Our Family -- Seperated

Well, it's been a little over a month since we last updated everyone, so I guess it's time to do so again.

This last month has been full of goings-on, hellos and good-byes. In July we spent much of the time getting ready for our move to Belgium, getting as much done as we could for Aimee's mission, and Dave's surgery.

Dave was suppose to leave for Belgium on the 18th of July, but the people at Hill AFB wouldn't release him until the first of August. That ended up being a good thing because he had to have a hernia repaired before we could travel. He did very well with the surgery, no complications and he was given the go ahead to leave on the 3rd of August (we were leaving on the 6th). The week following his surgery we had the movers coming to pack us out and ship everything. Did he fully recover before we left? NO!! He is still trying to do so a month later, but is slowly recovering. We weren't able to ship our car over because we couldn't get it to a port on the west coast.

Aimee was anxious to get as much done as she could before we left since she was staying with Grandpa and Grandma. She has surprised us all by doing so much of her shopping and getting ready to go to the MTC on her own or with the help and guidance of her Grandparents. She is anxious to get to the MTC and start intense learning and language training. She has spent much needed quality time with her grandparents, and I suppose she has been enjoying her tv time too. We were able to go to the temple with her for the first time, something we were afraid we weren't going to be able to do. What a wonderful experience!!

We left for the airport bright and early on the 6th, with many tears and hugs at the curb. I must say that it was a lot easier than I thought it would be for me. Dave on the other hand had a very difficult time leaving his little girl behind. The flight over the pond wasn't as long as when we went to Italy, but still long (8 hours from Atlanta to Brussels). We arrived in Brussels on the morning of the 7th and our sponser, Edwina, was waiting for us. She drove us to our new home which is beautiful and about a half hour from the airport. Once we got our bags put away, showered and cleaned up, we went off to the commissary. The commissary is an HOUR away from our home. We were able to get some groceries and then headed home. It was about 6pm when we finally got home and we ate, then headed to bed.

We met the neighbors on Sunday and they were able to give us the name and number of our new bishop, because their daughter babysits for them. What a wonderful surprise. We were able to get a hold of the bishop on that Monday. He came over that night with his wife and give Dave a priesthood blessing and helped to give me one. We also found out that the people that lived in this house before us were also LDS!! What a wonderful coincidence!!

Last Sunday we went to our new ward which is about half American/English speaking and half French speaking. We get to use the translator headphones for sacrament meeting!! The other meetings are seperated into English and French speaking classes. Wonder how that will work for the unity of the ward?

Dave has been in-processing since we arrived. We have to in-process the American Embassy, the State Department, the Army Garrison, and NATO! Very interesting!! So far the girls and I have only done our in-processing through the American Embassy. Next week will be everything else. We discovered last night, because today should have been payday, that we are now on a different pay cycle and won't be getting paid until next week. The Lord has truly blessed us because we only bought 2 weeks worth of groceries and we still have a week's worth left. Guess it pays to pay your tithing!!

Dave is learning the publis transportation system really well. He rides the bus to the Metro (Subway) to the Tram to the bus to NATO where he works. One system is run by the French and one is used by the Flemish/Dutch and one ticket won't work for the other. Makes for getting to work a bit expensive. All our American neighbors work at NATO and if they have to be to work at the same time, they carpool. I'm not too keen on the idea of riding all those places, but we have to do what we have to do until we can get a car. We have been looking for a car because our big Lincoln Town Car will NEVER fit on these roads, they are much more narrow than the roads in Italy!! Dave has found a car and hopefully the gal will work with us for making payments each month for about three months.

We have found out that Wendy will probably have to leave us the fall after she turns 21. The Belgian government has some stupid rule about foreigners being here as a dependent. She could possibly stay if she were to enroll in a college that the Belgian government recognizes, so we will have to wait and see. We hope she can stay, but if not, hopefully her grandparents will take pity on her and let her stay with them until we return to the states.

Kaitlyn will be going to the Brussels American School at the Army Garrison. She will be in the 5th grade. The school is so small that there is only one class per grade!! The graduating senior class for 2010 was a whole 27 students!! I hope she will get a good education!!