February...So Far

Fasching

Once again our Stake Primary put on a Fasching party for all the kids in our Stake.  Fasching is a German holiday, sort of like Mardi Gras, where you dress in costume and play games (and drink a lot of alcohol).  We had a lot of fun with the kids (minus the alcohol, of course.)  This was my third and final Fasching party that I helped to plan.  Just one more "last time" event before we leave Germany...boo:(

We split the children into two groups.  I had the little kids upstairs and Hyrum had the older kids downstairs.  Here the children are being wrapped up as mummies for one of the games.

Mommy looking very silly and Julian pulling his best "cheeeeeese" smile.

The older kids were given a bag of icing and cereal and pretzel sticks.  Out of these items they had to construct a scene from a scripture story.  This is Townsend's "Tower of Babel"

Some kids got really creative!  This is a temple that one of the other kids constructed.

Pinewood Derby

The boys had a lot of fun with the pinewood derby again this year.  Last year Townsend's car won 3rd place overall and this year Emerson's car won 2nd place overall.  I'm so glad Emerson got a chance to win this year, it would have been kind of hard on him to see Townsend win again.  They helped pick out the design and helped sand the wood a bit but most of the credit goes to Hyrum...what a great Dad.

The three boys watching the races.  Julian loved watching the cars as they zoomed by.  I missed some of the derby and it turns out I missed a pretty exciting race between the boys' cars.  Emerson had won every race against all the other wolf scouts but then Townsend had also won against all the other cars.  So they had to run a tie breaker to see which of the cars was fastest.  The boys' cars tied two times and then on the third race Emerson's car finally won.

Townsend with his car.  He picked out that Canadian flag idea himself...kind of interesting.

Emerson with his car.  He went with just plain racing stripes.  I was so proud of both my boys!

FREEEEEEZING

The last thing that has been happening this February is that it hasn't gotten above freezing temperatures for about 2 weeks.  All of Europe has been exceptionally cold this year so far.  Not much snow but very, very cold.  We took the boys to Eschenbach to run around on the frozen lake a bit.  The ice was so thick, I really had no concerns about them falling in.

Julian loved riding around on his little "bike" out on the lake.  Once again, you get the super "cheeeeese" face in this shot.

The sun was already going down by the time we got to the lake so we didn't last long in those freezing temperatures.  The boys still had lots of fun running and sliding on the ice.

The Boys Turned 8!

The birthday fun started on the 25th, when I brought treats in for their classes at school.  Hyrum had made snicker doodle cookies the night before and I was just going to bring those in but I thought I needed to make them a little more exciting.  I stuck toothpicks into each cookie and then put curly Cheetos on the toothpicks.  The cookies looked pretty funky and crazy when I was finished but I wasn't so sure the kids would go for the combination: nacho cheese and cinnamon cookie.  Turns out they all loved them.

Emerson in his classroom with the tower of crazy cookies behind him.

Townsend in his class enjoying his funky treat.

After the school snack was out of the way it was on to the main event.  I spent the next 2 days getting things ready for their birthday party.  This year they wanted to invite 45 friends and I knew I couldn't even host half that many kids in my house so Hyrum and I finally let them have a party at Megaplay.  We have hesitated in the past doing a party at Megaplay because it is usually a mad house with about 200 kids running around the giant indoor play area.  But, with all the kids coming we decided we had no other choice.  It turns out that it's pretty nice to have a bunch of kids able to entertain themselves, instead of trying to come up with all the activities myself.  Also, not having to clean up after the party is also a great bonus.

The boys wanted a "science" theme for their party, so we made them a volcano cake.

Cael Platt helped me mix the "toxic" punch, complete with green glow sticks.

There were about 23 kids that ended up coming.  We took up more than 3 tables at Megaplay!  I had put together a few "science" games for the kids.  Here they are trying to guess what the magnified object in the picture is.

Here the kids are doing a science experiment.  You pour a layer of milk onto a plate then have the kids put a few drops of food coloring in the middle.  They then dip a Q-tip into soap and then dip that Q-tip into the food coloring.  The kids were pretty excited about the designs that appeared on their plates.

Here is our volcano cake...on fire!

At the end of the day I think the boys had a great party with all their friends:)

Some of the other things we did:  We took the kids outside and put Mentos into a 2 liter bottle of diet Coke to make a foamy fountain.  We played "Will It Float?" where I had 10 objects and a clear bucket of water and they had to guess whether or not the objects would float.  I had 4 different bowls with tic-tacs and they had to guess the flavor.  I had a few other ideas that used dry ice but it turns out it's pretty hard to get dry ice here in Germany.

I can't believe my boys are 8 years old.  They are really growing up.  Don't get me wrong, they are still completely crazy at times but I do see glimpses of maturity now and again.  I love these two guys and I'm so proud of them when I see them being kind to their little brother, or when they get their homework done all by themselves.  Happy Birthday Townsend and Emerson, I'm glad you had a fun day!

Beating the January Blahs

So, Christmas is over.  The smoke from the fireworks has left the sky after a New Years celebration that shook our windows.  The Christmas tree is gone.  Boys are back in school.  There is no snow, just rain.  Get the picture?  Here are a few things we have done so far this January to beat the "blahs".

Bowling

Swimming

Fun train exhibit in Weiden with Miss Tammy

Megaplay

Playing with remote control cars in the REWE parking lot

Exploring

Playmobil Fun Park 

There are still two weeks of January, what else is left to do?

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year

So, we have spent the last week in the rain and the clouds...no snow yet, just really soggy.  We have also spent the last week wondering why we didn't stay in Spain for another week:)

We had our traditional Christmas Eve party with some friends.  We had yummy German potato salad, meat with cheese and fresh rolls, finger jello (this was a big hit with the kids), broccoli salad, stollen, pumpkin pie and some cookies.  The adults hung out in the living room and had fun chatting while the 16 kids (yes, I said 16 KIDS) ran around upstairs!  After we all ate we had the kids each do a talent to win a "grab bag." Inside the brown paper "grab bag" we had put money, candy or a small toy.  The kids all LOVED this and had fun tearing into the bag to see what they discovered.

After everyone left Hyrum and I cleaned the house, did the dishes and then wrapped the gifts...getting to bed around 2:00 AM.

This is the shot of our beautiful tree with all the wrapped presents (taken around 1:30 AM)

The boys slept in until 7:30, what a blessing:)  They got to unwrap their santa gift and then we had our traditional Christmas morning breakfast.  Rolls with cocoa, orange juice and stollen.

We had church at 10:30 Christmas morning and we made the boys wait to open their presents until after church.  They thought we were the meanest parents around!  After church we all got back into our pajamas and had a fun time opening presents.  I think we mad the right choice in making the kids wait to open the gifts, it made Christmas last much longer and was so much more relaxing than rushing through it all before church.

Santa brought Julian a little train station that makes noise and flashes red lights.  He loves it:)  Townsend's favorite gift was his new football and Emerson really liked his remote control car.

This is my living room after the unwrapping was all done.  

Hyrum surprised me with this new nativity he got while we were in Spain.  He met the artist at the store while he was buying it and the man gave Hyrum the angel figure for free, pretty cool!

Last night, New Years Eve, we had Becky and the boys over for our traditional game/movie night and for the torching of our tree.  Hyrum made fabulous pizza and homemade doughnuts and the boys all watched Harry Potter while Becky, Hyrum and I played "Ticket To Ride."  We had lots of fun.  Unfortunately our tree was still too green to burn so we didn't get to bring in the New Year with a burning tree.  I was sort of sad but all our German neighbors sure made up for it by shooting off fireworks from about 11:45 PM to 12:15 AM!!!!

Changes for 2012

Townsend and Emerson getting baptized

Squeeze in as much travel as we can before June

Move from Germany to Oregon

Hyrum separating from the military

Buying a house

The boys starting 3rd grade in a new school

Change makes me anxious and I'm already dreading the move, even though it's 6 months away.  I hope we can grow together as a family through all the changes and I do look forward to living a bit closer to extended family in the coming year.  We hope you all have a fabulous 2012!

Spain!!

'Twas the week before Christmas

We just couldn't take the cold anymore!

So we packed our bags and headed for Spain,

The sun, the sea and the shore!

Our trip to Malaga, Spain was wonderful.  We left on Saturday, December 17th.  We really enjoyed seeing new things, being together as a family and loved every ray of sunshine!  We haven't seen the sun here in Germany for a while so it was fabulous to head down to Spain and get a little vitamin D before the long German winter:)

The SUNrise on our first morning in Spain, so beautiful

The resort we stayed in had a mini golf course right outside our hotel room.  Every day the boys went out and played all 9 holes!  They loved it!

We also enjoyed the hot tub and swimming pool.

And of course, we spent lots of time at the beach:)

On Monday, December 19, we made a short overnight trip to see some sights.  This is Townsend showing off his kung fu moves on a statue during our visit to the "Balcony of Europe" in Nerja.

We drove over to Granada to visit the Alhambra palace.  This was the final stronghold of the Moors during the Spanish reconquest of Spain.  The palace was beautiful.  The walls and ceilings were covered with calligraphy and there were colored tiles on floors and walls.

The boys in one of the many decorated doorways.

The boys loved running around the ruins of the old palace.

After our visit to the Alhmabra we drove up to Cordoba and stayed for the night.  The next morning we went and looked around the Mezquita Mosque/Cathedral.  In the 600's there was a Christian church on this site.  In 784, after the Islamic conquest, the church was destroyed and this Mosque was built in it's place.  After the Spanish once again controlled Spain they were going to tear down this Mosque and build a Cathedral but the King did not want to destroy such a work of art so there is a Catholic Cathedral built in the center of this Mosque.  It's hard to explain but AMAZING to see...

This is the mihrab.  The holy wall in which the Muslims would have faced to pray 5 times a day.  The ceiling was gorgeous, I'm so glad the Christians didn't tear this place down!

And here is the Catholic Cathedral, plopped into the middle of all the pillars inside the Mosque!

Each year Cordoba holds a contest for the best patio.  The patios are traditionally inside the house in a courtyard.  We were lucky enough to find a few open doors so we could sneak a peek at a few of the beautiful patios.

After we left Cordoba we stopped in Ronda, one of the many hillside towns in Andalusia that we drove through.  This is a picture of the New Bridge which spans the gorge that separates Ronda.  It's called "New Bridge" but was built in 1751:)  Looking over the bridge you can see straight down, 360 feet!

This is a photo of the boys in front of the first bullfighting ring in Spain.  Ronda was the birthplace of modern bullfighting.  We were very unlucky and the museum was closed for the day...I guess we'll just have to go back and visit another time:)

Our final stop for the day was the hill town of Zahara.  We got there just as the sun was beginning to go down.  We tried three different trails to make our way to the top of the castle on the hill before the sun went  down, unfortunately it was dark by the time we found our way to the hill top.  It was still a fun stop and a great hike.

Julian and I, hiking up to the castle.  I couldn't believe Julian hiked the whole way up the hill.  There were too many stairs for the stroller and I was worried I would have to carry him the whole way, what a trooper!

The boys peeking around the gate that led into the castle.  There were no lights in the castle and there was little sun left once we got there.  We had to carefully make our way up winding stairs to the top, but the view from up there was worth it!

After our two day excursion to the hills we were ready for some more time at the beach!

The boys working hard in the sand...

...Man, their sand sculpture skills are sure improving!

By Thursday, December 22, we were ready for another adventure.  We drove over to Gibralter to ride the cable car up to the top of the rock.  This is a shot of Julian and I in the cable car.

The view from the top.  You could see the coast of Spain as well as Morocco, a bit cloudy, on the other side of the Mediterranean.  We were super lucky to have a clear, sunny day.

Family photo op.  Yes, that is a sheer cliff just behind us, and yes, the boys were climbing all over the walls, and yes, I did nearly have a heart attack!

We did see the famous Gibralter apes.  They were everywhere, it was hard NOT to see them.  The boys were mostly interested and excited about their up close and personal interaction with the apes...until the thieving little beasts stole all our sandwiches!

Our last full day in Spain was Friday, December 23.  We had a relaxing day at the resort.  Some mini golf, some pool time, some playground time.  We decided to go and visit the aquarium in town.  This was my favorite exhibit, a Christmas tree, decorated with a starfish at the top, inside the shark tank.

A little more beach time before the sun went down on our last day in Spain.  This is Townsend with his sand drawing of a fox, I thought it looked pretty cool.

It was so hard to say goodbye to the sun.  We left Spain so early on Saturday morning that we didn't get to see the sun come up for one last, parting glance.  We really enjoyed our trip to Costa Del Sol, hopefully we'll see it again someday.

We flew home on Saturday, December 24, just in time to get ready for a Christmas Eve party we were hosting...but we'll save that for another post.