FINALLY!

Things have been so busy, but I finally decided to just do this. We are in the American Arms Hotel in Wiesbaden, Germany. It is so beautiful here (not exactly at the hotel, but outside of it)! After a week of painful jetlag, we are enjoying getting to see and explore a bit. Vince has had "in-processing" classes and meetings for the last several days. I went with him to the class for obtaining a driver's license here. Vince read the book twice, and I browsed it once. There were 100 questions, or something crazy. You could miss up to 15 and still pass. Vince missed 2. I missed 15. But we both get to drive, so I'm not too sad! He bought two old BMW's this week for us. His is a "compact", kind of a maroon color, and gets about 35 MPG. Mine is red, four doors, and a 325i. Sporty! It goes FAST. They're both 1994, I think. Photos will be coming soon. Anyway, now we're not bound to the shuttle that goes to the different three posts (that form a Garrison) or our feet. We have been doing lots of walking, and I have to admit that it's pretty cold here. Damp and windy, which make it less than pleasant to walk outside. But, I am secure in the knowledge that it won't last until May, like in Fairbanks. I think another couple of weeks, and the weather will improve. People have been so kind and generous to us. We've been given lots of things by people that are leaving here, including two cordless phones, two cell phones, an iron, and lots of transformers and power adaptors. And a vacuum. I've accepted rides twice now, from other Americans. Not something I would consider anywhere else! We are trying to learn a few words, and Vince is excelling, of course. The kids have started school, including Sophia! When we registered Ephraim at Heinerberg Elementary, the registrar told us we could enroll her, even though she didn't go in Alaska. The deadline is later here, and she said that worst-case, she would repeat it next year. But, maybe not! She is loving it, and doing quite well! Her teacher is Ms. Wheeler, which I think is great! (I have Wheeler ancestory.) The three older boys are going to Wiesbaden High School. They only have three days this week, and then all of next week off, since they finished the term in AK. We kicked them out of the hotel last week, and gave them some Euro and told them not to come back for at least three hours. They visited three bakeries, and bought some clothes. So, now it's just Noah and me during the days. I thought that would be lots of fun, but the two times we ventured out together, he kind of melted after walking a while. In fact, he threw such a fit in a downtown shopping area, that all kinds of German women were scolding us, and giving dirty looks. So, yesterday I bought a jogger stroller at the thrift store on post. I thought we were finished with strollers, but aparently not. Guess what??? My good friend, Sarah Busby, is in our ward here! We were so happy to find each other. She was in our ward in AZ, and we love their family, including her Dad, Jack Williams, whom we introduced to her step-mom, Jackie. It's great to have a ready-made good friend here. We've been having lots of fun together, including shopping at IKEA. She has two girls, and her husband is in Afghanistan until February first. We decided on a house in Gross-Gerau, that I actually found on accident (or not) before we moved here. It has plenty of space for us, but it's about 25 minutes away, so not terribly convenient. However, there are Americans across the street that we've met, and they're excited for us to be there. They have kids the same age as our youngest three, and Sophia is actually in the same class as their Mary! Once again, built-in friends. I will send photos as soon as I'm able, but for now I am posting just a few. We saw our first castles on Saturday, and there were LOTS of them! All along the Rhine River. Okay, time to go. Talk to you soon!

Love and miss you all,
Andrea