We're here!

Hey everyone, we made it safely to Berlin, praise the Lord! We left Charlotte May 21st at 5:30pm, but didn't actually get off the ground until around 7pm, needless to say we missed our flight in Munich and ended up with a six hour layover once we arrived in Germany. The kids did sleep on the Charlotte to Munich flight, Maggie slept for quite a bit, Henry only slept for about three hours! They both slept in the Munich airport and were exceptionally well behaved during both flights, which I accredit to much prayer and a very gracious heavenly Father. We are still trying to get used to our new sleep schedule. Maggie is having a much easier time of it than Henry. Tyler and I are doing great, and are quickly trying to learn as much German as we can to get by. There is a beautiful playground right across the street from our apartment and everything is within walking distance. There is a central-park-like area less than a mile away with even more playgrounds and running trails (which makes me very happy). Many folks around here speak English, which is very helpful, but not all. I am a little nervous about my first trip to the grocery store alone, but we are very thankful for our host family, the Elmericks, whom have been extremely generous, helpful and hospitable to us so far. Thanks for checking in and I'll hopefully post some pics soon, please continue to keep our family in your prayers!

It's never too late...

to tell your Mommy (ies) you love her. So, happy late Mother's Day to my Mom and to my Kansas Mom. I love you both so much and I am so grateful for everything you do and have done for me/us. You are the best two Grandma's in the world and we are blessed beyond words by you both. And, hope you continue to enjoy this blog dedicated almost entirely to you two... no offense to our other two readers.

Happy Mother's Day

Our mother (Carrie) is fantastic! We praise God for our Mommy! She is a major bigtime blessing to our family, and the bottom line is that we love her sooooooo much!

Cousin Fun

We love love our cousins Brody and Evan, and a few weekends ago they came up to play with us. We went to Discovery Place, but really we didn't need to do or go anywhere, because just being together is such a blast. And we are trying to get in as much time as possible with them before we head to Germany for the summer and miss out on invaluable cousin time.
When the Tylers come you get to play fun sword fighting games with your Uncle, as shown above. I think Tyler enjoyed this the most.

Your younger, yet stronger and bigger cousin takes you for horsie back rides which is always fun.
And of course it doesn't hurt that when they come the cuteness factor is off the charts.
We love you guys, come anytime...how about this thursday?

All that Jazz...

Here's what the Dirks have been up to since Easter (it's been busy).

Two weekends ago we spent the weekend in Columbia with Grandma and Poppa, and we attended First Pres. Church on Sunday for the baptism of our sweet nephew Joseph Evan. We joined the Tylers for a delicious Sunday lunch and time of fellowship afterwards.

Here's the little guy all tuckered out in his Great Grandmother's arms after a big morning.
Back in Charlotte we relaxed in the back yard with some massive Poppa inspired lollipops.

Last week our JWU students worked at the food bank down the street and then headed back to our house for our monthly post-bank pizza session.
We've visited the butterfly pavilion/nature museum.
And, didn't step on any.
My two cute guys.
We still make time for baths.


And last weekend Maggie and Daddy-T headed to the White Water Rafting center for a duck race.
There were all sorts of fun activities like getting mermaid tattoos, and jumping castles. Henry was sick at home with a fever so we missed out on that fun.

That's pretty much it except for swimming lessons, trips to the YMCA, Bible study, playing with friends and family, RUF, keeping up with Lost, gardening, time spent outside in the beautiful weather, attempting to learn German, sewing, and starting our own business (that last one was made up just looking for a strong close, and pretty sure I didn't find one, so feel free to leave a suggestion in the comments). Hope to post again sometime before July, thanks for checking in.

Happy Easter

...a few weeks late. Ah-hem..sorry, I've been a little slack lately in my blogging. So, without further ado here are some Easter pics and hopefully one of these days I'll be caught up to our current life events and I can fill you in on all the upcoming excitement awaiting the Dirks this summer.
Most children get chocolate and candy in their Easter baskets, but the poor Dirks' kids got toothbrushes. It was actually not too bad, because you see they are electric and cool and our kids are only 3 and 1, so pretty much anything goes (or so I tell myself..hope I'm not turning into "that" mom). So we started the morning off pants-less, but with some good looking chompers.

Henry wasn't fooled by the toothbrush for long, pretty soon it was "hey you...put down the camera and open my sucker...suck-ah!"
While on the other side of the table, Maggie cuddled with her new matching bunny eared pony, pinkie pie....yup that's right.
Also, Easter morning we saw that our play-doh tomb was empty and Jesus was gone! The little people were all in a mad frenzy looking for Him. Jesus had risen! Maggie found Him in the living room. (Thanks for the fun idea Kristen and Noelle ;)
We took several Easter pics, but they were all not-so-good but also cute in their own right. The best one is this sugar pop pic.
Maggie and Henry both enjoyed Easter and hearing all about how Jesus rose from the dead and defeated sin and set us free. And our constant prayer for our little ones is that this Truth would become quickly and completely settled into their hearts. And we love that our kids know that the same Savior that died on the cross on Good Friday, is the same Lord that was born in a stable as a helpless baby. Which of course reminded them that playing Mary, the Donkey and Emmanuel is really fun, and that's just how we wrapped up our Easter.

A late b-day post

You all know by now that Maggie turned three years old on March 15th on our cruise ship, but you may not have known that we celebrated in Charlotte with some girlfriends (and a few little fellas) a few days before we left for Mexico. Maggie wanted to have a dress up party, so that's just what we did.

If anyone knows Maggie D, then you know she is a bit of a D-I-V-A from time to time. She loves all things girlie, dress up being her main outlet source. So, in a futile attempt to remind her and her friends that all though it is fun to look beautiful and wear pretty things, charm is deceptive and beauty is fleeting; but a woman who fears the LORD is to be praised (Proverbs 31:30). So, we colored and stickered a poster with that verse on it and it is hanging up over Maggie's bed in her room, a reminder of God's desire for our hearts and of a fun day with friends.
We even enjoyed a little "tea" it was really apple juice, but no one seemed to mind.

The crew enjoyed a fine course of chicken nuggets, fruit and chips for lunch under the princess canopy (Poor little Hawk was the only boy at the table and he was a real champ with all the girls, Maggie even allowed him to secure Henry's title of "Prince" for the morning).

Meanwhile this little guy didn't seem to mind at all that he was covered in pink, and enjoyed his time quite nicely.