Dolsons Do Deutschland

So, we have been back for two and a half months and my plan was to do a short blog about home life for my German friends (mostly Eva), but life became busy instantly. We had our very last week in Germany and were really sad to say goodbye. Two of Robb's students, Sarah and Alina, prepared an amazing little going away party for us, which was so sweet. We were truly blessed by all of the friends and new family members in Wiesbaden. We had to say some very sad goodbyes. Some of our friends took us to the airport and sent us off and in true Dolson chaos, we didn't leave much time for the flight. I think we had the wrong gate or something (Frankfurt airport is pretty big). I had planned to be there ahead of time and get the girls lunch and get us all ready to go; however this didn't happen. We had coffee with our friends and wanted a last visit and I kept saying, "Robb, I think we need to go." Then I would be more serious, "Robb, we can't miss our flight!!!" Finally after talking for awhile longer, Robb also decided it was time to head to the gate (clever thinking Robb). Then we realized we were in the wrong area and found our way back. However, they put us in the family/stroller line and it was not moving. I was having a little anxiety and we end up asking a few people (yup, we had to do that) if we could cut in front of them as our flight was about to leave and we might miss it. Luckily, these people were really nice and let us go ahead of them. Going through security with a stroller, four back packs, a diaper bag, a laptop bag and a few extra shopping bags, and two kids trying to run away was also not quick or glorious. We had liquids, and things that needed extra run throughs of security and so on. You would think we would be traveling pros by now with children, but turns out we kind of suck at travelling;-) Then we were trying to put the two pieces of the stroller back together, pile everything on and then we jogged to the gate. Yes, we had to jog with all of our children and luggage once again. Once we got to the gate they were boarding and starting to make the last call announcements. I didn't even have time to get a bottle of water let alone any food for the kids. Then we were taxied to the plane and away we went, so no real stress on our way home. The huge blessing was we were able to buy premium economy tickets for the way home and right at the front, so we had so much space and it was glorious. My friend Malesa made each of the girls an airplane bag with treats, activities, and good distractions for the flight. It was so amazing and made things so much easier. We love you Malesa! Then we eventually found our way to our hometown, Kamloops, where we were greeted by family and friends! It was so wonderful to be home. My sister, family, and a few friends had done so much in our house to prepare for us coming home. Tara had bought us new towels, sheets, and all of our toiletries. The girls rooms were all set back up and waiting for them. My mom had made my favourite iced tea and Nanaimo bars. Our friend Amy, filled our fridge with food. They cleaned it all and had balloons and welcome home signs everywhere. It was amazing after a long trip and a long time away from all of our things. We got to see our dog Samson, Peyton and Micah are still pretty obsessed with him almost three months later. They love giving him treats and sitting with him and taking him for walks.

So, being home has been fairly bittersweet, we love being around our family again, but really miss our Wiesbaden family. That year went by so quickly, it feels like it didn't even happen sometimes. Four days after we got home, I started my new job with the Adoptive Families Association of BC and I am still really enjoying it. I work part time and am still able to spend most of the week at home with the girls. This job and the hours are perfect for me and a huge blessing for us as a family. I couldn't have asked for a better job. Robb started back at his old job two weeks later. He also started an internship as a family counsellor to complete his Masters. He loves it and is fortunate for the amazing experience he is getting, but unfortunately, this keeps him out every week night pretty late and he does not get to see the girls that much throughout the week. This makes us even more thankful for the past year and the incredible time we got to spend together as a family. We got to enjoy a few weeks of summer, spending time at a few of our favourite lakes, including a family weekend at Kalamalka lake. Peyton and Micah got yet another birthday party, as my family brought out gifts for them and a cake because they missed their birthdays this year. So, at this point I am pretty sure they think their birthdays occur every few months, as we did something for Micah as a family, then a joint birthday with friends in Germany, then something for Peyton's as a family in July, then this extended family birthday in Canada. So they have had 4 birthdays in In the last 5 months. I have also been to Vancouver twice for work and the second time we all went down together. Peyton was less than pleased that we weren't flying to Vancouver on a plane and said she would really like to go to Africa for the weekend. I think I said something above about unrealistic expectations from this past year.

We have been trying to catch up with as many friends as we can, though there are still people we haven't seen yet. Right when we got home a bunch of our friends brought us over meals, and baking since they knew I was headed back to work right away and we were adjusting back to life. It was so thoughtful and it meant a lot to us. Peyton has started ballet with her cousin Isla and is enjoying the English instructions. Both girls get to see their cousins constantly and have a great time playing together. They love their daycare on Mondays and Tuesdays and have made many new friends. We taught Peyton to be pushy in Germany to get her turn at the parks (honestly we had to do this or she would never be able to go down the slide), here we are like, "Hmm maybe tune that down a notch Peyts:)" The second we touched down in Calgary and the airport volunteers were asking to help us out and asking where we were coming from and wanted to hear our life story, then we knew we were truly back in Canada. So, it is nice to be back home. That being said, our life will be far less exciting and I choose not to bore you with the details anymore on this blog. Thanks to everyone for your nice comments to these blogs and for following along with the Dolson's crazy adventures in the past year. It was a year we will never forget and created such wonderful relationships and memories, it will be hard to compete with. We ended up being able to travel to twelve countries, with two crazy toddlers, our stroller that seemed permanently attached to us, the usual banter between Robb and I, and whole lot of memories (and pictures that were retaken if they were not done right the first time)! I hope we can return to Germany sometime soon to visit. In the meantime, can you all please come see us in Canada and visit? I have to admit I cried while writing this, as I went through all the pictures and memories of the past year and all of our friends that we miss so dearly. Vielen Danke Germany, we miss you so much. Auf Wiedersehen!

Some beautiful cupcakes made by the wonderful Debbie Canta!

We all decided to wear navy blue today.

Sarah and Alina (two of Robb's students) who put on this entire spread and goodbye party! So amazing!

The whole gang.

Our last family dinner together:-( So sad! However we may just get to see these faces again in May or June next year!

Group goodbye hug from the Fuhrmann and Dolson kids. Love these kids together.

We got to spend one of our last days with the Fuhrmann family in Wiesbaden with them.

Spending some last snuggles with Steffi at the airport.

Micah giving some love to Hannes.

Robb telling Eva to come visit us soon!!!! Looking forward to next summer.

Our airport goodbye crew. This coffee almost made us miss our flights... worth it!

We had so much space, this flight was honestly glorious.

Micah playing with her play-dough and other activities thanks to Malesa.

Finally they are both out, though only for about 3 hours before it was time to wake up and adjust to the new time zone again.

Here is what we lived from for the last year of our lives. We had to re check our luggage in Calgary which was so awful.

Robb super excited to be having A&W and Tim Hortons again.

Kamloops airport.

The grandparents were waiting!

The cousins holding some welcome back signs!

Missed all of these people so much.

So happy for cousin time again. These two have been inseparable ever since.

My amazing sister and family gave us the best welcome back ever.

SAMSON!

Unpacking is definitely a let down and made us sad!

Home.

Letting her dog take her for a walk.

So happy to be back in our home.

Family trip to Kalamalka lake. Locking the kids in the dog pen.

The girls first time kayaking.

We missed these beautiful lakes. Kalamalka is our favourite lake.

The girl cousins. The boys were usually running around and not so into pictures.

The whole family.

Micah was 'steering' using Robb's ears.

Having a belated birthday cake and presents with the family.

Get together in our backyard, getting used to all of our space again.

Getting to meet Lumen for the first time. Unfortunately we missed her birth, but Peyton and Micah are still in love.

Another birth we missed. Beautiful Lily, in-between the girls fighting over who would hold her next.

Menchies date.

Kangaroo farm

These two are just ten days apart. Micah finally gets her own friend!

Getting Samson out for a stroll.

Grandma and Papa

Picking cucumbers from the garden.

More cousin time with Jessa. These two had a wonderful tea party together.

Being super country and hitting up the rodeo.

Micah missed her big cousin Zach.

Congratulating Zach on his game.

Tanning.

Quality FaceTime session with Rylee and we even got serenaded.

A beautiful day at Shuswap lake with friends.

Peyton missed Samson. She always asks if she can go out and 'chill' with him.

The girls and their Grammie.

Congratulating Joel on his soccer game.

We have a picture just like this before we left for Germany in the first blog post, we all basically look the same. We just look more German now.

They have spent many hours on this trampoline since being home.

Celebrating a wedding and getting to hang with these wonderful people.

The beautiful bride and groom.

Celebrating my grandma's 90th birthday.

Loved spending time with great grandma.

Fall is beautiful from Paul Lake.

Tara arranged some professional family photos.

Here is our family in a bunch of tall grass again (flashback to family photos in Germany). Whenever we want to feel close as a family we decided to find some tall grass to sit in. It does the trick.

Back in ballet again. She can understand the directions a little easier this time and is happy to have her cousin with her.

Princess dress up time at our place.

Blazer game. The girls love their hockey games and Digger.

Coffee break.

Vancouver

Catching up with some good friends in Vancouver. Not a lot really changes each year except the kids grow up a little.

Pumpkin carving.

Halloween

Some Germany love from Steffi and Hannes

Souvenirs from all of our amazing travels this year. I can't believe how fast it went by.

Here is a quick look back at our favourite moments from this year (keep in mind we also did this blog, so we can turn it into a book, so don't make comments about this being long... lol)