Word Search

Matthew was so focused he wouldn’t even look up.  He found a Word Search book and was happily searching for individual letters instead of words.  Whenever he located any letter he would say it and then circle it, so proud of himself that he had found it.   Great alphabet practice, Matt!

The Eppelheim Mural

While Chris and I were house hunting in Colorado Springs, Katie and her friends volunteered to help out with the Mural that her art teacher was organizing on the Eppelheim City Hall Courtyard Wall.  She had a blast with her friends.  Emily, Rebecca, Mercedes and Katie mostly worked on the tree Mural – (and Katie did all the yellow hand prints).   When I was back Katie and the kids and I went to the dedication ceremony where the Middle School officially handed over the Mural and plaque to the German community to commemorate the partnership and friendship of Germans and Americans since we’ve been here.  Katie’s friend, Mercedes was asked to give a speech about what living in Germany has meant to her.  It was a moving testimony of the wonderful collective experiences we’ve all enjoyed living in this country.  Fun for Katie to be a part of this Mural that will be left behind even after the Heidelberg military bases are gone.

Primary Lesson

Luke’s drawing in our Primary Lesson about the Godhead.  He told me who was who.  { 5 years old }

I’m having fun teaching the CTR 5 class.  It’s Luke and three other wiggly boys.  Keeping the boys on task at 3:30pm on a Sunday afternoon is no small task but the with M&M’s it works out pretty good.  Each boy has a pile of 10 M&M’s on the table in the front that they can stare at all during class.  If they ‘fall’ out of their chair etc. then I eat one of their M&M’s.  It’s cruel, I know, but it works and they always get at least 8.   

I told Luke that I probably wouldn’t be his primary teacher when we get to Colorado.  He looked shocked and then told me that I should be Matthews teacher so it would be fair.  We’ll see. 

A Few New Posts…

Working to get a few more things caught up and posted.  Here are a few of them…

• Moving to Colorado Springs
• Austin Collie and Peyton Manning
• The Bishop takes up Racquetball
• 14 Dentist Appointments
• Eagle Board of Review
• Random life details…
• Dinklesbuhl, Germany (Brian/Mike trip)
• and one more… the Hungarian organization said it was ok if I posted the pictures on my personal family blog so here is the same post… this time with the pictures…  Eagle Scout Project Part V

French Riviera–A Day in Nice, Eze and Villefranche-Sur-Mer

After driving along the lower Cornisch and taking in the gorgeous views of Villefranche-Sur-Mer, we parked in Nice and made our way straight to the Promenade des Anglais – a four mile long seafront promenade.  Once there,  the kids headed straight to the enticing waters of the Mediterranean. 

Megan and Josh… good buddies.

Megan found the perfect heart shaped rock and we carried it around with us the whole day.  Megan’s souvenir from the French Riviera.

We headed down the Promenade towards the Bellandra Tower and took in the views from the point.

Castle Hill in Nice

Up the elevator to the top of CASTLE HILL for some more great views.  With our previous couple days being cloudy and cool, we welcomed the sun, the blue skies and the warmth.  Feels more like Spring Break!

Johnson Family

Chugg Family

A view from the East side of Castle Hill into Nice’s Port.

The kids played at the playground on Castle Hill and we enjoyed the sunshine before we hooked up with the Aaron, Monae, Brianna and Austin and the Chuggs headed off to adventure on their own for the afternoon.  It was our last day with the Starbuck Family and we were intent on enjoying every last minute.  Throughout the day Ryan, Austin, Brianna and Katie made every attempt to stretch out the vacation and beg for an additional day together.  So fun seeing them reconnect and have so much fun together.

The Beautiful streets of Nice

One more stop at a great view point before heading down to wander the streets of Nice.

The girls picking out French berets.  Katie and Emily bought their berets with their own money as their French Riviera souvenir.

Little kids being silly waiting for big girls to pick out berets.

After roaming the streets and playing by the fountain we decided to SQUISH everyone into the van to drive the couple miles to the Russian Orthodox Cathedral.

The Russian Orthodox Cathedral

Five hundred rich Russian families wintered in Nice in the late 19th  century and needed a worthy Orthodox house of worship.  Czar Nicholas II gave this church to the Russian community in 1912. – Rick Steves    We’ll take some Russian architecture wherever we can get it… it’s fantastic, and reminds us so much of our trip to St. Petersburg, Russia.  We wandered around the property and then inside for a bit before heading on.

Late Lunch in Eze

Cathedral gazing makes you hungry, and instead of wander around Nice and find something we decided to head back over to our favorite little hilltop town, EZE, and grab some delicious crepes in the most picturesque of places.

The Crepe Restaurant was a unique mountain cave.  Very fun.

Port de la Darse of Villefranche

As a few scattered clouds started to move in we grabbed our jackets and decided to spend our late afternoon by the Citadel and Port de la Darse of Villefranche-sur-Mer.  Very low key sightseers we are today, and we’re loving it.

Guess what everyone is pointing to?  We made the coolest discovery and were pretty excited about it for quite some time.

An octopus!

Villefranche Streets

Leaving the Port we headed up into the cobbled pedestrian-only alley ways of Villefranche.

Fountain Fun

I don’t know where these crazy kids came up with it but soon enough they were drinking from the public water fountain in one of the piazza’s and turning into water-spouting statues or the like.  Fun times.

Winding down on our time together… so sad.

For a late dinner we decided to get pizzas from the same place we ate the night before and head back to the park.  We do this.  If it works, why change it.  The kids ran to the playground and we devoured 4 cheese pizzas and hung out on the steps and talked until it was skies were dark.

We pulled the teens away from their constant conversation, squished in the van again, and drove Aaron, Monae, Brianna and Austin back to their hotel by the airport.  It was SO MUCH FUN to see them again, show them our home in Germany, show them some of our favorite cities nearby and then head on a tour of France together. So much fun to be with you, Monae!!  Fun memories that we’ll remember forever.  Saying goodbye was hard and there may have been some tears shed.  Miss you, friends!