"They threw quite a Going Away party for me... according to the letter." -- Emo Phillips

Well, in addition to packing, we've had a great last few days of parties.

First, Ian had his 5th birthday party, and this gave him a chance to hang out with a lot of his friends.



Next, Dominic had a Bon Voyage party with a lot of his friends.





Then, we had an Auf Wiedersehen party with several family friends.



These parties have been so much fun, but they've also reminded us of how blessed we are to have such great friendships, and we know we'll miss these friendships even more than we'll miss 75 cent Extra Large Diet Cokes.

By the way, one way we hope to stay in touch is through Skype. If you are a Skype member, add us as contacts-- search for the account name stevenvrouse.


Steve

Almost ready to leave!

We're not really bloggers, but we're about to leave to spend a year in Heidelberg, Germany, and we thought that this would be a great way to keep our friends and family in touch with what we're doing. Stacy and I will both be writing posts every now and then, and we'll have Dominic and Ian dictate things that they want to write for their posts, too.

If you want to be e-mailed whenever we add a new post to this blog, just e-mail me at steve.rouse@pepperdine.edu or just keep checking back here every now and then.

So, our plane leaves on August 2, and we get into Germany in the afternoon of August 3. The people who work for Pepperdine's Heidelberg program really impress us-- they offered to pick us up at the airport and someone would be available to let us in to the Moore Haus as soon as we arrive. They have been so nice and welcoming even before we've even arrived, so we are looking forward to getting to know them better.

By the way, if you're curious, check out this websites about Pepperdine's Heidelberg program; you'll be able to see why we're so excited!

Back to packing...

Steve