Jocelyn {Kindergarten}

Jocelyn's now a BIG GIRL in Kindergarten!!! :)

(and she LOVES it!)

We She was counting down for her first day of school to arrive at least a month ago. This day was a huge and long-awaited milestone!! Over a year in the waiting. A week before kindergarten started though, they had orientation day. A chance to get acquainted with the teacher, find out which class she was in, who else was in her classroom and what to expect for the duration of the school year as well as sign up for PTO and meet the school principal. 

Last year, when she wasn't able to go to school yet like we had hoped, we did many great things at home: she learned to read by using the Dick and Jane book series, she knows how to say, recognize and trace her numbers and letters and she knows how to cut paper with scissors - just to name a few!

So here are a few pictures from her orientation day...

And now for the day we've all been waiting for...Jocelyn starts Kindergarten!! 

She will be normally taking the bus to and from school each day. But because today was her first day, I decided to drive her in. After getting up and ready and eating breakfast and brushing teeth and making lunch and snack and filling her water bottle and doing her hair and making sure she had her bus pass and name tag...WHEW!...it was time to get on the road! First of course, we had to have a little photo op of the BIG day! :)

I sneaked a little note into her lunch bag ;)

Andrew wanted to get in the picture. He was really going to miss his buddy that he's been used to sharing the day with all these years!

Picture with Dad + Mom

Waiting at school for the doors to open up.

She was the first one into her classroom and she quickly found her seat!

Mommy + Kindergartener

She has such a sweet teacher and teacher's assistant. I'm very happy where she'll be spending her days learning and growing. I look forward to the occasional opportunity to go up to the school and volunteer as much as possible. Oh, and having lunch with her once a month at the very least. Her request. Hey! I'll take it as long as she'll let me! :)

 This picture is of her right after she got home from the first day of school. She was so happy and excited to tell me all about her first day! I love how much she loves school already. It's so cute! To touch a little on her first bus ride home experience...well, it was a bit nerve racking! First, her teacher called to say she had missed her bus. That the driver had already left by the time they got her to where she needed to be to get on. They were wandering around the school yard when Aubrey saw Jocelyn with her teacher and said hello to her. The teacher said, "do you know Jocelyn?" And she said, "well, yeah, she's my sister!!" The teacher was apparently thrilled to have run into big sis! She helped make arrangements for Jocelyn to ride home on the bus with Aubrey and all the middle/high school students that lived in our area. However, Aubrey's (German) bus driver was NOT in favor at all of this idea! I can understand they want their rules to be their rules and to follow them to a "T" but come on! They don't live close to the school nor was this (hopefully) going to happen again. With a grudging attitude, he let her on. But scolded Aubrey for the issue. Ugh! On a good note, everyone on the bus loved having Jocelyn ride home with them. They fought over who got to sit next to her and who was her friend! :)

 Such a sweet gift for us parents - her hand print and a poem from the book "The Kissing Hand."

 Here she is with her Daddy during the first week of school on a bright and early morning to the bus.

 And walking home with friends after school after getting off the bus.

 So far, she's loving homework! And I will not discourage this moment whatsoever! ;)

Here's to a great year...her first year in elementary school! 

"Back to School" Dinner

In honor of the Shields' children starting another year of school, we adapted the lovely tradition from NieNie to have a "Back to School" dinner to celebrate the event. I had so much fun with this! The girls really enjoyed having this special dinner made just for them! :)

After coming up with the dinner menu, I printed it off and inserted it into a frame for the sideboard where the food was going to sit. I also thought some crayons placed around a candle with a ribbon would be a nice touch to go along with the school theme. 

 Dinner: Corn Chowder Soup, Sliced Ham and Herbed Cheese Rolls.

 I also printed off some cute prints and framed them for each daughter to be displayed in their rooms. This year's school theme we are going to focus on is: (Shine Bright and) Choose Right.

 Dinner seemed to be a success! Most wanted seconds but still saved room for some delicious Caramel Apple Bundt Cake. Mmm! So good! It was definitely worth the effort!

Here's to a great year of school, girls! Have fun and choose right! We love you and are SO proud of you! xo

{Jocelyn (5) Kindergarten; Aubrey (12) Seventh Grade}

Aubrey {7th Grade}

I'm still having a hard time getting over the fact that my "baby" is now in the 7th grade this year! Wow!! And on to another year of middle school. It's just crazy to see how big she's becoming. And I do mean big because she's almost as tall as her mama now! (I know, I know...not such a hard thing to do!) :) Really doesn't seem that long ago that she was only in Kindergarten. She's growing up waaaaaayyyy too fast! I just want her and her siblings to sloooooowww it down a bit! That's not too hard to ask, is it?!?!

While summer was fun....the start of school is always such an exciting time around here. They love to learn and meet new friends. While it's an adjustment of no more late nights watching movies or late mornings sleeping in (lucky bums!), getting back on schedule is more of our kind of thing. Aubrey had her outfit all figured out the night before, her backpack was packed up with school supplies and ready to go and I made her lunch so her first morning on the big day was pretty low key. Besides having breakfast and dealing with the nerves, of course!

Aubrey is such a smart young lady! We are very excited, right along with her, for what this new school year is going to bring. She's moved up to Intermediate band playing the flute again as well as taking up the challenge to try the bassoon, taking home-ec, art, 9th grade Algebra, geography, English, science health and PE. Another season of soccer didn't happen this year which we are a bit bummed about but we just can't justify driving so far to and from base several times a week at this moment in time. You can count on her and her siblings getting right back into it though when we return home if not sooner. She stays super busy though keeping up with her homework, playing with friends and also going to young women's (church group) once a week. 

Here are a few pictures of her first week at school:

Aubrey's 1st Year @ YW Camp

With this year being Aubrey's first year in Young Women's at church...this also means she gets to attend her first year at girl's camp! Being a military family, we found a nearby military ward that she was able to connect with other girls her age and prepare and go to camp with. We dropped her off on a Monday morning and was gone until Friday afternoon. She stayed in a town called Baumholder. We missed her but also so thankful she was out having a ton of fun and enjoying the experience!!

Here we are giving hugs and seeing her off that Monday morning. Jocelyn was really sweet and made Aubrey a card and handed it to her as she was getting her things from the car. It was too cute! :) The kids cried after our group hugs and as she was leaving.

It was neat getting a few updates throughout the week from her camp leader. I was so glad she was doing well and enjoying her time with all the other girls. 

Here's a stream of photos from her week away at camp:

This year's camp theme was "Shine On." And their group was called "Orion."

A silly & serious group photo before leaving for camp!

Setting up camp!

Singing camp songs

The group in their camp shirts and next to their camp name

Making crafts

Eating homemade dinners

And better than any camp toilet "I'VE" ever had at girls camp...flushable toilets vs. the port-o-potties we had to use growing up! Lucky bums! (Literally!) Haha

 Roasting marshmallows and Starbursts

...and Rolos!

Making foil treats

Making omelets 

 Getting ready to go on their 5 mile hike

 Lit up lanterns at campfire  

 Scripture devotionals

Packing up to come home

Saying goodbye to her sweet group leader. Well, not "goodbye!" Just "see you later!" :)
All of her leaders were awesome and made the girls camping such a fun experience! 

 When she got home from camp, she showed me all of her goodies and treats and the neat things they made or were made for them.

Here is one of those things they made. Super neat!!

Aubrey is very excited to get the chance to be a part of Girl's Camp again next summer!

I am so thankful for the opportunity she has to feel of the Savior's love through programs such as these, through church leaders and through the testimonies from those around her.

Happy ONE YEAR in Germany!

One year ago today, we waved "goodbye" to our sweet friends and family as we set foot into a new country we'd be calling home for the following 3 years. Definitely a hard time. But it just got better and better with each passing day. Well, for the most part. We still have moments of homesickness. We love it here though. The food, markets, pretty laid back lifestyle (a lot slower paced than what we were used to in the States!), trails to walk and run on, the incredible amount of history and it's beauty...so much we have come to love here! It really is hard to believe a whole year has already gone by! We have soooo much we still have yet to do and see but boy have we been having a good time - meeting some amazing people and developing lasting friendships, creating some great memories and simply loving life (besides some occasional bumps here and there)!! I'm excited to see what this next year brings. Year #2 in Germany...here we come! :)

{our family on the fourth!}

Our first year in Germany, we have (to name a few):

*Eaten some really good food!

*Seen both Frankfurt area zoos

*Met some awesome friends who have made this journey bearable and worth it

*Gone to the Alps twice

*Found our ward family at church

*Had my brother and his family stay with us over Christmas
*Been to not only Germany but to England, The Netherlands, Belgium, France and Austria 

*Seen Pres. Uchtdorf in person during his visit to Offenbach

*Been to the Black Forest to visit friends

*Seen a handful of castles

*Gotten our first speeding ticket
*John's been to Turkey & France for work

*Gone to Rudesheim and rode on the cable cars above the vineyards

*Took a trip to Wurzburg for Mother's Day

*Went to Heidelberg for my Birthday

*Ran in my first race

*Stopped in Stuttgart for a brief moment to see John's old neck of the woods

*Started learning German

*Experienced 2 emergencies....thankfully both didn't require immediate hospital care and no stitches were needed

*Gone to the Frankfurt Christmas Markt and LOVED it!!!

*Had our van working and not working I don't know HOW many countless times

*Got our German drivers licenses

*Had my new sister and her husband come stay with us for a day

*started the ride of John beginning his Masters Degree program

...and many more!

(many I need to still write about!)

We look forward to having more family and friends come visit us and see Germany!

We love and miss you all!