Oh the pressure.....

So, my husband informed me the other day the he thought, "our readership was down" on the blog and maybe I could try to post more often. Well, first of all, I didn't realize I had quotas to reach on this thing and second of all, I'm lazy. I love reading about and seeing pictures of other people's lives, but to document ours means walking all the way in the other room (we live in an European apartment remember) and getting the cord to hook up the camera to the computer. I mean really, people, what does this man expect of me? But in the name of making my wonderful hubby happy and perhaps the "masses", too, I'll try to post more often.
Here is an update of what we have been up to lately. Jake is about to take his last German class at the Deutch Akademie. This will conclude 9 months of intensive language study. I am so proud of him!!! I am looking into a tutor to futher my German learin' (sorry couldn't resist). I have also been sewing a lot. I've made a pair of pants for Abby, 12 dresden plate quitl squares, a skirt for myself and am working on a dress for Abby. When we moved here I shipped a ton of fabric and patterns so I'm trying to use some of that stuff up.
Abby is beginning to speak much more German, too. I've heard her speak complete sentences with other people, but mostly will just use a few words with us at home. She is totally into dogs and most any animal. She pretends to be a dog most of the day, I'm sure people on the bus think she is some sort of weirdo, but she's pretty cute. She also recently developed a keen interest in letters. She is writing her name now, too. Let me insert here that we have not been "teaching" her to write or read, she just started doing it on her own. I say this mostly to reassure myself that I'm staying in the guidelines of "developmentally appropriate practices". Can I get a holla' from any early childhood educators out there? Any hoo, back to recent happenings. Last weekend we went out to eat with a 2 Austiran Christian couples and had a great time. We met one of the couples on our survey trip in 2005 and the other we met more recently. We went to eat at an awesome pizza place and sat outside. It was an incredibly beautiful day. Then this last weekend we went to a BBQ at the home Martin and Sue. They are also Christians, and have 2 kiddos, a little girl Abby's age and quite possibly one of the cutest little boys ever!!!
That is pretty much what we're up to lately. Keep the blog post comin' I love "spying" on everyone :)

Flowers

Last night we went to eat at one of our new favorite places, Fresco Grill. It is a little like Chipotle or Mo's, and is the best choice for fresh Mexican in Vienna. Granted, there aren't a whole lot of options for Mexican in Vienna, but it is still really good. Afterwards, we walked around Votiv Kirche and enjoyed the awesome weather. For a few weeks now, all over Vienna, flowers have been showing up in flower beds, in yards and window boxes. I love tulips and they are in no short supply right now. Above is a pic of Abby sitting on a flower bed near Votiv Kirche.

Hannah Update

Here is a recent picture of sweet little Hannah. She is growing still, and up to 4 lbs. and 5 oz. She is recovering from an infection she had recently, and Claire said she is better, but not quite back up to where she was before the infection. I ask you all to keep praying for little Hannah and her parents.

A Moment of Truth

I am sitting here on my couch looking at what is currently occupying the top of my coffee table. The items include a bottle of ketchup, a bottle of salad dressing, partially folded laundry, a new pair of shoes for Abby sent by Nana, a daily Bible, a broken bracelet Abby refuses to let me throw away and a plate from tonight's dinner of schnitzel and fries. If you're one of those analytical types, feel free to analyze the current state of our lives. If you're just someone who ever feels like you never get done all the things you want too, well, you're not alone. Now, I could jump right up and clear the coffee table, do some dishes, put away laundry, etc. But quite frankly, I'm tired and instead, I think I'll watch a few episodes of Scrubs with my hubby and hopefully get to bed at a descent hour tonight. So what's on your coffee table right now?

Easter Pics

The last one is a movie. Click on it to play.

 

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.