WHEW...........

OK. Wow. We can relax. Made it from hotel to airport - checked in; of course dog paperwork was non issue. Through security. Sadly said bye to dog as she cried and tried to get out. Now sitting at lunch and all we need to do is sit and wait. We are overlooking the tarmac at terminal 1 and I can help but scan the gates looking for a springer spaniel running out there. Oh well - maybe relax tomorrow. Kids did Awesome.

End of December

We are done!  Well, at least the majority of the stuff is done.  We are currently in the hotel, our stuff is with us, and we are moved out of the house.  The airship has come and gone, and so the planning phase is done.  If I work hard, I think I might be able to have the house up and running (well) in Germany in a couple of weeks!  Up and running (not so well) on the 4^th, when our ocean ship arrives.  I feel like I just took a final exam and it is now time to relax for a bit.  And then the grades (i.e. our stuff in the ocean shipment) come.  I’ll see how we did!  Let’s hope all the planning paid off.  I’m sure that there will be a couple of trips to IKEA in the future.  That doesn’t sound like a hardship, though.

Chris was in Germany for the first 2 and a half weeks of December, which always changes the mix.  He was able to do several things over there to help make sure that we are in the house fairly quickly.  Fieder should have the keys for us, basically when we land.  And the beds are being put together right now.  Chris  has applied for our residency visas so that we can get the stuff on the 4^th, and we have a car.  We name our cars, and this one is Rosalee.  She is bright red and I am hoping that she is not a magnet for tickets.

December was busy for everyone.  Back in Michigan we had band concerts, elementary school concerts, and all the getting ready for Christmas. We sold our cars. And we were getting the dog settled to go.  This is just one sentence, but boy it involved a lot.  The dog needs to be up to date on shots, as you would expect, but there are also special microchips, special paperwork, special tags, special timing on  when it will all be done, special everything.  While Chris was arriving in Germany, he saw an American that was bringing in her dog.  He caught up with her and found out that not only do we need special everything, we need it certified by the USDA.  And so Kerrie and I were off to the USDA right before Christmas to get it all done.   We won’t know if we did everything right until we get to the plane tomorrow.  If that dog gets accepted as luggage, we did it right. 

December also began the season of good-byes.  We will miss you all, but I am ready to start saying hello to people.  Good-byes are rough.  Nuf said.

So today we are on our way to Chicago with Mom and Dad Cadwell.  WE were concerned that the weather might be a bit scary- you never know what Michigan might hold.  We are totally thankful that it is in the 30’s and there barely is any snow!  We can see the grass through.  Did I tell you that we had been praying for that?  Wa hoo!  Let’s hope that the snows around the country won’t affect our leaving.

So there is one last big piece of the puzzle that is not in place.  Please pray that Chris’s work visa comes through soon.  He has applied, JCI has moved us without it, but it was also supposed to be in place by the middle of December.  Legally, he can’t work in Germany without it.  There is a small grace period, but it needs to be in place.  Thanks!

Mail Forwarding

We wanted to let everyone know about our mailing address while we are in Germany.  If you send us mail, you can send it to Johnson Controls and they will forward it to us once a week.

Our address is

Chris Norton
Johnson Controls IAS

5757 N. Green Bay Avenue( X34A)

Milwaukee, Wi 53209

USA

We would love to hear from you. 

New Car

I got back from Germany this week - last time before we move over.   I got a few things done; biggest was finding a car for Maureen.  woo hoo .

Flowers

                Tuesday was the last day of the women’s bible study.  The women surprised me with roses and a spiritual bouquet.  What a thoughtful gift!  I was totally blown away by it.  Since I am coming back (and for those of you reading this, I AM coming back!) I didn’t think that they would do anything special other than pray over me.  It was so touching.  And so it begins.  Closing chapters, saying good-bye, and moving on.  This is not easy. 

                 I love the roses.  Chris and I prayed a novena (9 day prayer) asking St. Therese of the little flower to help us pray for discernment before we went house/school hunting in October.  Each place had roses- the school had a bowl full and the house had some planted on the property.  A sure sign that we were on the right path.  Now there are some from the group.  Love it!  That along with the knowledge that these women are praying for us is just fantastic.