The Fifth Season
It's ‘die fünfte Jahreszeit’ (the 5th season) in Germany! Well. Technically. It's over. It all started on the 11th of the 11th month 11:11 am on St Martin’s day, 2017. Since then our local witches, demons, and ghosts have been [...]
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Growing Up Too Fast
This month has been filled with a lot of exciting things for our family, my emotional sanity is shot! We'll start with the middle one, his big January excitement was FINALLY being old enough to play basketball. He goes twice [...]
Snowing = Swimming
When you look outside your window, and you see big, fluffy fabulous flakes of snow coming down, what is your first thought? Is it swimming? Because that is our first thought! Not just swimming, but swimming in the outdoor pool! [...]
My Crush
Ice skating is still a passion over here. Even more so after a couple of weeks of lessons & regular rink visits. In fact, ice skates are now at the top of everyone's Christmas lists... even mine! I had the [...]
Mission. Accomplished.
I'm going to sneak it in here, our personal biggest announcement ever, Dave is retired! We are no longer Army. It is weird. The day came & went with a whimper. Just a midnight text from Dave while I was [...]
Birthday!
On my actual birthday we drove from San Francisco up into Gold Country, to my sisters house up above Angels Camp. It's like driving into a piece of history not-quite frozen in time. We left the city after the morning [...]
Do You Have What it Takes?
I tell this story every year, and last year I think I finally got it right! I’m sharing it again this year because it is once again time for our Annual Next Designer Contest. Our 10th Annual Next Designer Contest, [...]
Pumpkin Festival
Every year there's a big pumpkin festival the next city over from Stuttgart. Every year we promise ourselves we'll go. After 8 years, this was finally our year. When I saw that my childhood favorites Asterix & Obelix were playing [...]
I Blinked
From the moment you tell the world you are pregnant, everyone tells you: "It goes fast!" "Enjoy every moment!" "Don't blink or you'll miss it!" I blinked. I blinked and suddenly Tess is 16. A junior in high school and [...]
A Day with Jeannette
We followed our Day in Den Bosch with a Day with Jeannette! Jeannette my right hand woman, my manusje-van-alles (ie, she can do it all), my rock. I love Jeannette. There are many great + amazing things in my life [...]
The Roommate
Eight (8!) years ago when we first arrived in Germany, we spent many hours exploring our new neighborhood. Long walks through foreign streets, playing in neighborhood parks, hours browsing stores and new-to-us wares. On one of our first walks we [...]
Tuscany
How I have longed to type "Tuscany". This part of our amazing trip was a dream fulfilled. We left Cinque Terre in a slow, steady downpour of rain. We headed inland slightly, driving past mountains scraped naked for the precious [...]
Cinque Terre
Cinque Terre was beautiful. Gorgeous. Amazing. Blah, blah, blah... that's certainly all true. There's no doubt it is a stunningly breath-taking place to visit and I could wax poetic for pages. However. I'm going to assume you know this, and [...]
The New Westbabies!
Introducing the new Westbabies! Toffee, Chii and Shay!
Husky’s, Böblingen and Ice Cream
A peaceful Spring evening walking downtown Böblingen with Argo (and Khaleesi).
Stuttgart at Night
Oooph! That title implies more than I have. I just have a few shots of downtown Stuttgart at night, but my point is... I have a few shots of downtown Stuttgart at night! After years of struggling with night photography, [...]
If you have to have surgery…
Nobody likes to have surgery. In fact, in the Cambridge dictionary it's defined as "the treatment of injuries or diseases in people or animals by cutting open the body and removing or repairing the damaged part". Who in their right [...]
Juggling Glass Balls
Do you ever wonder how you keep all the balls up in the air? Lately it seems an invisible hand is silently inserting another ball. Not just balls to juggle, but glass balls. I am terrified I'm going to drop [...]
Three Castles, One Glorious Day
We had a gorgeous sunny day last week Tuesday, Boo (Booland Designs) & I grabbed our camera's & practically ran out the door. I drove like a mad woman through half the Schwarzwald to hit as many castles as possible [...]
Always in my Heart
Today my beautiful Oma, Oma Door, Theodora, Doortje, and one time spur-of-the-moment "Thea", would've been 102 (A Final Goodbye; Goodbye Oma; My Oma; Favorite Photo; Met Oma; My Oma, My Hero). I was lucky enough to be the oldest grandchild. [...]