Traveling to Germany

Monday, 10 June we left Phoenix with 10 check-in bags and 9 carry-on items. A huge thanks goes out to Papa and Aunt Taty who got up at 3 am to take us to the airport.  Our flight to Baltimore with Southwest Airlines was as good as could be expected.

Once in Baltimore we got a Skycab to help with the mountain of bags and show us where we needed to go to catch our rotator to Germany. (Best money spent).  We spent most of time in the USO watching new students for the Navel Academy get picked up. Once on board our flight we settled in for a 9 hour flight. 

Uneventful is how I like my flights and that is exactly what we had. We had three movies to watch, a nice dinner service, and a breakfast snack. Some of us were lucky enough to sleep, but for the most part once we landed at 7 am local time we were a bunch of sleep deprived zombies. 

Through customs and with our bags we headed out to meet out temporary sponsor, Maj. Patrick McDonaugh.  We caught the shuttle to Spangdahlem and checked into our TLF room. Maj.  McDonaugh was kind enough to take Doug and I to the commissary so we could put some food into our room.  Let me tell you, grocery shopping with two men when you are brain dead is an interesting experience. One I hope not to repeat in the future. 

Our final chore was to try to stay awake just as long as possible. The boys went to sleep nearly immediately, Doug stayed up for about two more hours, but I was the winner staying awake until 3:30 pm. I slept the clock around and was up at 6 am the next morning. 

We are slowly getting our internal clocks adjusted and acquainting ourselves with the base. We have found a place to live with a move in date of 25 June and should have our car here on the 27th. Maybe next week we will even venture off base. 

Saying Goodbye

One of the hardest parts of moving (besides going through every item you own, trying to find somewhere to live, and take care of a list of details that would make your head spin) is saying goodbye.

First was a dinner with Doug's flight. There are three dentists PCSing from his flight this summer, so it was a big party.  We enjoyed good food and fun people. At the end of the night Doug was presented with a plaque from his flight. 

Our last Sunday at the 6th Ward I had to take pictures with all my Nusery babies. I so miss their smiling faces.  Truly one of the best calling in the church is being a nursery worker. I'm going to campaign big time for that calling in our new ward. 

We also went to dinner with the Gyser's.  Wonderful Mexican food and wonderful people. I know we will miss Saskia and Russ.

Our last few days in the States we spent with family in Az. The stars aligned that we were able to see Jymie, Vash, and Ryhla on the last day of their vacation.   We even got to sing happy birthday to Vash. 

We also got to be there to celebrate Papa's birthday. German Chocolate Cake for all.

Dinner with the Holmes' was a festive event as we celebrated Bryant's birthday. (Sorry about the lack of present but we figured our presence was enough).  Picture with all the Az Holmes Cousins was done. 

We felt like we were able to leave seeing everyone one last time. 

On Our Way to Germany

The month of May we were busy getting ready to move to Germany.  Tons and tons of things need to be accomplished before we left.

Passports were applied for and obtained.

We dropped off Vicki (the Sequoia) at the "port" in Dallas so she could be shipped to Germany.  I really miss my car.

Then it was time to separate, clean out, and inventory all of our household goods.  

Then it was move day.  Love that we don't have to carry anything out of my house (or for that matter, into my house in Germany). 

On the Move Again

Doug received orders for our upcoming move this June.  We are off to Spangdahlem, Germany for three years. 

Although moving to a different country is almost overwhelming in the amount of work that needs to be done we are really looking forward to all the opportunities that this move is going to give us.  So save your pennies to come visit us!!!!

Military Move

For those of you who have never experienced a military move, I am here to convince you it is a double edged sword. On one hand you have these guys

to handle all the heavy lifting. Also you also get people to pack all this up

to look like this.

Unfortunately, this just makes me nervous. I'm one of those weird people that enjoys packing their own boxes. Something about knowing where everything is and having strangers handling all my earthy possessions.

And you can't over exaggerate this

Lovely, glorious room.

Plenty of room for all those earthy possessions. Along with having someone else doing the driving, a month of free storage, and having people deliver all those possessions into the correct rooms instead of the garage, this may seem like the holy grail of moves.

Ahhhh but there is always a down side. In fact it is still too fresh for me to share pictures. The items that disappear in the move (if you can figure out how a bookcase or a single table leg does this, please enlighten me). The scratches, scrapes, pressure marks, and out right breakage of furniture that happens. Not to mention the total dependency you find yourself feeling when you are on someone else's schedule (or lack there of). Yes there is a dark side to the military move.

But we have made it through another one. We are all set up and settled in. I may do a picture tour of our house. Then again I may not, seeing as the house should be clean to do one of those. And my house is never clean all at once.

Ohio to Arizona to Nevada

Since we didn't have a house to live in when we left Ohio, Doug and I felt that leaving the boys with my parents for a few days in Arizona was a wise decision. Our alternative was to take three travel weary children on a house hunt that could last for days with the only place to call home being a small on-base room. So off to Arizona we went. I drove the Xterra pulling the trailer and Doug drove the Honda. (This worked best because I don't drive stick.) We split the boys up between the two cars, turned on the walkie-talkies (they work better than cell phones especially across Texas and in the mountains) and hit the open road. It was only then that I realized how much like my dad I really am. When I'm driving, I want to get there. No unnecessary stops, no picture opportunities lets just make time. But when the boys would start to fight in the back seat I would hand them the camera and say "Take pictures of cows." It worked like a charm and I did get a few good pictures of the country side as we sped passed it.

The Move

I must admit something. I'm a "put down roots" type of girl. I really dislike moving. There is really too many emotions, stress, craziness to deal well with. That being said, for this move I thought I had it made because the Air Force was footing the bill for people to come pack, load, drive, unload, and unpack all my stuff. (And after this experience I can admit we do have too much stuff!!!!!!!) All I had to be is a bit organized, take pictures off the walls, and relax. Not so much.
We were originally scheduled for two days of packing and one day of loading, but after having the lady from the moving company come out we are downgraded to one day of packing and one day of loading. Great I think, one more day with my stuff. I call the week before just to make sure I have the dates correct and I am told that packers will be Wednesday and loaders on Thursday. So I make my mental schedule of everything I have to do to fit that time table. Monday comes and off I go with the boys all morning to run all our last errands. When I get home at 11:30 it is to a message saying that the days have been changed and the packers are coming Tuesday. AHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!!!!! I do quick math and figure out I only have a half day to do what I had planned to do in a day and a half. So I end up staying up until three in the morning finishing laundry (they don't take dirty clothes) and all the other things I needed to see to. Then instead of one day of not having anything, I get two. Lucky us!!!!

The loading was a game of life sized tetras as the crew tried to make sure that all our stuff would fit into the remaining portion of the semi that blocked the street in front of our house all day long. It all fit, but I won't know what condition it is in until the 30th because although all my stuff is in Las Vegas and I now have a house to put it in, they can not deliver it until then. Sounds like government work to me. Until then, my parents have been so kind as to have us add five additional people to their household. Then on the 29th I will put Doug on a plane to Alabama for officer training and I will drive up to Las Vegas to set up house. This was suppose to be the easy move remember!!! Sorry there are no pictures of all my stuff in boxes. If I remember there maybe pictures of the delivery, but don't count on it.