Friends and the Fourth

I am wondering if this fancy gif I just added will actually show up on the blog....keeping my fingers crossed.


This week Mike was still up in England enjoying his king size bed at his quaint little bed and breakfast, exploring the countryside and oh yeah...working!

He drove the mini home on Friday and took the ferry across the channel.  The view of the White Cliffs of Dover at sunset was spectacular. 

 It's good to have him home for a couple of days before he and Travis head to Switzerland for a week long Scout Camp tomorrow morning.


He was in England and missed all the excitement of having a rare "visitor" sighting.  That's right...someone actually came to visit us!!  
I got a call from our friend, Otto saying Randi and their son Warren would love to stop by for a quick visit on their way back to the states from visiting their daughter, son in law and granddaughter in Scotland.   I was very brave and drove the big car (the X-5, which may not seem big to you, but after driving a mini for 10 months on these very narrow roads...it seems HUGE to me) up to Frankfurt Main airport about an hour away.  My only mishap was instead of ending up in the drive through and pick up people lane....I got sucked into a very big parking garage and couldn't find parking until I got to level twelve.  Then I had to maneuver my "big car" into a parking spot and  then go find the Nuila's.    No problems...it all worked out great and I was soon the proud driver to some rare "visitors".  


The visit was short but sweet.  Randi and I stayed up until 1:00 a.m. gabbing and Travis and Warren stayed up even later playing some old video games.  
The next day Randi and I went on a nostalgia tour of some of her old haunts from when she and Otto were stationed here many, many (and notice I am not saying exactly how many) years ago. Then we came back and picked up the boys and went to Toom and Kaufland for some yummy walk up brats and doners.

  After that, we did a little grocery shopping and went back home for a big barbeque dinner with the McGraths and the missionaries.


The next morning it was time to drive them back to the airport.  It was way too  short of a visit, but hey...short visit beats no visit anytime!

A few words about the weather we have been having.... Hot and Muggy!
We have had some combination of the two for the last two weeks.  It has been up to 92 degrees, which is very hot for Germany, especially when you combine it with 90 percent humidity.   They are saying this is the hottest stretch of weather they can remember.  So it was the snowiest winter and now the hottest summer.  Did we pick the perfect year to move to Germany, or what???


Finally...Celebrating the Fourth of July today!   It's very weird to celebrate the birth of our country in another country.  There were some fireworks last night over at Kapaun Air Station, but we didn't go.  We actually spent yesterday watching Germany defeat Argentina to make it to the semi finals in the World Cup.  Then honked our horns and blew our Vuvuzela and celebrated the victory among all our happy, excited neighbors.  


Living off base and among the Germans, we have been encouraged to fit in and not be too conspicuously American, mostly to protect us from being a target for terrorists.  It has been hard for me to not fly my American flag and today was especially hard. 

We went to church and first sang America the Beautiful, then heard many testimonies from these amazing patriots that serve their country.  Not just the service member, but their families that endure months of separation and fear during deployments.  It really brings the meaning of Independence Day home to me.  As I sat among the congregation, I looked around and realized we were a little island of America right in the middle of K-town, Germany.  We love and miss our homeland, but are proud and happy to represent the greatest country on earth while living abroad. 

At the end of our meeting, we stood and sang the National Anthem.  The doors and windows of the chapel were open wide and I thought it was wonderful that we were singing not just for ourselves, but for anyone outside as well.   And so with  tears running down our cheeks, and our  voices choked with emotion, we sang our hearts out for our country and everything it means to us...Freedom, Faith, Bounteous Blessings.....Home!


love and miss you all,
-corri