We Always Knew She Was a Bug

One of our nicknames for Caitlin is "Bug." And she lived up to it this Halloween!

What a sweetheart!

Try It Out!

Funny stuff! Google "[your name] needs" and see what crazy results come up! (this was popular a couple years ago but still fun nonetheless!)

"Allison needs..."
more good farmers to raise corn, wheat, rye, oats, barley
a loving home
chocolate
a little help from the beauty shop
a Big Sister to give her encouragement
to buy 12 fish
a theme for her After-Prom party
to wear sunscreen
to have a good thermal conduction path between the battery boxes

(Oh man, the last one is totally on target--if anyone can help me find that good thermal conduction path let me know) :-P

Oh and while I'm at it:

"Grady needs..."
major overhaul
an estimated $370 million to accomplish a two-year turnaround
nearly $21 million to upgrade
open government
donations
to know they’re going to get the same basic care
money now
help

hmm I'm picking up on a subtle financially-related theme...it must be because of the plunging American dollar-! $370 million might start to compensate us for our exchange-rate losses over the last five years.... :)

Half a Year Come and Gone

I've heard time only speeds up as life goes on but it's really caught me off guard how fast this first six months with Caitlin just zipped by. Here's to keeping on attempting to be aware of savoring each moment! And happy half-birthday Caitlin!

Yes, I'm Talking *to* the Baby...

And We're Off

First box: packed!! We're so on top of this move! (actually not how we feel at all, but since all the evidence seems to point in that direction...)

In other news, Caitlin happened to spy the box on the floor and we had to break the news to her that we were, in fact, moving away from her homeland of Germany in a short two months. She took the news rather well, considering. (and as you see we opted to strap her down in case of any violent outburst that may have ensued)
Oh and by the way, we're moving! (I guess I hadn't written that yet!) We'll fly out of Dresden in the middle of December and hopefully end up settling in the Minneapolis area after visiting our families for the holidays. Many of the other details are still up in the air, but that's our tentative plan for now!

Schlaf Gut*

By the time our post-worship potluck rolled around this past Sunday, Caitlin was beat and getting fussy. We laid her down in the stroller in hopes she'd fall asleep pretty quickly, but to our surprise after ten minutes she was still awake, not wanting to miss any of the action. When she started getting restless I finally gave her this soft-covered baby book to distract her for a bit--she grabbed it and ended up pulling it over her face, simultaneously falling sleep instantly-! It was really funny!
The best part is that the book's title, "Schlaf Gut*," means, "Sleep Well." :)


*and please read it "sch-lahff goo-t" as to not confuse it with some internal body part.

She's Talking!

...well, kind of. :)

Oktoberfest

This year I finally made it to the most well-known German festival of all! Grady had been there a few times before, but due to the parents' surprise visit we planned a trip through Munich to partake in the Oktoberfest excitement for a few hours. Caitlin jumped right into sampling the local cuisine!