The beginning of Christmas break

The beginning of Christmas break started with school being cancelled for Friday because we got over four inches of snow. That is evidently a lot for our area. We got another two inches last night. And now big piles of snow have been built in our yard by the kids. They are spending hours outside. I love it!

We also got our Christmas cards mailed and are just awaiting a few more addresses. It's a big thing accomplished on our "to do" list. Since it has been two years since we've sent out updates, I desperately needed to get that done.

Thanks to Mike and his early shopping bug, we actually finished getting all our Christmas presents. With the exception of two gifts that will be wrapped the night before Christmas, all of them are under the tree. We added a little twist to keep the fun of guessing what's inside the package... the gift tags are coded. Now they have no idea which gifts are for them specifically. I even put some of the girls gifts in boy themed bags and vice versa. Some of the bags are birthday themes. This throws them off because Eli's birthday is on the 26th and so they think those are definately his. So much fun! You should hear their conversations.

And lastly, we are trying to start our scrapbook with the intent to finish it before Mike leaves for his deployment which is scheduled for early January. It seems to grow bigger each year. But we love to keep track of where we've been and how much the kids have grown over the year. Plus, the kids love to sit in the living room and look through them like story books. It makes it worth all the work to put them together.

I am thankful to God for so many things right now... my Savior, my husband, my kids, my friends, my church. Even though our culture has turned this season into gift getting and receiving, I am mostly in awe of the relationships I am privileged to be part of. Thank you for being part of that blessing!

In Him,

Melissa

Let it snow, let it snow, let it snow

The last few weeks have been action packed with two birthdays, Thanksgiving, a big birthday party at a kids' play place for our youngest three, putting up our Christmas tree, and now finalizing addresses to send out our family Christmas cards.

However, in the midst of a busy schedule, we have also been blessed with a lot of snow causing delayed and canceled school days. The kids are loving it. We hear many people complaining about the weather, but we love it. We came from Texas. This is a joy for us! So as we head into the bustle of the season, I am reminded to stop and enjoy the little moments that God is creating for all of us. I pray that you too will stop and enjoy what God has in store for you.

In Him,

Melissa

Upcoming possibilities...

As we look forward to the Christmas season, I know I have a lot to be thankful for. And as I face an upcoming possibility, I want to bask in God's grace, glory, and provision for our family. You see, Mike found out that he is on the deployment list for January. By God's divine mercy, I have yet to experience a deployment with kids. And now I have five children who will bear the weight of their Dad's absence for several months. Just as God provides for the lilies of the fields and the birds of the air, I know He will take care of us too. He has provided a wonderful church filled with many kind-hearted and tender servants who relish the opportunity to love on others. He has blessed Mike and I with a strong marriage that, I pray, will only be stronger by the end of the separation. He has blessed us with beautiful children who understand, way beyond their years, that Papa must go serve our country. So this update is to seek your prayers for our family this Christmas season... that we would truly understand God's provision for our salvation through a little baby who became the Savior of the world, that we would celebrate His birth without taking for granted all He has truly given to us, and that our family would bring God glory through the season as we prepare for this separation. Thank you!

In Him,

Melissa

Apologies and Thanksgivings

I must first apologize for unintentionally taking a fifteen month hiatus from our family blog. We have indeed been busy traveling Europe while enjoying our overseas military tour here in Germany. In addition, I finished homeschooling our oldest daughter and our youngest son is now in kindergarten. All of the things that kept me consumed with schedules and routines has now been changed with the new school year. I do miss having the noise of children at home during the day. Yet, I am now thankful for a newfound freedom to go to Bible studies, get errands run quicker, update our blog and to run and exercise on my own time.

We've seen many changes in the kids. One in particular, our oldest is now taller than me! I have come to the realization that in a matter of a few short years, I will be the shortest in the family. There is no sense in denying it or even fighting it. I just have to accept that me being vertically challenged is a gift somehow.

Other news is that Mike helped the two Wings at our base pass a huge inspection that happens every five years. It was a challenge for him to take on this kind of responsibility. Now he is back with the squadron and loving his new flying schedule. He is busy going on short trips. We are still waiting to see what happens in the spring time for a possible deployment. Word has been getting around, but nothing official yet. And lastly, Mike was selected as an alternate for school come next summer. If he gets picked up, we will leave within a few weeks of notice causing us to cut our tour to Germany a year early. I keep praying that if he goes to school, that we'll be able to come back in the future before he retires.

Lastly, I have been trying to step out in faith to accomplish projects that God has laid on my heart. One is to continue composing piano music. A friend from church taught me how to use my iPod to record piano music as voice memos. I just hook up the little headset I bought with it and hit record. And now I can share my songs digitally! I am praying that somehow they will become worship songs for others to sing instead of melodies only playing in my head. Two, after much encouragement from a variety of people in my life, and with the help of Mike, I have decided to write a book explaining our creative discipline techniques. We continue to receive compliments on our children with others asking, "What did you do?" Those conversations end up with more questions seeking answers to various discipline scenarios. I don't know what will eventually come of writing my ideas down. But at least when someone asks what we did, I can say, "Here, read this." and send a copy to them.

In all things, I pray that God receives the glory for what happens in our family! We have much for which we are thankful.

Happy late Thanksgiving and early Merry Christmas!

Melissa

Our New Home in Germany

God has truly blessed us with our new home in Germany!

We feel absolutely humbled by God's gracious provisions for our large family. I almost feel like He is giving us enough room to have more kids! We'll see on that one...


We have a master bedroom with an office, living room, kitchen, and bathroom on the first floor. The second floor is 4 kids' bedrooms and a bathroom. The top floor is another small bedroom and a kids's living room/play room. Then the basement has a laundry room, sauna(!), and another shower bathroom that one of the kids uses. In addition, it has a seperate two-bedroom apartment we will eventually rent out. God has richly blessed us! I know I don't deserve it. Each morning I wake up humbled realizing I am living in my dream home abroad.


We are now praying for visitors to come. So feel free to come over and use our house as a resting place in between European travels. "It's free to stay at the Pontiff B&B!"


Here are some more pics of the house. I will include more later once we get curtains and pics up. Thankfully, after 10 days, all the boxes are officially unpacked and put away!!!










Here is a panoramic picture out the back balcony. On the right is a deer farm, too cool!

This is the backyard with a shed/playhouse.

And this blew me away... granite flooring!

This is the kitchen. Enought room for our family of 7 AND guests!

We are so greatful to God for all He has given us. We are anxious and excited to see how He uses this home for His glory!

In Him,

Melissa

Safely in Germany

Whew! What a few past weeks! ALOT has happened in the midst of our move and then having limited internet connection inabled me to update our blog. So here goes the quick synopsis of the last few weeks...

The kids and I said goodbye to Mike on the 9th of June so we could visit family (Dad, Step-mom, and sister's family) in College Station and Houston, TX before flying to Baltimore. We had a great time there and celebrated Dasha's 10th birthday along with one of my nephew's. Right before we headed out to Baltimore, Mike called to say that he was not going to be able to make our flight to Germany with us. The timing of his training in Arkansas would not allow him to make his connecting flight with us. So now, not only were we flying to Baltimore without him, now we were flying to Germany without him too!

My Dad and my sister helped me get to the airport and get to security. What a HUGE help! A funny part was that I was carrying my cat as a carry-on and they had me get her out of the soft kennel I had her in and carry her through the metal detectors. You should have seen the look on her face as she peered at all the people going through security. And then you should have seen me as I was holding her and praying that she would not be scared enough to act like a cat while at the same time corralling my kids through the metal detectors after having stripped them of their shoes and backpacks. Thankfully everyone we encountered had mercy on us!

We made it to Baltimore and spent the weekend with my Mom and Step-dad and his family. It was a nice, relaxing time to catch up with them since I had not seen them in years! We also enjoyed Father's Day with them.

Finally, the big day came to fly to Germany. All those months of hearing, "Mom, are we going to Germany now???" was finally answered with a, "YES! We are!" The kids did fantastic (only a few minor behavioral hiccups) and the military greatly assisted me with the acception of one tiny detail. They told me I could not carry the cat as a carry-on! Even though I flew with her as a carry-on through Continental, they said NO! I was very frustrated, but thankful that God provided a hard kennel through the airport and we were able to check her in as luggage. After that ordeal, I took the kids to dinner in the airport and then got them all Starbucks at 9pm. I needed them to stay awake for our 1215am flight. They loved that they got "coffee". I am already getting them hooked on caffeine! My plan worked well because they all stayed up until just after takeoff and then slept for a good portion of the flight. That really helped us overcome jetlag.

We met our sponsor's wife and a friend at the Ramstein AB airport and quickly settle into our new temporary home. We are still living out of luggage, but know that we are even closer to getting into our own home. Mike joined us the next morning and now the adventures of looking for a home and a car have begun, as well as all the in-processing. I am praying that soon I can write and add pics of our new home. In the meantime, we are greatful that God has brought us this far. We are so blessed to have this opportunity to live in another country.

In the meantime, Auf Wiedersehen!
Melissa

Movers come...again!

It is two days before our movers come... again and I find myself packing... again. At least this time it in only a modified move since most of our things were moved in November. This time though, I just ache for my own place. And for somewhere where I will not have to move again in a few more months nor live out of a suitcase. All in all, I have been very blessed through these last 6 months. Over and over I was reassured through Mike's training schedule that coming with him was the best thing for our family. Despite the living and car arrangements, we have all been very happy here. Life has been truly simplified.

Monday brings our movers... please pray that we can get everything organized to pack and that they accept the weight allowance we were quoted when we came here. The office that moves people is trying to tell us that we only qualify to move the active duty member's weight allowance even though we were quoted so much per person leaving Del Rio. For a family of seven that difference is HUGE!

Tuesday is when we say goodbye to Mike and drive to College Station. I know this will be a good time to visit with my parents and my twin sister. Please pray for Mike's schedule to accomadate driving us to the rental car place and for me to be able to pack all 6 of our suitcases in the rental van with the cat and the kids. And then of course, for a smooth car ride that will take about 9 hours.

I will update more specifics when we get closer to fly again. But I do have one more prayer request... Mike's training dates. His graduation date is not set in stone. Yet with a large family, we have to plan to get on planes and make reservations than "winging" it. Now Mike's training looks like it has been pushed back a few days and I might be in Baltimore without him until the day before or day of our flight to Germany. I pray that his training gets bumped back up to his original training date for June 18th. God is the Master Planner and I know He will get us through this... together!

Thanks for thinking of us and keeping us in your prayers.

In Him,
Melissa