We arrived - July 15, 2011

I am posting what I had written on the first we week arrived in Germany.  So here it is:

Please realize that this move has been in the making for a few months, we received the official word in March that we were definitely being assigned to Landstuhl Regional Medical Center – the largest American hospital outside of the US.  This is where all of the injured soldiers from Iraq and Afghanistan are sent before they can return to the states.  Sean will be taking care of them in the ICU when all is said and done. 

A military move outside of the US is known as an OCONUS move and involves a lot more preparation than the regular move.  We had 3 packs – one for the household goods that went to Germany by boat (10,000 pounds); 300 pounds that headed over by air and then the final 4,000 pounds that went into storage.  Originally, we had planned on taking a car over with us.  After much debate it was decided to sell the Mazda and bring the Volvo (met European specifications).  However, that plan never came to fruition as the Volvo did not return with Mayland and the kids from Colorado.  So, despite the best laid plans we will be buying a new, to us, car when we arrive. 

We arrived on Thursday at 7:30AM.  The kids each slept about 3 hours on the plane while Mayland got an hour and Sean none.  After collecting our bags we found the USO, met with an Army representative and then did a little shopping at the local bakery and grocery store in the airport.  For our American friends who are nervous about coming to visit, every sign in the airport is labeled in both German and English and if you are a Bank of America customer, you can take out money from a Deutsche Bank ATM without any fees, and they have one in the airport.  I can now, honestly, say that Clark has fallen asleep in a vehicle with wheels on it 9 times since his birth, he did fall asleep in the bus on the way to the first installation, Kaiserslautern.  After a quick stop for paperwork there, we went onto Landstuhl where Sean found his sponsor Dr. Silvey who graciously drove us to the temporary house we had contracted for before leaving the states.  Once we got to the house the owner took one look at our two kids and decided that he had a better house for us.  He was so right.  We went from a 3 bedroom, small kitchen house to a 3 bedroom, 2 bath, attic that is a playroom/bedroom, full kitchen with a refrigerator and freezer!  The best part is that when we pulled up there were 4 girls, MJ’s age, outside playing in the street.  She is already identifying the next “best” friend in the group.