Happy Holidays!!!!

So it's official. We are parents of an "almost" one month old and have no idea what has taken place in the world during the past 30 days. We do know that Reed eats every three hours, poops and/or pees every two hours, growls at anyone who watches him while he's eating, and enjoys foot massages and relaxing baths as often as he can get them. We also know that it's best to not look in the mirror at ourselves until we can start getting a few more hours of sleep. It actually hasn't been that bad, but the baby arrival did hit us hard...especially me who was a rookie up until now.
Having my Mom and Dad spend the past three weeks with us was the best Christmas gift EVER! They cooked, cleaned and volunteered for baby watch night shifts. It doesn't get any better than that. We're pretty sure Reed wore them out as well, but then he'd flash them a smile and they'd be putty in his hands. Suckers!!! It'll be nice to see them again as well as the rest of our family in Ohio when we head back to the States next week.

As for the rest of our travels, we will be in Ohio Dec 17th through the 26th and then head to Seattle from the 26th through Jan 4th where we'll get to introduce Reed to his other siblings and spend time with family and friends. From there we'll fly to Florida to meet up with my Mom and Dad again. Rich will leave for Germany on January 10th (someone has to work, right?) and I'll stay in Florida through the 28th and head back in time for Rich's birthday. Crossing our fingers for warm weather!

Happy Holidays!

What happened to our free time?!

I'll tell you what happened, Reed happened! Wow, I can't believe he will be 7 days old tomorrow! This week was a blur. We drove to the hospital, checked in, Makayla got prepped, I dressed up in scrubs, and then Reed was born! That was the "easy" part! The rest of the week was about Reed adjusting to life on the outside, Makayla recovering from a C-section, me hovering around trying to help, and two parents trying to get to know their new son. Add the arrival on Wednesday of the two new Grandparents, Pam & Gary, and that pretty much sums up the week!

The stats on our little guy:

Born at 1452
Weighing 3.54 kg or 7lbs 13oz
Stretching to 53cm or 21 in
Likes: being held, warm milk, & fleece
Dislikes: not being held, dirty diapers, waiting for his next meal

If the stats aren't enough, we've also uploaded a few choice pictures to capture his first week.

from Bonn..

Tick Tock, Tick Tock!

The new addition to our family is almost here! For anyone not in the know, Reed will be born on Monday via scheduled C-section!! I thought it would be a good idea to try and squeeze in one last trip before the baby comes, so I mentioned a weekend in Paris to Makayla on Thursday. This proposal was quickly shot down by an eye roll and a comment including words that shall not be repeated (just kidding, it wasn't that bad!). I think she appreciated my spontaneity.

So,we are spending our last "sans baby" weekend resting, finishing final preparations, cleaning (of course!), and playing with our new car! I can't deny it, the arrival of our new wheels yesterday was a little like another child being born..it's so shiny, and fun to play with. The leather is smooth like a baby's bum, and smells so good! Ok, ok, I know it's just a car, but it is nice to be rid of our loaner that smelled like smoke, and only had two doors. And, wouldn't this have been a great car to drive to take on a 4 hour drive to Paris?!

Last weekend we spent the day in Maastrich, a city in the Netherlands just a little over an hour from Bonn. I realized recently that an old friend from Amazon, Sylvia, has moved with her husband back home to Maastrich, so we used the opportunity to visit her, meet her 2 yr old daughter, and explore the city.

I'm not sure what was cuter, the city center, or her daughter Sadie! We had fun getting to know both. We also had one of the best waffles we've had in Europe so far. Fresh off the griddle with powdered sugar...mmmmm! Does it get any better than that?

Hamburg!

Wow, what an amazing city! Although the weather was not overly cooperative in Hamburg, we had a wonderful time touring the city. There are approximately 2 million people living in Hamburg and it's the 3rd largest sea port in Europe behind Antwerp and Rotterdam. The city is currently working on a 1 million square meter development project located right on the port which will be completed in 2020 and will accommodate approximately 1500 new houses/condos as well as new commercial and office space. The picture above is Hamburg's City Hall which is still in use today. I asked Rich to take a picture of this building two different times while we were there, not realizing it was the same building, so it was definitely my favorite!
Above is a picture of us standing down by the port and fish market. Every Sunday, between 5 am and 9 am you can head down to the market to buy fresh fish. Unfortunately, we were not up in time to enjoy the fish market, but still managed to have a good time walking around the area...about two hours later! Behind us (and through the layers of fog!) you can see some of the condo construction.


We found a new favorite coffee shop in Europe. Balzac coffee (get your mind out of the gutter people!). We went to this spot a couple of times for coffee and pastries. There are quite a few of them located in Hamburg, but we haven't seen them anywhere else in Germany so it may be a local spot. Next time any of you are in Hamburg, make sure you hit up a Balzac coffee! :-)

No trip is complete until Rich experiences some good food! He'd been eying up this Currywurst stand for three days so on the last day he enjoyed some Currywurst with the rest of the locals. 2.70 euro for a sausage covered in curry sauce and a roll on the side. Not tempting to those with a weak stomach (or 37 weeks pregnant), but a real treat for those "food enthusiasts."












These two pictures were taken as we walked around the inner city lake (meaning it was located within the old city walls that were used to protect the city). The lake is approximately 1.5 miles around and is connected to the outer city lake which is approximately 8 miles around with beautiful multimillion dollars homes surrounding it. It looked like the perfect running spot so we may need to make a trip back in a few months just to experience it!

In collarbone news, Rich is on his road back to recovery! He's feeling much better and has a doctor appointment this week to get his stitches removed and start some physical therapy. He should be 100% in a couple more weeks. In baby news, no big news...except me! November 15th is still a go! The doctor confirmed last week that baby Temer has gotten settled low in my stomach so no real chance of him turning around now. We're ready though and are counting the days down! Based on his high activity level and ninja-like moves, he is counting the days down as well. I think November 15th will be a great day for all those involved. :-)

The German Medical System...From the Inside

I am happy to be writing this post from the comfort of our living room after spending Montag through Mittwoch (Monday - Wednesday) in the Krankenhaus (hospital). Surgery was Monday morning, and I am now the proud owner of a bionic collarbone!

You can see the seven screws holding it in place...this baby won't be going anywhere! I learned that collar bones heal more slowly than any other bone in the body, so they want me to keep the plate in for at least 18 months, if not the rest of my life. We'll see, if I go pro in cycling I may not want that extra weight slowing me down!

The contrast between German and American medical practices and processes is very interesting, at times awkward, and always entertaining. For example, on Monday after I've checked in for surgery, I'm shown to my recovery room on the second floor. There are 3 beds in there, and I'm the third patient in the room. The guy by the window is getting ready to check out (I'm told) and the guy near the door and our shared bathroom is laying there with a bag of plasma dripping into his IV. I'm shown which locker is mine to stash my clothes, then promptly asked to remove my shirt so the nurse can shave my chest and armpit for surgery. Awesome. I'm fairly sure in the US I would have at least had a curtain enclosing my bed while they prepped me, and in my past surgeries all my pre-op stuff was done in my own room.

And then there's the sponge baths for the less mobile patients (guy with plasma had a new hip put in, not real mobile at the moment), that are given immediately after breakfast is delivered. (I'll get back to meals in a sec). So there I am, sitting in my bed munching on some rye bread, sipping my coffee, and watching the nurses cleaning my roommate's surgery site. I won't go into too much detail, but let's just say I had to leave the room and continue my meal in the visitor waiting area...

So, food. I experienced my first traditional German breakfast in the krankenhaus. How fitting. Day 1: Nurse lifts the cover off my tray. I see a roll (good), butter, jam (better), some rye bread and sliced cheese (ok...) and...what the hell is that??!! Some sort of sliced bologne looking stuff with scattered olive green things all through it. The nurse sees my look of horror, and tells me how awesome the stuff is. Uh huh.. goes great with soapy water, lots of stiches, and a side of old man butt crack. I asked if they had eggs. They said yes. Day 2: tray removed showing me a roll, jam, rye bread, cheese...and a hard boiled egg. I really miss IHOP right now.

At some point during Monday night a new roommate joined us (bed near the window). Turns out he was crazy. Really. He was old and had dementia, which is actually sad. But in the middle of the night, when the morphine pills and IV of pain killers were still not enough to smother the pain or at least knock me out, the last thing I had sympathy for was the crazy guy next to me who moved his legs back and forth all night, scratched uncontrollably, and then fell asleep, only to stop breathing and wake up gasping every 10 seconds. I found myself wishing he would just not wake up. Believe me, in the morning when I realized his issues I felt horrible, but I'm sure you know how it is when all you want is a couple hours of sleep!!

After some more xrays, some range of motion checks, and getting my infamous "pink paper" signed by the doctor, I checked out Wednesday morning and walked home. Just 2 days after the surgery and I'm already feeling so much better, and so much less pain, than last week. It's awesome! Doc says I can start exercising soon, but can't lift anything too heavy for about two months. Luckily Reed shouldn't be hitting double digits until the new year, so I'll be more than able to haul him around.

Through all this Makayla was great, even when she had the stomach flu (Monday night - Tuesday) she was really just worried about me, and feeling bad that she couldn't be with me at the hospital. I assured her I was perfectly happy with my roommates, rye bread, and mystery meat. We're quite the pair right now!

Late breaking baby update: We met with the doctor today at our hospital and have scheduled a c-section for November 15th, on the assumption that Junior will continue to be uncooperative and keep his head upright. Sarah, we've done our best to maintain a healthy margin between his birthday and Thanksgiving. This should hopefully minimize the number of pumpkin pie birthday cakes, and gravy boat presents that Reed receives...

From Bonn.....
Rich

Hot off the press!!

It's only been 24 hours since our last post, but we have a couple updates that we want to share with everyone. First, Rich's surgery has been postponed to Monday morning. He went into the hospital this morning to fill out paperwork, meet the doctors, and receive his free sandwich and coffee they offer to upcoming surgery patients, and was told that since he has a nasty scrape on his shoulder (also a result of his cycling accident) they don't want to risk the possibility of infection by making a small incision on his collar bone. So, Monday it is!

After leaving the hospital, he walked a quarter mile down the road to the baby doctor's office and met me just in time for another ultrasound. It appears that Baby Temer either isn't paying attention or the flashlight bulb wasn't bright enough to stimulate his curiosity and make him turn his little body around! He's also dropped lower so the doctor feels there's a good chance he's staying put. Our fingers are still crossed, but we've also made an appointment with the hospital for next week to meet with the surgeon and schedule Baby Temer's future birthday. His current due date is November 23rd, but it sounds like they'll do a c-section anywhere from 7 to 10 days before his due date. If anyone feels strongly about which day they think he should be born, please let us know and we'll take your comments into consideration. :-) Selfishly, I'm just glad I don't have to post a belly bump picture for week 39 or week 40.

Planes, Trains, and Krankenwagens

I had the chance to ride in a German ambulance (Krankenwagen) this last Sunday after hitting an unnoticed bump in the pavement (at rather high speed) and landing head and shoulder first on the ground. While the ride was entertaining, the broken collar bone definitely was not. After additional consult with a doctor on Monday, I have decided that surgery is the best option for quick recovery, and go under the knife this Friday. As Makayla said, someone has to be able to lift the baby when he's born..and the doctor assured me the plate they'll attach to my collar bone will have me back on the bike, I mean, able to hold babies, within 2 weeks time!

On a happier note, I had a great, but quick, visit back to Seattle last week. I was with the kids almost every day, worked a lot, and tried to spend time with family and friends. Unfortunately, I caught the cold that had been going around the office in Bonn, and so outside of work and the kids, I spent much of my free time at home in bed..
One highlight of the visit was being able to celebrate Elise's birthday. We were lucky that one of my aunts & uncles, plus my Grandma, were also in town visiting, and so Elise's party was a chance for many Temers to catch up! For me, nothing could beat just getting to spend time hanging out with the kids.

The rest of the week was a blur of work, soccer practice, dinners, homework, and nose blowing. I had a really nice dinner with Sara, Brian, and James, hosted by James, and managed to catch up with friends from work each day over lunch (did I really eat at the same Mexican place three times in one week??)

And of course it was so nice to spend time with my bro & sis-in-law who let me crash with them for the week. Parker took some of her first steps while I was there. I think this picture is her clearing the deck for a possible take off..

All in all it was a good week that went by way too fast. There were so many other friends I wanted to see, and if you're reading this, please understand, and we'll have another shot in December!

It was also good to come home, and by home I mean Bonn, because, as they say, home is where the heart is..

The Vacation is Over.....

Well, it's been about two weeks since Pam (Mom) came to Bonn and Rich left for Seattle. I wish I could say that we spent those two weeks traveling through fantastic European cities, eating delicious meals including wines and cheeses from France, and shopping in Milan......but, that would be quite a stretch from the truth. In fact, we didn't travel at all (except for a one day trip to Cologne which is 10 miles away), we only ate a few real dinners, and I bought one maternity sweater from H&M that is pretty ugly.....but warm. I CAN tell you, however, that we had a great time catching up on our favorite American tv shows, baking apple dumplings and a lemon bundt cake, assembling bouncy seats, packnplays, jumperoos and chilling! We also took a few trips to our favorite park in Bonn and walked along the Rhine River in the sunny but windy weather. Hopefully the trip was not too mellow for Pam...I think she'll cut me some slack due to the 8 1/2 months pregnant thing I've got going. I'll be dropping her off at the airport tomorrow and, assuming no delays, Rich will be getting in at the same time. We are looking forward to her next visit with Gary (Dad) in November! We're pretty sure things will be a little more chaotic then with a newborn hanging out with us.

Speaking of which, Baby Temer has not been cooperative in terms of positioning. He is still in a breech position so the doctor gave me some yoga exercises to do that may "encourage" him to situate himself in a more favorable position for his upcoming grand entrance. Initially, I laughed when I read about some turning tactics online that involved shining a flashlight on your lower stomach. Apparently the light would arouse the baby's curiosity and he would move his head down towards the light. Funny right? Well, a couple of days ago the doctor informed us of possible manipulative turning techniques they could perform in the hospital.......two hours later I was hunting through Rich's tool box looking for the mini flashlight! More to come after we visit the doctor at week 35.....cross your fingers that Baby Temer sees the light!

A Touch of America!

Pam (Mom) arrived bright eyed and ready to hit the streets of Bonn this week. And, she didn't come alone! She brought an extra suitcase filled with the "good stuff" which included Esther Price candy (thanks Dad!), brown sugar, crisco baking bars, clothes that fit around the growing belly bump, and about 20 other things that we had ordered from Amazon and had sent to her house including four 8x10 frames for the baby nursery. We owe this woman! It's probably best that she's unaware of the even longer list we have ready for her and Dad to bring to Germany when they come in November. ;-) We took her to a few of our favorite spots for dinner. Above is a picture of us eating at "Tacos" which is the only Mexican restaurant in Bonn and has pretty good food. It's crowded all the time and, after a couple margaritas, Rich came up with the idea that we should open up another Mexican restaurant in Bonn to compete with Tacos. We'll see about that……

Rich left for Seattle on Saturday and we all know what this meant right? The ultimate driving test for Makayla. Surprisingly, all went smoothly. In fact, the hardest part of the drive was having to pull out of that tight spot Rich pulled into at the airport! Well, that coupled with the fact that at 8 months pregnant, the need for an easy access bathroom is essential and the easiest rest area (meaning an exit with a zero incline) to stop at is about 1 hour into the 1 1/2 hour drive home. Mom and I did run into a few "hiccups" driving around in Bonn, but in the end…everyone was fine. :-) I looked over at her at one point (I believe it was after my second stall and third honk) and asked her if she was more nervous than me. She looked straight ahead with her hands (and white knuckles) wrapped tightly around the purse in her lap and said, "I think we're about the same."

We have AMERICAN television! It's been a long 10 weeks with no TV, but the wait is over. We're not sure why we didn't think of it before, but Rich realized that we could probably buy some tv shows via Itunes which is hooked up to our TV through our computer. Sure enough, he checked it Saturday morning and saw that we could access this season's TV shows. So, Mom and I spent several hours this weekend catching up on all of our favorite shows…..and everything else that sounded halfway entertaining. This, coupled with Esther Price candy eating, was a great way to spend the weekend. Thanks Rich!!!!

We also worked on decorating and organizing Reed's room. We're not done, but definitely got a good start. It's hard to believe that we've done approximately eight loads of laundry for a little guy that isn't even here yet. And based on what I've heard from Mom and Rich, he won't even appreciate all this work we're doing for him! ;-) I'm pretty sure that we'll need to change his outfit 4 times a day in the first three months in order to get through all of his outfits. They also said that wouldn't be a problem!

Tschuss!

Time Flies When You're Having Fun

We had our 30 week ultrasound last week! Don't think it's something they normally do in the US, but it's standard here and we were happy to sneak some more peeks of the baby. Our doctor was on vacation so we met with her German speaking partner. When she started the ultrasound she pointed at the baby and said, "ahhhh, pooh pooh". We weren't exactly sure what that meant, but soon realized that the baby is in breech position. Hopefully he cooperates, and turns himself around. Other than that, all looks good! It's hard to believe we only have nine weeks left.

We spent most of last week continuing to unpack, organize and assemble things. We're happy to report that, as of Sunday night, 90% of our flat is complete. Makayla's mom, Pam, is coming to visit this week for 10 days, so we figured it would be a good idea to buy a bed frame for the mattress sitting on the floor in the guest bedroom. Of course, you knew it couldn't be quite that easy, right?? Well, the good thing is we bought the bed frame. The bad thing is that bed sizes in Europe are different than the US, so the frame is slightly bigger than the bed (sorry Pam!). Nothing a little padding, duct tape, and finger crossing can't fix.

We're also proud new owners of a dishwasher and a "working" American grill! After using sign language to buy a propane can at Knauber (German Home Depot) a couple of weeks ago, Rich discovered that American grill parts don't play nice with German propane can parts, and we needed a European thingy to connect the two. He managed to hunt down a store in Austria that carried one, and we received it just in time for the weekend. We decided to invite some friends over for dinner on Saturday night just so we could use our grill and our dishwasher. Unfortunately, our lack of German speaking skills bit us at the meat market when Rich accidentally ordered WAY too much steak (and Makayla would like to add....WAY too expensive), but the weekend called for a celebration so we made sure to enjoy every last bite of it.

In other news, Rich will be heading back to Seattle this weekend to visit his family. It's hard to believe that we've already been here for 2 1/2 months! He'll be working while he's home, but hopes to organize a night so that he can see many of you. He'll be sure to send an email out with some details.

Oh, and we spoke too soon regarding our internet/phone. Apparently, Telekom lost our order (again!) and we are now scheduled to have our internet/phone installed on Oct 1st. We were able to "borrow" our neighbors wifi, but still don't have access to our home phone which means no free calling for another week and a half. Bummer.

Last but not least, Makayla had another successful driving experience this past weekend. She came very close to 6th gear, but unfortunately downshifted to 4th on accident. Other than that, she is confident with driving to the supermarket (approx 1.5 miles away) which is great news as the pressure is on with Rich leaving town and Pam's shared lack of manual driving skills.

Ciao!

Bruge, Brugges and more Brugge!

No matter what country you are from or how you spell it, we had a fun weekend in this charming Belgium city! Not only was it a new European city for us to visit, but we were able to explore it with four of our great Chicago friends. Above is a picture of the city center called the Market. The single building is Brugges Post Office and the buildings behind Makayla are restaurants and pubs.

A trip to Brugges is best chronicled by the food eaten and beverages drunk! Belgium is known for it's beer, waffles, chocolate, and fries. We made sure to sample all of them in the 2 days we were there!

We made several stops at The Chocolate Line, one of Brugge's most well known chocolate shops. We just kept finding new reasons to go back for more, such as needing to take a photograph to remember it by..oh and maybe we'll get just a few more of those salted caramel pralines while we're here...






You can buy baking chocolate by the gram, or kilo! It's sorted by the country of origin of the bean, and the corresponding cocoa content. Yes, I admit it, we crossed the border with over a kilo of the good stuff in our trunk!





Friday night we ate at a fabulous restaurant known for it's traditional Flemish dishes, called Da Vlaamsche Pot. Rich had the Flemish beef stew, and Makayla had chicken baked in a pastry with cream sauce. Yum! Our inn keeper told us she has never known anyone who could finish their meal. Well, she can't make that statement any longer! Rich started with the house made pate, devoured the entire stew with fries, and even had room for a traditional custard with chocolate sauce to finish it off. Mmmm....I'm getting hungry just writing about it!




But of course, it isn't just the food that makes the meal, it's the company you share it with as well. We timed our trip to Brugge to meet up with our friends Mel, Eric, Bria & Jon at the start of their 3 week vacation. We ate chocolate, climbed a clock tower, and sampled many, many beers. Did I say many? Yes, we had a few..

This picture was taken early in the evening, after we enjoyed a great meal of tapas at Cookies, hidden down an alley less than 3 feet wide at the street. We walked 10 feet down the alley from Cookies to Staminee De Garre, home of many good beers, and one very dangerous beer, known only as De Garre, and available only at the pub. This was also the point where the night takes on two different versions depending on if you talk to Rich or Makayla. See below.

Rich's version: Rich was pleasantly surprised at how well he was able to handle the dangerous beer and figured it had to be due to the tolerance he'd built up over the last two months in Germany. In fact, he tried to persuade everyone to stay for a 3rd beer before heading to a different pub. Mind you, the pub has a 3 serving limit on this particular beer, and there's good reason for it. Luckily, he was unsuccessful with his attempt, but was still able to enjoy another couple beers at the next pub. He, along with the rest of our gang, also discovered and nearly perfected a challenging game of balance and coordination before calling it a night which ended in quick goodbye hugs.

Makayla's version (aka...the sober version): Makayla had a great time talking and laughing with everyone....until approximately 11pm. After standing behind Rich and shaking her head "no" when he tried to convince everyone to stay for one more De Garre beer, the group decided to stop at one more pub before calling it a night. Her attempt in trying to persuade everyone to eat some fries on the way to the pub was, unfortunately, rejected by all. The night ended at the bars with a very loud game of "flip coaster" which began with Rich asking all of the tables in the pub if we could borrow their coasters (this was after the Manager told him "no"). After collecting approximately 20 coasters, our group took turns seeing who could flip the most coasters off the table and catch them in the same hand. Makayla will admit it was a pretty funny scene, but is fairly sure that the rest of the bar had a different opinion. The Americans definitely made a name for themselves!

The night ended with Eric yelling "hugs and cuddles all around" and then making plans to see us soon when we visit Chicago.....this was shortly after we made plans to meet the next morning before driving back to Germany. Needless to say it was a great night, in spite of the fact that Makayla was the only one walking home in a straight line.

Conversion Extravaganza!

We kept ourselves busy this weekend with painting and baking. Paint color options are limited in Germany compared to the US. However, after hitting three different "mini" Home Depot-like stores we were able to find two great colors for our dining/living room and the baby nursery. Greyish-lavender for the living room and sour apple green for the nursery. After converting liters to gallons, we sort of knew what we needed for the rooms. Of course, you don't buy paint in gallons and quarts, so we bought a 10 liter bucket for the living room, and after hemming and hawing, went with the 5 liter bucket for the nursery. We guessed right, and avoided that infamous second trip to the hardware store..












Here is a work in progress pics of the living room and an "action shot" of Rich with our co-worker friend, Niko, painting the nursery. His American girlfriend is back visiting family in the States right now so we were able to persuade him into helping us by offering him.....that's right..... cold, German beer. It also helped that he brought a ton of painting supplies with him and his 6' 8" frame!

Makayla spent the day serving the German beer (she made sure the trim was done before serving round 3!) and baking. We spent Saturday morning going to a Walmart-like store with another co-worker friend, Karen. She said they had the best assortment of baking ingredients. While we did manage to buy a good amount, there were definitely some differences. First, they don't have baking soda here nor do they have brown sugar. She convinced us to buy what she called "brown sugar" which is really raw sugar. We're not sure why we bought it since we knew it wasn't right....guess we caved under the German peer pressure! During the time it took for Rich and Niko to paint two rooms, Makayla baked homemade brownies and a blueberry coffee cake. It's amazing how much time goes into converting oven temperatures from C to F, grams to ounces and cups etc.......


The pic above was initially supposed to be portrayed as a "Ha ha, nice try baking without brown sugar Makayla!" kind of picture. However, we woke up Sunday morning pleasantly surprised with how delicious the coffee cake turned out! Rich finished off a quarter of it...but that's not too surprising to anyone who knows Rich's eating habits.

We spent a great Saturday night with a couple who live upstairs from us. She is French and he is German. It was very entertaining listening to their differing opinions on each other's home country. They did, however, find common ground on the Brits. For any Brits reading this, we'll keep that information to ourselves! ;-)

In other news..we are getting internet Tuesday! This may not seem like much, but we feel like Christmas has come early because this means American TV, phone, and internet for the Temers. Makayla had successful driving session today with only two stalls (at the same yield sign). Two thumbs up! Lastly, we are heading to Brugges, Belgium, this weekend to meet up with some great Chicago friends. We are looking forward to seeing them....and the Ranch dressing and Pop Tarts they are bringing us!

Merry Happy

The move was a success! Three German movers arrived at our new apartment 15 minutes early (has that EVER happened in the US??) opened all of our boxes, assembled our furniture, shook out our rug (are ya kiddin' me?) and were out the door 4 hours later. Granted, we spent the next 36 hours unpacking, organizing and buying apartment necessities, but we were still very impressed. The view below is not anything close to a "finished product" but it's a start. Definitely a huge step up from the temporary apartment we've been living in!

Speaking of apartment necessities, Rich spent several hours practicing his electrical skills by putting up our light fixtures which, at times, went smooth and at other times…not so much. But, he got it done! A side note to all of you planning to visit us over the next two years-if you notice a hole or wire hanging out of any light fixtures, it's best not to mention it.

Once we're "photo-shoot ready" we'll add some more pictures, but until then you'll have to be satisfied with the view from our back balcony. The landlord did some recent yard work which has left our yard looking a little bare, but we should have more grass in a couple more weeks. We're looking forward to grilling on our bbq and eating dinner on our balcony this Fall!Other "stuff" going on…...

We had a slight set back with Makayla's driving. For those Harry Potter fans, we like to refer to last Tuesday as the drive "Which-Shall-Not-Be-Named". Without going into great detail, the majority of Bonn's commuters probably arrived home for dinner 20 minutes late. However, redemption was made on Sunday afternoon when Makayla got behind the wheel in a community park's parking lot and mastered first gear on 45 degree incline. We're learning to celebrate the small milestones so lookout Bonn!

We've had a few challenges over the last several weeks enrolling in our language lessons. The ironic part is that we have to enroll online via a German website. As a result, we have each enrolled and cancelled ourselves in this process. We are happy to say, however, that we will be starting our German lessons in September!

Lastly, for those of you who have emailed us regarding our last post, we are still employed at Telekom. Apparently, there was a recent reorganization within the company so every employee received one of those letters confirming your position and salary. Very good news for us although we're a little bummed we weren't promoted in the process.

Go Bucks!

Moving Day Delay!

The Temers have spent the last 36 hours moving into their new home! While we have tons to report, we're too tired to do the reporting justice. So, hang tight and we'll be sure to provide an update in the next few days. Ciao!

Just a routine week in Bonn

Looking South (upriver) on the Rhine

After watching Seattle weather reports in envy for the last couple of weeks, the sun has finally returned to Bonn. Rich took full advantage of the weather and went out riding this morning (without getting lost!). The picture above was taken while returning across the bridge to our apartment. It was a great way to start the day!

First chore of the weekend was Makayla's third driving lesson. Yes, we all know she's a pretty good driver (well....) but our car is a manual, and driving a stick is all new for her. I'm happy to report that we've seen great progress since lesson #1! Yesterday we ventured outside the block surrounding our apartment, found 4th gear, and practiced reversing out of parking spaces. All in all, we survived. We did stall a couple of times, and when the cars were piling up behind us Makayla did break out in quite a sweat (Pam, did you teach her those words???) Later today we're going to have lesson #4: driving on country roads, navigating round-abouts, and avoiding cyclists. Wish us luck!

Also on Saturday, in preparation for moving into our apartment this Friday, we took a trip to Ikea and another home store named Porta to buy some light fixtures. As mentioned previously, "unfurnished" really means unfurnished here...we'll be in the dark if we don't have some lights attached by Friday night! Ikea is as good a deal here as it is at home, so we're doing some furnishing on the cheap, like an outdoor furniture set for 99euro! Granted, we may have to invest in some cushions and duct tape...but still.

Big news: we made our last trip to the laundromat this week. We had a brief run in with Makayla's friend, the homeless crazy lady (who suprisingly speaks great English!) that she met on her first solo trip. No more buying bottles of water to break 20's into coins, and trying to time dinner so that we're back in time to secure a dryer.. Good riddance! (But we will be returning to that 'hood for the kebabs and pizza, yum). Oh, as a farewell, the local meter maid left us a 10 euro ticket that, after translating at work the next day, we found out it was for parking in a handicap spot. Uhh...there wasn't a sign!!!

We received letters this week from Telekom Human Resources, written in German of course. The only words we could make out were our titles, the word "Reorganization", and a person in HR to contact with questions. We're not exactly sure what this means, but we might be home permanently by the holidays...or promoted. Pam, I'm not sure which you're rooting for but just keep your comments to yourself!

That's it for now. Hopefully by next weekend we'll be blogging from the comfort of our living room. Tchuss.

The Bicycle Capital of the World: Amsterdam

Prior to this visit, we thought that Xenia, Ohio, was the Bicycle Capital of the World. It says it on their water tower, so it has to be true, right? Turns out they might be telling a bit of a stretcher back in Ohio, cuz we've seen the real bike capital, and it's in the Netherlands. Wiki tells us that there are about 750,000 residents in the city, and roughly 900,000 bicycles! One of many reasons Rich loved this city!

The architecture is amazing. The streets are narrow, the houses narrow (taxes used to be based on the width of the building), and the houses in many cases appear to be leaning on each other for support. We saw them at all kinds of odd angles..but no one seems worried!





This trip was a reminder of one reason why we chose to spend two years in Europe. The city was beautiful, full of parks, friendly people, lots of history, and it was just a 3 hour drive from home!

Oh, and of course the food was amazing too! You don't hear much about Dutch food, but we discovered one of their true specialties: pancakes. We heard about the Pancake Bakery from Katherine, and also read about it online, so we HAD to find it. It was a tough decision what to order...the age old question of sweet or savory had Rich mired in indecision, until the helpful waitress suggested her favorite: bacon & cheese. Which, she said, is even better with maple syrup. She wasn't kidding!

Other highlights from the weekend included a wander through the infamous red light district, a boat tour of the canals, a somber tour of Anne Frank's House. When we opted out of a 2 hour wait for entrance to the Van Gogh Museum we had the good luck of stumbling across a local artist that we loved named Mark Raven. We ended up buying one of his pieces, which portrayed a bicycle in Amsterdam.

Sprechen Sie Englisch?

Do you speak English? Words we use on a daily basis while trying to navigate through our new lives. We were in luck this week, we had our first visitor from the US of A! Our friend, James, took a detour from his three city European trip, and spent the day roaming around Bonn with us. It was great to see a friendly face when we met him at, of course, Starbucks. We showed off our future apartment as well as our our soon to be neighborhood full of pubs and ice cream shops.

Out in front of our new pad.

Right before meeting James, we had our first appointment with our OB. She came into the room greeting us in German, and after we pointed to ourselves and said, "English", she commented back, "Well, this is going to be a lot easier then!" We liked her right away....in spite of her NY accent and East Coast manners. Just kidding all you East Coasters out there.

Other happenings this week: Makayla started work and we were given a temporary company car. She was offered a Ford van, but graciously declined opting for the BMW. Unfortunately, that backfired because it ended up in the auto shop less than 24 hours later. The good news is we have our wheels back and are gearing up for a trip to Amsterdam this weekend. We ended our work week filling our bellies with fajitas and enchiladas while watching all the other Americans sitting around us do the same thing. We stumbled upon this restaurant while walking around the city with James, and made sure to remember its location as we have been searching for a Mexican restaurant since we got here!

Celebrating One Amazing Year!!!

Time has flown by! It's hard to believe that just one year ago we tied the knot with friends & family in Mexico, and now we're pregnant and living in Germany!

So what did we do? We rented an "economy" BMW and spent the weekend in Luxembourg (just a 2 hour drive from Bonn). Makayla got to dust off her French and help us navigate the narrow streets and hip restaurants of Luxembourg City.






Rich is very happy to have wheels! Especially German wheels! BMW 116d, have you heard of it? Us neither. But it was a fun 6-speed manual to take onto the Autobahn!

It also gave Makayla a chance to start learning how to drive a manual. Chances are good that our company car will be manual, and she'll be taking it to client meetings!! She's not happy....






The view of the Grund and the old city from the top floor bar of our hotel. It's really a beautiful little city, but expensive!













For you Ohioans, you may recognize the Chi Chi's sign behind Makayla. It's a bit further away, but if you get the craving, you know where to go!

Our "Awesome" Temporary Diggs

Where to begin on all the fabulous amenities of our temporary housing.... Should we discuss how the bed comes with a single musty pillow and sheet, or the fact the kitchen is stocked with 2 glasses and little else? Or maybe it's the Southwest/Navajo motif of the clearly second hand sofa and almost matching chair?
Electricity also seems to be an issue...in the two weeks we've been living here we've managed to burn out a total of 5 light bulbs. Oh, and the Germans have added an extra safety feature to the wiring: when the bulb burns out the breaker blows.

The kitchen isn't actually that bad. When you see how small it is you can understand why they only provide 2 glasses, 4 plates, and a knife. Really, not much else would fit!

The good news is that we've been over to the apartment we're moving into on September 1 and we love it. We have just 4 more weeks in temporary housing, and then our furniture should arrive from the States and we'll move into our home.




........................................... One Year Newlywed Intermission ...........................................