Photo by The Joneses Greg, Sandra, Georgia and Katie with the moving truck. Greg and his family are on their way to Heidelberg, Germany, and we spent most of last week helping them pack for the big move. SLIDE SHOW: Visiting with Greg's family — — — View Larger Map
ARCHIVES: You wouldn't believe how beautiful Canada is! Wouldn't change a thing Who knew there was so much to see in South Dakota? Time is flying by — but at least we're having fun! I (heart) Hart Ranch, South Dakota Rallyin' in Goshen, Indiana A special day From friends to work to warmer temps, we're still having fun in Florida Traveling to Texas Finally, we're in Alaska! On the way to Canada Boise sure has changed a lot Escapees Rally in Wyoming Bittersweet trip through the southeast From Boy Scouts to ‘Stars on Ice’ Michigan is full of treasures Arriving in Florida Earning our ears Celebrating Christmas and New Year's in Florida and the Disney Parks Down in the Lowcountry Making our way through Minn., Wisc. and Ill. The holidays in Florida Our time in Lakeland has come to an end Couldn't have had a better time in Omaha! Arriving in Charleston A day with friends from Frederick 'Life is good' in Lakeland, Fla. Leaving Florida, and heading north Our final days in Kentucky Into the Keys Out of Charleston and off to Indiana Dreams come true in Vermont You never know what you'll see or who you'll meet in Alaska Leaving Indiana, but not before taking some of the state's best sites Idaho is full of natural treasures — and moon-like craters, too It's all about the theme parks From prairie country to beautiful views to grand 'ol Yellowstone Thunderstorms, flooding, tornados and a visit with the 'Duke' And so it begins ... Moving days for Greg and his family The gang's all here! Happy to be in Florida again Strawberries, and more strawberries 'The RV Capital of the World' From the beautiful Maine coastline down to southern Connecticut Training for our jobs at Disney World Chillin' out at 'Camp Monaco' Under the weather Back in Florida At long last, back in the area Lots to see in the 'Show Me' state With family and spectacular sights in Hailey, Idaho Look back, look ahead Back in the Lower 48 The cold weather is hitting Florida From Dallas to devastation Back on the road again Leaving Idaho and heading east Beautiful Alaska A memorable visit to Alaska's Kenai Peninsula Watch out for flying dinner rolls

We have been very busy with Greg, Sandra and the girls. They are being relocated to Heidelberg, Germany and while we are all happy about this move, (Ralph and I are already making plans for a camping tour in Europe — in a few years!) there was much to do.

Even though the Army hires a moving company to handle the move the house still had to be made ready for the movers. Anything hanging on the walls had to be taken down, items to be shipped and items to be stored had to be sorted and identified, items that cannot be shipped had to be disposed of or given away etc., etc., etc.

Anyone who has ever made a major move knows how much work it is. And moving overseas involves more than any other move; it also involves a ton of paperwork.

Sandra loves to decorate her house and she has a lot of pretty items and a lot of furniture. Since this is an overseas move, everything has to be carefully wrapped and packaged to assure nothing gets broken during the move. It took three guys three full days of packing and crating.

All boxes are put into a crate, nailed shut and sealed with someone from the family being present. That was mostly my duty. I also did a lot of chauffeur services, seems like there was always someone to be picked up or taken somewhere. One of their cars is already in Germany and on Wednesday Greg took Sandra’s car to Baltimore for shipping. So, our CRV made lot of trips.

In addition to the move, Katie had a birthday and we celebrated her fourth birthday two days before the movers came. I really enjoyed being able to participate in the party and Katie and her friends had a lot of fun. They painted little wooden birdhouses, pinned the tail on the donkey, hit the Pinata till the candy fell out and had ice cream cake.

It is hard for me to believe that Katie is already four years old; seems like only yesterday when I saw my ninth grandchild — only 14 minutes old. Then again with all that has been happening in our live it seems like ages ago.

AND, to top all this, Georgia was in the hospital. She had an emergency appendectomy last week. From what Greg and Sandra told me it was quite serious, her appendix did burst but fortunately they were able to do surgery before more damage was done.

She is doing fine now, but missed out on a lot of the last week’ activities in school and several award ceremonies. Georgia is the Salutatorian of the 2008 class and also received several awards. We are staying at Camp Carlson, the military campground we stayed when we were here in November. We haven’t spent much time here, since we were at the kid’s house most of the times. We did have them here for dinner several times, however, once the movers had started packing.

The new table worked out great – I am so happy I insisted on getting it – all of us (six adults and Katie) had room for a sit-down dinner.

Tonight is Georgia’s graduation. Fortunately she is able to attend and also to give her Salutatorian speech. We can’t wait.