We are finally home! Now that I have a computer and access to pictures, I will be updating my blog over the next week or so. I want to capture as many of the memories as possible. Watch for at least 4 more posts as I update at least each city that we visited on this AMAZING trip!
The bad
1- no air conditioners or even fans - apparently it only gets hot a few days a year and that is now. Can be uncomfortable
2- no ice - warm drinks aren't as refreshing on a hot day
3- bloodwurst - tried it before I knew what it was - liked it even worse when I found out what it was.
The good
1-singinging in St Stephens. - amazing venue. Watching people listen that don't know these kids is a treat. I watched a man push his family aside because he wanted to stay and they wanted to leave. He stayed from beginning to end.
2- baroque architecture. I was born in the wrong era
3-schniitzle- awesome, enough said
4- Viennese music - we had two men join us for dinner with an accordian and violin. So much fun!
5- evening breezes
there are are many stories to tell, but they will have to wait until a can type instead of text
Monday started off without too many challenges. We got up and headed right out. We were asked to check in at 8:30 for a 10:09 departure. On our way to the airport both Addyson and I noticed. We had forgotten our watches. We decided we would buy new ones as a souvenir. Upon arrival at the airport. We found. Out our flight had been delayed two hours. That gave Marty time to run home for our watches! Our delay quickly turned into a 3 hour delay. Thankfully one of the kids brought cards and games helped pass away the time.
We made our connecting flight with just a few minutes to spare. The flight into Munich was a long one! The seats reclined just enough to be uncomfortable. I did get about an hor nap but that was all.
upon arrival we drove to downtown Munich. What a beautiful, clean city. We took a guided walking tour of downtown. One stop was a palace. The accoustics in the courtyard were amazing. One of the parents asked if the kids would sing. Music quickly filled the courtyard and spilled onto the street. Many people came into the courtyard to listen. These kids were sleep deprived and not warmed up but they were breathtaking. One of the musuem workers heard them and invited them into Mozarts opera house. Apparently that is a rare invitation. They were then asked to sing in the opra house. Few dry eyes remained at the end of their song.
We ate lunch at the open air market. Not sure what we ate, but it was AWESOME! Sausage and a pretzel that was over 12 inches! YUMMY!
That's the hilights of day one. We will see what day 2 brings.
One of the great things about living in Northwest Arkansas and working for Walmart is Shareholder's week. Usually the first week of June, thousands of Walmart store associates converge on our small town to attend the annual Shareholder's meeting on Friday. During the week, there are numerous festivities to be had.
This year, Jessica and I had the opportunity to attend the Tuesday night concert featuring Darius Rucker and Lady Antebellum. Concert was free and concessions were cheap, so for $10 we got dinner & an awesome concert! So much fun!
Anyone that follows this blog knows I am not good at taking nor uploading pictures to this blog. However I remembered that it is easy to upload pictures to facebook and send a public link to the pictures. Much easier than uploading 50 pictures here. So, if you would like to see all the fun we had at our BBQ today, you can see it here.
Overall we had a ton of fun. I have found with the youth, all you have to do is provide a place and plenty of food and they will entertain themselves. We ended up with a total of 17 and they definitely kept themselves entertained.
Food today consisted of hamburgers (complete with a Krispy Kreme challenge), hot dogs, chips, & soda. Great kid friendly fare.
The activities that they found to do included football, volleyball, trampoline, brick scaling, water fight, tag, hide and seek. Over all they had a blast. Love these kids!
OK, it's time to check in on how I am doing on my New Year Resolutions. You can go HERE to read my full list of resolutions. Here's the brief breakdown.
1. Strengthen relations with extended family
2. Take tons of pictures of my girls
3. Update my blog weekly
4. Read, read, read
5. Improve my relationship with Jesus Christ
So. How am I doing? Not so good! Let's explore a little deeper.
1. I guess this depends on who you classify as extended family. I have reconnected with several cousins over the past few months. I even met with one over the weekend (SUPER FUN!) I don't skype as much as I thought we would, but I have done MUCH better than last year. I would rate myself a B-
2. Utter failure! I can't remember to bring my camera with me for anything. I keep my phone with me, but don't have a way to get the pictures off my phone, so I don't use it. I did get a small netbook for Mother's day that has a built in camera. That stays in my purse, so perhaps that will help. Overall rating F.
3. You can check this one out for yourself. We are in the 19th week of the year and this is my 8th post. Pretty ridiculous. I think I've got some catching up to do. Overall rating F.
4. I do read something everyday. I haven't read a book yet (except for the Book of Mormon) but I have read a ton of blogs, magazines, newspapers, etc. This weekend I bought two books for me to read. I would have to give myself a B+ in this area.
5. This is a tough one for me to judge. It will take me an eternity to build the kind of relationship that I need to have with my Savior. However, each day I grow closer as I explore a new gospel principle, put it into action, and see the results. I have experienced and witnessed miracles. This will be an ongoing, eternal journey that I am looking forward to.
If my goals were classes in school, I would be a drop out. However, that is not the case. I am a better person today than I was when I set these goals. This weekend I went to a women's retreat that challenged us to become the woman God has meant for us to be. I can see His hand in my development as I strive to improve myself each day. I am not perfect and I am not making perfect progression (or even good progression) on my goals. However, I like who I am becoming and I look forward to who I will become.
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I have been wanting to take a valentine treat into work. I have been searching blogs for just the right treat. I think I finally found what I want to make. I wanted to share as this would make a great visiting teaching treat, or neighbor treat. The site even has an adorable way to present it, though I won't be doing that for work. None of the men there would appreciate the pretty packaging. They just want the food.
http://mydigitalcreations.blogspot.com/2011/01/valentine-party-kit-paint-can-wrapper.html
I have been putting in some EXTREMELY long hours. I was quickly approaching the point of burn out. My boss approached me and demanded I take a day off as to not hit my breaking point. Marty and I took full advantage.
We left Friday right after seminary and drove to OKC. It is a great place in life to be able to leave your kids for an overnight stay :) (they can offer that same service to our local friends if you would like an overnight escape) As you can expect, I took no pictures, but our itinerary looked something like this:
1 - drive to Tulsa and walk around the mall.
2 - eat a fantastic chicken salad sandwich with clam chowder at the cheesecake factory
3 - take a slice of AWESOME cheesecake to go
4 - nap from Tulsa to OKC - oh how I love an afternoon nap
5 - check into the hotel for some additional rest and relaxation
6 - head to a few stores to do some shopping, bought an IPOD system that mounts to the wall in our bathroom, 2 pair of kickin' shoes (Amanda you would totally love the purple alligator stilettos), a few trinkets at the dollar store.
7 - ate dinner at Macaroni grill. Oh how I wish there was a M.Grill in NWA.
8 - call it an early night and head to the hotel
9 - sleep in until 10:30 - I can't believe that. I never sleep that late. My natural body clock goes off at 4:30. I fought through the wake-up call and fell back to sleep.
10 - Attend the temple to witness our dear friends sealed as a family - The spirit testified to me multiple times that day the truth and importance of eternal families. It was amazing to be in the celestial room and know EVERYONE in that room. That is Heaven!
11 - Uneventful drive home with hubby.
WHAT A FANTASTIC WEEKEND! I am now renewed and ready for another busy workweek. Thank you Jeff for pushing me to take a day off. Thank you Addyson, Jessica & Rylee for being responsible enough to leave at home. Thank you Marty for escaping with me. I am a blessed woman!
Rylee and Addyson each bought a nook with their Christmas money. They wanted to get covers at the time, but just didn't have the money. After a few more babysitting jobs, they had the money. We searched high and low for a cover to add a little protection to them (and personality). We discovered they are quite expensive and just couldn't find one that was exactly like what they wanted. As we looked, I found a spot that sold the pattern to make your own cover. They wanted $10 just for the pattern. That got me thinking, could I look at a cover and figure out how to make one myself? I decided to take on the challenge. I don't know that anyone else could use this as a tutorial as I didn't do a very good job of taking pictures of each step, but I did take pictures of all the materials and the final product. Rylee is thrilled with hers. Now I just need to make Addyson's.
We bought 4 fat quarters (you could use scraps if you had them, but we didn't), black buttons, black elastic. We also used some iron on adhesive that I already had and an old cardboard box. I spent a total of $7 and have enough materials to make 4 covers. Rylee's cover took me about 2 hours. I hope to be faster with Addyson's. Totally free project if you have materials laying around your house.
Last Saturday was Jessica's Birthday. I was fighting with my computer at the time and just couldn't get photos to load. So, I waited until today to celebrate her birthday on our family blog. Since she turned 15, I have included 15 things that I LOVE about Jessica. I also found some fun pictures of Jessica through the years. It was fun to go down memory lane as I found all these fun pictures.
1. Full of energy
2. Can do anything
3. Beautiful smile
4. Gorgeous eyes
5. Phenomenal voice
6. Tender hearted
7. Brilliant
8. Super organized
9. Outgoing
10. Great friend
11. Likes to snuggle her mama
12. Easily forgives others
13. Great shopping buddy
14. Ambitious
15. Daughter of God
