Monday, October 31, 2011

Halloween decor

We didn't do anything for Halloween. We bought big bags of candy for all the trick or treat-ers and we didn't get one... not one Goblin, Witch, or Troll. The only thing that made everything seem actually in the "Spooky" spirit is the decor they had at the Commissary. How neat! A big castle to hold all the candy.

Thursday, October 6, 2011

Full spectrum exercise

A Full spectrum exercise is a field training where they train as if they are deployed. They simulate fire fights (gun battles with the enemy), plan operations, and what not. This one that Steve is on right now involves a month long training period with the Polish Army. They also had this great idea to jump in to the training area with the Polish Army.
  As of right now, 35 soldiers are injured from the jump. The most severe are..
5 suffered head injuries
5 suffered spinal injuries
4 fractures their pelvis

What gets me is that they (the Army) expected this many injuries. Where is my husband in all this? On his way to jump, the plane he was in started to malfunction and they had to make a landing at Ramstein Air Force base. The back end of the plane was coming off. So they took a bus to Graff and waiting for another plane so they can fly in so they can jump in to the training area. I am so worried. This whole operation is a joke. They shouldn't of let them jump when it was considered dangerous.

UPDATE- I got an email from one of Steve's friends, Roman, saying that the Army is now realizing just how dangerous the landing zone is (even though they are the ones that considered it dangerous in the first place) so no more soldiers will be jumping in.. that means Steve will be taking a Humvee to the training area. Thank the Lord! There is a lot of people seriously hurt and some in ICU. Praying for their quick recovery.

Saturday, October 1, 2011

Oktoberfest

Oktoberfest is a 16–18 day beer festival held annually in Munich, Bavaria, Germany. It is one of the most famous events in Germany and is the world's largest fair, with more than 5 million people attending every year. The Oktoberfest is an important part of Bavarian culture, having been held since 1810. Other cities across the world also hold Oktoberfest celebrations, modeled after the Munich event. -Wikipedia

One of the great things about being stationed in Germany is being able to attend the famous world wide known festivals here. Yep, we got to experience the world renown Oktoberfest in Munich Germany. All I can say is WOW! You grow up learning about different countries and cultures in school, but it is a privilege to be able to experience them first hand.

As we do with every trip, we kind of just "wing it". Our GPS failed us and we had to come back an hour after starting out on our trip to print off directions from Google. Then once we got to Munich (which was our second time there, we went there for my 21st birthday) , we parked the car and walked a few miles to the underground train station and then from there figure out which stop was the right one for the festival.. we pretty much just followed all the people dressed up. I had fun taking pictures of them.
  Hope you enjoy the pictures. They don't do Oktoberfest any justice though, it was huge and a pretty exciting filled day.



entering Oktoberfest

Italian Eis (ice cream)



funny aprons

My hunny and I

some yummy snacks

Polizei (police)

underground train (subway)

really long escalator, so I sat and enjoyed the ride

All the fun outfits Germans wear to Oktoberfest. Its tradition to them. I never felt like more of an outsider then there, Haha.