We made it through the winter! For us, this was a rough winter, especially since we spent the last winter in the southern states. This winter, the temperature decided to be fun numbers like negative 12 F. Eek! However, the earth is now recovering, and it's spring! My favorite season of all. I love seeing God bring new life! Makes me happy every year! It also makes our children happy to be back outside playing on Mt. St. Utter.
Y tied together grape vines to make his own swing
I was realizing that this blog had largely been a travel blog last year, and I never wrote about Germany. It was awesome! I loved every moment! Since we've spent 8+ months living in an RV and traveling the country, I feel like I know a bit about traveling now. Yes, there are fun THINGS to see wherever you go, and Germany had many of those!
From castles
to cobblestone streets
quaint villages, that make me so happy
cathedrals
and the Berlin wall
This is a painting on a section of the Berlin Wall that still stands. It depicts that the Berlin Wall was actually two walls (who knew?), with a grassy area in between them, where you got shot if you tried to cross. So much to learn.
where the wall used to be
I loved Germany so much. I loved seeing the people, the culture, the beauty, the differences and similarities that God puts all over the earth! I'm so amazed to think how He plans and watches out for us all, all over the globe, and how you can see Him everywhere.
I think the reason I hadn't blogged about Germany until now, was that I knew I couldn't post pictures of my favorite part. Having traveled a lot, I LOVE seeing interesting places and THINGS everywhere, but my favorite part is still the people.
getting to know Friederieke was fantastic, and she translated for me for the week of camp
I love the chance to "get into" a place more and interact in the culture and the people. I can't post any pictures of the kids at the English camp, just like random people aren't supposed to post pictures of my kids on the internet, but they were so fun! I loved them! Such a wonderful time!
I enjoyed Germany and the people so much that Char and I actually thought and prayed about moving our family to Berlin for two years. It seems that God is saying, "not now," but maybe sometime in the future. If anyone ever wants to rent our house on top of Mt. St. Utter for a few years, let us know! In the meantime, we think about taking a tour of Europe together, Char and I, but it just sounds like it would be missing so much, to be on a tour bus and not interacting with the people.
So, we are currently settling more into rural life here in D-town. Before we left, we lived in suburbia. Now, we live in the country, and I am SO happy to see our kids out enjoying the spring: jumping down cliffs, bike riding through the yard, and creating fort after fort in the woods, and becoming a muddy mess. The kids now have so much space that I have to have a whistle hanging by the door to piercingly call them back when I want them. They could be anywhere! Here in the country, our middle schooler needs to take a walkie-talkie out to the bus stop at the end of our drive since our driveway is so long. We are also plotting which kinds of chicks to get, or eggs to hatch after spring break, and life in the country is going well!
Since we've been in one place, we've been enjoying watching organized sports games again. B's basketball team lost every single game of the season, but then amusingly, came back to win the tournament at the end. Here they are, holding their trophies:
E has been doing well, mainly enjoying playing outside, playing with friends, and playing with Max the dog. Max didn't really want his photo taken here, maybe because he knows he's been a bit of a doggie terrorist lately, trying to take out any neighboring dogs. We're trying to figure out what to do about this, but E sure adores him, and Max loves people!
Char has continued working from home, and experiencing a severe lack of adventure. Because of this, he took the concealed carry class and has been enjoying practicing shooting targets and also taking B and E to kids' trap shooting club.
Then there's Miss I. I took this picture of her looking studious. I was trying to motivate myself to turn in her kindergarten registration forms for the fall. They're here, filled out, and I haven't been able to bring myself to actually register her.
So that's life, as of late, for the Utter family. We hope you're having a great spring, and that you have a blessed Easter. Christ is risen!
