While Daddy is in Lisbon…Papa Donavon just played and played…and…played with his granddaughters!!

Elle ALWAYS gets so excited to play with her “Best Buddy” and Britta constantly wants to be with, “Papa, Papa, Papa!!”

Happy times and lasting memories....Summer 2011

Saying "Good-Bye" at none other than...ChuckE Cheese!!

Tonight was Matt’s last night in the US before leaving for Lisbon, Portugal for 4-weeks; he does plan to leave Lisbon the week of June 13^th, to be at our new home when our air-freight arrives!  Then, when Matt returns to the US on June 25^th, he will only be back long enough to pick up a rental car and his three ladies:)!  We plan to then leave for Germany, as a family, on June 26^th.  It is almost surreal to think that he will not be at this home again for 2-years.

Matt was kind enough to allow the girls to choose where we would eat-out tonight; Elle choose ChuckE Cheese, or as she says, “Lucky Cheese!!”  I am sure Matt would much rather have had a juicy Iowa steak, but Daddy loves his little girls too much and just wanted to see them happy and having a good time:)! It was fun being together as a family; we are going to miss Matt dearly.   We pray that he returns safely to us on June 25^th, when we can be together again as a family.

To

Our Freight has left Cedar Falls!

Britta helping the movers!

Today, two movers came and packed up our pile of personal belongings (see a picture of the pile in a previous post).  In the end, I was pleasantly surprised at how much stuff we could take!  All of the decorative pictures, comfort items, toys, clothes, etc. that I wanted to take for our family should be waiting for us in Germany!  After 4 hours and 45 boxes later, the movers left our house and headed for Davenport.  In Davenport, they will re-pack our belongings into the 3 allocated crates.  It is a weird feeling having so many of our personal belongings just gone; it will be really nice to see everything when we get there.  Elle keeps asking, "will my babies be waiting for me in Germany?"  The girls did such a great job with seeing so many of their favorite toys in "the pile" and accepting that they needed to be packed up in order for them to play with them in Germany.  All of our toys are going to feel like new; the girls are going to be very happy to play with all of their favorite toys again soon!

The Girls "final" Doctor visit in the U.S.A.

Today, Matt and I took the girls to their "final" Doctor visit before moving.  Elle was due for her 3-year appointment and Britta her 15-month Doctor appointment.  Elle weighed 32 pounds and was 38" tall.  Britta weighed 24 pounds and was 29" tall.  We definitely have two very different little girls; Elle is in the 75th percentile for height and Britta is in the 25th percentile for height.

In preparation for our move, the same vaccines are administered to children in Germany, as here in the US.  The vaccines are administered at slightly different schedules/ages, but the girls will continue to follow the US timeline.  Elle is not due for anymore vaccines until she starts Kindergarten in the US and Britta is not due for another vaccine until 18-months.  We plan to have her get this vaccine (second dose of Hep A) when we are back at Christmas.  So, this made me happy to know we not have to worry about the girls receiving any vaccinations while living abroad. 

The Doctor did not recommend giving the girls any Benadryl on the flight, so, I guess I just need to have a lot of snacks and activities ready for our 8-9 hour flight!!!  I need to pick up the girls entire medical records this Thursday and then, we should be good to go!  We are going to miss our Pediatrician very, very much.  But, another Expat family made us aware of their Pediatrician's contact information in Germany, who they love so the girls will be seeing this Doctor once we are there (and she speaks pretty good English which is a bonus:)!! 

Our Air-Freight (a.k.a. "The Pile")

Since our new home is going to be newly furnished, John Deere is allocating us three 4’x 4’ x 4’ crates to take to Germany.  This is a picture of what the movers will pack up this Thursday, May 19^th and ship over to Germany (minus all of our clothes, shoes, etc.).  Matt will then leave Lisbon, Portugal (where he will be working in June) to be in Mannheim when the freight arrives the week of June 12^th.  We planned it this way so that all of our personal items could already be in Germany by the time the girls and I arrive June 27^th.  Now, let us just cross our fingers that all three crates arrive!!

Matt's going-away party

On May 4^th, the John Deere Marketing Department and the Engineers connected with Matt’s PLMT position, attended Matt’s going-away party at Beck’s.  The girls attended for the first hour and then Lisa came and picked them up, so that I could talk with some of Matt’s fellow co-workers and not chase them around the restaurant all night (at one point, they were both pretending to be kittens).  Again, it was an event that really made our move seem very, very real and in the very near future!