CHRISTMAS 2011

Our Chrimstas morning started with a phone call from Benjamin to wake us up. The boys were still sleeping so I was able to chat with him for a few minutes before I could hear them stirring upstairs, which was almost 8 in the morning. We all took the phone into Connor's room to wake him up and then it was time to start the show. I was holding cameras, video and regular, relaying what was happening to Ben, and trying to get the boys started with their first gift that was such a hit! It was called Battle Tops and the last top spinning wins that round, with the first one to reach 10 declared the overall winner. They really played with it for the first 30 minutes before they were ready to move on.

We were able to make it to the stockings and the bright green presents from Santa before it was time to get ready for church. There was a really special spirit during the service, especially when the primary-age kids sang "Can I hold the Baby?" They hadn't even started singing before I was already tearing up, that is just the way that I am when it comes to Primary songs. It is just such a tender and sweet song, and watching my boys sing just did it over the top for me.... So needless to say I had quite a few people ask me if I was doing all right, or giving me hugs when it was over. I know they were thinking that I was having a hard time with Ben gone for this special holiday, BUT REALLY... it was the primary song + pregnancy hormones! Even if my husband was sitting right next to me I would have still been emotional during and after that sweet music.
So after church we made it back home and opened a few more presents. Connor fell asleep on the drive home so he actually wasn't there while Cael and Brecon opened a few more gifts. We actually didn't open everything in one day either. We started about 5 days early and then we still weren't done at the end of Christmas day! It was pretty nice because the boys actually played with their new gift the day that they opened it and it was enough to keep them satisfied and not be so overwhelmed everything else that was going on either. It was kind of like a Hannahka-ish holiday with 8 days of presents, and I really liked it! (*except for the 8 days of garbage and wrapping paper and packaging plastic... that part wasn't the best)

Brecon makes an amazing stack of his stuff!

THANK YOU WONDERFUL NEIGHBORS!! After I had struggled to put together Brecon's slot car race track, took a break because I was so frustrated, and then tried to figure it out again.... I finally had to call in for reinforcements. Not only did they get the track together and working but we had some pretty great races as well. That loop and connecting track were actually turned and hooked in the wrong way!! GRRRR... it is a good thing that Angie and Kent are problem solvers! Plus they brought over delicious cinnamon rolls and dinner rolls as well to share. I need to call them over to help more often :)

The pictures above are actually part of the reason we started Christmas early. When opening a package sent from Ben in Afghanistan we discovered that the boys gifts were inside. And it was just our luck that Ben had called us and was on the phone at the same time. The boys were thrilled with their "ADVENTURE PACKS" that contained flashlights, tools, a shovel, rope, binoculars, a first-aid kit, a compass, etc... everything a little boy/grown up would need to go on an adventure or be out in the forest with. Cael and Brecon were walking around the house and excited to take their packs and explore their surroundings. I made sure they understood that this was a Daddy activity, so now they have something very exciting to look forward to when Daddy comes home!

So the rest of Christmas we had races and went over to the Layton's house for a delicious dinner and for the first time I had a Christmas Goose! And they had the MOST delicious apple pie I have ever eaten. A perfect way to end a meal and Christmas day. When we got back home Connor as able to actually open some of his presents while Cael and Brecon really tried to hold themselves back, they just couldn't help but get right in there to assist Connor with his gifts.

And these pictures are added just so that I can remember the amazing Ward Christmas party and dinner we had on the 23rd. First of all we really weren't planning on too many families due to the holidays and the long weekend. BUT we had an amazing turn out, every table was filled and we were running out of forks! Our building just isn't that large or have places for a lot of people to eat, but we made it work and now we know what to do next time.

Part of the party included a white elephant exchange game for the adults, but before that they announced the winner of the ugliest, most creative, and best group for sweater wearers that night. After all the others were given their awards I was completely surprised when they said I WON the UGLIEST!!! It was like my name had been called for the Price-Is-Right. I almost gave everyone in the room hugs, but I controlled myself (at least somewhat) to only shaking my hands, covering my mouth, and squealling with delight! It feels good to win (ha ha ha) AND the best part is the guy next to me got the "runner-up" award and he is actually wearing one of my Christmas sweaters! Such a fun night and a good time to spend with the wonderful people in our little church family.

After the party I just had to swing over to my neighbors house and show them my prize for the ugliest sweater. The cute little snoopy would shake his hands/bells while a few different songs would play. You can tell I was feeling pretty excited about the "Big Win" and Connor is looking at me and thinking "I sure have a crazy Mom".

We had a wonderful Christmas!

Christmas Eve

The Layton Family

The Dean Family

The Platt Family

The delicious food we ate.

After everyone did a talent for the group, the kids were able to open a "grab bag" which had either candy, toys, or money inside. It was a huge hit with the children and it was so fun to watch all of the talents be performed. Cael played "We Three Kings" on the piano, Brecon did some amazing gymnastics on the carpet, and Connor played the harmonica while we sang "We Wish You a Merry Christmas" (this was also his favorite instrument choice while we delivered goodie plates to our neighbors.) I think Connor was pretty pleased with his chocolate goodie bag!

"These are my favorite!" Cael was heard saying when he found what was inside his goodie bag + $5 makes it that much sweeter!

The kids were all excited about which grab bag they were going to get. In order to make things a little more organized the children each had a number they chose after doing their talent and one by one they took turns opening their prize and were excited by the sweet treat inside!

The Durtschi Family

This is the most amazing family in the world and they were wonderful to have our family + 14 other people for a Christmas Eve dinner and party. I have to mention that they had just been in Spain for the past week and had just gotten home that afternoon after waking up to catch their flight at 4 A.M. They are amazing hosts and such wonderful friends! Plus after all the crazy party people left they were up until the wee hours of the morning getting their Christmas all ready, only 2 hours shy of a 24 hour crazy travel, drive, make food, and host a fabulous party. We love the Durtschi's!!

Garmisch Retreat

The boys and I were able to take a weekend trip to the Edelweiss Lodge and Resort for a deployed spouses retreat. The buffet and restaurant food and our room were free, as well as the childcare for the kiddos during the day and spouse building seminars. There was a crazy snow storm and the elementary school kids were release 2 hours early from school on Friday so I thought the weekend was going to be cancelled. Then the weather turned from a snow storm to rain and all the roads were completely clear on the drive down, so the retreat was back on. I was glad for a little distraction and get-away with the boys. Sometimes it is just nice to change up the routine from our regular stuff and try something different, especially right before Christmas when things are getting a little crazy....

Here is the resort. We got here around 6 that night, ate dinner and just missed the Friday evening childcare and adult meeting... oops! The boys had fun exploring the halls and Cael was excellent at practicing his cartwheels all the way to the ends. Brecon and Connor were just happy to be running around and not buckled into a carseat.

It was also fun because they had all the Christmas trees and decor all over the place. I tried to get the boys to stand in front of as many of the decorations as we could until they just couldn't stand it anymore.

THE BRECON POSE- you gotta love it!







Almost a great picture, until Brecon decided to put on a grumpy face. Still pretty funny though :)

On Saturday the boys all went to their groups at the child development centers and I spent the morning talking about building a strong relationship with my spouse. By 11 o'clock the class was over, I enjoyed an all-you-can-eat buffet and at 1:00 I had an early Christmas present by getting a massage. It was pretty wonderful, especially since my entire back was in desperate need of attention. I spent the rest of the afternoon reading and enjoying some quiet time until the boys were ready to be picked up at 4:00. We enjoyed our huge dinner together, and then went to the swimming pool. Back in our room we borrowed 101 Dalmations 2  and called it a night.

Guess where I was sleeping? See that tiny space between Cael and Connor? That is where I somehow slept for a few hours during the night. Thanks boys for giving Mom plenty of space to get my beauty rest :)


 When we woke up our last morning the whole world had been sprinkled with powdered sugar. The view from our window was pretty beautiful. I will always remember that the building on the right sure had a powerful light to illuminate the mural... ALL NIGHT LONG. Too bad my curtains didn't block that out, but the boys eventually went to sleep even though it looked like it was still daytime outside :)

Rise and shine Brecon! I probably should have jumped over to this bed during the night. Look at all that room!

The Lifestyles of the Rich and Famous...

JUST KIDDING! More like the Simple Life of a Deployed Solider/Husband.

I just wanted to put these pictures up do a little update on how Ben is doing. Whenever we talk to him he tells us that his days are all about the same, with not too much going on to keep him busy. He doesn't usually have to go very far, in fact his Aid station, the DFAC (dining facility) and his sleeping area were all less than 100 yards apart from one another. That has to make for some exciting change of scenery during the day :) Ben also talks about the training he does with the medics everyday but Sunday. They talk about any medical topic in general, how to treat sunburn, basic information on colds, pain, sprains, etc. They usually talk about their daily subject for about an hour and Ben has told me that he enjoys doing these trainings together. The medics are very motivated to learn about medicine so it makes for easy conversations. Other than that most of the days are spent eating, resting, studying, and trying his best to keep busy, usually checking emails or sending his family (us) little surprises from amazon.com. Gotta love online shopping to pass the time :)

 SO here are some pictures from Ben's first area in FOB Waza Kwha.

 Here is Ben's Room and sleeping area. The walls are pretty plain, but the only thing Ben ever mentioned was how much room he had here. I guess that was helpful for all the excercises he could do during the day...

 Looking the other direction at his "study area/desk". I really love that colorful chair and the way that towel is just hanging from a nail.

 Another view of his room and highly decorated surroundings (I think)

 Working out on a medical mission to the local clinic.

 Back in the Aid Station and right outside the door to Ben's room (I think :)

 ....Ben and an Afghan Officer

 ....Handing out medical supplies and vitamins to the people in the area

 Some of the locals checking out what all the action is about, or just waiting for a turn to get some stuff.

 Ben and another solider at the local clinic stop to take a quick picture with the doctor and staff.

AND here is our hero out on a mission to the local area. He's lookin' pretty good with that gun.

SO I guess this is it. I am sure Ben can fill it in a little better but that is the best that I can do for now. In the meantime Ben is currently covering at a different FOB while one of the PA's has taken his R&R for a little while. He has told me that the aid station at this FOB is very nice compared to the ones he has been. So I guess that is nice since that is where he spends the majority of his time.

My BIG Boy Cael

You know how sometimes you get those school pictures back and you wonder
"WHY on Earth did I pay for this horrible picture?!"

This year I was so pleased with the results. LOOK AT THAT SMILE! I just LOVE this boy! That sweet innocent face gets me every time, plus it has a mix of mischievousness sprinkled in there that I simply adore. Everyday I am so thrilled with the young man he is becoming, our talks together, laughing at silly jokes we share together,  and the way he entertains Brecon and little Connor is just wonderful! (especially when Mom has some work to do) He is smart, sensitive, strong, and has quite the comedic timing. At least I laugh at his stories whether they are funny or not.
There is so much I could say about Cael and how proud I am to be this Mother. But my words cannot do my feelings justice, so we will just leave it at I LOVE THIS BOY!

Saturday is a special day!

You might know how the primary song goes:
Saturday is a special day,
It's the day we get ready for Sunday...
We wash our clothes and we clean our rooms,
SO we can be ready for SUNDAY!

I am not exactly sure on the words, but you get the idea. We get our chores done on Saturday and Sunday is different because we don't have to worry about the cleaning and the washing, we have time to study, pray, go to church, and be together as a family.

But I also have to say that sometimes Saturdays can be a little bit harder when your husband is not around. So I just wanted our Saturdays lately to have a little more fun sprinkled in there and I wanted to make sure I wrote them down before I forgot. I didn't bring my camera, so this is going to just be our stories.

11/27/11 Today after the boys ate a hearty bowl of oatmeal, a family favorite on a non-school day lately, I loaded them all up and told them we were going on a "treasure hunt". Of course this meant I was dragging them to an outdoor flea market, but they were excited I think for a little bit. It was freezing, but we managed to walk up and down all the tables that were set out. No treasures were found, but I did score a bunch of little toys for the boys good behavior treasure box at a very good price. All the boys cooperated in the freezing cold, so it was agreed that we could walk through the toy store that was nearby so I could un-thaw my fingers and toes. Of course they each found something they "just had to have"... but Mom didn't have any Euro so we couldn't pay for it and take it home (sneaky laugh inserted here) We walked out and headed for home. But thinking about food, it was lunchtime afterall, I knew BURGER KING would be a special treat for them and decided to just go there on the whim. They did love it, but they also loved being able to play around in the tube slides, chasing one another and screaming with excitment. Well wouldn't you know, the bowling alley is right next door. So I decided that was what we were going to do next! It was great! I basically held onto Connor, he held onto his 6 lb. ball, and I would literally throw him forward to propel the ball at a decent speed down the lane. You can't tell me that wasn't entertaining to watch a pregnant mamma do that? Brecon played well the entire game and Cael enjoyed it was well. Our scored ended up with Connor at 64, Brecon with 78, Cael with 82 or something in that range AND I got a 135! Not too shabby if I do say so myself. I do have to say it was fun to do this with the boys, but I wouldn't have thought that doing something like that logisically would be enjoyable by myself. It really was a great day with my boys AND I know it would have been even more fun had Ben been there, but we are trying to make the best out of our time apart, especially when it involves doing something fun to pass the time :)

11/26/11 Another FUN DAY Saturday started with the boys enjoying their cartoons, eating our yummy breakfast with dark brown sugar and milk on top and taking it easy. Today it was icy cold and I really wasn't in the treasure hunting mood. So we all did a clean up around the house, which took a bit longer that usual, and then I decided we were going to the indoor swimming pool in Amberg. We invited our neighbors, but their children had not finished their chores by the time we were ready to go. SO we were goin' SOLO (sort of). I know everyone would have had more fun with friends, but we really did have a great time together. First thing I have to say is right when we walked into the pool area, Cael jumped into the water and swam toward the edge. He looked over and spotted something brown floating nearby. He jumped out of the water and starting yelling "UH GROSS - POO! POO HERE!" We grabbed a worker, pointed to the water, and quickly made a move for a different pool. What a great way to start the day! SOOO... in the other pool that was safe from any gross surprises... Brecon and Cael got one of our little diving torpedos and each were taking turns grabbing it and throwing it in the water. Brecon was trying his best to swim to the bottom and retrieve a torpedo, but his little body just doesn't go down! I laugh about how he would just try so hard, but would never quite make it unless I gave him a firm shove downward. Don't worry, he floats right back up to the top. (smiley face). Cael was up and down through the water like a dolphin, he just has such an easy time getting around in the water. There was a really long line for the one tube slide and we all went down together just once. I really like how it is completely dark with different neon lights all the way down, pretty fun and entertaining at the same time. Cael and Brecon were squealing, Connor would make some sort of noise every once and a while, and I was just hoping that our timing was close enough that I would be able to grab Brecon, hold onto Connor, and make our way safely out of the pool. Which we did. Over at the kiddie section of the pool, Connor really enjoyed going up and down the red slide and having Cael as a catcher at the bottom made the whole event really enjoyable for me :) BUT our fun came to an end more quickly than I had realized it would, and after changing in record time into our street clothes, we made our way home. I thought it was a good outing for such a cold day and the boys were all troopers the whole time.

AND JUST for a laugh... here is what I see when I put gasoline in my van in Germany. Well, I guess maybe it was, thank you!

Castle Trip with Grandma

The last trip we took with Grandma Hoopes was down to South Germany/Austria so we could enjoy the amazing castles from King Ludwig, Neuenschwantein, Hohenswangua, and the Lindhof Palace. We stayed in cool Hostel in Garmisch and our room was on the top floor and there were plenty of beds situated in 4 different rooms, a little kitchentte, and one tiny bathroom. The boys favorite was the "avalanche" room where there were 4 twin beds on the floor. They spent about 20 minutes jumping around on the beds yelling "THIS IS AWESOME!! THIS IS AWESOME!!" Needless to say we enjoyed our little adventurous stay here and so did the boys.

Our first day we planned on seeing Neunschwantein and Hohenschwangua. It was foggy and bitterly cold, but making the climb up the hill ensured that we were not frozen by the time we got there. Also Connor was a little stinker during the tour, it was harder to hold onto the little boy when he was insisting on getting down to explore, and then he would protest with yelling quite loudly.... well, somehow we made it out of there without disturbing too many people or interrupting the tour guide too much :)

We then made our way up to Neunschwantein on the trolley bus. For being off season there were sure a lot of people crammed on the bus. Connor had fallen asleep in his stroller ( no wonder he was so cranky during the first tour) making it a little precarious loading onto a crowded bus, but we found a little spot where the stroller would fit and Cael and Brecon stayed by Grandma on the ride up to the top on the mountain. We were so sad that it was foggy, we really couldn't see the entire castle in all it's glory, only the walls that were right in front of us.

This is Grandma trying to control the boys after they were bouncing and hanging from a wire-like fence during some inbetween time. Cael is getting a little word of advice while Brecon watches from the side. I was entertained watching the people nearby observe the "crazy boys" on the fence, but Grandma didn't think it was appropriate behavior :) Good times :)

The very next day it was sunny and clear and beautiful which was such a contrast to the day before. We made plans to visit the Linderhof Palace which is only a short drive from where we were staying through some beautiful countryside. It was a fun little stop that I had never visited before and I was sad that it wasn't spring or summer time because all of the fountains and statues in the gardens were covered for the winter! I guess that means we will just have to go back again, right?

Our tour was very interesting. I couldn't believe all the fancy and gold for just one person who only stayed here maybe 10 days out of the year! It was beautiful and very extravagant. Connor was giving me a hard time again during the visit, but there really wasn't anywhere else I could go until our guide was finished with the tour. So we made it through and the boys were free to run anywhere they wanted through the gardens, up the stairs, and even inside the empty fountains. I was very happy they were NOT full of water.

Mother and Me at the end of the day. Such a fun trip and we will most likely be back when the gardens and fountains are uncovered and in all their glory.

On the way home we spotted a huge flea market in the Olympic parking lot in Munich. It was the biggest one I had ever seen. We made our way back to find a parking spot and spent a few hours looking for treasures, I just kept saying "One more row, I'm sure we will fnd something in the NEXT row"... but there really wasn't anything that jumped out at us. We shared a couple of banana and nutella crepes and then made our way back to the car. It was a fun little pit stop to break up the drive, but it was pretty cold while we were out there walking around.