Schwaeger

Ben's 2 brothers paid us a visit last month! That was really the highlight of our summer! The girls love Mark and Greg....well, we all do, but they are especially fond of them.

This is Greg. He's almost 17.

They were both so happy!

And here's Mark. 27, very cute, fun guy... available. Wink wink!

Mark and Greg slept in Kaitlyn's room...so they heard the girls wake up before we did. Almost every morning, they were up early with them while we lazy bums slept in! We were so spoiled!!

Kaitlyn Burrito. Yummy!

We had a lot of German food while the boys were here. One of the German specialties we enjoyed at home was Quark (pronounced Qvark). Quark is like yogurt and cream cheese mixed together. You blend it with whipping cream and some fruit. Lecker!!

Here's what we did while they were here:

Burg Eltz. Major workout in and out of the valley to this castle. We did a tour and enjoyed it (as much as one can enjoy a castle tour with a 2 and 4 year old).

Düsselstrand, a.k.a., one of the many indoor pools here in Düsseldorf

(side note)Men and boys here like to wear skimpy speedos. Its really fun going to public swimming pools. Plenty of flesh for all to see!

Bike ride in the woods of Ratingen. It started to rain so the crew had to come back and gear up. The rain didn't stop them!!

Boat ride on the Rhein, the river that cuts through the middle of Düsseldorf

The Düsseldorf Rheinturm. 170 meters or so up to the top where we enjoyed pizza and amazing views of the whole area.

I could not even come close to these windows without wanting to faint. Kids have no idea that these windows could just break at any moment. ;)

Couldn't resist putting this lovely picture of Kaitlyn in! This is at the Italian ice cream store in our town.

Newness

I haven't written much about this, but I have felt like I could use this experience as an opportunity to share my beliefs about the church and about why we do what we do.

In March, I was asked by the bishop to be the temporal and spiritual leader of the women's organization (Relief Society in English. Frauenhilfsvereinigung in German). As you know, my German is a work in progress. On top of the language barrier, there also exists a cultural one. I am only 27 and have had no "experience" as a leader of an organization. The list of reasons why I shouldn't have been called as the FHV leiter could go on.

I doubted and asked, why in the world would the Lord ask ME to do such a task?

A friend, who doesn't share my same beliefs, created more doubt in my mind and told me that it was crazy and that I should ask for a different calling. I explained to her that the Lord's ways are not our ways, His thoughts, not ours. It helped me to be able to say that outloud.

Another friend, firm in the faith, exhorted me to not look at myself as the leader, but as the servant.

I believe that the bishop of our ward is inspired and listens to Heavenly Father through the Holy Ghost...and then he chooses. I also had to do my own "finding out" and did that through prayer. As I prayed to know that this was right and also, who my counselors (assistants) should be, I had very peaceful feelings come over me. These opportunities that we are given in our church to serve are no doubt for our own growth and the growth of those we serve. I have seen this already in the past 3 months. I have felt myself spending more time praying and reading the words of God, contained in the scriptures. I think more about other people than before. I feel a love developing for each indiviudual.

I always thought my life would really be turned upsidown because of this calling...but it has stayed much the same--I still have time to play with the kids, go on dates with Ben, do the laundry, be on facebook, call my family, etc. The Lord has expanded my time and has also taught me how to balance that time.

Here we are at the temple in Frankfurt.We went together, feeling this was a good way to begin our service. Lena (left), me, Michaela

She's an ARTIST

Do you remember that line from Toy story 2, after the Prospector gets put into the little girl's backpack? (sorry for those of you who haven't seen Toy Story). Natalee recently proved to us that she too, is an artist. However, she would much rather draw on herself than paper. This time, she used blue sharpie.

When she's not coloring on her legs, she and Kaitlyn are typically outside with 10-20 of the neighborhood kids (okay, not really but sometimes it feels that way!) Sometimes its too much for Kaitlyn to handle, emotionally, and therefore it is too hard for me to handle! Natalee is a trooper and tries to keep up with Kaitlyn and her friends. They run or ride their bikes down the street and Natalee runs or pedals her little push car after them. I will say this, however--Natalee can beat up her big sister. ;)

I am finally seeing how beautiful this place is. Most beautiful are the huge fields of tall yellow flowers. Germans love bouquets of flowers. At the outdoor markets, women flock to the flower stands to buy cut flowers. With spring also comes the sale of Spargel, a.k.a. asparagus. It is EVERYWHERE--unfortunately, I happen to hate Asparagus.

Another "tradition" of Germans during the spring is wearing coats. I mentioned this once before, but German people really don't like taking off their coats. It is a whopping 20 degrees celcius (around 72-73 Fahrenheit) and people, I kid you not, are wearing coats. Mommies still put hats on their kids. Don't get me wrong, I still do put coats on the kids in the mornings when it is a little chilly--but that's as far as I let it go!

For mother's day, the girls (and Ben) made me a M-O-M made out of cardboard--complete with crayon scribble and some quotes about motherhood. I got breakfast in bed...and so did the girls. Ben just got Kaitlyn's eggs smooshed into his side of the bed. What a guy. My favorite part, however, was hearing Kaitlyn wake Natalee up (after being dad's helper downstairs). She said, with such Christmas-like excitement in her voice "IT'S MOTHER'S DAY NATALEE!! IT'S MOTHERS DAY!!" My kids show me the same love that they have seen their dad give me. It humbles me to the core.

Yes, yes, I let my 2 year old stir raw eggs. I have long awaited the days when I could bake cookies with my girls. Although its not the most clean and orderly proccess, they like to do it and I like to teach them. Maybe one day, they will take over the kitchen duties of the house and I can nap all day. Don't you love how it appears that she is reading the scriptures while she cooks? Aren't we so righteous.

Since this post has been mostly about the girls, I will throw in the last little paragraph about Ben and I. I just recently took a step toward being German and bought me a city bike. I attach the girls in a trailor behind me and we ride all over. I feel very German...since everyone rides bikes around here. I'm staying busy with my new job in the FHV (relief society women's organization at church). Ben just got promoted to the position he originally came out here for. They're finally giving him the official title of manager. Way to go T-birdy. We are coming up on our 8th anniversary and feel so very blessed. Before this starts to feel like a cheesy Christmas letter, I will halt meine Klappe! (shut my pie hole)

Bayern or Bust

The highlight of the month for us was a visit from Grandma Thomas. My dad was in Munich for business and was also able to come after my mom came. He stayed for 2 days and the girls loved every minute with him. It was so great to have the feeling of family close by after 5 months of being around only new people and strangers.

Ben had been wanting to get back down to visit his mission area and we figured that Grandma Thomas's visit would be a perfect time to do this! She was such a huge help to us on the trip--from cleaning our vacation rental and putting the girls to bed to paying for things and helping out while we toured for a week.

Here's my beautiful mom with my sweet husband and KT bug. We had to rotate seating because of car sickness and kid-entertaining-exhaustion.

We drove about 5 hours south, stopping at the Frankfurt Temple and also Munich on the way, to a little mountain town called Chiemgau and stayed in a vacation rental for 5 nights. I would highly recommend this for anyone traveling on a budget. We payed only 60 euros a night for a 2 bedroom apartment with a kitchen.

We really picked a great time to take a vacation , right?

Here's a little video of Ben and Natalee at the apartment in Chiemsee.

We had great weather the the first full day in Chiemgau. We went to Prien, which is a port town on Chiemsee (See=Lake). We took a boat to Herrenchiemsee island and took a beautiful 30 minute walk up to the Herrenchiemsee castle. We took a tour, ate lunch, then made our way back to the ship.

When we got back, Kaitlyn and I trecked up the hill behind the house and attempted to sled.We had no snow clothes so we were very wet! The snow was way too wet and we went absolutely nowhere. Kaitlyn enjoyed munching on the snow...so she was content!

Day 2, of which we have no pictures, was spent in Innsbruck, a town in the Austrian Alps. We went to the Innsbruck zoo, which is situated on the side of a mountain. It was a workout for Ben, as he had the duty of pushing the stroller up all the hills. This was probably the first time that the girls actually enjoyed a zoo that we've gone to!

We spent Sunday driving up to Neuoetting and attending a small branch (congregation) where Ben knew a lot of people from his missionary days. It was such an amazing thing to see that the church is the same wherever in the world we go and no matter how few members there are. The teachings are the same and the faith is as strong. There were probably about 15 people attending and many recognized Ben and made us all feel welcome.

Here is the branch meeting house

Day 4 was spent in Salzburg, Austria--the city of Mozart and Julie Andrews. Our first destination was through the center of Mount Moenchberg by elevator. We were able to see the whole city of Austria from the top.

A mime in the square that handed out stickers when Kaitlyn dropped a coin in his pot.

We also went to Mozart's birthhouse, ate some Mozart Kugel (chocolate balls), got ice cream and then walked through the city up to Hohensalzburg, the 14th century fortress that overlooks the city. We zipped up to the top by train and took a tour. I don't know...castles are great and all...but certainly challenging to take 2 small children through. Not sure if the effort of getting up there and keeping the kids in line was worth the things that we saw as we walked around. I think they can be best enjoyed from afar.

Here is the castle on our way up in the train. There's also a good view of the castle in the picture of Ben and Jess above.

Overall, we really thought Salzburg was a beautiful city. It was neat to be walking the streets and seeing the buildings as Mozart had once done.

Day 5 was our favorite day. We checked out of the Ferienwohnung and drove southwest to Garmisch Partenkirchen to the Zugspitze, the highest peak in Germany. We took a train up to the plateau and then a cablecar up to the very top. The views were astounding and we all got willies in our bellies when we would lean against the railing. The Italian and Austrian alps were all around us. Kaitlyn and I threw snowballs and ice off the side, watching it splat on the cliffs below us. Not exactly a skiing expert here, but it looked like a great place to ski. We were probably the only people up there not dressed in ski clothes!

We made a beautiful drive away from Garmisch and went to Schwangau- the home of the "Cinderella" castle, called Neuschwanstein. My mom treated us to a hotel right at the base of the castle.

That next morning, Day 6, was a cold and foggy day. We took a horse drawn carriage up the mountain to the castle and did not do the tour, based on previous castle tour disasters of the trip! We took a 20 minute walk over to the Marienbruecke which provided a spectacular view of the side of the castle that had construction on it. Nevertheless, the landscape beneath us and around us far outdid the manmade structure.

By the end of the trip, we had watched at least 15 hours of Barney and Natalee was once again dependent upon the binki. What can I say. Its all about survival! I am certainly looking forward to the days when Natalee can sit contently during a car trip without a constant song and a dance. I'm so grateful for our little Kaitlyn who sat quietly and enjoyed herself.

Doesn't she look spent? You should've seen her parents and grandma at this point!

Growing up

We were talking today about how much the girls are growing. Sometimes we are so anxious for our kids to grow out of the "diapers, cutting up food, constant needs" stage, but then there's times that we really enjoy this stage of their lives.

The last month has been very rainy and chilly, making it difficult to play or walk outside. When the sun peeks its face from behind the clouds or if I see even a small amount of blue, I want to just capture it and make it stay. Coming are the days of outside play and walks after dinner.

I've always believed that kids are happier when they're outside, and that every child needs at least an hour outside every day.

A few pics and words about the girls.

Kaitlyn

Saying simple sentences in German

Attending German Kindergarten

Loves to swing and draw

Roams the neighborhood looking for her friends or riding her bike

Natalee

Favorite phrases are "hemee" (help me), "ahback" (be right back) and "comeen now"

Loves to play kitchen and push anything around

Addicted to the night binki

Gives the greatest, wettest, mushiest, longest kisses

Signs

Things around here are changing little by little.

Though the temperatures are still quite chilly, they are creeping up and spring is starting to peek. I love flowers and I love working outdoors in the garden. (Chalk that up to being raised in a family that did yardwork and a mother who also loves being in the yard.) The weekly outdoor markets and the grocery stores are now selling tulips and sprouted bulbs for people to plant. I chuckle as I walk by in my coat, shivering. Nevertheless, we do have crocuses in our yard and I am quite thrilled. Its the beginning of warm. Never thought I'd miss it.

Another pleasant gift that came our way this week was an attention span for Natalee. Although she didn't sit through more than 15 minutes of the Barney movie, we were still so thrilled. "Its the beginning of a new era", Ben said. A nice but outspoken woman in our ward came down on us for letting our kids watch movies on car trips. What would she say about sticking our 1 year old in front of a movie while we, heaven forbid, get dinner ready without her constant whining and pulling??

Karneval was last week. The celebration seemed to never end! It began on Wednesday and ended Monday night. Kaitlyn dressed up for school on Wednesday and then we went to the primary karneval activity at the church on Saturday evening. I found Karneval to be a very peculiar holiday, given that Germans are stereotypically more serious, to themselves and reserved. They sure suprised me.

Ben in dreads and Nat as a ballerina dancing in the train.

Our primary has about 25 kids, 12-15 of which are American. I am the teacher for the 3-4 year olds and have been asked by our bishop to teach my lessons in German. Its a great place for me to start because I do a lot of repeating and use a lot of simple words. Its very humbling!

National Pastime

Being at a German soccer match is not like any sporting event I've been to in the US. The closest description would be an intense high school rivalry football game, in the play-offs and then multiply that by a 1000 (give or take a few). And the funny thing was this game wasn't even between rivals.



My good friend from church, Manfred (pictured above), invited me to join him in watching his team, F.C. Köln, play against Karlsruhe about two weeks ago (yeah, I'm slow getting this up but hey it's here now).


Here is the fan section where they go NUTS throughout the whole game. And this particular game was rather boring (0-0 draw) and sloppy, but they were still relentless. There were chanting wars with the opposing fans (who are kept VERY seperate from the home fans in a seperately "caged" corner of the stadium). The riot police were stationed outside and the calvary was on hand in case the fans got into a tussle. As you know, alcohol consumption is quite high in Germany...so they only serve non-alcoholic beverages in the stadium...which means all the local pubs are quite busy before and after the game. There were even a group of guys just peeing in the field outside of the stadium...right there in the open. Welcome to Europe.

The whole crowd sang the team anthem. It sounded very much like a song you would hear in a beer tent, and that is likely where it originated from!

The part I thought was pretty cool was the fans participation in announcing the starting line-up (in video below, although the video takes away what it really sounded like). The announcer would say the player's number and first name to which the crowd, in perfect unison, would scream the players last name. The social coordination at these games is quite amazing, and it's all the unwritten rules and mores that are simply followed by the fans who have grown up going to these games. I was surrounded by giddy kids watching the whole game ranging in age from 7 or 8 (months) up to about 78 (not joking).

Like I said, the game ended sloppily and in a draw, but it felt great to be watching and I look forward to many more games in the future.