A Very Fast 3 Weeks

It was time to say good-bye to all our new German friends...especially our own Lisa:(

We had such a wonderful time with Lisa, and she said she couldn't have been with a better family:) (that sure makes you feel real good)...The last week was spent by most of the kids trying to stay well. We went to Merrillville and Lisa spent every last dollar she came with, as a matter of fact, my Mom gave her the extra $5 she needed to buy an American Eagle sweatshirt. We went to the candy store on US #30, ate at Joe's Crabshack, bought pumpkins so they could carve them, they had a farewell party, and we rounded our time out with our very last sectional volleyball game against Marquette.

(If you follow volleyball and know of this school, you know they are fantastic!)

The picture that follows was taken Friday just as the kids were getting ready to leave for Ohare, Germans & Americans:)

Lauren and Lisa are in the center of this picture.

I couldn't have been happier by the way Lauren and Lisa got along:)

I believe these girls will have a friendship all their lives...

Once again, many tears:(

As with all the German exchange girls we have had live with us, Mama (my Mom) went shopping with us and she had Lisa pick out her very own build-a-bear. Lisa named hers Lauren because it reminded her of the Rockettes and her American sister being one :)


Lauren took Lisa to Papa's (my Dad's) company to show her some of our heavy equipment, if you look real close you will see Lauren and Lisa standing with their heads popped out of Lauren's sunroof.

(That's one long stick backhoe!)

Then there's Leah?
No need for a caption...


And finally as promised, Lindsey's new beetle:)

(I am so glad she loves this car, she said it feels like "home" to her!)

I would have to say we have been so lucky to have such wonderful German exchange students that will be a part of us forever...I truly love these girls and look forward to the day I see them again:)

South Central Varsity PCC Champs

So our SENIOR Varsity volleyball player Miss Leah is on a roll, they won their Senior Night...as you will see in the picture below, she was very "sappy" as she was being honored, just like her big sister Lindsey, she cried a lot too, because that is how we roll. But to make things just awesome, they are the PCC Champs! They beat Washington Township AGAIN, which makes everyone very happy!
We took a trip to Chicago to see "Cats" (don't waste your money) and to go up in the Willis Tower, that was really cool, as you will see in the pictures to follow, it was actually pretty scarrrrry! The kids even jumped in the Skydeck Ledge, not me!!!

Then Lauren and her little German friend Lisa went and had their nails done, no they didn't leave them that long!!!

Below is a picture of the South Central PCC Champs! They really gave us a great show! We even missed the neighbor girls wedding reception (Danielle Nichols), we sent Lauren and Lisa to represent the family:)

Instead of going to church Sunday morning, I took our little German friend to my nurse practitioner, she woke up with a fever of 103.9 and I almost died....she had the test for swine flu, thank god it was NOT the flu, she has a very serious case of sinusitis. I know she is in agony with this but I told her it could be waaaaay worse.

But the next day after the Z-pack she is so much better. She told me she gets this infection very often.

The flu is terrible at South Central and there are cases going around, I just cross our fingers and hope everyone gets well over fall break and the school will be "germ free" (yea really....what a dream)

Tomorrow is a day for shopping with Lisa to Merrillville, she leaves already this Friday, I will miss this girl!!!

Hey, Lindsey got a car yesterday...yes another VW beetle, this one is a 2006 and the color is silver, its cute, but what bug isn't! I'll have to take a pix and post after she gets some stuff on it:)

Never A Dull Moment

Here's whats been happenin at "The White House"since our newest member Lisa came to live .....
Frau Woolever took the host kids and their German friends out of school and they went to Chicago on the Architectural boat tour, I wasn't able to go so my Mom went along...we had a welcome party with a carry-in for all the German kids and their host families, the kids even went swimming at the schools pool, it was homecoming week and Lauren taught Lisa how to go out T-Ping, the annual bonfire was moved from the school and was at the Millpond, we lost the homecoming football game 2-6, the newly crowned King is Leah's friend, Chris Cummings, I had to chaperon the dance and it got over at midnight...then to end Lauren and Lisa's week, they went with Tori and her German friend Vali to West Palm Beach Florida. I took them to the airport Saturday morning and picked them up Sunday evening....it was in the high 90's and they really got burnt! The only thing to report on Lindsey is that she is stilllll looking for a vehicle, and she has a couple days off of school, fall break:)

Lisa and Lauren in Chicago

Lisa, Katie, Lauren and Sydney

Leah, a Senior Rockette

Stull, White, Mohlke, Sowder
"Senior Float"

Leah, My BFF Gretchen?, Lauren

Leah and "The King" Chris

Lauren and Her BFF Tori

Coming Home From Florida

Our Family Just Grew

That's right friends and relatives, our family got bigger, but this time it was so much easier. No real weight gain, no strange food cravings, no swollen feet, and no long painful labor. Our newest daughter arrived on a school bus! (You should try it, its the latest Craze!) She came with a name and no diapers to change...The happiest of kids in my house is Lauren because she finally got "her very own" German, her name is Lisa-Marie Bretthauer. She is just one of the exchange students that came for a 3 week stay. I don't know how we have been so fortunate, 3 times over! Lisa is soooo nice and I already feel the bond we will share for a lifetime, and I know Lauren just adores her! Our first day together was spent by going to church, walmart, light house mall, my entire family met up and ate at b-dubs, then they all came over for some dessert, and finally the girls did a little t-ping to end their long day! These weeks will just fly by:( So much planned in such a short amount of time.

I love the picture I took of them as they were getting off the bus at school. New bff's after knowing each other for just a few hours, I love the warm embrace they are sharing:)

We now have 6 daughters, 3 American and 3 German