The long anticipated German family gathering coincided this weekend with Mama Ilse’s birthday and Nephew Friedrich’s baptism. We loaded our car full of presents we bought in Florida and, hehe, laundry. Ilse was a little peeved that 30-year old children would still do that. Oh well, she seemed happy that all her boys were there for her birthday even though she came down with a cold by Sunday. Hopefully she’s feeling better.
The normally 5 hour (turned to little over 4 hour including BK stop) ride to Iserlohn was really quite enjoyable. Alex is in love with his new Einser, especially now that the price of benzine is not an issue. I guess you can say we will be helping to propel our population toward more alternative fuel consumption during the next couple of years. The ride is definitely smoother and the sides of my seat fill up with air to match my form. Now I don’t move from side to side, this has helped tremendously with motion sickness. On our way back, I DJed up Ramstein to help send us on our way home. Hella lotsa fun.
Oma had her knee replaced in middle of January and has been back at home for the last couple of weeks. She’s doing a super job but this second time is bit more painful than the 1st surgery 10 years ago. But she’s a trooper and wouldn’t miss the birthday celebration or baptism even with all the stairs involved.
Alex received many generous congratulations for becoming a Doktor-Ing. Alex’s family is really quite proud of his perseverance and accomplishment. Even though Oma said it didn’t matter, she helped Alex make a decision on mechanical watch and Alex’s parents surprised us with a weeks vacation in Northern Italy. I think we are still blown away. It hasn’t fully sunken in that this one, long chapter is over.
Friedrich is really quite a ham at 11 months. He is a terror on his knees and when he stands he wants to climb. A ‘no’ seems to mean try harder. He loves sticking out his finger, ET style, into another person’s mouth where he can then tug on the bottom lip. Hair isn’t safe in his proximity especial for guys with chin beards. As soon as he found my hair he couldn’t get enough of it, as if he had found gold. At the church, there were two other babies to be baptized with Friedrich. He was the last and the other two didn’t cry at all. When it was Friedrich’s turn, he giggled and smiled at the pastor in recognition (Hey, I know you..wahz up?) As the ceremony progressed, he seem pretty memorized by the copper bowl in front of him and never once protested to the water. Over all it was really quite a lovely weekend and we’ll be seeing all of the extended family again in June for the church wedding of Bro Roland and S-I-L Tina.