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!

Oh yeah, it's worth it!

Mothers Day is the perfect time to reflect on my life as a mom. I will admit that I do my share of yelling and some days the level of frustration is overwhelming when they are being disobedient but overall I am in awe of these three boys. Their quick minds and active bodies amaze me. Sure they take a screwdriver to the walls, pile dirt up in the yard just to jump in and wipe their cheesy Dorito chip fingers all over their Sunday shirts, but it's worth it! Take a look and see for yourself. I love you Townsend, Emerson and Julian!!!!!

Happy Mothers Day

To all those wonderful moms out there, Happy Day!!! Here is a little story to boost your confidence in your parenting skills:

We went to our favorite pizza place this last week. We haven't visited since before Julian was born so the boys were excited to go again because at the end of the meal the waitress always brings them "soccer lollies" which are lollipops that look like soccer balls. Anyway, the boys had been very good for me that morning while I had to drive an hour to a stake primary meeting, spend 2 hours in the meeting and then drive an hour home.

Hyrum was not feeling very well and had a runny nose but we decided to go out anyway. The first thing that happened was after the waitress left with our order Emerson leaned over the table to look at something and caught his hair on fire from the candle that was burning on the table. It only singed his eyebrows a little but it scared him a lot. Then Julian started fussing in his car seat so I stood up to pick up his car seat which was next to Hyrum and move him next to me. Well, I tripped on something and fell over, right on my back, and Julian and car seat went crashing down next to me. Luckily he was strapped in his seat still so he was just a little shaken up and not actually injured at all. Oh yeah, as I was falling down I hit the vase with flowers on the table next to ours and it too went crashing down and shattered glass everywhere. All this time Hyrum is blowing his nose and Emerson and Townsend are complaining that they are hungry.

There, now don't you feel better about the job YOU are doing as a mom?

10th Anniversary

Well Hyrum, I have tricked you into staying married with me for 10 years now. I never thought you would put up with me this long!

Thank you for showing me the beauty of a good hike. Thank you for supporting me through all my craziness trying to figure out how to be a good mom and wife. Thank you for being so willing to show our boys how things work and letting them help you fix things when I know you could do it faster on your own. Thank you for reading to our children each night and teaching them to love books. Thank you for holding my hand when we go for walks. Thank you for all the yummy meals you have cooked. Thank you for loving me and your boys.

And thank you for waking up early this morning so you could pick me white lilacs and have them on the table for me when I woke up...you are the love of my life!

I love this photo of us

The years we spent in Missouri for medical school were some of the most wonderful years of our marriage.

Happy Day!!! May 1, 1999
I remember my cheeks hurting by the end of the day because I was so happy and I couldn't stop smiling.

Our honeymoon in Australia, good times

You have a wild natural side to you that I love

Hiking in Utah

The last picture of just the two of us before we brought those crazy twins home. I'm so glad we had 5 years of alone time together.

I loved you then and I love you now.

Yours always, Miss Elle