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It has been a fast and furious 3 weeks since we left the United States. Since leaving, we've been in 3 countries (Luxembourg, France, and Egypt) on 3 continents (North America, Europe and Africa)! If that doesn't tucker you out, I'm not sure what does! 
I'm finally finding some space to get caught up on our adventures.
Maddie has done very well through all of the transition. She continues to be the cutest, sweetest pup and we have no regrets about bringing her with us. She did however, almost not get out of CA.
The day of our leaving was pretty stressful. We had to drive almost 3 hours to get to LAX plus we had to stop at the US Department of plant and animal control (10 minutes from the airport) to get one final stamp for Maddie's exportation to Europe. The window was narrow for getting the stamp and boarding our trans-Atlantic flight. So of course, when the gentleman behind the counter told me that we were missing her initial rabies certificate, I almost had a heart attack. Fortunately we had friends staying at the house and my cousins nearby so we began a frantic series of texts trying to get this doc scanned and sent. I did know exactly where it was in the house so they were able to easily locate it. Whew.
Disaster averted, until there was an issue with the date of her microchipping in relationship to the rabies vaccine. Finally, we got it all squared away and were able to get to the airport to begin the long process of checking her in. There was definitely a glass on wine on the plane!
It was great to see our sweet girl in Paris where we landed to change planes for Luxembourg. But then the Lux Air folks told us that her crate was too big and it couldn't fit on the flight even though we had pre-confirmed the size of the crate and had that in hand. Fortunately, the gate agent was wrong and we were finally on our way to land in our new country.
Our dear friends, Paul and Beth, he is the pastor of the church where we'll be serving, she his wonderful wife and partner in ministry welcomed all of us into their home and provided the most amazing hospitality for us. What a gift they have been to us.
Luxembourg greeted us with an epic snowfall that was absolutely gorgeous.
Experiencing snow was another first for Maddie and she loved it. But she was still healing from the dew claw surgery so the first thing we did after a wonderful night of sleep was to visit the vet. This vet was so amazing and she was so unalarmed by Maddie's wounds that we all felt much better when it had ended. While the snow was fun, it was not great for keeping the sores dry so we tried these botties that were of no good at all. 
Within 30 seconds Maddie had kicked them off so we just tried to keep the wounds dry after she came in and treated them with this healing powder and cream that the vet had given us. These were miracle products as Maddie healed up very rapidly. 
Wow were we all glad she could finally stop wearing that awful cone! She now has her EU pet passport and this will make life much easier for moving around!
So while Maddie settled into life with Beth and Jess, the resident border collie, 
Doug and I snuck away to Paris for the weekend. 
We had some banking business to attend to and really enjoyed connecting with dear friends and the wonderful church where we worked in 2017. We went to Doug's favorite restaurant as an early birthday celebration and watched with joy as he ate his very favorite dish, Cassoulet. 
We wandered around our old neighborhood, connected with friends and ate some of our favorite things. It was a wonderful weekend.
Sunday night late we left for Egypt. Those adventures will wait for another post! Being with treasured colleagues in a spectacular place was a great gift. So thankful for these days of exploring, learning and enjoying together.
Last Thursday we had an epic day of travel that began with a 3.00 a.m. transfer to the airport in Luxor, Egypt, through Cairo, and onto Paris by flight. Then we caught a train to Lorraine, France, where we then caught a bus to Luxembourg, where we then caught a commuter train out to our friend's place. We were very happy to land at home around 6.00 pm.
The next couple of days were spent at Paul and Beth's, doing laundry and repacking, getting ready to move to our place on Saturday. It was really fun to see Maddie in such good health, running and playing and enjoying her new surroundings. We took a gorgeous walk through some nearby woods and the new environment suited all of us. We returned to unusually warm temperatures so hints of an early spring were all around us.
On Saturday afternoon we moved to our new place and it far surpassed expectations.
It's a lovely, spacious place with a fully fitted kitchen, a nice size living room, a cute dining room table, a couple of nooks with chairs for reading or relaxing, a lovely patio with wonderful views and a good size master bedroom along with a fully modern bathroom. 
It will be a fantastic place for us to enjoy these months. The two things that I will miss about my house in the desert are the garbage disposal and dishwasher! Small problems that are not really problems at all. And it's back to an electric stove which I don't love but am capable to using!
Baloo, a playful, boisterous Bernese Mountain dog lives upstairs and loves to see what's happening downstairs any time he gets a chance. 
He and Maddie were fast friends. There are vast networks of hiking trails around us and there will no shortage of wonderful ways to get Maddie and ourselves out for walks!
Yesterday we had our first Sunday at All Nations Church Luxembourg.
It was a great day of meeting an eager, warm group of people, enjoying the worship service and anticipating what the next several weeks might look like for us.
I am preaching this Sunday so have a lot to do get back into this rhythm! We look forward to getting to know people and journeying with this church for the 4 months that we will be with them.
It is great to be back in Europe. We really do feel at home here in many ways. It's a different experience this time around as we are living in the countryside, about 30 minutes outside of Luxembourg city, but we are pretty keen to enjoy that kind of life for a bit, especially with Maddie in tow. It's also amazing to be so centrally located in Europe with the ability to be in Luxembourg, Belgium, France, and Germany all in the same day! We are excited to explore the region on days off.
After so much travel and moving around, I still wake up wondering where I have to be and even where I am! But as we settle more deeply into this place, it'll start to feel like home and we are very happy to not be packing up and heading some place else anytime soon.
Landing in Luxembourg has been great! We feel utterly grateful that we've been given this opportunity and want to soak it all in.
I'm finally finding some space to get caught up on our adventures.
Maddie has done very well through all of the transition. She continues to be the cutest, sweetest pup and we have no regrets about bringing her with us. She did however, almost not get out of CA.
The day of our leaving was pretty stressful. We had to drive almost 3 hours to get to LAX plus we had to stop at the US Department of plant and animal control (10 minutes from the airport) to get one final stamp for Maddie's exportation to Europe. The window was narrow for getting the stamp and boarding our trans-Atlantic flight. So of course, when the gentleman behind the counter told me that we were missing her initial rabies certificate, I almost had a heart attack. Fortunately we had friends staying at the house and my cousins nearby so we began a frantic series of texts trying to get this doc scanned and sent. I did know exactly where it was in the house so they were able to easily locate it. Whew.
Disaster averted, until there was an issue with the date of her microchipping in relationship to the rabies vaccine. Finally, we got it all squared away and were able to get to the airport to begin the long process of checking her in. There was definitely a glass on wine on the plane!It was great to see our sweet girl in Paris where we landed to change planes for Luxembourg. But then the Lux Air folks told us that her crate was too big and it couldn't fit on the flight even though we had pre-confirmed the size of the crate and had that in hand. Fortunately, the gate agent was wrong and we were finally on our way to land in our new country.
Our dear friends, Paul and Beth, he is the pastor of the church where we'll be serving, she his wonderful wife and partner in ministry welcomed all of us into their home and provided the most amazing hospitality for us. What a gift they have been to us.Luxembourg greeted us with an epic snowfall that was absolutely gorgeous.
Experiencing snow was another first for Maddie and she loved it. But she was still healing from the dew claw surgery so the first thing we did after a wonderful night of sleep was to visit the vet. This vet was so amazing and she was so unalarmed by Maddie's wounds that we all felt much better when it had ended. While the snow was fun, it was not great for keeping the sores dry so we tried these botties that were of no good at all. 
Within 30 seconds Maddie had kicked them off so we just tried to keep the wounds dry after she came in and treated them with this healing powder and cream that the vet had given us. These were miracle products as Maddie healed up very rapidly. 
Wow were we all glad she could finally stop wearing that awful cone! She now has her EU pet passport and this will make life much easier for moving around!
Doug and I snuck away to Paris for the weekend. 
We had some banking business to attend to and really enjoyed connecting with dear friends and the wonderful church where we worked in 2017. We went to Doug's favorite restaurant as an early birthday celebration and watched with joy as he ate his very favorite dish, Cassoulet. 
We wandered around our old neighborhood, connected with friends and ate some of our favorite things. It was a wonderful weekend.Sunday night late we left for Egypt. Those adventures will wait for another post! Being with treasured colleagues in a spectacular place was a great gift. So thankful for these days of exploring, learning and enjoying together.
Last Thursday we had an epic day of travel that began with a 3.00 a.m. transfer to the airport in Luxor, Egypt, through Cairo, and onto Paris by flight. Then we caught a train to Lorraine, France, where we then caught a bus to Luxembourg, where we then caught a commuter train out to our friend's place. We were very happy to land at home around 6.00 pm.
The next couple of days were spent at Paul and Beth's, doing laundry and repacking, getting ready to move to our place on Saturday. It was really fun to see Maddie in such good health, running and playing and enjoying her new surroundings. We took a gorgeous walk through some nearby woods and the new environment suited all of us. We returned to unusually warm temperatures so hints of an early spring were all around us.
On Saturday afternoon we moved to our new place and it far surpassed expectations.
It's a lovely, spacious place with a fully fitted kitchen, a nice size living room, a cute dining room table, a couple of nooks with chairs for reading or relaxing, a lovely patio with wonderful views and a good size master bedroom along with a fully modern bathroom. 
It will be a fantastic place for us to enjoy these months. The two things that I will miss about my house in the desert are the garbage disposal and dishwasher! Small problems that are not really problems at all. And it's back to an electric stove which I don't love but am capable to using! |
| The back of the house. The glass doors open to our living area. |
He and Maddie were fast friends. There are vast networks of hiking trails around us and there will no shortage of wonderful ways to get Maddie and ourselves out for walks!Yesterday we had our first Sunday at All Nations Church Luxembourg.
It was a great day of meeting an eager, warm group of people, enjoying the worship service and anticipating what the next several weeks might look like for us. |
| Paul, the senior pastor and dear friend |
It is great to be back in Europe. We really do feel at home here in many ways. It's a different experience this time around as we are living in the countryside, about 30 minutes outside of Luxembourg city, but we are pretty keen to enjoy that kind of life for a bit, especially with Maddie in tow. It's also amazing to be so centrally located in Europe with the ability to be in Luxembourg, Belgium, France, and Germany all in the same day! We are excited to explore the region on days off.
After so much travel and moving around, I still wake up wondering where I have to be and even where I am! But as we settle more deeply into this place, it'll start to feel like home and we are very happy to not be packing up and heading some place else anytime soon.
Landing in Luxembourg has been great! We feel utterly grateful that we've been given this opportunity and want to soak it all in.
