Saint Nickolaus

Our sweet German grandma that lives behind us in the bakery told us that St. Nickolaus would be coming to the park and we knew we had to go.... even if it was FREEZING! There were a few little tables set up with crafts and goodies to eat. The smells of hot cider and sweet waffles filled the air, mixed with fire and smoke (see photo below). We were very intrigued by this fire log. It had been cut inside and with the holes leading to the top where the smoke would rise like a chimneyA community choir sang 3 songs and St. Nickolaus read a short verse. The little kindergarteners sang an adorable song (this is all in German of course)... and then the children all gathered around the stage area and were given a small sack of chocolates from the Saint. By then we were all cold and ready to go home for some nice hot chocolate.

*gasp*

AHHHHH!!!!!
I really wasn't gone for very long and to be honest if Ben hadn't taken the video I wouldn't have believed it had really happened. LUCKILY... yes LUCKILY that was my "old" mascara.

My baby is growing up!!

I guess he is not the baby anymore... but instead an adorable 6 year old boy who just lost his FIRST TOOTH!!! I'm actually surprised this hasn't happened earlier with all the exciting and adventurous activities we are involved in. We also were surprised to see the new tooth already poking it's way through inside (like a row of sharks teeth)....and we were told that is completely normal. But who knows, the way this kid swims I wouldn't be surprised if he DID have shark teeth :)

POLAND

With a holiday off from work and school, we decided to visit the nearby country of Poland. Everyone talks about getting their handpainted ceramic pottery, dishes, bowls, etc... and we are glad that we made this trip. There are a lot of "shops" which were not very big, some were the size of a small bedroom, but they were stacked with loads of the painted kitchenware. It was also their National Independence Day so many of the shops were closed. In our short time we saw A LOT of dishes and also saw some of the painters at work, ate at a local restaurant, saw glass blowers at the BOROWSKI Factory (well known for their modern glass sculptures) and enjoyed our stay at the a nice bed and breakfast. "What's for lunch?"To the left is the Blue Beetroot Inn, an old barn that has been tranformed into a nice little getaway. We just loved the old exposed beams throughout and the arches in the eating area.

It really was like Christmas uncovering all these from their brown paper and bubble wrap. A very fragile and breakable Christmas.... happy to say that none were broken during that time.

I just love this boy!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY!

Baby Connor's First Birthday

(with baby translation)

"I'm so excited. No really, look at my face."
"umm... i wonder what this is?"

"tastes pretty good to me"

"who are these people?"

(The party guests)

"this is what i think of that cake"

"this is more like it"

"smash"

"Oh yeah... this is great"

"One more bite. Afterall, it is my birthday"

...the aftermath (you should have seen the floor!)

We sure love our baby Connor and can't believe he is now ONE year old! He is such a funny little boy and loves to be a part of whatever his big brothers are doing. He is quite the dancer, pat-a-cake player, and noise-maker. His giggles are sweet and his smiles are contagious! He has developed quite the climbing trick up the boys slide on their bed and also the chairs and kitchen table. When he gets stuck on the chairs because they are pushed under we sure do know about it. He has got a powerful set of lungs :) He is strong and quick and WE LOVE OUR LITTE GUY!

All the FUN of Halloween!

Family Home Evening Tradition: Carve a pumpkin. This year we helped clean-out about 15 pumpkins for the ward party. Ben was amazing! He could clean out a pumpkin in less than 5 minutes, which was pretty great since there was alot of 'guts' to scrape outta there.

We are so scared!
I love watching the kiddos dress up, especially when they run around the house and wrestle or spray webs on one another. Spider-man SLASH Optimus or Spiptamus kept getting attacked by the masked ninja. He was able to defend himself quite well... and make his mom and dad laugh with the web action and noise.
The whole crew ready to go to the Ward Party... we look pretty good, right?

Hippie Dad, Spider-kid, Mustache biker, Ewalk (from Star Wars) and "how to train your dragon" Viking kid

Then on Saturday night we went on the base to a 'carnivale'... otherwise known as complete chaos! There were so many people packed into this gym area, little games like musical chairs, cake walk, etc... We had more fun when we left the gym and watched the boys run, jump, and roll down a little hill where the car was parked.