An update!

We have arrived.  It has been a roller coaster of a ride!  It has not been super easy but we made it! Here is a little update.

Cleaning and inspections filled our last days in Germany.  I was so weary of cleaning but the good thing is it is one of my specialties, so between the car and the apartment they were spotless.

Here we are saying goodbye to our apartment.

 

 Owen's and Meg's last of school in Germany was so hard.  I walked down the hall towards Owen's classroom and I stood in the hall and caught his eye.  They were having a Halloween party. I noticed he didn't want to look at me and kept looking at the ceiling.  Then I saw the teacher talking with a student who was very upset and then the teacher saw me and said she needed to speak to me. I was thinking, "this is strange, something is going on I can certainly tell from how Owen was avoiding me and why is this kid so upset. Did something happen?"  Well, the teacher met me in the hall and she said, "I have been teaching 3rd grade for many years and kids come and go and it is no big deal but the students are very upset that Owen is leaving.  Tyresse (the boy that was upset) is having a very hard time and lots of kids are crying."  That is when I realized Owen was looking up so that the tears would not roll out.  (he hates to cry in front of people) 

The teacher said, "this is so rare for students to be upset and she wanted me to know how much the students loved Owen."  I kept it together and told Tyresse we would keep in touch. Then it was off to pick up Meg.  Well, little Ms. Meg was a basket case.  She made it into the hall and then let loose.  I even got choked up with a little boy came up to hug her and say goodbye.  We all went to the car and cried.  Owen was trying to hold it together and then he said, "I feel the sadness coming to me."  (boys have such a cute way of expressing themselves.)  Anyway, that night we met up with our dear friends a the bowling ally for some pizza and fun and hopefully no more tears. 

 I will truly miss my, "lovelies". 

The kids found a helium balloon left over from a birthday party in a room at the bowling ally.  The girls mom and I were talking and she said, "Listen to what they are saying,"  So we listened in and they were all around the balloon and they said, "let's make a wish and then let the balloon go."  We both got chocked up when they agreed the wish should be that they will always be friends.  They agreed and then let the balloon go...... so sweet.

Time to board the plane!  We knew it would be a long day and boy was it.  In the last few weeks we have made it through: multiple rental cars, taxi drives, 3 plane rides,  16 hours of flying, multiple hours of layovers and lots of hotels!

 

 
We crossed so many time zones that at one point I didn't know what day or time it was.

BUT it was all worth it!  It is so good to be back in the STATES and look who picked us up in Tucson!

                                                        MARVIN  - best friends reunited!

 It has taken awhile for our bodies to adjust.  Germany and Arizona have an 8 hour time gap.

 We wasted no time in letting these boys be back together.  Here we are at Lowes doing one of their woodworking activities.  It was awesome.  I highly recommend these little workshops.  The girls loved it to.  They hold them once and month and we are already signed up for Dec.

 We went Geo caching with Marvin's Family last Sat.  it was a great hike, we found three caches.

 We are so grateful for Marvin's family they have truly blessed us.  They provided meals for us, air mattresses, towels, chairs, pillows and the list goes on and on.   It really is amazing how God provides.  He has certainly used Marvin's family!

More pictures soon. We are off to California to pick up our car.  Updates on our new residents, and household goods arriving soon!  So many thanks for the prayers sent our way to help us through this transition.  We are so grateful!