Some snapshots of Hannah...

This is the first time Hannah wrote her name by herself.

Hannah's hat that she made at the library.

Hannah reading a book.

Showing off her fluffy coat. I got this coat when Alyssa was in this size and she refused to wear it. Hannah on the other hand always wanted to wear it until she recently outgrew it.

Sticking out her tongue.

Hannah in her kitty pajamas.

Eating a candy cane at the tree lighting party.

The Last Two Weeks....

Well, the last time I posted a written post was on Bill's 31st Birthday. The kids and I went to our December MOPS/MOPPETS meeting on Monday the 14th. Mister Daniel is doing much better with being without Mom and Sisters for an hour and a half. While Bill headed to the Ramstein area for his preopp. appointment for his surgery coming up in the week. After MOPS the girls and I started on our Christmas baking. We ended up making banana bread muffins, no bake cookies, puppy chow (or Chex Muddy Buddies), peanut butter fudge, chocolate fudge, and chocolate-peanut butter fudge. Everything was completed by bedtime.

Tuesday the kids and I headed to playgroup. Afterwards we dropped our goodies off at the Club for the cookie drive for the airman on the base. After eating lunch we headed to Ramstein. We ended up having to get a room in Ramstein for Bill's surgery the next morning as he had to be there at 6:00 in the morning.

Bill ended up taking a taxi to the hospital as we didn't want to drag the kids out in the cold at 5:30 in the morning. Once 11:00 hit (check out time) the kids and I headed to the BX and hung out there until it was time to check on/pick up Daddy. Everything went well, thank goodness. He will be at home with us until the 4th of January!!!

Thursday was Daniel's first birthday. We didn't do much as his party was the following Saturday. He had his well baby check weighing in at 23 pounds 7 ounces and measuring 31 1/4 inches long. He got four shots and had to have a tube of his blood drawn. My poor boy I just tortured him on his birthday. We sang Happy Birthday to him several times and he got to open all his presents that were there.

Friday was the day to prepare for the party the following day. Lots of cleaning and prepping the food.

Saturday was the "Big Day" for Daniel. "Happy Birthday to You". He had a blast!!! It was a nice small party with three other families plus ours. We really enjoyed ourselves. After the party it was time to relax.

This last week was pretty relaxing (minus the back window on the van shattering) not much going on, but taking it easy.

Monday the 21st Daniel, Alyssa and myself went to the Post Office and the Commissary. Well, somehow the whole back window on the van shattered while we were in the Commissary. Not sure how that happened. The police said they think it may have been from the extreme temperature changes the past couple days. To me it looked like it was hit by something. Anyway I called Bill at home and he called the insurance company, the place that ended up fixing the van, someone to come pick the three of us up, and the car rental place. So, a hour trip to the base turned into a 3-4 hour ordeal. The place we brought the van to worked really hard and we got our van back on the 23rd, just in time for Christmas!!!!

We had lots of snow all week for the kids to play in. I think I shoveled three or four days in a row. We built a snow hill, a snowman, and went sledding. Yesterday the snow completely melted away. I do have to say that Alyssa is a true North Dakota girl, she played outside in the snow for over two hours two of the days. I had to con her into the house with hot chocolate!!!

This week the kids and I did our usual things: playgroup and story time at the Library. We had a nice quiet Christmas Eve and Christmas with just our family. It was actually very relaxing without all the hustle and bustle. We all really enjoyed it. We wish all of you a Happy New Year!!!

Tree decorating day-December 13th

Our half decorated tree, for Daniel's sake.

Hannah under the tree.

Alyssa under the tree.

Mom and the kids done decorating the tree.

Happy Birthday Jesus!!!!!!!!

I thought this video would be appropriate for today.
The girls Cubbies and Puggles classes got together to have a Birthday Party for Jesus.
Merry Christmas Everyone!!!!!

The kids with Santa again!!!

We went to a Holiday party at the library a couple weeks ago and Santa was there. The best part is that it was the exact same Santa they saw before at the Tree lighting party. This Santa was also at the library last year when I brought the kids. We are sure going to miss him next year, he makes a perfect Santa!!!

Three Little Monkeys!!!

Alyssa, Hannah & Daniel

November 15th-Raking up the leaves!!!

The girls just love helping Dad out in the yard, but the best part was jumping into the leaf pile.

Daniel's Party!!!

Daniel and his Cars cake.

The cake

Daniel with his balloons!!!

Daniel & Eva opening up a gift.

Daniel & Tracy opening up a gift.

Daniel & Emma opening up a gift.

Alyssa & Hannah helping Daniel open the last gift.

Cake face!!!

Checking out the frosting on his hands.

Daniel digging in!!!
So, Daniel didn't get as messy as the girls did on their first birthdays, but he did enjoy the cake and frosting. The ice cream was to cold for him and he made faces every time he tried to take a bite. I still can't believe that my baby is already one year old:o)

Happy 1st Birthday Daniel!!!

Daniel with all his Birthday presents!!!

Opening his present from us!!!

Opening his MN Vikings football from Grandma & Grandpa G. By the way we just love the Viking fleece suit. I have a picture to post of him wearing it once I get more caught up on here.

Opening his presents from Auntie & Uncle Pete!!!

He loves his cookie monster.
Daniel waited so patiently for me to get his cookie monster out of the box. Unfortunately after about five minutes of him playing with it, cookie monster was swooped away along with the dump truck that we got him by his sisters. We didn't do much on his birthday except open his presents, but that was fun enough!!!

Happy 31st Birthday Daddy!!!

Daddy and the kids with his presents!!!
This one turned out pretty good.

Cake picture!!!
This one not so good:o)

A quick update...

So, we have a crazy week ahead of us. Tomorrow we have MOPS, then the rest of the day will be spent making goodies for the airman on base, we did this last year too. Except last year my sister was here to help out. So this year we are going the easy route making puppy chow, no bake cookies, peanut butter fudge, chocolate fudge and banana bread muffins. We are suppose to be making cookies, but I thought it would be fun to switch it up a bit this year. Anyway Tuesday we have playgroup, then afterwards we are going to drop off our goodies. Wednesday we are off to Ramstein for Bill's surgery. Thursday is Daniel's birthday, he also has his one year well-baby check that same day. I'm sure after Daniel's appointment we will be off to the library for storytime. Friday will be my cleaning day as we planned a last minute birthday party for Daniel on Saturday. Then from there is Christmas. And from Christmas we await my cousins visit to Germany in January. After spending two weeks with Brenda the kids and I will be going back to the states with her help. We can't wait to spend four months with family before we head to Texas in June.

The kids with Santa 2009!!!

Santa & Hannah waving.

Santa & Daniel

Santa checking out Alyssa's Christmas List.

Daniel Man!!!

Sitting in the Little People bin chewing on a toy.

Climbing on the boppy.

Taking a snooze with Dad.

I can't believe that my baby is going to be one in just one week:o(

St. Martin's Festival 2009: November 14th

The kids in the wagon!!!

St. Martin

Daddy and the kids walking through Herforst.

Daniel crashed out for a little bit.

Mom and the girls by the bon fire.

Hannah and Alyssa waiting in line for their pretzel donut.

Hannah and her pretzel.
It ended up being a pretty chilly night, so Kershin & Guido invited all of us over to their house. The kids had fun playing with Eva & Erik and Bill and I enjoyed visiting with Kershin, Guido, Bella, & Matthias. It had been quite a while since we had all gotten together. It was a fun night!!!

Wadrill, Germany: Gruenes family history

Bill & the girls

The girls

A little garden area in the village of Wadrill.

The girls in front of the St. Martin fountain in Wadrill.

The church.

We believe this is the year the church was built.
1766

Another part of the church.

The other side of the church.
We were very excited when we found out that Bill's Great-Grandma Lauer (born in 1861) on his Dad's side was from the village of Wadrill, which is only about 45 minutes to an hour from our house. We were disappointed to find out that the interior of the church was being completely redone. The inside looked beautiful, but we were not able to go in to get any pictures. Also there was no one for us to talk to to get information from. It was also a very cold day, so no one was outside. We just stopped into the bakery and the man working didn't speak very good English. We barely got out of him how old the church was, so we decided not to ask any more questions. Bill is going to go back before he leaves Germany to see if he can find out if there is any family still in the area and he is hoping to get some pictures of the inside of the church.