Entering a new phase in life

After blogging for nearly 13 years, I stopped in May, for a few reasons.  Firstly, I had begun to be more concerned about our family's privacy. As the kids get older, they will want to have more of a say in what is "out there" on the internet, and there was quite a lot on our previous family blog. Secondly, for the first time, I was beginning to see visits to the blog coming from websites that made me uncomfortable, and even more concerned about personal information that I had been sharing fairly openly. And finally, we were preparing for an international move, and it seemed like a good time to put blogging on hold, and to focus my energy on the move and the more immediate needs of our family.  So, I changed the blog status to private, and really haven't touched it since.

Now that we are settled in (somewhat) to our new home, and new routines, I have found myself missing our blog space to record and share memories, events, and thoughts.  I talked it over with the family, and they were on board for a NEW family blog.  It will really be more of the same, as I share our daily life, milestones, and travel adventures; but I will not be sharing our real names, town, or the names of the kids' schools.  I hope that you will enjoy our posts and comment, but please don't share this information in the comments either. 

Sooooo without further ado, here is a glimpse back at our busy Summer!

 

Our last few weeks in Germany were packed with fun and work!  We took a weekend to go to Legoland one last time, and the kiddos loved it- as always.

 

Cha-Cha, Buddy, Bear, and Sissy.

(They chose those names themselves, so don't blame me!)

 

Having fun at an amusement park seems to bring out the love between these two especially.

 

Our Buddy completed his Arrow of Light for Cub Scouts.

 

And we said goodbye to our home of 5 years.

 

The final packing up and cleaning out took about 3 days total, and we moved into a hotel for the last week of school.

 

While staying at the hotel, we made sure to go have some more German fun too!  We rode the cable car up in Rudesheim and hiked down through the vineyards along the Rhine River.

 

And we had a schnitzel dinner.

 

We also drove out to Michelstadt for our last mini-road trip.  This was the first village we visited when we moved to Germany the first time back in 2008.  It is one of my favorite medieval walled towns, with this Rathaus dating from 1484.

 

And we had ice cream at a cafe I feel in love with on that first visit too.

 

Until next time Michelstadt!

 

The last day of school happened to coincide with the celebration of the 70th anniversary of the Berlin Airlift. We visited the airfield where period aircraft, as well as modern helicopters, were on display to be toured.

 

It was neat event, and a cool way to learn about this amazing act to help the people of Berlin immediately following WWII.

 

The kiddos had a bittersweet day.  They had a lot of fun, but also some tears saying goodbye to their friends and teachers.

 

The next morning it was time to fly back to America!

A very kind friend offered to pick us up and drive us (and all of our luggage) to the airport.

 

Our first stop back in the States was to visit my family in Pennsylvania. We spent a week having a lot of fun and doing a lot of cool stuff.  We had a picnic at my sister's house for Father's Day.

 

And then went to an Iron Pigs baseball game.

 

The kiddos were spoiled with souvenirs, dippin' dots, and fireworks.  They loved it all!

 

They are a loud crazy bunch sometimes, but we do love them!

 

Back at the  farm, there was four-wheeling with cousins...

 

Visiting and brushing horses...

 

And campfire S'mores.

 

We also played checkers with Pop-Pop in the park...

 

And at home.

 

We met US champion quarter midget race car drivers...

 

Battled at the trampoline park...

 

And rode a historic train in Jim Thorpe.

 

Our grand finale in PA was a visit to Knoebel's Amusement Park.  I love this old-fashioned park because it has so many shade trees, and no general admission fee. You can buy tickets, a wristband, or just walk around and watch the kiddos go crazy.

 

We had a lot of fun soaking up all of the Americana in the Poconos!

 

Before we knew it though, it was time to move on to our final destination- Utah!

 

We arrived in Utah at the end of June and settled into our Homeaway temporary rental while we looked for a house. 

 

For a family of 6, this was much cheaper than a hotel, and we had a full apartment to ourselves.

 

There was even a lovely pool for us to enjoy while Dad was at work and we were car-less.

 

While house and car hunting we were super excited to have Grandpa and Grandma nearby.  We enjoyed dinners with them and took advantage of free babysitting, which the kids enjoyed way more than looking at used cars. 

 

We celebrated the 4th of July with sparklers, a cookout, and watching fireworks from Grandma and Grandpa's house too!

 

We also explored Salt Lake City and Temple Square a little bit. 

 

And got into the nearby mountains for some very cold lake swimming...

 

...and hiking.

 

 

We did find a house to rent that we are very happy with, and spent the last half of July settling in and waiting for our household goods shipment. We loved getting to visit with old friends from Germany who were in the area to visit family one day.

 

It seriously helped brighten our whole week to spend some time with these awesome people!  

 

Speaking of awesome people, I have been loving catching up with old friends that live in Utah.  We have been saying for years that "one day" we might live in Utah for a while.

 

And that day is finally here!