I can't believe it's already July!

Hey Everyone!

Time is flying by here, next week we'll be in the middle of July already!! I can't believe I only have a couple more months left here. The past two weeks have been pretty crazy! We've been hit with Swine Flu! It's not as crazy as the news makes it out to be and it's not any more dangerous than the regular flu. Nicholas was home all of last week with it and Charlotte was home this week. It has been tough with the kids home, but I should count myself lucky since they weren't home together at the same time! Charlotte is actually doing a lot better and went back to pre-school today, which I am so thankful for, now I get to rest and get over it as well. I guess there's no way of escaping it when you're with kids all the time.

The 4th of July was a lot of fun. I drove up to Heidelberg to stay with my friends and I had a good time even though it was only for a couple days. I was stuck in traffic for about an hour on Friday when I left. It was pouring rain and when I got on the autobahn, traffic was at a dead stop. At least I had my ipod to keep me company. I left a little before 5 and got there at 7:30. It took longer than usual, it's only an hour and a half normally. The weather cleared about halfway and that was great! Driving in the rain with no glasses is no fun. I actually stopped to go to the bathroom at a German rest area.. never again! They are SO disgusting. I mean rest areas in the U.S. aren't the best either but these... oh my. When I got there, we just hung out and watched Bolt, which was hilarious. I might have laughed more than the kids :/ Saturday was pretty laid back too. All of the PX was opened even though it was the 4th, I was pretty happy. I got a few things there and then we went back to the house so the kids could play in the pool. We ended up watching Twilight and now they are hooked on it. We had to walk down to the festivities on post because Beka had to sing the anthem and God Bless America, all short notice. We came back, had some dinner, and then walked back for fireworks. We had great front row seats by the cannons and fireworks, so it was great. My favorite part is the end of the night when they play the Overture of 1812. James was pretty excited to see the cannons go off, they were pretty loud too. We came back and I watched a movie with Jake, and then I crashed. Sunday was also laid back. We slept in, had some breakfast and then went to the library. Beka was on the prowl for Twilight books and then we went to the commisary. I love going there, it's great to have American food. I bought a few things to last awhile here. I found a Cheesecake recipe online for Pumpkin Cheesecake. I hope it works out! If it does, I'll put the recipe here.

I'm excited because the family finally decided on a puppy! No backing out this time, like with the beagel. It's a blonde lab and she is so cute. Her name is Isa and she's still a tiny puppy. We're going to pick her up at the beginning of August. I'll be spending a lot of time with her too, the family will be going on vacation in September for 2 weeks, so if I go anywhere, Isa comes with. I might go to Paris for a day, I can walk the puppy around I guess. My friend Steve is coming to visit as well, I'm very very very excited! It'll be nice to spend some time with someone and venture out more. Well I'm going to get a few things done so I can relax. Have a good one!

Jess