A little over a week in Germany :]

Hello or Guten Tag,

It has now been a little bit over a week in Germany and whew its been whirlwind! There are many things that differ from our lives in America as we expected.

For instance the first time we went to the grocery store we found that the candy brand 'Haribo' is priced at .84 cents per bag! Paige got very excited because Haribo is one of our favorite types of sweets. Because this brand is made and manufacture in Germany it is so much cheaper to buy. This got us both very excited that one of our favorite things actually came to an advantage for us! :] Not only is it cheaper, but we plan to visit the Haribo factory in two weeks in a town called Cologne. This (conveniently) is where the families grandparents live as well!

 Alaina eating a mini gummy bear on the train. Clearly she has had a few too many of these yummy Haribo's ;)

Not only did we further discover the love of Haribo sweets in Germany, we also found that the Germans also must have their fresh bread, rolls, and pastries every morning. Which in the end has turned out wonderful for us because now we fringe off the benefits of this. Every morning one of the boys take a bike to the end of the road where the bakery is to buy fresh rolls and buns for our breakfast that day. These bread shops are more frequent than gas stations in Stuttgart!

 We also unexpectedly found a bread market downtown which happens to only come once a year! We got to try many samples of different types of their breads from all over Europe. A few from Italy, France, and Germany. Paige and I decided to splurge and buy a very worthwhile brushchetta made with Italian bread, yum!

 

This past Saturday after all of our new eating habits and bread discoveries, Paige and I had to find a way to exert some energy. There are many hikes, bike paths, and walks all over Stuttgart that we want to do (and some even have castles along the paths!).So we got up early Saturday morning, packed a lunch, and hit the trails! After finding this forest with many different paths to take we spent over two hours walking and seeing great views of Stuttgart. This picture is mostly to show the view behind us, a vineyard that is growing up the mountain beside us. The hike was fun to see what we can view from just down the road, and to see more of Germany's beautiful nature.

Well today is another day in Germany, and we're off to find adventure!- xoxo

Start the six months off!

Halo!
Thankfully we made it to our host family's home safe and sound with all of our things! Praise God!

On our first day we set up the boy's trampoline which we thought was going to be quite easy and could be done fast. We were sadly mistaken. Setting up the frame and attaching the springs to the actual tarp took effort but we were successful. After those steps we started to become resentful to the fact that there was still a safety net...however after our persistent hard work and some bending of metal we finished! Thankfully we did not have the Texas heat to slow us down to a snails pace. The boys have been using it everyday as much as they can which boosts our self esteem to see that our construction skills were not in vain.

After researching "Churches in Stuttgart"on Google and asking around to trusted friends we visited the "International Baptist Church in Stuttgart" (IBC). The Lord is so good, He provided exactly what we need to grow in Him and hopefully in relationships that we establish there. We are praying that He will provide a way to become further involved in the High School group or young adult group so that we can put good use to our time and energy by serving Him.

We fully unpacked and are no longer living out of our suitcases which really brings to reality the fact that we will be in this house and in Germany for 6 months!! We were just saying to each other last night around dinner that never in a million years would we have thought God would put us in Germany for 6 months looking after 3 hooligan boys(;

Please continue to pray for our learning so many new things at once. Also for us to learn the boys personalities and to be patient with them at all times. Thanks so much for thinking of us! Stay tuned for more news of adventures soon to come :]


Off to find adventure-xoxo

Hello from Poland! 

It has been a few days since our last post only because of our busy time with fellowship with friends, and exciting times with new things around us. Here are a few pictures of what we've been up to the last few days.  

 Here is a picture of Alaina and her new Polish friend George playing an extremely large game of ninja in the park. (she didn't get very far in the game;] )

After the ninja game the group went to go and watch the Euro Cup soccer game of Poland vs. Russia. Which ended up being very exciting at the house when Poland unexpectedly tied 1-1 with Russia!

Here is Alaina and Dad looking forward to a yummy dinner of Polish sausage from the small village where our friends live and some great conversation. (also excited for the dessert of mouth watering strawberries and ice cream...so delicious!)

Paige and Drew having some uhhhh...quality time? :] Messing around and being silly after dinner with some friends. Drew is glad to spend some time with us before we leave for Germany so soon.










These are just a few snippets of the last three days in Poland. We have also visited Josiah Adventures recently built H2O to see the amazing progress that has been made, and the plans still yet to come. Check out what the building looks like and what the ministry is doing in Poland's youth! (http://www.josiahventure.com/about/training-centers/h20-poland)

We (Paige and Alaina) leave this coming Friday to finally go and meet our German Au Pair family for the first time. Until then we are having a great time growing deeper with our friends in Poland.

Keep watching out for more adventures of just Paige and I to come very soon! Please comment or 'share' our blog on Facebook :]


Off to find adventure-xoxo

Hello All!

We are still in England for the time being and have done a few more things since the last update, so here are a few pictures of what we've been doing. :]

 

 We met up with our friends in the evening for some dinner at our favorite place Nandos (famous for some delicious chicken, and olives). Drew also challenged Issy to a few rounds of cards (he was begging for his money back by the end of the night ;) ).

We speed up to Leicester Square to try and snag tickets to Wicked...and here's our picture of success after we bought them. A musical in London?! We think yes.

Right behind us is the theater where the musical was held. The show was fantastic, it lived up to all it was talked up to be.

Our day was jammed full with as much as we could bare. We had a fantastic time walking through London to just take in all the history that is so rich in this old country. Also stopped into the local Tesco (Jewel/Kroger) for some Haribo candy/sweets...yum! Tomorrow is our last day in the city of London, then we head off to Poland to visit with dear friends. Please pray for safe journey and that we could be a blessing to the friends we love.

Off to find adventure-xoxo

Cheers from London!

LONDON CALLING!

We safely arrived into rainy London yesterday. Union Jack flags are still flying high from the Queen's Jubilee. This is from the Pall Mall, in front of the Prince of Wales' home and the street ends at Buckingham Palace.

Also we had a chance to walk through St James' Park and Green Park...Tried to walk off the jet lag!!

Went to the West End for pizza and cake with the Hendersons - Lara & Ross are our friends from elementary school. Here are a few photos just from yesterday...

Today we have other plans around London - We will post more pictures and tales of adventures.

Off to find adventure xoxo

Good morning!

Today is the much anticipated day of departure! We will leave in just a few minutes to go to our first connection flight into Detroit, Michigan. We will then head directly to Heathrow airport in London, England where will will spend four days. After our short stop we will go to Poland for three days to visit with our missionary friends before we are off to Germany. Paige and I then leave for Germany to meet (for the first time off of Skype) our new Germany family. We will meet the boys and see our new living arrangement for the first time. Keep an eye out for our post about our new family which is soon to come. Well its time to leave for the airport now, have to leave!

Off to find adventure-xoxo

Pre-departure 6.3.12

Hello All!

We started this blog so anyone who wants to see what Paige and I are doing for the next six months or longer can be involved. We are so excited to start this next stage in life. We graduated from Mckinney Boyd High School on Friday, June 1st and leave for Germany Thursday, June 7th. While in Germany we will be nannying for a family of three boys (ages 5,6,&8). Immersing ourselves in culture, language, and new people. We are SO pumped for this opportunity to learn not only about ourselves, but grow in new relationships. God is so good to us, and blesses us continually. We will be posting about our travels, and everyday situations/stories. Please pray for us as we go overseas for our many adventures ahead, and keep looking for new posts full of pictures and exciting stories of many new things to experience. 

Off to find adventure~xoxo