Germany

After two flights consisting of about 14 hours total, we arrived in Germany! It was a snowy morning.  We found the USO in the airport where there were delicious ramen noodle cups! I was totally pumped because I had been starving on the flight. And airplane food is never good. (Don't argue, ramen noodles are healthy and nutritious)..We took a shuttle to Landstuhl, which both Brian and I fell asleep.. Jet lag ..Its awesome.  We were greeted at our hotel as soon as we arrived by Captain Origell and Merri! Both of these women are amazing! They took us around, helped us get food at the commissary, showed us base where Brian would be working, then let us rest at about 4.  When we came into the hotel room, we saw this on our table! It was from them.  They are soo nice!

A basket full of food and goodies!

It was a little overwhelming at first, to say the least.  We didn't have a car, so Merri was nice enough to drive us EVERYWHERE we needed to go! I ended up telling her that we were having a baby, cuz I would get super grouchy if I went hungry for too long.  It was kinda a shock to realize that snacks in a purse are a necessity now!  You have to constantly eat, or you don't feel well! Anyway, She was so excited for me and Brian! She said we would get an appointment right away to see a doctor in clinic.  I was grateful. I was told by my reproductive endocrinologist the week before that I needed an ultrasound before I moved..which we didn't do.  Merri's words came as a relief.

Guess what? I have a cousin that lives 10 minutes up the road! Malee Skinner!!! She is awesome and helped so much in the transition process - especially since we didn't have a car to get around anywhere.  They had us over for dinner a lot! Oh man, and does she know how to cook!  She and her family took us under their wings! We have to repay them when they move at the end of the summer.

Malee!

One thing that was interesting about living in the hotel for a month was...we were paid for every single meal! It was awesome. We went out to eat every. single. night. I felt very blessed that I didn't have to cook much when I really didn't feel all that well.  The scale at my 10 week appointment was a little shocking for both me and Brian.  I gained 10 pounds since moving from Boise. Ugh..only 25 to go to have a healthy pregnancy...I got off the scale and made Brian get on it because i thought it was wrong.  He said oh, its probably right...then stepped onto it.. He changed his tune quickly when it said he weighed 17 lbs more than he weighed in Boise! I had to laugh as he complained to my doctor that the scale had to be wrong. We continued to indulge in going out to eat, but we both started exercising a little more. 

So! Much food!

German Chocolate

Brian eating a Doner!

The picture of Brian is actually our first trip away from Landstuhl. We ended up borrowing a car from a lady in our new ward for about 6 weeks until ours arrived.  She is so so sweet to do that for us!  We went on a few little trips just around Landstuhl. Our first stop was to Trier, Germany.  It was beautiful..and cold! Nevertheless, we enjoyed it!

The Trier Cathedral!

The gate leading into Trier

It was interesting to read up on Wiki about Trier on the way there. It is the oldest city in Germany. It was ruled by Romans for a very long time, hence the Roman look to the gate!

We went on a couple other close trips. Here are a few pictures of our Saturday adventures:

Metz, France -

Metz was beautiful!

The River split around a cathedral. We are behind the cathedral at the point of the divide!

This is said cathedral!

Brian is so awesome to take me places.

Metz castle!

Metz castle!

Climbing the Ruin

We had visitors from the South come up and see us one weekend! I have a cousin, Oliver who lives in Switzerland. He came for a weekend visit.  We got together for a delicious breakfast on sunday, then went together to the Speyer Cathedral! I am sad, I didn't get a picture with them, but we did get these!

Speyer Cathedral

This is another cathedral in Speyer we drove past on the way out.

Washington

The move to Germany was a little crazy.  People came and packed our home for us.  It was hard for me because I had no control over when we would be leaving our apartment.  We ended up leaving 1 hr after they moved everything out! We were able to clean up with the help of Brian's mom.  She brought over cleaning supplies, and helped us! She also took the extra stuff around our house that couldn't be backed up, like liquids, cleaning supplies, opened things, etc. It was nice to be moved out and all of our stuff on its way to Germany! After having dinner with Brian's mom, Sam, and Maddi, we took off for Spokane, WA to see Katie, Nathan, and their kids.  It was so fun to see them for the few days that we were able to.  My favorite parts of visiting was lounging around and talking, and watching Sophia's ballet practice.  She is a doll!!

Our household goods shipment!

:) Lena with Brian!

We took  off early on March 4th to go turn in our car in Seattle, WA!  We got there, and had to clean every inch of our car. Luckily we had vacuumed the car out at Katie's, which helped tremendously.  Jennifer was so nice and came to pick us up before grabbing Dad and Mom from the airport.  They flew in, and so did Cami! It was seriously the best to be with my parents and sisters one last time before moving across the world.  Jennifer sure knows how to throw a party! We had lots of talks, went to Brady's basketball tournament, ate ice cream and other delicious treats and food.

We went to one of Brady's Basketball games, which was totally fun

Ice-cream is a must!

Me and my Dad!

My mom, and beautiful sisters!

I love my sisters. 

Food at Olive Garden.

Sunday, the day before leaving Washington.

It was sad to say goodbye. I am so glad everyone got to come up to WA to see me, and of course Jennifer. Jennifer is the best to put us all up for a few days.

Picture of a picture of a picture

Rainbow Baby

A "rainbow baby" is a baby that is born following a miscarriage or still birth.

In the real world, a beautiful and bright rainbow follows a storm and gives hope of things getting better. The rainbow is more appreciated having just experienced the storm in comparison.

In October 2016, Brian and I will finally be able to hold a precious little rainbow baby, and we can't be more excited.  To announce on social media, we went and took tons of pictures when I was 12 weeks along.  My favorite of the day was taken randomly. It began to sprinkle on us while we were on a trail coming back to our car from a castle on the Rhine.  When we got to the car, we grabbed the water out, ate some snacks, and enjoyed the view of the Rhine.  We started the car and began driving off, when I saw something beautiful over the Rhine!  

The rainbow appeared, and I asked Brian to park the car so we could get a picture of me and that rainbow!

My sister told me a story about her sweet daughter a long time ago. Her little girl was pointing out the car window to a beautiful rainbow in the distance. She asked my sister about the rainbow and how it was made.  Instead of explaining how after the rainstorm - a rainbow will appear, she said "Jesus knew you would be looking out the window, and wanted to give you a beautiful rainbow to look at today." My sister said her child became quiet, and continued to look in awe at the beautiful colors in the sky.  They were, after all, for her!

Moments after Brian took the picture of me with the rainbow over the Rhine, the rainbow disappeared. It was like it was meant for me.

To end, I am so thankful for this pregnancy! I am thankful for the other pregnancies as well, for I am even more excited to snuggle up with my long-awaited baby coming in October.

We liked this one, but Brian didn't like the fact he looked scared. We are too excited for our baby!