Easter

Easter has always been a big holiday for me. Since we have been married we have celebrated Easter with friends, usually friends from Colorado. I would always fix a big dinner and we would invite some of our "Colorado kids" over. This is the first year we weren't able to do that. Instead, this year we celebrated Easter with the Rybinski's. Tamika is actually from Colorado, so I guess we got to keep the Colorado connection to some degree. I made ham, scalloped potatoes and a fruit salad. Tamika provided green bean casserole, rolls and lemon cake. In my mind, you can't possibly call it Easter dinner without ham, scalloped potatoes and lemon cake. We had a great time, especailly the girls. After dinner the grown ups played a couple of rounds of Wii bowling. This was my first time to Wii, and I really liked it. After Wii, the girls did their egg hunt. They were so funny running around and screaming/screeching each time they found an egg. I will post pics soon, they are trapped in Jake's fancy camera which I have no idea how to operate.

In other news, the Jeep is up and running again. Turns out a tube or hose had come loose and allowed all the transmission fluid to leak out. It was a pretty simple fix, thank goodness. While it was in the shop Jake also had a thermostat replaced. This is awesome because now the heater works. It sort of worked before, but not really. Whenever we would go on a long trip we would have to wear gloves and scarves and cover up with blankets. Happy Spring to everyone!!!!

Das Auto ist kaput

Today, we headed out the door to go to church. We were especially excited today, because we were going to go to Bart and Tamika's for lunch and then to a park. So we pile in the car and are headed down the road and Jake says, "I think something is wrong with the Jeep." Oh yeah, I forgot to tell him yesterday that when I got out of the car there was something red underneath it. Turns out red stuff, is transmission fluid. So, we turn around and Jake drops us off and heads to the gas station to look for more transmission fluid. He finds it and starts to head back to pick up Abby and me, so we can at least make it to Bart and Tamika's for lunch. Well, by the time he gets home most of the fluid has leaked out already. We decided it wasn't a good idea to head across town on the autobahn and risk breaking down. Abby was heartbroken we weren't going to church. She informed us she was going to walk and she better hurry or she would be late, and proceeds to walk down the sidewalk. After some bribing by Mom she decides to not walk it. So, we had a family devotional at home today. Later in the morning Tamika called and asked if we wanted to meet in the center for lunch with the Hensals and Kim's parents who are in town. Well, we jumped at the offer. Abby was excited she was going to see her friends, but fell asleep on the u-bahn and slept completely through lunch. She woke up just as we were leaving and had to eat her lunch in the stroller. So, tomorrow Jake is off to see what is going to take to get the Jeep fixed. We are praying it will be fairly minor and not cost a fortune.

Further prayer requests

Please see the email below from Claire:

To our Prayer Warriors,

Hannah has not had a good morning, her breathing is getting worse rather
than staying the same or getting better. I know something is wrong, but
so far haven't heard any answers from anyone. Maybe today will be the day
they get to the bottom of it. Hannah needs healing, the doctors need
wisdom, and I need strength and patience....

As a praise, she continues to do well with her feedings and is gaining
weight.

Love,
Claire & Hannah

Hannah update and other less important news

I received an email from Claire earlier this week that Hannah was successfully taking milk and processing it all the way through. Isn't it strange how your view of poop changes once you enter parenthood? Anyway, she was also having to go back on some sort of respirator to help her breath a little easier. Please keep praying for this little girl.

In Haskew news, Abby is beginning to speak a bit of German. It is pretty cute how little words are starting to pop out once in awhile. Daisy seems to be the preferred recipient of the Deutsch, but also appears to be unaffected by the commands given in a foreign language. I started back to German class this week also. I wish I could say I was thrilled, loving it, and doing awesome. Sadly, I can not. You know what? Learning to speak another language is HARD!!!! And please don't try to console me with any of the following statements: "It is easier to learn a foreign language when you live in the country where it is spoken." or "You probably don't even really need to know German, because everyone speaks English anyway." or "Don't worry it will come eventually." To all of these I would say, "Well, thanks for the advice, but obviously you don't know what you're talking about." Needless to say, be praying that I can get my head and heart around this language thing.

Prayer Request

I would like to ask each of you who read out blog to be praying for a very special little girl. Her name is Hannah Jeane Fowler, and she is the daughter of my college roommate Claire and her husband Matthew. Claire is a very special friend to Jake and I, and we have come to love Matthew as well. Hannah was born 3 months early and weighed in at 2 pounds and 2 ounces. The last report I had was she was doing well, all things considered. She has had to have a little help breathing, but is doing a lot on her own. I will try to post an update if I find out anything new. Please pray that Hannah will continue to do well, and grow strong and healthy. Also, please pray for her parents that they will be comforted, encouraged and given energy during this time.

Valentines Day

Our first Valentine's Day in Vienna was one of the best ever!!! Although, at the start of the day I had my doubts. Silly girl, don't you know your hubby always comes through!?! So, here's the breakdown for the day. The morning started off as usual, waking up and getting Abby ready for kindergarten, eating breakfast, taking a shower, nothing grand. Due to a crazy German class schedule this month, I have been taking Abby to school. That is exactly what I was planning on doing this particular morning as well. So, as we are about to walk out the front door, Jake comes out of our bedroom saying he is going to drive us to the bus stop and drop us off. What? This throws a wrench in my day. I had planned to take Abby to school and then drive to a store I have been wanting to visit and do some research on entry way furnishings. Well, now that was blown. We hadn't previously discussed the day's events, but I definitely made my plans. FYI, in case you didn't know, I don't like it very much when my plans get all messed up. I got over it and said it was fine if he dropped us off, thinking, "Well, I guess Ill just have to go down to Karlsplatz and have a Starbucks instead." So, Jake dropped us off at the bus stop and said to call him when I dropped Abby off. Arrrggghhhh, here he goes again, messing my plans up!!!! Then suddenly, it occurs to me he may be up to something. So, naturally, I cheerfully say, "Ok." Kisses and Abby and I head to the bus stop. I think I see the bus coming and we have to make a run for it. If you haven't done it before, picking up a 33 pound 4 year old and making a run for the bus isn't fun. Turns out, it wasn't even our bus.
We'll skip the uneventful bus ride and jump ahead to calling Jake. I make the call and he he asks me to meet him at the u-bahn stop close by one of the shopping centers. He says it will be a little bit so I can just hang out at the mall. Darn, just walk around the mall, well, if I have to. Turns out I'm glad I did. I found Abby a super cute hat, scarf and gloves in the clearance bin for less than 10 euros. You can see it in the pic below. Back to the big day. We finally meet at the u-bahn and jump on. We head downtown to have breakfast at a favorite cafe. They make a mean omelet and have a picture perfect table in the front window. We make the hike down there, only to find out they are "machen urlaub" aka on vacation. Who takes vacation in February. Apparently, restaurant owners in Vienna. Plan B. This is Vienna and there is always another cafe around the corner. We head around the corner and low and behold another cafe. We sit down and enjoy of very nice fruestuck (breakfast). Then Jake leads me down to fav little shop to pick out a Valentine's present. You can see that in the pic below, too. We have just a little time before we have to pick up Abby, so Jake takes me into Starbucks. We grab a cup of coffee and set off to pick up the pipsqueak.
So, I'm thinking, "What a great day. Good breakfast, shopping and coffee to boot." We get Abby and start to head home, or so I think. Nope, my awesome man has other plans. He made arrangements with Brian and Alisha to keep her for the afternoon. Abby is jazzed about the prospect because she gets to play with Sharkdog. After we drop Abby off, we do indeed head home. Jake had rented 2 movies for our "Valentine's Theater Matinee" He also had a very pretty rose plant for me. Once again, see pic below. So, we watched movies ate popcorn and just relaxed on the couch. Around dinner time, Jake told me to get my shoes on we were going to go get something to eat. He took me to one of our fav places that is close by our house. They serve great traditional Austrian food. We stuffed ourselves and enjoyed another cup of coffee and then went back home to watch the second movie. Around 8 he went to pick Abby up. It was a perfect day, despite the initial bad attitude and early dining setbacks. Thanks, Hon, you're the best!!!!

A Night Out

Jake and I had an actual date last night. A full date, can you believe it? Bart and Tamika had offered to keep Abby overnight for us awhile back and so we finally took them up on it. We dropped her off right after Jake got out of school and then we hit the town. We went down to Mariahilfestrasse to grab a bite to eat. We just wanted something quick and small so we had McDonalds. I know, I know a night out and we got to McD's, well it was still early and we had other great plans. After our super, yummy snack we went to Starbucks. Again, I know we live in the birthplace of the modern coffeehouse and we go to the lame, American imitation. Well, Starbucks is totally smoke free and just happens to make a great Carmel Macciato. So, there. When you visit us, we'll be happy to take you somewhere authentic, until then I'll have my coffee sans lung cancer as much as possible. Anyway, back the date. After we finished our coffee we had a little time before the movie started so we just walked around and talked and looked in a few shops. After our window shopping we went to see "National Treasure: Book of Secrets." Jake had been waiting to see this movie for a couple of months and I'd say it was pretty good. A bit unrealistic, but good. After the movie and a huge tub-o-popcorn we headed to one of our favorite restraunts. It's near Stephandom and we love it. Its called Ribs. Yep, that's it, Ribs. Now, mind you we live in Austria and not in Memphis, but these are really good ribs. We pigged out throughly and then decided it was late, like 7:30 and headed home. A note about the time, is it just me or does having kids totally change your life? We really feel like we are livin' large if we are out past 6:00 pm. I remember when.....(sigh).
So, this morning we slept in till 8:30. Once again, kids sure change things. We went and had a Wiener fruestuck (breakfast) and then went to pick up Abby. Well, actually Jake picked her up and I went to meet Alisha to go to a fabric shop. All in all, a great date. I can't wait to do it again, hopefully in the next 6 months :)