Sunday, December 4, 2011

Christmas Time!


I've decided to take a break from my vacation postings and update on my family. So much has happened in the last year, and I am so sad that I have not kept on top of recording these events. Here are a few pics of my sweet boys for you all to enjoy!

I can't believe how fast these little men of mine are growing! Carter will be 22 months on the 11th and Grant is 4.5 - do not say he is just four, it's four and a half and he WILL correct you!

These boys of mine fight hard! They want what the other has and will scream until one gets their way. Despite their differences, they are also best buddies. We purchased a set of bunk beds for the boys because our new home in Grand Junction, CO is so small, this was really the only option. Every night, they sleep snuggled up to one another on the top bunk. The first few days I about had a panic attack just waiting for one of them to plummet off the bed to their death, but so far so good!




Some fun things about Carter include:
He just began saying "I love you!"
He loves to sing.
When he goes to kiss you, he sticks his bottom lip out and says, "mmmmm."
He likes to make you smell his feet...?
He takes his diaper off roughly 600 times a day.
He loves "ba bas" and cheese A LOT!
He is probably just as busy, if maybe not mores than Grant was at this age, and that's saying something.

Some fun things about Grant:
He also loves to sing and makes up the most outrageous words when he is stumped by the lyrics.
He does not want a new baby but would be okay with a kid brother.
If the baby is a boy he would like to name it Lincoln, if it's a girl (which it's not), he first chose Obama....but quickly changed his mind to Washington!
He makes up the craziest phrases including: "You crazy crinkly comet," or "You're a meaner" (those are two of my personal favorites).
Not only can he spell his name, he can spell Gold's Gym. That's right, Gold's Gym. I usually take the boys with me when I go workout and one night, Grant just decided to memorize how to spell the name of the center. Pretty funny!
Unlike his brother, Grant hates food and reminds me of this fact constantly.


As you probably concluded from the paragraphs above, we recently moved from Wyoming to Grand Junction, CO. It's definitely been a change. I miss my friends like crazy but am slowly adjusting here. I do enjoy the shopping!
Nathan is as busy as ever, which is both a blessing and a curse. We can't complain when the pay check comes, but we sure miss him while he is gone!
We are also expecting our 3rd little boy in May. I'm still a little in shock that I will have three boys, but I also couldn't be more excited!
I felt this little man move on Logan's birthday, which is great because I will never forget the date. Man is this kid a wiggler too.




That about sums up the happenings in our life lately! We hope you all have a wonderful Christmas season filled with lots of joy and yummy food!

Thursday, December 1, 2011

Germany: Days 8 & 9

I'm finally updating on our vacation again! I really need to stay ontop of this because I am forgetting details of our vacay by the minute! Anyway...
We headed out of Amsterdam, which I was not too saddened by, and made our way towards Germany. By now, with all the plane and train rides we had taken thus far, I was getting quite good at hoping on our means of transporation and falling right to sleep; this ride was no exception. I woke up about 3 hours later, leaving only another 2 hours left until we hit Berlin. The ride was pretty quiet for the most part, but at the last hour, the other man sitting in our compartment decided to become friendly. He was quite the interesting fellow. We learned that he was from Poland, worked in the oil fields, and didn't really like his wife or children...The most memorable thing about this guy though was the fact that he rummaged through mine and Nathan's garbage, took our half eaten desserts, put them his bag, while he casually carried on a conversation with us. I don't think I have ever tried so hard in my entire life not to bust out laughing! HILARIOUS!


Well, we finally made it to Germany, which did I mention that we missed our scheduled train there too! We were awesome at missing our trains! So, in Germany....this station was massive! We did figure out how to get to our hotel though without too much trouble! Once we got to the hotel, we just kind of relaxed and enjoyed the evening. We went out to eat at a little restaurant right down the street from the hotel! I had my very first taste of weinersnitzel, which was fantastic!

The next morning the real fun began! I had accidentally misplaced my mascara so we walked down the road looking for some kind of drug store to purchase a new one! After we finally found some makeup, which was super expensive by the way, we continued walking for like EVER to the bust stop where we would begin our "Berlin Hop-on-and-off" tour. Of course, we missed our bus and had to wait for the next, which thank goodness, was only like 15 minutes, and our adventures through Berlin began!


Walking down the street to find some makeup! The roads were lined with these bears. Each one represents a different country around the world.

I can't remember the exact order anymore of all the places we stopped, but I am pretty one of the first places was the Jewish Museum. This museum was very...interesting. The architecture along with all the elements of the place are set up to basically make you feel as lost and uncomfortable as possible. It's suppose to be a sort of representation of the Holocaust. It worked; I felt really awkward and empty throughout the whole tour!




Somewhere on this bus ride we passed a big portion of the Berlin Wall.

After our trip to the Jewish Museum, we walked over to Checkpoint Charlie. I swear there were like 10 million people here! It was hard to take in because of the craziness of it all!




We stopped for lunch at this fun, and delicious, little restaurant. I swear we were there for two hours! That's just how they role in Europe; eating is a day long affair!
So this is where all the details of Germany kind of become blurred together. After lunch, I think we just kind of wandered around and found some things to look at. We came across this beautiful....church...I think it was. It's so sad I can't remember for sure! Right next to the church was this amazing museum filled with artifacts from Classical Greece and Rome and even pre-Rome, i.e. the Etruscans and such! I was in heaven.


Another view of the possible church! So beautiful!


Inside the museum!


A Roman bath infront of the museum.


A neat building, which of course I can't remember its function, while we were driving, or possible walking, through Berlin!

The Brandenburg Gate, also surrounded by like 5 million people! Ugh...tourists...(;



These crazy tour bikes were all over town! It was really funny to see like 8, or however many people they seat, trying to maneuver these suckers around!

After the Brandenburg Gate, I think we headed back to the hotel. Nathan had to leave to go pick up the rental car, which was an interesting experience in itself. Once he got back to the hotel, we hit the hay early. The next day we would be up bright and early. Next stop Poland to see Auschwitz.