So long, farewell..

My little brother Micheal (not actually little, I should say younger, he has turned out to be the tallest of us all) went into the MTC today. He is going to Ft. Lauderdale, Florida (Spanish Speaking) on his mission. I am having a hard time believing that he is old enough to go. We haven't had a missionary in our family for a long time. For a long time it seemed like there was at least one out on a mission. He is number 6 from our family. We have all served in different countries and learned 5 different languages. Can't wait to see where Matthew will go!

Anyhow, he had his farewell on Sunday and so we were able to go to Utah and spend some time with him and the family. We also got to see Callie and Shaun, always a fun time. I took a picture of Mike and the boys so we could take one in two years and see how much they change. I got two pictures. One good one of Micheal while the boys were off in la la land.


And a good one of the boys with Micheal trying to get them to smile.


Deb, Mike and Russell came up as well. It was so fun to see them. Russell and Noah are almost exactly the same size even though Noah is 5 months older!


All in all a great weekend. Warm weather, fun times with family, trips to the park to chase the ducks, and we can't forget the ice cream cones!

Europe: Been There, Done That!

I will try to keep the travel logging to a minimum, but what do you expect after a 10 day whirlwind vacation in Europe?

After the longest day of travel ever Ryan and I arrived in Frankfurt and were picked up by Liz, James and their 4 kids in the rental van. We left from the airport and headed toward Southern Germany for the weekend. Our first stop along the way was Rothenburg. This is a picturesque little mid-evil town complete with surrounding walls,

torture museum,

and beautiful old buildings.

After strolling the streets of Rothenburg we headed down to Bad Reichenhall to bunk up for the night. Liz & James booked us rooms in this cool little Gasthof (Bed & Breakfast). It was right in the heart of the German Alps and so beautiful.

The next day after a typical German breakfast of rolls, salami, and cheese, we were off to the Eagle's Nest. This is a house that was built as a gift to Hitler for his 50th birthday as a get away. It is literally built on top of a mountain. This is looking up to the house. You have to take a bus to this point and then there is an elevator that takes you to the top.

This is looking down at the house. You can see it is perched right up there (hence the name eagle's nest).

This is looking down at the Konigsee. The pictures just don't do it justice. I have seen a lot of pretty landscapes in my life and this is definitely in the top 5.

After conquering the mountain we headed down to the lake to eat lunch and wander around. We had lunch at a Biergarten. Bratwurst, sauerkraut and pretzels. The kids had schnitzel and french fries. I was just soaking in the german-ness of it all.

After seeing the lake we decided we need to take a boat ride out into the middle to experience the full effect. Who wouldn't want to soak all this in?

Plus we had the best travel companions ever! It was so great to be able to hang out with Liz and her family. Usually when they come we have to split time with everyone else who wants to see them so this was nice to have them all to ourselves and I can't say enough what great hosts they were.

We were missing our kids (at home in Utah with Grandma B.) but Liz's kids were kind enough to keeping accidentally calling me Mom to make me feel less empty handed.

After this we took Liz and the kids back to the bed & breakfast to watch movies and sleep. James, Ryan and I ran over to see Salzburg that night. We did the quick run around tour.

Abby where the real Maria (from Sound of Music) stayed.

House where Mozart was born.

The next day we drove over to Neuschwanstein (inspired the Disneyland Castle). We didn't have time to do a tour but it was still amazing from the outside.

Then we rushed up to Munich to see Dachau. We got there too late for the guided tour but we were able to walk around and take a look around. I never got to see any WWII sights or concentration camps while I was on my mission so this is something I wanted to see. I was overwhelmed by the sheer size of the camp. You can see the side of one of the barracks and the foundations of others as far as you can see. This was mirrored on the other side of the grass.

Ryan making a run for it.

We made it back to Liz's and James' house late Saturday night and decided to take it easy on Sunday. We went to their ward. It is a German speaking ward. After hearing I was a returned missionary they asked me to translate the 3rd hour from German to English! I was really nervous and didn't do a great job but we made it through the meeting. Luckily it was just for the senior missionaries who decided to brave the German ward instead of going to the English ward. They were really kind. After church James took us to see his office in a tall building in Frankfurt. This is from his office building overlooking the city.

We got up very early Monday morning and caught a train to Paris. It was fun to be back in the Frankfurt HauptBahnhof.

We got to Paris without incident. Once we were there it hit us that neither of us spoke a word of French. Lets just say it took us a couple of tries to get the right ticket for the metro in Paris. We headed toward the Louvre and got off a couple of blocks too early. Lucky for us there was a nice Frenchman who spoke to us non-stop as he walked us to the Louvre. I wasn't sure if he was just being nice, looking for money or planning to mug us. But he got us there and wouldn't accept any money.

We took this picture and then our camera died... we had no way to charge it so the rest of our Paris pictures were Iphone pics. Thank goodness for the iphone.
The Louvre was HUGE! We spent a couple of hours and saw some of the better known works documented with lesser known views of them... (Venus de Milo from behind)

After we had our fill of classic art works we made our way to our hotel. Adventure #2 We walked past it a couple of times before realizing where the doorway was. When we walked into the lobby and asked about our reservation the clerk in limited english told us there was a problem with our room, we couldn't stay there & to please get into this taxi that would take us to a different hotel. They assured us it was nice and told us not to worry about paying for the taxi. I found myself not quite sure of my safety for the 2nd time that day as we were rushed across Paris in the back of a taxi cab. And for the 2nd time that day the Parisians pulled through. Our hotel was very nice and very near the Eiffel Tower. This is the street our new hotel was on.

We took a quick nap and then hit the streets of Paris again. We visited the Arc de Triumph and the Champs de Elysees. An anti-Israeli demonstration stopped traffic and closed down the lower part of the street so we could get this shot. Normally there is lots of traffic zooming up and down the street.

Dinner that night was at a Cafe recommended by Jessie. It was right across the park from the Eiffel Tower. It was all very surreal, sitting out on a balcony eating french cuisine and looking out at Paris. Dinner was delicious. This is taken before dinner right outside the cafe.

Then next day we hit the Eiffel tower. We took the elevator to the very top. It was breathtaking. Paris is so large and there is so much history there. This is looking down from the tower to where we had dinner then night before.

We then took a boat tour down the Seine to go see Notre Dame. It was surprisingly informative and pointed out several things we would like to see on our next trip to Paris. We grabbed a crepe on a boat cafe right across the river from Notre Dame.

Outside the cathedral enjoying the ambiance of the area.

On our way out of town we stopped at a bakery that sells one of the most expensive cookies ever (according to the Food Network). We bought some of their world famous Macaroons and took them back to share with Liz & James (o.k., so maybe we sampled some on the trip home). They had exotic flavors such as Rose Petal and Orange Blossom. Our favorite was the Dark Chocolate.

On Wednesday we went to see Heidelberg and it's castle. Parts of this have been restored but here is one part that has not. You can see down into the moat.

This castle boasts the largest keg in the world. That is Ryan standing next to it so you can get an idea of how large it was.

I visited this castle on my mission and have a picture next to this fountain. 10 years later here we are.

We wandered around the old part of Heidelberg for awhile and stopped for our daily ration of Italian Ice Cream.

That night I went to visit a family I had taught on my mission. The Kremers. I dragged James and Ryan along for support. This was probably one of the highlights for me. They remembered me after 10 years. I promised I wouldn't post this picture on Facebook but said nothing about my blog!

I got to walk around the Temple and see the church house that was in my first area on my mission. It was so nostalgic for me. We even went and took a picture outside my first apartment in Oberursel.

For our last day there we decided to do a Rhine Cruise. It was the perfect day to see castles and vineyards galore! Here is one of the many along the route.

Here is the famed Lorelei. (Thanks to high school english summer reading assignment, I knew what it was).

We got off at the Rheinfels Castle and hiked around. It is just ruins but you can hike and run through all these cool remaining parts of the castle and fortress. It was perfect for the kids. This is the hallway between the windows for the cannons that fired on ships who didn't pay the tolls to pass.

That is the river and city on the opposite bank that you can see through the window.

The best tour guides ever!

After a long day on the river, at the castle and on the train coming back we hit the famous Doner Kabob shop in Offenbach (my last area of my mission). The Turkish food was delicious and Liz was kind enough to drive me to see the new ward house in Offenbach and out to see the old ward house. Yet another trip down memory lane!

Our trip had come to an end. Here we are at Liz & James' house before we headed to the airport for the 2nd longest day of travel ever!

We were so happy to see the boys and grateful to my Mom, Dad, Michael, Matthew & Tamy for watching them so we could be footloose and fancy free for a week or so. It was a group effort on their part and we really appreciate them. It made the trip possible for us.

This blog wouldn't be complete without pictures of the boys in the Lederhosen we got them in Germany. We just couldn't resist (and I am glad we didn't!).