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.