My friend at work attended a funeral of a baby last week. Her best friend had a baby three months early. They were able to be with him for one week.

I saw the funeral program and asked her about it. She started telling me of her friend's situation and started to cry. It was so interesting to see how just one little tiny life can effect so many people.

This woman's baby died whilst at Primary Children's Hospital. They didn't have nearly the good experience Rob and I did at LDS Hospital. They were able to get his foot and hand prints, but I don't believe they got an itty sculpture of their baby's hand and foot like we did.

This year, we didn't even celebrate Kayli's birthday. It was not a conscience choice. Rob was still in the hospital on January 29, having problems with his pain management and chest tubes. We were just so focused on him to get better and out of the hospital, we all but forgot her birthday.

Kayli really had a positive effect on my life. Rob has made a huge impact on my life; as well as the lives of many people, including our children. People have said to me, "When is it going to stop?" "You guys have had so many things happen to you."

I respond, "Why not? What makes us special that we don't have to experience the crappy times with the good?"

I really don't know what my point is, other than:

• I got to re-live some of my emotions of Kayli while AT WORK,
• I am thinking a lot about Rob and his contribution to my life as well as those around us (NO, I am not focusing on him dying - we all die at some point - but just how much I love and appreciate him and all he does for our family),
• I am worrying, but not trying to, about the results of his scan Monday,
• I am not feeling like a victim (who has time for that anyway?)

So, whatever. Happy day. Thanks for reading. You may wake up now. It is over.

Disclaimer before you get started: the coding on this entry is screwy - sorry for it looking lame, I am tired of messing with it, so just pretend that it looks fabulous....

I cannot believe that I was able to go to Germany with Rob. It was just such a spur-of-the-moment event!

Tuesday the 12th, I was talking to my boss about Rob going to Germany. I told her that there was no way; he was leaving on Saturday. She said, you just need to look up flights and see.

I did. It cost less to fly to Germany round trip that it did to fly to New York from Salt Lake! I went home and talked to Rob about it. We didn't make a decision that night, but in the morning we decided if the fare was still there, I would book it.

It was and I did. Interestingly enough, we looked online later that night and the ticket would have cost three times the amount had we waited!

It was a mad dash to get everything coordinated with the kids, our itinerary, etc. ready in just a few short days. We left on Saturday, May 16.

I can only tell you how wonderful the time was. It was amazing to spend time with Rob - we have only spent 2 nights away from the kids at any given time (at least to my recollection).

We flew into Frankfurt and took a train to Guettingen and from there took a cab to Duderstadt. Duderstadt is the town in which Rob's company is based. The Otto Bock is from Duderstadt and it really keeps the town (as well as surrounding areas) alive.






Frankfurt Airport (just like the sign states) - just getting off the plane

Duderstadt
Legend has it that the women of the town were tired of the men drinking and otherwise misbehaving, so they chased the devil out of the town. As he was nearing the end of the town, he went up this tower and grabbed the rafts on his way out and twisted the roof.






We stayed in Duderstat until Wednesday - from there Rob's co-workers took the train to Frankfurt to fly home. We took a slower train to Fulda - the town of my birth. Last time I was there, I was ten. Obviously, I don't really remember much. It was fun to walk around and experience it.

For a bit of trivia, in 2007, Ring*Con (Lord of the Rings convention) was held in Fulda. I just saw this last night. Funny!






The Orangerie, Fulda

Fulda Dom

Another, more simple church (St. Michael's), Fulda (in fact, this and the previous pictured church are right next to one another).

From Fulda, we hopped on a train and travelled to Wiesbaden. It is famous for their hot spring baths. If we felt the need, there were public bathing houses in town - nude, of course. We passed as we were feeling clean already.

Wiesbaden

We rented an automobile and drove up the Rhine. Let me tell you how lovely this auto was...Audi A3. You know, my Toyota is nice, but I have to say that it was fantastic driving 160 km (or more) on the autobahn - it didn't even feel like we were moving fast. At one point, we had three Lamborghini's zip (I use that term loosely) right past us. They were just a blur. Yellow, red, yellow. I wanted to take a photo for Jacob, but we couldn't get the camera out fast enough!

A view from the road - travelling up the Rhine River. Just one of the many castles lining both sides of the Rhine.

I was driving, but a lot of the pictures were taken by me (making sure that no one was behind us, Rob taking the wheel, and me slowing down). Phew!











We had a GPS in our car, so finding things was fantastic. Well. With the exception of the time the road was blocked and the GPS kept telling me to 'make a u-turn, if possible' over and over and over. I was worried we were going to be driving around in circles (we did it twice).















Another view of the Rhine River.

This is Burg Eltz - the only castle we visited. It is owned by three families all branched from the Eltz family tree. One family still has residence there.

Heidelburg
This is a great pedestrian bridge. There is another bridge further south (I think) and it is an overpass where they regulate how fast the flow of water flows downstream. Also, it is a mini Panama canal (I have no idea the correct terminology for that). Rob and I stood on the bridge for about 45 minutes watching the process. It was pretty cool. Ahhhh, modern technology!




We decided to go to Rothenburg ob der Tauber - this is a city I remember well from my first visit (10 years old). Mostly, I remember the Crime and Punishment Museum. This city is completely surrounded by a wall that is still standing. It was fascinating to see and walk upon this relic.

Wall section with tower (windows boarded up).

Yeah. On another note. Rob started his nasty school schedule today. For the last month he has only had one class. WOW! Can I just tell you how nice it has been to have him around. Not only physically, but to have him able to interact with the kids and me and not off studying!

He has two months of the schedule and then he will be done for two weeks! yay!

This last month gave us a glimpse of what life will be like when he is finally done with school. I am grateful that he is going. I am proud of him. He just got his "diploma" from SLCC in the mail this last week. He left there with a 3.7 (A-) cummulative GPA. Isn't he just so STINKING smart???

Nine more semesters - 36 months left. Noah will be eight. Gabrielle, twelve. Jacob, thirteen.

Life is fantastic: Rob is still alive, kids healthy, & we are happy.