The Johnson Family

Photo Challenge Day 3–Something You Adore

2012-02-03T12:51:00.000+01:00

I adore Nancy Kubo clip art. These little friends are all over my family charts, cards, young women handouts and birthday invites. These days her clip art is hard to find but she’s a designer over at TinyPrints and her stuff is adorable, as always. I’ll be using the clip art girls to make a series of Young Women Value cards. This month… divine nature…

Photo Challenge Day 2–Breakfast

2012-02-02T11:35:00.000+01:00

These days I USUALLY just have a cup of hot chocolate for my breakfast. I ran out of Stephens Mint Hot Chocolate, which is my favorite, so now I’m drinking Stephens Candy cane… which is just as good!! Ummm…. In fact, I’m drinking some right this minute. Sometimes I have a half bagel with Strawberry cream cheese. If Chris doesn’t have to rush out the door then I like to make him something yummy for breakfast so he’ll linger with me a little longer. Sautéed onions, red and green peppers in cheesy eggs was what we ate once this week. Another of my favorites is Raisin Bran Crunch. Yum. But I really only eat that if I have fresh strawberries or fresh red grapes to go on top and although I did eat that once this week I forgot to take a picture of it.

February Photo-a-Day Challenge

2012-02-01T14:35:00.000+01:00

We’ll see how this goes. I’m hoping to take and post a picture a day for February. I’ve always wanted to do one of these and when I saw this one I figured I’d give it a try.

Day 1: ME

This is ME at my Ikea desk (from three houses ago) sitting on my fold up chair (given to us at our reception) where I spend time organizing and editing pictures, blogging, working on Young Women stuff, skyping, returning emails… etc. It’s not grand, but it’s MY space… all mine.

I have three bookshelves behind my desk with paper and supplies of all kinds – and then two filing cabinets filled with files of kids school work and wonderful creations. Chris surprised me with a laptop for my birthday so that I can take it on vacations with me (and to replace my ‘s-l-o-w’ desktop) – but mostly it just stays on the desk and is hooked up to a larger monitor. { I love my laptop but not my monitor since the old one I was using was Chris’ amazing radiology one and this one just doesn’t compare. }

Behind me, in vinyl, is my motto? I guess. When we lived in Washington our good friend, Jim, started saying this after every positive thing I talked about – going on vacation, getting something for Christmas etc. It became a thing we said all the time. When we left Washington I took the motto with me. I love it up on my wall reminding me of all the blessings I have in my life. It’s so good to be ME.

Anyway… this is ME in a place that I spend lots of time.

January at a glance…

2012-01-31T23:56:00.000+01:00

I can’t believe how quickly that ‘empty January month’ filled up. A few more highlights…

Date Nights – Chris and I enjoyed our date night to Mission Impossible at the beginning of the month. Great movie. We also watched spent a couple nights watching the Sherlock Holmes series on BBC… just 3 episodes. We have the next season’s 3 episodes to watch still. It’s modern day Sherlock Holmes. We liked it a lot.

Emily cooking classes – I spent two Thursday afternoons cooking with Emily. She actually helped out in the kitchen more than that… but these were our planned out cooking sessions using all her new supplies – just her and I. We made potato and onion soup the first day and then she invited over a friend, Ally to help make homemade cookies for the second day. I love that she loves to be in the kitchen helping me. Next, a full dinner.

Katie photography classes – Katie and I went out once to talk about photography and take some pictures but it didn’t last long. It’s just too cold. More photography sessions to come.

RS groups – Our RS has a lot of groups going on and I although I don’t make it to everything I sure hate to miss out on all the fun girl time. This month I went to Recipe Club (theme: healthy stuff – I took homemade salsa) at Yvonne’s house and chatted till 10:00. I also went to the RS ‘get to know you’ night where we played funny games. Oh, and I went to craft group one Wednesday morning and took my laptop with me to go through pictures. Fun.

Secret Garden Play – I took Ryan, Katie and Emily to go see Ryan’s buddy perform in the Secret Garden musical. It was fun to be there to support him and see so many of our friends there too.

3 Birthday Parties – Luke went to Josh Chugg’s pirate party, Megan went to Naomi’s Jungle party and Ryan went to Abby’s 13 year old ice skating party.

Megan’s experience with the Spirit at Brooklyn’s baptism – I took Katie, Emily, Megan and Matthew to Brooklyn’s baptism one Saturday night. The girls sang in the program and did a great job. After the baptism Megan said to me… “Mom, when Brooklyn got baptized I felt a very happy feeling when she went under the water even though I wasn’t even the one getting baptized.” She was very serious and tender. We talked about how she had just had an experience with the Spirit and she was so excited about it. She came home excited to tell Ryan and Dad all about it. In Sacrament meeting the next day she wrote her ‘testimony’ down on piece of paper and then went and found the Bishop after church to show him. He was very happy about it and it just thrilled her. I think it really makes her feel like a big girl to have had an experience like this of her own. Love that girl. She’s a sweetheart.

Youth Standards Night – Ryan and I drove an hour to the Stake Center for Youth Standards Night. The focus was on the Entertainment and the Media including the Internet. It was great. Plus we listened to part of Gene R. Cook’s talk ‘13 lines of Defense’ which led to some great discussions. Love that Ryan boy. He’s a good kid. Got to visit with Geneva for a while too – fun to be in the same stake!!

Fondant Lesson – Megan G. and I got Fondant Lessons from Emma one morning this week. Fun to learn something new… we’ll see if and when I try it out myself. So nice to have time with good friends.

Zumba Class – a military gal leads Zumba classes at our church a couple times a month. I took some toys for my boys to play with in the corner and gave it a try. Totally fun. Must go again. I’m trying to be good about exercising – some weeks better than others – but Chris is doing great. Nice to be motivated together. We went to the gym together once which was so fun!

Frankfurt Temple trip – We drove up to the temple with our friends, the Boyers. (he’s the other bishopric member with Chris). Fun to chat with them on the drive. The temple has 8:00pm English sessions on the Friday night before our Stake Temple day so we took advantage. I’m still overwhelmed by the sweet love shown to me by the German sisters who work there. Even though we don’t speak the same language I can feel their spirit so strongly. I love that about the Temple. I also love that Chris and I were able to experience some parts of the session with a German speaking something and us replying in English. Very unique.

Girls lunch – I met Geneva and Stephanie at the craft store on base to do some fun fabric shopping. Then they came over for Tortilla Avocado Cream Soup and chatting. So fun. I picked up my framed Florence picture!! Love it, now where to put it?

New calling – I’ve been released from Visiting Teaching Supervisor (which I really enjoyed) and got put into YOUNG WOMEN’s again. Yeah!!! I’ve probably been in the Young Women’s Program for 10 years out of my 16 years of marriage – and I love it, especially since Katie will be coming in in JULY!! I’m the Personal Progress Leader AND Camp Director!! So fun!

New word.

2012-01-31T22:20:00.000+01:00

Well, I ‘borrowed’ my new WORD OF THE YEAR from someone else – just like last year. I can’t help it – I’ve always been a good copier. And when I saw it, I knew it was exactly what I needed…

Last year I had a page full of worthy goals. A serious page full, broken up into multiple categories. I posted them by my computer. I read them often. And when I read over them now I really didn’t do too bad… on SOME things. Others were somewhat neglected. Really my goals for this year are mostly the same, but now I have a plan.

This year I’ve decided to really FOCUS on one thing each month. A MAIN goal that I put my heart and soul into. Anything else that gets accomplished is just a bonus. For January it was: reading the Book of Mormon every day. I really focused on it, and I did it… EVERY DAY and hopefully it’s a solid habit I’ll continue throughout the year. Early in our marriage Chris and I went for over three years straight without missing a day of scripture reading, but lately I have not been so consistent.

In October I mentioned to my Visiting Teacher that I struggled with prioritizing my scripture reading and wanted to be better. At the end of our conversation she asked if I would like to be reminded with a phone call or email. I smiled and said whichever was easier. Every single day for over a month she emailed me an inspired quote about the importance of reading your scriptures. I was truly overwhelmed at the dedication my cute friend had, to help me get refocused. I have them all saved in a file and printed some out to go inside my scriptures. I got back on track. Slowly and inconsistently, but with honest desire.

When I decided on this year’s WORD OF THE YEAR, I knew that I should start with Reading my Book of Mormon.

For February I have another goal in mind which will take daily action. I’m excited. I’m hoping the beginning of each month will be a mini New Year’s Day – with all the motivation and FOCUS that goes along with it.

Garmisch Trip

2012-01-30T12:56:00.000+01:00

We slept in on Friday morning. Chris had a post call day and the kids didn’t have school. Ryan had left the night before for a winter scout camp in Garmisch and we were heading in the same direction but we wanted to start our great weekend with a good ‘sleep in’. Megan kept coming into our room saying “When are we going to Garmisch?” We finished packing and were on the road by noon. The kids were so excited. The military owned Edelweiss Lodge in Bavaria has been one of our favorite vacation spots. The area is just beautiful – and the lodge itself has a pool, outdoor hot tub, ‘free’ little kid rides, a huge open area with a big fireplace and a buffet. Besides that the room we get has a loft. We booked this weekend back in November when we found a 25% off package with free buffet breakfasts.

As soon as we got into our room we had our first family counsel and planned out what we would do.

Make a snowman
Swim in the pool (2 times)
Eat dinner at the buffet (2 times)
Watch a movie in the lounge
Play games in our room
Eat breakfast at the buffet (2 times)
Go sledding
Have another family council

First on the list, make a snowman. There was tons of snow outside and it was perfect for making a snowman. We borrowed some snow pants from our friends, the Pattersons, and headed out into the 30 degree weather to get started. It started getting dark as soon as we got out there.

The kids did lots of ‘angel making’…

There was a playground nearby and Matthew just wanted to go down the curly slide… over and over and over again. He loved it. It was tough to pull him back over to the snowman.

We brought our ‘portable snowman pieces’ to make our snowman but then had to leave our snowman faceless as we headed away. We could see our snowman from our balcony windows.

By the time we were done it was totally dark. We walked around front to the main entrance and went in to stand by the fire. Matthew just loves the little rocking chairs – just his size.

After a great buffet dinner {check} we let the kids watch some of the movie in the lounge {check} while we checked out the gift shop and asked about places to go sledding. Then we ran upstairs and got our swimming suits on (all except me –too much hassle for only a half hour of swimming) We played with our new GoPro in the pool and the kids had a ball. So much fun.

It was 9:00 by the time we got out of the pool. I took the little boys up for a bath and to get into jammies while Chris went and worked out. The girls got showered in their own bathroom downstairs. (so nice to have two bathrooms). When Chris got back the kids were all in bed. He and I played Ticket to Ride online on his iPad all cozy in bed. We’ve played it a lot lately and love it. It was a fun day.

Saturday morning we headed straight to the buffet for breakfast. We love the waffles and omelet station. Then we got all bundled up and ready for sledding. It was a perfect day. We had woken up to a another layer of snow icing all the tree branches and making everything fresh white. We wandered in the direction of a good sledding hill, parked and trekked up the hill.

The kids had a great time. The boys took turns riding with Dad on the ‘2 person’ sled and the girls rode down the hill on the circular twisty sleds. Megan particularly liked riding on her stomach… no fear. After a few hours of sledding, we headed back to the lodge. We relaxed in our room for an hour, the kids watched a movie and I took a little nap while Chris went down to meet Ryan, who was being dropped off from Scout camp. He had been worried about him because it got pretty cold during the night, but he said they had a great time and that he was warm enough.

Once Ryan was there we went swimming again. The highlight was tiptoeing out into the FREEZING cold air and getting into the oversized hot tub with the whole family. Boy that felt good. Matthew was so relaxed he almost fell asleep in my arms. Back up to the room for showers and clothes for the buffet dinner. Delicious roast and potatoes and a RICH chocolate cake that was amazing. I think our family ate an entire cake. Matthew ate my whole first piece and half of my second. Rascal kid.

We were back in our room right quite early and put on a movie for the little boys while the big four joined us for a family council. We had the kids come up with a list of jobs that needed doing in order for our home and family to function… it was a long list. Then we had the kids help us plan the responsibilities that each person would be in charge of in four main categories… MORNING, AFTER SCHOOL ZONES, HOMEWORK & PIANO, EVENING. We agreed upon responsibilities and made our assignments and rewards. Chris and I had previously read most of ‘The Entitlement Trap’ by Richard and Linda Eyre and used some of their words as a basis for our program. I love to start a new program… especially in January, when we’re feeling ready to organize every part of our lives. It feels nice to get this program finally ready to go.

After family council we played a big game of Ticket to Ride Europe. Dad, Ryan, Katie, Emily, and I played and Megan was on my team. It was really fun and EMILY won with a few strategy tips from Dad. Megan and I lost but we decided to blame that loss on Dad because he took all the colors we wanted.

Sunday we had one more free breakfast buffet, packed up, checked out at 11:00 and drove home. Good weekend.

Chris put together a music video of our fun – but he’s having some trouble getting it loaded because of our music restrictions in Germany. Hopefully I’ll be able to post it soon!

At home with the boys…

2012-01-25T11:12:00.000+01:00

Now that the kids are back in school, it’s just me and the boys again. Boy, do I love these little rascals. They are so much fun. A few things I want to remember about a typical day home with the boys…

Usually the boys are up before the big kids are off to school, although sometimes Luke wakes up first. If he’s up before 6:45, he likes to eat breakfast with the big kids. The two boys love to give hugs and stand at the entry way shouting goodbye as the chaos of two middle schoolers rush off for the bus at 7:19 and two elementary schoolers follow two minutes behind. These days the opened door brings in gusts of cold wind and the boys and I are grateful we’re all still in our pajamas and not going anywhere.

Sometimes at 7:30 Grandma and Grandpa Walton skype before they go to bed. The boys climb all over my lap, saying ‘Hi Bampa, Mamah!’ and making funny faces because they can see themselves on the screen.

Matthew pulls me away to ‘EAT’! and Luke happily agrees to ‘second breakfast’ if he’s already had some. Eggo waffles are a favorite, or cold cereal. That, along with a ‘link’ (drink) and then they disappear downstairs to play Geotrax. Sometimes I don’t see them for an hour.

Whenever the Geotrax fun wears off then Luke comes up to ask about playing Wii. If I say YES without thinking, which definitely happens if I’m not really listening, then Luke corrects me and says, “You mean ‘yes I can, if I get dressed and clean my room’.” Oh ya… that’s what I meant…

But first we run to the bathroom and the boys jump in the bathtub and ask for cars to play with. Sometimes they stay in there till they’re all pruney. They like to be wrapped up and carried to their room. Matthew doesn’t mind so much that I carry him like a baby and doesn’t say “I NOT a BABY!” near as much. They want to stay huddled in their towels for awhile, as I pull out their clothes. Luke has definite opinions about which underwear he should wear that day… Batman, Spiderman, Football, Soccer, or Diego. Batman is the new favorite because he just got them for Christmas. We put jeans and white undershirts and shirts on – but first I pretend their shirt is my hat that keeps falling off. I love that Matthew laughs so hard he can hardly stand up straight. No socks if we’re just staying home. Our marble stairs are just too dangerous.

If Matthew happens to see his backpack while we’re in his room, then he wants it on immediately. Matt has a CARS one and Luke has a Buzz and Woody one. Both are always filled with toys. They just love having them on. Every time I help Matthew put it on he turns around and says “I all ready to go!”

Luke feels motivated to clean his room, especially if I’m in there to help. Matthew just wants to play with whatever’s already out and it frustrates Luke. Inevitably I have to say, “just clean up everything but that.” Sometimes they both get stuck playing and the room doesn’t get clean. That’s ok too. I tip toe out to get some more done.

Awhile later they come in to find me. Sometimes I’m at the computer in my room. They squish in as close as they can, bumping my arm or completely grabbing hold to try to ‘pull me off’. That’s my cue. “I know what time it is! It’s TICKLE TIME!!” As soon as I say it they start running and smiling… but they don’t run far, just far enough to turn around and watch in suspense as I slowly come towards them. Matthew is sure that hiding his head into the bed will make it easier. They love to be tickled. Sometimes TICKLE TIME is downstairs in the living room but usually it’s on my bed. It’s probably one of the best parts of the day.

Sometimes we bring bins of toys into Mom’s room. They love to bring their toys somewhere new. Lately, the cowboy playmobil, and Cars Lego – {where we build houses for all the cars} are a favorite. Matt always likes the car mat and cars. He also likes to put the cars into the Fisher Price farm and house. The IKEA train set is still a hit as well.

Around 11:00 it’s snack time. Applesauce, string cheese, vanilla wafers, or fishy crackers and another ‘link’ (properly shaken by Mom even if it’s juice and not chocolate milk).

The boys head downstairs for a game of Toy Story 3 or Super Smash Brothers on the Wii. Matthew is picking up who is who and constantly tells us that he is Pikachu and informs us who we are. Sometimes we understand him. “Daddy, you Bowser. Mommy, you green yoshi’. Sometimes we have no idea what he’s saying, but he knows. He loves being Diego too and if we call him Matthew during a time when he is Diego he corrects us… ‘No, I Diego!” Luke is happy to follow suite and be ‘baby Jaguar’.

Lunchtime is almost always a corn dog. It’s just one of the only things Matthew will really eat. A sandwich will be left completely untouched. What a rascal.

Matthew always goes down for a nap really well. When I pick him up at that time of the afternoon (1:30 or 2:00) he knows what’s coming. “Time for a nap, Matt.” He whines a bit but then I ask, “Do you want to sleep in your crib or Luke’s bed?” He perks up and answers “LUKE’S BED!!” with all kinds of enthusiasm. He’s been enjoying nap time in Luke’s bed for a few months now – {we must be close to taking the crib down.} He lies right down with a drink and blankets {and German blinds that shut tight and dark} and says “nigh-night, Mommy. I lovfe you” – like a perfect angel.

Without Matt, Luke can’t think of a thing to do. Anything he starts gets boring fast. Playing on starfall.com is always aloud, but sometimes he wants to just hang out right by me, in which case I pull out a piece of paper and he practices writing his name, or Matthew’s name, or everyone’s name, showing me letter by letter. We did math problems for the first time last week and he thought that was pretty great.

The door knocking at 3:04 is a wonderful sound for Lukey boy. That means Emily and Megan are home. He LOVES to be the one to open the door for them and give them a hug. Then we’re all on to daily jobs, homework, piano practicing, cleaning room, making dinner and bedtime. Busy stuff.

I am loving having the kids back in school again, because staying home with the boys is pretty awesome.

Luke at 3 1/2

2012-01-20T11:14:00.000+01:00

I organized my desk, drawers, files and cabinets today and got everything all kinds of organized. Happy day. In the process I found a pile of ‘memories' and funny Lukey quotes that I had jotted down in the summer. The sad thing is that funny stuff like this happens every day and I DON’T write down everything. I wish I did… because this kid cracks us up. Here he is with his classic thumbs up pose.

June 2011 – Luke

“Mom, I’m going to walk upstairs but just DON’T look at me!” (after he accidently peed his pants)

July 2011 – Luke

Luke: “Oh, I love chicken.”

Mom: “This is fish.”

Luke: (Funny facial expression) “Hey, there’s chicken inside this fish!”

Same meal but later…

Luke: “I don’t want to eat these yellow peas.” (corn)

July 2011 – Luke

Luke's bedtime prayer: “Dear Heavenly Father. Please bless that we don’t die. In the name of Jesus Christ, Amen.”

Mom: “Luke, you need to say more things.”

Luke: “Sometimes we can say prayers with 1 thing or 2 or 3 or 4 or 5.”

Mom: “Well, a prayer with five things is the best.”

Luke: “OK.” So closing his eyes he held one arm crossed on his chest and held one hand up, sticking one finger up for each new sentence. “Dear Heavenly Father. Please bless we don’t die (1). Thank you for the food (2). Thank you for our family (3). Please bless the food (4). In the name of Jesus Christ, Amen (5). “There.”

August 2011 – Luke

Luke was playing outside with Megan on the trampoline and hurt his toe. He started to cry and then immediately folded his arms and said, “Heavenly Father please bless that my toe won’t get sick.” When he was done, Megan said, “Luke that was a good thing to say a prayer.” Then Luke said, “My mind told me to do that.” Matthew looking concerned said, “otay?” and then Luke said, “ya, Matthew. I’m OK.”

August 2011 – Luke

Luke: “I wish I had a pet monster named… angry green. And he has green stuff on his chin. And he has a green and black and red hat. He likes red. But actually he likes blue hats… small hats for little small monsters. Another monster is all blue on his body and his bum and his belly button too. He’s a daddy monster. He’s nice. And another monster is named Octopus Tiger and he’s mean.” I don’t know where any of this came from but he was cracking me up so I had to pull out a piece of paper and take notes.

September 2011 – Luke

“HE SCRUNCHED ME!” I’m not sure where this came from but it has become a word around here for angrily grabbing hair, clothes or skin. It’s not a good thing… that’s for sure.

September 2011 – Luke

Eating his dinner at the dinner table I asked him if he liked his dinner to which he responded… “It was the best I never had!”

September 2011 – Luke

Mom: “I love you Luke.”

Luke: “I love you, Mom.”

Mom: “NO, I love YOU!”

Luke: “Mom, no, we both love ourselves.” (He meant to say, “We both love each other.”)

and now a recent 4 year old one… January 2012

First of all the boys had starting saying “I’m going to kill you” in their play and I didn’t like it. I told them they could say “I’m going to get you” instead and the other one could ‘faint’ instead of actually die. Ever since that Luke has been saying “I’m going to faint you!” It’s pretty funny. The other day Luke was using Ryan’s iTouch on a Star Wars light saber App. Swinging it around to make light saber sounds he approached Dad, “Dad, I’m going to faint you.” but before he could inflict any damage on Dad he hit himself in the nose with his swinging iTouch and started crying. Sorry, Luke, but it was pretty funny.

Geotrax Buddies

2012-01-17T09:27:00.000+01:00

I think Ryan was just as excited about Luke and Matthew’s Geotrax presents as they were. More tracks means more intricate railway systems and Ryan is definitely the engineer behind putting them all together. Luke just LOVES it when Ryan has some extra time on Saturday morning to help him completely redo the whole set. Recently Ryan said, “Mom, for my birthday… I mean, for Matthew’s birthday he really needs some more elevation pieces.” I’m glad they have this thing to enjoy together. Luckily we have a great big family room in the basement finished with tile. The Geotrax stay permanently ‘downstairs’ all set up for everyday play. The real shock about the new tracks from Santa was that they were ‘upstairs’. How silly. Matthew still talks about the ‘upstairs Geotrax’.

BYU jammies and hat from Grandma and Grandpa Johnson this Christmas.

3 girls

2012-01-15T08:09:00.000+01:00

We are almost done with matching skirts. Katie is counting down the days till Young Womens (5 months) and it just can’t come fast enough. For the last couple years she’s been a very independent Sunday dresser but every once in a while when I help out with Emily and Megan’s clothes, she follows suite. These cute skirts were made by Grandma Johnson and have so many layers of fabric that it’s a wonder they even stay up. They’re adorable and coordinate without completely matching. The girls love them.

Time to take down the Christmas cards.

2012-01-05T11:10:00.000+01:00

Strasbourg, France Christmas Market

2011-12-28T23:52:00.000+01:00

The only Christmas market open the week AFTER Christmas is in Strasbourg, France – just an hour and a half from our house. We decided to meet the Chuggs there on Emily’s birthday. Pretty fun to say you ice skated in France on your birthday. Lucky girl.

We parked in our usual parking lot by the train station and this time walked over to a quaint part of town with lots of canals and bridges.

Megan – age 6

Strasbourg really decorates for the season. Every shop has unique decorations out.

We kept wandering in the direction of the Notre Dame… the large Cathedral in the center of town.

We met our friends, the Chuggs and the Pattersons, at the Carrousel and let the little kids: Megan, Luke and Matt have a ride. Then we wandered down the Christmas market booths right in front of the Notre Dame Cathedral in the center of town. My girlfriends, Emma and Geneva.

We picked up crepes and delicious French bread pizza’s to eat. {Katie lost her big puffy warm coat at school and we went back to search the school with no luck – that’s why she’s sporting her white jean jacket. Luckily the weather wasn’t as horribly cold as it was last year.

The kids were SOOOO excited to go Ice Skating. Ryan and Katie came ice skating here when we came to the Christmas Market last year. Emily and Megan were excited to give it a try too and they all loved it.

It’s hard to really capture how gorgeous all the lights were. Every street had a different theme of twinkling lights and décor and when it started getting dark the town turned even more magical. Oh, how I wanted to stay and wander, but the kids were getting cold.

When we saw this tree from afar, we had to go down and check it out. So pretty. Maybe we should come do an overnighter here next Christmas!

Happy Birthday Emily

2011-12-27T23:55:00.000+01:00

We celebrated Emily’s birthday one day early because of a big outing to France on her ‘big day’. She seems to like being the one to continue opening presents after all of our Christmas hoop-la is over. We celebrated with cake and presents right in the middle of the day – just because we were all home to do it! {Unfortunately even in the brightest light of the day I still don’t get enough light inside my house, don’t have a great flash AND lack the skills for indoor photography.}

Emily picked a chocolate cake with chocolate frosting for her birthday and helped me make it. Trick candles! Ha!

Emily was pretty surprised about her blue Italian purse. It’s the one she really liked in San Gimmignano, Italy and we secretly bought it without her knowing. She wore it around the house the whole day. I think she feels so grown up.

A stuffed lamb for Emily from Mom and Dad …and a Horse book and Horse Calendar from Grandma and Grandpa Walton. This girl sure likes horses.

A BYU shirt for Emily…

Grandma and Grandpa Johnson gave Emily a new watch, white sweater, and doll things… Very fun! Aunt Nikole, Aunt Ashlyn and Aunt Lindsey got Emily a glittery pencil case and a cute scarf which everyone wants to borrow. THANK YOU EVERYONE!

A sweet birthday letter to Emily from Megan…

Emily had no idea what the BIG box was. It was definitely a surprise that she loved…

A horse for her American Girl…

Emily with her new bright yellow sweatshirt…

Megan, Emily and Katie showing off all Emily’s spoils…

A Christ-Centered Christmas

2011-12-27T15:50:00.000+01:00

I’ve had a few people ask about this so here it is…

My mom gave me the book, A Christ-Centered Christmas, by Emily Freeman, for my birthday last year (2010) and I immediately loved the idea but didn’t have enough time to pull it together for my family for that Christmas season. This year it was my main focus. At the end of November I re-read the 7 chapter book and decided that making a packet to go with it would work great for my kids. I really felt the Spirit as I dedicated time to preparing this. It was such a good experience for me as a mother.

The idea is that we’d have 7 nights during the Christmas season dedicated to each member of the nativity and add traditions that would lead us closer to our Savior. One thing I love about it, is that a lot of the traditions are ones we all do anyone – only this way they are arranged in a way that really has us thinking about the purpose of our Christmas celebrations.

INTRO ACTIVITY

As an intro to our Christ-Centered Christmas I made up an activity with the kids which we did around the kitchen table. I printed out papers for each of us with three progressively larger circles like a bulls eye. We had a discussion about the main reason we celebrated Christmas and wrote the word CHRIST in the center of our bulls eye. Then we talked about all the fun things that we love about Christmas… twinkling lights, hot chocolate, snowmen, Buddy the Elf, receiving Christmas cards in the mail, Santa, getting presents… and put those words in the outer circle. In the middle circle we wrote the activities that helped us really feel the spirit of Christmas and draw closer to our Savior… giving gifts, singing Christmas hymns, acting out the nativity, reading the Friend, performing acts of Service.

Each time someone thought of a new Christmas thing, activity or memory the kids would determine where it would go on our Christmas bulls eye. It was a good reminder that it’s ok to love ALL kinds of things about Christmas but that we needed to remember what was the center. We displayed these on our FHE wall for the rest of the month.

NOW BACK TO THE BOOK… Emily Freeman has a chapter of each of the following Nativity members: Mary, Joseph, the Angel, the Shepherd, the Wise Men, the Lamb, the Christ Child, In each chapter she tells what she’s learned about as she’s studied each ‘character’ with great stories, scriptures and excellent quotes. At the end of each chapter she gives in point form a title to each character, suggests a Christmas hymn, scriptures to focus on and gives a list of possible traditions that might emphasize the lesson. It’s a great book. Using her outline and my own creativity and thoughts I created the packets and activities that would work for our family this year.

She suggests you might start 7 weeks before Christmas and have one lesson/activity a week. Or you could have them several times a week throughout December.

We started ours after Chris returned from Texas in mid December, so we did as many as we could before Christmas (5) and then finished the last two after Christmas. Once I had my packets made I was focused, but not stressed, about completing them. When I listened to President Uchdorf in the Christmas devotional (click here to read the whole thing) in early December I loved that he said, “

Sometimes it seems that our efforts to have a perfect Christmas season are like a game of Jenga—you know, the one played with small wooden blocks that are precariously stacked up to a tower. As we try to increase the height of the tower, we pull out one wooden block before we can place it on top of the delicate structure.
Each of those little wooden blocks is a symbol of the perfect Christmas events we so desperately want to have. We have in our minds a picture of how everything should be—the perfect tree, the perfect lights, the perfect gifts, and the perfect family events. We might even want to re-create some magical moment we remember from Christmases past, and nothing short of perfection will do.
Sooner or later, something unpleasant occurs—the wooden blocks tumble, the drapes catch fire, the turkey burns, the sweater is the wrong size, the toys are missing batteries, the children quarrel, the pressure rises—and the picture-perfect Christmas we had imagined, the magic we had intended to create, shatters around us. As a result, the Christmas season is often a time of stress, anxiety, frustration, and perhaps even disappointment.
But then, if we are only willing to open our hearts and minds to the spirit of Christmas, we will recognize wonderful things happening around us that will direct or redirect our attention to the sublime. It is usually something small—we read a verse of scripture; we hear a sacred carol and really listen, perhaps for the first time, to its words; or we witness a sincere expression of love. In one way or another, the Spirit touches our hearts, and we see that Christmas, in its essence, is much more sturdy and enduring than the many minor things of life we too often use to adorn it.
This is a wonderful time of the year. It may not be perfect. But if Christmas can point our hearts toward our Savior, we can rejoice even in the imperfections of the season.

When I heard this I had ALREADY decided to forgo the advent calendar I was thinking HAD to be done and was happy I wasn’t stressed about getting the German advent wreath candles up along with a myriad of other things that ‘would have been nice’. Really I just wanted our hearts to point towards our Savior …and I realized that whatever we were able to accomplish of our packet would be enough.

Typically Luke and Matthew joined us for the beginning and then when they got bored decided to head downstairs to play Geotrax …and that was ok. Megan got frustrated a couple times because she couldn't write as fast as everyone else but she was definitely old enough to understand the concepts and enjoy the stories and really enjoyed filling out the packet and knowing what would come next. Emily, Katie, Ryan, Chris and I enjoyed great discussions. I LOVED every minute of it.

I won’t do the exact same thing next year – likely we’ll still have a day to focus on each with just a reminder of the main points and continue to do some of the activities like the tinkling bell. Maybe we’ll elaborate on some. I’m not quite sure yet…

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MARY

MARY REMINDS US TO PONDER. After singing our hymn and reading the appropriate scriptures we took some time to talk about the character of Mary. What did she ponder in her heart? I read some moving passages in the chapter and pretty quickly became very emotional. I felt the spirit so strong as I bore my testimony of that special night. I told the kids that I was excited about giving them some of their gifts on Christmas morning – but the thing I wanted to give them most, was experiences to feel the Spirit and develop their own testimonies.

Chris read a story to go with the activity because I was a mess at this point. Of course when I’m crying already and he has to read something out loud, he gets all emotional too. I love that about us. It was a wonderful night… one of my favorites. When we finished, Ryan was smiley, Katie was teary and Emily came right over and gave me a big hug. It melted my heart… I am sure that that expression was in reaction of being overcome by the Spirit and love. Feeling the Spirit together always brings us closer.

The last part of our packet page was to ponder what the birth of the Savior means to you… ‘Then on heart shaped pieces of paper we wrote our thoughts and glued them to the bottom of the page. -- Emily’s says, “I am thankful for the birth of Christ, because if Jesus wasn’t born and lived on earth, then we would have no savior and no one to guide us. Then life would be hard. The Savior means a lot to me. he helps us make the right choices. I love God.”

ACTIVITY: Then the activity is to made heart shaped sugar cookies -- we actually made just round sugar cookies and didn’t ice them because it was already time for the little kiddos to go to bed – but if I would have prepared a bit more I would have made the heart shaped sugar cookies ahead of time and had everyone decorate them together. { I looked for heart shaped chocolates or candies or something but couldn’t find anything – those only come out for Valentine’s day I guess. }

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JOSEPH

JOSEPH REMINDS US TO SERVE. After singing our hymn and reading the appropriate scriptures we read some passages and then discussed and answered these questions on our paper…

What do you think it must have felt like when Joseph realized that there was no room in the inn?
What would you have offered Joseph and his family if you had been there? {Katie said, “I would probably have offered them room, seeing that Mary was to have a baby. I really respect mothers.”}
How can performing secret acts of service help to make room for the Savior in our hearts?

We talked about how if we had known it was the son of God we would have given them everything… but sometimes we walk by others that are also desperately needy because we may not ‘know’ them.

I was especially touched by this lesson because of an experience which had happened to me just two days before. A man knocked on my door. I could immediately tell he was poor from the way he was dressed. He started speaking German and my initial thought was to just shake my head and wave him away – like I do with German salesmen. But then I stopped and told him to wait while I went to get some Euro out of my wallet. When I came back he was so grateful, almost shocked but accepted my small contribution and continued to say the word he had previously said but I had not understood, this time holding a picture of his little girls. The German word for SHOE. ‘Shoes?’ I asked. He nodded his head excitedly. ‘What size?’ I asked in English hoping he could understand. Using my door to ‘write’ on, he drew a 28. ‘Just a minute’ I said. The day or two before I had gone through all the kids shoes and boots to determine which ones fit which kids. Megan had outgrown her German lace up boots but they were still in pretty good shape so I had put them in the pile of things I would take to the goodwill. I planned on doing it soon so someone could use them through the winter. I went right down to them, turned them over and looked at the size… a 28. I was feeling pretty happy when I brought them up to the door. He looked at them in shock and then started saying ‘danke, danke’ over and over again. Then he reached for my hand and kissed it. I was so happy as he left… ‘he must have been led here’ I thought, ‘and I almost waved him on without even listening’. A few minutes later it occurred to me that I should have given him more. Did I have a coat that was too small? Should I have given him some food? Why didn’t I think about that when he was at the door? Definitely something I’m trying to work on. Not just serving when asked, but really listening to the spirit to serve before being asked. And not just serving our friends, but looking beyond our circles to anyone in need.

Then Chris read a story from the chapter about a girl who hears the small sound of a tinkling bell amid the hustle and bustle of a big city at Christmas time which leads her to the perfect person to serve. We talked about how the Spirit is like that faint tinkling bell but if we listen to it, it will lead us to who Christ needs us to serve.

ACTIVITY: Then I gave the kids a small ‘jingle bell’ tied with red ribbon which they attached to their backpacks or coat. Whenever they heard the bell ringing it would remind them to look for opportunities to serve while they were at school. I also presented the family with a BIG jingle bell also tied with a red ribbon. This one would move from pillow to pillow within our home. As soon as it landed on our pillow it was our turn to do some service for someone in our family and place the bell on their pillow. Then I showed them the Tinkling Bell Journal – which would be our place to record and remember opportunities to serve and how we felt.

Dad started it off and the bell moved quickly during those two weeks before Christmas. It’s still going now, although sometimes it’s a little slower.

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The ANGEL

THE ANGEL REMINDS US TO SHARE THE JOY. After singing our hymn and reading the appropriate scriptures we read some passages and then discussed the angels role in bring great joy and good tidings about the Savior’s birth.

ACTIVITY: Then we dashed off the the Patterson's house for a big 8 family Christmas Carol Party. Emma played the piano and we took turns suggesting hymns and Christmas songs to sing. So fun!

The next day the kids and I had some time to look through the hymn book and find our favorite Christmas hymn phrases and make lists of them on our papers…

‘let every heart prepare Him room’
‘He’ll come and make the blessings flow’
‘Come let us adore Him’
‘With the poor and mean and lowly lived on Earth our Savior Holy’
‘Where meek souls will receive Him, still the dear Christ enters in’
‘Light and life to all He brings.’
‘Holy infant, so tender and mild’
‘Fit us for Heaven”

We also made note of all the different titles given to Christ in the hymns. Megan chose to start a list of them on her paper…

Son of the Father,
Christ the Lord,
Holy infant,
Little Lord Jesus,
Dear Christ,
Heavens all gracious King,
Prince of Peace,
Newborn son,
Christ and Savior,
Our Savior Holy,
son of Righteousness…

Throughout the rest of the week we told them to each other if we recognized any ‘new’ ones.

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The SHEPHERD

THE SHEPHERD REMINDS US TO TESTIFY. We sang our hymn and read the scriptures and talked about what it means to “turn to Christ now, and with haste” and about what we can learn from the shepherd’s relationship with each other when they spoke “one to another” and went as a group to find the Lord.

We talked about the importance of sharing our testimonies with each other so that we can be strengthened as a family and head in the right direction ‘as a group’. I have been blessed with parents and siblings that continue to do that… sharing lessons learned from spiritual experiences – sometimes with a few tear -- even over skype, sending links to great talks, or in subtle ways bearing their testimony to me through their good example. Some of my favorite memories have been the times we’ve prayed and fasted together for each other.

ACTIVITY: We turned off all the lights except those on the Christmas tree and then lit a candle. We started from youngest to oldest and each person got the opportunity to bear their testimony to the rest of us. Everyone did such a great job expressing their feelings. It was a great night.

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The CHRIST CHILD

THE CHRIST CHILD REMINDS US TO BELIEVE. We had our Christ Child night on the 22nd. We sang our hymn, read our scriptures and read a story in the book about a boy who moved around the nativity… it makes me cry. I love it. Then we discussed that Christ is the giver of every good gift and make a list of them.

Emily said, “He gave us Eternal life with our families, he gave us a good example, he gave us the atonement which allowed us to repent from our sins, he gave us the restoration of the gospel and he gave us prophets.”

Katie said, “He died for us and gave us eternal life with our families. He gave us a PERFECT example. The atonement – he died for our sins. We can repent. The restoration of the gospel. The Bible and Book of Mormon. He gave us prophets and LOVE.”

In the Christmas Devotional President Uchdorf said:

“Christmas and some of the cherished traditions of the season remind us that we, like the Wise Men of old, should seek the Christ and lay before Him the most precious of gifts: a broken heart and a contrite spirit. We should offer Him our love. We should give Him our willingness to take upon ourselves His name and walk in the path of discipleship. We should promise to remember Him always, to emulate His example, and to go about doing good.
We cannot offer Him the gift of perfection in all things because this is a gift beyond our capacity to give—at least for now. The Lord does not expect that we commit to move mountains. But He does require that we bring as gifts our best efforts to move ourselves, one foot in front of the other, walking in the ways He has prepared and taught.
And what are the Savior’s gifts to those who are willing to bring these gifts to Him? This may be the most one-sided gift exchange in the history of the universe. The Savior’s gifts to us are breathtaking.

Let us begin with immortality. Because the Savior overcame death, all men and women—both the just and the unjust—will live forever.

Then, forgiveness —even though our sins and imperfections be as scarlet, they can become white as snow because of Him.

And finally, eternal life—the greatest gift of all.Because of the Atonement of Christ, not only are we guaranteed an infinite quantity of life, but He offers the possibility of an unimaginable quality of life as well.

Some of His divine gifts are reserved for that glorious future day when we return to His presence. But he extends many gifts and His grace to us every day. He promises to be with us, to come to us when we need comfort, to lift us when we stumble, to carry us if needed, to mourn and rejoice with us. Every day He offers to take us by the hand and help transform ordinary life into extraordinary spiritual experiences.”

ACTIVITY: We then took a minute to think about what our gift to the Savior would be and write them on a slip of paper and put them in our own envelop that had been glued to the bottom of our ‘Christ Child’ page. Megan’s gift to the Savior: ‘BE NICER and SAY My PRAYERS’.

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The WISE MEN

THE WISE MEN REMIND US TO JOURNEY ANOTHER WAY. We figured it would be ok if we did the Wise Men AFTER Christmas since they came after the nativity scene anyway. After our hymn and specific scriptures we talked about what it means to ‘journey another way’.

I hope it’s ok if I quote something from the book…

“Only the wisest are inclined to journey another way – a way that will protect their belief in Christ. The wise Men remind us of our search to know the Lord, and how sometimes we have to journey another way to come closer to Him. Just like the Wise Men, the journey may not be what we had originally planned: rather it is what we feel inspired to do.” Emily Freeman

ACTIVITY: We used this night to help us make some New Year’s Resolutions. Things we might do to ‘journey another way’… changes in our habits that will bring us closer to Him. The kids made lists of all kinds of things on the bottom of their ‘Wise Men’ page.

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The LAMB

THE LAMB REMINDS US TO GIVE THANKS. We sang. We read. We discussed how Christ is the shepherd and we are the sheep and how the sheep can recognize their Master’s voice instantly. Chris shared a story about someone knowing all ABOUT Christ and someone actually recognizing Christ. It made us both a little teary.

We answered the questions:

How can we prepare our hearts to recognize the Lord?
What are some ways that would help to make our recognition instant and our gratitude immediate?
How does becoming a true follower of Christ help us to become on of His sheep?

ACTIVITY: Then we took some time to fill in our thank you notes to the people in our family and read them aloud to each person one at a time. Oh, it was so fun. Each person LOVED being in the spotlight and have such nice things said about them… even Matthew. Some people even decided to thank themselves!

Thank you Dad for

…loving BYU (Dad)
…spoiling me, loving me and making me so happy. (Mom)
…playing Dominion with me often. (Ryan)
…being funny and helping with homework and just questions. (Katie)
…tucking me in every night. (Emily)
…going to work, and getting money for us. (Megan)
…that you go to work. (Luke)

Thank you Mom for

…being my best friend. (Dad)
…making such good food. (Ryan)
…making fantastic dinners and making family time. (Katie)
…preparing every single yummy dinner. (Emily)
…tucking us in bed, and making dinner. (Megan)
…for giving me apple sauce and a lot of food. (Luke)

That’s all I’m good for around here! FOOD.

Thank you Ryan for

…your positive attitude and unquestioning obedience. (Dad)
…being a good example for the whole family. (Mom)
…being an awesome self. (Ryan)
…being a smart big brother and a great example. (Katie)
… being so funny. (Emily)
…being nice and funny. (Megan)
…for playing Wii with me and fixing the Geotrax.

Thank you Katie for

…your loving nature and great example. (Dad)
…doing whatever I ask you to, and liking whatever I like. (Mom)
…being my friend and hanging out with me. (Ryan)
…being awesome!! (Katie)
…helping me with a lot of stuff. (Emily)
…playing games with me. (Megan)
…playing with me and playing the stuffed animals with me. (Luke)

Thank you Emily for

…your laugh and for always being happy. (Dad)
…being so helpful in the kitchen. (Mom)
…being such a pretty and fun to play with sister. (Ryan)
…hangin with me and sharing your clothes. (Katie)
…being awesome! (Emily)
…coloring with me. (Megan)
…playing playmobil with me. (Luke)

Thank you Megan for

…doing your best to choose the right. (Dad)
…being so cute and happy and good at school. (Mom)
…watching fun movies with me. (Ryan)
…running at the park with me and being my lefty buddy. You are always so sweet. (Katie)
…playing with me a lot. (Emily)
…being myself. (Megan)
…playing my cowboy bank playmobil with me. (Luke)

Thank you Luke for

…always being so excited about everything. (Dad)
…saying such funny things and being so cute and happy (Mom)
…playing geotrax with me a lot. (Ryan)
…being energetic and fun to be around. (Katie)
…playing playmobil with me a bunch. (Emily)
…Playing playmobil. (Megan)

Thank you Matthew for

…your enthusiasm and love. (Dad)
…your hugs and kisses. (Mom)
…being so cute and wanting to play on my iTouch. (Ryan)
…being so cute and funny and kind! (Katie)
…being so cute. (Emily)
…being so cute. (Megan)
…sharing Geotrax with me. (Luke)

Even Matthew felt important while we were reading our thank you’s to him. It was cute how he got all smiley and shy. Right after that we knelt down and Matthew said everyone’s names really loud including his own and then went around and kissed everyone on the cheek. Then he tried to kiss his own chest but of course couldn’t reach. We all laughed. He is a cutie.

When Megan said our family prayer that night she said, “Thank you that we could have Thanksgiving for Family Home Evening”.

CLOSING THOUGHT

I came across this article written as a Church news editorial by William B. Smart and thought it really summed up our Christ centered Christmas and reminds us that it is the adult Christ “who asked us to follow him” and that by “accepting that invitation is the way – the only way – to celebrate Christmas all year and all life long”

"For Christmas is a beautiful time of the year. We love the excitement, the giving spirit, the special awareness of and appreciation for family and friends, the feelings of love and brotherhood that bless our gatherings at Christmastime.
In all the joyousness, it is well to reflect that Christmas comes in three levels:
Let’s call the first the 'Santa Claus level.' It’s the level of Christmas trees and holly, of whispered secrets and colorful packages, of candlelight and rich food and warm open houses. It’s carolers in the shopping malls, excited children, and weary but loving parents. It’s a lovely time of special warmth and caring and giving. It’s the level at which we eat too much and spend too much and do too much–and enjoy every minute of it. We love the Santa Claus level of Christmas.
But there’s a higher, more beautiful level. Let’s call it the 'Silent Night level.' It’s the level of all our glorious Christmas carols, of that beloved, familiar story: 'Now in those days there went out a decree from Caesar Augustus…' It’s the level of the crowded inn, and the silent holy moment in a dark stable when the Son of Man came to earth. It’s shepherds on a steep, bare hill near Bethlehem, angels with their glad tidings, a new star in the East, wise men traveling far in search of the Holy One. How beautiful and meaningful it is; how infinitely poorer we would be without this sacred second level of Christmas.
The trouble is, these two levels don’t last. They can’t. Twelve days of Christmas, at the first level, is about all most of us can stand. It’s too intense, too extravagant. The tree dries out and the needles fall. The candles burn down. The beautiful wrappings go out with he trash, the carolers are up on the ski slopes, the toys break, and the biggest day the stores in the entire year is exchange day, December 26.
The feast is over and the dieting begins. But the lonely and the hungry are with us still perhaps lonelier and hungrier than before.
Lovely and joyous as the first level of Christmas is, there will come a day, very soon, when Mother will put away the decorations and vacuum the living room and think, 'Thank goodness that’s over for another year.'
Even the second level, the level of the Baby Jesus, can’t last. How many times this season can you sing 'Silent Night'? The angels and the star and the shepherd, even the silent, sacred mystery of that holy night itself, can’t long satisfy humanity’s basic need. The man who keeps Christ in the manger will, in the end, be disappointed and empty.
No, for Christmas to last all year long, for it to grow in beauty and meaning and purpose, for it to have the power to change lives, we must celebrate it at the third level, that of the adult Christ. It is at this level–not as an infant–that our Savior brings His gifts of lasting joy, lasting peace, lasting hope. It was the adult Christ who reached out and touched the untouchable, who loved the unlovable, who so loved us all that even in His agony on the cross He prayed forgiveness for His enemies.
This is the Christ, creator of worlds without number, who wept, Enoch tell us, because so many of us lack affection and hate each other–and then who willingly gave His life for all of us, including those for whom He wept.
This is the Christ, the adult Christ, who gave us the perfect example, and asked us to follow Him.
Accepting that invitation is the way–the only way–to celebrate Christmas all year and all life long."

Christmas Day

2011-12-25T21:42:00.000+01:00

Christmas morning! It started earlier for some than for others. Matthew woke up to Luke’s coughing at 5:30 and couldn’t get back to sleep. Chris woke up and went to get him and take him downstairs. He sat in the living room and enjoyed staring at the twinkling Christmas tree with Matthew cradled in his arms. If Matthew had just looked down he would have seen a Geotrax Lightening McQueen car set from Santa – but he never did. After a few minutes, Chris decided to put all this ‘extra time’ to good use. His one cooking adventure of the year is to make Christmas breakfast – it’s what he grew up with. Potatoes, sausage, eggs and cheese all mixed together. We LOVE it!

At 6:56 Ryan ran upstairs to wake up the girls. At 7:00, when they all ran into my room I heard them say, “Hey, I smell something really good!” It did smell good. Dad heard all the excitement and ran upstairs. “Breakfast is almost ready… just wait a minute!” Instead of eat breakfast AFTER seeing what Santa brought us and BEFORE opening presents, like we normally do, we ate FIRST – which ended up being GREAT, especially since it was Sunday and we had church to get ready for. Dad brought up plates of Christmas breakfast and we ate in Mom and Dad’s room! Crazy. Then we lined up on the stairs for a picture before heading downstairs. Everyone was pretty excited.

Matthew and Luke’s Geotrax from Santa…

Matthew and Luke walked into the living room and immediately started playing Geotrax. Their Cars2 Geotrax set was already set up and ready to go. Pretty much the rest of the day they played Geotrax. Luke took apart the set multiple times to try a different arrangement occasionally disappearing downstairs to ‘get more tracks.’ Matthew kept saying “Geotrax upstairs!” Yes, it was pretty shocking. Luke and Matt’s Geotrax train sets live downstairs in the Bonus Room and is up and running 95% of the time… so to have Geotrax upstairs, well, Matthew just couldn’t quite believe it. In fact, just as I’m sitting here typing, Matthew just said, “Hey, that’s ME with the upstairs Geotrax!!! It was pretty cute. These happy boys didn’t do much else on Christmas day. Luke would break away to open presents if we asked, but then went straight back to the cars. Matthew on the other hand, didn’t want to open other presents at all. “No!” he’d say when we’d ask. We just didn’t bother him much. Chris and I were right to only get the boys a few presents each.

You just couldn’t be more happy about Batman underwear in your stocking…

A tiger from Luke’s stocking… He and Matthew are slowly collecting an AWESOME collection of animals.

Ryan hanging out with his Santa stuff… the new ERAGON book, lots of candy, undershirts, boxers... Seriously, I think this boy was happiest about his undershirts. He’s needed them for awhile – thank you Santa.

Stuffed animals for the girls…

Santa brought stuffed animals for all the girls… even MOM! Sneaky Santa. Katie got a penguin and named him POPPER. Emily got a horse and named him PRINCESS BUTTERCUP. Megan got an elephant and named him TUSCANY. And Mom got a adorable cuddly gorilla which is not named yet. I have to remind the kids that it is in fact MOM’s GORILLA since everyone wants to steal him. (Megan even tried to stuff him in her backpack to take to school one day!) I love him! Santa must know that this brand of German stuffed animals is our FAVORITE.

Emily setting up the animals with the tea set she and Megan got in their stockings…

After enjoying our stocking stuff and Santa presents for awhile we started opening presents.

Christmas present rules…

Dad picks someone to start off the present picking.
You must pick a present that’s not for you.
You must give thank you hugs after opening.
And then you can pick a present for someone else.

Man alive that makes present opening slow and so fun!!

Ryan’s iTouch… Ryan was pretty excited to find Dad’s old but newly revamped ‘iPhone’ wrapped up in green tissue. With it was a letter explaining that Dad had cleaned it out, added Ryan’s music, bought a new black case, and added $10.00 for new apps. Ryan was pretty shocked – he’s been wanting an iTouch for a long time and since Chris hasn’t wanted to spent the outrageous monthly amount for iPhone service here, it’s pretty much an iTouch. After staring at it in unbelief and hugging Dad he ran straight to the computer to buy apps etc. It was a fun present to give. Both Dad and I were a little teary.

Playdoh to Luke (and 2 to Matthew as well) from Katie… and hugs to Katie for a Junie B. Jones book for Megan.

I love this picture… Megan got started reading her Junie B. Jones book right away. … the little boys took a little break to check out Ryan’s iTouch. Ryan is wearing one of his new Italian ties hand picked by Megan in Florence.

Emily’s Emily Doll… Emily’s been wanting the Emily American Girl Doll for quite a while. She’s best friends with Molly, the Historical Girl from the 1940s. { Emily’s ‘Look like Me’ American Girl looks EXACTLY like Molly, except without glasses. It also looks just like Emily. Emily named her Molly right when she got her.} So when Emily started opening up the package and saw the red and pink stars on the side she was pretty excited. {There’s Matt just playing away with the ‘Upstairs Geotrax’.)

Emily and Emily. This was a fun present to give too. Chris and I were a little teary again because of how excited she was.

A new cowboy outfit for Emily’s doll, Molly, a PS bear for Katie (which came free with the polka dot jammies for the girls), and finally a 4th Wii controller for Ryan (and friends).

Emily and Megan went in together to buy me a Christmas present. Emily used $15.00 of her own earned money to buy me this present. (That’s after 50% is put into savings and 10% is put into tithing – so earning $15.00 of spending money is quite something. I was so excited to open it. (I love that you can see Ryan’s reflection sitting at the computer looking at apps.)

A cake platter. I love it! Thanks, girls!

Watching the kids excitedly run to the tree to get out a gift that they purchased with their own money for someone in the family is one of my favorite things about Christmas. Ryan was pretty excited about ALL the gifts he gave and put a lot of time into researching them online. For Emily he downloaded some great Disney songs to make her her own ‘Disney songs playlist’. Then he burned them on a disk so she could listen to them upstairs in her room. We’ve all loved it.

Playmobil Cowboys and Robbers for Luke from Mom and Dad.

I love how it’s really Emily giving the hugs here. She was SO excited to be giving BYU golf balls to Ryan and Dad for Christmas. Matthew immediately heard the BYU commotion and wanted to hold Dad’s golf balls. “One for Dad and one for ME!” he said.

Sacrament Meeting with the German ward…

At this point it was 9:30 and we had to stop to start getting ready for church. We had ironed and gotten everything ready earlier in the week, so everyone got ready quickly and we were out the door by 10:15. We were able to drive together for a change since Chris didn’t have bishopric meeting. Our ward combined with the German ward for Sacrament meeting at 10:45. (Based on the bus schedule because most Germans take the bus to church). We sang all the Christmas hymns in both English and German. Either they had to sing a verse twice because there were more English verses or we had to sing a verse twice because there were more German verses. I thought that was interesting. The bishop of each ward spoke and each had a translator for the other language. It was fun to be together.

I really like being in church on Christmas day. Singing Christmas hymns about the birth of Christ was very special. And to echo the words of my brother, “it’s great to be able to take the Sacrament on Christmas Day.” It was evident that everyone was full of love. Lots of hugs and expressions of friendship. I loved it.

Baptism of Bro. Thomas…

After Sacrament we were able to stay for a baptism. One of the families that Chris home teaches was a part member family. The wife and children are members and now Bro. Thomas is a member. Sister Thomas also happens to be Ryan’s 8th Grade English Teacher. We moved to the Relief Society Room only to find that it was way too crowded…. so back to the chapel. About half the ward stayed for the baptism. It was really neat… especially watching Sister Thomas the whole time. The whole group of us signed a football for Brother Thomas and then it was thrown to him at the end to show him our support. The kids thought getting baptized on Christmas was pretty cool.

Christmas morning Part II

When we got home it was about 2:00 and we were hungry again… so instead of lunch we had seconds of Christmas breakfast and got BACK into our jammies for Christmas morning part II.

Emily and Megan re-enacting ‘BIG TRAX!!’ – a funny part in Kid History 7. My kids can quote those like crazy!

The girls all got American Girl desks for their dolls… even Katie, who still loves to play school from time to time. Emily and Megan got princess pajamas from Dad. He picked them out for these two while he was in San Francisco earlier this year.

Megan and Katie went in together to get Dad another BYU shirt. He thinks he can never have too many and it’s always a fun present to give. He got another BYU shirt and BYU sweatshirt from me… plus some chocolate covered cinnamon bears from the BYU bookstore.

Dad’s not the only one who got a lot of BYU stuff. Katie gave Ryan a BYU pillowcase, and we gave Ryan a BYU flag and BYU pajama pants to match.

Ryan got Katie a new shirt from PS, which she loved of course. She’s pretty thrilled with clothes these days!

Matthew opening his ‘ICE AGE’ DVD. Luke’s pretty thrilled too.

Besides clothes and new boots, one of Katie’s main presents was the official handing down of my old Nikon camera… complete with fabric for a new camera strap and a series of photography outings and computer organizing lessons with mom. Of course I’m thrilled she wants to carry around a camera with her!

All of my presents were a complete shock to me… including this one, a new tripod. I’ve been wanting one for a long time but still had no idea until I actually opened it. I definitely got emotional – not entirely because it was a tripod but because he had done all the research about it, talked to people, read reviews and thought about what I would want. Just the time it takes to research something like that was a huge present. We ended up putting the video camera on it for the rest of the night to video and it worked great. I love it. It’s the Manfrotto Carbon Fiber 055CX PRO3 with a grip ball head.

Love you honey. Another thing I got from Chris were grey cable knit UGG slippers. I LOVE them!!! He did such a great job picking!!

Chris’ main present was quite the surprise too. I got him a GO PRO Hero2 and a few accessories. It’s a fun little water proof video camera. He was shocked and thrilled. It was a good year for surprises! I think I was too busy enjoying the moment instead of capturing it on my camera.

Just being silly with Kates. Chris gave me this CUTE owl timer. It’s from a really fun store downtown on the Hauptstrasse that I discovered with Chris’ parents.

I gave Emily cooking supplies and a recipe binder this year – just like I gave to Katie when she was 9. My Emily ALWAYS wants to help out in the kitchen. With her supplies she got three tickets for ‘Cooking Lessons’ which will be held every other Thursday – opposite Katie’s photography sessions.

Making homemade Potato soup.
Invite a friend over and make chocolate chip cookies.
Make a complete meal for the family. (Emily said, “Mom, you’ve got to make sure the meal is something really hard to make) Emily, I’m so glad you love to cook!!

Emily earned these stickers as a reward at school and thought they’d be the perfect thing for Katie for Christmas. She was so excited when she came home from school with this surprise and a notebook that she gave to Luke to practice writing.

We really had to pry the boys away from the Geotrax to open these presents but we PROMISED them it would be worth it. Lightning McQueen and Mater remote control cars for their Geotrax tracks. Boy were they excited.

Ah, there’s my Matthew’s face… I haven’t seen it all day.

Dad immediately went to work putting batteries in Mater and McQueen. Matthew was so funny. He wanted to introduce his other cars to Mater so he flipped Holley over so she could say ‘HI’ to Mater.

One of the things Emily has wanted for awhile is the American Girl glasses so that her ‘just like me’ doll could look even more like the historical girl Molly. Two months before Christmas Emily wanted to buy them herself but we told her it was just too close to Christmas and she couldn’t buy anything for herself until after Christmas. Then Katie and I quickly ordered them. Katie paid for them and excitedly wrapped them -- we KNEW she was going to be excited… and she was. I love these pictures.

Horse Stable playmobil for all the girls to share… although it was Emily who opened the box and spent SEVERAL hours following the directions and putting it together piece by piece the next day. She is the one that is SO into horses these days. I’m not sure how, but somehow this turned into ‘dog pile Dad’ and tickle fight.

Clothes, clothes and a Germany bag for Katie. She’s been eyeing one of those for a long time.

Luke wasn’t really feeling all that great on Christmas. By 5:00 he was exhausted and knew he wanted to go to sleep. “Dad, I’m going to bed now.” and off he went to tuck himself in. We let him sleep for awhile but didn’t want him to be down for the night so Chris went and got him 45 minutes later for his turn to open a present. Ryan had ordered a Toy Story 3 Wii game for him on Amazon that we all knew Luke would LOVE. Luke opened it, stared at it, and immediately asked if he could go back to bed. I made him fake a smile for the camera but it took all of his energy. He was warm and sick and we promptly let him get back in bed. Poor boy. He DOES love his new Wii game – especially when he can play it with Ryan.

Megan also opened new kitchen furniture for her dolls. I found those on a big sale in JULY and kept them hidden downstairs for half the year. The dolls really had a good Christmas.

Emily’s presents minus Molly who’s just showing off a new outfit.

Katie was especially excited about getting Harry Potter 7. She’s read all the books this year and loves them AND the movies. She was SO excited to see #7 again.

We were able to skype with Grandma and Grandpa Walton and Brian, Grandma and Grandpa Johnson and Amy and Chris throughout the evening which was so fun. We ate leftover Christmas Eve dinner for dinner and cleaned up the living room. What a great day!!

Christmas Eve

2011-12-24T19:18:00.000+01:00

We spent the day with Jared & Geneva Chugg and family at their house. Good times. We played games. Ate food – LOTS of it. Decorated cookies. Acted out the nativity. Played Christmas tunes on our chimes. I need Geneva’s pictures because my camera wasn’t charged. Anyway, great day. At 7:30 we headed home and got dressed in our Christmas jammies ready for traditional Christmas Eve Stocking pictures.

Reading our new Christmas story – that the kids just opened up… ‘Christmas Prayer’.

After our Christmas story we said family prayer and then put our decorated snowmen sugar cookies onto TWO plates (because one plate didn’t fit them and everyone was adamant that their special cookie be eaten by Santa) along with a mug full of egg nog, Santa’s favorite. Once that was done the kids were SOOO excited to be going to bed that they scampered off pretty quickly. Once they had been gone for about 10 minutes Chris made a trip to each of their rooms to get them all excited again – that’s tradition too. Chris and I didn’t have much to do but stayed up much too late anyway. Christmas is so fun!!

Christmas Letter 2011

2011-12-23T19:21:00.000+01:00

A friend snapped this picture for us before heading into church. Katie does NOT like it, but it just had to do this year.

Dear Friends and Family,

Our first full year in Germany has been amazing. We love living here and are taking advantage of everything Europe has to offer. We’re HALF WAY... with a year and a half to go. We feel especially thankful for our connection to family and friends even though we are far away. A few highlights from our wonderfully busy 2011…

Baptizing Emily at the end of 2010 - Standing on top of Germany’s highest point ‘the Zugspitze’ with G&G Johnson in temperatures 17 degrees below zero - Watching the boys play GeoTrax every day - Skyping with family several times a week - Taking Katie to a Taylor Swift concert - Listening to Megan read - Being in Utah with my sister, Amy for her marriage in the American Fork Temple - Spending a week in Vancouver with my Mom and Dad - Cooking with Emily - Enjoying the Tulip Festival in Holland - Getting Mr. Luke potty trained with his demand of enthusiastic ‘yeah!’s’ -Eating amazing Fiocchetti with Chris’ sisters in Florence on our fun Italy week - Trying to keep up with blogging our crazy travel lifestyle - Singing ‘Sound of Music’ songs with Dan, Sarah, Scott and Elisha in Salzburg - Doing our ‘no empty chairs’ family hand shake after prayer - Watching Chris coach and Ryan and Katie play a great soccer season - Enjoying a lazy summer with soccer camps, theater camp, play dates and local field trips with great friends - Celebrating Ryan turning 13... our first TEENAGER! - Touching the Berlin Wall on our trip to Berlin with the Chuggs - Being together for weekly Family 'pizza & movie' nights - Getting away for a fun girls trip to Seiffen, Germany {home of the German nutcracker} - Playing Dominion with Amy & Chris in the old Swiss farmhouse - Listening to the kids practice the piano (unless it's Ryan's Star Wars Theme -- which we hear way too much!) - Walking around Munich with G&G Walton during Oktoberfest - Laughing hysterically at all of Luke’s expressive faces Hearing about Katie's love of all things 'Middle School!' - Taking Ryan and Katie and G&G Walton to WICKED and LES MISERABLES in London - Serving in the church - Hearing Emily recite all 13 Articles of Faith at one time to receive her primary chocolate bar - Living it up on our 12 Day Mediterranean Cruise with our BFFs from Medical School - Trying to keep 4 year old Luke from playing Wii 24/ 7 - Watching BYU games in the middle of the night - Eating seriously good pizza in multiple cities around Tuscany with G&G Johnson - Visiting the Christmas market in our favorite German city… Rothenburg - Watching Ryan and Katie dance in their ballroom recital with all their great church friends - Decorating the tree with ‘Rockin’ around the Christmas Tree’ music playing - Enjoying a wonderful Christmas season with the kids.

Wishing your family a Merry Christmas and much joy in the New Year!

Love the Johnsons

Chris and Lisa, Ryan 13, Katie 11, Emily 8, Megan 6, Luke 4 and Matthew 2

It’s a Wonderful Life

2011-12-23T02:18:00.000+01:00

We’ve had a wonderful December so far. We were able to finish almost all of our shopping in November which has left December feeling rather un-stressful and so enjoyable. Chris was away for the first two weeks of December attending a Course for work in San Antonio. He hated being away in December – (he’s such a Christmas kid) but he enjoyed catching up with some medical school and residency friends and playing more basketball than he has in years. We missed him but have made up in the ‘fun family activities’ area since he’s returned. Some of the day by day highlights of our month so far…

Thursday, December 1st – Decorating the Christmas Tree. Since Chris flew to San Antonio on the 29th, he and Grandma and Grandpa Johnson and the big kids went out to find a tree before the end of November. They put it up and Ryan and Dad strung the lights while everyone else was asleep. On December 1st we finally had a night where all the kids were home to help decorate. They definitely think there has to be ‘theme music’ playing all the time so they quickly found “Rocking around the Christmas Tree’ to play while they put on the red and silver balls.

{ Katie switched bedspreads with us so we could have her red festive one for the month. She was excited about our bluish one and we added some wintery décor that thrilled her. The girls got small green cozy IKEA blankets on their pink beds with some green and pink Christmas décor. Ryan grabbed one of our small trees and a string of lights that lit up his room. So fun to have some Christmas atmosphere upstairs. }

Friday, December 2nd - Ryan and his Level 3 Ballroom Class performed at the Patrick Henry Village Christmas Party. They did great. So fun to see their dances. His favorite dance? The rumba cha-cha.

Saturday, December 3rd – Did our opening activity for our Christ Centered Christmas with the kids – more on that later. Watched Pride and Prejudice while addressing my Christmas cards. It guess it should have been a Christmas one but all the good ones I want to watch with Chris – and I never tire of Pride and Prejudice.

Monday, December 6th – St. Nicholas Day! On the night of December 5th the kids put one shoe outside the front door for St. Nicholas to fill with treats. At 6:45 the next morning they found their shoes filled with German chocolates, Euros and a Christmas keychain. Pretty exciting! Megan thought for sure she’d get more stuff if she had a boot out there!

Thursday, December 8th – I left all the kiddos at home with corndogs for dinner and went with some of my friends to the Mannheim Christmas Market. We bundled up to enjoy the cold night and were pleasantly warm. The best thing about a Christmas market is all the great food. I loved my French bread pizza and fried potatoes with applesauce. We had fun wandering through all the Christmas shop stands and picking up another ‘Christmas Market mug’ for my collection. Germany has the best Christmas atmosphere!

Friday, December 9th – Ryan and Katie’s Ballroom Recital… which seriously was like a Ward Party. Ryan got moved up from Ballroom Level 2 to Level 3 during the semester so he performed in both levels and then he helped out Katie’s level 1 Class since they didn’t have enough boys – so he was in almost every dance. It’s so fun to see them when they dance together. After the performances, we ate treats and socialized with our friends while all the youth went back to the ballroom floor to dance. That tricky Ryan figured out a way to dance with girls before he turned 14.

Mark, Tate, Ryan, Katie, Abby – just a few of the gang

Saturday, December 10th – We woke up bright and early and headed to the church for the Ward Christmas Breakfast from 9 – 11. We ate breakfast and then sang Christmas carols and then watched the video of the nativity from lds.org that is so great. Then Santa came and all the kids lined up to talk to him. Matthew didn’t want to go near him at all. Luke happily sat on his knee but had no idea of what to ask for. The kids got big yummy pretzels from Santa.

Sunday, December 11th – As soon as we got home from Church, we turned on the First Presidency Christmas devotional. It comes on too late here to catch it live so we waited till the next Sunday night. The music and talks were wonderful. Then our Home Teachers came to visit us. The kids had made them homemade Christmas cards that they loved. It was fun to surprise them.

Tuesday, December 13th – Katie and Emily had their Activity Day Christmas White Elephant Party. They were pretty excited to find something to ‘re-gift’. They sang Christmas carols and opened and traded gifts. And since Chris wasn’t home yet, Megan, Luke, Matthew and I read a big stack of books out in the foyer. Ryan enjoyed his combined YM/YW Ginger-Nativity making activity.

Wednesday, December 14th – Luke, Matthew and I drove to the Frankfurt airport to pick up Chris! Yeah!! At 5:00 we went to Emily and Megan’s Elementary School Christmas concert. They got all dressed up in their fancy dresses and each sang 3 or 4 songs with their grade level. Fun to have Chris there to be a part of it -- and to see all our friends.

When we got home we had our MARY night – focusing on the scriptures about Mary and learning from her the importance of Pondering. It was a special night – one of my favorite memories of this Christmas season.

Thursday, December 15th – Chris didn’t work since getting adjusted to the new time zone is more difficult on this end. In the morning we wrapped presents for hours while listening to Christmas music. We got a ton done!! That night we left Katie with the kids and took Ryan to his final Level 3 Ballroom Performance. Fun to be there with Chris – and glad that’s the last one of the season! When we got home we watched ELF… one of our favorites.

Friday, December 16th – We had our JOSEPH night – focusing on the scriptures about Joseph and learning from his story the importance of SERVICE. Another wonderful activity.

After our Joseph activity we opened up our Christmas package from Ashlyn… Chris’ sister. She had put together a fun night for us complete with this checklist…

Put the CD in and listen to Christmas music (She included a Christmas CD that she had made for us).
Make hot chocolate. (She included our favorite Stephens mint hot chocolate in our package too.)
Make cornflake Christmas treats. (She included the ingredients and recipe to one of Chris’ favorite Christmas treats growing up.)
Put on your Rudolf noses and Skype us to sing a Christmas carol. (She included foam Rudolf noses for the whole family. We skyped her and little Derek to sing and chat for a while. It was so much fun!)

Saturday, December 17th – Chris took ALL SIX KIDS shopping leaving me alone in my own house! My first Christmas present!!! It was wonderful!

That night we hosted an adult Christmas Party with some of our best friends in the ward and the Chuggs who live in Ramstein. It was a fun night. We ate delicious food, while we played some Christmas carol games, Christmas Pictionary -- guys against the girls – with the guys totally cheating, then played Christmas charades – more cheating from the guys : ) and then watched everyone’s favorite YouTube clip with desserts. It was really fun.

Sunday, December 18th -- Sunday was our Ward Christmas Program at church. It was amazing. My good friend Megan is the music specialist and choir leader and my other good friend, Emma played the piano, organ and cello for the whole event. They both did an amazing job. I really enjoyed being in the choir this year. We sang ‘Good Christian Men’ and ‘Christ Child’ and then the women’s choir sang ‘Only a Baby Came’. All were beautiful songs and at some parts, were hard to sing because of the overwhelming spirit. My friend Megan sang a solo. Emma played her cello. Emma’s son sang a solo. The young women sang a song. The primary sang two songs and we had Narration throughout. At the end of the program Katie said to me… “Mom, that was the best Sacrament Meeting EVER’. When the choir sang “Good Christian Men” I felt the Spirit and it made me cry.” She had written notes about all of the songs. It was wonderful to have been a part of.

After church and Tithing Settlement with Bishop Tillett, we drove over to the Woods house for dinner. They made fabulous fajitas and we played Guesstures. Mike and Sonila don’t have any kids but my kids love them and had the best time ever. Gage and Jessica, from our ward, were there as well (also no kids) but brought their pet skunk named Cotton! The kids LOVED taking turns holding it. So fun.

Monday, December 19th – We had our ‘ANGEL night’ – reading the scriptures about the Angels singing and bringing great joy. Then we drove over to The Patterson’s House for a big Family Caroling Party. We sang and sang and sang and drank hot chocolate and ate great food. We even pulled out our Rudolf noses for the Rudolf song. Matthew was cracking us up by dancing in the front of everyone right by the piano. Silly boy.

Tuesday, December 20th – It SNOWED. We woke up to a blanket of heavy snow everywhere and it didn’t stop snowing until noon. It was beautiful. Katie went to her friend – Kai’s Christmas Party where they made and decorated sugar cookies and then played outside in the snow. Ryan and Megan played in the snow at home. Emily – so sick and sad to be missing out on all the fun. That night we had our SHEPHERD night’ – reading the scriptures about the Shepherds and a testimony night by the glow of the Christmas tree.

Then we gave the kids an early Christmas present: the Disney Christmas special ‘PREP and LANDING’ on DVD. It’s just a short little carton elf movie but it’s so cute. After all the kids went to bed Chris and I watched The HOLIDAY.

Wednesday, December 21st – The snow is all gone. That was fast! When Chris got home from work late afternoon we immediately started on a 1000 piece puzzle. The kids were all excited about it – but soon it was just Chris and I.

Thursday, December 22nd – Watched ‘It’s a Wonderful Life’ in the afternoon with the kids. When Chris got home we did our ’Christ Child night’ – reading the scriptures about the Christ Child and talking about the gifts the Savior has given us. Then we watched a few wonderful Mormon Messages on LDS.org and then watched Mr. Kreuger’s Christmas with popcorn and three batches of laundry. And then played Cities and Knights Settlers with Ryan. We are definitely packing in the fun.

Tomorrow it’s Christmas Adam… and then Christmas Eve… and then Christmas. And boy are we excited! It’s going to be one big party over here.

Rothenburg Christmas Market

2011-11-25T19:22:00.000+01:00

We love this city. It is one of the cutest most quaint cobbled street German cities around. Some of us have been here multiple times this year – but we’ve never been for the Christmas market – until now. Thanksgiving weekend is usually when they start. Germans don’t have Thanksgiving but their ‘season of Advent’ begins with the fourth Sunday before Christmas. This year that was November 27th – and the Christmas markets always open up the weekend before the first advent Sunday – perfect timing for Chris’ parents to get in a Christmas market before they flew home.

Our Christmas market weather last year was just a bit… FREEZING so I was a little nervous about this year’s gloomy dreary FREEZING winter weather drawing near. But today was nice and sunny with blue skies and 40 degree temperatures. Totally do-able. It was fantastic. Christmas market season – here we come!

We wandered up one of the main streets popping in a few shops to look around. Rothenburg has great shopping. We grabbed some fried potatoes (you dip them in applesauce) that were delicious and then kept walking. In the second square we loaded up on hot chocolate and crepes. These were some of the best crepes we’ve tasted outside Paris (and London actually). Nutella and white drizzled chocolate. Yum!

The view from Rothenberg’s garden to the rest of Rothenberg.

Blue eyed Matthew…

This group of Asian photographers were pretty funny to watch. They were taking pictures of a couple walking hand in hand through the leaves – no one that they knew, of course. A couple of them came up to my girls to take pictures of them as well. Emily and Megan didn’t know what to do. It was so funny.

One of the best things about a Christmas market is the food. These bratwurst sandwiches were SO good!

This is the Kathe Wohlfahrt booth. The epitome of German Christmas décor…

…with the town hall right behind. Matthew and Luke enjoyed this little ride.

After wandering through the decorated streets a bit, we climbed the stairs and ‘walked the wall’ for a while.

In the main market area – now crowed with people for a parade and celebration. Katie and I ran back to buy a souvenir Christmas market mug. Each city’s Christmas Market sells their hot chocolate (and traditional hot drink with alcohol) in specially designed mugs just for their own city. You can collect the mugs from each Christmas Market that you visit. I didn’t pick up any last year but I think I might start.

Thanksgiving

2011-11-24T19:23:00.000+01:00

Early November I put up our ‘grateful tree’ with a bowl of round papers beside it. Some nights after Family Prayer we’d write one or two things we were grateful for and add it to the tree. It got pretty full by the end.

Kitchen décor…

New favorite Thanksgiving quote: “Not what we say about our blessings but how we use them, is the true measure of our Thanksgiving.”

Grateful posters:

On Thanksgiving day I pulled these papers our for the kids to work on while eating our Thanksgiving Dinner appetizer. Then I put them up on the FHE wall to enjoy for the last few days of November. Now they’re tucked away in our Family Home Evening journal. I love that they show so much personality.

Matthew’s (with a little help) says… “ I am thankful for: Geotrax, chocolate milk, Go Diego Go, Little Einsteins, Luke, Mom, Dad, Ryan, Katie, Emily, Megan, corn dogs, green yogurt, Lightening McQueen and Legos.

Luke’s says… “ I am thankful for: chips, Wii, a pumpkin, food, leaves, my leapster, Spencer, Sammy, Jesus, writing my name, Grandpa, Grandma, more chips, Daddy, Mom, Matthew, our car, Kid History, Buzz Lightyear, woody, the trampoline, Twinkle Twinkle Little Star, a banana, church, playmobile, Geotrax and me!”

Megan’s says… “ I am thankful for: my family, food, toys, movies, Thanksgiving, Christmas, playmobil, dolls, blocks, Daddy, Mommy, my brothers and sisters, Grandpas and Grandmas, Jesus Christ, mashed potatoes, turkey, my room, my bed, Germany, Washington, the Holy Ghost, my house, my clothes and shoes, daytime, nighttime, my friends: Brooklyn, Ave, Naomi, Jenna, & Kristen, all the months, school, church, all my teachers, ‘aminals’, seasons, and myself!”

Emily’s says… “ I am thankful for: G and G Johnson, G and G Walton, Dad, Mom, Ryan, Katie, Megan, Luke, Matthew, school, church, TV, Washington, Georgia, Germany, our house, our trampoline, our tree house, learning, my doll (Molly), my stuffed animals, Halloween, Thanksgiving, Christmas, food, water, toys, light, Heavenly Father, Jesus Christ, earth, sun, moon, love, our Georgia house, nature and animals.”

Katie’s says… “ I am thankful for FAMILY, the gospel, friends, vacations, family traditions, education, LOVE, mashed potatoes, thanksgiving dinner, Thanksgiving, birthdays, feelings, life, breath, bodies, scriptures, hands, feet, showers, peanut butter, baptism, music, London, England, Jesus Christ, heavenly Father, Dad, Mom, books, reading, writing, siblings, Christmas, movies, family visiting, flowers, trees, Germany, Easter, fruit, soldiers, primary teachers and leaders, cars, harry Potter books and movies, bikes, soccer, sports, the piano and other instruments, iPods, babies, cousins and extended family.”

Ryan’s says… “ I am thankful for parents, Friends, Family, Grandparents, Thanksgiving, Thanksgiving dinner, Christmas, good grades, That I am special enough to color corn backwards, this acorn, Mirrors (so I can see how extremely handsome I am) Culligan water (because tap water is yucky) tape, having no homework, My mom and her spirituality and her food and cooking skills, the plat with my name on it, pickles, lasagna, rolls, mashed potatoes, Italy, Germany, Paris, Matthew, iPads, my cool teachers, BYU cougars, egg nog, presents, music, my friends – Mark, Tate, Bobby and Carter, halo, books, Harry Potter books, Cars, Toy Story, piano, the star wars theme song, my Heavenly Father, supercalifragalisticexpealadocious, my LIFE, Jurassic Park, Settlers and Dominion, my iPod shuffle, Jesus Christ, and more books.”

Mom says… “ I am thankful for my husband – his help, his attitude, his strength, his church service, his smile and twinkling eyes, his LOVE, his support. For my kids – their good examples, happy attitudes, love and desire to do what’s right. For my testimony – of the gospel, of my Savior, of the prophets, of the the Temple. For my friends who live far and wide. For the opportunity to live in Germany and experience life in Europe and enjoy great vacations. For my parents – and their support and great example and LOVE. For my fabulous brothers and sisters and our closeness despite the distance.”

We ate Thanksgiving dinner around 4 o'clock.

The menu:

Appetizer

Spicy chicken dip and chips (from Elisha)

Salad – (if you could call it that – it’s really a dessert)

Pretzel Jell-O (from Sarah)

Main Course

Turkey
Mashed potatoes and gravy
Homemade sausage, apple & cranberry stuffing (allrecipes.com)
Creamed corn (from a friend in Maryland)
Sweet potatoes (from Aunt Susan)
Rolls (Shelley made them)

Dessert

Pumpkin Bars (from a friend in Maryland)
Raisin Pie for Chris and Grandpa (recipe from Shelley)
Pumpkin Pie for Shelley (she made it for herself – no one else wanted any.)

Whew… that was a lot of work – but it was worth it!!

Thanksgiving 2011

Happy 4th Birthday, Luke.

2011-11-23T19:24:00.000+01:00

We had Luke’s birthday party a few days late to accommodate our schedule and hoping that G&G Johnsons’ presents for Luke would be shipped – which unfortunately didn’t come on time. He got a Leapster from us and a Diego Leapster game and a Cars2 coloring book and the Cars2 movie. G&G Walton gave him these motorcycle playmobil guys which ended up being the hit of the evening. Good thinking to have one ‘for Matthew too’. G&G Johnsons presents came a little bit later but luckily still while they were here… star wars guys, an awesome BYU hat and shirt and a slinky.

He was starting to remind us a bit of Emily at this age when he hardly reacted to his new presents at all. He went from “WOW!” at EVERY present last Christmas to hardly cracking a smile for his opened birthday presents. That was SO Emily! It made us really laugh, especially when the kids would say, “Luke, what is it?” and he’s answer what it was completely matter-of-factly without smiling. Funny kid.

He and Matthew (mostly Matthew) are very much into Go Diego Go and Luke was thrilled with his Diego plates and ‘theme’ – (which is really stretching it since all we didn’t do much outside the plates). Happy Birthday, Luke!!

Awards Ceremony at the Middle School

2011-11-22T16:27:00.000+01:00

Tuesday we spent the morning at Katie’s 6th Grade Award ceremony. She was awarded the Principal’s Honor Roll Award for her 4.0 GPA. It was fun to have Grandma and Grandpa here to see her receive it. Katie is a really hard worker and diligent student. She’s pretty amazing! Good work Kates.

After Katie’s we did a little shopping, went over to the hospital to eat lunch with Chris and then back over to the Middle school again for the 8th grade award ceremony. Here’s Ryan shaking hands with Principal, Mrs. El Sayed. She is fabulous!!

Ryan earned two awards… the Principals’ Honor Roll Award for his 4.0 GPA and the 8B Algebra Award for outstanding academic achievement. Just a few students received it for the whole grade. He’s a pretty amazing student. Way to go Ryan. We’re so proud of you!

San Gimignano, Italy

2011-11-19T19:28:00.000+01:00

We left Volterra and headed back towards our Villa and then another 15 minutes in the opposite direction to get to this cute city… San Gimignano. Oh, I loved this city! We walked into the city from the town gate and walked up the main cobbled street. No cars within the gates at all. The girls had fun oohing and ahhing over all the small colored Italian purses along the way. We kept an eye out for the colors that Emily liked the best and discreetly bought one while she wasn’t looking, for her December birthday.

The stone walls, and steep curvy cobblestone streets were beautiful. We made our way to the Piazza della Cisterna named for the old well standing in the center of the square. A clever system of pipes drained rainwater from the nearby rooftops into the underground cistern. This square has been the center of town since the ninth century. Each Thursday the square fills with a market --as it has for more than a thousand years.

They had strings of lights set up that would have been cool in the dark. We stopped and sat on the fountain steps for awhile before heading on.

The adjoining Piazza del duomo… faces the former cathedral. The twin towers to the right are 10th century, among the first in the town.

Interesting… about the 14 of 60 towers that have survived: “Of the original 60 or so towers, only 14 survive. Before effective city walls were developed, rich people fortified their own homes with these towers: they provided a handy refuge when ruffians and rival city-states were sacking the town. These towers became a standard part of medieval skylines. Even after town walls were built, the towers continued to rise now to fortify noble families feuding within a town (Montague and Capulet-style).”

A little San Gimignano history… “In the 14th century, San Gimignano’s good times turned very bad. In the year 1300, about 13,000 people lived here within the walls. Then in 1348, a six-month plague decimated the population, leaving the once-mighty town with barely 4,000 survivors. Once fiercely independent, now crushed and demoralized, San Gimignano came under Florence’s control and was forced to tear down its towers …and Florence redirected the vital trade route away from San gimignano. The town never recovered, and poverty left it in a 14th-century architectural time warp. That well-preserved cityscape, ironically, is responsible for the town’s prosperity today.”

We, of course, were excited to climb one of the towers. This one ended with a one person ladder to climb up. The view was incredible.

“San Gimignano is surrounded by olives, grapes, cypress trees and – in the Middle Ages – lots of wild dangers. Back then, farmers lived inside the walls and were thankful for the protection.”

On the way back down… Megan and Emily

We got REALLY good gelato here. So good that Grandpa went back and ordered another cone of the same stuff.

We had such a great Tuscany trip. Great places. Great food. Great weather. So fun to have Grandma and Grandpa here to share it with. The next day we packed up and headed back to Milan, where we returned Del and Shelley’s nice rental car and put them on a train – with Ryan and Katie – to travel home for another week of fun.

Volterra, Italy

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Volterra was just a fifteen minute drive from our Villa. The kids were shocked with the short drive. “What? We’re here?” We parked just outside the city wall and walked in under a huge arch to a quiet side street. The doors and archways, and door knockers were just cool. I loved them all.

When we got down closer to the center of town we realized something. We were the only tourists. All of the other people filling the streets were locals going about their Saturday morning activities. The coolest thing was how many people were just standing in circles talking to each other at every turn. It was ‘authentic small Tuscan town’ at it’s best –where everyone knows everyone -- and we were enamored by it.

Roman Theater Ruins

At the edge of town we found a playground for the kids to play on while Del, Shelley and I checked out this old amphitheater which was built in 10 BC and considered to have the best acoustics of its kind. It was eventually buried and rediscovered in the 1950s. The stage wall was standard Roman design – with three levels from which actors would appear: one for humans, one for heroes, and the top one for gods. In the fourth century AD the town decided to abandon the theater and use its stones to build fancy baths instead, exactly behind the theater.

Only part of two of the three level stage survives.

I don’t have a picture of us with our hot pizza’s because we were too busy devouring them. I think maybe my favorite pizza of the whole trip! Man alive was it good.

Saturday morning was market day so the squares by the churches were crammed with market vendors – really it seemed like a small Italian department store had showed up section by section in different old vans to sell basics… undershirts, shoes, coats, bras. Below… the food market in front of the church was just shutting down. By noon the streets were pretty empty. Just a family of 8 + 2 grandparents.

Emily and Grandpa…

Florence, Italy

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We drove to Florence and parked at the Piazzale Michelangelo – a hilltop parking lot with a great view of Florence. This was Chris and I’s second time to Florence this year! We went with Chris’ sisters in May and we climbed up to this square for the view. Nikole and I found an artist that we liked and both bought small watercolor paintings. When we parked here this time I was hoping he’d be set up here again and he WAS! I was excited to look at his stuff again. Shelley bought some artwork for herself and friends and then she bought me a big piece for my birthday. It’s a beautiful picture of Florence, the Ponte Vecchio bridge and the Arno River. I love it –thank you! (It’s getting framed right now.) Once we got our purchases all rolled up we put them back in the van and continued on with our day with smiles on our faces.

We wandered down into the streets of Florence and over the Ponte Vecchio Bridge – Florence’s most famous and picturesque bridge -- lined on both sides with mostly jewelry shops.

Chris and the kids on the bridge…

Grandma and Grandpa Johnson…

View from the bridge back up to the Piazza Michelangelo on the top of the hill in the distance…

It was fun just wandering around Florence. It’s a cool city. At the Piazza Signoria right by the Uffizi Gallery, Chris made all the kids pick their favorite statue.

Ryan censoring a copy of the David outside the Palazzo della Signoria – the Town Hall.

I took pictures of my silly ‘strapped in’ boys while the girls were off picking favorite statues…

Florence’s Duomo

We had GROM gelato, wandered over to the Duomo to check it out, and continued on to the Accademia for G&G, Chris, Ryan, Katie and Emily to go see the David and other Michelangelo works of art. Meanwhile, Megan, Luke, Matthew and I wandered over to the outdoor leather markets near the San Lorenzo Church. Megan and I had fun looking at purses and ended up buying two Italian ties for Ryan for Megan’s Christmas present to him. She picked them out and was so excited! After shopping we wandered back to the steps of the San Lorenzo and fed pringle chips to the Pigeons. Chris and the crew met us there and then off we went to a late lunch/early dinner.

Back over the bridge…

We were pretty excited to be eating at Trattoria 4 Leoni again. We LOVED our food there before and were anxious to have it again. We had bruschetta, avocado pine nut salad, pear stuffed fiocchetti and cheesecake. Everything was so good and the problem was… all the kids liked everything too so it went fast. We were rationing each bite.

After dinner we headed back up to the top of the hill where we parked, and then drove back to the villa. Because it got dark about 5:00pm on these November nights, we were back home to the villa pretty early and had the rest of the evening to play games. Lots of Dominion with Ryan and Grandpa and a few games of Settlers. It was perfect!

Siena, Italy

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I was excited about seeing Siena. We drove an hour south east from our villa ready to find Siena's Il Campo, the pedestrian only main square – the best in Italy. It’s amphitheater style makes people want to sit and relax, which we did for quite a while enjoying the area while the kids played tag. “Il Campo is the heart – geographically and metaphorically—of Siena. The square fans out from the City Hall. Originally, this area was just a field (campo) located outside the former city walls. As the city expanded, Il Campo eventually became the historic junction of Siena’s various competing districts and the old marketplace. The square and its buildings are the color of the soil upon which they stand… a color known to Crayola-users as “Burnt Sienna”.

Matthew and all the rest of the kids thought racing up and down this stone path through the middle of the courtyard was so much fun.

The City Hall and its 330 foot tower dominate the square. I found it interesting to read about the Palio races they have in this square two times a year. Each of 10 of the 17 Siena neighborhoods cheers on their horse and rider who race around the grey outside stone in a three lap 60 second race. They bring in dirt for the track and cover sharp corners with mattresses. The square is packed with people cheering. Each neighborhood has an animal mascot – porcupine, unicorn, wolf… On the big day the horses are taken into their neighborhood church to be blessed. It’s considered a sign of luck if a horse leaves droppings in the church! A horse can win even if the rider falls off – which is frequent since they ride without saddles. Anyway – fun to read about some of the traditions of the city.

Grandma, Megan and Emily and the Il Campo

We eagerly climbed the 300 steps up the Torre del Mangia – the City Tower. All this climbing everywhere helps with the pizza and gelato we eat so frequently. It’s steps get pretty skinny at the top but the reward is one of Italy’s best views. We spent a lot of time at the top.

My cute boys…

Me and my girls…

I just love this little smile of Matthew’s…

Grandpa and the boys…

I think this one’s my favorite…

After we climbed down we wandered through some of the smaller streets checking out nice leather purse shops and looking for gelato. Then we found Siena’s Duomo --- the ‘soul’ of Siena. It sits atop Siena’s highest point and is visible for miles around. The interior is a Renaissance riot of striped columns, intricate marble inlays, Michelangelo statues, and Bernini sculptures. We like to think of it as the zebra cathedral.

Even the outside has black and white stripes…

My Megan girl… 6 years old.

Late afternoon we made our way back to the Il Campo and found a great place to eat right on the Square. Everyone had pizza but I tried some stuffed ravioli that was great! Thank you Grandma and Grandpa!

Pisa

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Everyone was pretty excited to see the Leaning Tower… I know, it’s fame comes from the fact that it was improperly constructed… but still -- it’s pretty iconic and very interesting to read about. Plus those ‘holding up the Tower’ pictures are pretty fun.

We drove an hour to Pisa and parked remarkably close to the Campo dei Miracoli – Pisa’s ‘Field of Miracles’ which contains five grand buildings: the cathedral (or Duomo), its bell tower (the Leaning Tower), the Baptistery, the hospital (today a museum), and the Camposanto Cemetery. “Theologically, the Campo’s buildings mark the main events of every Pisan’s life: christened in the Baptistery, married in the Duomo, honored in the ceremonies at the Tower, healed in the hospital, and buried in the Camposanto Cemetery.”

The Leaning Tower Rick Steves Italy says: “Pisa’s bell tower is nearly 200 feet tall and 55 feet wide, weighing 24,000 tons and currently leaning at a five degree angle. It started to lean almost immediately after construction began. The tower was built over two centuries by at least three different architects. The first stones were laid in 1173. Five years later, just as they’d finished the base and the first arcade, someone said, “Is it just me, or does that look crooked?” The heavy Tower – resting on a very shallow 13 foot foundation – was obviously sinking on the south side into the marshy, multilayered, unstable soil. They carried on anyway, until they’d finished four stories. Then construction suddenly halted – no one knows why – and for a century the Tower sat half-finished and visibly leaning. Around 1272, the next architect continued, trying to correct the problem by angling the next three stories backward in the opposite direction of the lean. The project then again sat mysteriously idle for nearly another century. Finally another architect put the belfry on top.” The whole explanation seems pretty silly.

The Baptistery “The Baptistery is the biggest in Italy. The building is modeled on the circular domed Church of the Holy Sepulchre in Jerusalem. It leans nearly 6 feet to the North. John the Baptist stands on top. In the center sits the octagonal font topped with a statue of the first Baptist… John, which contains plenty of space for baptizing adults by immersion (the medieval custom).”

The Duomo

“Begun in 1063, the Duomo is the centerpiece of the Field of Miracles’ complex of religious buildings. The architect created the style of Pisan Romanesque that set the tone for the Baptistery and Tower.”

The big bronze doors were closed when Chris and the kids were jokingly ‘wanting in’ and then they promptly opened them up. Perfect timing. Ryan is holding on to the door handle which is one of the bronze man’s arms.

“The 320 foot nave was the longest in Christendom when it was built. The striped marble and columns give it an exotic, almost mosque-like feel. Dim light filters in from the small upper windows of the galleries, where the women worshipped.”

After walking around for awhile we headed down one of the streets in search of good pizza – and found some. Chris and I loved our 4 cheese pizza. Then back to the Villa for a relaxing night of games.

Our Tuscan Villa

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We spent the week here… a little villa – actually a big villa – right between the Tuscan towns of Volterra and San Gimignano. Our place was just perfect. Nice but still authentic and charming – and FIVE bedrooms so even Matthew and Luke shared their own. It was dark when we pulled in so we didn’t really see much of the outside or view until the next morning. The Italian lady who owned and rented the villa showed us around – only she didn’t speak any English and we didn’t speak any Italian. She and Chris conversed a ‘little’ in German with lots of charades and we were able to understand each other quite well. She had left us a bottle of wine but when we told her we didn’t drink and she finally understood, she seemed determined to leave us with something else and went back to get fresh eggs, cookies, toast crackers, and yogurts for us. She checked on us multiple times and made us feel right at home. I’d go back in a second. It really was a good location… an hour’s drive from Pisa, Florence, Siena and nestled right between Volterra and San Gimignano. It was the perfect mid-point.

View from our bedroom window… would be amazing in the summer. Makes me want to go back.

Nearby…

Milan

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We had a great trip to Tuscany with Chris’ parents. We lucked out with great weather even though November is Tuscany’s rainiest month.

Tuesday, November 15th, we woke up early, picked up sleepy kids in their jammies and carried them to the van with pillows and blankets. We needed to be in Milan by 10:30 or so to meet up with Grandma and Grandpa Johnson at the train station in Milan. We drove for three hours without stopping, then stopped to go to the bathroom and get dressed, and then continued on to Milan through tons of crazy traffic which slowed our arrival. When we finally found a parking garage big enough for the van (quite the task!), we parked and went inside the massive train station. Funny enough, it was Megan who spotted Grandma and Grandpa for the first time.

After a few hello hugs we took the metro from the Train Station right to the very middle of Milan and walked out to this view before us… the Duomo – Milan’s showpiece cathedral. Isn’t it gorgeous?

‘The Milan’s Duomo is the fourth largest church in Europe’ says Rick Steves. ‘ Back when Europe was fragmented into countless tiny kingdoms and dukedoms, the dukes of Milan waned to impress their counterparts in Germany and France. For good measure, the cathedral was built not or ordinary stone but of marble – pink Candoglia marble, from top to bottom – rafted from a quarry about 60 miles away across Lake maggiore and to a canal port at the cathedral. The glorious façade emerged freshly cleaned in 2008 after a lengthy restoration.’

As SOON as we got up on the square men were trying to sell us bracelets and toys. We walked past them but Shelley didn’t. One handed her a handful of bird seed and soon she had a pile of pigeons perched on her arm. When they flew away the men asked her for money but I shook my head and told her not to pay anything. Then they asked me since I had taken a picture of it but I shook my head as well and we walked on. We decided we’d better keep a closer eye on Shelley from now on.

Hungry for lunch we decided to head through the Galleria Vittorio Emanuele – a glass domed arcade perfect for window-shopping and people-watching. One of the first things I noticed about Milan is how nicely everyone was dressed. Everywhere I looked I found myself wanting someone’s boots or coat or purse.

We fought a great pasta/pizzeria to eat at – one with an empty upstairs for all of us to sit and eat. It was great. There’s my pizza. Eggplant and zucchini. Delicious.

We walked back through the ritzy stores and restaurants of the Galleria Vittorio Emanuele and into the main Square to the Duomo. Then we went inside. Big. Impressive. More than 2,000 statues and 52 hundred-foot-tall pillars. It was built to hold 40,000 worshippers, the entire population of Milan when construction began.

Then we climbed up to the Cathedral Rooftop. The climb up narrow curved stairwells was similar to other climbs but the top was very unique. We wandered through a fancy forest of pointy spires and fancy archways. It was beautiful.

Once we were down from the Duomo we trained back to the main train station where our van was parked and picked up Del and Shelley’s rental car for our drive down to our Tuscan Villa.

Frankenstein’s Castle

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That top one is not my picture… it’s one I found on the internet to show a full shot of the castle. The day we explored the castle there were men all over taking down the Haunted House remains from Halloween Night…. which, we could tell from all the stuff, was quite a big and likely frightening affair.

A little history of the Burg Frankenstein just to start things off… located near Darmstadt, Burg Frankenstein has been mentioned in documents dating as far back as 948. Built on Langenberg by the noble Frankenstein family, the castle was once a large imposing fortress. Some of the ruins seen today date to the 13th century, while others are of centuries more recent. In 1662, the Frankenstein family sold the castle to the Darmstadt Landgraves. In 1673, the German theologian, physician, and alchemist Johann Conrad Dippel was born at the castle, and would add Frankensteinensis to his signature, indicating his birth at Frankenstein Castle. Legend has it that Johann Dippel was a body snatcher who would try to reanimate the dead, but this legend seems to have come about after Mary Shelly's book, so it's probably stretching the truth, although body snatching was not uncommon amongst some physicians. Whether Mary Shelly was inspired by Frankenstein Castle in her novel is unknown. She has been known to travel in the area, but this doesn't mean she visited the castle or even knew of it's existence. Some say Mary's stepmother, Mary Jane Clairmont, who translated the writings of the Brothers Grimm, told Mary a tale she heard from Jacob Grimm. According to Jacob, in the prison of Frankenstein Castle, Johann Conrad Dippel tried to build a being out of human parts and virgin blood.

It’s amazing how cold it got just in one week. Definitely starting to feel like winter setting in – and that does not make me happy. The Chuggs came down Friday and we played games and then left the kids home while we took Jared and Geneva to one of our favorite German restaurants to celebrate my birthday. They slept over and the next day after a relaxing morning we headed up to the Frankenstein Castle to look around. Sure is nice to have the Chuggs live only an hour away.

11 Chugg and Johnson kids…

This is the Frankenstein Castle Chapel and while we were there at least two wedding parties were there getting married in this tiny chapel and taking pictures around the castle grounds. Who gets married at the Frankenstein castle? Maybe they are distant relatives.

After we were taking pictures with this random black chair we found just sitting here, a man took it and added it to the bonfire they had created to take care of some of the remains of the wood Halloween décor. It shocked us. We would have taken that chair if we knew they were just going to burn it. It made us kind of laugh.

After walking around and checking out the view from the few towers we let the kids play ‘Sardines’. Katie and Hanna found a GREAT hiding spot and the kids had a tough time finding them.