Do You Recognize Her?

I finally gave in to Madeline's urge to cut her hair. Pretty Cute!

Let's go for a drive

The big news of the day....a new car. Well let me clarify, a new used car. We were finally able to finalize the papers, plates, registration, emissions and a litney of other things to take possession of our 2nd car an Opel Astra (a wagon). Still learning the whole diseal thing. I think Brad's a bit worried I'll put regular gas in so he's put reminder stickers everywhere!

So we went for a drive in the new family wagon. We were hunting a local horse farm that we had heard swaps riding lessons for working in the stables. With the little german we know and the help of english speaking germans along the way, we came up empty handed.

So, lets go for a drive began. We suddenly found ourselves on a narrow road only getting narrower. Posted a mile in was a sign for tractors only. There was no way we were going to be able to turn around so we just knew there would be an end to our path. After passing many eldery people taking their evening walk polietly stepping off the pavement onto the grass with their walkers...yes walkers...and many weird looks we finally made it to a road where vehicles were allowed. We chalk it up to a learning experience and a beautiful drive others will never experience! Yes the first adventure of "The Borkes Do Europe"! Lynn- I know you can appreciate this story!!

So, off to take my drivers test tomorrow so I can enjoy more of the countryside in my new Opel!

A Day in the Life of Adventure

Would you expect anything different from us then to hit the ground running? Day 2 and we're over jetlag and ready for the first adventure. Upon our arrival Thursday, we had several appointments to get out of the way and Friday we finished with being able to navagate our way around town and for me - relearning how to drive a 5-speed!

Today we hit several summer festivals in neighboring towns. We headed north toward Heilbronn and took in our first Volksmarch with the kids. A Volksmarch is a community hike that sometimes winds through the town or forest area; today, the vineyards. What a beautiful sight. We were able to have some great food, apflsaftshorle (carbonated apple juice - a local favorite and Borke family staple), belgian waffles, schweinsteak mit brochen (marinated pork steak with a hard roll), kaffee, and Jack's favorite....rote wurst (german style hot dog)! On a Volksmarch you are always guarenteed a beautiful view and great food. After we left our mark at the vineyard we headed south to Essingen am Nekar - a beautiful cobblestone town along the river. There we stumbled upon more vineyards, a castle on the hill, several cannals winding through the village and an international Handball tournament. What more could you ask for? The kids are really enjoying all the sights to see.

Tomorrow's adventure will be attending our new church home and having dinner with new friends. We are still in temporary housing on base awaiting the final signing of our papers for our rental house.

In the meantime, enjoy some photos from today! We miss all of you!

No, he's not bleeding...it's cherry juice from a cherry tree he found!

A Day of Fame

While on vacation in Cincinnati, Madeline was featured in the "Hometown" section of the local paper playing putt-putt! Here's her 30 seconds of fame! Funny thing is ... today we were interviewed for the local German paper while attending a Volksmarch!

Photo Remark

After reviewing the photo of Brad and the kids, I thought I should comment. Jack is proudly displaying his new "Bavarian" pocket knife from Daddy which was used to cut the beautiful gladiola that Madeline is holding. He's not crazy like it looks!

July...Already?

Yes, it's already the end of July. I really don't know where our summer has gone; well I do, it's just hard to believe we're already looking at school starting. We finished up our visits with family and friends in Ohio and DC and enjoyed every minute of it. Those of you who were so gracious as to let us crash at your homes during this time....thanks again, we couldn't have done it without you.

We're on our last leg of the transition now. We arrived in Germany today. The 16 hr trip was quite uneventful. The kids did wonderful and slept most of the time...Praise the Lord! Thanks to all of you who have been praying for us...we can tell. The Lord has provided in so many ways, safety in travel, a church home, supplying us with a home to rent off base, a car, and wonderful friends already.

When we arrived this morning at 2:30 am ET, we quickly adjusted to it being 8:30 am European Time. The first stop was a roadside flower farm. Just walk the field, cut the flowers you want and drop the money in the bucket. I've attached a photo below. I think we're really going to enjoy living in the Stuttgart area - the countryside.

Please plan on a visit! Wilkommen, uns haus ist deine (Welcome, our house is yours)!