Merry Christmas!!!!

Merry Christmas Everyone! It is crazy that it is already here and gone. Just to think we will also be gone in May and our time here will have come to an end. Today was a good day...well, for the most part. I say that because Marlee got hurt, but let's start at the beginning. Marlee got up this morning at 5am, but then got in our bed and slept till nearly 8am. So, that was nice. She does have this habit of kneeing me in the back or slapping Zachary in the face in her sleep, but we got to sleep in a bit longer. We have also been sick this week and I had a whole day of cooking ahead of me. I made a turkey, green bean casserole, mashed potatoes, dressing, and a coconut cream pie. It all came out great, but I did dread having to make it. Zach helped me out sooo much and that was awesome! He really is great! I had this whole plan of getting dressed up and taking pictures, but I have to admit that it didn't happen. I just didn't have the energy for it. Marlee did get a little dressed up though. I thought she looked soooo sweet! She opened her presents and was so enthralled with the first one, that she didn't much care about opening the rest. She opened up a couple, but I had to finish the rest. It was still fun and she loved all of her gifts. I went to start cooking and her and Zachary were playing on the couch. He turned for just a second and because she had her tights on, she just slid right off the couch and busted her little lip. Poor baby! Her lip was HUGE when it first happened and just bled and bled. We felt so bad for her, but what can you do i guess... I posted a couple of pictures from the day! She is in bed now and we are finally getting a chance to relax. I hope everyone had a blessed day and till next time...

......Come on Down!!!

Start covering your noses people!! Marlee likes to stick her fingers in them! She is such a goof. She loves trying to stick her fingers in our noses or hers. It is way too funny. She also knows what her tongue is for....sticking it out! I'm telling you there is never a dull moment in our house when she is on a roll. Also, she has had many nicknames over her last almost year and a half. Snuggle bug, monkey, babe, teefers, smiles, and others I am surely forgetting. Her new nickname is Squints. She is in this phase of squinting her eyes and puckering her lips. She is truly a blessing and such a riot. Her little laugh is changing by the month it seems....it's a big girl laugh. Well, now I have to run off and clean the living room before heading off to bed. Our little tornado is quite a sight!

My Sweet loves...

So lots going on over here! I am busy with everything, poor Zach is working his butt off and trying to enjoy a day off when it comes around, Oscar...poor thing, is constantly seeking our attention, and Marlee is growing up so fast! She is sitting next to me in the chair looking through her new elmo book she got today. She is way too precious. She speaks her jargon constantly and sometimes you will hear something familiar. She wants to walk everywhere and when she can't do that she will let you know how she feels about it. She has her first dental appointment later this month. I am excited for her, but I can only imagine how she will feel. She is in such a bashful phase right now and easily freaked. She has her comfort zone. Some things about Marlee lately are she loves her blankie, soft things, taking baths, The Backyardigans, mama, daddy, stuffed animals, her white bunny hat, walking, brushing her teeth, hiding, looking at herself in the mirror and pictures, being tickled and chased, juice,cheese, food in general, playing with the phone, her baby, books, Elmo, DVD cases, opening doors, keys, and so much more....not in that order. She dislikes applesauce, cinnamon apples, the word no, getting her diaper changed, car rides, loud burly voices, hmmmm....that is all I can think of at the moment. I'm sure there is more. I can't wait till we get home this next summer. She will see so many faces that she hears so much about. Who knows what she will think when she sees that the people on the TV (Skype) are real! Another new chapter in the life of the herringz...it's gonna be rad!

The Stuffing

Random Happenings

Shhpoooooktacular ...ooo

Halloween has now come and gone. It is so neat to see everyone's pictures from their parties and of all their costumes. Marlee was a butterfly this year! Some of you might not remember that she was a ninja last year! A cute one at that! We had a great time this year! She walks, but not all the time just yet, but that made it so much more fun. She got her first few pieces of candy and she was kind of confused at first. We went to the Ramstein Youth Center this year and there was face painting, candy, games, bouncy castle, and tumbling room for the babies, and so much other stuff. We walked around and played with other kids. She was sooo sleepy at the end of the night. I also posted a video of her saying "mmmm"....which is "moo" when you ask her what a cow says. She is getting cuter, smarter, bigger, and sweeter every day. She is our little snuggle bug and we couldn't be happier. We are so blessed to have such a wonderful little girl. Well, gotta go ...not much time as usual, but enjoy the pictures and enjoy the video!

Back to Reality

So, back to reality it is for the Herring household. All our visitors have gone, and Fall has begun. It has only gotten up to 45 degrees over the last few days. Lots going on over here. Zach is back to work, Marlee is as rambunctious as ever, and I am just trying to keep up. I posted two of the cutest videos on our youtube page yesterday. If you just click on the picture to the right of us three, then you will be redirected to it. Way worth checking out for sure. Marlee is such a turkey. She loves being silly and has the sweetest, most brightest personality. As I always say...we are truly blessed to have her. She is the sun in the sky always brightening up our day. She also should be napping right now, but she is squealing and playing in her crib. Not much other than the norm going on over here, but that is kind of nice. Zach has tomorrow off, and we are back to some deep cleaning. My house was a disaster it felt like over the last couple of weeks. We have done some tending to it, but it needs a major overhaul. Some things have changed with Zach's retraining as well. Too much information that I don't know enough about to write, but it could change everything that we thought was going to happen in the next few months. We are still coming home, but we aren't for sure when. Well now the babe is down, and I think I will do the same.

This video is priceless. We went out for a walk the other while Jerry was still here, and got some great video of Marlee riding around. Zach edited it and this was the end result. Pretty funny!

Fast Times continued....

So, I have a few more minutes to elaborate on our trips that we have gone on over the last few weeks. We went to Oktoberfest in Munich and it was really cool! It wasn't what I expected, although I am not sure what I expected. It was like a really big state fair. There were drunk people everywhere which made for an even more amusing trip. Even in the train station there would be a random drunk person wondering around in their liederhosen and the police had to intercede. We did a lot of walking and saw a lot of neat things. We didn't take many pictures because there were way too many people to have to maneuver through. There were a lot of booths for t-shirts, and other souvenirs, and rides. The beer tents were more like building and full of people singing and dancing. We had good food, and I didn't drink any, but I am told good beer. The train ride wasn't so bad either. We stayed about an hour away in Garmisch-Partenkirchen Germany. It was BEAUTIFUL! The mountains were amazing, the people were nice, and we had a great time. The drive wasn't as bad either. We went through Austria and it was just as amazing. The roads were just as small, the people nice, and the area was breath taking. It was such a nice day when we were there. We also went to Dublin Ireland. It was even better! I want to go back so bad. The people were the nicest we had been around in a long time. It was fun to walk around and shop. We walked EVERYWHERE! I was sooo tired by the end of the day. We got to see a lot of cool things too! The Dublin Castle, Christ Church, Downtown, the Guinness Factory, Trinity College, and so many more things. I suggest that everyone should go there sometime in their life. We also were there during some protests. From my understanding it was about a treaty in which they didn't want to be a part of for the European Union. It was kind of crazy at first, but interesting to see. Well, the girl is up from her nap, so.....until next time.

Fast Times in Deutschland

Sigh...maybe I can finally catch a few minutes to update everyone on what's happening these days over here in Germany. There is so much to tell and I don't even know where I left off last. The new BX finally opened up on base. It is HUGE! So big, that I actually dread walking from one end to the next, but I am not complaining because it is something new and offers way more than we had before. Also, Zachary's dad, Jerry, has been here for almost three weeks now and it has been fun. We have done some traveling and just hanging out. Marlee has a good time. She has grown so much! She now has 8 teeth, plus a molar almost all the way in, and one trying to poke through! I don't have anything to compare her teething experience to, but she has done so well! She has moments of grouchiness, but they are short-lived and she is such a trooper! She still isn't walking, although she has taken a few steps. She stands up everywhere by herself, then you see the wheels turning like, "should I actually walk to the kitchen....or...just crawl because it is faster"? She drops down so fast and moves so fast on the floor you would think she has a little rocket attached to her backside. She babbles ALL the time and has the longest conversations with herself and us. I wonder what she is thinking and saying, but it must be important! She now has affections for stuffed animals, and still loves reading her books. She will play for a while, but every few minutes she stops, squats, and reads....or sits and reads. She loves cuddling, and when Zachary walks in the room she screams, "Hi dada". It truly is the best to hear! She did so well with the traveling. We went to Garmisch, drove through Austria, went to Munich for Oktoberfest, and then on to Ireland. She isn't a fan of car rides period, but she still did really well. She did awesome in the plane for Ireland, and going to bed in the hotels was great! She really is a special little lady! Other than all the traveling...we are just hanging out and having fun. Zachary and I got to go rock climbing yesterday...indoors! We haven't gotten to do that the entire time we have been here until yesterday. Jerry watched Marlee at the bottom, and we climbed for a while. It was AWESOME!!! Such a great feeling, and we can't wait to do it again! I gotta tend to the babe, but there are some pics attached below! Have fun! There were too many pictures, so I only chose a few. Hope ya get the idea.


So here are some pics from Garmisch, and Oktoberfest! We really didn't get much at Oktoberfest because it was sooo crowded. We were just trying to make our way through the crowd. Garmisch was the same story. It wasn't as crowded, but we didn't take many pictures.







The view from our room...the pic doesn't do it justice!






All of these pics were from Ireland!



The day we go to Dublin there are Protests! Go figure...it was interesting to watch though




This is a recreation of Frances Bacon's studio at the Dublin Museum of Art.




This guy was painting this on the street in Dublin. It is beautiful!









Me trying out a real Guiness in the Sky Bar at the Guiness Factory




This puppy she pulled off the shelf and just hugged! We had to get it!