a german park.

Each German park we've been to has been different... no plastic put-together play places... mostly wood made structures, zip lines, very large slides (that scare me and not Norah--see the long tall metal one behind the girls?), lots of sand, trampolines in the ground with no nets or anything!  So different than the States.  Also, a big thing here is barefoot parks where the kids especially get well, barefoot, and muddy. It's all wet and fun. We haven't yet technically been to one yet but are planning a trip soon for the experience of it and hopefully it we like it rather than get grossed out!

We found a great park near our home that is on the side of a small lake that you can walk around.  You can see Norah pumping water that flows down into the designated areas and the kids can block one or two of the lanes with rocks and these metal pieces to figure out how the flow of the water works. It's very cool and the kids love to pump the water up, too!  Also, behind Norah is a little biergarten (beer garden) where you can order a beer or get some ice cream while you play!  What a great find!

rainy days.

When you live in a place that gets rain most days, even if it's going to be sunny for a bit, you need some indoor activities for the kidlets. I've tried to keep it creative but not so much so that they expect activities too much - a mom can only do so much!  Here's two fun things we've done recently!

 Norah and I made our first batch of play-dough. I didn't love the recipe otherwise I'd share it with ya.

And, on another day we did a little sensory thing with random kitchen objects and some split peas. I learned... sweep beforehand next time we do this and then when I sweep to save the pea's for more play I won't have dog hair (ewwww) and other gross kitchen floorness with them :)  Oh well, they didn't notice!  This kept them busy for a very long time.

a year in review.

we've had a major year in the blomgren family.  i'm just going have a list a few of the experiences for documentation sake and just to say, PHEW, i hope we never have a crazy year like this again (not that all things were bad, just too much at once)!

• one year ago this week david & wrigley arrived in germany.
• i managed the moving company back in spokane and we moved out in late july.
• norah and i lived with two different families (in basements) for 5 weeks without evelyn in one home and then moved to the other home for 3 weeks more with evelyn.
• david bought a german car, found a german house to rent and started a new job in those 8 weeks!
• traveled to south korea & picked up evelyn, brought her to the states and finally gave her the blomgren name!
• i flew to germany with the girls and the day after we arrived our household goods came and the long process of moving in began.
• we started the journey of attaching to evelyn and getting to know her... finally!
• church search - landed and then searched again - now we've landed again - make sense?!
• grieved the loss of our spokane community and the pacific NW that we love so much.
• drove over 100mph legally, more than a few times. oh the thrill of it!
• our marriage has been hard this year because of all the changes but now we are stronger and more in love than ever. how beautiful.
• had visitors from both sides of our family come to germany and more on their way soon!
• roman bath houses :)
• visited the states and saw family and everyone finally met our beautiful evelyn.
• have been on a search for a few months for a school or program for norah for next year. praying over what the right thing for her is (and our wallets!).
• new sewing machines!!! and my sewing class, oh so fun.
• saw our first slugs (and a few snails too), and lots of them all over our yard.
• got a pet passport, how funny is that? so wrigley can travel europe too!

and we were able to traveled to...
south korea
germany
italy
england
belguim
france
czech republic
luxembourg (david)
portugal (david)
turkey (david)

there's so much more in between the lines there but you get the drift. thank you Lord for protecting us through all this travel and transition... we're not done yet so please keep up the protection!

happy 2nd BIRTHday ejb.

 Last year on Evelyn's birthday, Norah and I celebrated with a cheese cake and some great friends in Spokane. David was already in Germany while we were waiting for Evelyn to come home!

This year we were blessed to all celebrate Evelyn's birth together, yippy!  We just did family stuff and hung out at home (with some presents) and had dinner and cake with some friends.  I totally forgot my camera so I have no pictures with the party hats and balloons (which both girls loved).

 Evelyn got some new dress up shoes!  Norah was slightly jealous but made sure to put hers on too so she felt a part of things :)

 

 She also got this great puzzle and knows all her numbers now, thanks Grandma & Grandpa!

 Our two two year old beauties!

Evelyn, we love you soooo much and we are so thankful you are here with us this year to celebrate.  We are so glad you were born and that God brought you into our family a little less than a year ago.  On today, especially, we think of your birth mom who has sacrificed so much for your life and for her, we are grateful.  We pray she will know that you are in good hands and well loved.  Happy birthday big girl.

minnesota time.

And finally, David had to get back to Germany to work (what?!) but the girls and I decided to stay and play in Minnesota for a bit longer.  We loved having more time with family and a chance for Evelyn to meet more people from my extended family too!  Here's a few pics of the good times.

Norah's favorite I think - Uncle Aaron!

Park time!

Ummm.... fabric shopping of course! It's not overwhelming at this outlet at all... oh wait, YES YES it is and so much fun too!!!! *This was one of the two carts, but to be totally honest the other cart wasn't quite as full.

There's something like 25 rows of fabric (all kinds) from floor to ceiling in this warehouse. Amazing.

Grandma Karen was in Minneapolis watching Micah for a day so we met for lunch with her and Kristin at Panera!  This was the best shot I had -- I promise you Norah's not farting :)

Thankful to spend some time getting to know Great Grandma Goldie (Papa's Mom)

A weekend in WI with my Spokane girlies was just what I needed (they flew into MN to see me!). It didn't turn out to be everything we hoped for but in the end - I think the Lord can make good what I may see as bad. I ended up being so overwhelmed by being Stateside and seeing these ladies I love so much (and not have my girls to care for) that I had somewhat of a breakdown!  It wasn't fun but it was real and I know my girls can handle real and they were right there with me experiencing my emotions and pain and I was able to start to process some of the past 9 months. I love you Amy, Carly & Amy, thank you for loving me too... even in the ugliest of times.

I got to relax while other people helped me - what a blessing! But, my girls still loved me and would visit me on the couch... not that I was always laying on the couch but hey... American television is so fun to watch when you don't really have it where you live (we have a few options which I'll explain later)!

BLESSED by my time with my longtime friend, Dawnette. She was the co-leader of both Nepal trips I took in 2000 & 2001.

A visit & some coffee with my sweet cousin Bekah :)

An afternoon lunch with (L to R) Me, Dawn, Norah, Ev, Jessica, Nana (my mom), Kim

Aaron, Darren, David (back from Germany!), and Nathan

Swimming in Papa & Nana's association's pool!  Norah was stealing all the attention.

I love this shot of Nana & Evelyn.

Thanks for everyone who made an effort to see us and continue to be in our lives even though it's hard to do that when we're not around - and when we are around it's for only a few days. We just love you all so much and feel so supported by our loved ones back in the States. XO

wisconsin love. moselle style.

Similar to the Blomgren style long weekend at Kolnes Kove, we were livin' it up with the Moselle/Toldt clan!  Here's some pictures to prove our joy with our beloved family...

Uncle Aaron!

 Boat time with everyone on board. Evelyn was finally getting more brave on the boat (after about 5 rides) and even would sit looking out! 

 Even though Evelyn stood up on the boat she still needed the security Daddy could offer. She actually does this often in our normal life--puts one of her feet on ours. It's so cute (especially since she has these chubby toddler ankles still.

 Uncle Nathan :)

 Nana & Papa/Love Birds

 Taking the crazy kids out of the cabin for us, thanks Nana & Papa.

 We got some great family pictures this year, yay!  Here's a few of my favorites and a taste of my family in case you don't know them personally :)

 

We tried to get a good little family shot but once you lose one kid, they just don't recover. Evelyn was a little on the sad side here. 

 What I look like on the weekdays when no one's around to help... child on each hip or one in the ergo and now one that's good enough to walk (fast enough)!  Hip hip hurrah!

 And, again what real life looks like with two toddlers -- improvising when they crawl all over you. We kinda love it.

The girls has a blast with their new dress up costumes from Grandma Karen and wanted to wear them all day, everyday. We haven't had any before and I'm so glad we do now!

 Bonding with Auntie Kim.

Norah just wanted to be a part of everything any adult was doing so... here she is helping Kim with dishes :)

 Yard games.

 Throwing rocks in the lake.

Game night, every night with my family! I love this one where all the men are finishing up a competitive game of Settlers.

One last look... beautiful!