heritage...

This past weekend, I went with my mom and Dara for a short trip to visit my grandparents. We called it our "girl trip!" :) Anyways, it was overall a very good trip and seeing my grandparents makes me realize how thankful I am for them and for the rest of my family. This trip was especially interesting, because my grandparents are from Austria. So, we talked about my trip several different times and each time I was able to learn something new. There are now so many different things and people that I want to see while I am in Europe. I learned about distant family members that still live in Austria and Germany and I plan on trying to visit with several of them. Ahh! I am soooo excited! I have heard many incredible stories throughout my life about the life that my grandparents used to have when they lived in Austria. And even though it has changed so much since when they lived there, it is still the place that they are from and I feel honored to get to see this country! Hopefully I will get to visit the city that they are from, the church that they were married in, and many other symbolic places. Oma and Ota mean so much to me and I am so glad that I got to share in my excitement with them before I leave!

 Oh! Something that makes me smile: A couple of months ago, I was talking to Ota on the phone and we were talking about the trip a little bit and he asked me when I was leaving and stuff and then he asked me if I had room to pack him in my suitcase! He said that I needed someone to show me around! hahah gotta love it! :)