Happy New Years everyone!
With the shift in seasons comes a giant shift for our family. Our three years in good ol' Deutschland are coming to a close. This spring we will be packing up and moving across the ocean again- this time hopping across the pond toward home in the States.
It's exciting, daunting, and bittersweet. We've shared so many firsts in this home away from home.
We bought and slowly paid off our first car.
We rented our first house. We picked out our first couch at the Exchange on base, built an entertainment system and dining room table in our garage, stained benches and built a toddler bed, hung picture frames and folded blankets, burnt meals and desserts, had pillow fights and danced to music in the living room, roasted marshmallows in our fireplace, binge-watched crime shows, and stressed over translating German bills. . . We learned what every day married life looked like- felt like. We learned how to live it out.
We bought a puppy and lost our minds training him; our beloved Loki, who incessantly lives up to his mischievous namesake.
We established traditions and celebrated our first holidays together. Ethan makes the turkey or ham on Thanksgiving, and we always put the tree up in November. Neither one of us can wait until Christmas to give each other our gifts.
We've skyped family for countless hours as we tried to shorten the distance between us.
We've celebrated our first, second, and third anniversaries.
We photographed our first pregnancy and called our parents on the day of our son's birth.
The tile in this home has born witness to chubby fingers and hefty knees struggling to crawl, to the thudding of toddler feet chasing after the dog. The walls have listened to scolding and laughter, crying and forgiveness, and the squalling of newborns.
We rejoiced when at the halfway mark of our time here, my mom and sister were able to visit and meet our 6 month old son, Aiden.
We prepared for our first deployment. We said goodbye and learned how to make it on Skype, Messenger, and a bucket load of prayers.
We dug deep into our community of friends. Our first support system of people who stepped in as family. Other military families who understand the struggle and are more than willing to watch the kids for a much needed date, or stay in the hospital room for 24+ hours to offer support during the delivery of our son. They've stepped in with parenting advice when we've been at a loss so far from family. They've opened up their hearts and supported us in so many ways: from hosting an amazing batman themed baby shower, to loaning cars, generously doting on our kids, making travel plans, and creating a plethora of memories.
We celebrated the surprise of our second pregnancy, and tried to not let fear rule in our hearts. Neither one of us felt equipped to be the parents of two under two, but God would help us.
We enjoyed an amazing reunion after 6 months apart.
We went on a baby moon to Burg Sooneck for a day along the Rhine river.
A couple of months later, amazement filled our hearts at the arrival of our daughter, Liliana Hope.
We have visited castles, cathedrals, the Alps, France. . .
It's been an amazing time here. God has grown us individually and together. Our family has beautifully doubled.
I'm sad to leave our friends, and happy to be closer to our loved ones. I'm equal parts excited and scared to start over. We have shared so many adventures here, and now it's time to go on our next one.
Tcheuss Deutschland; hello New Jersey.
Proverbs 16:33
"We may throw the dice, but the Lord determines how they fall."