Christmas Party Time 2012

Vilseck Health Clinic Holiday lunch and party

There was the biggest white elephant gift exchange... over 45 people opening presents, fighting over the liquor, and trying to get rid of their junk. We were lucky to take home a sweet firetruck pinata and a plastic fighting robot. The kids each got to sit on the "young" santa and Brecon's face is pretty classic-- I'm grumpy!

As you can see, baby girl was pretty tired from all the excitement and didn't make it to the end. It was nice to have a gathering with everyone from the clinic and get to know them better, at least who would like to drink more than others :)

GRAF Ward Church Dinner and Party

I loaded up the boys and baby to help decorate and set up for the evenings activities. Dinner started and I had made sure everyone got their plate of food before sitting down myself. Brielle was handed around the room, Brecon waited to get a plate with me, and Connor and Cael were already running around the room chasing girls after eating a roll and plenty of goodies. A couple of people kept asking "where is Ben?" and frankly I didn't know. I had even left a bright pink note before heading out the door which said "at the church party- meet us there". Finally our friend, who is also named Ben, answered his phone from a caller. It was my Ben wondering where his wife and children were. This is the funny part. He got home right after I had left, set his keys and hat RIGHT ON TOP OF MY NOTE... and started eating a snack and reading a book while he waited for his family to get home- f rom wherever they were! He was pretty cute about the whole thing, and would have won the ugliest sweat contest, but his entry was past judgement time OH WELL!

Making Rosettes and goodies plates to take to the Neighbors

Ben and Cael had a great system of making Rosette cookies together. A great family tradition kept alive!

I love this picture. Ben is in charge of the game while the boys watch. Our smallest guys falls asleep while the other two are wide awake. Is this father/son bonding?

 

Sorghof Program in the Forest

Our village does a neat presentation with singing and acting in the forest. I love the German songs about the Christmas nativity story. There is also a big bonfire with sausages and kinderpunch, potato pancakes and rolls. We found these two crazy guys and had them over to our house that night for games and goodies.

CHRISTMAS

We spent Christmas Eve at home, a quiet time of reading and scriptures, stories and poems in the candlelight. The boys were starting to get really excited, but surprisingly enough they fell asleep really fast! We didn't wake up until 7:30 when we heard the baby stirring upstairs and we had to wake up the boys. I sure love not waking up too early... I will enjoy this time while I can!

Stockings and gifts from Santa

CONNOR and his New BIKE!

 He is quite the rider and the weather was perfect for taking it out on a FIRST RIDE!

It was also neat to talk and see our families in Wyoming and see how their holiday was. It was almost dinner time and we were still in our pajamas! Gotta love the holiday relaxing time!

FAMILY PHOTO at the end of the day. I LOVE how we were all together this year!

Winter Fun

Cael had a "Poetry and Pie" activity in his class. They read different Christmas poems and sang a few songs followed by tons of sweet treats that the parents brought in. I enjoyed watching him read and sing along, even if I could see only half the time. There were other kids blocking my view... it was still a good time.

 This was the first (and so far the last) time we went sledding. SO MUCH FUN! The kids all had a blast and even though the snow wasn't optimal, everyone still had a great time. Cael was hiking to the very top with two other boys, but on the way down he always lost his sled and was seen running after it like a wild man. We were pretty shocked when this happened not once, but 3 or 4 times. Crazy kid!

I hate folding socks! So after about 2 months worth and everyone in the house complaining about not having any to wear... we finally tackled the job and had a little fun while we were at it. It was amazing how many socks have, way too many!

BOWLING NIGHT

 The family enjoyed a bowling trip, along with a couple of young men on a snowy night. Connor has such a furious look yelling at his ball to knock over the pins, makes me laugh at his tiny body and his intensity.

I almost beat Ben tonight! Too bad his score was higher in the end.

St. Martin Lantern Sing and Walk

Brecon's German Kindergarten celebrates St. Martin day. We met in the church and watched the children sing a few songs...  We loved watching Brecon sing the words that he knew and mouth the rest. Then we all bundled up and went for a walk around the village.

It was a bitter cold night and we had not really been prepared for the cold weather. Brielle and Connor both fell asleep during the walk making it a bit painful to carry the "dead weight" around. It was so neat how the community had put out candles in jars along the path, or in their yard hanging on the fence to add to the evening atmosphere. After the walk there was a bonfire with sausage and rolls, pretzels and warm drinks to buy. We ate our pretzel and hurried to the car as fast as we could.

I am always impressed with the kindergarten teachers at St. Martin's. They are loving and kind to each child, making sure everyone is involved and helping when it is their turn. Sweet and beautiful women and I will miss when we move from here.

The many faces of Connor

Today is Connors Birthday. Happy Halloween (also happy birthday to Aunt Amanda) He is a very special boy and we love him so much.  He has a smile that is infectious and is very quick to share it.  Additionally we have noticed that it is very difficult to get a normal smiling picture of him.  For some reason he always has crazy faces for the camera.  We think he is doing it on purpose because we have too many odd pictures for it to be coincidence.  Here is a blog we will entitle "The Many Faces of Connor". 

One of the only normal smiling pictures we have of the crazy kid

This picture was taken this morning as Cael was getting ready for school.  We don't really know why he was making this face as he was really happy.  It was his birthday and he had just opened up his presents.  Of note, every day we tell Cael to comb his hair before school.  For some reason every day we have to redo his hair for him.  He does the craziest hair-doos if left to his own.  I think this one was a throwback tribute to the down-the-middle part that uncle Brandon always sported in the 90's (we called it the butt-crack) 

 Getting his gameface on for his Quasimodo halloween costume

We see this face a lot, but usually after Cael has been making unspeakable things with his backside

 

Gangster

 This was such a sad time, when he broke his hand.  It didn't slow him down much but occasionally he got frustrated with having to one hand difficult projects 

 What's wrong with this kid?

He loves this hat.  Picked it up in England and he wore it everywhere. 

Happy Birthday Buddy.  We love you. 

Mediterranean Trip



We just got back from a nice trip to the Mediterranean .  We left the boys behind with friends and kept the little one.  Here are some pics of some of the different spots we hit. 

Trevi Fountain in Rome. Beautiful at night. 

Athens.  The Acropolis is beautiful in the background and this was one of our favorite spots to view it. Up close it was hard to appreciate the grandeur of it all.   Notice the baby in the backpack style carrier.  She actually did really well in this thing.

 Us at the Acropolis. 

 Walking through the Agora, below the Acropolis.  Beautiful structures. 

Turkey.  This is the sight of an ancient temple with a mosque and a cathedral in the skyline of the background. 

Turkey, Ephesus.  This was the library.  It was amazing to walk through the streets and try to imagine what life during ancient times would have been like. 

Summer Highlights 2012

I saw a friend who recently posted why she loves looking back at all the memories and the little things that happen on her family site. I feel like I have been "busy" with this or that and I haven't made the time for documenting my family and I want to do better. It has been a lovely summer and our family has made the adjustments of having a new baby in the house and having more time together. We've had family and friends visit, we've gone on trips, and had some fun get-togethers around town! I love this crazy time with my little family! So here are some pictures over the last couple of months so I don't feel so guilty for not having anything up at all for a long time!

 My oldest son turned 8 YEARS OLD! When--- HOW?!! He has been getting ready for his special 8th birthday and chose to be baptized on the same day! I love this young man and what an amazing kid he is becoming.

 Here we are eating some cake and ice cream and having a little gathering with friends to celebrate. I LOVE THIS BOY!

My Mom and Dad visited us for 3 weeks and we traveled all over the place. But first we promoted Ben from a CPT (captain) to a MAJ (major)!

We have a girl in the house who is adored by her brothers...

 She wears pink and flowers (when I remember to put them on her head)

Connor had 4 stitches on his head installed by his Daddy and 2 broken fingers from the "crockpot" accident. Poor little guy healed up in 3 weeks!

 Brecon turned 5 years old! He is getting so big and is such a funny boy to have around. He is really the one who is always paying attention to his baby sister, it is really adorable and sweet. He is a joker, and loves to tell jokes that end in "cow poo".... anything with poo is pretty funny!

 His party involved water guns and THE longest spanking machine EVER! We started feeling bad because he was really getting a lot of hits after the kids kept running to the front and making him keep on crawling through.

 Cael and the neighborhood boys played some street hockey and NO ONE broke an arm!

CONNOR is potty trained! I had been introducing the potty on and off during my pregnancy, but decided I wasn't fully committed. Lo and BEHOLD the day we bring a new baby home he refuses to wear a "baby diaper" and away we went!! I couldn't believe how great he did with it all. I have to say that the #2 was a bit tricky, but a reward of a chocolate KINDER-egg really put him over the top. Sometimes I would hear him saying "CAW-KIT IGG" after running out of the potty! WOO HOO! SO glad I only have to deal with 1 baby in diapers these days.

Now all I need to do is catch up on all the other stuff that has happened... wish me luck!