November proved to be a crazy month, too. Unfortunately, it was sickness and health problems that kept us busy. Early in the month, Ashlyn complained of stomach pains. This had happened once before and nothing came of it, but after 12 hours of pain, we thought it best to take her to the ER to get checked out. After 8 hours in the hospital with multiple opinions, a pediatric surgeon decided to operate immediately to remove her appendix. During the surgery, her appendix ruptured. Here she is at the hospital, near the end of her 1 week stay. (more of her story can be read here.

After the appendix problems, 4 out of the 6 of us got what I believe to be the Swine flu. Thankfully, everyone's case was mild. A couple days fever and a cough was all anyone really had. By the end of the month, only I was still feeling a little puny, but we were still able to go to Prague and celebrate Thanksgiving with our friends there. The kids don't have Thanksgiving day off, so we traveled down Friday after school and stayed the weekend. Fun and delicious food was had by all.

Here is a picture of the boys during Ashlyn's hospital stay. Amy took good care of them when Jason and I both needed to be at the hospital. They even had a homemade hamburger picnic in the living room! Thanks Amy!

Here are 2 pics from the hospital. The courtyard:

and here is the sign pointing to Ashlyn's wing. She was in Haus F and the Kinderklinic.

When your busy, time flies. This was the fastest October ever! In addition to a busy work schedule and new, harder school for all the kids, we had a lot of additional things going on.

Cheryl's parents came out for their second visit. It had been two years since they had seen the kids, and at that age a lot changes in two years. They also got to meet Jack. He loved them... and never let them out of his sight.



Jonah and Ashlyn and I took them out to Berlin on a cold day to show them the sights and the history. The kids enjoyed a classic of Berlin cuisine, Currywurst!





Cheryl and I took advantage of their visit and the fact that we live so near it to visit Paris for our 15th Anniversary.








To cap the month off, we had a family visit us for a week so we could get to know each other and show them the sort of work we are doing. The kids had a blast carving up pumpkins and sharing our strange American culture to the neighborhood. We got some nice reviews!








October ended as usual with a cold front blowing in and sending us below freezing. Jonah and I spent a lot of the day outside helping some friends move out of their apartment. Before we knew it the whole month had flown by.

Time to start playing Christmas music!

Back to school pictures. The kids started back on August 10th. We were the first german state to let out of school (June 26th) and the first to go back. Jonah started Gymnasium this year and Caedon started school with Ashlyn. Jonah is in 5th, Ashlyn 4th and Caedon 1st. (We held Jonah back a year so he wouldn't have the stress of learning German and catching up in math in the same year.)

Caedon at his desk at school.

Caedon's class, 1 a

Ashlyn and Caedon at his welcoming program. He is holding his Zuckertüte.

Walking out of the program. Ashlyn, as a 4th grader, danced and sang at the program and then each 4th grader picked a 1st grader to walk out to their Zuckertüte presentation.

Caedon with his best friend Tim and their Zuckertüten.

Jonah on his way out the door to walk to his first day at Gymnasium

The Germans really celebrate when a child begins school. The parents, grandparents and friends (and church) all give the children cardboard cones filled with sweets, school supplies, and toys, etc. The parents' is the biggest usually. Then they usually have a party with family and friends. We were invited (last minute, which is amazing) to Tim's party.His parents, grandparents anda adult friend/neighbor were there. We had good food and after dark, we had sparklers and small hot air balloons that we set off. (Tim's dad is a fireman.) It was fun for the kids and very special that they invited us to a "private" party.