Part 2

Finally i found time to put up the second part of Paul and Kristi's trip...



We drove down to Nuernburg for a few days to visit Eugene, the exchange student that stayed with Paul and Kristi for a year. We met his parents (who are Russian) and we two delicious traditional Russian meals with them. From there we drove onto Wartsburg and saw the castle where Luther translated part of the New Testement to German. It was a long hike up a mountain in the snow, but totally worth it.

We were sad to see David's parents go, especially Emma. But we'll be back in Laramie soon.

Paul and Kristi's Visit Part 1

David's parents came to visit us for about 10 days last month. We had so much fun and did alot of traveling in a short amount of time. It was worth it though, we saw some great stuff.

First we drove from Dusseldorf to Brugge and met Mike Gorski. We spent the day here going to some lace shops, a chocolatier and looking at an old church.

Mike and David

That night we stayed at the Chateau where Mike and Valerie live. It was beautiful there and the weather was great!

The next day we drove to a town outside of Paris and took a train into the city. We were thankful to have the opportunity to spend some time with Valerie and Mike. They are expecting a baby in August...

We spent a quick afternoon in Paris. First we went to this fountain at the Concord. Paul's uncle washed his clothes here during WWII. From here we walked all the way up to the Ache de Triumph...
On our way back out of the city we stopped to see the Eiffel Tower. Emma got to ride the carousel at the bottem while we took pictures. It was pretty amazing.

That night we stayed at a really cool bed and breakfast. The house was decorated really neat and the food was wonderful-crepes and homemade bread pudding...

The bed and breakfast...



The next day we went to Versailles...

The gardens were spectacular but it was too early to see the flowers.

This was one of my favorite parts. Marie Antoinette built a little peasant farm on the castle grounds. It was where she would go and pretend to be a peasant.

Friends

We said goodbye to our friend Antje last month. She took a job with an organization called the Ark in Munich. It's the perfect job for her; they're a Christian organization that works with street kids. She was Emma's babysitter while David and I were in language school for six months. Emma adores her and really misses her. It's going to be hard on Emma when we leave for the States. All her friends are here and this is all she knows of home.

Gregor lives underneath us and his fiance Magde lives in Berlin and is finishing school there. We're planning to go see Berlin and stay with them soon. We're really excited. "I want to ride my bicycle..." (this is Gregor's bike :)

It's been raining alot...

Emma's new favorite thing is riding her horse...

Update

A couple weeks ago, we all drove about 30 mins to see a castle on our day off. It was really pretty. It was closed so we couldn't see the inside but the outside was gorgeous up on a hill.

Maggie is getting really big. David took her to her 6 month appointment but the doctor never weighed and measured her. So all i know is she weighs about 22 or 23 pounds and she's wearing Emma's 12 month clothes. She doesn't have alot of fat roles she is just looks alot older than she is.

Emma loves her doll from Grandma Kristi. She is always feeding her and pushing her in the doll stroller.

Some pics

Playing Dress up with the hat and purse from Aunt Amy

Emma's 2nd Birthday

Emma had a pony theme birthday party. David did a great job drawing a My Little Pony on her cake. She had 2 friends there, Emeline of course, and Ari, her German friend. His dad is the pastor David works with in Wuppertal. He's about the sweetest 2 year old boy i've ever met. The day went great and she was really spoiled with gifts. She recieved some wonderful things. Emeline sat right next to her the whole time she opened presents and just watched. It was hilarious!

Baby Tag

1- Where were you when you first found out you were pregnant?I was in our first apartment in Dusseldorf
2- Who was with you?David and Emma
3- How did you find out that you were pregnant?I took a home pregnancy test.
4- What was your first reaction to finding out you were pregnant?I was so excited and overwhelmed. We'd been in Germany only 2 weeks.
5- Your Husbands reaction?He felt the same way I did.
6- Who was the first person you told? David, then our parents
7-Did you plan to get pregnant?Yes we'd been trying for 3 months
8-Was everybody happy for you?I think so
9- Did you go out and celebrate?Not really, but we were so happy talking about it.
10- Did you want to find out the sex?Yes
11- What was the sex?Girl.
12-Did anyone throw you a baby shower?no, but our church sent us all kinds of gifts
13- If yes, who?
14- Did you get any outfits at the baby shower that you just knew you weren't going to put on your baby?No.
15- How much weight did you gain?30 lbs.
16- Did you loose all of the weight that you gained?Nope. I still have about 15-20 lbs to lose , it's been alot harder with the second one
17- Did you get a lot of stretch marks?a few, more than with Emma
18- What did you crave the most?Mexican, and it's so hard to get here
.19- Did you crave anything crazy? No.
20- Who or what got on your nerves the most? feeling claustrophobic
21- Were you married at the time? Yep
22- Did you have any complications during your pregnancy?No, thankfully
23- Where were you when you went into labor?At home in bed.
24- Did your water break?Negative.i just started having heavy contractions
25- Who drove you to the hospital? David and I walked across the street to the hospital (which was really nasty btw, Like something out of "one flew over the cuckoo's nest")
26- Did you go early or late?1 day late
27- Who was in the room with you when you gave birth?David and the habamme (kind of like a midwife)
28- Was it video taped?Nope.
29- Did you have any drugs for the pain? Epidural
30-Did you go Natural or have a c-section?natural
.31- What was your first reaction after giving birth?I was so happy and so glad i could finally hold her
32- How big was the baby(s)?3800kg and 55cm
33- Did your Husband cry?No,
34- What did you name the baby(s)?Margaret Kristi
35-Did the name have any significance to you?Margaret is my grandma Koster's name and she was born on my mother-in-law Kristi's birthday
36-Does the baby's name fit? definitely
.37- Did the baby(s) have any complications?nope
38- How old is your baby today?6 months
.39- When is the next one(s) coming?Only God knows, but hopefully soon :)
40- If you could would you do it all over again?Absolutely!