Good morning!! It has been a little while since my last update...I apologize, but we've been out-of-pocket for the past couple weeks. Nathan had a Guard trip to Spangdahlem AFB in Germany, and I was able to go along with him for part of the time. For pretty obvious reasons (you never know who all is reading up), I didn't really want to announce that we would be out of the country until after we got back. But I guess now I can tell you that's why we've been a bit "absent" from the blog lately. In fact, my last post came from Germany (since Amy called while I was in Charlotte airport), but I still didn't want to say that at the time.

It wasn't really common knowledge that we were going -- I had purposely not talked a lot about the trip, because I didn't want people to confuse this trip (completely military/enjoyment-related) with an adoption trip. Alas, it got confused anyway, and it was announced at church that we were going to Germany with a stop in Russia to meet our child or pick up our child...or something to that effect. There is no telling how many people are going to be shocked and disappointed when we come back without a baby in tow...so Nathan & I feel the need to clear up any confusion about this trip we just got back from.

This trip in Germany was a military trip for Nathan...and months ago (quite before we had decided to adopt), Nathan talked to 2 other guys who were flying their wives over for a little while. It sounded like fun, and a wonderful opportunity (who gets to go to Europe for the price of a plane ticket?), so we purchased my plane ticket and put some money in savings specifically for this trip. It wasn't until later that we decided to begin the adoption process (thinking that it would go much slower than it has!).

So anyway...this trip was completely unrelated to any trip we may take to Russia. Believe me, when we get our invitation to visit Russia, there will be no confusion about it!!! :)
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So...having said all that, we had a FANTASTIC TIME!! I can't say enough about Germany and the people we travelled with. We got to spend some quality time together and both feel like we have made some very good friends through this trip, and we enjoyed every minute of the time that we were there. (Well, except the day that I got sick, but Nathan got some flu medicine in me and I was able to make it that day, and actually enjoy it, too! :)) I won't spend a ton of time telling all the stories on the blog, but if you wanna hear about it, just holler at us. We've got lots of pictures to share, and I'll try to upload a couple of those later on today or sometime tomorrow, along with a short synopsis of the trip (I have had some requests for that from out-of-town friends).

I just wanted to give a little update...we are both back at home safely and as of tomorrow, will be back to the grind!

Love to all,
~Melissa