Second Stop ... Regensburg ... or Ikea?

We went to look at furniture ... at a HUGE German store right next to Ikea.  We couldn't find anything we were dying to get so instead we went to tour Regensburg ... so much better!  Isn't this church amazing?!  There is so much detail to it and so much character!

I have a thing for shots like this ... they just make me happy!  I love how the background repeats!

Brat anyone?  No mustard for the kids though.

View of the church from across the bridge, with a little bit of Salsa mixed in.

First stop ... Rothenberg, Germany

Can you believe that this is only 2 hrs from our home??  

The Square, where the most disappointing clock exhibit was displayed.  We were so excited to see when the clock chimed, we even left some great company in order to see it live ... not impressive at all, maybe something went wrong and they had to stop it early but it wasn't worth it

Love this door so much!

View from the top of the church tower

View from outside of the city, on the city walls, over-looking the rest of the city!  Did that make any sense at all?  Anyway, beautiful!!

I loved these store signs!

I love how Emi wanted to take her picture with these women!

The famous street corner ... it was hard to get the lighting right on this picture ... especially when trying to work around all the people lingering and not moving for our own personal shot  :)

Waiting ...

Miles flew to Germany while we stayed in Utah at his parents home.  We couldn't travel together because they couldn't 'house' our family until Miles actually found a home for us to move into.  Above are the kids 'waiting' to see their daddy, and below, are all the cousins when we said goodbye to them and headed out to Germany a month after Miles.  Again, I'm so glad that the kids got to spend so much time with their cousins and get to know them better since we'll be so far away and gone for so long!  What a blessing thesy are in our lives!

A Crazy Day Trip

Seriously who calls (or even goes) from Utah to Alberta (Canada) to Waterton (Canada) to Washington State in a 36 hour time frame?  Yeah we do and did!  Before I left the United States I HAD to go and see my grandmother.  We first visited and spent the night with my dad's brother Uncle Thom and my Aunt Carol.  In the morning as we were saying our goodbye's my dad's sister Aunt Barbara, from Idaho, walked in the door.  It was so good to see them both!  Thank You so much for your kindness and great company!  It was so fun to watch the kids experience life on a farm ... especially the chickens and gathering the eggs they laid in the morning.

 

We then headed out to see my grandmother, who lives in Cardston where the LDS temple is.  You can't go to Cardston without getting a family picture in front of the temple ... even if you are pregnant and despise getting your picture taken.  

And here we are with my grandmother.  I was a total mess, I have to be honest.  I cried the entire time and I seriously couldn't stop.  I don't know when I'll be able to get back up to see this dear sweet woman but I had to see her before I left the country for 3 years.  The kids were great!  In fact, Paige was amazing and kept hugging and kissing her randomly throughout our visit.  My grandma got a kick out of that!  Thanks grandma for being such a wonderful example and such an amazing woman!  We love you!

And you can't go to Cardston without making it over to Waterton ... even if it is for just an hour.  I love Waterton, I always have!  This trip was a little tainted though.  The camera dropped out of our car when we opened the back and forced the lens sun shade to get stuck on the camera lens.  We managed to get the shade off our lens but then the lens wouldn't zoom in or out.  Seriously?!  We had to ship our lens to Nikon, have them fix it, pay mucho $$ for the repair and then crossed our fingers that it would get to me in Utah before I flew to Germany.   But isn't this picture of Emi with Miles so cute?!  I love it!  Every child needs a picture of just them and their daddy on vacations, it's priceless!

A little bit of Family Time with the Evanson's

The whole family was able to get together (all except Miles, of course) for a week in July.  It was so fun for all the grandkids to play together and get to know one another, especially for my own kids.  How cute are all these little rascals?!  

Happy 4th

    Happy Fourth of July!

Last Day of School

Yeah, I know, we are really, really, really behind in blogging ... but it has to be done, right?

Here are the girls on their last day of school, sporting their school T-shirts.  They were all too excited to be finished.  I was glad too, we were seriously the last ones to get out of school in the United States.  We were ready for a bit of summer!

Olympia's Dance Recital

Here are the girls at their dance recital before we moved.  They were so excited to participate and to be able to were BRIGHT makeup.  It was so funny to watch them admiring themselves in the mirror after they were all ready to go onto the stage.  They both did a great job, we were so proud of them!