This update is about 3 weeks overdue, but Isaac did make it to Germany! He flew out of Chicago on the 26th, and he arrived safely in Germany the evening of the 27th. He had a few days to get settled in our apartment, and then he started at the
Goethe Institut for his 4 week language intensive. In order to get to the Goethe Institut, Isaac rides the U-Bahn from Oberursel into Frankfurt every morning (usually about a 40 minute ride). The first three hours at the Institut are direct classroom instruction, and after lunch they have time for practicing conversation, working on homework as a group, and other group projects. Isaac is really enjoying his class, and he learning German at an incredible rate. It also helps that he is living on the seminary campus, because even when he is not at the Goethe Institut he is still able to speak German almost exclusively. He has also found time to set up our German bank account, figure out the grocery store, start the process for his student visa, and get to know a number of fellow students at the seminary.
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| Taking off for the airport. |
After dropping Isaac off at the airport, Elise and I drove overnight from Chicago to Omaha. We've been enjoying time with my family these past few weeks, and we are so thankful for this last opportunity to see them before we take off! Speaking of taking off, Elise and I fly to Germany on the 30th! We are beyond excited to join Isaac in Germany, and we've been missing him a great deal. We have been able to talk and Skype pretty regularly which definitely makes the time apart a little easier. Elise loves Skyping with daddy, and she has started kissing the screen whenever she sees his face pop up. Sometimes when we are saying our goodbyes she will start to cry - it's absolutely adorable and a little heartbreaking all at the same time.
Elise is officially one year old! She has gotten four teeth through in the past two weeks, and from what I can tell they are the top and bottom molars. Those things are HUGE! It's been a little rough, but she's finally feeling better and slept wonderfully last night which was a much needed respite for both of us. It's also amazing how quickly her walking has progressed. Just a few weeks ago she could barely take a few steps before falling over, and now she rarely falls and walks around the house like she's been doing it all along. She's also started "talking" a lot. She has a few discernible words, but most of it is hilarious baby babble. She has a little toy cell phone, and she loves to walk around the house, chatting away, with it pressed up to her ear. Hmm, I wonder where she has seen that before?
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| One year old photo |
We only have a week and a few days left here in Omaha, and the time is flying by faster than ever. In addition to packing our bags and tying up all the inevitable loose ends, I also have two-thousand InfinityMOM scarves arriving here on Friday. All of the scarves need to be banded, bagged, labeled, packed, and shipped before we leave. My parents have graciously offered their babysitting services and donated their living room to be used as warehouse central for the next week. We were originally hoping this batch of scarves would last us through the Christmas shopping season, but I recently pre-sold over 1/4 of them to a company for a Christmas special. Great from a business standpoint, but it means a lot of extra work before we leave for Germany in addition to all the normal packaging and shipping I was planning on. We would greatly appreciate your prayers for safety in travel, speed in my work, and no major hiccups in our plans. I look forward to updating next from Germany!!
