Trip to Prague

I finally braved my fear and dislike of the Czech Republic to venture into Prague yesterday. I think the fates must have approved of my trip because it was the sunniest day we have had in many weeks and so my spirits were high as we drove the 2 hours to Prague.

Once there we stopped at a tourist info booth only to be told there is no parking allowed on the streets and she didn't know where a parking garage was...thanks a lot, very helpful. We did however pick up a map of the city and we were on our way (after we found parking.) We were walking in what we believed was the general direction we ought to be going but after about 1/2 hour or so we found ourselves on the wrong side of the tracks, literally. We came to a giant train station and crossed over multiple tracks to the other side and hiked up a hill, hoping for a better view of the city. We ended up at what we like to call the "creepy baby tower" from the top of which we were able to see where we were supposed to be.

Once we got on the right path we enjoyed the rest of the day walking through the old city of Prague. The architecture in this city is so beautiful. We kept taking pictures of buildings only to turn around and see more buildings to take pictures of. I definitely will be going back, there is so much more to see. Perhaps I will wait until I can go with Hyrum, he has a much better sense of direction than I do!

Welcome to the Czech Republic

The "creepy baby tower" It's a TV station tower but some artist thought it would look cool to have metal babies climbing up and down the poles...pretty creepy actually. You can take an elevator to the tower lookout and see the whole city from that point of view.

Easter Egg houses...love those colors

Church in the old city square. I love the blue sky, we haven't seen that for weeks!

One of the old synagogues in the Jewish quarter. Prague is famous for it's preserved Jewish history because the rest of Europe has basically erased any sign of Judaism from their cities.

Paige at the "John Lennon" wall. During the Soviet Union occupation of Prague teenagers would come to this wall and write graffiti messages using the words of John Lennon songs. "All You Need Is Love" and "Give Peace A Chance." It's a fun piece of history to come and see and try to imagine what life was like back then.

We were there until the sun went down and we got too cold to see any more. Goodbye for now Prague, I'll see you again.

Christmas Morning For Daddy

This little video is mostly for Hyrum so he can see what Christmas morning was like. The boys were very excited this morning. Last night I told them to not wake me up until 7:00 and so around 7:00 this morning I had two boys running in my room yelling, "It's seven dot dot zero zero, time to wake up!" I guess they went downstairs to the VCR and were waiting in front of the clock until it said 7:00.

The gifts being opened in the video are the ones Hyrum sent us from Afghanistan. I really love that green bowl and can't wait to set it out after my Christmas decorations get packed away and I have a bit of room in my house.

We all went for a little walk after lunch but it got a little too cold and windy for the boys and so we only stayed out for about 20 minutes. At least it wasn't raining on us and we got some fresh air. The rest of the day was pretty quiet. The boys watched a few new movies they got, we ate some leftover ham and potato salad, we sat and talked, we played games. I love Christmas day and can't wait until Christmas 2010 when we can do it all again, only this time WITH daddy.

We love you Hyrum, we miss you and we can't wait to see you!!!!

Sleds and Snowmen

Here are a few more shots of the boys enjoying day #2 of Winter Break...I don't think I'm going to last the whole two weeks with these two at home:)

Where can you build your sculptures when it gets too cold outside? How about in the middle of the only staircase in the house!

Oh so cold sledding fun

All ready for the long ride down the hill

Opa even took a turn..watch out for those mole hills Opa!

Opa helped the boys make a snowman. I like his pointy hat. Thank you Opa for playing with the boys outside, I really enjoyed reading my book by the heater:)

Winter Fun

Winter has officially descended on us here in Germany. It started snowing on Friday and has snowed off and on for the last three days now. The boys loved playing outside in the snow, running around making trails to follow, making snow angels, pulling each other in the sled. It was WAY too cold for me but I was the official hot cocoa maker whenever they decided to come inside to warm up for a bit.

I love having snow for Christmas, let's hope it sticks around for a few more days:)

The boys built a "snowman." If you look closely you can see the mound of snow with some twigs for arms and a little face made out of rocks.

One of the boys favorite things to do when they play outside is build a sculpture. How did they get that scooter to balance like that?

All ready for church on the Sunday before Christmas

Gingerbread Houses

The boys had to get the H1N1 shot at school today. I told them if they were really brave they could decorate gingerbread houses when they came home. Well they both did fantastic. Emerson even came home with a sticker on his shirt that said "brave kid" on it.

Here are the boys with Oma and Opa hard at work and having lots of fun decorating (and eating...of course!)

Opa, gingerbread house builder extraordinaire

Oma helps to unwrap some goodies

Emerson hard at work

Townsend decorating

The finished houses. I think you can see they had lots of fun and I'm sure they will have lots more fun eating their hard work:)

O Tannenbaum

We went out on Tuesday evening to hunt for our Christmas tree. I am one of those that just can't abide a fake tree, even though I know they are more convenient and cheaper in the long run, I don't think they compare to the real deal.

Many thanks go out to Opa, of course, because without him I would not have been able to cut down, haul, tie to the car, shake out, insert in stand, and haul in my house the Christmas tree!

We decorated the tree tonight while listening to John Denver and the Muppets Christmas cd (I highly recommend this if you don't already own it). The boys were very methodical about decorating. All of the angels in one spot, all of the balls in another spot, all the snowman ornaments in another spot. Needless to say I had some re-arranging to do once they were finished but I'm glad they had fun.

Julian, all ready for the cold weather

At the Christmas tree farm

Julian wants to help decorate!

Townsend arranging one of the nativities

Emerson hanging ornaments

The finished product

Oh yeah, I bought another nativity. I couldn't resist this one because it looks so authentically German.

Thanksgiving...The Start of Christmas?

I had a wonderful Thanksgiving. Hyrum's parents flew into Germany the Tuesday before Thanksgiving and so I had lots of help in the kitchen (thanks Oma) and we had a fabulous dinner.

My sister Paige came over and we headed to Nuremberg for the opening of the largest Christmas Market in Germany. It was a lot of fun and so wonderful to be there without my three kids. I could take my time wandering around the different booths and never have to worry about who needs to go pee or where I can find a place to feed 2 picky eaters.

Julian enjoyed his first Thanksgiving. He liked the mashed sweet potatoes and bread the best. Of course, we all missed having Hyrum at the table with us and I'm sure Oma missed having Hyrum in the kitchen to help her out. Poor Hyrum didn't even get a Thanksgiving meal because there were 800 soldiers standing in line at the one cafeteria on Post that was serving Thanksgiving food. He ended up having stir fry and "greasy curry" for Thanksgiving.

I have much to be thankful for this year but number one on my list is my family. I love you Hyrum and I can't wait to have you back so we can be complete again.

Julians first lollipop...he really liked it:)

Townsend and some classmates getting ready to perform their Thanksgiving play

The queen of the kitchen...thank you Oma!!!

Julian and Opa, look at those TEETH!

The feast

The kids table

Julians first Thanksgiving

The Nuremberg Christmas market. All of those red and white stripped roofs are booths selling trinkets for Christmas. It was a huge market but lots of fun to look around.

Paige and I in Nuremberg

We were in Nuremberg all day. On our way back to the car we saw this Christmas tree lit up on an island in the river, it was so festive we just had to stop and take a photo.

Happy Birthday Hyrum

I'm sad that you're not here with us for your very special day. I hope you know we miss you and love you so much. I'm glad your birthday package made you happy. The boys worked really hard on those "spiral" pictures and I did my best on the DVD. Next year we'll be together again for your birthday and you can pretend you're "25" again:)

A Visit From Aunt Katrina

Hyrum's sister Katrina has been here and I have actually had someone to talk with and watch movies with in the evenings. Let me tell you how wonderful it was to have Katrina here. She was GREAT with the boys, she did my dishes, cooked my meals and helped out so much by just being here and lending a hand when I needed it. She left 4 kids back in Portland for 2 weeks just to come and help...I really can't say thank you enough. It was so much fun, she is so great to talk with and really easy going and is great at reminding me to take a deep breath and remember that everything will be fine. She is a wonderful example of how to be a good Mom and she is a good person to talk with when I feel like I am falling apart.

Thanks so much for coming Katrina...we miss you TONS!!!

Katrina playing with the boys at the playground. She was such a good sport to follow them around and do all the things they wanted to do.

Katrina and little man Jules

Oh Townsend, you are so silly!

I dare you to find a cuter baby!
(OK, so maybe I'm just a little bit biased!)

The boys waiting to go up the Cathedral tower in Freiberg. Of course Aunt Katrina climbed all 320 steps with them while I stayed down with Julian.
Townsend is holding up the little basket he chose as a treat with Emersons toy egg inside...those two have the strangest taste when it comes to finding little things to carry around.

Townsend at the Mineral Museum in Freiberg.

Emerson and Aunt Katrina working on a tower

Happy Halloween

Here is what the boys looked like on their way out the door for trick-or-treating. I have to give a big THANK YOU to Hyrum's sister Katrina who is visiting and brought these costumes with her from the States. There is pretty slim pickings for Halloween costumes over here in Germany.

The boys lasted for about 1/2 hour before the cold temperatures beat out the desire for more candy. Now I just have to figure out a way to sneak a few pieces of chocolate without them knowing...

I hope you all had a fun and Happy Halloween!

Bowling, fun. Spending money...really fun!!

I took the boys bowling last night because they had been asking me for weeks to go bowling and the bowling alley is right across the street from the gym where they take gymnastics (which is why they are wearing shorts and t-shirts...it actually SNOWED yesterday!)

The other photos are for Hyrum so he can see what I am spending his hard earned money on. There was a Bazaar here today with a bunch of German vendors selling old antiques and rugs and paintings and nut crackers and cheese and lots of kitsch basically. I found this really cute wooden wagon and I couldn't resist because they are pretty hard to come by these days so I snatched it up after being at the Bazaar for only about 5 minutes. The other thing I got was a hand stitched nativity made at a monastery in Poland. I sort of collect nativity sets and so I believe this makes number 11 for me, but I still couldn't resist!

Thanks Hyrum, I guess you don't have to worry about getting me anything for Christmas:)
***that was just a joke, you still have to get me a gift***

Check out the concentration on his face.

The boys were able to lug around their balls all by themselves, they hardly needed any help at all.

This is Julian in his winter bunting. I guess Old Navy thinks ears on the top of babies hats is cute...I'm still undecided, what do you think?

The old wooden hand wagon

Nativity #11 (or is it 12?)