They worked really hard.

Gee and Pops were here with us for almost four weeks.  They did lots of laundry, meals, walks, etc.  The boys loved it, and we were so grateful for the help! 

In the words of Gee, "Those Perry boys sure are sweet, but they are busy!"

O Christmas Tree

We bought a little tree and decorated it with a few ornaments and two strands of lights from a thrift store.  Simple and sweet.

 

 

 

 

 

 

More Jude

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Snow Day

Fun in our one day of snow.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

While the bigger 3 played

A warm bath after the cold

Happy 5th Birthday, Vic

Vic turned 5 December 1st.  Old and dear and wonderful friends visited a couple of days before his birthday, so we had an impromptu party of sorts.  Vic's request has been to have a pinata, so we had hamburgers, chips, cinnamon rolls (Vic doesn't really like cake), a pinata, and lots of fun with our friends. 

On his birthday, his very creative Dad set-up a pirate adventure.  We had pirate birthday hats and birthday pancakes according to our family tradition.  He requested ice cream cake for his birthday, and we were able to find one. 

Birthday cinnamon rolls

Waiting in line for the pinata, youngest to oldest

 

 

 

Pirates ready for their adventure

The hat was a tad too big

 

 

 

Reclaiming the stolen presents from Pirate Pops

Welcome Jude

Jude Olin Perry was born November 26th at 9:10 in the morning at Landstuhl Regional Medical Center in Landstuhl, Germany.

Jude is Hebrew for the praise, and Olin is from Craig's grandfather's name.

He was/is on the small side, 6 pounds 10.5 ounces, 20 inches.  He arrived with a bit of blonde hair and dark blue eyes.

Here are some photos from out time at the hospital.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Another Visit

Gee and Pops arrived to help.  WooHoo!  Then another friend living abroad popped over for a three-day visit.  We had a sunny day (another reason for extra excitement in this part of the world) and headed out to visit a nearby castle.  It was a beautiful day!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Seth and Vic decided to climb the mountain before we left.

Adventure success.

A Friend from Afar

Craig, the boys, and I landed in Germany October 27th to await the birth of little one four.  Craig stayed a week and helped us get set-up.  Then, after some time of just me and the boys, a dear friend came for a visit with her two little ones.  Two moms and five kiddos isn't leisurely, but the time flew and kids played and we caught up as bits of time allowed.

A visit to a small zoo nearby

Feeding a llama

On a rainy morning we dressed the kids and went out to find puddles.

The kids, of course, thought mud puddles were more fun.

 

 

 

 

Max is checking out Vic's handful of earthworms.  It took longer to cleanup than play, but it was worth the fun.

  

Max's Fall

A bit of Max from the last few months...

Helping Daddy get ready for work

Feeding our littlest turtle

 

 

Max LOVES trains!!! And, he loves to visit the local train museum and play on all the giant old Soviet trains.

Making a master piece

Vic's Fall

A few moments from Vic's fall...

Vic LOVES his teacher, Ms. Anya.  He asked if we could please have her over for dinner one night.  We did, and he was so excited to have her.  We probably didn't have the deepest conversation possible, but we survived our evening in Russian.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Vic was the eggplant in his school's fall harvest play.  Pretty cute.

The whole garden

At the local train museum

Dad coaching Vic's soccer group

Painting pumpkins with his best bud in our kitchen