SNOW!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Well the snow is almost gone now, but I'm just getting the photos loaded to the camera and up on the net. It started last friday...or was it Thursday? Anywho and the snow came. A little bit each night and then it would melt a little during the day. The farmers here say it's going to be a bad winter...I guess it's time to buy a sled and try out some of the AWESOME hills around our house.

This will be my last blog for a bit. Brian, Josh and I leave tomorrow to head to Derrek's house in Mannheim then on Thursday AM we leave for Dublin till Sunday. Monday we leave for the states. I'd love to tell you were we are flying into, but we're going Space A (military flights) so we have no idea. I was spoiled on my adventure home in the summer. Even with the waiting, it's worth having more space and better food not to mention the price is right (the flight is free, we pay $3.80 for our meal). Isn't it sad when the military box lunch is better than airline food?

Some photos of snow. These were all taken on day 1 of 4 days of snow fall.


Tree in front of our house

When Hedgehogs attack!

For the past few weeks every night when I take the girls out for 'one last pee' before bed we've been seeing at least 1 hedgehog in our yard. Kyla and Ginger run up to them, sniff them and RUN away. Throughout the 5-10 minutes we're outside they run back to the hedgehog to see if it's still there then run away again. There is a small area just off our front porch that isn't lit by our porch light and isn't lit by the street light either. No big deal, it's only 5 of so feet. Well last night Mr. Hedgehog thought it would be funny to sit on the sidewalk and when I stepped down off the last step I kicked him, but all I felt was his little 'hairs' STAB me in the leg. I actually think there were two hedgehogs, cause I swear I heard one run away. But then I was afraid to walk back to the porch for fear I might step on him again. I went for it and ran back inside to grab a flash light and the camera.

our friend...all balled up




Never again will I go out without a flashlight.

Happy Veterans Day!

Last Thursday Brian left for medevac duty in Hohenfels (Ho-Ho as we call it). We thought he was all done pulling duty cycles for awhile, but he volunteered to pull duty for a friend who was set to go out. He's been getting some flight time - which is never a bad thing. The dogs and I, along with another spouse, Casey Barbin (whos husband is the medic on duty) rode out to visit the boys on Sunday and Monday. We had a nice visit, the dogs got to run around lots and of course get LOTS of attention and treats. I came in second in poker and almost came home with the huge $12 pot. Not bad for my 3rd time playing. It's always pretty lonely when Brian is out on duty, but it gives me a chance to catch up on all the shows that he doesn't like to watch. ;)

Anywho I thought I'd share some photos of my favorite veteran.
Brian


Brian and his crew


Out on duty at Grafenwoehr


Our other pilot in the family...



Last week I started a post never finished it....so I thought I'd copy and paste a bit of what's going on:

Monday morning I had an appointment with my Diabetologist, Dr. Ardendt,(a referral from my WONDERFUL OB-GYN Dr. Swartz). Dr. Ardendt informed me that she couldn't do blood work because I had some coffee for breakfast and told me to come back on Tuesday. This worked out great, because then I could make Brian go with me to hold my hand. I don't do well with blood or needles in fact the last time Dr. Swartz had to take blood I fainted (2 weeks ago). Tuesday I arrived at my appointment, checked in and waited. They called me back and I told them I was a fainter and they took me in another room so I could lay down when she took blood. Well after a couple tries in my left arm and one try in my right they got the amount they needed, and I didn't even pass out although now I look like a drug user with all the needle marks in my arms! Then I got my finger pricked, I thought "didn't you just take enough? You need more? Drank a glass of what tasted like super sweet cranberry juice, waited an hour, more blood work, waited an hour, more blood work and I was free to leave. I was told my blood sugar was ok, but Dr. Ardendt would call me in a week to let me know the results of the rest of my blood tests. I guess then she'll let me know if I have to start metformin.

Little People. Little Dietenhofen.

The girls and I have a little loop we do each day (well I try to each day) and every now and then I change it up a little, but it's all about the same. I've always noticed the little fire hydrant people, but didn't realize how many we saw each day on our walks till I started taking photos. I've even named them.

Ed


Sam


Barack


Jim


Tom and Kyla


Adolf


Erwin


Boris


little Liselotte (a popular German name)


Alfred


Brian and Ginger...making the rounds.


Ginger has been 'grounded' most of the week due to the fact that she likes chasing rabbits and finds it quite funny to push my buttons. So she's been back on the leash more than usual and hating every minute of it. In a sense they are two year olds that will never grow up and I keep telling myself they are preparing me for children. Maybe just being an aunt isn't such a bad thing.

Halloween!

So sorry. I finally got some photos of Halloween to Post!
Brian went as a One Night Stand and I went as Operation the board game.


Our friends the Zotters went as a cop and criminal
(Pam and Chris are leaving next month! Gotta love the Army! They're heading back to Ft. Rucker for a few months so Chris can complete the Captains course and HOPEFULLY! they'll be back in Germany by next summer. We'll miss them dearly - they have two male dogs, Ollie and Piper who give my girls a run for their money and they have really grown to love their walks together. We'll miss you Zotters!)



and here are some of the guys trying to see how much stuff they could put on Brian's night stand. (Brian Vega, Brian Smit and Chris Zotter)

Dublin, Ireland.

We got some great tickets to Dublin for Thanksgiving weekend. Brian and I are both flying round trip for $161.00 - our hotel won't be nearly as cheap, but it's cheap for Dublin. We didn't really have plans to go anywhere for Thanksgiving, it all just kinda happened - as many of our trips do. With great rates we called Josh and Derrek and they'll be going too. We used to refer to Josh and Derrek as 'The Schillings' - Josh's last name, ever since our trip to Croatia when the hotel had a reservation for 'Mr. and Mrs. Schilling' well they are 'the Schillings' no more. Josh is back in Alabama this week getting married to Victoria. The wedding was on Saturday and we're super sad we missed it, but super excited for Josh and Victoria.

Here's a photo of the four of us from the boy's graduation last year


We get back from Dublin on the 30th and go straight from Frankfurt Main to Ramstein to catch our Space A flight to the states for a few weeks. I'll be in Virginia from Dec 1 (I hope) until the 10th when I fly to Michigan. Brian will be in Virginia for 2 days before he flies to Savannah on the 3rd and from Atlanta to Michigan on the 7th. We both fly from Michigan back to DC on the 16th and from there will hopefully catch Space A back to Germany.

Brian is going with our friend Stevel Clavel to Birmingham for some much needed "jeep time" from the 4th to the 7th. He'll be attending an event at an off road shop called Blue Torch Fabworks which used to be located near us in Alabama and recently re-located to Birmingham. They had an event last year that Brian helped out with and when the chance came up for him to help again he jumped at it. This year they will be working on the Jeep of a Army Reservist who had his Jeep vandalized while he was deployed to the middle east. I just hope it gives him his 'jeep fix' so maybe he forgets about the go-cart he really wants to buy. He'll also get to do a little four wheeling with Clavel.

Our favorite pond.

Well after a long week of rain, rain and more rain. Mother nature made up for it on Saturday with 60s and SUNNY. Not a cloud in the sky. Today, it's so foggy you can barely see your hand in front of your face. So anywho. Brian, the girls and I headed for our new favorite pond only to find that it's been partially drained for winter.

Our favorite pond two weeks ago:


Our favorite pond last week:


Both dogs still went swimming and had a great time chasing field mice. Overall the weather hasn't been too bad this week. Sunny and cold during the day.