Paige and Reese

This is an adorable video from November of 2006 of Reese and Paige laughing at each other.. We were so happy to have Paige developing normally and it was such a relaxed time finally in our household.. This video will make you grin for sure. 

Rudesheim June 30th

Back on Saturday, June 30th we went to Rudesheim, Germany with the Shields family. The Shields family have been our unofficial sponsor family.  Our actual sponsors are fantastic, they just don't have children yet so the Shields stepped in to provide loads of info and FAMILY support.  They have been great to us. Leslie has really  made me feel welcome and I know we will become good friends over the next few years. They have 4 adorable children, that have been super sweet to the girls.

  Rudesheim is on the sunny side of the Rhine. Surrounded by the best wine growing areas of fine Rheingau Riesling wine, Rüdesheim lies on the romantic river current and proves on sight why the town belongs to the most well known spots on the Rhine.  I am hoping that we can go back with out the children to partake in all of the wine tours.



on our way to Rudesheim, an adorable town on the Rhein river.

yummy grape vines

 Eagle Tower, a late Gothic tower that is part of the former city fortification and was built in the 15th Century

retro add for the cable cars

I loved the stone wall on the edge of town, you can't really tell that this was a steep little hill.

Craig and the girls in the heart of Rudesheim

I somehow manage to snap a picture of this cute street with out anyone on it

on our way up to the Niederwald monument



our family

Goodbye!  We will be back..

Craig's Birthday continues...

Craig decided he wanted to go downtown to the Romer and try an Italian restaurant a friend had suggested and it was YUMMY...

Reese relaxing.. We are slowly adjusting to the European dining experience.  It is  SLOW, RELAXED time at meal time.  

Paige liked sitting and watching the people around us.

This was seconds before Claire broke this water glass... Yup, "Bruiser" is in action at all times.

HANDSOME BIRTHDAY BOY himself.. oh, how old?.. 36.

I have short arms, well I also have short legs but that wasn't my point.  My short arms make it really hard to take a picture of the two of us.  My German still stinks so I am going to even attempt to ask someone to take it.

Craig's Birthday...

Craig's birthday was back on June 29th.  The girls and I had a few things up our sleeve.  Here are some pictures of what we did.. :)

The girls love to help out in the kitchen.. it was very interesting because I don't have any of my actual  kitchen supplies so we made the best of the welcome kit that the CSA (Community Support Association) provides to the Consulate families.

Reese starting the cake.

Paige mixing in the eggs.

Rewe (pronounced Reve) gluten free chocolate flake cake... Was very good!

I think this was a first for Claire, it was actually fun having her in the kitchen.   She really helped out, she took her time stirring in the chocolate flakes.  I was really impressed with her patience.

When we went to IKEA earlier in the week I was able to buy some construction paper, markers and ribbon all with the plan of making a banner with the girls for Craig.

This was one of the best Three HandsFull activities to date.. all three girls really got into making this banner for their Daddy.. I drew each letter out  then each girl picked out the letters they wanted to color.  It was so much fun.  Looking back I am still amazed at how easy it was and how much they each enjoyed it.. no more screaming toddlers but three growing little girls.  I get excited about the crafting projects we will be able to do TOGETHER now that they are ALL getting a bit older. 

Craig loved his special handmade cards from each of the girls.

These girls ADORE their Daddy.

I am pretty sure the feeling is mutual.

to be continued.....

First Frankfurt Four....

WOW, we have been in Frankfurt for FOUR weeks already... Time is flying by.  The girls are adjusting very well.  I think Craig and I are adjusting about the same.  It definitely took us longer to adjust to the time change and the very LONG days...

Most of you know that the process and journey for our family to finally get to Germany was long, stressful and an extreme emotional roller coaster.  Thanks to some amazing friends and a great family we made it.  With out all the support and kind words of faith and encouragement I know I wouldn't have made it for sure.  I would have been pleading with Craig to call the monitor and ask for something stateside.  With all that said, Germany is going to be worth it for sure.  It is amazing here.  I truly hope that you all will make an effort to accept our OPEN invitation to come and visit.  Our place is HUGE and with 5 bedrooms we have plenty of space.  I will eventually post pictures of our home/apartment/flat once our household goods arrive.  Hopefully in the next two weeks.  The truck arrival is much later... predicted for the middle of SEPTEMBER.  Please hurry up, we need our independence.

Wiggins Family in Rudesheim, Germany.

I have so much to share about our first four weeks here and I have no idea where to begin... I think I will just back through my camera and slowly post pictures of our adventure so far.. I will try to post them in order.  I need to get the big comp hooked up, working on this mini laptop is problematic.  I am attempting to get back into blogging, seems the best way to share our adventures.

Oh and since the title of the post is first Frankfurt Four..  I had and idea to post 4 things I have learned so far..

1.  Germans really do love their beer, even at 0700 on a Sunday morning.. they drink it ALL the time.

2.  My THREE hands full girlies are 1hand full more than the normal German family, so I get lots of looks here in the city.

3.  I only seem to have Euros now, never US dollars.  It is so strange to hand someone a 10 Euro bill/note to pay for something that is 2 Euros and get all CHANGE (coins) back... they only have 5 Euro/notes.  My wallet weighs a lot with all the 1 and 2 Euro coins.

4.  I will have great legs and a nice butt soon.. with all the walking and my three flights of stairs to get to my house.. :)