Just not much to say

Hi everyone - guess I've been slacking a bit in the blogging arena. There just hasn't been much going on - or maybe there's been too much going on.

Ashley is twelve going on 23, mom is retired, Fall is here, and The Office is still the funniest show on TV.

One exciting note is that our flight to Germany is booked! July 29 to August 21. The next step is getting our passports. I cannot wait to get out of Montpelier and see a completely different part of the world. That will be so awesome!

Well - sorry about the boring post - but if all of them were exciting - THAT would be boring!

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12 going on????????

Thursday was Ashley's birthday....the day that 12 years ago her angels were watching over her. The day that 12 years ago - she became OUR angel. We knew when her life was sustained that day that God had a special plan for her life; and watching her life unfold has been everything but boring to say the least.

The coolest thing about Ashley is that she is not afraid to be who she is - to express herself the way SHE wants to; and to let the Lord go with her. I believe Ashley is going to be a God-fearing women. But for now - I am enjoying the few days I have left that she is still a girl. A beautiful, compassionate, smart, crazy, respectable girl.

Enjoy the pics of Ashley on her birthday sporting her fave look and hanging out with her friend Sydney. You'll also notice her playing with something - that's a ZEN. It's OK - I had to Google it too! You'll find the pics at the bottom of this page.

I DO have a life in Montpelier!

You might think that my life revolves around people from Germany. And honestly - over the last year it has. But lately I've had time to re-group and notice what's going on right here in my own little world.

The most significant of these is a certain 11.999999999999 year old that lives here. She is blossoming into a very cool, compassionate, creative, rocker chik! AND she can out run her entire 6th grade class!


Ashley has had many looks in her young life - the most recent of which is "rocker preppy with a twist" And OMG - U R SOOOOOO going to love this look! (that's Oh My Goodness for all you non-texting people who like to communicate with actual words!)


Check out the "Ashley's many looks" pics! (that last one is the current look - yes - that's RED!!!)

Thanks for coming!

Thanks for coming. I've said that a lot in the past year. First it was Judith, then we got to meet her friend Mirja; and bringing up the rear was Simon.

What fun it has been to get to know these people from clear across the world. So far away - yet so close.

A year from now - we will be in their stomping grounds. We get to see their corner of the world - and hopefully come away as enriched as we hope they were by being here.

Remembering

We spent the evening with our dear friends Ken and Amy Thompson. They invited us over to join them in welcoming their new exchange daughter - PIA. Pia is from Germany and she seems to be a very sweet and fun loving person.

Pia reminds me of another fun loving and sweet German girl. It was a year ago that we were welcoming her and getting to know her. Little did we know that the nervous and exhausted girl that walked off that plane.....the girl in the red shoes.....would be such a blessing to us.

We miss you Judith - and we still cry. It's hard to let go of a piece of your heart. You brought new energy to our home, and new perspectives on life.

It will be awhile before it feels right that you aren't here.

Broadening our Horizons

Today we drove to Detroit Metro and picked up Simon. Simon is from Germany and will be staying with us for the next two weeks. Simon is also Judith's brother. Therefore - he feels like family.

I must say that he and Ashley do look sort of cute together don't ya think? No worries though - they seem to think of eachother as buddies. They watched Spongebob together in the van and really enjoyed having someone to laugh with.

God has truly blessed us by putting this family in our path.

A Little Help.....

So I love photography. And I hope it shows in my photos.

All of the pics to the left are being considered for a local competition. I want to submit just one - the best one of course.

Please take the time to give me your opinion either by comment or sending an email.

Enjoy the pics by the way!!!!!

A soldier in our midst

If you look closely through the color guard - you'll see a soldier. That's my dad.

All my life growing up my dad was ashamed of the service he gave to this country. Ashamed of serving in a war that no one wanted. Ashamed of something that he should be everything BUT ashamed of.

He's not ashamed anymore. And I never was. But I've never been more proud to say that my dad is a United States Marine - and he's a hero. He's my hero.

Meeka

Anyone who knows me at all knows that Meeka is not just a dog - but part of my heart. This morning I awoke to a second day of vomiting and diahrrea on her part. Along with that came rectal bleeding and foaming at the mouth. Needless to say - I was very worried about my little pooch.

We took her to the animal hospital and had them run the usual stuff. Come to find out - she apparently ate something she shouldn't have. Which could be anything since she has an extremely sensitive stomach. She can only eat one kind of food and nothing else.

Anyways - she appears to be fine - I just have to shove two pills down her throat for a few days!

The big 4 0!!!!

My big brother turned 40 last week! It's hard to believe. Those kids keep him pretty young!

I've uploaded some pics from the big bash. Enjoy!!

July 4th

By the way - July 4th was so fun!

We got to see our new nephew, our best friends, and my brother and his family!

Check out the pics!!!

This is my first Blog

My first Blog - feels like a real milestone! Like I'm with the times!

I decided to do this because we have such a full life - and I want to share it with our family and friends; and we have family and friends all around the world!

So here's to what will hopefully be many posts and pictures of our little corner of the woods. I hope you enjoy!

Angela