Deployment Positive Thursday- Weeks 25 & 26

So we meet again. Things have been slightly busy around here the past two weeks to say the lest. Between a Trans-Atlantic vacation, getting caught up at work, and trying to get back into my routine, some things (eh hem, my blog) have seemed to fallen by the wayside. As we begin to gear up for the second half of this deployment (YUP, this is really happening!) I find myself getting more and more excited for the fall! The poor kids must be so sick of me asking them how excited they are to start school up again, but what's a girl to do? I've got to have things to look forward to.

Maybe it's foolish, but as we hit the 6 month mark, I keep having to remind myself that it's not over yet. I guess this is the beauty of having midtour leave late in a deployment. Not only that, but I have been planning lots of smaller milestone trips as well with friends and family. Plus with the Holidays seemingly right after midtour is over, it'll be 2012 before we know it. And I couldn't be happier.

I also wanted to share some of my favorite pictures from my visit to Germany. We crammed a lot of fun (and food and beer) into 5 short days, but it was great to see family again. These are mostly in random order, but I tried to just pick my favorites. Hope you enjoy:



Cemeteries in Europe are a lot different than in the states. There is something so beautiful about families owning a plot and taking care of their loved ones and making it their own.




My Omama and Opapa Hilsbos & Opa Jakob





Creative "Tombstone"... this was one of my favorites.





The house my mom grew up in just outside Dusseldorf




My "single" hotel room. 




Gut Hahn for lunch





At Gut Hahn with my Oma and Dad




Ein Pills, Bitte




Empty Beer





My favorite meal; Filet mit Pfefferlinger und Rosti







German Countryside




Kaffee und kuchen





My Oma and Opa on their wedding day in December 1943




A rainbow on our last afternoon




And a beautiful sunset walking back to the hotel