Sie sind hier!

After much anticipation and excitement, my host parents, Kurt and Renate Dohmen arrived in Minnesota on July 10th. We knew it would be a short trip, so we enjoyed every minute together.
July 11th, Caleb and I went for a walk with Woody while Papa (Kurt) and Mutti (Renate) slept off their 24 hours of traveling from the previous day.

When they woke, Caleb immediately reached out for Papa. They were immediately buddies! Super heartwarming!

Breakfast time allowed Papa to "Prost" (cheers) with Caleb.

Prost!

After we all had breakfast and Caleb a morning nap, we went to Sibley Park for a little sun and fun.

Don't mind me...just sitting on a pig!

Peek!

Hmm..that hay looks good!

Here Piggie, Piggie, Piggie!

Ride 'em cowboy!

Come on, Papa!

Caleb, Briana, Mutti

Mutti, Briana, Caleb

We had dinner with my mom on Wednesday night. Josh was the Grill Master. Caleb got lots of Oma love that night with both of them nearby.

Caleb just threw a ball and did a good grunt with it!

Oma love x2

Thursday we went to Green Isle to visit my grandparents and get a little more German speaking in. We also visited the serene pond on the Family Farm. Such a beautiful time!

Brunch with Great Grandpa Bill

Playing with Great Aunt Kathy!

Caleb and Papa

Mutti, Caleb, and Papa

Holding hands...they were such good buddies!

Look at all those rocks! Let's play with them!

Hehehehehehehehe

Mutti at the pond

He climbed up and slid down. It was toddler sized Fireman's pole!

We found a wonderful pass time for both Caleb and Woody. BLOWING BUBBLES! Apparently Woody thinks he can eat all the bubbles which causes Caleb to have a giggle attack!

For supper, we went to the Toyko Hibachi and Sushi Bar. It was the first or second time that everyone had done Hibachi. Caleb really enjoyed it too (despite only sleeping for 40 min in the afternoon).

The next morning Caleb and I drove the Dohmens to the airport. It was short but wonderful. Caleb surely learned some German. We spoke German about 90% of the time and I would just translate for Josh. He was such a trooper.

To fill some of you in, I was an exchange student when I was 16 years old. I lived with the Dohmen family in Witzhelden, near Cologne, for 10.5 months. It was a wonderful year! In that year I had the time of my life and learned to speak German! Since then I have been there to visit three times and they have been here now three times. I have also had my host sister visit once, a girlfriend- Tina once, and a girlfriend-Anna three times. I was blessed to make wonderful friends and see/make family while I was there. Skype and Facebook have allowed us to stay even more in touch in the last year. But I have to say we were pretty good at it before then as well. We telephoned frequently enough before that to truly maintain a close relationship. I do feel like my parents came to visit. They are not merely some German people I know. I love them and miss them all the time! We can't wait to make a trip to Germany. The fund is slowly growing. We sehen uns bald! Hab euch lieb!