Weekend In Garmisch.

Kyle and I had a fun weekend down in Garmisch. It really was a last minute trip, that ended up being a very relaxing time. Friday night we went to a late dinner with some friends after arriving in town. We ate at the Edelwiess Lodge and Resort which is for the US military and we had American Hamburgers that were awesome! We got to sleep in then we walked around downtown for a while. After lunch we went out to the lake to see about renting paddle boats which were out of season, so we walked about 20 minutes and found a nice place on the shore to take a nap. We slept for about 2 hours before waking up just in time before the sun went down. I was very surprised at the nice weather...I guess we went just in time before the snow hits. I must say there isn't much better than waking next to the lake surrounded by the mountains!
The picture of Kyle and I was taken right after we woke up from our nap.

What? A Baby!

Today our secret was told...by a six year old.
It's true, Kyle and I are expecting our first child. We are in about the middle of my 11th week. We have been keeping it pretty quiet, just telling family and close friends. Plus I thought I needed to tell my boss because I am always sick. Other than that no one really knows. I am not showing yet, (I feel fatter, but apparently I don't look that way yet) so today when one of my former students came up and hugged me, looked at me, then touched my stomach, and really loud says "Mrs. Pettit, you have a baby in there!" everyone was shocked standing around. His teacher started to correct him and tell him that was an unkind thing to say, I told him that it was okay that he was right, I am actaully pregnant. I figured there was no sense in him getting in trouble for something that he was right about. I suppose I could have played it off, but I figure that it is okay to start telling people now, plus I really just love this kid and didn't want him to get in trouble (he is always in trouble, so I didn't want to add to him problems).
We are very excited, and I am so looking forward to second trimester when everyone says you start feeling better! I included our two pictures of Baby Pettit.

7 Weeks


10 Weeks

Spiced Pumpkin Waffles

So Kyle is a huge fan of this season for one reason...Pumpkin Pie. We even have pumpkin pie candles throughout the house. Well, I am always trying to find other pumpkin recipes that he will like, which really isn't a challenge (he likes just about anything), but this weekend, he told me he now has a new favorite. Saturday morning is really the only day I get to make us breakfast as Kyle leaves at around 5-5:30 every morning. By the time he gets home from PT, I am at school, so he is on his own for breakfast. Then Sunday, we usually eat something fast on the way to church as we like to sleep in as long as possible. So, this weekend, I tried a new recipe for Spiced Pumpkin waffles. I am not as huge of a pumpkin fan as Kyle so I was skeptical, but they really were yummy, so yummy that I thought I would share.
This recipe is from Country Living.

Spiced Pumpkin Waffles
Serves 8
Ingredients
2 1/2 Cups all-purpose flour
1 tablespoon baking powder
2 teaspoons cinnamon
1 teaspoon ginger
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon fresh-ground nutmeg
1/4 teaspoon cloves
4 large eggs
2 Cups buttermilk
1 Cup Pumpkin Puree
1/2 Cup dark brown sugar
1/4 Cup unsalted butter (melted)
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
Directions
1) Preheat a waffle iron. Combine the flour, baking powder, cinnamon, ginger, baking soda, salt, nutmeg, and cloves in a large bowl and set aside.
2) Whisk together the eggs, buttermilk, pumpkin puree, sugar, butter, and vanilla in another large bowl until smooth. While whisking, add the flour mixture and blend until smooth.
3) Generously coat the waffle iron with vegetable oil and book the batter in the waffle iron as recommended in the manufacturer's instructions. Repeat with the remaining batter.
4) Serve with hot maple syrup and fresh sliced pears.

Our visit to Prague, Czech Republic

Kyle and I went to Prague, Czech Republic this weekend. We ended up having an interesting experience. Due to traffic jams, and road construction we ended up on dirt roads for about 22 km (20 on the way there and 2 on the way home)of our trip. I was surprised our GPS even knew that these roads existed. The roads in the Czech Republic were bad enough on the highway; huge pot holes, bumpy, and just awful, so you can only imagine what these dirt roads were like. I was not sure that our car was going to survive the trip. However, while I always tell Kyle what a horrible driver he is, I can tell his time in Iraq and Afghanistan helped in bad road conditions. He was very good at dodging those pot holes, however, I am pretty sure he was on the lookout for IEDs too! I can't say to much, as I was positive some big Czech guys with guns were going to come out of the the trees and rob us.
Upon arriving in Prague Friday night, we had the exciting test of finding our hotel. We knew it would nothing to fancy, but it was pretty close to awful. We had to put our beds back together before we could even lay on them and breakfast was served in a dirty little bar in the basement of the hotel. The neighborhood was very scary (at least for me), everything is so close together and so run down, I guess that is what happens from a war torn country that is recovering from years of communism. On the positive note, there were no hookers around the hotel that we saw. They were hitchhiking all throughout the city and highways. We had been warned about all the hookers and theft in the Czech, we couldn't even rent a car to take, because of the auto theft rates in Prague.
Also, upon arriving in the country we started seeing villages of homes that are about the size of our bedroom. We thought the might be abandoned, but there was lots of laundry hanging outside, so I assume people are still living in them. I found this very sad and interesting, I wish I had been able to take a picture of them. However, I doubt they really would appreciate a tourist taking pictures of their home.
While Prague is a beautiful town with a lot of interesting sites, and history, I can't say it is a place I would ever go back to. I am thankful for the experience, and am reminded of how thankful I am to be an American.
Here are a few pictures of our trip for your enjoyment

-Part of the dirt road our GPS took us down.

-Beth with castle in background

-The world's largest inhabited castle

-Totally Europe. People kissing everywhere.

-Kyle standing with the church of St. Peter and Paul in background

-View of Prague Castle and Charles Bridge

-Kyle standing with a foggy Prague behind him.

-Beth standing in front of the Prague Castle

-Old Town Hall and astronomical clock

-Jewish Cemetery. Over 200,000 Jews were buried here, the oldest stone dating 1439. Hitler was going to put a museum in Prague about the extinct race of the Jews.

A Fall Wedding in Germany

Beccy and Barrett

From the Church overlooking Zeil am. Main

Beth standing in front of the church.

Kyle, Barrett, Austin, and Will

Kyle and Beth overlooking the city after the ceremony.

Kyle and I went to a wedding yesterday. Our friends Barrett and Beccy had their German wedding. It was in the most beautiful setting at a church on top of a hill overlooking the city Zeil am. Main. Because it is fall the colors were just beautiful. After the ceremony, which we attended, but understood none of, we went to the reception. There we really had a great time. Kyle had a good time driving there in the convoy honking his horn at everyone. At the reception we were surrounded by wonderful people, all of who spoke some English. Most of them spoke very good English, we were very impressed. So we enjoyed great company, good food, and German's have great wedding games. Our favorite was one we both participated in, it is like musical chairs, but when the music stops an object is shouted out and you must find it before you sit down. Examples are: belts, id cards, tie, purse, 2 euro coin, and the most interesting was toilet paper. There is only a small bathroom in the restaurant and about 11 people are running for it. The catch was after you got out, you had a penalty card, and on the cards were different jobs that you do for the bride and groom. Kyle has to wash their car and I get to take their dog for a walk. The winner is being taken out of dinner for the bride and groom. The wedding was at 3pm and we got home at midnight and the party was still going, we were told the party would go on for most of the night. Thank you Barrett and Beccy for letting us share in this special day with you both!

Shared Living Quarters

I am so thankful for a nice roof the military provides for over my head. But... sometimes the frustrations of shared living areas are so annoying.

Right now I am doing laundry. Someone decided to start some system where you mark your washers so people know who is using them and if you leave your clothes down there to long, they will come knock on your door. Which has been helpful because usually when I do my laundry I end up finishing someone else's because they don't come and put there clothes in the dryers. But it was also created because the nasty people that live around us like to leave dog/cat feces in the washers. Isn't that what we all want to wash our clothes with? Tonight when I was doing laundry I opened a washer to find the lovely gift of vomit. And guess what? They didn't put their sticker on it to let us know who it was. I am not exactly sure why we aren't able to clean up after ourselves. But more than that, I am not exactly sure why we are vomiting or putting cat/dog feces in the washers in the first place. Nasty people.

My dishwasher is also being complicated. Luckily I have my own and don't have to share that...haha. It isn't getting the dishes clean anymore. It is very sad, I have really enjoyed having a dishwasher, and that word not meaning "Beth." Today I washed the dishes by hand while Kyle "fixed" the dishwasher, washing by hand reminded me how thankful I am for that appliance in my home. I am know attempting to wash the same dishes for the third time I am keeping my fingers crossed that it will work.

I can't just complain about military housing or shared living, because we really are fortunate to have all be do, and I must say they have given us nicer housing than I expected, plus we get the following:

1. No electricity bills (however, that means that the military turns off the heat when they feel like it and turn it back on when they feel it is cold enough.)

2. No water bills

3. No garbage pick-up bills

4. No rent

5. Free maintenance and up-keep. That means if something breaks, we call and they come and fix it. Also we have this cool thing called "self-help," it is a free store. You can get light bulbs, paint, nuts/bolts, basically anything you could need to help take care of the home.

6. When it comes time to move (which is all to often) they pack all your things and move them for you at no cost. Plus they unpack them too!

Alright, well I guess it is back to the laundry. I really let it pile up and think I will be staying up later than usual to finish/fold it. Luckily I got about a 3 hour nap today.

Back to the Grind

Well, playtime is over and it has been back to work for Kyle and Beth for about two weeks now. This means the alarm is back to going off at 5:30 in the morning...yuck! Luckily we both are really close to work, so we don't have to get up any earlier. I (Beth) am back in Kindergarten at Schweinfurt Elementary School. It has been a crazy start to the year. I have one student who is pretty wild. Any day I am not physically assaulted by him we consider it a good day...in two weeks this has only happened once (a half day). I have a class of 14 boys and 6 girls, by the end of this week I should be up to 8 girls. So many boys makes for a crazy time. But I really do love them all and hope that this year I can make our classroom a safe and stable place for them as their dads get ready to deploy. All but two of my kids have dads getting ready to leave for another year long deployment. Oh yes, I have already gotten a nasty virus and am currently fending off a sore throat, I have to get back into the habit of washing my hand constantly with those little germ carriers. Kyle is back doing whatever it is he does. I am not really sure what they do all day, I know they have PT in the morning and I think the rest of the time he just sits around. He did take a driving class last week, which he wasn't to thrilled about. He is busy studying for the promotion board and just found out he has a slot in pathfinder school so now will be studying for that too. Just in case you didn't know (like me) Pathfinders are paratroops who are dropped into place before a major operation in order to place and operate navigational devices to assist the primary drop of paratroops. It is suppose to be a very difficult school...they have a test every day. He is also working out extra hard hoping to go to Special Forces selection or Ranger school. To sum it up...he is crazy.

Visit to Pottenstien

Yesterday Kyle and I went to a little village called Pottenstien. It is a little over an hour drive from our home. We went to check out the Teufelshohle Cave (Devil's Cave). This cave has been part of legends and folklore around our area for centuries. Inside the cave they have found prehistoric animals including bears, and a mammoth. We really had a good time. We were told that their would be an English tour via a speaker system. I thought it would be one of those things that you put up to your ear and listened to, not to disturb anyone. But when we arrived at out tour, it was all in German, I asked the guide about English and she instructed us that she would play the English version for us after she did the German part and we would just meet them in the next room. So our English tour came on the loud speaker and echoed throughout the cave, it was like..."HELLO...American's are here!" It didn't exactly say that, but it might as well have.
After the cave we got a chance to ride the alpine coaster and the toboggan run. They were so much fun. Kyle and I rode together hoping that the weight of the two of us would make us go faster. It helped alot, we always seemed to be catching up to the people in front of us, at which point we would have to slow down so we didn't run into them. Once you get in your coasterbob you get pulled up to the top of the mountain, then at the top you get to control how fast you go and at any point you can hit your breaks. We used our breaks as little as possible, at times I was sure we were going to go flying off the tracks.I have included a video that shows both the coaster and tobaggan ride down. I have also posted a few pictures from the cave. Enjoy!

My 25th Birthday

Today was my 25th birthday. It is nice to have Kyle home to celebrate it with. He really worked hard to make it a special day for me. After church I got to take a nap...which I love, a Sunday afternoon nap, nothing quite compares to that. He wanted to take me out to the lake for a picnic but due to the weather we had to have the picnic inside. He even put down a quilt with blankets over it so it would feel more like grass.
So tonight, he blew me away with his baking and cooking skills. I must say I was a little leary when I heard him say..."Hmm...I think cake needs butter."
He cooked me a dinner of teriyaki burgers w/ a side of pineapple and cheese {interesting sides, but good none the less.) He also wasn't sure what I would want to drink, so he placed in front of me every drink we had in the refrigerator. I had my choice of cream soda, fresca, chai tea, and a mocha frappacino. He wanted me to drink them all, but there was no way. He then made me my birthday cake and decorated it with marshmellows. He had the kitchen door closed when he was decorating the cake, and I was preparing myself for the worst to come out of the kitchen. There was a lot of noise coming from inside. Apparently I don't give him enough credit because I thought the cake was really cute and he even sang happy birthday to me. Kyle did a great job and I really loved everything he did for me. This was the first time he has ever cooked anything besides macaroni and cheese with brats in it for me, so I am really impressed (I told him he secret was out that he can cook). Thanks for making my birthday special Kyle!
I have included some pictures from our "picnic" for all of you.

1 Tick + 2 raw Ankles + 3 Blisters + 4 sore legs = Hiking 95 km in Austria

We returned from our hiking trip to Austria this past Wednesday. We had a great time and overall really enjoyed ourselves. Austria was beautiful and waking up each morning surronded my the beautiful alps was breath taking. For now I am just going to post one picture from each hiking day. We have a lot to sort through, hopefully soon, I can go through them all and get started with a scarpbook.
Kyle has a about 2 more weeks off then it is back to work for him. I have a dentist appointment both Monday and Tuesday then it is back to work for me on Wednesday. Luckily the school is just across ths street, so we won't be to far away from each other.
I hope the rest of your are enjoying you last few weeks of summer!

95 km. Here we come!

It is official. Kyle and I will be hiking 95 km in Austria starting this Wednesday. The Austria Travel Bureau started this program called "Hiking without luggage." We will be doing a self guided hike for 95 km over a period of 7 days. We will start in Salzburg and travel to villages throughout the alps. Kyle's block leave starts on Monday so we will probably take off Tuesday to drive to Austria.
Also over his leave we are hoping to go on a whitewater and canyoning trip (this will depend on my work schedule). It sounds like fun.
I am sure I will post pictures once we return. We are really excited and super happy that someone else will be transporting out luggage to each stop for the day. That will make things nice and much easier!

Memories around the Table!

I am sitting here anxiously waiting our new dinning room table to be delivered. As I can hardly wait for it to get here, I am sad to see our old table go as it has a lot of memories. Our table is meant for two people. It is very small, however, in our last apartment it hardly even fit. We couldn't even have the little extensions out on both ends without rearranging all the living room furniture. Some of the great memories this table has had part in:
1. My parents helping me move back to TN and picking the table out with me. We pretty much got it because it was the only one that was small enough.
2. Kyle coming home from Iraq deployment number 2.
3. Thanksgiving dinner with 6 people around the table. (Kyle and I plus 4 single soldiers who didn't go home for Thanksgiving)
6. Fondue Nights with our Fort Campbell Friends
7. Moving to Germany
8. Dinners other every night with Lacey to help pass the time while our husbands were deployed. The table saw a lot of tears and laughter these past 14 months.
9. Kyle returning from his deployment to Afghanistan
10. Finally, the table is where Kyle and I gather together everynight and enjoy each others company and food!
While it is just a table, it still represents a lot of things. I look forward to our new table and many more great memories! I will put pictures up for the table once it is here. The benches and seating had to be ordered, so it won't be here for about a month, so I suppose I wait until it is all complete to share.
Finally I ask...Why are German's to cool to have air conditioning? I am dying here!

It's good to be together again!

I must say, it is great having Kyle back home. It feels surprisingly normal already to have him back at home. They say it takes 12-16 months for a marriage to normalize after a deployment. That is a really long time, and after 4 days things are already seemingly normal.
My parents came back to Germany Saturday night from their week in England and then we said goodbye to them around 4 am this morning. (we put them on a shuttle to the airport...haha, at least I hope it was the shuttle we put them on. The driver didn't speak any English, but was more than willing to take the money)
Kyle is working in the mornings, he has about 3 days left of reintegration and I am Captain Beth at Whipcrack Island Games for Bible School. My helpers in VBS are three teenage boys, talk about a crazy time and in 3 hours we see about 150 kids for games.
We are looking forward to his block leave from Aug. 1 - Sept. 1, I think we will be going hiking in Austria. This is the plan, however we haven't completely decided yet. I guess we will see. For right now, are busy in the morning and hanging out and enjoying each other's company in the afternoon.
I am including a picture of my parents here in Schweinfurt next to on of the pigs. There is also a not go great picture of Kyle and myself next to the old city wall here in town. I decided I would post it just to prove he really is home. I will have to get other pictures from my parents. They took a lot more of us downtown.