Crafts

As you can see we got everything out to do some crafts.
Katie tried to be helpful, but just kept moving things around. By the way, I don't really have a hunchback. It is just a horrible angle of me.

The finished product. I have so many more ideas for fun 4th of July crafts and can't wait to do more with them.

Just a cute one.

Free Day and River Tour

Last week I was in desperate need of a break. It was a holiday here and we were planning what we were going to do as a family. I told Jared that what I really wanted and needed was just some time off. To not have things asked of me. So he gave me a free day. Ray and Beate took the girls and Jared stayed home to relax with me and take care of Hyrum. I was strictly told to only do what I wanted to do. Heaven!!!!! I just sat on my bed, watched movies and worked on our Christmas stockings (this project has been going since I was pregnant with Anne). It was sooooo nice and I plan on doing it again sometime.

Anyway, the others went on a boat tour down the Danube River to a gorgeous monastary. I really want to do this too.

They even found a beautiful place to skip rocks. Ray said it was perfect. We live in such a gorgeous area.

More of Us

Anne and Alicia had this whole birthday party set up for their dolls, complete with a colorful, egg-shaped candle right in the center.

He is losing the hair on the sides of his head, becasue of the way he sleeps. It reminds me of the military hair cuts.

I love how Hyrum is stealing Katie's water in this one.

We had some friends over for dinner. Their son is in Alicia's pre-school group and she just loves him. He is an only child so he really loved having other kids around to play with. He and Alicia are rolling down the small hill in our yard.

Father's Day was good, but not too busy. We did Ray's dinner request on Saturday night and Jared's on Sunday night. We spent the afternoon with some friends. Jared didn't get any real gifts because I gave it too him early. He got a speaker system for his iphone. He was so excited about it.

We got Hyrum a highchair, because when we are eating dinner he would whine and cry. Now he can sit with us. I have even started feeding him more solid food. He loves it.

Alicia loves to read to Hyrum, and he loves to have her do it. But he does get annoyed with Anne and Alicia's enthusiasm for him sometimes.

NBA Final

Jared legally downloaded the NBA final from Sunday for us to watch. I had forgotten how much I missed watching American sports, even if I am not the biggest fan of basketball. I even dressed up Hyrum in a cute sports jersey we have been saving since I was pregnant with Anne and we thought she would be a boy. Isn't that smile the best!!!!

Funnies and Oops

These pictures are from my camera. I need to find the cord for my camera so I can charge it.
Hyrum thought that sucking his dad's nose would be fun. This little boy even so far as to clean out his daddy's nose with is tongue. Hence the face.

Family Home Evenin last week.

Katelyn is now refusing to go into nursery. Jared and Ray were in other wards for their callings so I had no choice but to take into sunday school and Relief Society with me. I teach sunday school, so that was interesting. She was crawling on the table and being her typical sly and destructive self. Then after church she fell and scraped up her face pretty bad. She looks so battered.

This is Ray and I in the hospital on Saturday. We were taking some friends shopping in our area. Katie fell and dislocated her elbow. Several hours later we decided something was really wrong and took her in. It must be a common injury because they knew exaclty what was wrong within 2 seconds. They put it back in place (Katie did not like that) and she was running around and playing within less than a minute. The is the first serious injury any of children have had. I guess that is a good record.

Coburg the Beautiful

We went to Coburg as a family. Beate showed us a lot of the places that were significant to her as a child when she lived there. it was so fun to hear her stories and to see all the places too.

I loved Coburg and the surrounding area. It isn't a large city and the villages are just so quiet and peaceful. Just my type of place.
This is the home of Prince Albert...Queen Victoria's husband. Since they were cousins, this was a part of her family too. When I heard we were going to Coburg I made sure we went here. Queen Victoria and Prince Albert are 2 of my favorite people in history. They were such amazing people...he even more so than her. They are right up there on my list with Robin Hood (I know he was probably not real, but for me legends count) and Walt Disney. (I won't even go into my list of church historical figures. I will save that for another time.)

From the palace we walked to the main marketplace for the famous Coburger Bratwurst. These things are so long and put on a tiny roll. You can't buy them in stores, just fresh from the vendors. They are grilled over a special pinecone that makes them taste soooooo good. I love bratwurst...one of the best things about Germany.

Next up...dessert.

Then we headed up to the Veste. It is a castle/fortress that sits at the top of the hill that Coburg surrounds. It was never conquered, the only one in Germany that never was. Isn't that gorgeous!!!! The chapel here was even host to Martin Luther several times. To all you romatics out there, this place would be beautiful for a reception and wedding pictures.

They even had a well. I love those. And the view was spectacular!!!!She had a great time as you can see. We all did.