baby girl naps. I don't drink nearly as much Coke-Cola as I have. Instead I drink a lot more water!! I also replaced Coke-Cola with Coke ZERO! I bought A LOT of water bottles! Every time I was thirsty before, I would just go to the fridge and open a Coke. It was easy and fast. I thought I would buy bottled water and keep it in my fridge as opposed to drinking water from the tap. This way all I would have to do is grab the water from the fridge and go. (Notice Moriah smiling at the camera while eating her lunch!)

I also bought some tea to give the water some flavor (zero calories too) My favorite is the Lipton packs! Today I am going to replenish my water supply and teas.

This past week was my first week on the diet. I am only weighing myself on Saturdays. The first week of my diet I lost 5 pounds! I am now 145 lbs! Just 10 more pounds to go! Maybe once I loose the 10 pounds I may decide to loose just 5 more and get back down to 130 lbs. 130 will be my limit! I am still super motivated. Even after 1 week!

New TV and Surprise!

Philip bought a new TV and entertainment console. I am trying to sell our old TV console on a local website. Now Philip is on a mission to find a surround system. None of this stuff interests me, but he is so excited about it all.

Philip and I went shopping at the PX a few days ago. I was practically begging Philip to let me buy a new candle. He wouldn't let me. I even tried to sneak it into the basket (I use to sneak stuff all the time in my Dad's shopping baskets when I was lots younger), but Philip caught it before we got to the register! Philip always gives me grief when I buy candles. "You have more than enough candles! There is one in EVERY room of our house...",Philip always says. Well yesterday Philip came home with a nice surprise for me. I was SURPRISED that he would actually buy a candle! He also bought me a Quick Scent candle AND refills! Philip even bought a decoration for the candle! Maybe deep down Philip likes candles just as much as I do! When we get back to the states maybe he will have fun shopping with me at the Yankee candle store in the mall?! Actually I can see him now...pulling my arm and telling me, "Oh No Denise! Keep walking" I love him!

Valentine's Day 2011

Valentine's Day Presents for our loves!

Joslyn was given a pair of new shoes and a sparkly case for her itouch, along with some jewlery!

For Valentines Day Allison was given a Moon Sand Bakery and a wii game along with some jewelry too!

I gave Philip a big coin case to display all of military coins!

We gave Moriah a Winniew the Pooh and piglet stuffed animal!

Philip gave me chocolates and this beautiful bracelet!

We went downtown to eat at a little donner shop for dinner. We had a nice Valentine's Day celebrating our love for one another!