Dan and Michelle Tebbe

Sorry that we haven't put up pics yet!

2008-06-30T21:27:15.308-05:00

We apologize for not having more pics up yet...we've been busy re-locating to Wheaton and having time with family and friends! Below are a few pictures from our travels and time here in the U.S. so far! Enjoy!

And thanks for your faithful prayers. We are feeling them!

The Tebbe Troupe
(L. to R.: Esther, Andrew, Mom Tebbe, Dad Tebbe,
Dan with Rachelle, Michelle with Hannah,
Andrea, and David with Olivia on shoulders)

Hannah REALLY enjoyed being with her only Tebbe cousin, Olivia (3 1/2 years old).
Below they are modeling matching dresses which Olivia picked out for them.

Hannah obviously grew tired of being photographed by this point...

Going to a Madison Mallards baseball game was a
highlight of our time with the Tebbe family...
Well, OK, it was pretty fun although we left after the fourth inning
(and a delayed start due to rain).
Hannah enjoyed riding on Opa's shoulders!

Actually, strawberry picking was one of the best times of
our Tebbe family time!
We should have weighed Hannah BEFORE and AFTER we
picked them. We're sure that she ate at least half a pound!

Rachelle was too tired to stay awake for the enjoyment
of the wonderful time getting strawberries!

The Tebbe Troupe (Tebbes plus two friends, Nicole and Laura) after
picking 24 pounds of strawberries in under an hour!

Hannah and Olivia spent many hours at parks together!

And this was after our fun day at the water park!

We made it to the U.S. of A.!

2008-06-19T18:41:46.895-05:00

Y ep, we officially made it to the U.S., arriving Monday evening in Chicago and three hours later in Madison with 2 sleepy girls, 2 even sleepier parents, and all 6 bags! We'll update again soon with pictures!

Just to let you all know that we are on this side of the "big pond" now! ;o)

Walks in the Black Forest

2008-05-28T07:22:35.29-05:00

As we are preparing to return to the States for a year, I realized am really going to miss my time to walk in the woods each day here in Germany. It is beautiful here in the Black Forest, and I really enjoy walking, running (when Dan or a babysitter is with the girls!), or biking and having time just to be alone, talk with the Lord, and get some fresh air and exercise. I love having a "buddy" to be with in Cinder (our dog), but I admit that I won't miss having the responsibility of taking her out for walks twice a day while we're gone! However, I will definitely miss her and other friends with whom I have the privilege of walking occasionally.

Hannah's "best friend" these days is 4-year-old Emma Greathouse (and I have enjoyed a growing friendship with Emma's Mom, Jennifer). Each morning while she is half-asleep drinking her warm milk, Hannah runs through the role of significant people in a whisper. "Daddy!" she says. "He's asleep." I reply. "Baby!" she then quips. "She's sleeping too." I'll offer. "Emma!" is almost always her next word (either that or "Nenee!" for our beloved friend Renee whom we've dubbed "Aunt Nenee"). Anyhow, I know Hannah is really going to miss her "best buddy" next year...maybe if we have another girl down the road, we'll have to name her Emma! ;o)

Emma, Hannah, and Jennifer Greathouse on our walk.
Hannah's hat was a gift from the Greathouses when Rachelle was born!

Emma, Hannah, Rachelle (in the carrier wrap on me),
and me on our walk.

Hannah prepares early in the day for her bike ride
(she REALLY wanted to wear her bike helmet at the breakfast table last week!).

After a walk one day, Hannah decided she wanted to "pee",
so we "practiced" on her little potty while reading her book of Opposites!

Finally spring or is it summer now?

2008-05-17T14:59:17.781-05:00

Its been a "mild" winter, but we seemed to switch from winter to summer in the course of a week here in Germany! We've been enjoying "spring" activities such as Junior/Senior Banquet, picnics and hikes, Science field trips, and playing with water (this is Hannah's favorite thing lately...playing with "waddie" in her bucket out on the porch!). We also publicly dedicated Rachelle to the Lord in church last week on Mother's Day.

Dedication of Rachelle Elizabeth Tebbe on 11 May 2008
at Black Forest Christian Fellowship in Kandern, Germany.

Even though we are enjoying the nicer weather and the end of the school year, we are not enjoying the thought of saying goodbye for a year to so many special friends, countless wonderful students, and a beautiful country where we've enjoyed serving the Lord for the past 6 (Dan) and 10 (Michelle) years. We would appreciate your prayers as we clean out, pack up, and prepare to "move" for a year back to the States. We have about four weeks before we board the plane and start the "adventure" of living on the other side of the ocean again. There's much to do between now and then, so please pray that we will finish well and make the transition with God's grace.

Below are more pictures of our fun times...

Dan enjoys time with his girls outdoors
(note: Dan is purposefully acting goofy in these pictures.
Please do not be confused;
he is not just breathing through his mouth like a drooling idiot.)

Michelle also enjoys time with Hannah and Rachelle at the park...
its becoming an everyday occurrance on these beautiful spring days!

Dan (and his brother, Andrew, who was able to help drive students for the field trip)
enjoyed a day at a Science Museum south of Zurich, Switzerland. Very cool things!
To see a cool video Dan took of some swinging balls on a pendulum,
check out the following link to our Xanga site:
http://video.xanga.com/mktebbe/52cfb749524/video.html

Hannah and Rachelle keep Mommy busy every day,
but they sure are a LOT of fun. We laugh a lot EVERY day!
(Thanks to Grandma Burson for helping Hannah learn how to feed herself!)

Michelle enjoyed an evening at the Junior/Senior Banquet.
Below are her amazing Small Group girls and wonderful friend
(and incredible Small Group leader!), Renee Grubb.

35

2008-04-28T16:11:25.781-05:00

My older brother, David, turned 35 yesterday!! Is that CRAZY or what?!?
Wouldn't you say that is one pretty darn good-looking accountant! ;o)

Happy Birthday, Dave!
We can't wait to be able to hang out with you all more next year and
hopefully celebrate your 36th birthday with you!

We are finally having spring weather here!
To celebrate the arrival of warmer weather,
Hannah and Mommy had the ceremonial "first" toenail painting of the year
(first toenail painting EVER for Hannah!)

Hannah just can't get enough time outside
(she generally throws tantrums when Mommy and Daddy drag her back inside!).

She and Rachelle can wear their matching onesies which the Bryans gave them
(see the picture below of Jonathan Bryan "flirting" with our girls!).

Daddy and Mommy are enjoying being crazy parents of two little ones!
And as you can see, Hannah LOVES being a big sister!

Rachelle is also enjoying getting to know Uncle Andrew better
before we have to be away from him for a whole year!

Video?

2008-04-08T07:59:55.093-05:00

I'm trying an experiment to see if this video of Hannah rocking Rachelle will work! Try it out!

HRocksRshort.avi (3.49 MB)

April Snow Showers?

2008-04-08T07:51:55.984-05:00

Sadly, we said goodbye to Grandma Burson on the 22nd of March, but we're excited to see her (and the rest of the Burson and Tebbe families, along with many other friends!) in just a few months.

Yes, as we head into our last three months here in Germany until we leave for America for an entire year, we have had snow showers the last few days here in Kandern. Of course, the forecast is for sunny and 65 F by the end of the week! "April macht was er will" (April does what it wants to!) is the German saying for this month, apparently. In fact, our "Spring Break" at the end of March was full of beautiful, white...SNOW (see the pics below!). Here are just a few pictures from the last few weeks. Enjoy!

Daddy and Hannah enjoyed playing in the snow several times a day.

Unfortunately, we didn't bring Hannah's snowsuit on our Spring Break vacation,
so Daddy improvised by using duct tape to keep her gloves on
and to keep the snow out of her boots! Is Daddy creative or what?!

We ventured out for one walk during our stay near the Schluchtsee,
but it was so cold and windy that we mainly just remained
inside or near the guesthouse in which we staying.

Hannah's been enjoying "wrestle" time with Daddy and Mommy the last few weeks.

And our little Rachelle is growing by leaps and bounds...
nursing for only about 5 minutes, but going 3.5 hours between feedings.
She's even slept 7 or more hours a night for the last several nights! Wahoo!

Our neighbor boy, Sven, is Hannah's favorite playmate (even though he's 13 years older than her!).
He's also very good at holding Rachelle and rocking her to sleep in the late afternoon when she's fussy.

Rachelle is starting to give us little smiles and gurgles these days!

Video of Hannah holding Rachelle

2008-03-19T09:44:23.19-05:00

Today is another birthday in the family, that is the Burson family!
Today is Merceana Hope Burson's first birthday!
Happy Birthday, Merceana!
We hope you have a fun day with your four siblings and we can't wait to meet you in July!

Just a quick note here, but we also wanted to show you a video of Hannah holding Rachelle...
click on the following Xanga link to see this adorable video! Enjoy!

http://video.xanga.com/mktebbe/0b29c679933/video.html

Happy St. Patrick's Day!

2008-03-17T16:56:03.83-05:00

Happy St. Patrick's Day!

Today is Olivia Tebbe's 3rd birthday!

Hannah and Rachelle wanted to say

HAPPY BIRTHDAY !!

to their older Tebbe cousin and tell Olivia that they are excited to see her in just a few months.

Furthermore, Hannah has just passed the 17-month mark and she is showing signs of "terrible twos" more and more each day. :)

Seriously, though, we are enjoying our little Rachelle and

big sister Hannah is slowly learning to not hit, scratch, or bite her little sister .

We are enjoying the beginning of our Spring Break,

which we kicked off by grilling for a picnic with Grandma Burson and Uncle Andrew.

Below are some more pictures from the last week or so...

Hannah finally has enough hair to have TWO pigtails!

Hannah and Rachelle LOVE having Grandma Burson here for a long visit

(of course Michelle and Dan appreciate her even more!)...

Hannah has also taken to the water during our Tuesday morning swimming times with Grandma here!

Hannah loves "helping" with changing diapers and other things related to "Baby"

Hannah also enjoys helping Daddy whenever she can...

And of course we always PARTY whenever

Uncle Steve and Aunt 'Nenee come to our house for visits

Pretty cute, huh?

Rachelle and Mommy need lots of sleep these days

(although Rachelle is officially winning on the most hours per day!)

After a week...

2008-03-05T13:54:20.284375-06:00

After a week of life, Rachelle is looking a little bit better and a little bit older. Yay! What a cutie!

Daddy kills two birds with one stone by catching up on his sleep while holding Rachelle

Hannah has no problem being affectionate with Rachelle... just with making that affection gentle enough.

Hannah playing in our recent snowfall. We've had a warm, dry winter. Fortunately it snowed the day of soccer and track tryouts! ;-)

Rachelle Elizabeth Tebbe

2008-02-26T14:56:36.883-06:00

Well, Rachelle Elizabeth Tebbe was born last night. Following is some pertinent details and intrigue:

Weight: 8lb 5oz

Length: 20inches

Complexion: Beet red/ purple

Present at the delivery were Michelle (as one might expect), myself (Dan), Michelle's mom (Peg), our good friend Renee Grubb and her daughter Tabitha, Dan's brother Andrew (who tactfully assumed hall-pacing responsibilities), the midwife, Maya, and a troupe of travelling Russian acrobats to round out the circus. I jest about that last one, of course. The midwife expressed consternation at the number of people there, wondering if it is common in America to have so many people there to help along the labor. I pondered reassuring her that no it's not common, we are just odd like that, but decided that wouldn't be very reassuring.

Andrew, who is born on Feb 25, was rooting for her to be born before midnight so she could share a birthday with him. Peg, who is born on Feb 26, was hoping she'd be born after midnight so they could share a birthday. Neither really cared, of course, but it added some intensity to everyone's predictions of when the baby would be born.

The labor progressed much quicker this time around (unlike Hannah's 49-hour stint) and it was going to be close. At 11:58pm Rachelle stuck her head out for a holler, and a bit later decided enough was enough and popped out. Every head swivelled around to check the wall clock, and saw that it was 12:00 exactly! The midwife ruled that that means the birthday is Feb 26, and pointed out that anyway, by her watch the wall clock was a few seconds slow. So Rachelle shares a birthday with Grandma Burson, just like I share a birthday with Grandma Tebbe. Hooray!

Rachelle let's loose a yell. More of this to come, I'm sure!

A tired but happy Mommy, Daddy, Grandma, Uncle Andrew, and of course, little Rachelle.

For people who want to check for family resemblences. Due to lack of organization and clear thinking, we neglected to get a face-by-face picture of Michelle and Rachelle.

The little family. Yay!

Hannah and Rachelle