Tuesday, July 28, 2009

Family Fun

Four days after we returned from Germany we were blessed to have Steve's Mother, Step-Father, nephew and his sister Cheryl come to visit us for a week. We had a fabulous time together. We took them up to Park City to the Alpine slide. Steve and his Mom took the scenic tour and went to the top of the mountain and back on the lift. It took them about an hour and half, they said it was a beautiful ride, but too hot! The rest of us took off to the slide.
Here is the rest of the gang taking the lift to the sledding trail. We were having a great time, Courtney took mine and Lexi's picture then I turned and took everyone else's picture.
I don't think Micheal liked the lift ride. At least Casey and Kandace smiled. Lining up to go down the hill. Not quite sure what Cheryl is doing, but at least it got Micheal to smile for a minute. We all raced down the hill. I got stuck behind a little boy that didn't know how to go fast, oh well, I got to just sit and look at the beautiful scenery. The rest of the time we spent playing everyday. We went to the movies, and if you go and see "My Sisters Keeper" take a box of tissues. I took the girls shopping at all the fun Utah shops, "Rod Works" Gardner Village" and other great girls stops. Steve took the guys four wheeling and to the Bingham Cooper mine. Casey and Tineke provide us all with a great brunch on Sunday. We had such a good time. Thursday everyone left, then Friday our next batch of family came in to visit. Austin and Cody Okuda and family stopped in for a few days.
Saturday Morning Austin and I ran a 5k. We are training for a half marathon in September. We are proudly sporting our awards that we recieved. Austin came in third in her age division and I came in second for my age division. Whew...now if I can make it 10 more miles for the 1/2 marathon. Austin gave me "Glitter Toes" after our run. She actually ended up doing 4-sets of "Glitter Toes" before she left. We loved it! Thanks Austin for tackling our toes.
The highlight of the week was our trip to the Draper temple Saturday night. Cameron took out his own endowments. We stopped outside afterwards and took a quick picture. In this picture is Adair and Vicki Vaterlaus, Grandma and Grandpa Haupt, Karen, Cameron, Austin and Cody Okuda.Courtney and Leah made us all some "Death by Brownies" Leah remembered making cookies with Courtney last year and wanted to make a treat. I think she was in it for licking the spatula when they were done, what do you think???? Sunday after church we all took Courtney back to Oakcrest Girls Camp. She took us on a great hike to the top of the mountain. This is Austin and Cody carrying Leah and Elynn up the steep mountain trail. Austin said she was sweating, and it was tough, so I took Elynn for the rest of the trip up. I found out why Austin was sweating. Elynn was heavy.
Courtney, Kandace and Cameron pose for me as they hiked up the trail. We got to do the "Zipline" Obstacle course and archery. We had soo much fun.
Okuda Family picture at the top of the mountain. Such a cute family. We finished out our time with the Okuda's by attending the Oqurrih Mountain Temple open house. This temple was beautiful, the girls loved it. We were so lucky to have great company stop in and visit us these last couple of weeks. The summer is flying by and October will get here too fast for me. I really hope everyone keeps stopping by, we love to have you come and visit! Thanks for the family fun!

Tuesday, July 14, 2009

Germany...WOW..What an amazing adventure!

What can I say, Germany is absolutely amazing. We arrived on Monday morning at 8 AM, that was midnight Sunday for us. We hit the ground running. Our exchange student Thomas and his parents Gert and Barbara Frahsek were the best tour guides ever. We started with a tour of downtown Dusseldorf. Then we drove to Koln. This first picture is of us in front of the Koln Cathedral, one of the worlds largest buildings. The construction of the cathedral took over 600 years. The building has turned black from the pollution. The cathedral was hit serveral times during World War II, you can see the repair on the bottom left of the building.
This is the entry into the Cathedral. There are carvings of biblical prophets and the arch is also carvings, the details were endless. We were amazed at every detail. Cameron, Thomas and I climbed to the top of the bell tower, 533 steps to the top. The view was worth it. This is me and Cameron by the bells, thank goodness they didn't go off while we were standing there.
The Frahsek's took us on a 3-day road trip of East Germany. This is a picture of us shopping at a cute village in the Rhine Valley. The Rhine valley had a castle around every corner, we lost count of all the castles.This is the side view of the Heidelberg Castle. Noticed that the side of it has been bombed.This is the courtyard inside Heidelberg. More amazing architecture.Cameron practicing his tracting techniques at the Castle door. No one answered.Here I am at my favorite Hotel "Hotel Bergidyll" It was like stopping at Grandma's house for the night. I loved how quaint it was. In the morning we woke up to what I thought was wind chimes. We later found out it was the cowbells as the cows were grazing on the grass. We had a balcony view of the Alps of Austria. It was breath taking!Here is Cameron and Thomas at the Neuschwanstein Castle. Patiently waiting to begin our trek up the hill. Steve, me and Cameron in front of the Castle before we take our tour inside. Steve, me,Cameron, Gert and Barbara Frahsek in front of the castle.
The courtyard. This is just one of the absolutley breath taking views out one of the windows of the Neuschwanstein Castle. There were amazing views out every window. There are seven lakes to view from the top. So this is just one of the lakes.
Another view out another window, another lake. Notice the Alps in the back ground.
Details at every corner. Can you make out what this is?
This is a view of "Mary's Bridge" named after King Ludwigs mother. This is where we stood to take the next picture....
This is Cameron, me and Thomas on the bridge. A great view of the castle, but a little scary with a million tourist on it and soo high in the air.
This is St. Coloman church that was near the castle in Bavaria.
This is the view from outside of the church, notice the Bavarian Alps in the background.
This is the amazing art work inside of the church.
Cameron kept saying that all he wanted for his souvenir were Lederhosen. We really thought once he tried them on he would change his mind. Oh no, he came home with a full outfit. Lederhosen, shirt, hat, socks and shoes. Ask him to put them on next time you see him. He is quite proud of his outfit.
After his big purchase, it was time to eat. Here are the boys enjoying lunch at the village butcher shop. They had "Liver cheese" yea, just the name turned me away, but they really liked it!
Us walking through the town square in Munich. Another town full of history and architecture.
This is Steve in front of the Nurnberg Castle door.
Cameron, me and Steve at the Munich Castle, the view over looks the rear courtyard where they would stock deer for hunting.
This is us with all of Thomas's family on our last night in Germany. We were so blessed to have such wonderful host to show us all around the country. We were all amazed at the beauty and history of the country. We hope we will have the opportunity to go again and learn and see more. Thanks Frahsek Family for the fabulous memories! We'll miss you Thomas!