Stefanie's 8th Grade Graduation Celebration

At our school here in Germany, the parents like to plan a party to celebrate finishing 8th grade.   This year we booked a cruise around Starnberg lake for the evening. Parents accompany their 8th grader but leave the other kids at home. This made for a very special night for Stefanie, all the attention was on her.

The weather was not terrific for our evening, it poured the entire time. But due to a malfunction on the boat we had reserved we were upgraded to a larger boat with plenty of indoor room and lots of space.  This meant that the parents were comfortable inside with plenty of space to chat and have dinner. And the kids had plenty of space for their dinner and dancing.

Stefanie had a great night and it was fun to get dressed up and celebrate with our new friends. Just another of the awesomely different things we get to experience here.

AJ's Sophomore Year Work Study

AJ at work!

Here at MIS part of the 10th grade curriculum is to participate in work study the last month of school.  10th graders finish their classes a month before the rest of the school and then find jobs for the last four weeks. Some students who have a clear idea of what they might like to do find jobs in areas that interest them. AJ was less sure about what he wanted to do so Steve helped him find a spot in the marketing department at Gore. AJ enjoyed being an Associate and seeing how things at Gore worked. His friend Jack spent one week working with him too which was fun for both of them. AJ hasn't decided what he wants to do "when he grows up" yet but this was still a good way to see a little bit of what the world looks like when you are out of school and what it's like to go to work every morning at 7am and not get home until after 6pm!

AJ & Jack

West Point SLE and Delaware Boys State

Dominic had an amazing opportunity this month. He was accepted into West Point's Summer Leadership Experience and Delaware's Boys State Program. This was a great accomplishment for him and we just had a few things to overcome.  The fact that he would miss two weeks of school right before finals and that we are here in Germany not New York or Delaware.

However, we had told him if was accepted we would make it work. Dominic spoke to the principal of his school and received permission to miss school and he spoke to his teachers and made a plan for the work he would miss.  So, we booked a plane ticket for him.

Getting Dominic to West Point did take a village. Steve's sister Vicki picked him up at the airport in Albany. He stayed at her house for two days and then my sister Melanie picked him up in Albany and took him to West Point. Steve flew in for the closing ceremony, then he took Dominic from NY to Delaware for Boys State.



Lucky Dominic even got to meet our niece Bethany's new baby Kayleigh while he was there. I'm pretty jealous since I have to wait until July!

Dominic is the first boy - in blue.

Both experiences were fantastic for Dominic. They have certainly helped him decide on where he is applying to college and what he might want his major to be.  Stay tuned to see where he winds up calling home.

A Visit with the Pannetts

Rojo, Tom, Marissa and Monica came to visit us this week. They arrived with some of the worst rain Bavaria has seen in years. After dealing with lost luggage at the airport and a traffic congested drive in the rain they finally arrived.

The girls were quite tired so we left them at home with our kids and pizza - pizza, wifi and tv make teenagers instant friends.  The four of us headed to Andechs Monastery. You can read more about Andechs here, it is really one of our favorite places.  Because it was so late in the evening we just took a quick peek in the church, it was getting dark so hard to see but still impressive. Then we had dinner at the restaurant. Steve and I hadn't tried the restaurant before but it did not disappoint. Also? Since the weather was so incredibly lousy we had a lovely private dining experience. No one else was there!

Marissa, Monica, AJ, Rachel & Stefanie (Dominic is in the US)

Monday dawned with some tired Pannetts but once we got everyone moving we were off to Munich. We made it in time to watch the Glockenspiel. We saw a few sites and then headed to the Residenz so they could tour the palace. While the Pannetts toured I scoped out places for them to replace their missing items and get a new suitcase. Once they were done at the Residenz we had a traditional Bavarian lunch at Hofbrauhaus and then did some speed shopping. After the speed shopping they joined a Munich
bike tour to see more of the city.

On Tuesday it was already time to say goodbye. The visit was short and sweet and we are so
happy Tom and Rojo were able to make our home part of their fabulous European adventure.

Stefanie - MVP!

Stefanie with her volleyball team at the awards ceremony

Receiving her award!

Another great sports season has come to an end. Stefanie played on the girls middle school volleyball team. She was greatly honored to win the Most Valuable Player Award at the end of the season. Stefanie has really had the chance to play a lot of volleyball here and be a team leader. We are so proud of her!