New Year's 2011

 We started off the celebration with the traditional fondue.  Yummy. We had to improvise with the cheese this time, because we couldn't find the fondue cheese without alcohol this time. But we managed and all the food still tasted fabulous!!!!

 Katie wasn't allowed to stay up until midnight, so she got to do a sparkler before going to bed.  Anne and Alicia got to stay up, because they took naps with everyone else. I have a cute picture of Alicia laying down with her Gma.

I almost made it to midnight this year without falling asleep. I fell asleep on the couch at about 11:30. I think that is a record for New Year's Eve since we got married.  I missed watching this and was so disappointed. It is traditional here in Germany and I love it.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9_t3F5QkAYk

Watch it, it is cute!!!

 Jared woke me up just a couple minutes before midnight.  So we could ring in the new year.  We drank the punch, did the toast and gave each other a new year kiss, then headed out for fireworks. 

 The whole neighborhood got into it.  This shows you Anne and Alicia's reaction most of the time. It was loud and noisy, but fun too.

They loved the sparklers, always my favorite too, and throwing the popping ones on the ground.  The New Year's fireworks always amaze me. They have ones here in Germany that would never be sold in America and they are wonderful.

Happy New Year everyone!!!!! 2012 is going to be a big year for us and we are excited for all it will bring.

German Moment

This will be lost on those of you who don't speak German, but for the rest I hope it gives you a laugh.

I overheard this from Alicia and it took me a minute to register what she had said, then I had to laugh.

She was talking then all of a sudden I heard her say "die heiligen den Hexen Tagen".  I am not sure if it was intentional or not, but it made me laugh. We made sure we practice the name of the church with Anne and Alicia after that.

Bremen Part 2

One of the best parts about our trip up North was the day spent in downtown Bremen.

 As you can see we were quite a big group.

 You can't tell, but these window displays were of fairytales.  Such a good idea.  And who would expect to find a windmill in the middle of a huge city. I certainly didn't, but I loved it instantly.

 We paid a visit to the St. Peter's Cathedral in Bremen.  It was gorgeous, of course.

 I can't figure out if this is tomb or something. It was in the floor of the aisle between the pews.  You can barely see the date, but it says 1043AD.  I love these things that instantly take you back in time and blow you away with how old they are.

 I have to admit the Christmas store that is open year-round was my favorite thing.  Isn't it beautiful. My sweet Jared bought me a gorgeous, glittery snowflake. I can't wait to display it next Christmas. I also loved the dozens of bowls filled with ornaments of every color and shape.

 That little man-hole looking thing is actually a donation box for some sort of animal preserve organization.  When you put coins in it it would make animal sounds.  So fun for the kids...and the adults.  In the next picture you can see a very famous statue in Bremen. It is four animals standing on each other (they have products of every sort based on this statue).  Apparantly you rub the statue and it brings good luck.  The donkey is one the bottom and his snout and legs are quite shiny from all the rubbing it has gotten throughout the years.

 This is the Schnoor District of Bremen.  It is like stepping back in time.  All these super old houses all crammed together along cobbled streets. The alley are only large enough for 1 person to walk through.  It was amazing.

After our tour of Bremen we ended the night at a wonderful Brazillian restaruant.  It was sooooo good!!  Thanks Mirjam and Peter for having us over and for taking such good care of all of us.

Bremen Part 1

After Christmas we had a visit from Uncle and cousins. We even got to meet Sarah's new husband and his mother. We loved them.

The next day we headed out to Bremen to visit Great-Grandma, Aunt Mirjam and Uncle Peter and all the cousins.

 One of the brief moments he slept while in the car.

On the way we stopped at a gorgeous cathedral in Fulda.

 It is hard to see but that is a truck that we passed and repassed about 5 times during our trip. It became a game to spot to the truck. Then finally we unknowingly stopped at the same rest stop

 The kids had lots of time outside.

 And lots of time inside.  I love how there are 6 people huddled around the iphone watching something.

Mirjam showed us how to do these wonderful pictures with a special iron and wax. It was amazing!!!! I  can't wait to find one for the one she made me.  This one is the one that Beate made after Mirjam showed us how.

Part II coming soon

Growing Kids

I have so many cute pictures of the kids from this past months that I thought I would share.

 While we were in Bremen (post to come) Katie was in a bed she could climb out of and turn on the light.  Well, that continued when we got home.  Hyrum is suffering from a lack of sleep now.  Poor kid.  We found Katie like this one day after a nap.  I am not sure how we or Hyrum are going to survive this stage.

 Katie had fun playing in this suitcase. Her new thing is to act shy and not look at the camera.

 Hyrum loves clapping, dancing and people singing or music. Basically he just likes lots and lots of attention.

Hyrum is so good at standing now.  He is just getting past his laziness and really get daring with walking. He can do it really wel, but is just too lazy most of the time to practice.

Family Pictures 2011

We followed tradition again this year and got the traditional kids pictures before going in to open pictures.

 First, all the girls in their new pajamas.

 The kids. I love seeing how much they grow throughout the year.

 Our official 2011 family picture.  I kind of love that we are in our pajamas.

We love to goof around.  We can have all the pictures be serious!!!

Christmas Day 2011

We ended up opening the Christmas gifts for the kids Sunday afternoon after church and lunch.  There just wasn't enough time before church.

 Christmas Stockings for the girls and me.  Santa left Hyrum a banana, his favorite food!!

 Daddy got this massive flag for his favorite soccer team.  We can't wait to fly it at our house in Utah.

 There were too many shared gifts this year and I wanted to keep it simple, so all the gifts for the girls were piled together for this year's display picture.  I love the white shirt and tie he got from Gma and Bahnka. He wore it yesterday and looked so cute.

It was a wonderful Christmas and the kids were so excited. It was hard to get them hold still and to not leave each other's gift unwrapping alone.

Rauclette was on the menu for dinner that night.  Yummy!!!!!