Monday, May 25, 2015

10 Months

Good news; I'm not sad any more. The time is flying by. I've got a to-do list for the next 14 months, and I am ready to execute. 

The common rule of thumb for living overseas is: the first three months are a honeymoon, the next three months are hell, and once you make it past six/seven months, you've found your groove and everything's wonderful. We've found our groove; everything is wonderful. 

The best part about the past month was Lilly's arrival on May 4. Changed our lives. I don't want her to go home. Ever. We are all better and happier with her here. 



She's given Ben and I worry-free, consistent time away from home. She's given me a friend, running buddy, rom-com movie partner, and additional hands for making meals, picking up toys, holding babies, giving baths, and pushing kids on swings. The kids get more attention, we're playing more games, going on more adventures, having more patience, reading more books, riding more bikes and getting more one-on-one time. Our quality of life is better. Everyone should have a Lilly. I've already started begging her to come back next summer. 

Things I want to remember about the past month in Luxembourg: 


Playing at the park next to the White's house. 


Breaking the door on the washer. 


Going to Jardine de Circulation with the Mullins, the Packers, and Star. 


Yudri Rodriguez cutting Otto and Aksel's hair and telling me she would make plantains for Ben if he was mad at her. 


                                                    

FINALLY figuring out how to get children's Ibuprofen out of the bottle without making a giant mess. 


Play group at the Castle Park. 


Driving to the grocery store and all of the employees asking me where my stroller is and why I didn't run to the store. 


Ben going to a movie with Carlos Rodriguez and meeting him several times for lunch. 

                                                       



Going to Cinderella and dessert at Cafe Francais with Lori White. 


Taking off our winter tires and putting summer tires on our car, per Luxembourg law. 


Taking Lori to the airport. 


Letting the boys ride their bikes to the tunnel park one morning. 


                                                     

Getting Lilly's room ready for her arrival. 


Kali and Yara Braun climbing their/our fence and coming over to play multiple times a day and Otto being our translator. 

Eating Sunday dinner at the Whites and with the missionaries. 

Ben going home teaching. 


Ben finally mowing the lawn.





Sending Lilly downtown on a bus by herself. 


Otto talking about his birthday incessantly. 

Packers coming over to play and watch Paw Patrol. 


Going swimming with the Packers on May Day. 


Celebrating Otto's birthday. Taking cupcakes to school for Otto's birthday.




Going to Zig Zag with the Mullins. 


Playing in Anandi's backyard; eating ice cream bars and letting the kids playing with a bucket of water and watering cans.


Ben going to lunch with Darrell White. 


Otto and Aksel fighting about who gets to open the front door when someone rings the bell. 

We took a lot of bike rides that turned into walks around our neighborhood. (We shoved a lot of pinecones into buckets and through holes in fences.)

                                                   

Edgar De Kerchove coming over to play with Otto one Saturday morning. 

Making banana cream pie. 

Otto and Aksel LOVING Russ and Star Andrews. 

Teaching Otto how to ride a bicycle.

Having dinner with the missionaries and the Andrews.  



Reading a book to Aksel about animals and he yelled "Morgan!" (the name of one of the Andrew's cats) when he saw a picture of a dark, black cat.

Going to Romy Weydert's shop and buying more peckvillchen birds with Star. 

Getting Indian food on Friday night with Ben. 

Otto having lots of questions about when we move back to Utah when he's five. Then breaking the news to him that (most likely) we won't be moving back to Utah. He thinks there are only two places: Luxembourg and Utah. 

Going to the bus museum as a family. 






Picking Madi & Kyla up from soccer one night. 

Otto having a day off of school for the Gasperich Pilgrimage.

Ben cutting out, assembling and hanging the Happy Birthday banner backward. 

Watching Lie to Me


Tina giving birth to baby Claire. 

Going to a duck race in the Petrusse Valley. We rode buses downtown, schlepped our kids down the Grund elevator and waited with hundreds of other Luxembourgers to watch 14,000 yellow rubber ducks to be released down a river. Then we let the kids jump on a bouncy house, climb a rock wall, eat hot dogs and popcorn, and headed home. 











Aksel refusing to poop in the potty. 

Trying to teach Otto to wipe himself and him telling me, I'm not old enough!


Talking with my sister, Julie, on the phone. 


Otto and Aksel running around the house and kitchen table. 
Otto trying to figure out the difference among days, weeks, months and years. 

Otto giving his first talk in Primary, in French and English. 



Star coming over for lunch and hanging out for an afternoon. 

Kali Braun opening Aksel's bedroom door while I was putting him down for a nap (she had let herself in the backdoor and was searching the house for people). 

Making chocolate chip cookies.

Going to Frankfurt, Germany to see The Holdaways. Ben and Andy going golfing, eating Court's delicious ginger cookies, playing with trains, watching Cinderella, talking for hours with Courtney, taking the kids to see animals, feeding carrots to reindeer, eating dinner at the Fasanerie, shopping at the Commissary, and saying a tearful goodbye (they return stateside later this month). 








Ward Councils.

Norwegian waffles for dinner. 

Lori telling me they started taking bags of chocolate chips with them when they fly back and forth. And Ben being really jealous. 

Ingrid falling asleep in my arms at church. 



Going to the church and helping Becky clean up the nursery and organize toys. 

Otto being incredibly hard and having lots of melt downs and tantrums.

Having the missionaries and Sabina Schlee over for dinner one Sunday. 

Ben and Otto going to the Luxembourg Airport to an exhibit of iconic aircraft where over a dozen historic and contemporary models were on display to mark the 70th anniversary of the return of Grand Duchess Charlotte from exile in the UK. Prince Louis and Princess Tessy made an appearance. 





Otto and Aksel's Paw Patrol birthday party. 

Playing Chutes & Ladders with Otto. 

Walking Otto to school by myself. 

Going to the butterfly garden in Grevenmacher. 













Running. 

Going to Little Britain (a small store in Luxembourg that sells a few American imported items for a pretty penny) for Goldfish and cake mixes. 

Ingrid waving bye-bye and saying it aloud. 

Play group at Parc Merl. 



Taking care of the Andrews' cats while they were in Norway. 

Aksel riding his scooter all over our house and neighborhood. 

Meeting the Mullins at the Bus and Tram Museum only to be discouraged (by a harsh and unfriendly man speaking French) not to be loud or let our children play on the buses due to a conference being held. We quickly left and spent the afternoon at the farm park. 



Reading with Otto. 

Aksel playing with trains. 

Otto waking up at 3 am and singing the Paw Patrol theme song at the top of his lungs; waking Aksel and then listening to them both sing and play until 4 am.

Aksel getting bit on the cheek by Laetitia Verschuure.

Lilly and I going downtown to eat gromperes, walk through markets and be tourists. 




Getting a letter from Ben's Aunt Elin on April 28 about a Christmas party on December 28. 

Going to the Bock Casemates with Ben, followed by St. Michaels Church, dinner and a movie. 


















The missionaries coming over on Mother's Day to call their families. 

Our family trip to Belgium. 




Going to the tunnel park with Lilly and the kids. 

Speaking in French to Raphael's Mom about coming over to play with Otto. 

Talking with Russ Andrews about all things Norway. 

Celebrating Aksel's birthday.