Day Three: Prague!

 Day three was spent in Prague. We drove to the outskirts of the city and parked in a mall parking lot, then we took the train right into the middle of Prague. The train ride was nice, we didn't have to worry about traffic, or parking.


 I took a picture of us on this escalator because it was the steepest, and fastest one I've ever been on! It was crazy. We also stopped for a potty break here, which I wouldn't ever write about but it was so different! We each had to pay 50 cents or "crowns" and there was a bathroom caretaker. She would pull out just enough toilet paper and then unlock a stall for us. The toilets were the type that had a water tank above, and we would pull a cord to flush it. The same lady took care of both the mens restroom and ladies. It was decorated with flowers and stickers. I would hate to have the job of bathroom caretaker... yuck!
 

The city was absolutely BEAUTIFUL! There were so many cathedrals and the architecture was incredible. The shopping was the best here. Everything was so affordable compared to everywhere else we went.

 This is a picture inside of a clock tower, we took this elevator to the top and were able to watch a bugler blow his horn on the hour. That was a surprise!

 Tera is here showing our main purchase we made in Europe. It's Bohemian crystal to display in our home. She was our tour guide/ photographer. And really made our trip special.

Of course, as always we ended the day with dinner. This was a unique restaurant where all the tables were actually old fashioned sewing machine tables. Very unique.

 One more picture inside the train station, Kaylea lovin' her brother.

On the way back home, we were pulled over by the German police and our car was searched. I guess they can randomly search your vehicle when you're coming back into the country to make sure you didn't bring anything illegal into the country. 

Day One (and two): European Vacation

Our trip started very early Sunday morning, we flew to Atlanta, then from there to Munich, Germany. We got directly off the plane and started sight seeing right away, so days one and two were all blended together without a night. We were told that would help with jet lag.

It's kind of all a blur, Tera helped me out on this,  The castles belonged to King Ludwig, and the small one is called Linderhof. It was a beautiful mansion with lovely gardens. We enjoyed spending the day with Tera, Erick, and their kids, and Lee and Tricia.

We drove through Austria, and saw the Alps. It was all so beautiful. We couldn't help but stop for pictures at the base of the mountains.

These were some castle ruins in Austria. Different parts of the castle fortress were built at different times. The oldest walls were built in the 1200's and the newest were built in the 1500's. It was fun to explore all the different areas.

The kids made me a little nervous here. Thankfully, Uncle Lee was there setting a great example for them.

Our next stop was Neuschwanstein Castle. It's an amazing castle. You can see it in more detail if you watch the movie "Chitty Chitty Bang Bang". We hiked up to the castle, and got to go inside the main courtyard. We also went behind the castle on a large bridge, and were able to see it from all angles.

Instead of hiking down the road to get back, we took a small trail, and got to see the deep woods of Germany.

We ended the VERY LONG day with some authentic, German food. 

Amazing May

May has been an amazing month so far. I have worked out the problems I was having with my camera, so I have pictures of April here as well.

Last Sunday I attended our old ward because a friend of ours was giving his missionary farewell. One of the ward members surprised me with this picture. She is from England, and her parents live there still. Her parents traveled to Germany and started talking with my son. They said they have family from Utah, but it's a tiny town that nobody knows about. When they said it was Grantsville, Steve told them that's where he's from. He actually recognized this couple from when they came out visiting their daughter in our ward. Steve hasn't been able to send me any pictures yet, so it was really fun to see his face. What a pleasant surprise.


It is the end of the school year, and Kaylea has worked really hard in a CNA class. She has spent 16 hours working in a nursing home in Tooele, and completed all of her requirements to receive her CNA certificate. In a couple of weeks, she will take the final skills test to receive her license. It was very exciting for her to finish this course. Her goal is to eventually become a nurse. This is a step in the right direction.

Jessica is well on her way to becoming the cutest mom in our little family. She feels baby Avery moving all the time and is 28 weeks along. I'm so excited to be a grandma for the first time!! Can't wait! Chris is a devoted husband, he takes such good care of her, we are blessed to have him in the family.

We have had my niece Amber move in with us for the summer. She has a janitorial job, and is saving her money for the future. She is an ambitious, sweet girl, and has been a great addition to the family.
Conner just graduated from Jr High School! I'm thinking he's the best looking graduate this year! He is very excited to start training for the freshman football team. They will be training every day in the summer, and Conner is sad that he has to miss training for some of our family vacations. He is very dedicated to the sport. He's my baby, and he's going to be in high school! Yikes!
I wrote about Conner's "bling" last time. They are trying to pull out a tooth that doesn't want to come. (Pull it out of the gums, not out of his mouth altogether.) There is a little gold chain attached to the tooth that hasn't come in yet. The chain is attached to a wire on the braces. As they tighten the wire, the chain will pull the tooth down. He just went in yesterday and had the other side of the mouth done. It's a process that he pretty much hates, but it's saving him from having oral surgery.
Here are some pictures from Easter. We divide the Easter egg hunt into older kids and younger kids. These are the older kids, their eggs were hidden extremely well. One was even attached to a chicken, with a monetary prize in the egg.
This is baby Ed. Doesn't he have the cutest smile??? I got to hold him while the little kids were looking for Easter eggs.

Happy Holidays!

I wrote this letter to my missionary and have had such a hard time uploading pictures with my camera, that I'm getting behind on blogging, so I'm posting most of the letter I wrote to Steve Jr. To try and catch up a bit. Hopefully I can figure out my camera situation soon. Blogs without pictures are quite boring...I think.

I say happy holidays because I'm confused as to which season we're in! It has been snowing off and on all week! It's May!!! CRAZY weather. They are saying we are breaking records for water in the mountains and could possibly have some of the worst flooding this state has ever had. In 1983 State Street in Salt Lake City was a river, and people actually caught fish out of it. Well, there is more snow waiting to come down from the mountains than there was in 1983, so we'll see how it goes! I don't think we'll have any problems here in Grantsville, but it's good to be prepared. The Stake got together and filled a bunch of sand bags and they are on pallets in the parking lot of the churches. Hopefully we won't need to use them.

Conner went to the orthodontist this week. They said he has his incisor teeth that are laying horizontally up in his gums and they should have come out two years ago. They drilled a hole in his gums and found the tooth, cleaned it off, and attached a bracket with a gold chain coming out. The chain is connected to the wires of his braces, and I guess the chain will pull the tooth out. It looks like he has a lot of bling in his mouth. It was not a pleasant procedure, but if they didn't do this, that tooth was pushing on some roots of other teeth and the others would have died. In a month he has to do the same procedure to the other side of his mouth. It will take several months for it to pull out the tooth...interesting!

He did really well in his flag football game this week. They won, and Conner made the majority of the points. I think he really loves football. He's a great receiver, he catches anything they put out there.

Kaylea had two track meets this week. Steve decided to surprise her (go to the meet without telling her) because when she knows we're coming she seems to struggle. While she was running the mile, she was well ahead of the other girls. Steve came up to the track after the first lap and cheered for her and she actually jumped, she was so surprised. Well, she won the race and set a personal record again. This has been a really good year for her. The other race was all relays. I guess Stansbury won the meet. They actually lapped a few of the other teams. They did really well. Next week is Region and then State, if she can make it.

Steve has been really busy with his new job and stake calling. He has also started playing basketball a couple of times a week. He plays his heart out. He comes home in a lot of pain, but really enjoys getting out, it gives him a little bit of sanity. Next week he will be going to company meetings at Snowbird Ski resort. He sent two young men from our stake on their missions this week. That's always a good experience for him.

I am in finals week. Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday I will be taking my finals. I've done really well, and I'm so excited to get the summer off. I NEED a break!! Conner is going on a 5 day hike to pikes peak in the Uintas this summer. He has to pack everything he will need including food and water in a back pack and hike around 10 miles a day. I hope he can make it!
Sounds like torture.

Jessica and Chris came out on Sunday evening and brought me an early Mother's Day present. It's always so fun to have them come out, they just brighten my day. Jessica and her baby are both healthy and Chris is such an amazing son-in-law.

On Mother's Day I get to talk to my missionary! I can't wait, I'm so proud of him. His letters are always so positive and upbeat. I'm thinking he's a great missionary, but I might be a little bit prejudice!

I'm truly blessed. I have such great kids, and an amazing husband. Incredible family and friends, and I heard the sun will be shining this week!! Life's good.