Spring has been so beautiful in Germany.  I'm enamored with the changing of the seasons here.  Everything has been turning so green the past month… and our base in particular has so many tall, well established chestnut and oak trees.  Watching their transformation throughout the seasons is really beautiful.  Spring is such a nice welcome after a long dark winter…. I forget how beautiful Germany can be!  

Rosenstein Park, where I often go running

I am training for a half marathon.  It's next Saturday!!  I've never run a half marathon so I'm pretty anxious about it.  My training has gone really well but I am ready to be done!  It's quite the commitment… usually I try to run first thing in the morning before Em gets up for school.  But, weeks when Ben is out of town, like last week, I have to arrange for a babysitter and sneak away during the day, which is just a pain. 

 Last Saturday I ran 11 miles… from home all the way to Esslingen.  I did it in 1:32, which I was really pleased about.  That averages out to be just under 8:30… which is my goal for the race.  The route was really pretty as it took me to the Neckar River.  As I crossed the bridge the fest came into full view (German fest is like a carnival on steroids).  I stopped to take a picture.   The skyline was so pretty… and of course the photo doesn't do it justice.  

 Can you see the gigantic ferris wheel?

I crossed that bridge and dropped down to a path that ran right along the Neckar river.  I had the beautiful water on my right and the action packed fest on my left.  As I ran along I saw three young men sitting by the river dressed in their lederhosen and gingham shirts drinking their beers.  They all turned around and looked up at me.  I wished so badly I could have taken a snapshot… it was a quintessential German moment.

We actually went to fest on Emily's birthday, which was April 29.  It was a blast. 

Toothless and 7 years old!!  Where does the time go?

So, back to running. Tonight I was supposed to run 12 miles… but something has been bothering my stomach all day long and it came to full fruition during my run… after just one mile I had to stop at a biergarten to use the bathroom.  I thought after that I'd be fine, but the cramps just came back and so I had a pretty disastrous run… I only did 7 miles and walked probably half of that.  It's never happened to me before and makes me nervous that something like that could actually happen on race day.  

So, Ben was in Israel for the entire week.  He left early Monday morning and came back Friday evening.  It's so hard to keep up with everything when he's gone.  There's no one else to do the dishes, take out the trash, change a dirty diaper, bathe the kids, or read to the kids in bed.  It all falls on me and it is exhausting.   So many military spouses do this for weeks or even months on end and I just don't know how they do it.  

So, Ben came home last night and we got to attend a Stake ball.  I guess spring balls are a tradition here in Germany.  



Em and C were especially excited about me getting all dolled up for the ball.  As I was getting dressed Caroline grabbed the stool and insisted she help zip up my dress.  She kept saying, "Oh, I love your dress!"  "Oh, I wish so bad I could go to the ball and watch you dance!"  And "Mom, are there going to be other princesses at the ball?  It was so cute.

I loved our evening out.  We sat next to our friends the Crucys and the Gillmans.  Ben nor I could remember the last time we had danced together.  It was fun, but I tell ya who can really bust out the dance moves are the Germans!  Holy Cow!  I wish I had taken some video, but they know how to dance!  They did the waltz, the tango, the rumba, you name it!  Old, young, skinny, plump, it didn't matter.  It seemed everyone participated.  Even the stake president was out there busting his moves.  It was fun to just sit and watch.  One young couple in particular just "sparkled" as my grandma would say, on the dance floor.  He was such a fantastic dancer.  I heard that learning to dance is part of their formal education.   I wish it was more engrained in our culture.  And I also wish I had taken some video.  

My cute friend Shannon.  She's going to run the half-marathon with me. Her husband is gone so she took her little nine year old as her date.  Super cute.   

Also, this past week was crazy as we've been waiting on pins and needles to hear whether Ben's brother and his family are going to be able to move to Stuttgart.  They were all set to come, and then had some setbacks thanks to the ridiculous bureaucracy of the Army.  We've been praying and hoping they can still come… it would be like a dream to have family nearby.