Learning the German Health Care System

Well, it has been 10 days since we landed in Germany, and we had our first visit to the ER today! Samantha was playing at the park yesterday with the kids, and other friends, and was running DOWN the play equipment. She ended up slipping while going down the ladder, and slipped. Unfortunately, when she slipped and fell, her leg got caught on one of the rungs, and she “dangled” before falling to the ground. Jason could hear her screaming before Victoria even got back to the house, and quickly ran down, to find Samantha in terrible pain. He carried her home, did a quick assessment and determined that it was “ok” to put ice on it, and wait to see how she does. We put ice on it and propped it up and put her to bed. She slept through the night, but woke at 7am and when she put her foot on the ground to walk, she quickly fell to the ground in tears! That was Jason’s cue to shower and dress for a trip the Emergency Room.

Normally the ER is not a huge challenge for us, but our post here in Wiesbaden doesn’t have a hospital, and the clinic is only opened Monday through Friday during regular business hours. Outside of those hours, we must utilize the Germany health care system, or drive to another army hospital (Landstuhl), which is over an hour away. So, Jason picked up his German/English dictionary, wrote down some key phrases he would need and away they went. Of course, it does help that he has taken 8 years of German, and just finished a 1-month immersion course with the Army this past May. He didn’t have any trouble communicating with the hospital staff, and after 4.5 hours, Samantha was sent home with a tightly bound leg, with a “No fracture” report! WHEW!!!

The doctor bound her leg up tightly, but under it was a large gauze that had some sort of numbing cream on it. Jason didn’t know what is was, exactly, but what he did know was he wants some of it. Samantha could bear weight within an hour of having it on. She is doing great with her leg now, so for that I am pleased!

Today we were supposed to go and visit some castles in the area, but the ER trumped our plans, so we stayed home. It has turned out to be a great day, as Jason and I are able to rest, and the kids have had tons of friends over to play. I think, at last count, there were 9 on our new trampoline! A worthy investment, indeed!!!!

Tomorrow will be our first day of church here, so I am excited. We have 2 offerings of services, one “blended”, and a “contemporary” worship, so we will try the contemporary first, and hopefully everyone loves it. I have heard there is a great group of women in PWOC here, so I am hoping to try that this month, as well as get the kids involved in a youth group this summer. They have heard that the youth groups do some great trips throughout the year, so Alex, Victoria and Samantha are quite excited.

A Memorable Day!!!!

June 11th!!! There are many days that we find exciting, fun, sad, or scary - and we say they we will be a memory forever. Well, I know for a fact, that June 11, 2010 will be a day we will never forget. Jason and I celebrated our 17th wedding anniversary yesterday - yup, you read correctly - SEVENTEEN years!! Wow! I am married to a man that I am so proud of, to a wonderful father and husband, but most of all, I am married to my best friend and love of my life!

Yesterday also happened to be the day of Jason’s Battalion Change of Command. For those that don’t know, this is the day where one Battalion Commander (the person in charge of a large number of soldiers) relinquishes responsibility to another – Jason, in this case. The ceremony was pretty cool. The best part, for me, was with his soldiers ahead of him, the guide-on (unit flag) was passed from the CSM to the outgoing command, from the outgoing commander to the Brigade Commander, who in turn turns over responsibility to Jason. It gave me goose bumps to watch – though it’s difficult to describe in words. The entire ceremony was recorded, so I am hoping to get a copy of it early this coming week, and I will post it for all to watch.

The ceremony took place in a hangar, where small medical airplanes reside. So, in the background of the ceremony, were medical airplanes – very cool!

After the ceremony, we hosted a reception for all the soldiers, families and guests. We had lots of food, and were able to chat with many as they came to welcome us to the unit, and enjoy a good lunch before heading back to work.

His unit is unique, in that, all of the soldiers and families do not live here in Wiesbaden. They are spread out throughout 4 different posts in Germany, and as if that isn’t challenging enough, some of them are expected to deploy within the next 6 months. This means he’ll have to take of the soldiers deployed, those in different cities in Germany, as well as the families that will be stay in Germany and go back to the States!

After the reception, we came home, cleaned up the platters, then just sat and talked about the day, and what an amazing journey we’ve had together!

I promise I will post the ceremony pictures when I get them, but for now I leave you with a few pictures from the reception that my friend, Jennifer, took for us!

These are the flowers that were given to me as part of the change of command ceremony - absolutely beautiful!

Settling In.....

Wow, it’s been a while! We have been without internet since we arrived, and though we bought a USB internet stick, I haven’t won the battle of “winning the chip” to log onto my regular computer. I do have access to email and stuff from my phone, but it’s too difficult to write here. So, for now I write in Microsoft word, and will copy/paste into the blog when I can “sneak” the internet stick from the kids.

At times if feels like we have been here for a while, but when we look at the calendar, we've been in-country for only 1 week!!! 

We have been overwhelmed by the welcome we have received since we arrived in Germany! The command team, that we are replacing, has been such a blessing to us, and I am so sad that they are leaving (though if they weren’t leaving we wouldn’t be here – so it’s another crazy-mix of emotions). The great thing with military life is that we know that we will meet up again, and until then we will be very happy to keep in touch via email, Facebook and phone.

We are slowly getting settled in. I have all our suitcases unpacked and all the boxes from our “advanced shipment” unpacked!

I have some curtains hung, though these are only temporary until our shipment of household goods arrive in August. They will do for how, though, as they really help make us feel “at home”. I even have a picture hung – definitely a home now!

Views of our living room:

View of the front of our house....we're unit #5 (our friends

View of park adjacent to our house.....it's even bigger than what is shown!

We have a large park right next to our house! This is great because we’re there MANY times during the day, and it helps the kids meet other kids. They’re already having friends come knock on the door to ask them to “hang out” (since they’re too “old” to “go out and play” these days!) :)

We’re hoping to get regular internet and phone service by the end of next week. Everyone is looking forward to that, though the kids are sad that their very small TV show selections will not change! The price of “cable” is high, so we’ve decided to stick with the AFN (Armed Forces Network) channels that the post gives us for free! About 20 channels, but not always stuff they want to watch. I think the prospect of at least having internet has kept them from totally losing their minds!

Actually, they have all done very well with the move. They are playing great with one another, helping out, stepping out of their comfort zones and going to talk to new kids, and even today Rebecca walked up to someone and said (in German) – do you speak English? Unfortunately, they didn’t, but I was so proud of her for asking!

Yesterday, the headquarters detachment from our battalion, had a family picnic. We thought it was great that we were there for it, only to find out (once we arrived there) that the picnic was a “welcome” for us!!! We got to meet some great soldiers and families, and are really excited to start our amazing adventure with them on Friday! Pictures and videos to come!

Not just "home".....but, OUR HOME!!!

Well, it’s Saturday and we’ve had our first few nights in our new house, and are enjoying our time in Wiesbaden. We haven’t actually “gone” anywhere off post yet, but we’ve been greeted by many great neighbors and neighborhood kids, have been invited for dinner, and even ventured out on a 40 minute walk to the PX and commissary today – since we don’t have our German license yet (so can’t pick up our van).

This weekend is the Wilhelmstrassenfest, here in downtown Wiesbaden. We’re not exactly sure *what* it is, but we can hear great music from our quarters, and the website shows it as a festival of “song, dance and music”. Sounds fun, right? I’ll let you know after we get back from our first “date night” in Germany! WOO HOO!!!

Tomorrow I am going to another festival, with one of the gals in Jason’s unit. I am excited to spend some time with her, since we’ve been emailing for months, and she (along with her husband) have been a HUGE blessing to us! They were the ones to look at quarters for us, take pictures, get information on his Change of Command reception, etc. Don’t know what kind of festival (exactly), but I know there will be lots of German crafts! I’m thinking it’s beginning to look a lot like Christmas (shopping, that is).

Yesterday was our first dinner in our new house! Nothing fancy, just spaghetti and salad, but it meant that we are “getting settled”! I was even able to put a table cloth on the table!!! Along with a first dinner, especially in our house, is the first SPILL....which happened within 1 minute of sitting down!  :)

 I have also unpacked all 10 bags that we brought with us, plus the 6 back packs, and the suitcases are in the attic. It was definitely another step towards getting settled.

We did get our advanced shipment of household goods in, so that means we now have hangers, a TV (no cable though, but we can watch DVD’s and Alex can play his xbox). I hope to get the boxes unpacked in the next couple days, and then we can truly enjoy the rest of our summer, with little to do, other than having fun and seeing Germany!

Antoher thing that helps us make our house feel like our HOME is to set up the trampoline.  We sent it in our advanced shipment, so that the kids would have something fun to do over the summer....they're loving it already!

Looks like it's going to be a great summer!  :)

Getting Settled - Thursday, June 3rd

We have had our first night sleep in Germany, though not a very long sleep, as Rebecca decided (AGAIN) that 3am was a good time to wake up! UGH!  At 6am, everyone was up and getting ready for breakfast in our hotel and to begin our day. We had a lot of “errands” to run in the morning, including getting an ID card for Samantha (now that she’s 10, she gets her own) and then to get everyone post ID card pictures.


Have you ever heard about ACS (Army Community Services) Loan Closet? I had heard of them, but never had the privilege of using them. At the loan closet, we were able to sign out plates, cups, bowls, forks, spoons, knives, pots, pan, baking casserole, colander, can opener, toaster, coffee maker and a cutting board, until our household goods arrive in August. This is SUPER COOL, since having to buy these items would cost us a lot of money. This service is available to ALL army families (or single soldiers) and I think it’s awesome that the Army has come up with such a great program.

We then had to go to the PX and commissary to pick up some small house hold items and groceries. Once we returned from our errands, we went back to our new house and officially moved in! 

Our house is smaller than it looked in the pictures, and even the pictures looked small, but we love it. It is a newly renovated home on post, so we are the first family to live in it since being renovated. The kids quickly ran up the stairs to locate their rooms, and make “dibs” on them. Surprisingly, everyone is happy with their room choices, and we didn’t have to step-in.

OH….I mentioned the loan closet, but did I mention the temporary furniture the Army provides us?!?!?! We have 4 twin bed, 1-queen bed, 5 dressers, 6 night stands, 2 arm chairs, a couch, a dining room table and 6 dining room chairs…….to be used until our furniture arrives in August! The furniture is not the most beautiful looking to many, but it is to us! Not having to sit on the hard floor, or sleep in a sleeping bag is GREAT!!!! Thank you, Army Housing!!!

The hardest part of today has been trying to keep everyone awake. With a 6-hour time change, everyone is really tired today. We’ have been “pushing through” the day, in hopes of getting set to the new time zone quickly. It’s 5:56 pm, and Rebecca JUST fell asleep, and Jason has quickly followed……..  Fortunately, we have to leave for dinner in a few minutes, so hopefully the 15 minute nap doesn’t mess up their sleeping tonight. More will have to follow on that story! 

Today, we also started unpacking our suitcases into the dressers we were provided. It’s a great feeling to “unpack” – it means “we’re home”! There’s a saying in the Army – “Home is where the Army sends you”, and our family has learned to embrace that! The kids are quick to acknowledge our new home, and love the “setting up” part – including unpacking bags, and making up the beds for the first time. It’s probably the cleanest their rooms will look the whole time we’re here! 

Tonight we will go to a BBQ dinner at the current commanders’ house, and we’re so excited to have this opportunity to chat with them, learn more about the soldiers of this great unit, and to meet others in the unit that will work directly with Jason.

Time to go and wake up the “sleepers”, and head to the BBQ!

Auf Wiedershen!

We're here!! - Wednesday 2 June 2010

Well, we arrived safely into Germany at 5:30 PM, Germany time last night (Wednesday).  It was a LONG day, as we got up at 8 am and began our last day preparations....mailing one last box of stuff to our new address, getting the girls their haircuts, packing carry-on bags, and I even snuck in a last minute 30-minute nap! 

We spent our last day with our great friends, that will also be our new neighbors here in Germany (though they don't arrive until June), and it was great!!!  We had so much fun with them, over our last weekend in the States, and can't wait for them to arrive "in-country".

We started loading the bags into the car (well, okay...Jason and Alex loaded, I took pictures)....

10 bags, 6  back packs, 1 bag with gluten free foods, a dog, and a cat.....THAT'S alot of stuff! :)    BUT...it's all we will have until sometime in August, when our household goods are delivered, so I guess it's not "too" much, afterall.

The trip to the airport was filled with grand adventure, all Wieman style.  About 20 minutes into the trip, I asked "where's the dogs leash" and everyone gave me a blank stare.  We had to stop the vehicles (2 - one for the bags, and one for us) to search for it.  After a 5-mniute search we found it UNDER Samantha's bottom (not the bottom of her bag, but her rear-end...HA!) 

So, we got BACK on the road and about 20 minutes from the airport, Victoria announced in a SCREAM, that Sally (the cat) soiled in her kennel....and it STUNK!!!!!   So, when we got to the airport, we unloaded everything and then I got to "wash" Sally with her water bottle (and you *know* how much cats love baths), and I took her kennel bed into the bathroom, washed it and then used my blow dryer to dry is - all in the airport bathroom.  I got lots of stares, but only a little more than I usually do!  :)

Cat finally clean, and back in her clean kennel, we checked in all of our bags, and waited 2.5 hours to board the plane....couldn't believe it was *only* midnight.  Ugh...the night was long!  We found the USO room at the airport, and it was great.  For those that don't know about the USO room, it's a place that has volunteer workers, free food, free soft drinks, large screen TV, kids play room, XBOX 360, free internet and it's all for our US soldiers and families.  What a blessing those volunteers and donations are.  There were many soldiers on our flight (since it was a military flight) that were heading out to Iraq and Afghanistan, and I KNOW they loved being able to play XBox, watch movies and use the internet on their last hours outside of War.  So, the girls were able to enjoy some girl scout cookies, ice cream, doughnuts, and juice, while Alex and I checked our email and facebook one last time.

We were able to board the plane aroudn 2:45 am, and none of us remember the plane taking off.  We were exhausetd from a busy day, and went straight to sleep.  I woke up at 8:30 am, to eat an egg omelett and hashbrowns....pretty good food for an airline.  The kids were not impressed with their french toast sticks, though.

We arrived into Ramstein Air Force Base around 5:30 pm, and had to clear customs. We were greeted by a wonderful group from Jason's unit, the out-going command and his wife, his XO, and several other, along with 3 vans, one for us, one for everyone that came up to greet us, and one for all of our bags!  :)

Unfortunately, we didn't get one of our suitcases, so we sat around for nearly 2 hours while they figured it out.  After  2 hours, we still didn't have our bag, but we had a great dinner at the Macaroni Grill by the airport.  At 9pm, we began our drive towards Wiesbaden, approx. 120 km from Ramstein (1.5 hours) .

We arrived at our hotel, the American Arms, at 11:00 pm, and hoped to settled in for a nice long rest.....however, jet lag set in, and Rebecca was awake at 3am!  :(  So, our rest ended quickly, as we were being picked up at 9am to go to housing and sign for our new quarters, update our military ID cards with photos and fingerprints, and get some food shopping done.

At 4pm, we settled into our new quarters!

9 hours and counting....

Well, today is the day!  We leave for the airport in a few hours, and in less than 9 hours are beginning our 8-hour flight to Germany!  WOW...I can't believe the time has finally come.  I have been busy packing (and re-packing) bags, getting snack foods, back packs packed, doing laundry and getting the girls haircuts.  They have such great haircuts....I will post pictures soon!  :)

In addition to the girls, Jason and Alex also got new haircuts....a fresh, fun start for ALL!!!  :)

The cat and the dog are doing "well".  Sally (the cat) has settled down some, and doesn't seem as "Stressed out".  I don't expect her to enjoy being in her crate tonight, but fortunately once we get there, she won't need to see the cage for at least 2 years ! :)

Princess (the dog) isn't bothered about the cage, so I don't think she'll be much of a problem.

The kids are doing great.  They had some sad good-byes this past weekend, but I think now they're excited (and ready) to GO!!!!  They've had their back packs packed for HOURS!!!

As far as Jason and I - we are ready!  We are excited to get to Germany and see some of our friends that we haven't seen in a while, to meet new friends (that we've been chatting with over email for a few months) and to see the many sights that Europe has to offer!

Don't know how long it'll be until I can update the blog, but at first chance I will be back on.

Until then.... be blessed and a blessing to others!