What a Great Weekend

My younger brother Matt and me.

One of the newest and greatest things about living in Europe these days is the fact that my younger brother and his family now live in Grafenwheor Germany which is about 450 miles away from here. Sure it is a 7 hour drive, but considering we've been separated by thousands of miles for many years now. We'll take the seven hour drive. We visited on Valentine's Day weekend and it just so happens that the Army had VTCs set up for the families. So while we were in Graf we got to SEEEEE Matt. We visited with him for what was surely not enough time. He was not feeling well. I have to admit I got a little teary eyed seeing him. When I think of Matt I see a 3 year old blonde headed little boy with freckles who followed my everywhere. Now my little brother is a husband, a father and a soldier. He looked great but the fact remains that we want him close to his family...close to our family. We are proud of him and think he's done an amazing job at all of those things that he is now. We pray for protection over him and ALL of the soldiers who are in Iraq.

Kimberly, Christian and Matt "together"

on Valentine's Day

We really enjoyed spending time in Graf with Kimberly, Christian and Jackie. It was fun watching all of the cousins play and really get to know one another. Christian turns 2 on February 27th and it's hard to believe he's that age already. It's comforting knowing that for the next couple of years we will be close enough to Matt & Kimberly to spend birthdays together, celebrate holidays together and go on vacations together.

Jenny & Christian playing in the playroom.

We also realized something during our trip. We have definitely outgrown Old Faithful....for those of you who don't know Old Faithful...she's our Trooper that just keeps on a truckin. She didn't even hiccup on our trip. However, having the extra seat in the back has been great for the past couple of years, but Jaeden's legs have pretty much outgrown the seat. So Brandon is left to sit in the back by himself while Jenny, Mary and Jaeden sit in the middle row. This pretty much means we will be on the hunt soon for a bigger vehicle in the coming months. We'll be keeping "Old Faithful" though until the "doors fall off". She's been a good car to have in a country with pot holes every few feet and people who smack your car while driving down narrow streets in the city. Mary has said that she'd like to have the Trooper when she drives. I don't know if it'll still be running, but I wouldn't be surprised.