Week 48

Started this week off with ME giving a 10 minute talk at church...
IN GERMAN! Whew... I'm glad that's over.

Monday was an American Holiday so we went to the Dentist since the Germans don't celebrate Martin Luther King Day. It has almost been exactly 1 year since we'd been to the dentist. We went right before we left the States. It is disappointing that they don't clean your teeth at the checkup's here.

Connor was really bothered by the light shining in his eyes.
I told him next time he would have to wear his sunglasses.

Aiden's trying not to cry because he has TWO cavities!!

Whitney's first Dental check up

She was so good!

Another highlight this week was Aiden getting the 'Responsible Student' wristband. They took his picture at school and had him sign a certificate for being so responsible. Aiden hasn't taken it off to sleep or bathe! He is so proud of himself. :) We are proud of him too. He's such a good boy and has handled a lot of change this last year like a trooper!!

On Saturday Jeremy and Connor went to Alaska Days for scouts. Unfortunately Jeremy didn't take ANY pictures so I have to wait for another one of the parents to email me some so... more about that on another post.

While they were gone we ran errands, the usual. It was a nice day (relatively speaking) so we took Kayla out to the soccer field to run around.

Aiden LOVES his dog!

Kayla was so funny. She was terrorizing everyone. She kept stealing Aiden's football, then biting Whitney's pants, and then running away so no one could catch her. It was fun.

Whitney experimented with her hair and outfits. Such a girlie girl but then the tom-boy in her makes her carry that fake spider around at the same time.

She does this thing when she feels extra cute! There is really no way to explain it so I put it in this video. I love this little girl!!! :)



Whitney's thing lately is verifying who has bo-bo's and who has tu-tu's. (I'll let you figure out for yourself what those are!) After running errands and playing all day on Saturday I took Whitney and Aiden to see Planet 51. Here is the conversation Whitney had (loudly), in a packed theater, before the movie started:

Whitney: Mommy, do you have a bo-bo?
Amy: Yes
Whitney: oh. Aiden, do you have a tu-tu?
Aiden: (laughing and embarrassed) Yes
Whitney: oh.
Since no one else was there to answer for themselves Whitney spoke for them as well.
Whitney: Daddy has a tu-tu, Connor has a tu-tu, Kayla has a tail!

Week 47

Things finally feel like they are getting back to normal around here post-holidays! We didn't really do a whole lot this week outside of our normal routine... school, work, etc...

Saturday we decided to go up to Ramstein AirForce Base to see the new mall. I've been there before but no one else had. It's only 45 minutes away but we tried to get a room at the new hotel anyway. All the rooms were taken since it's a holiday weekend though so it was just a day trip.

The Mall was fun and had something for everyone...

Sorry Whitney... I couldn't resist!

The best part...

Eating at Chili's!

All the things we love about American restaurants: Chips and salsa right when you sit down, ice in the cups, a waiter that refills your soda before the last one is gone, kids menus with food they'll eat, plastic cups for kids with lids, and a bottle of ketchup on your table so you don't have to keep asking for it

Whitney has developed a unique fashion sense...

She loves to pick out her own clothes now and each outfit ALWAYS includes 'dressers' (skirts or dresses), something pink, and if she can get away with it 'slippities' (sandals or slippers). She has so much personality it's amazing!

Jeremy is always telling me that I need to write down all the funny things she says but when I go to write it down I can't remember! So, I thought I would add this story that happened this weekend while it is still fresh in my mind.

This weekend while shopping at the grocery store a woman passing us in the aisle was scolding her daughter and said 'don't make me tell you again!'
Whitney observed all of this and then started in with the questions...

W: Mommy, what happened?
A: The little girl got in trouble
W: Why did the Mommy say this 'don't make me tell you again!' really mad?
A: the little girl was doing something naughty
W: no, the little girl is nice
etc... etc...

The scolding Mom and two other Mom's in the aisle were cracking up!

Week 46

This week I had the rare opportunity to video Whitney singing one of her favorite songs. I am totally amazed at how many songs she know! However, as soon as I pull out the video camera she won't sing a word. So I felt pretty lucky to get all of this one.

To hear the actual song click here and fast forward to 2:45





We have had lots of snow this past week! We took advantage of it on Saturday and went sledding at Weinheim Castle all day. It was so much fun!

Walking up the hill for the first time. hmmm.... looks like it's gonna be a fun day!

Before the first run of the day.

Our dear friends here let us borrow this sled for Whitney. It was perfect! I would put her in the little chair at the top of the hill and then push her down where Jeremy would (hopefully) catch her.

You could hear Whitney laughing the whole way down. lol!

This picture is funny because you can see that all the Germans thought we were crazy for going down the hill with Kayla!

But Kayla LOVED it!

Jeremy and I were so busy making sure Whitney didn't get hurt so the boys just took off on their own most of the time.

We also had fun playing in the forest...

...and eating snow!

Whitney's way of telling us it was time to go home!


That night we let the boys each invite one friend to go see Alvin & The Chipmunks: The Squeakquel with us.


They thought they were really grown up sitting with their friends. It was a really cute movie!

Week 45

Mykonos Restaurant

Believe it, or not, the very small village we live in, Huttenfeld, has a GREAT Greek Restaurant, Mykonos. No visit would have been complete without eating there... at least once!

My Mom actually admitted to being jealous of this statue and wouldn't let me take a picture of my Dad with it! lol!

She had no trouble staring at these 2 statues all night though... lol!

Connor's Birthday

The worst luck you could imagine....
Connor was totally sick for his birthday.

I made waffles that morning for breakfast and he wasn't interested in eating. Right after breakfast was the beginning of his all-day-long vomiting!

After his first bout of vomit we still tried to go swimming as planned for Connor's bday. However, on the way there he looked like this...

Eventually, he looked like this and we knew it was time to go home. :(

We tried to have a "birthday party" for him still while he laid on the couch next to his "throw-up bowl" just in case.

That night was his baptism. Looking back, I wish we would have rescheduled it. By the time we decided he was too sick though it was too late. Poor little guy.

I was surprised how many people from our ward showed up, on New Year's Eve even!

Right before he was baptised

Right after being baptized. He threw up in the bathroom before coming back out of the dressing room. :(

Everyone just piled gifts onto his lap afterwards!

We had to leave before the big New Year's Eve party though.
It looked like it was going to be a lot of fun.

After the kids went to bed my Mom and I walked around Huttenfeld at midnight.

OH MY GOSH!!!

It was crazy. People were shooting off bottle rockets and all kinds of fireworks on our little street. In between houses and cars. I couldn't take pictures to accurately show the extent of these fireworks, but they were all around us. I was seriously in fear for my life at several times!

Here's Jeremy watching (hiding) from the window of our house...

2010

January 1... my parents caught their flight that morning and we had moment to catch our breath and decompress a little.

Saturday we decided we still needed to go swimming for Connor's bday






Looking at the snow from inside the swimming pool

Whitney had all the German Oma's in the locker room cracking up!!

McDonald's for lunch


Whew... birthday party... check!