You will be missed Abel

It is with great sadness to anounce that one of our youth teenager has passed away. His name was Abel-Alin Gherasim, April 10, 1989- May 20, 2007 18yrs old. He drowned in a lake this Sunday as he was swimming with a friend. He will be greatly missed by his family & church family. It hurst to see the pain & sadness he has left behind, but we rejoice because he is in heaven. The viewing will be this Thursday & the funeral on Sat. Please keep his family in your prayers.

New Blog

Okay so I have been asked to post something new since the prev post kinda caught some people off guard. No worries! I hope that all you mother's out there had a great Mother's day! We didn't really do much. Church in the morning, eat after church. Yeah this turned out into a 3hr meal at the restaurant. We went with the pastor's & another family whom are moving back to Germany on Saturday. It was a very nice day, warm & relaxing since Sun night church was cancelled.

We rented a movie & slept in on Monday. Well I & Audrey slept in on Monday. We finally found a sroller. Wahoooo! went to IKEA for Andre's sake. He loves going there to play & eat SPILU (spaguetti) for 1Euro. Then later I bought me a dress & got the kids sandals. whew! Full day!

Today the funniest thing happened. Well it wasn't funny at the moment but I had to take a picture of it. I sent Andre to go potty like 3x's & he didn't want too. So I made him go. This was before his afternoon nap. He finally goes & closes the door. 3min pass by & I think..oh this is good he went stinky poopoo. When I went to ck up on him. He wasn't going, he was actually enjoying himself unrolling a brand new roll of tp. That's right. It was all over the floor. As soon as I walked in he jumps & sits on the toilet. He knew what he did was wrong. Of course we had a talk about this. Not cool at the moment but funny now.

I have been cleaning, did 5 loads of laundry..got 2-3 more to do 2morrow. You know what I wish there was? A thing like a vacuum that would suck up all the toys that lay around EVERYWHERE around the house. I swear I feel like that's all I do all day long. Even if I do it at the end of the day...it's amazing how many more toys I find in unexpected places & things. I think I will take pictures of all the places I find toys laying around. That should be my next post. :) Toodles for now.

Dubuque, Iowa

Although it's not as pretty as Austria, Dubuque is the oldest city in Iowa and boasts stunning bluff views of the Mississippi River. Dubuque borders the states of Wisconsin & Illinois. Just last night, my husband and daughter stood atop what's known as the Fourth Street Elevator and overlooked the downtown area of Dubuque. Enjoy my part of the world. (Click on photos for a larger, more detailed view.)
The bridge you see connects Iowa & Illinois with the Mighty Mississippi flowing between.
The tall clock towards the left forefront of the photo is the Town Clock . . . the heart of downtown Dubuque. It's also a few blocks from where myself and my husband work. The taller building with the gold-covered dome to the right is the courthouse, and off in the distance is Wisconsin (my birthplace).

Continuation of Boo! & Pictures of Salzburg

Ok, so I could of taken more pictures of Salzburg & of Mozart's birth place etc but my battery went dead & our guest took most of the pictures. I guess I could of taken pictures of all the bunches & I mean BIG groups of tourists that were visiting. haha! Maybe next time.

The picture of this beautiful park goes back to the meadevil times (is that how u write it?). Interesting that it still exists & is well kept. They had the most beautiful landscaping & tulips.

Boo!

Couldn't think of a title for this blog, specially since I haven't blogged in like a week. So here I am sitting down in my kitchen table. All is quiet. aaaahhhh so nice when the kids are sleeping & you can actually take a shower, go to the bathroom & blog without any interruptions, screaming, crying, & fighting.

It has been a gloomy rainy 2 days in a row. Lord knows we need the rain here. Farmers are freaking out here cuz it hasn't rain. But now we have it.

This weekend we had some friends from Norway come to vist. It was nice having company, friends that we've known for a while. They came on Thursday & left yesterday morning. We really enjoyed having them here. It was also a very busy go go go weekend. It seemed that we were doing something left & right. Besides running a few errands in between naps & so on. Friday we went to Gemund. It is a really nice small city or town. It's right by the lake. There is a playground for the kids & ice cream & a beautiful view. Then we had Pizza & salad for lunch right accross the street.

Pizza story: So we sit & order & the food came. As we are all eating I find a hair in my pizza. You know the feeling that comes to your throat after that. So I took it off, remove that piece & said...wel it's 1hair, yip still grossing out..but I'm really hungry & I have to eat. So then I start with my salad & guess what. Another hair was in my salad. About to htrow up. I cannot belive that I found 2 hairs. 1 ok, but 2. So I did not continue to eat my salad but I did my pizza & then a 3RD!!!!! hair I found in my Pizza. Yah! That was the nastiest, grosses experience I have ever encounterd...3 HAIRS!!! What is up with that. do they not belive in hair nets for crying out loud. So NO I did not eat any or the rest of my food. How bizzare is that. Only me, mua, yo had it. We did tell the waitress when we were about the pay & we did not have to pay for my pizza nor my salad. A miracle here in Austria. You see most of Europe is not customer service oriented but the lady was nice enought to not charge us.

What I mean by not being customer service oriented is by this other incident. Not the first in this Mc'ds by our house. So this couple don't have a Mc'ds in their town. The closest is over an hr drive. So they really wanted to sometime go to Mc'ds. We ended up doing that for dinner. B/C kids were hungry. we had a lady's meeting that evening & Steve had to open the church do p&w & teach his & mine class. So we ordered. I order a Mc Chicken meal w/ curly fries. I get a Quarter poundewr with Cheese & reg. fries. So not what I ordered. It's not the 1st time. Same with salads. Complete morons & idiots. Steve goes back & tells them that they got the order wrong & they started argung with him. 1st of all they supposed to read the order back 2u. Something that I will have Steve have them repeat back 2 him. They did not want to give me my mc chicken, finally they did. But they did not give me my curly fries which I paid x-tra for. This is like the 4th time they do this. N-ways. So that's what I mean by CS oriented.

Saturday we just hanged, Sunday rush rush, Church, eat, quick coffee visti w/some friends, hurry rush home & church again. Monday, we went to Salzburg & saw more of the city. Maybe this summer I'll do the sound of music tour. A real American tour. haha! I hear it's real nice. Then we came home. Made dinner. fed the kids other stuff put them to bed b/c they were beat. I enjoyed the company, but I am glad to have some peace & quiet. Not only that there's the cleaning & overflowing of laundry to do. Again. hehe! So this is my adventures in Austria.

BTW, the blue table & chairs were a hit. And the picture with all 3 kids in the tub was that evening. They seem to have enjoyed it.

Stoked!!!!!!

Yesterday was a holiday so since yesterday was a holiday many people also get Monday off. Mondays are Steve's day off anyway, but having 2 days off it's great!! So we try to make the best out of that 1dy off. Yesterday however, there was a flea Market in the city, so we decided to go. It's amazing the amount of antiques that you can find. I didn't buy any antiques really, but would of loved to if I had more tha 30Euros. Ha! That was my budget to start. But now I am soo hooked on Flea Markets.

So I really have to save $$$ so I can go & find treasures for my home. Steve is not so much into the stuff that I like nor does he find & see the value of it, but he supports me by going. So I bought a couple of things. Well let's just say I spent my 30 Euros cuz that's all I had. Would I have had more I would of bought some really cool nifty things. But it's a start. So here you have it.

I bought this metal box. I don't know how old it is. It's somewhat rusty But I cleaned it up as good as I could. I believe it was some kind of candy that was sold in the 1900's. I did the research but the information was in french. Sorry I don't speak french. I love it!!!

I bought these pewter platters & these two small coffee milk jugs to go with them. Also I found this measuring metal cup. They don't make these kind of stuff any more, but I foun dit for 5Euros. This other lady wanted to sell me one for 30. yikes!! I like this kind of metal kitchen stuff anyway. My most favorite beside the metal box is this camera. So this was the highlight of my day. Steve loved the camera. That was his favorite buying of the day. I believe his dad has some really old ones as well. We'll see if he'll pass them on to us. cross our fingers. hehe!

Then we grilled in the afternoon & watched the end of 24 season 5. Plese can somebody videotape season 6 for me & mail it to me. haha, just kidding. I shall read it on line & then watch it when it comes out on DVD. :(

long time no blog

It had been a very busy week last week. I had no time to blog check my emails etc. I finally got to clean my floors yesterday. We had a wedding this weekend, so I was busy with that & the daily mandate things.

Sunday after church we went to this place called the Most Kost. It's a 1 day event. What it is is that in the fall they pick the best apples & let them ferment & then they make apple cider..with alcohol. They also have non alcoholic which is what I had. It tates like apple juice but better. It was a 1/2hr drive into the country side. In a big farm house. That is where this takes place. The sell 1 type of meal. Grilled sausages, sour kraut & 1 big slice of bread. The sausages are on the bottom, sour kraut on top of the sausages & the bread on top of the sour Kraut & the tiniest little fork that looks like the size of baskin robins spoon ice cream testers. Non the less it was good. The day was beautiful & warm. The also had different types of cakes & it was dirt cheap. We didn't pay for it. We went with a family whose family works in there & another couple.

They have contest on which farmer makes the best apple cider & then they give them some award. So that was cool. Then we went for a walk. That was very nice.

Yesterday was a reall bad day for me. As you can call it a real "pisser" let's just leave it at that. No details, just a real pisser, it still feels like it. I sometimes wish I could be back in America with what I know & with my friends & that's that. I hate me right now! I don'r even like to use that word but that's just the way I feel. I ahte the way I feel right now. bdah!!!

Today it's a rainy day. I hope it doesn't continue becuse I have some major walking to catch up too. We have watched the 4th season of 24. in 1wk. Whoah! that's alot of tv. But I don't feel that bad b/c I don't watch any TV. Haven't for a coulple of weeks. I should so I can learn & hear the language more. Oh well such is life. Well let's see what the rest of the day holds for me. ;)
I didn't take pictures of the Farm house only of the kids. So here u have it.

Recap on this Easter weekend....

Well we did buy a ham to cook in the oven. But did not cook it b/c we were leaving on Sunday to my MIL'S. Yeah, Steve asked me on friday if we could go see them on Sunday after church & come back on Monday night. 1 day is all we both can handle. So I said sure. We didn't cook the ham but we did go out to the Greek restaurant which was packed'o. I guess everybody decided to go to the Greek's. They already know us there & treat us very nice. So we waited for ever & ate late & left @ 3pm.

Went home, chenged our church clothes,loaded the car & left. Audrey busted to her top lip. tripped & fell flat on her face. Yip..blood. So now sheäs got a swollen top lip with a black spot on it. We got to my MIL'S. I won't go into details. Let's just say one day I will have a talk with her. I understand she hasn'r been around small children for years, but making an efort won't hurt. So I basically stayed in the guest bedroom with the kids b/c that's better for all. The visit wasn't bad b/c we stayed out of their hair for most of the time. The next say we took the kids to the park. That was a nice long walk to the park. Came back stayed in the room until lunch. Lunch was very very good. Once thing I hav to say is that my MIL is a great cook. Just stay out of her way.

Later in the afternoon, after the kids woke up from their naps we went to another park. Went back to the room packed, cleaned the room, ate dinner & left. So that wasn't a bad visit.

How much blood can you see in one weekend?
Yesterday morning audrey found Steve's glass of water sitting on the night stand. she grabbed it with both hands walked to Andre's room..tripped & fell. So you can imagine. Glass broke, she fell ontop of it & cut her left middle finger. It looks like she needs stitches but u can't b/c it's where you bend it. Yip blood was everywhere dripping like water. I couldn't watch it. Steve took care of it. She has been doing soo good though.

Later in the afternoon I walked with Judy (the pastor's wife) & then we grilled, played cards, ate homemade steve's apple pie. After we the food was done & brought inside, Audrey lost her balance with everybody coming inside. Fell & busted her lip (AGAIN) on the corner of a night stand. Blood ofcourse was gushing out again. But it healed quick. whew!! So here are some pictures of the kids.

Ok, B renda, so What's This?

Now this is fairly easy I think, but since you gave me "rights" haha to your blog I thought I would add to your game. So guess away.

NOt much happening here.

I am currently making lucnh. It looks like we are going to have some tacos for lucnh. It's the first time that I'ved made them since the move. I don't care much for taco seasoning but I ahve no choice but to use it. I am really looking forward to this lunch. It's nothing like the real thing but we do with what we or they have here. Actually the couple that lived here left us a taco seasoning package, so today is the big day to use it. well not really nig day..but it is. haha.

On Monday we went to Salzburg to visit some freinds of Steve's fam. They are buying a new building for their church & needed Steve's expertiees on buying a sound system & what they need for that room. The trip took longer than expect it. I woulod of rather have stayed home, but then again I wouldn't of met this pasttor's. They are super nice people. So it was not as bad.

We left pretty late,then as it got dark I could se that it was going to be a full moon. It was the most beautiful night I have ever seen. Too bad my camera couldn't take good pictures. The sunset was beautiful. Finally it was dark. The moon was soooo bright that you could see the blue sky, the mountains & some clouds that followed the moon right above it. It was amazing. I wish I would of have gotten better pictures, but they didn't turn out. :(.

So that's pretty much it for now. This is my week in a nutshell. Hasta luego amigos.

Funny

So this morning about an hr after we ate breakfast...Andre decides to go potty. I am in the shower & Steve is getting ready for work. I hear this little words come out of my 3yr old sons mouth:

ok you realize he went #2. When he goes potty we tell him to tap tap tap (means to clean his talli wacker) So he says:
THAT'S BIG!!!...NASTY.. TAP.. TAP.. TAP. Ofcourse Steve goes & wipes him. We celebrate with a reward for going #2 on the potty. You see..Andre tends to go #2 once he is down for his afternoon nap. So it happens mostly on his pull up. Unless ofcourse it's during the day. So that is a good laugh to start the day with.

Audrey...well , she can't help it but ...she loves books 7 wants us to read them to her like 100x's a day. Which is good. So here u have it a picture of Audrey 7 one of her many books. Sitting in her chair.

The second picture is Super Man on the wall according to Andre.

Can u guess what this is???

I know it looks gross. But it's not at all. It's a thing.

Can u guess what this means!!!

So last night Steve starts laughing & asks me if I know what it says on this bottle. It's a hand soap that we bought I don't know where but it smells good. The title of this hands soap is "Dusch Das". Can u guess what it means in english??? I'll give u the answer tomorrow.

i'm bored.....

well...it's more like i'm extremeley tired. It has been raining w/snow for the past 2 days so it's been kinda gloomy. My throat started hurting last night & it felt like junk was begining to collect. I have no energy. I do have a major headache. I have done nothing major around the house. I did put a load of laundry in the washer. Yip..it's still in the washer 5hrs later..so I better put it in the dryer. I made lunch...a disaster lunch due to constant disctractions from the kids...but I think I salvaged it...I don't know how but it turned out ok. I gave both kids a bath & cut Andre's hair. I took a nap w/ the kids. And now Steve is putting some rolls int he oven...making some soup & off to a 6 o'clock meeting.

I was thinking that maybe I should continue painting...maybe I'll get out of this feeling gloomy day & regain some energy. So not much happening. Audrey is cutting more 3 molers...NOT fun. One started cutting thru her gums on Sunday...so far we have had 3 nights if Audrey waking up b/c of this & ofcourse the snot just don't stop running & now the cough. BUt she will get better. So that is my Tuesday in a nutshell. Now I am going to eat dinner cuz them rolls are nice & hot...mmmmmm.

Not much to blog about...or is there?

This week I finally decided that I really have to paint the walls in the apt. Specially the dining area since they look pretty yellow & haven't been painted in yrs. That's a whole nother subject. arrrrrgh! The truth is...in my own little opinion in my little world of mine, I don't think that the the tenants should paint the apt. (Welcome to our culture differences) The landlord should do it or hire someone to do it. Painting is not in my vocabulary yet. I have spent too much fixing & painting our house before we sold it to relocate & trust me, moving into an apt where I HAVE to do the work is no fun.

First of all who builts a flat w/ some soft walls & some TEXTURED. The textured walls are AWFULL to paint & you can get hurt (scrape) your hands & any part of your body as soon as you touch it. These textured walls are the worst to paint. Dust collects in all the holes & or creases. I only plan on giving it 1coat. Mind you, only one coat applies to the soft walls NOT the textured!!!! I found this out on Tuesday night!!!! AUUUUGGHH!!!

It's going to take days maybe even weeks to paint the hallways, entry ways, dining area & the kitchen. Problem is...once u have put some white paint you have to give it more coats cuz it's yellow of dirt. Yah..a small piece pf wall took me
2 1/2hrs to paint. & that was only 1 coat. It sucks the paint in like nobody's business. But, I have to say it looks clean...well alittle bit. Major difference.

I'm glad I'm not having Andre's b-day party till next Sat. Maybe I will have 2 walls painted by then. & that is it!!! It bugs me everytime I look at it. I MUST FINISH IT & PRONTO!!! Well that's my life in a nutshell. Hasta la vista readers of mine!!

I'm back

Yes..that is right. I am back. With major jet lag. But I am glad to be home. To my own bed. Although I liked my moms bed better. The flights were good. Had a 3 1/2hr lay over in Atlanta. But it wasn't too bad.

Can u say FAVOR!!!!!
As I was waiting in my gate for departure. The counter lady got there & I asked if I could get my seat chnged to one empty next to me. She found one & gave me a new boarding pass. Then there came another gentlemen to help her at the counter. I was seating next to the counter. He eventually started talking to Audrey & started telling me he had a 2yr old at home & missed her & loved her very much. He has 3 children, hjis youngest one is 2. We started talking about my trip & ends up he was born in T.J (Tijuana) lived in SD & Guadalajara. I told him I was from SD, lived in TJ & my mom was from Guadalajara. How small is this wrld isn't it? Then he started doing something in the computer & told me to come, he had found me a better seat for me & Audrey. He totally went out of his way w/o me asking him. Then he gave me a new boarding pass, countinued to type & talk to me. Eventyually he said he was trying to find me n even better seat for me & Audrey so she could lay down to sleep. FAVOR people. I'm telling u I am God's favorite child. So he found me a 3 row seat all for me. I was the only one in the aircraft with 2 empty seats next to me. The 5 min before they started boarding he gives me a new boarding pass & tells me to go with him to the gate. He carries all of my stuff thru 3 doors into the aircraft & helps me put all my stuff away too. FAVOR!!!! SO I was the 1st one in the aircraft besides the stuartdist. (is that how u spell it) Whom were very helpful & super nice. I give them all a 10.

So yeah, I got to enjoy my 3row seat in the back. Audrey got to lay down & take a nap & sleep. Although I did not pay for Audrey's seat, I got a whole 2 meals for her. Dinner & breakfast! Is that awesome or what! Praise God. God is faithful!!!

So now I got to go & feed my childeren whom are very hungry & Audrey who is both, hungry & tired. Aufwiedersein! Ciao!!

Finally a "New Dishwasher"!!!!

So, since we moved to this apt. The dishwasher has been having issues. We did mention it to the landlord. He kinda told us what we needed to do. Now, mind u the prev. renters (Dan & Charity? said there was a problem w/ it. Besides, a normal dishwasher does "NOT" take 5hrs to run. That's right it started with 4 & then 5hrs & then the whole day & well...yah..it's pretty much broken. We know some things run slow in other countries, but dishwashers are no different.

So we called the landlord, but could not come b/c he was on vacation at some therapy spa. How nice would that be to go to one. As soon as he got back he shows up & rings the doorbell. We thought he might call on his way or something. Nope, he rings the doorbell & well we know he is here. A little warning would be nice. Mind you it's no the 1st time his just showed up. Some people here don't know that it's polite to call beforehand. Oh well...you learn to be ready at all times. Ok, back to my story he ckd it out, not very long & knew right away that..yip it's broken. So Steve & him went to pick out a new dishwasher right away. YAY!!! The landlord is a really super nice man. He wants to make sure that we let him now if we need anything. Can u say "Favour" I had cleaned the dishwasher from the inside really really good & for a week had been washing dishes by hand. Glad it wasn't longer.

Steve takes it out that day. Well I helped him. I didn't realize how heavy it was. My back was hurting a bit, but nothing serious. So the old dishwasher is sitting by our door step & stairway. The company down the block where they bought it from was going to bring it the next morning. The landlord specified that 2men come to deliver it & bring it upstairs, since they had to take the old one as well. They said they would call before delivering it, which they did. But what they told Steve was that they would deliver it in 2 hrs. So not what happened. 1/2 an hr later the door bell rings, 5min after Steve went to work & it's 1 guy delivering the dishwasher. That's right he needed my help. OMG!!! what do I do. I have 2 kids upstairs. Dang it! why did Steve have to leave right now.

So I locked the kids inside & helped the guy take it down stairs. OUCH!! That was heavy, plus on top of it I had to help him carry the new one upstairs. By the end of the day my back was really hurting. But I prayed & it's better now. So I caloled Steve & told him what happened. Long story short. We got a really nice dishwasher. Worth 1,000Euros. Steve came home & installed our new dishwasher. It's so nice & spacious & you can hardly hear it when it runs. So nice.
SO here are some pictueres of the new dishwasher & Steve..my handi husband that needed a haircut..installing it.

Another guess!!!

When was the first steam boat invented?

a) Albany, NY
b) Mississippi
c) Ohio
d) NY, City

What was the name of the boat?

a) Clermont
b) Livingston
c) Michaux
d) Fulton

Bonus: What was the name of the inventor????

The answer!!

Ok...John thanks for noticing, lol!. I did edited my blog..eek!

Ok so the elevator was invented by a man called Otis in 1861 in NY. So the answer was "C" & "C".

Ready for another one???

Thanks Moore-life. I did take up ur suggestions. Thing was I didn't know quite how to change it for the longest time. Then again i didn't really take the time to really ck it out. ;-)

Logzie..I had to edit my blog for the 2nd time. The 1st time was b/c i had 2 "b"s. NY was supposed to be "C" & I had it as another "B". So u may or may not be THE winner. haha! Thanks for playing my game. I shall post another one. Later today!!

Who wants to be a millionaire???

no cheating allowed. So we have come up with a game for the youth right. Like who wants to be a millionaire. So I have been writing some questins down that we can do with the youth. So I decided to ck out my friends intelligence, haha. I have posted 2 questions for u guys. No internet, book, encyclopedia searching allowed ok?

When was the first elevator invented?

a) 1902 c) 1861
b) 1879 d)1885


In what state was it invented?

a) Pennsylvania c) New York
b) New Jersey d) California