STAY-CATION

Last month the children had a week off school for "Fasching", a holiday that I never have quite understood. It's a lot like carnival, where everyone gets dressed up and gets a little crazy before Lent begins. It seems pretty funny, to sin all you can for one week and then give it all up and repent the next week. Anyway, we wanted to take advantage of the week and I started looking at vacation homes and destinations. As I was looking, the city of Starnberg, where we live, kept coming up. It made me realize, we don't need to go anywhere to have a great time--people come HERE to vacation. So we had a great week of stay-cationing. We went to museums:

Coolest museum--ever! Huge too, we saw about a tenth of it in half a day.

We enjoyed a little skiing in Ehrwarld, AUSTRIA. I went with the three oldest and Bruce had fun at home with the little ones.

Max in front of the Zugspitze--tallest mountain in Germany.
(We were right on the border between Germnany and Austria--
we were skiing in Austria but the mountain is Germany's)

Lifts were sweet with heated seats, and a dome you could pull over you when cold or stormy.

Then we went to Galaxy--Europe's biggest water park. It was different in that it was all indoor, and had tons of thermal pools with different types of water for different healing affects. It also had tons of saunas, beach simulated rooms and mood rooms. This is a crazy ride that Bruce, Tal AND I went on! It dropped straight down and then shot you out about ten feet onto he landing strip. Crazy!

OK this isn't Bruce or Tal because I never got the timing right on them.
But when I practiced on this stranger--it turned out great.
Notice how he is airborne...yes, painful landing.

Skiing was so much fun, that Bruce took a half-day off and we went up again, just the two of us. Needless to say, it was a memorable date, skiing in Austria with my man! This was just a few weeks later and the snow had melted considerably. It was 60 degrees and beautiful! 

Road Trips

We recently decided that we need to take a little more advantage of our stay here in Europe. So Bruce has been taking turns bringing someone from the family along with him on his business trips. It is against the law to take your own children out of school for anything other than sickness, so if we end up missing over here, just check the local jailhouse and you will probably find us! It's been so fun for the kids to have some alone time with dad, and hours on the Autobahn equals lots of time to chat and catch up. (Averaging 200 km/hour isn't too bad either!)  Bruce is such a great dad and husband--I'm one lucky lady! 

Here are Tal and Max in Berlin, one of the places they requested to see.

Checkpoint Charlie

The Iron Curtain, or rather, what's left of it

Tal and Max have adjusted really well to Germany and the language is coming along quickly. They are not afraid to speak and can already understand quite a bit. We tell them to try to "sound" like Boston or Ashton when they speak because they have awesome pronunciation!

c-c-c-old

Brandenburg Tor

Olivia wanted to go to Zurich, Switzerland with Dad. We have some good friends there who work with Bruce, and who have three little girls. They arranged for Olivia to go to school with their oldest girl for a day. Olivia had the time of her life, and the Schluchter's were so kind to her while Bruce was in meetings. She loved watching movies and playing her favorite music for her dad in the car. She's a very good co-pilot, manning the laptop and keeping dad alert at all times. (She and Ashton recently received their mid-year grades and they both did amazingly well. We are so thankful for their hard work and great attitudes!!)

Future trips in the works: Venice, Italy and London, England...and I better be able to tag along!

Happy Birthday Boston!

Wow! Boston you turned six today--it's hard to believe six years have already passed since you were born. You have been such a delight to our family with your crooked little smile, your awesome facial expressions, and your newly-found talent of pantomiming! You keep us laughing...never a dull moment with you around.

Great pose!

Having some pizza after a fun day of skiing!

We love having you around...whether you are doing this:

Or this...

Or even this!

Who could be mad at that face?

Never forget, you have a best friend and great example in Ash. You share just about everything. You are lucky to have such a great big brother, along with your other two brothers, and your two sisters of course.

Buddies

Cohorts in crime

You are the best and we love you so much!

ALLES GUTE ZUM GEBURTSTAG!

King for a day at Waldorf with Frau Maingast, your  favorite teacher.

We had a very American party in the McDonald's double-decker party bus in Starnberg, Germany.
The kids had a blast...Tal and Max expressed several times how amazing I was to be able to sit in there for 2 hours with all the chaos and noise. Isn't it nice when they start understanding and appreciating the things  we do for them?? 

Merriest Christmas Ever

I think we had the best present ever this year for Christmas--our family was all together again! It was such a wonderful reunion to have Max and Tal join us in Germany. They flew in with Bruce's dad. We were disappointed that his mom couldn't come too, as planned, but we are so grateful that she is ok after her heart attack. It is soooo fun to have our two oldest boys back with us again. They are such a joy to have around and they have brought a wonderful spirit into our home with them. Thanks to Bruce and Mary for taking such good care of them.

Ava couldn't get enough of Max. She had an instant affinity for him, and wouldn't leave his side, even when he had crashed on the couch!

We have enjoyed showing Grandpa Gunther a few of our favorite sites in Munich. The Hunting and Fishing Museum was really cool. They transformed an old church into the museum. The architecture was really beautiful. It has been such a pleasure to have him here in Germany with us!

The Petting Hall

The Main Hall

Saying good bye to the warthog

 We were happy to have Boston with us...he had decided to hide in a secret tunnel he found in the museum and spend "A Night at the Museum". It took us a while to find him, and that was after we had all left the museum and realized he was not with us! He was so disappointed that he could't sleepover with all the cool creatures and weapons.

We enjoyed Boston's nativity play with him as Joseph. (Yes those are burning candles in his kindergarten--only in Germany! Every morning they would have all the lights off when the kids arrived and about 20 different candles burning to set the mood of the Advent Time.)

Here's Ashton in his play. He was "Snowflake #7" and did a fantastic job memorizing and reciting his lines-- in German of course. Here he is leading the snowflake dance.

We are so thankful for all our friends and family members near and far! We are thinking of you all with a longing for home at this special time of year. But we are so grateful for this unique experience we are having abroad. Thank you to all those who remembered us and sent us a Christmas card. It was especially appreciated and brought us much joy.

Frohe Weihnachten!

All together at last! (Ava is on Bruce's back)
Boston's sad because we just busted up his sleepover with the moose!

5-4-3-2-ONE!

Happy Birthday Ava Rose!

Can't believe you are already one year old! We love you so much and are so elated you joined our family. You brought so much peace and joy amidst some crazy times!

We will always remember how you love your feet--you express yourself very well with them, as we can read your excitement as well as your frustration through the vigorous kicking and circling of your tiny little feet. You even waved with your feet instead of your hands from early on!

Your beautiful eyes are always the first thing people notice about you.

You've learned lots of new tricks from Daddy, as well as a few of your own.

And you've been such a trooper in our new home / country (where tops are considered optional for girls)! The Germans LOVE you. 

And so do your brothers and sister!

Heading to the airport

So... as you face your next year of life remember, you have:

5 siblings that ADORE you,

4  sharp, little teeth with which to defend yourself (see 5),

3 scary, huge sets of stairs to learn to maneuver in your new house,

2 languages to master, and...

ONE exciting, wonderful year behind you where you have learned SO much. (And don't forget your ONE set of parents who love you and will always be there for you.) You'll do just great, you spunky little thing you!

We love you so much. Thanks for all the joys and laughs and strength you have brought to our family.

Alles Gute zum Geburtstag!

Here's a little Ava Rose "live"--to see how she's changed! 

btw: She started walking on her Birthday-yea

post script: OK for those of you that are so on top of things that you noticed this is 8 days late, here's my excuse: 2/3 of our family has been sick the last two weeks including me so I am just now getting to things. Sorry Ava. 

BFF, well almost

Making our way to the market--rain or shine
Landsberg 

Have you ever felt a little sheepish when you've been to the store so often, possibly the third time that day, and you try to go to a different cashier so you don't have to explain yourself? Well it's not like that here. People make multiple trips to the little markets because there's nothing like fresh bread and broetchen, and the refrigerators are so small, that you can't keep more than a few days worth of food. The children and I have made it a daily ritual to all walk to the market where they each buy themselves a Brezel (practicing their German) and I pick up a few groceries. Of course we always have to throw in a few bars of chocolate and packs of gummi bears for the road. (Can you tell we love German food??) And among a land of strangers... it's actually kind of nice to know I've made a friend at the check out!

Ashton is a great German communicator.

Check out all the great options-- YUM!

Livi is the most adventurous in trying out new things.

And Happy Fall, wish it could last a little longer!

Starnberg Schloss from our balcony

From our balcony in the other direction--I always wished for
a little more foliage in our yard...wish granted!

Oh and happy belated Halloween! I was secretly kinda glad that we were leaving the stress and commercialism of costumes and candy-buying behind in America. However...the Germans have adopted the holiday over the last 4-5 years and think it's great. They are all about the scary, gory side of Halloween--ugh. So we joined in--pretty half-heartedly. But here are Boston and Ava at the party put on by the single adult ward: Boston as a bloodied-up BYU football player (he chose the face paint--described what he wanted to a sweet German girl who probably couldn't understand a word he was saying!), and Ava as a sweet little feline. The missionaries put on a spook alley that was actually really good. Fun times!

Time to Catch Up!

Every time I think I am getting closer to being in a routine and figuring out life...life happens and throws me off kilter again. Here's a quick rundown to get caught up! 

The children all started school and we finally found a Kindergarten that had a spot for Boston. Kindergarten is not a part of elementary school here and fills up entirely. Boston's school is very non-traditional, (and looks a little eerie here). It's called Waldorf Kindergarten (read Granola Kindergarten). They don't have any plastic toys, they make various organic porridges and homemade applesauce with the kids for breakfast every morning, and every Wednesday is "Wandertag" where they go into the forests to play with pinecones and chestnuts and build forts and shelters etc. They may bring a "Broetchen" and a drink of water or herbal tea--no sugared drinks or treats please. Boston  has grown to love it. It's been a great opportunity to try something new and very different.

We braved the Oktoberfest while Bruce was at work one day and were glad to have made it out of there without being thrown up on, or a child short. It was plain crazy, packed with drinking people from around the world and it was only 2 in the afternoon (they start at 9am)! I'm sure it is the biggest party on earth that lasts three weeks every year. The people here in Bayern call it the 5th season: Winter, Spring, Summer, Fall and Oktoberfest! The funniest part was having Americans stop us to take pictures of the kids in their cute German attire, only to be disappointed when I spoke perfect English to them.

Neuschwanstein Castle

My parents came to visit us in Germany when I came back from my trip to America. Sadly, they had another funeral to attend for my dad's last sibling that lived in Germany. She lived a long, happy life and was ready to transition on to the other side. We had a wonderful time with them seeing some of the beautiful sites in our area. 

Rosie sitting on the castle wall

The three amigos and the grounds at Linderhoff Castle


It was a simply gorgeous day, even though it started out pretty chilly. Check out that blue sky!

Omi and Opa at Linderhoff Castle
. 

Lastly, we spent one somber morning at Dachau, one of Hitler's first concentration camps. The frigid air outside matched the cold, dark feeling inside the camp. It's something everyone should experience once so as never to forget the atrocities which took place here due to one crazed leader.

Entrance to the camp

All prisoners would enter through these gates which read: "Work will set you free." In reality, the people were often worked to their death here. 

One cell which may have housed up to four people

This cell was split into fourths and used as a torture chamber where one only had enough room to stand. They would be left here for up to 72 hours with little or nothing to eat, almost no light and very poor ventilation. I can't imagine how awful it would have been, and to think most if not all people sent to these camps were entirely innocent. It was certainly one of the darkest times in the history of the world.

On a happier note, we are enjoying the beautiful fall colors and trying to take it all in. Driving through the countryside is one of my favorite things to do right now. This is the view we have from the top of our driveway, except the trees are all golden now. This building is one of our city's two main churches. We are awakened by the bells every morning at 7 am sharp, yes that's on the weekends too! I used to think the ringing church bells here were so quaint and charming.......