Back "Home" - Hooper And Whistle

Back ‘home’.
Here is what we would call the icing on the cake of our adventure! With both boys away from home right after high school, we have missed daily life with them…sometimes. 😉 The time we had allowed us to just take some of those days and turn from tourist to locals. We were able to settle into ‘normal’ everyday life. Roman and Mikayla have taken advantage of their surroundings and offerings in the local community. We were able to join in seamlessly. Their friends are super welcoming and a great bunch of people to spend time with.

Upon returning from our adventures in Berlin, we settled right into home life. Relaxing and recovering from touristing and beginning our ‘traditional’ holiday prep and celebrations. We finally finished decorating the tree that has been standing beautifully naked for a couple weeks now, complete with the star on top. Of course, cookie baking is always more fun when everyone is involved! However, sometimes some (we won’t mention who, right Grant) don’t particularly enjoy decorating. So, this year the cookies ventured into the non-traditional. Gingerbread Ninjas!!!
We got to zoom along on the Autoban. Myth busted….there are speed limits and serious traffic! However, there are plenty of sections that have no speed limit and the left lane, is for the most part, respected. One of our travels on the Autoban took us to see Mason! He had been hanging out in Kuwait (for the second time) and on his way back had a short, (very, very short) layover that was within driving distance. No way we were going to miss that opportunity even though it was for less than an hour!
Another awesome experience we had at ‘home’ was welcoming houseguests. Roman has made numerous friends on some of his travels, and with the beauty of today’s social media of all kinds, has enabled them keeping in touch much easier. Now remember, our time in the military and traveling was all prior to cell phones and facebook. So keeping in touch with those we met took a different look and for many reasons didn’t always happen. Shortly before Christmas we were able to meet a wonderful couple from the UK. They stayed with us for a few days, sharing stories and sightseeing. So many giggles and sweet moments, sharing and learning….ahhh, priceless!
We joined Roman and Mikayla and their friends on their weekly fun, both working our brains and throwing in a bit of exercise. Trivia at the local Irish pub, Ultimate Frisbee with locals and co-workers at the local park, hanging out at the community club playing pool and throwing darts all the while being ‘entertained’ by karaoke. Life is Grand!! We so enjoyed just being welcomed in and being a part of everyone’s life just as if we lived there full time. Which would be ‘awholenother’ (yes, this is a Kellyword) adventure! 😊

: Ok, this one is for the old car that was trailered on the Autoban as well as the semi on the other side. This is pretty much what they all look like, cabovers. Not one long nose.

: One of the types of speed limit signs, this one shows a circle with the line though over the number, which means that speed is no longer enforced.