The Connelly Family

Just an update on what's been going on here in Germany. Jay now makes attempts to say, "thank you" and "bye bye." Whenever he hands us something we say thank you and now I'm pretty sure he thinks you're supposed to say thank you whenever you give someone something. It's pretty cute. Jay's hair is getting super long. We buzzed it back in August and haven't touched it since. We would buzz it again but our shaver is abnormally loud. It sounds more like a lawnmower than a razor. Very powerful. I think if we tried to get near Jay with it he would be traumatized for several days. Speaking of being traumatized, Jay still screams when we try to bathe him. How can a kid go from bath time being his favorite activity to it being his worst nightmare? We did go to a really fun indoor pool last Saturday and Jay actually liked it. At first he clung to his dad like a leech but we slowly got him into the water and he ended up enjoying himself. We thought it might be a turning point for his aquaphobia but alas bath time was still unpleasant tonight. We do think we're wearing him down a little though. At least this he didn't cry so hard that his binky fell out.
Jay is so happy with his new ability to say, "ball." He likes to say it as often as possible. He also associates the word with his daddy. As soon as Mike's through the door Jay rushes over to him and immediately says, "ball, ball, ball." Then they go get the ball and play to Jay's heart's content. They're such good pals.
We've enjoyed discovering a few new things about our town. There are no grocery stores. However there is a sled store. No snow nearby, but you can buy sleds. Actually I think people go sledding down grass hills when it gets really frosty. I'll have to find out how that is. Frozen ground can't make nearly as soft a landing as a snow bank. There is also a "gnome" house at the end of our street. I honestly can't do it justice by trying to describe it so I'll go out and get a picture of it tomorrow. You won't be disappointed. There is a ranch in our town that makes homemade ice cream. We can't wait to try it once the temperature reaches somewhere over freezing. Actually we've had a few days of 45 - 50 degree weather lately. And last Sunday we had a day with compeltely blue skies. No clouds at all! We were amazed. It was beautiful. Still very cold in the shade but great in the sun. I sat next to a window with sun streaming through for about an hour while Jay napped. It felt so nice! We're getting used to the cold weather though. After all, it is winter. We've been spoiled in Spain. We're headed down to Munich over the weekend and I can't wait to see the city. We hear there are some great museums to check out. Hopefully Jay will be up for it.
I don't know if I've mentioned it yet but we really love our ward. Everyone has been so friendly. Mike and I were called to teach primary together. It's been really fun! We teach the 4-5 year olds. We have 7 students and they are all so sweet and have great personalities. They are all unique in their own ways. I've forgotten how much fun it is to hear a 4 year old child's take on life. Our first Sunday we went around and said our names and we thought one of our students said his name was Jacob. So we started calling him Jacob. About halfway through the lesson another student informed us that his name is not Jacob but in fact is Diego (don't ask me how we got Jacob out of Diego). We asked Diego if his name was Jacob or Diego and he said, "I don't remember." We said, "Well is it Diego?" He sort of looked uncomfortable and said, "Maybe. I think so." Poor kid almost had his name changed right out from under him. Come to find out our roll does say his name is Diego. He's such a sweet kid. Very well behaved and answers questions like a champ. We have no idea if the kids actually retain anything we teach them but we know they really like Jay's little green ball we pass to the person who's turn it is to talk. Actually they're teaching us more than we're teaching them, as it usually goes. They know all about how to be good examples (share with siblings, help mom make cookies, be nice to animals) and they definitely know they are children of our Heavenly Father. I think we're going to gain a lot from our new calling. And it will give me a chance to remember why I do (and occasionally why I don't) want to be a Kindergarten teacher again... it takes a ton of energy to get those kids to pay attention for 40 minutes! It is fun to show off my mad skills to Mike :)
Mike's off playing b-ball with a group of guys from the ward tonight (another plus to being in Germany). I've had a good time getting to know some of the ladies in the ward through lunches and play dates. There is truly a strength in the women here. They can live away from home and country, raise their children without the support of family close by, and survive the hardships of husbands deploying. Amazing! We can always feel the spirit present in our ward on Sundays. We are blessed to yet again have the opportunity to learn and grow as we interact with our ward family. The Lord is always blessing our lives. Wiedersehen!