GiVe AwAy!

My sister in law and I have started some new projects! And there is a giveaway. Everyone loves a giveaway! Go here to see all the details!

Lazy Day in Frankfurt

Today we took a lazy day and had a picnic at the park, went to the temple and to Hessenpark. It was nice to just stroll relax and let the little ones run wild at the park. We had ice cream. And Addison shared hers with Ellie. It was all in all a beautiful day!

Elder Carter and Holland

Elder Carter and Elder De Mass

Elder Carter and Foley



Today we made the trip to go see Cado. We were given strict instructions to call him at 10:30 and to address him as Elder Carter. First we called an hour late because we thought that Holland was an hour behind Germany. Then we called him Cado and Caden and so on. He would laugh and say what.... when I would call him by name. He shook our hands and gave Cory a hug. He introduced us to some Holland type sodas and some round hot dog looking things but had meat and potatoes inside of it. He showed us his bike and called a new memeber that they are in contact with named Foley from Africa. When he would talk to him he would suddenly get a strange accent. It was "hey man", "how you doing man", and "God permits" it was a great experience. And even with us there he was able to make some contacts. The guy at the restaurant asked why they were her and said he is very religious and is always looking for more information and they gave him their cards. After that we headed to the Anne Frank Museum. It was really neat but we were unable to get any pictures of that. We saw a few windmills and some tulips. But missed alot of that. We had to go to another city to see that. And I really wanted to go to the Anne Frank house. On the way home we were able to see Almere. We didnt go there but we saw the sign. It was a great as you can imagine!

Fussen, Germany

This was the last stop on our drive. We got there and stayed 2 days. It was so neat. Fussen is where King Ludwig was he was king and the Bavarian people did not think that he cared enough for his country that he was to interested in the "arts" and opera's so they claimed he was mentally ill and had him sent to prison while they waited on what to do about him. Mysteriously they found him and his doctor floating dead in a lake. He only lived in the castle for 114 days and didn't get any of the 2nd floor done or his throne finished. King Ludwig's father's castle is right below his. And the views are beautiful! This is where Walt Disney got Cinderella's castle from. Addison couldn't wait to see it. She was so excited to go to the castle and kept looking and pointing and jumping. The castle inside was amazing. You got to see where he slept and the kitchen and the servants quarters. Fussen is a cute little town. King Ludwig's father's castle is right below his. And the views are beautiful!

Venice, Italy

The Vineyards

Mozart's House
Venice when the fog was coming in. It was amazing!



On the drive from Munich to Venice everywhere you turn there are vineyards and castles, and churhes. They literally use every square inch for the grape vines. I could spend days in Venice! My parents have been there about 3 or 4 times and said that they always find something new. Venice is made up of several islands so there is a bridge at every little street. Cory didn't care so much for it because he said that it looked dirty. Which yes it did but it is several hundred years old. We stayed in a little hotel which was a block away from Mozart's house. The boys loved it because it had a "little sink" for kids. Come to find out they were talking about the bidet. We went to St.Marco's square which is very old the Catholic church is the center and then the prison is behind it.At one point we were feeding the birds at St. Marco square. There were some Chinese ladies there and they were wanting to take pictures with Addison and they kept watching Ellie sleep. But as soon as I pulled Ellie out of the carrier the camera's were whipped out!It's funny here in Europe because everyone makes over little babies.
The boys loved the pizza here and are trying to have ice cream in every country we go to.



Venice waterway

Pizza Pizza
more houses with their front doors on the water.

the "little kids sink"
feeding the birds
the ladies making a fuss with Ellie

Munich/Dachau

Dachau Concentration Camp


Munich, Germany Marien Plaza




On Tuesday after Cory and everyone got here and rested for a day we headed out on our journey towards Venice. We stopped in Munich and went to the concentration camp there called Dachau. This is one of the first concentration camps. It was started in 1932 for people they had political differences towards Hitler and then moved on to Jehova Witnesses, Jews, homosexuals, and so on. It was a "model" for what the rest of the concentration camps were to become like. They also tested alot of medical ideas here. The prisoners here were actually allowed more freedom than in other camps. Although it was interesting to see it was also as you can imagine very sad.
We went that night to Munich and I ordered the Wiener Schnitzel and well lets say I only got a few bites. Addie took it and ate it all from me. We all know how Addie eats and some how she either loves German and Italian food or she finally got her appetite! She ate the whole thing! So, now I may have to have Grandma Dee send some wiener schnitzel home every so often.

Frankfurt, Germany

Frankfurt Temple

Today was conference. And since we get it 8 hrs later we spent the day around Frankfurt. We went to see the Frankfurt temple. Which was really neat. It is built with a triangle ceiling and kind of on the side of the mountain. Then to an old catholic cathedral. It was amazing the beauty that they put inside it. You can't see it well in the pictures but the ceiling was all made of a crystal mosaic. Then to some old Roman Ruins, and to a little town from the 15 century called Hessenpark. They have a market in the middle of the square, it was amazing! Then when we got back my mom and I took Ellie on a walk through the cemetery across the street these are the neatest things. (The German's love babies. When we would pass almost everyone would stop and look and talk to Ellie.)The people here have to keep the plots clean or they get fined. And they are huge and everyone plants flowers on the plots. They have fountains and the water cans to fill so you can water the flowers on the plots. This cemetery has a huge section for the German's killed in war and right next to it on for the Jewish prisoners that were used in medical experiments. I love history and I can't believe what all is here. My mom said that alot was lost in WWII. I told my mom I can't believe that Hitler became so prideful and wanted to take over so much that he didn't protect the beauty and the history here. Its amazing! I hope you all like the pictures.

Catholic Cathedral

The crystal mosaic on the ceiling

Hessenpark, Germany

Cemetary outside parents apartment these are the graves of some Jewish prisoners

These are the graves of the soldiers from WWI and WWII.

Heidelberg, Germany

We are here. Ellie and I. We got here yesterday Fri 10:00am Germany time 2:00am Utah time. My parents were so excited to see Ellie. My mom could hardly put her down. We got to there apartment and walked immediately to their office right in front of there building. She had to show off her grand baby! One lady Lucia wanted to hold Ellie and rocked her to sleep and would not give her back.




Heidelberg Castle, Germany

View of Heidelberg from the castle
Ellie and I in the square with the castle in the back.

Today Saturday we went to Heidelberg about an hour away. It's a very old town. We went to the town square and to the castle that has all different periods starting from the 1300's-1700's. Each area of the castle has been added on through different time periods so there are all different styles to the castle. We are waiting for Cory, Addie and the boys to get here so that we can take them to Frankenstein's Castle which is about 30 mins away. So, we will post as we go along!



The castle moat, with some of the oldest part of the castle falling apart.

*Also very interesting. The Heidelberg Castle has
an extremely large wine vat in the cellars. This is one of the largest in the world it has a capacity of about 58,100 gallons and was made in 1751. One hundred and thirty oak trees were used in building it.

its a bit dark but you can see how small the people are against it.

Up Up and Away!

Well tomorrow is the big day. Ellie and I are heading out to Germany to spend some time with my parents and then Cory and the rest of the kids are coming. So I am cleaning off my camera and posting a few things. I will try to do some blog writing on the trip. Because we can't wait for everyone to see some of the pics.

Two Girly Girls?

I love these pictures. Addison is all into dress up and makeup and she is teaching Ellie that she needs to be the same. Addison has some plastic pretend finger nail polish and she is painting Ellie's nails. She even took my eyeshadow and we got in a fight because she kept trying to put some on Ellie's eyes telling me that Ellie wants some on. And in the last picture you probably can't tell that well. But she is trying to get a ring on Ellie's finger. And of course Ellie is being her little content self letting Addie experiment on her.

A little Small

I was cleaning up Ellie's room because Addison loves to go in through the boxes of old clothes that no longer fit Addie but are waiting for Ellie to grow into. So, Addison thought that this was a pretty dress and got it on. It's a size 0-3 months!
Let me tell you. It was hard getting it off her. Not because it was small. But because she wouldn't take it off!