Our last week in Vienna went by really fast. We were able to get ice cream and lunch with friends for the last time, and get everything out of the apartment, and get everything left packed up. We went out to Athene, our favorite Greek restaurant, one last time before we left. We dropped Josh off at our friend Api's house so that he could enjoy his last two weeks in Vienna. It was sad to go, but everyone had an air of excitement about them for a new beginning.The flights and return home went off without a hitch. The kids did really well on all our flights. The rental cars were ready for us. We made the drive to our house without getting lost. We did realize at the airport though, that we had lost a lot of our American social graces. We were so used to Viennese culture of not making eye contact or talking to anyone, that we must have come off as rude on more than one occasion. It will take some getting used to, but I think we will fit back in soon. When we arrived home, our neighbors had a bonfire for us and despite being very tired, we hung out at the fire pit, kickin' back with the neighbors and getting munched by mosquitos. The most surreal moment for us was when I opened the oven. I couldn't believe how big it was! I stood there with my mouth open wide for several moments. Dyllan and Deagan both thought it was huge, too.
We have been welcomed home by several friends and neighbors. We have had several lunch and dinner invitations and four cookie deliveries. It has been so fun reacquainting with old friends. Everyone has been very patient with our stress level and the fact that we were like zombies for the first week and a half. 
Our cats arrived home on the same evening as we did. They got a better flight and better connection than we did, but they were still harried when they got home. We sent them straight to the basement with their food and litter box to hang out for the evening. I wasn't about to have them pee on my carpet in our house, just because they were mad. The next day, they were remembering things that I didn't even remember. They both kept meowing and heading for the laundry room. They both wanted to be fed in there. I thought that I had only fed them in the laundry room when Marco broke his leg. But, I guess that I did put their food in there full time, because they both remembered that, that is where I fed them. I think they are happy to be home. They made themselves at home right away, and so far . . . no pee except for in the box!!!
The first several days were so stressful. We had to buy school supplies, get carpet ordered, find painters, get kids ready for school, buy two cars, etc. We were staying in a hotel at night but spending time at the house during the day. We have been working on several house projects. We got new carpet. We love the new carpet! It is so much softer than the old one and the color is so much better. It is a brown color, but not too dark. It really changes the look of the house and makes it seem so much warmer than the white carpet did. I did the touch up paint on all the walls. We had a crew come in and do all the paint of the trim and doors. The crew also painted the entire exterior of the house. I restained the outside deck. Dan has spent several hours fixing the hot tub. Although we drained it and blew out the lines before we left, while we were gone, condensation filled the tub up part way and then it froze in the lines causing them to burst two manifolds and along the main hard plumbed pipes. It has been a mess to fix and several hours, but right now, we have a hot tub that holds water!! It should be ready for use tomorrow! We have gone through all of the stuff that we left in the storage room here and organized it all.
The kids started at each of their respective schools. We have three kids in school and three schools that they are attending, with three different start times. That was tricky to handle while living at the hotel. It was a big stress. The kids were tired and scatter brained. They sometimes left everything at the house that they needed at the hotel, or left everything at the hotel that they needed for school. Both Dane and Dyllan are required to have ipads at school and remembering to charge them everyday was a bit difficult. We couldn't find any of our American plugs to charge them with.
Dan has been under a ton of stress with his new job. He has been trying to make his family happy (and be there for all of the important stuff) as well as learn and start a whole new job at work. He has already traveled to Kansas City, Chicago, South Bend, and Dallas. He is worn thin, but has kept a happy face--even if we do fall asleep by 10:00pm every night. He researched and bought two new cars for us. I got a Toyota Sienna. He got a Volkswagon Passat. One night, I went to pick up Dan at the airport. We decided to stop by the house before heading to the hotel because we had some painters there when I left. We just wanted to lock up the house. When we arrived, it was 11:30pm and the painters were still there. They had another hour of work to do that night. (They were trying to get everything done according to our schedule of when we were getting the new carpet in). Since we had some time to kill, we decided to take Dan's new car out for a spin. I had never been in it. So, off we went. We drove a few blocks and noticed a car behind us. We didn't take much notice until we got to a roundabout and headed straight back the way we came. On the roundabout, we realized that the car behind us was a police car. Dan was headed back home. The police car tailed us all the way to the neighborhood. When Dan turned on his signal light to turn into the neighborhood, the police car turned on his lights and pulled Dan over. Dan realized that the police car had called in for backup, as there were at least two patrol cars and maybe three. When the police officer came to my window, he informed us that we had been pulled over because Dan had failed to signal for 200 feet before changing lanes. Needless to say, he had nothing on us, but wanted to see what we were up to. We explained that we were just out test driving our new car and he let us go--without a ticket. I guess it is nice to know that the police are working so hard in our neighborhoods! Rhonda says I need to be more careful about who I hang out with that late at night!
Just months before we were asked to leave for Austria in 2012, we were excited to learn that the church that we belong to, had decided to build a temple in Indianapolis. When we lived here before, we used to have to drive 3 hours to Louisville, Kentucky, just to go to the temple every month. While we were in Austria, our closest temple was in Frankfurt, Germany--an 8 hour drive. The location that they chose for the Indianapolis temple was less than a thirty minute drive from our house. The temple is not a place that we go to every Sunday, but a sacred place that adult members go for more learning and understanding of the gospel of Jesus Christ. So, we were really excited to find out, as we were preparing to move back, that our temple in Indiana had been completed and was scheduled for dedication the week after we returned.
Dane has been thrown right into things. He got to be a part of the cultural celebration that was put on by the youth of the church here, in conjunction with the dedication of the Indianapolis temple. It was neat for him to get to dance in it, and it was neat for us to be able to watch it! He did a swing dance for the program which focused on the history of Indianapolis and "Gathering to the Light". It was a nice program and cool to have President Eyring and Elder Ballard here from the quorum of the twelve apostles. Everyone except for Danyon was able to go to a session of the dedication of the temple. What an exciting time to just be getting back to Indy! It has been a spiritual experience for us. Dane is in three excellerated classes at school. He is also on the cross country team. They practice 5 days a week and have already had their first meet. Dane didn't do as well as we had hoped, but we will just chalk it up to getting used to the humidity. Dane has also started taking Saxophone lessons from a teacher at the school. Those, so far, are going well. It was a rough first couple of weeks of school, trying to get organized and into a routine, but I think that we are there. He will just have to keep plugging away at it.
Dyllan has started off really well in school. I think that her teachers are perfect for her. She has already come home with two tests of 100 percent. Way to go, Dyllan! She is starting piano lessons and swimming next week. She would like to try out for the show choir. We will see how that goes. I hope that she can keep up the good work. She has been such a big help around the house, as well. Dan and I decided to reward her for all of her hard work. I took her to Disney on Ice--Frozen. It was a fun date night for just she and I. We enjoyed the show and had a great time with friends.
Deagan is doing well. He gets an extra hour of sleep every morning than everyone else. That seems to help him a lot. He has been doing much better at home. His school work is coming along. He has to work hard in school. He has told me that he has missed recess about three times to work on assignments that he did not get done. I think that focusing on his work will be a challenge for him, but easier as we get into a routine. He will start cub scouts, piano lessons, and hockey very soon. He is excited to be back. His teacher is new to the school and we haven't heard anything from her, so I guess things are going well.
Danyon has spent the last little while trying to get rid of his afternoon nap. He has been very chill with me at the house. He hung out with me with nothing in the house for two weeks. He was excited to get some furniture. He didn't care about his bed, as he rarely sleeps in it anyway. He is loving the soft carpet. Without his naps, he is ready for bed at about 7:30 or 8:00. We have new couches and he loves to spend the afternoon snuggling in a chair reading books. It hasn't happened as often as I'd like, but I think that once we get all settled with all our stuff, it will be easier to get back into our routines as well. 
