W45 of Y4

Temple Trip

Once again, someone was leaving the country.  This week it was Connor..... 

and 62 youth from our Stake on their way to Switzerland for a week long Temple Trip.

(Aiden stayed back so he could try out for Tennis.)

Gunfighter Gym

We had a team building activity at work this week where we got to be Soldiers for the day!  

Trying to do the Charlie's Angels pose. My camera didn't like the lighting in there.

It was as if I was in a large video game.  Super cool, but... I think I had better stick with my day job!

Middle School Transition Week

Whitney got to do a Middle School Transition Camp this week and she loved it!  The middle school has it's own recreation center where the kids can play video games, music instruments, pool/fuseball, watch TV/movies, access to a huge indoor basketball court, outdoor court, and tennis courts, access to FREE food, cooking lessons, the list goes on....  There is also a free shuttle that goes from the center to my work and to our house.  AND... to top it off, they have the nicest staff that the kids love working there.  I am pretty sure this is going to be Whitney's second home for the next 3 years!

And... there is a nice, outdoor pool just down the street where they go in the afternoons (which is why she is wearing a suit under her dress)!

Tennis

Aiden decided to try out for Tennis this year.  Practices started this week before tryouts next week. 

This was as close as I dared to get!

Spontaneous Laughter

Jeremy and I decided to try out for the short plays at Soldier's Theater this week and both got parts!

Jeremy and I are going to be in a short pay called 'A Tall Order'.  There are only 2 parts so it is just the 2 of us on stage the whole time.  This is going to be fun!

LOTS of lines to memorize!

The Rückauers are here!! 

Our wonderful friends from Germany came to visit us this week

Mario is definitely the universal language!!

These 2 played and played all week without understanding a word each other said!

These guys reminded me so much of Connor and Aiden at this age.  So cute!

Whitney's giving lessons on how to make slime

Connor finally got back in time for our last night with our dear friends

We were also honored to have Amalia share her birthday with us!

Auf Wiedersehen until next time!

More Temple Trip pics.....

Stopping along the road on the way down for lunch

First day at the temple

All 62 youth

Just our ward

Exploring Berne

Bus ride home

Don't they look thrilled!  I think they were all ready to be home.
However, I asked Connor if he was glad that he went and he said Yes, so.....  I guess the trip was a success!!

W44 of Y4

FINALLY..... a week at home for all of us!!

This has been one of the busiest summers I think we have ever had.  It was really nice to have all of us together and at home this week.

All the teenagers came to our house for some post-FSY fun this week.  It was really fun to see their pictures and hear the stories!  

Setting up some board games - this was the Taboo group

Learning how to play Aggravation!

This one was just happy to be here and watching everyone else! lol!

Football

Here we go.... this was the first week of practice for Connor.
Two practices/day: 9-11 and 3-5. Glad it's not me doing this!

Volleyball

Whitney participated in a 3-day volleyball camp at the middle school this week.
This was her first time doing Volleyball and she really seemed to like it!
(even though she hated waking up early for it!)

Shopping

Aiden's lawn mowing business had a very good summer!
He mowed his last lawn for the season (besides ours!) on Friday and decided to treat himself to a little shopping spree at the mall.
It was fun helping him spend some of his money! 

Our resilient garden!

The week ended with this delicious harvest from our little garden! 
Despite us being gone a lot and neglecting our garden this summer, AND the incredible heat and lack of rain, our little garden did pretty good. 

W43 of Y4

Quick goodbye

Whitney had to say a quick good bye to her friend who will be gone when Whitney gets back next week.  It still amazes me how resilient these kids are!

Week without Mom and Dad

This week Whitney got to stay the WHOLE WEEK with her very good friend Evy while the rest of her family was split up between England and Bulgaria!

FSY Update

Monday morning these kids checked out of their hotel in England and walked to the University of Birmingham to register for FSY and check into their dorms.  Oh man.... they have no idea what is in store for them this week! LOL!

Weekend in Paradise

What is left for Mom and Dad to do with all of the kids gone for the week....  we hopped over to paradise for the week. 

Blurry pic but.. look at those smiles! 

We landed in Burgas, Bulgaria and took a 20 min taxi ride to our very luxurious hotel!  

We ended up with a city view, vs a beach view, but the Black Sea was right behind us

To get to the Black Sea you had to walk through this oasis

Our first Bulagrian dinner was so interesting!  Here we had 3 little dips that went on bread.  I still don't know what they were exactly...  The white one with orange on top was a type of caviar, the middle one tasted a little like stew with something like sour cream on the side, and the last one was a little like tartar sauce.  My favorite was the caviar!

Our main entrees: I got the young steak which was more like a perfect square of roast beef, sitting in mashed peas and a type of thick gravy on top with a side of..... wait for it..... ICE CREAM!  It was amazing!  Hot and cold and salty and sweet all together!.  Jeremy got a Bulgarian polenta with a cooked egg on top and then some white sudsy like stuff on top of that.  It had a good flavor though.

Across the street from our restaurant was an ice cream place that Jeremy was eyeing during out entire meal.  So, he went and got one and brought it back to table.

I got this interesting dessert instead.  Rose EVERYTHING seems to be super popular in Bulgaria!  This is a rose flavored dessert that is a combination between ice cream and a custard with a small serving of lavender ice cream with nuts served on the side.  SUPER interesting!

Our hotel breakfast was extensive!  The Bulgarians are all about this cheese filled pastry things... they're good!

Never mind my just rolled out of bed eyes!  lol!

After breakfast we went down the same main street where we at dinner the night before to do some shopping and couldn't believe how empty it was.  Last night (on a Monday) it was packed!  

This huge horn blows beautiful music through the streets when someone turns the wheel. The kids were loving it!

Time to go to the beach!

Our hotel from the beach

The path leading back to the hotel.  So pretty!

Lounging by the pool!  Jeremy left to go get a massage and I stayed right here!!

My handsome dinner date!! 
Greek and Cesar salads with baked camembert cheese topped with figs, apricots, and honey.  YUM!!

Main course was Paella with seafood.  What made this paella different was the black rice and they put dill in it! 
It was a very unique flavor and I loved it!!

This little kitty kept creeping up in hopes of some food (or ice cube)

For someone who does not like cats, he just couldn't resist feeding this little guy

Back to the ice cream shop for more of Jeremy's favorite ice cream cones.  Plus this guy was super friendly!

We walked through the park on our way back to the hotel.  This colorful fountain was playing to loud music of Frozen!  Jeremy was talking to these little German kids.  We were always surprised that every night as we were going back to the hotel to sleep (10ish) the streets were FULL of kids running, playing, laughing, etc...  

Our home for the next 24 hours!

Marina at Sozopol

Stopped here to jump in.  The water felt great!!

Captain Sveltlosar

"wanna be" Captain Jeremy

Jeremy sails!

Approaching Nesebar

You can see Nesebar and Sunny Beach

Land ho! We decided not to sleep on the boat... we were worried it would be hot during the night.  So we caught a cab to our next hotel at Sunny Beach.

Jeremy got a GREAT room!!!  (and an even better price!!)

The view from our balcony!  Our hotel was literally ON THE SAND!

Quick snack at the hotel restuarant

Life is rough!!

Back on the boat for the sunset

We were blessed with an amazing sunset this night

Nesebar is very pretty at night!  One of the most colorful cities we've been to (besides Vegas!)

We strolled through the carnival by the water on our way back to the hotel from the marina

Back at our room the beach cleared out but this club on the water was bumping!!  We could hear the base all night until around 5am!  

Breakfast on the beach

Thoroughly enjoying Sunny Beach before it was time to check in to our next hotel in Nesebar

Well...  at first I was really mad at Jeremy for getting such a nice room.  Then he told me the cost... it was cheap.
Bottom line, average people can live like Kings and Queens in Bulgaria!  Unbelievable room.... AGAIN!

Our view from the balcony

Enjoying some alone time at the pool while Jeremy is getting a massage in the room

Time to explore the Old Town

First... a little snack.  Marscapone filled salmon rolls with garlic bread

And these tasty little fishies with tzatziki sauce!

Isn't he sweet!! 

Old graffiti

It looked like a stage for concerts.  We thought that would be so cool to come here for a concert. 

Very quant, picturesque streets

Pay phones?

Looking for souvenirs to take home to the kids

A pack of teens walked through.  The guy in the back without a shirt on is wearing a speaker on his shoulder that is blasting loud music.
We thought these would be Connor's and Aiden's friends if we lived here.... lol!

Looking for a place to eat dinner and found this hole in the wall.... almost literally!

As you walk down the stairs you realize it is paradise inside!

The views from our table at the restaurant

Four cheese (with raisins) and Ceasar salads

Caviar spread with red onion on toast and fried zucchini dipped in tzatziki sauce

Chicken and veggie skewers with parsley potatoes

They almost had to roll us out of there! But they were soooooo nice!  

Our restaurant from the back.... quite a bit different from the front.

Leaving Old Town to go to our hotel.  You can see the white lights wayyyyy back there.... that's our hotel. 

Eeeaaarrrrrrrllllyyyy morning flight, ughhh!  One last cheese filled Banitsa before I go!

SUPER fun trip!  I knew the kids were all having fun where they were so I could just relax and really enjoy it!  Other pros about this trip.... everything was SO CHEAP!  A dollar goes a long way here.  Also, the people were so nice.  Italy has made me really appreciate the kindness of strangers!  I'm so grateful Jeremy plans and saves for these trips and then makes me go, kicking and screaming the whole way!  

Meanwhile at FSY.....

Aiden was better at sending me pics than Connor was!  I loved getting these during the week!

I don't think I've ever seen Aiden smile so BIG!!!!  

Aiden's new friends with their counselor

And... since we had 3 days at home without the boys, we brought Whitney's friend, that she stayed with all week, home with us for a few days.

FSY was over Saturday morning but their flights didn't leave until Sunday evening.  So they got some time to do touristy stuff in Nottingham.

Apparently there are caves here that the kids got to explore

All the kids checked out of their hotel and went to church nearby. 
Now they are on their way to the airport and will soon be home.  

This was a crazy week!  All of us split up into 3 different countries.  All of us having amazing, unique experiences separate from each other.  And then all of us making it safely back to one another with lots of stories to tell.  We are definitely counting our blessings tonight!