SECRET

1. Luke and his Rugby Team 2. Layne and Illiana

WOw! SO glad to hear so many are reading my blog. Well, not to keep you in suspense any longer-CHris has left Maersk after 13 years and has accepted a job in Germany! If you know Chris, you know he really likes his job, colleagues and Maersk in general. He was presented with a great opportunity which would have us living in Germany for 5+ years. I am so excited and proud of him for not resisiting change, letting go off any fears or insecurities he had, and just "going for it"! This all brought me full circle to all I've learned about change--people often resist out of fear, and thus hold onto security when in truth, security is only for insecure people and is truly not a reality. We don't know the exact time table yet, but its all happening and happening fast, so I'll keep you posted.

On the homefront, I am busy preparing for yet another international move! Once again, passports, visas, pet health clearances are the matters of the day. The biggest change for our family will be that the kids will be back in school. Homeschooling is illegal in Germany, dating back to pre-WWII, although I expect to see this changing in the years to come. Actually, we are excited about the school we think will work for us which is the International School of Wiesbaden. It offers the PYP program which is very "whole child" "international citizen" and inquisitively based. (sound familiar Montessorians?)It is the primary program that preceeds the International Baccuelerate. Luke is very nonchalant--Im hoping... trusting my judgement. Layne insists she is NOT going to school. I have applied for her, but compulsory education doesnt start until age 6 1/2. I could keep her home one more year. Academically she is years ahead of her peers, but I think she'd enjoy the PYP style kindergarten and socially it would be a positive. We'll see.... The best news for Layne is her best friend here in Bahrain is also moving to Germany and will be about 20 minutes away from us. Her paretns both work for the State Department.

Took the kids to the German bakery today for some pretzels and we are singing the German drinking songs we learned at Oktoberfest at Busch Gardens last summer ( ha ha). More details soon....