Homemade Forts

I remember as a child making forts out of blankets draped over furniture. We would even use books to keep the blankets in place. I decided that my girls need these experiences also. So this week has been fort week, I guess. I have used 2 chairs and our exercize bike. They love it and have been surprisingly good about not overloading the space with toys. It has been a nice little retreat for them and a chance for them to have their own special space.

Ice Cream...mm mm good!! And sitting between 2 such great guys, even better.

Swimming and Family Home Evening

It was so warm today that when we went over to Jared's family's house for FHE, we let the girls play in the little swimming pool. They were so excited. And you could see the evidence of their fun all over the porch by the time they were done.

They pored the water on each other, the stone patio and in Gma's flowers. The flowers may die of over-watering. Katie had just as much fun as they did just watching them. She even threw a fit when I took her inside. She certainly has a mind of her own.

Now just some fun things about Katie.

Her daddy gave her a tiny bit of ice cream and she loved it. A couple weeks ago we took her with us when we went out to eat with some friends. The restaurant has the best chocolate mousse I have ever had. We gave Katie just a little taste and she kept begging (actually a tantrum) for more. I must have eaten too many of those mini chocolate cakes while I was pregnant with her.

She is learning how to sit right now and doing pretty good. Of course when she does fall over, she always falls on the only spot that had no pillow.

A couple weeks ago she learned how to hold her own bottle. She loves it. And it is very helpful at times. Even though I still like to hold her while she eats. She also learned to roll onto her stomach and then back the other way. Her legs get caught in the bars of her crib, then she gets frustrated.

Visits to Grandpa

Ray had to go into the hospital for an operation to fix his ankle. See 4th of July entry. It took a while for him to come out again. This gave me a chance to go on outings with the girls each day to visit him. Each day was an adventure.It is the hospital that Alicia was born in. So being me, I had to get a picture of her in front of the door.

Grandpa was good to let the girls push him around in a wheelchair. Grandma was jealous, because he won't let her.

The funnest part was when the girls figured out how to move the bed and adjust the settings. They even got to watch some cartoons on the little tv Gpa had. Also he kept feeding them his lunch and gummy bears, each time we came.

I had a hard time getting them away from these fountains and water toys inside and outside the hospital. They had to touch each and every duck every single time we went in and out.

Caves, Hotels, and Passports

A couple weeks ago we made a trip to the nearest consulate, to officially register our 2 youngest girls as American citizens and get all their documents and passports. We had never done this for Alicia when she was born so we did both of them together.

Our appointment was so early in the morning that we decided to stay over night. Jared was sick, so I had to drive a good bit of the way, including in the big city. I hate driving in big cities I am not familiar with. We passed our hotel, so had to back track and then a huge storm hit. We got their in the evening. After getting everything in our room we headed to the McDonald's around the corner.

Alicia was so excited about the change of routine and scenery. She was fun to watch, but when it was 2 1/2 hours past her bedtime and she was still asleep, the fun ran out. She got to lay in bed with dad and watch a movie.

Katie slept on her fluffy blanket made by my mom, on the floor by me. She didn't seem to mind the floor one bit.

Jared draped the duvees from the bunkbed over the bottom one for Alicia. He told her that it was her cave. We hoped that this would make it dark enough for her to sleep and so she wouldn't get distracted by us, since we don't go to bed at the same time.

Alicia even got to watch a movie in her cave.

Katie woke me up at 4:30 to eat, then Alicia woke up and took almost 2 hours to fall back asleep, which meant that I didn't sleep either. By the time she was asleep it was time for Jared and I to get up. So I was awake until later that night. Boy was I tired.

Before we left Alicia insisted on climbing up to the top bunk, with her dad's help. Jared had promised her the night before that she could the next morning.

That must have been one the most exciting things for her. I can't imagine.

We go to the consulate early so we took a walk in the park that was next to it. There is nothing more refreshing than a walk in the morning before the world really comes alive. You can still hear the birds and the air is crisp and cool. The world just seems at peace for once.

We even had time for Alicia go down the slide in a park that we found.

It took us about 1 1/2 hours at the consulate. The girls did wonderful. I had tried to pack things that would entertain them. I had a bottle of water for Alicia's bottle. Of course when we went through security they made us check it. They had Jared drink some. I guess that was a good enough test to see if it had been tampered with.

After the consulate we headed home. On the way we found a Subway. There are so few of those here that we had to stop and get some. Loved it. I am just glad that all that is done and taken care of and I think Alicia had fun.

Paris Souvenirs

In May Jared went to Paris on a business trip. It was while Mandi and Ben were here. And they were so nice to stay with me while he was gone. Jared brought back little gifts for everyone. He gave me the figure of Notre Dame Cathedral and a water color print of Paris. We are collecting water-color prints of all the places that we go.

Anne and Alicia got these beautiful necklaces. Jared decided to get them a new charm from each place he goes on his future business trips.

Alicia also got this plane that moves and makes noises. It actually moves like it will take off and land. Very clever. She loves it so much and very protective and possessive of it.

Anne has a fascination with cameras right now. So Jared brought her this camera with little pictures of Paris in it. She can't get enough of it.

And even Katelyn got something. She got this cute little bear. Its shirt says I Love Paris.

Independence Day

Our 4th of July this year was celebrated with over 250 people. Ray is the high councilman in charge of activities for the stake. Our new stake presidency is putting much needed emphasis on reintigrating the 2 cultures (German and American) in the stake. So it seems quite appropriate that Ray has this as part of his calling.

We had a huge bbq, sports and lots and lots of talking. There was some mingling of the cultures, but we could see that there is some work to do. They just don't know each other yet.
The night before Ray broke his ankle in 2 spots playing basketball. So he had a cast put on the morning of the activity. And 2 weeks ago, Beate broke her toe trying to distract a screaming Alicia. (In the end Beate was the one screaming and my child was quiet...I guess it worked)

That meant that Gma and Gpa could watch Katie while I kept an eye on the other girls. She was so good and patient. And slept a good deal of the time.

My poor Jared was running around trying to keep everything organized. Since Ray couldn't do much Jared took the responsibility. This is a bit blurry but you can see how he was feeling.

They had activities set up for the kids.

Anne had fun with the sidewalk chalk. I don't blame her.

But I think their favorite was the tricycles. (By the way, everyone's shirts and the girl's hats were sent by Aunt Rike. We sure love her. She also sent some other wonderful gifts. She is so thoughtful)

There was even crafts. We didn't get to the other kids activities. But they still had fun.