Vacation With Our American & German Family

After signing the contract on our new house early Friday morning the 12th of February , Lana and I made our way quickly to the airport to catch our flight to meet up with the American side of our family after 15 months of not seeing them! So quickly that I had to mail my keys back to a friend in South Carolina to pick up my car from the airport parking lot. The southern part of the States was having a cold spell with snow, so naturally flights were an issue; even more of an issue when you're flying standby through your wife's Lufthansa job. To make a long story short, we ended up renting a car and driving to Charlotte to get on a flight which wasn't full. And, instead of flying to Ohio we flew to Michigan. At the end of a long day, it was great to be back with family again.

Our time with my family was spent between my parent's place in Michigan and my older brother Brent's house in Ohio. My three brothers are in Ohio near each other for both work and university. Lana and I were also able to see our new nephew Seth for the first time and spend time with our niece Elli who is growning like a weed. Towards the end of our week together, we were back in Michigan spending time with my sister Jenna who drove over from the Chicago area...it was at her wedding in December 2008 (read that post here) the last time Lana and I were with everyone. After a fast but great week, we drove with my sister back to Chicage where we caught a flight direct to Munich to be with our German family.

As I write this, Lana and I are sitting in Starbucks (I know, there are better places to get coffee in Munich, but the internet is free =) near Marienplatz...the city center of Munich. We spent our first two days back in Germany with Lana's grandparents in Chieming near the popular Lake Chiemsee. I'm pretty sure I always leave her grandparent's place a bit heavier than when I arrived because her grandma is always feeding us...mmm schnitzel! We did some sightseeing in Wasserburg on our way back to Munich and spent Thursday preparing for the Air Force movers to pack up Lana's things for shipment to the USA on Friday; we're looking forward to having all of our belongings back in the same location soon! Our shipment from storage in Virginia, from Korea and from Munich will be in our new home early in April.

Yesterday, we woke up to a great spring feeling day in Munich and I suggested we drive to see Neuschwanstein Castle in the Bavarian Alps. When Lana and I first met in Garmish back in September of 2006, we spent our second day together at this castle...great memories! The weather during our first visit wasn't the best, and we had wanted to make another trip back. It was the perfect day and is an amazing place...a man made wonder in the God created mountains!

Lana and I will be in Germany one more week. This was not our original plan, but we're not upset with being able to spend more time here. The short if it is, the Air Force messed up some of my paperwork and some of my training has been postponed. This paperwork is also a requirement for me to fly, so I've opted to stay here rather than sit around the base in South Carolina. We'll update again soon...God bless!

More Pictures:

Germany