Tears in the laundry room?

OK, so far I'm doing just fine. Hyrum left on Friday and I actually did remarkably well at the airport goodbye. It was sort of like ripping off a band-aid, we just hugged and said goodbye and then he was gone. Then today, as I was doing a load of laundry, I came across a pair of his socks. They were pretty dirty, he had mowed the lawn and then weed whacked the yard as well so they were covered in grass with dirt and sweat mixed in. OK, here is the crazy part. I started to cry. I just thought how for the next 6 months I won't have his socks to wash. I won't have my husband around to mow my lawn and keep the yard looking so nice. People think that when your husband leaves you will miss these big things in life. But really it's the little things, like washing a pair of socks.

I don't look forward to ironing his Sunday shirt that he wore last week...I'm gonna need more tissues!

Italy

We set off for Italy last Sunday as a final family vacation before Hyrum leaves for Afghanistan this Friday. We broke up the 8 hour drive into two days, staying in Austria both on the way out and then again on our way home from Italy. I had romantic notions of sun and ocean and happy boys and yummy Italian food...I guess I should have done more research! I don't mean to be completely down on Italy, I'm sure it's a great place but it just wasn't what I was imagining it would be. The first day we were there we went down to the docks in Porto Venere where we were staying and took a small boat over to an island that we were told had a nice beach. Julian was actually sleeping when we got over there and so I decided to take advantage of a quiet baby and go in the ocean for a bit. Well, I guess I should have worn my sandals because I was only in for about 2 minutes when a stepped on something sharp and it turns out sea urchins were all over the bottom of the ocean. Needless to say the boys got freaked out and wouldn't go back in the water until we bought them water shoes. My time in the water was over for good as I had about 15 spines stuck in the bottom of my foot and it hurt really bad when I went into the salt water. Hyrum tried to get those little spines out with tweezers and a knife but it turns out they are really hard to pull out so I just lived with it...they are actually still in my foot and it's been a week now.

OK, so maybe I would have a different experience if my foot didn't hurt the whole time. I DID enjoy watching Hyrum and the boys swim out in the ocean. I loved all the Italian gelato (ice cream) and focacia with fresh mozarella. The weather was really warm, just perfect for a dip in the ocean. I enjoyed the ferry ride we took along the coast on our way to Cinque Terre. The cool breeze from the ocean made it so pleasant down by the water front. The atmosphere in Italy is completely different from Germany and it was fun to be immersed in a different culture. I really did enjoy my time but I wish I hadn't gotten hurt right at the start.

A sea urchin, just in case you didn't know what one looked like

I had so many great pictures and I couldn't decide which ones to post so I made a little movie for you. Enjoy!!!!

Practice

This post is just a practice video that I made because my movie maker extraordinaire (aka Hyrum) is leaving for Afghanistan in a few weeks and I wanted to be sure that I could post movies on the blog for him to view of his home and family far away.

Mostly just random images and movie clips, enjoy!

Riddle

Q: What weighs 17 lbs., can communicate without talking, brings joy and happiness to our home and always greets you with a smile?

A: Julian!!!!

He is now 4 months old and growing like a crazy little man. He already wears size 3 diapers and 6-9 month clothes. I keep telling the boys they should not pick on him because he WILL be bigger than them one day! I can't imagine life without this little person. He reminds me to laugh and love.

Fun Times and Good-Byes

Hyrum took some leave time this past week so we could travel around with my parents a little. On Monday we headed up to Freiberg via a little town called Seiffen. Seiffen is the area of Bavaria where artists began carving nut crackers and wooden pyramids. It was a lot of fun to see all the beautiful wood carvings but our favorite part was the outdoor museum. There were about 12 old houses and shops that had been moved from different parts of Germany to this museum. They were all furnished with period pieces and there was even a few working water wheels and an old saw mill. The boys loved running around and exploring all the old houses and seeing how things worked a long time ago.

In Freiberg my parents watched the boys for us so we could attend a temple session. It's not really something Hyrum and I get to do that often because it is a 3 hour trip one way so it was really great that we got the chance this last week.

Later in the week we headed to Wuerzburg. We toured the palace of the Prince Bishop as well as the old castle. It was a lot of fun walking around the old city and eating yummy gelato. The weather was perfect, warm during the day and cool at night.

We said good bye to my parents on Saturday and it was sad to see them go. My Mom loved playing with the boys and snuggling Julian. My Dad cooked up some of his famous recipes: eggs and potatos, chili and cornbread, trifle...I'm going to miss him:) I'm so glad that my parents got to come out for a visit. They have so many grandkids (22 by the end of the year!) that it's a real treat to get some one on one time with them.

The best playground we have found since moving to Germany. The bonus part...it's the halfway point on the way to the temple so the boys got to run around and get some wiggles out before driving another hour and a half in the car!!!

Townsend at the oudoor museum in Seiffen.

My Dads ymmy trifle. It's a layering of cake, pudding, cookies, fruit and ice-cream...delicious!

A monument to the fallen German soldiers of WWI in Wuerzburg

My Mom and Dad and I standing in front of the residence for the Prince Bishop of Wuerzburg. Most of the building was bombed and burned during WWII but before it was destroyed they removed all the furnishings, tapestries and light fixtures, so there are still quite a few original details inside the structure even if the outside is completely rebuilt.

Emerson in the gardens of the Residence for the Prince Bishop

Grandma and Julian. He is such a great little traveler and lets us drag him all over Germany with hardly any complaints

Wuerzburg from the castle on top of the hill

We'll miss you Grandma and Grandpa!

A visit from Grandma and Grandpa

This past week my parents came to visit. It has been a lot of fun having them here and the boys love playing with Grandma. Grandpa enjoys relaxing and reading a good book but he has been seen playing frisbee with the boys and pushing them on their swing.

We went down to Rothenburg last week. Rothenburg is a pretty in tact Medieval town and has an old town wall you can walk along. We had fun exploring the town and seeing the old buildings. The boys favorite part of the trip was a visit to the "Criminal Museum." They had lots of torture devices and different objects on display explaining different punishments for "crimes." For instance, if you were a gossip you were made to wear a metal mask and stand in the town square for everyone to see. If you were caught sleeping in or skipping church you were made to wear a massive rosary around your neck that weighed about 80 lbs. I told the boys that if they don't start behaving I would build my own cage and hang it from the tree in the front yard...they weren't scared.

Me and my little man

My mom and dad outside the old town wall

Exploring Rothenburg

The boys spitting off the city wall...whose kids are those anyway?

Julian and Grandma checking each other out

Random Images

Because my favorite part of looking at my friends blogs is to see their kids and the crazy things they do I'm posting a "random images" blog to share some recent photos. If you can't tell from the photos we love living in Germany and take every opportunity we can to get out and see the sights. Come visit, we'll show ya around:)

The city of Erbendorf celebrated it's 900th anniversary this last weekend. We went and joined in the medieval festivities. Hyrum and I debated over getting the boys these "toys" (as if they needed something else to hit each other with!)

Who's the cutest baby in the world?

The boys being silly in Amberg

Our first ever attempt at a garden. So far just the peas are growing but those are my favorite anyway so I'm OK with that.

Taking full advantage of the fire pit.

Emerson, Julian and Townsend hanging out in their jammies

What can you do with 136 dominos?
(The boys set this up all by themselves. They said it was a Greek city)

Four of the best looking guys in Germany!