Happy Easter!

Easter Sunday was pretty low key for us. We went to church, took a nap, made a scrumptious meal and ate it all up way too quickly. Why is that that making food takes so long but eating it goes so fast? Jessie and I had a good time cooking together though so it was worth it. We made ham, cheesy potatoes, deviled eggs, caesar salad, and fresh rolls. We drank it all down with some yummy cran-apple sparkling cider. It was so nice to spend the day with good friends. Sometimes it gets lonely way over here in Europe on holidays but hanging out with the Prices pretty much feels like family so it ended up being a wonderful day. Jay and Kelsey had fun hanging out together and looking cute. Kelsey even coaxed Jay back into the bath tub. That's right, Jay's taking baths again! Finally!!! It's been about 3 months now since he decided to so vehemently hate baths. One look at Kelsey playing with his toys in the water and it was all over. Thanks Kels!


I just have to put in a side not here. As I'm writing Jay is taking the Little People out of his bus and giving them all kisses. What a sweet little boy! I love him so much!!!

Luxembourg & Trier

On Saturday we traveled up to Luxembourg and then onto Trier. While in Luxembourg this time we had the opportunity to see the American Military Cemetery. The cemetery is actually on U.S. soil given to America after WWII. It is a beautiful, awe-inspiring site. Again we have been reminded of the great sacrifice so many have made for our freedom. We are so blessed to have men and woman fight for the inherent rights outlined by our forefathers in the U.S. Constitution. There are over 5,000 soldiers buried in the Luxembourg American Cemetery and most of them died in the Battle of the Buldge. General George S. Patton Jr. is buried there as well. His grave sits at the head of the memorial almost as if he still stands in front of his men, leading them on. Some of the graves simply read, "Here rests in honored glory a comrade in arms known but to God." There is also a wall with a list of soldiers whose bodies have never been found. I cannot imagine what it would have been like to be a family member to one of these lost servicemen. Again, we are so blessed by the sacrifices of others!After seeing the Cemetery we went on to Luxembourg, Luxembourg. You may remember my previous post on our trip to Luxembourg so I won't repeat the information I've already written. Jessie and Tally had never been to Luxembourg and we had a great time showing them around. After eating a much needed Chinese lunch we went on to tour the city. It's such a beautiful, clean city that we really enjoyed seeing it for a second time. There was a music festival going on and we listened to some gospel music being performed. I guess it was the New Orleans music day. There was even some traditional American fair foods like hot dogs, popcorn and cotton candy being sold as part of the festival. Speaking of food, we had the most amazing pastries and chocolate at this little bakery in Luxembourg. Mike and Tally had ochos (figure eight pastries with pudding in the middle) and I had the most incredible fruit tart. We all shared a few delicious chocolate truffles. Even Jessie and Tally commented that they had rarely tasted chocolate as good, even in Switzerland. We might return to Luxembourg again just to go back to the bakery!After visiting Luxembourg we drove on to Trier. Trier is known as the oldest city in Germany, founded in 16 B.C. Some Trierians actually claim the city was founded in 2000 B.C. by Neanderthals. While there is some evidence of ancient peoples in the area there is nothing that suggests it was a true settlement until 16 B.C. When we got there it was raining cats and dogs, if you don't mind the expression. We wrapped the babes up in warm clothing, stuck them in waterproof strollers and headed out. Jay wasn't happy about the situation at first but both he and Kelsey were asleep within minutes. Luckily the rain started lightening up and we enjoyed our stroll around the town. There were plenty of Roman ruins to see in the city. Living in Europe really shows you how vast the Roman empire was. Every country we've been to has historical sites dating back to that great kingdom. We saw "la porta nigra" which is a large Roman gate so named in the Middle Ages by the darkened color of the stone. We also ventured into a large Catholic Cathedral which we later learned dates back to Roman times. Claims by the Catholic church suggest this Cathedral houses the Holy Tunic of Christ, a seamless robe possibly worn by Christ during the Crucifixion. In John 19:23 - 24 we read of how soldiers cast lots to determine who would have this robe after Jesus' death and in so doing fulfilled the prophesy in Psalms 22:18. Of course it is impossible to know if the tunic inside this Cathedral truly is the Tunic of Christ scince no Scientific study has been done to determine even the age of the garment. It is quite sacred to the Catholic Church though as the robe is only exhibited every 10 - 20 years. The last viewing took place in 1996 when over 1,000,000 pilgrims came to glimpse it.After seeing the Cathedral we toured through the rest of the town. We saw a hideous pink building, the Kurfurstliches Plais (Electoral Palace), which might have been beautiful had a different color been chosen. It just looked too much like Barbi's dream house. We then saw the Roman imperial baths which are the largest baths outside of Rome itself. Once we had seen the baths we decided to head back to the car. Of course on the way we had to stop for hot chocolate. We didn't end up finding Karl Marx's house or the Roman amphitheater but since the city is only an hour away from us I'm sure we'll be back.

Frozen Treat

Our very good friends Tally and Jessie are here this weekend from Zurich and we've been having a great time together. We've talked, laughed, toured and eaten a ton of good food. Unfortunately it's been a little cold here this weekend but we've still enjoyed ourselves. Despite the freezing weather we somehow managed to eat ice cream 3 times on Friday! Baskin Robins on base, homemade ice cream from a farm up the street and fried ice cream from Papa Sude's Mexican Restaurant in K-town. Yummmm, it's all been so good! The farm up the street was especially fun. Literally 2-minutes walking from our house is a dairy farm where they prepare and sell their own homemade ice cream. It is absolutely delicious. Since it was such a cold, rainy day the little shop wasn't actually open but the staff (friendly neighbors) opened up just for us. And once they opened, how could we resist? Jay had several tastes of each. Lucky boy! At the farm we also saw bunnies, cows and calves, and plenty of kitties running around. Tally had German chocolate, me walnut, Jessie chocolate chip and Mike strawberry. It was a great experience which I'm sure we'll be repeating throughout the rest of our stay here ;)

Helping

I recently read an article about how children come into the world with a natural desire to be helpful. This is what was said:

Researchers at the Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology discovered that toddlers as young as 18 months already have full-fledged qualities of altruism and cooperation. The way they demonstrated this was simple. A researcher would "struggle" to hang up a towel with a clothespin or stack up a pile of books. When he dropped the clothespin or tipped the books over, the toddlers would race to pick up the clothespin and hand it back, or restack the books. But when the researcher made the same mistakes without struggling — that is, without looking like he needed help — the toddlers didn't budge. They understood what it meant to be helpful.

As I was folding the laundry the other day I saw this idea in practice. I dropped a few socks as I was folding and Jay quickly ran over, picked them up and handed them to me while saying, "dae due" (translation: thank you). What a sweet little boy. I also caught him "helping" me put the laundry into the washing machine. No matter that it was already clean :) It's so fun to see the beautiful people children are.

Rock Collection

As before mentioned (several times) Jay loves being outside. Among his favorite activities are finding, picking up, throwing and moving rocks. There have been many times when Jay has snuck rocks inside the house without me knowing it. I find them in various places (in cabinets, shoes, under the couch etc). When I find them I put them up next to the sink since I don't think it's a good idea to have little rocks laying around the house. It has come to my attention recently that this pile is getting rather large and that indeed it has now become Jay's first rock collection. I thought I better document the first, as I assume many more will follow. I used to love collecting rocks as a little girl. I'd find one that looked especially interesting and hide it in my pocket for days where I could take it out and admire it any time I wanted. After a while it would go on my shelf for all the world to see. I'm pretty sure I imagined I was saving these rocks from a boring existence of sitting on the ground and regularly being stepped on. Then later on I began a rock collection of more outward beauty with my dad. There was a little shop in downtown Nevada City, really more of a shack, where we'd buy little beauties like tigers eye and amethyst. These rocks were placed on the ledge of the kitchen window where they could shine and shimmer when the sun came in. Perhaps my own history with rocks has prevented me from throwing the whole pile sitting next to my kitchen sink out the window. It's just hard to abandon those rocks picked especially by Jay back out into the harsh, cold world. Maybe we'll hold onto them until it's time to leave. Or who knows? Maybe we'll take them with us for a new exciting life in Spain! I'll have to consult Jay.

Lovin' life

I don't have too much to report, just wanted to add some more pictures of Jay on here for his grandmas and grandpas to see. It's another rainy day here in Germany, but we had a fun morning playing with friends. Poor little Jay is teething again. Looks like his 2 first molars are coming in on top! Those are the ones that are second to the back. My dad says it's because he'd really like to eat some steak. Perhaps it's true... he is a meat lover. Jay has also gotten into the habit of handing us his shoes, and then ours when he wants to go bye-bye. We have to either put them on or hide them or he won't stop trying to hand them to us. He still loves being outside as much as ever. Which is why the rain can be such a drag. Oh well, at least we see lots of green here because of all the moisture. Only about 1 week left until Jay turns 18 months! And we all know what that means... NURSERY!!!!!!!!!! Woo hoo!

Have it your way

The following is a true incident that took place at a Burger King drive-through window. We were trying to order 1 tender-crisp chicken sandwich, 1 side-salad and 1 chocolate milkshake. Oh, and normally would never eat at Burger King (not our favorite) but we only had a few minutes before Mike had to be back to work. It was our only real choice.

Drive-Through Worker (DTW) - in heavily accented English: Hello sir! Welcome to Burger King, may I please take your order?
Mike: Yes, hi, I would like 1 tender-crisp chicken sandwich.
DTW: Okay, in a value meal?
Mike: No, just the sandwich.
DTW: Okay, in a value meal.
Mike: No, I don't want the value meal I just want 1 tender-crisp chicken sandwich.
DTW: In the value meal you get fries and drink.
Mike: I just want the sandwich.
pause
DTW: $4.29, please pull forward to the second window.
Mike: Wait, wait, wait, wait. That's not all I want.
DTW: What would you like?
Mike: I want a side-salad.
DTW: Okay, in a value meal?
Mike: No, I want a side-salad, not a big salad. Just a side-salad.
DTW: You want FIVE salads?
Mike: No, a siDe salad.
DTW: I can make you a value meal with your sandwich and the salad.
Mike: Okay, but I want a chocolate milkshake too. Can I substitute a shake for a drink?
DTW: Let me see, hold on.
pause
DTW: Okay, 1 tender-crisp chicken sandwich with a side salad and chocolate milk. What kind of dressing?
Mike: No, I don't want chocolate milk, I want a milkshake.
DTW: Hold please.
waiting, waiting, waiting... 1 minute, 2 minutes, 5 minutes, 7 minutes... Mike and I are laughing our heads off at this point.
Mike (through laughter): Hello? Hello? Are you there?
DTW: One minute please sir.
more laughing... probably spitting in our food.
DTW: Okay, please pull forward to the second window.
Hmmm... We pull forward, wondering what will await us at the window.
As we turn the corner we see the two cars who were in front of us still sitting at the drive-through window. ?
3 minutes, 5 minutes, finally our turn.
DTW: Okay sir, I'm sorry. What would you like?
Mike: I want 1 tender-crisp chicken sandwich.
DTW: In a value meal? (what is this, Abbott and Costello?)
Mike: No, just the sandwich. And then I want a side salad.
DTW: Oh, I am sorry we have no side-salads.
Mike: But it's on the menu and you offered to substitute a side-salad in a value meal before.
DTW: There is only me, the manager and Sandra here. We can give you a big salad. No side-salad.
Mike: Okay... then just give me a spicy tender-crisp sandwich instead.
DTW: We have no spicy tender-crisp sandwich, just the fire-tender-crisp sandwich.
Mike: Okay, I'll have one of those. I would also like a chocolate milk-shake.
DTW: Hmmm... (random words spoken in another language). Yes, the machine is not really working. I am sorry. I will see what I can do.
Mike: Actually, we'd like two chocolate milkshakes, if you can.
DTW: sound of disbelief
waiting
DTW: Okay, $14.72 is your total.
We pay and then watch as DTW goes to the milkshake machine and makes 2 milkshakes, no problems. Broken machine? I think not. We are handed our milkshakes and 2 separate bags with sandwiches. More random words spoken in a foreign language, then:
DTW: Okay sir, enjoy your meal. Have a nice day.
Upon taking a sip of the first milkshake we discovered it was vanilla.

And that was our experience at Burger King. It was well worth the $14.72.

Wiesbaden

First off, I want to say thank you to Jessie for our new blog header! She took the pictures, chose the layout and created the whole thing. Thank you so much! I love it. Over the weekend we took a short trip to Wiesbaden, which is right next to Frankfurt. We love taking day trips because we enjoy listening to books on tape during the drive and it's a good way to see the countryside. We chose to go to Wiesbaden because it is known for having beautiful parks and there was an Easter festival taking place on Saturday. The city was very pretty and actually reminded us a lot of Zurich. The parks didn't disappoint. Jay especially loved feeding the ducks and pigeons. He kept inching too close to the water though so we had to end the feeding early. I think those birds were full anyway as evidenced by the large amounts of uneaten bread covering the ground. After wrestling Jay back into his stroller we walked past the giant neo-classically constructed casino and onto another huge park. Jay was entertained by all the different varieties of dogs we saw. Europe definitely knows how to entice people out of their homes. The parks are all so magnificent. In fact, our guide book described one particular park we ventured into as a, "quiet oasis of dream-like beauty." Not bad.

After visiting the parks we went on and saw one of the 26 hot springs in Wiesbaden. The water was coming out of a little man-made volcano and it was really warm. It was nice to touch since our hands were getting cold but it was sure smelly. We snapped a picture of Mike in front of the police station and then went and saw the Old Town Gate, parts of which date from the Roman period. Then we strolled down the walk-platz. A walk-platz is a large pedestrian only street with shops and restaurants lining the sides. Half way down the walk-platz we found the Easter market. Plenty of good food and Spring trinkets were being sold. They also had activities for kids going on including a little roller coaster that looked like it was constructed from parts found at the local hardware store. You would never see something like it in the States since it would be too much of an insurance risk. We really enjoyed seeing Wiesbaden and definitely recommend it as a short day trip.

And here's another video of Jay dancing, just for fun...

Playing

Today we had a play date with friends from our ward. We had such a good time! Liam and Jay are very close to the same age and they even look a lot alike. Melodie and I seem to dress them in similar clothes too. Jay had a hard time sharing all his precious toys (which he hardly gives a second glance when no one else is around) but after a little while he and Liam were having a great time. It was so nice for me to talk to another mom too. Especially one in such a similar situation as Mike and I. Jay and I both really enjoyed ourselves.


I finally caught the patty cake bit on video, so here it is...



It snowed here again for the second time since we've lived in Germany. Surprising, isn't it? I thought it would snow a ton in Germany, but it doesn't where we live. In fact when it did snow it hardly stuck. Jay and I put our snow gear on anyway and went outside to check out the white stuff. Unfortunately Jay refuses to wear gloves and so his little hands were frozen after about 10 minutes. It was actually the first time I can remember when Jay wanted to go inside! He sure loves playing outside.

I also have to document Jay's fervent love for the Swiffer. I don't know why but any time he sees it he grabs it and hands it to me to hold. I'm not really sure what he wants me to do with it but if I try to set it down he gets really upset and tries to hand it to me again. Sometimes I even have to hide the Swiffer so that I don't have to be holding it all day long. Hopefully this love will last and eventually he will want to be the one holding and using the Swiffer. I hate sweeping and mopping so if I play my cards right I might be able to pawn the chore off onto my unsuspecting little boy.

Roll it and a roll it

Recently Jay has truly mastered the art of patty cake. He can now pat, roll and toss with the best of them. In fact, he often "rolls" anytime he gets excited. He also has learned a new dance move from mom and dad. When we sing, "do a little dance, make a little love, get down tonight, get down tonight" Jay excitedly points his fingers up in the air and alternates moving them up and down. It's so cute to watch! Don't ask me why we sing him this song in particular. It's just a crazy dance song I guess. When I get these things on video I will share them. Until then, check out Jay and his daddy:


In other news Mike has joined a work volleyball team! He's only had one game, which they sadly lost, but we're heading out to see him play again in about an hour. Jay and I expect to see a different outcome this time... well we might not "see" it since Jay is more inclined to run around the gym and crawl up and down stairs rather than watch the game itself, but the end result should be the same regardless. Or irregardless as some like to say ;) It's actually in the dictionary! Check out Mike's sweet moves from game 1.

This is intense!

Wow, my dad is amazing.