Wow, the days are flying by! We are ending our first week in Germany and feel like we've come so far. Then again, sometimes we feel like we're still at square one, so it's all good. Jon was successful in getting us some cell phones (handys, they call them here) but that experience is another post I'm urging him to do. (It'll make you tired just reading it!) But he was successful and it took only another few hours to figure out how to get those phones to display in English instead of German. Whew!

The girls are doing well--liking being in the hotel. They also have the bedroom to themselves while Jon and I sleep on the pull-out sofa, so that's a great deal for them. We went to the post chapel for church today and they almost made it through the entire service in the nursery. It's an encouraging start, for sure. Jon has successfully achieved his driver's license and--ta-da!--our car has arrived, so we're thrilled to be able to drive ourselves around. We've looked at a few available homes and will see more tomorrow, but we continue to pray about where to live and all the details. We're also hoping to move into a larger hotel room this week--if the financing works out with the temporary living allowance. We'll let you know. We have been truly blessed with the nice people we've met so far. Our sponsor's wife (and her two boys) drove us to our first house-hunting appointment, and another couple (who picked us up from the airport) invited us to their church for a potluck and then over to their house for dinner. How nice to be out of the hotel and not eating out! Thanks for following us as we take this adventure as it comes--one day at a time!


Kate, not long after our arrival. She's totally out, even though Ellie is trying to wake her.



The girls hanging out on our bed.



Running "home" down the hallway to our room.



Finding places to play wherever they present themselves.



This one's my favorite--Ellie, hiding.