Joy in the Journey

Birthday Boy

Hyrum's birthday was last week. I can't believe it came already. It is sad that he is no longer a baby. But he sure is a cute and fun little boy. We celebrated his b-day yesterday because all last weekend there was something going on. Luckily he didn't notice.

Presents were first:

He is such a boy. He thought this car was the best thing in the world. You can tell by the look on his face. All during the gifts and cake he kept growling...that means he is excited.

Of course, Bahnka got creative with the car.

Hyrum got the car, a book and this "angry bird" (that is what it looks like to me) from Gma and Bahnka.

Anne and Alicia drew him some cute pictures. They were so excited about them and Anne kept asking me all weekend if she could give it to him.

We did the traditional strip-down-to-the-diaper cake that always happens on the first b-day. He dug right in and loved it. Sadly, the frosting was orange, so you can't really see what a mess he was.

Being my son I think he could have madea bigger mess, but Gma was grateful he didn't.

We sure love this boy and are so glad he came to our family.

Happy Birthday, Susanne!!!!!

This week I was able to spend a couple hours with my friends. We ate cake and celebrated Susanne's b-day (she is the one in the blue). I have so many wonderful friends. It was wonderful to just relax and chat with the girls.

The kids entertained themselves and it was great.

I jsut thought this one was cute of my girls. This was pre-haircut...more on that later.

Lanterns and Lighthouses

Our branch had a fun activity. Here is my man opening the activity as the branch president. Isn't he a cutie!!!

The theme was Lighthouses. The decorations were adorable and the food was great. Take a look at the cake. Fun, huh!!

For FHE this week we got together with friends and did a lantern walk. Here in Germany on November 11 they celebrate St. Martin's Day. They go on a walk outside carrying these fabulous lanterns.

Here is a not so good picture of our girls' lanterns. Anne and Alicia made theirs in pre-school and I made Katie's the night before.

This is the best picture of all the kids. There are 4 kids missing from the picture.

Yeah, a picture of me...not!!! But standing next to me is my new friend. We serve together in the primary. I love her!!!!!

After our walk we had hot chocolate, warm punch and St. Martin's rolls. All made by Ray and Beate...they must love us or something. They are sweet and sooooo good with butter. They are traditional for the day. This is one tradition we are going to continue in Utah.

I Want to Brag!!!

I just want you all to know what a wonderful hubby I have. He is my absolute best friend and has been since our first date. He is the best husband and father. I love his loyalty and dedication.

There are so many things I love about him, I could go on forever. But the thing I love most about him is that he loves me and so unconditionally that I can't even believe it. He does the most wonderful, little things to show that he loves me. Like: making the bed, bringing me my glasses that I forgot in the bathroom, tucking me in when I take a nap, being my therapist, understanding me more deeply than anyone else...I could go on and on.

Last week Jared did 2 things that were especially sweet and I want to brag about them. First, I have been really trying to bring more order into our house, but I can't seem to get on top of it. He was sick and couldn't concentrate on work. So he spent the afternoon organizing it all with me and getting it to a managable point. Oh, I feel like such a burden has been lifted from my shoulders.

Secondly, he got me this:

It is my early Christmas present. My computer was dying a slow, but effective death. I love my new one. I even got a cute bag to put it in. I love that it has an integrated webcam, my other one didn't. I need to come up with a good name for it. Any suggestions? I took this picture with the webcam.

Isn't my hubby the absolute best there is?!

FC Nürnberg Experience

My birthday gift to Jared were tickets to a soccer game for his favorite team. It is FC Nürnberg. He has loved this team since he can remember. I have not got to a game with him yet and we wanted to do this together before we move.

There you can see the team hat his kids gave him. The funny thing is that I told Anne and Alicia what their gift was for their daddy. I made sure they knew it was a surprise. Jared was quizing them on what his gift was...really being cruel and trying to trick them. At first they were really good about not saying anything. Then Anne thought she would be funny and tell him. Not so funny!! She got a dirty look from me.

I was keeping my gift as a surpise for the actual day of the game, but he figured it out, so I just gave him the tickets with the other gifts. I couldn't a good picture of the cake, but it was red and white themed to cooridinate with the team colors...I realized this as I was making it.

We were going to eat at one of our favorite restaraunts in Nürnberg, it was so packed we went to the next best thing. We took the public transportation to get to the stadium, because our tickets also covered this. I knew people loved this team, but it was fun to see how much and to get into the spirit of it. First we stopped at the fan store and had fun looking around.

Just some shots during the game. I love this one, They bring tons of huge flags onto the field. This one has the crest of Nürnberg city. That bight stuff in the back is actually them watering the field. I had no idea that was done before soccer games. Apparently it makes the ball move faster.

You can barely see it ,but those are red and yellow flags that have the symbol for the team's club on it. They all sit in one area. There are people who stand on platforms and lead them in chants and cheers. No one sits. Jared likes getting tickets in this section, but he knew I wouldn't do that, so we got nice seats to rest our tushies.

You see that scarf that the man is holding up. This is a major thing in soccer and has carried over into all European sports. They have the team name and logo on it in differing styles. They hold them up during the team anthem and wave them around when they make a goal. Jared informed that you can actually get 15 all over your body. They even wrap them around their wrists. I got my first one!!! When we move to Utah in the spring I am going to get them framed. We now have almost 10.

I have no idea why they were waving the Confederate Flag.

The team came out and were warming up right in front of us. It was interesting to see the things they do to warm up. They must be very confident men to be able to do that in front of hundreds of fans.

This kind of gives you a feel for how the fans dress up. He has a hat, 4 scarfs and a jersey on, all from the team. We lost the game, but only because the ref was biased and made several bad calls. The fans were not happy. When the refs ran inside at the end of the game, they had to use umbrellas when they walked past the fans, because of the beer being thrown at them.

Even though they lost we had a great time. On the way to and from the stadium we got to and in 1st class, because the train was so packed with fans. I am glad we did that rather than taking our car. It would have taken us for ever to get home.

Happy Birthday, my wonderful man!!!!!

Würzburg

The castle we stayed at for Jared's birthday was about 15 minutes away from Rothenburg, one of Germany's most famous towns. Anyone seen Chitty Chitty Bang Bang? The little town with no children in the movie was filmed there. It has to most fantastic Christmas store.

Since we have seen it several times we decided to skip that and head to Würzburg. We avoided the autobahn and enjoyed the gorgeous scenery as we drove.

These are sugar beets. This is such a common site in this area of Germany. As they harvest them they make thes huge, long piles of sugar beets and wait for their turn to take them to the processing factory...which runs non-stop for months. The fog is also very common. This is where I lived before I met and married Jared. In many ways it felt like coming home. It was such a bitter/sweet experience. It was just like I had seen it so many times. I relived so many wonderful memories, but the military is now gone, so the culture and people that I loved are no longer there and that is sad.

We came on Würzburg from the south, through the area I lived. This gave us a wonderful chance to get pictures of everything one last time before we move in the spring. Who knows when I will see it all again!

This little castle is in the center of Giebelstadt...the village right next to the one I lived in. I fell in love with this castle the first time I saw it. It is in disrepair and needs som TLC. I wish I had the money to buy it and just love it back to life again. It seems to sit there so lonely, missing all the people who gave it life that are now gone. Maybe one day I can buy it. I doing research right now to learn its history, but there is very little information out there.

This restaraunt is right by my little castle. It was my family's favorite place to eat. So many memories. On the day Jared and I got engaged we ate here with both sets of parents.

This is my favorite church in Germany. It is in my tiny village. I got there in September so I saw it for the first time all beautiful in its autumn colors.

When we got to Würzburg we parked and walked around. It was a national holiday so all the shops were closed. On our second date, Jared and I walked about Würzburg. We love to do is still and reminesce.

On our second date I walked around this jewelry store with Jared and we talked about the different rings that we liked. The shop was closed, so we could only look in the windows. I was sneeky and took him to the watches first. I can't believe how bold I was.

They had an open market going. We had fun walking around it. I ate a bratwurst and Jared got a foot long hot dog type thing. I thought I had a picutre here, but I must have forgotten it. Oh wait, now it is here.

This is from the bridge where we talked for hours on our second date and where Jared purposed to me. I love this city!!!!! After Würzburg we headed home to our kids.

Birthday Wishes

Jared's birthday was last week. It turned out the be a birthday week, as all the events and gifts got spread out through the week. It was a crazy week and had the fit things in where we could.

He did get a special b-day breakfast, but because I had didn't sleep well the night before and Hyrum had a fever, Jared had to do the shopping for it himself. I felt so bad.

At the last minute Ray arranged for Jared and I to get away for the night. It was his, Beate's and Jared gma's gift for him. Ray wouldn't tell us where we were staying, he just led us there. On the way we made some stops.

We stopped at a manor house near us. I have wanted to see it for many years, but we have never gotten around to it. We found this "little" guy there. The best we can figure is that that huge lump on his front is his massive belly. I wonder what inspired the artist to make him.

We also stopped at a shop that sells American products. We got our selves some treats...they had so many wonderful things. We took the scenic route to our hotel and it was so beautiful. The leaves and all the autumn colors were so gorgeous. Pictures of where we stayed are to come. We got checked in, then headed into Ansbach for dinner.

Ansbach is so beautiful. It is an old city, but the building have a more formal look that is wonderful. I love how each village and city in Germany has its own personality. We walked around trying to decide where to eat. We settled on a delicious mexican restaraunt. After that we did some shopping and headed back to our hotel.

This is where we stayed...Castle Colmberg. The first record of it is in 1318 AD when it was bought by 2 women. Now it is at hotel, with 2 restaraunts. They do mideval banquets and all sorts of wonderful things. You can even get married in the chapel that is attached to the castle. It is just like you stepped back in time. I fell in love with it, maybe for out anniversary I can convince Jared to eat in one of the restaraunts. The day I took these pictures it was foggy, so you can see it well, but I love the atmosphere it gives it. For better pictures look here.