11 Countries in 12 Months!

Around this time last year we returned from what we thought would be our once in a lifetime trip to Europe. We had planned for several years to take a trip overseas. The week before we left Collin had an interview for the job in Germany. Which, as you now know, he accepted and has given us the joy of living overseas and being able to travel all over Europe. The other night we were talking about the different countries we have now been to this past year and wanted to share them with you. In short we have been to: Italy, Croatia, Greece, Turkey, Malta, Germany, U.S.A., England, France, The Netherlands, and Luxembourg. A few countries we were planning on going to but were not able to make it to include: Austria, Switzerland, Liechtenstein, and Belgium to name a few. They are on our list for this next year. Here are a few pictures of some of the places we have visited this past year.

Rome, Italy at the Coliseum - May 2008

Dubrovnik, Croatia - May 2008

Santorini, Greece - we also visited Corfu and Olympia Greece - May 2008

Ephesus, Turkey - May 2008

Valletta, Malta - May 2008

Sicily, Italy at Mt. Etna - May 2008

Heidelberg, Germany - August 2008

London, England in front of Buckingham Palace - October 2008

Venice, Italy on the Rialto Bridge - October 2008

Strasbourg, France - December 2008

Paris, France - February 2009

Texas, USA - March 2009

Amsterdam, The Netherlands - April 2009

Luxembourg City, Luxembourg - May 2009

Boyer's Visit

Last week two of our good friends, Philip and Jocelyn, came and visited us. We had a wonderful time with them. Jocelyn is pregnant too so we enjoyed talking about pregnancy and sharing some of the differences between the care she receives in the States and the care I receive in Germany.

Friday night we ate dinner at the Schnitzel Haus which has over 100 different kinds of schnitzel. Saturday we went to Schwetzingen and spent several hours touring the amazing castle gardens. That evening we went to Bad Dürkheim and ate dinner in the castle. Sunday we went to church and afterward took them to Heidelberg to see the castle while we went to a going-away party for Ken and Paul, two members of our church. Sunday evening we went to Mannheim and had dinner. Monday we took a paddle boat down the Neckar River with the guys as our motor. Then Philip and Jocelyn went on the Philosopher's Walk while Collin and I went to the house and rested a while. We met with them for dinner after their hike. Tuesday they left to go back to the States. We miss them and are glad they were able to fly over and visit us in Germany.

Here are a few pictures from their visit:

Schwetzingen Gardens

Paddle boat

Baby Update

I went to the doctor last night after my doctor called me to tell me I forgot to come in. I did not remember making an appointment for a Tuesday because usually my appointments are on Thursdays. However, starting this Thursday my doctor's office will be closed for two weeks while they celebrate Christi Himmelfahrt in English it is called Ascension Day. Another difference between America and Germany, I do not know of any companies in America that close down for two weeks to celebrate this holiday or any other holiday for that matter.

They did the standard tests including monitoring my baby's heartbeat for 20 minutes. I have not gained any weight in the past 3 weeks so my doctor said I no longer have to come in every week but every other week since everything seems to be normal - I have felt the exact same so I never thought anything was not normal. I think my doctor is overly strict. In two weeks I will go to another doctor since my doctor will still be on holiday and then in four weeks I will see my doctor again. I am due in 6 weeks! The count down has begun. I could deliver sooner or later. Collin and I are getting excited. I have cut back on my fruit and sugar intake and have been walking more so if nothing else hopefully it will make labor and delivery faster. My doctor believes it will. Other women have told me there is not much you can do to make labor and delivery faster but that every woman is different. We are so thankful to God that our son seems to be healthy and that I am healthy.

Surprise Box!

When we went to Luxembourg last weekend we stopped at the Villeroy & Boch store. They have some really nice products but all out of our price range - at least what we would want to spend on china at this time. However, before we went to Luxembourg, Collin's boss told him about a surprise box at Villeroy & Boch for 39 Euros which is around $54 at the current Dollar/Euro exchange rate. The only catch is that you don't know what you are getting until after you purchase it. We could not resist and decided to buy a box. We had looked throughout the store and saw that the cheapest plates were 20 Euros. So we thought well, if we got two plates we would come out reasonable and could have a nice dinner for two. Plus we did not own any china and Villeroy & Boch is high quality and made in Luxembourg and Germany.

We were very pleased with our purchase. You can see the table setting for four below. We were tempted to buy another surprise box to see if we could get another matching set. However, every box could be different. We looked at a few other peoples' surprise boxes and nobody got the same set. So we decided to stop while we were ahead. Maybe we will buy another surprise box next time we go to Luxembourg. For 39 Euros we could not be more pleased with our purchase.

Surprise Box

One table set

Everything in our surprise box

Our table is set for four!

Trip to Luxembourg

This past weekend we took a 2-day trip to Luxembourg. This was our first visit to this small country and we had a wonderful time.

Friday we visited the Luxembourg American Cemetery and Memorial. It was very touching. This was our first overseas cemetery to visit. Many brave men and women lost their lives fighting for our freedom during WWII. After we visited the cemetery we went to Villeroy & Boch which is a manufacturer of fine china and ceramics. They had some very beautiful things but all out of our price range. However, Collin's boss told him about a surprise box for a lot less. Our curiosity got the best of us and we bought one. The surprise box deserves a blog entry all on its own. More on that in another entry.

We ate dinner at Mousel's Cantine which was a restuarant recommended in a popular guidebook. We ordered both specials and were not very impressed with the food. We also felt the restaurant was overpriced. It was a cute place but the food was not our favorite nor worth the money.

We spent the night at the Hilton Luxembourg Hotel. It was a very nice hotel. I think they gave us a suite. Anyway, it was the nicest hotel we have stayed in in Europe and we have stayed in a number of hotels over here, including a Hilton in Rome, we were not too impressed with that Hilton. This Hilton had a nice heated pool and we went swimming. This was my first time to swim since being pregnant. I was front heavy and that caught me off guard.

Saturday we spent the day in downtown Luxembourg City, which is the capital of Luxembourg. We got to see the casemates which was one of main attractions we wanted to see in Luxembourg. The views were breathtaking. The city center occupies a picturesque site on a salient, perched high atop precipitous cliffs that drop into the narrow valleys of the Alzette and Petrusse rivers. Luxembourg City is one of the wealthiest cities in the world, having developed into a banking and administrative centre. We also visited the Notre-Dame Cathedral. Luxembourg is a beautiful country and the people were very friendly. We plan to travel there again.

Luxembourg American Cemetery and Memorial

Chapel at the cemetery

There were many gravestones.

Collin's dinner - salmon and spargel

Marisa's dinner - ham, spargel, and fries

Views from the casemates in Luxembourg City.

Casemates

Mother's Day

We would like to wish all the mothers and mothers-to-be a Happy Mother's Day. We had a German/American joint church service this morning and really enjoyed it. After church the men prepared lunch for everyone. We had German food which consisted of schnitzel, salad, fries, and several desserts. The men prepared everything and even cleaned up! It was really nice. We enjoyed meeting and getting to know the members of the German congregation better.

Collin gave me my first Mother's Day card today. It was a mother-to-be card and very sweet. Everyday we are getting closer to meeting our sweet little boy. We are getting excited! We put together his crib today and hope to post pictures of his nursery soon. We still need to move two schranks (closets) out of the nursery and build his closet and put in there. That may take another week or so to accomplish. Two of our friends are coming to visit us this week and we are busy every night leading up to their arrival. We are looking forward to seeing them.

Another Specialist

I went to the doctor tonight and for the most part it went well. Unfortunately, I have to go see another specialist. Thankfully, I do not have gestational diabetes but I am still going to have to be on a "diet" to stop my baby from growing so much. Can I help it if he's hungry? Or maybe I'm just hungry. I also have to try and start walking 1.5 hours per day. That's right! She actually told me if I get hungry in the middle of the day to go walking rather than eat something. My weight gain thus far is 40 lbs, which is apparently is not as much of a problem for me as it is for my baby. My baby seems to be growing too fast. It could just be, like one specialist said, that he's in the top percentile of size for babies his age. He now weighs approximately 2700 grams which is close to 6 lbs and I am only in week 32. Full term is 37-40 weeks. I need to make it at least 5 more weeks to deliver the safest. Therefore, my doctor has referred me to another specialist. I now have to see my doctor every week to check the baby's heart rate and every two weeks for my normal exams.

I asked my doctor what she recommended I do right now regarding my diet. Overall I do eat pretty healthy. She said she was unable to tell me and I must go to the specialist - this is common in Germany, each person has their job and doesn't seem to know or help beyond their own job description. We, however, continued to ask her for her advice, I'll still go see the specialist. My doctor said I need to limit my fruit to only one piece of fruit a day and have it at lunch. I have been eating 3-5 servings of fruit a day. I also need to eat more vegetables. Carrots have been a favorite but she said to not eat as many carrots because they have a lot of sugar in them. She said eat cucumbers. When I am hungry I need to go walking. She said I need to work up to walking 1.5 hours per day. For breakfast I can have an egg, whole grain bread, cheese, and soy milk. She said no more juice. Throughout the day drink green tea and water. Have a yogurt and not to eat late at night. Also I need to stop snacking even if it's healthy. She said do this for two weeks and we should start seeing a difference.

I was a little surprised but not completely. I have felt pretty hungry and like I have always done, I eat when I'm hungry. It was just kind of hard to hear someone say, when you are hungry, don't eat but go walking or eat a cucumber. Now I have a renewed mission to try and be as healthy as I can for the delivery of my baby. Overall most Germans are pretty healthy. We hardly ever see any who are obese and many people in their 70s and 80s still ride bicycles. So I know what she is saying is important and I plan on adjusting my diet accordingly. I want to have a strong and healthy baby.

Prayer Request

We just found out that Marisa's step-grandfather, TJ a.k.a. ToTo, passed away today. He was diagnosed with lung cancer a few weeks ago and the cancer spread rapidly. He was admitted to hospice last Friday. We were told that he passed away around 6am this morning. Please keep Marisa and her family in your prayers. ToTo was a wonderful man and will be missed by many people.