Perhaps you have been wondering why there hasn't been an update since we returned from Germany . . . . . time, time, time! If you would like to look at pictures that were taken during the trip go to flickr.com/photos/provoimages/collections and you will be able to see hundreds of photos taken by our group.

The first thing that I would like to say about the trip is that "we were treated like kings and queens." Our hosts did everything humanly possible to make sure we had everything and did everything we wanted. The only problem with that was, that they had us so busy that we didn't have any time to ourselves. We wanted to shop in Meissen but when we had a few minutes of free time it was in the evening and the stores all close at 6:00. We wanted to shop in Goerlitz but our host had a full schedule for us and we only got to glance at the street fair as we walked by. However, we did jump into a Christmas store and get some local made items. Needless to say, not many purchased items came home with us. That is so sad because they had some wonderful stuff.

I'm going to try to finish the draft I started and get it posted ASAP!

Kristen's New blog

I have posted some cute pics of all the kids at our Annual Halloween party. Check them out if you have a minute.

http://krissymissy-ifyoureallywanttoknow.blogspot.com/

Hello from Kristen & Family

I just wanted to stop in and tell everyone how fabulous we are doing in quiet Payson, Utah.

This picture is from our annual summer trip to Lake Agnes in Montana (sorry you couldn't make it Aunt Marilyn, maybe next year.) We had a blast catching hundreds of fish.

The kids are all doing great in school. If you didn' t know, we got custody of Jordin (Jeremy's son) and he is doing quite well. He has made some new friends in school and is playing flag football on a city team. Recently, he has been trying to get used to BRACES. He had a rough time during the first three weeks, but the worst seems to be over. Now were are heading onward to straight teeth and no overbite. Hopefully, the torture won't last long than 2 years.

Marlee just recently signed up for a volleyball clinic at the high school. We will see if she likes it at all. She is a great little helper around our house. She loves to cook dinner and she is always trying to fatten us up with delicious desserts from her Sandra Lee cookbook. I don't know WHERE she got it, but she is also quite the little crafter. She has taken up boondoggles (not sure of the spelling) and has been making key chains, bracelets and such for all the family.

Terrence is becoming a great little reader. He loves Dr. Seuss books and he has begun to read some short chapter books as well. Both Terrence and Jordin are our little gamers of the house. We really have to watch these two or they will veg out in front of the tube all day playing games. I'm just hoping some medical study will come out that says how wonderful certain video games are for kids. Maybe there is some miraculous development that goes on in the brain when kids zone out in front of the tv, I doubt it.

Jeremy is working hard all the time. He works his full time job at the Provo Fire and teaches part time at the Utah Fire and Rescue Academy. He truly enjoys both his jobs. He most recent accomplishment was receiving his Associates Degree in Fire Science. Now he will continue on the path to his Bachelor's degree. He has already completed a couple of the courses and has a plan to complete his degree within the next couple of years.

I have been the busy Mommy. As usual, I procrastinated sewing the kids costumes this year and ended up rushing to get them done before the big Halloween party at Amy's house on Saturday. It was a rough week, but I managed to complete them all and the kids looked adorable. I haven't had a chance to pull pics off my camera yet, but I will post them soon, if anyone is interested.

We love you all and hope to see you real soon.

XOXOXO

Kristen

Look out Germany, Here we Come!

Here we are on our first day in Berlin. It was raining, but that didn't dampen our spirits. After we check into our hotel we took bus 100 which drives by all of the major and important sites in Berlin. One comes by every 15 minutes so you can get on and off as you please. We went in a cathedral, to Checkpoint Charlie and to the History Museum ( we could have stayed days in there) We ate dinner in a little restaurant where they didn't speak english. That was interesting but eventually we got the point across of what we wanted to eat and it was, well OK. The Hotel Ambassador was a refurbished hotel with a great breakfast!

We rented a mini van but we got a tour bus. Fortunately we had our resident fire truck driver with us so we did great . . . . . .Well . . . . . except for the names of the streets changing every couple blocks and the drivers all driving like crazy people. Generally, I am a good driver's assistant . . . but here I had to turn those duties over to Marie. It seemed like everytime I sat in the front seat - we got lost. Marie and Marilyn got to ride the train perhaps we will consider that in the future.

On our way to Wittenberg we drove on the freeway where the drivers in the left hand lane don't have a speed limit. If you need to change lanes, they better be a long way back there or it doesn't go well . . . they really like their horns and to tailgate. I think next time we'll take the train. You can go anywhere on a train or bus. They have an incredible system there. Anyway, the countryside is beautiful. Rolling farm land and big forests and every so often a town springs up, you can tell because there are 2-5 tall wind mills outside the town (not Holland type, California type).

Meissen is incredible it is so pretty with is cobblestone streets and red roofs. This is the royal palace of the Witten family. It sits high up on a hill with the cathedral next to it. It is built just like you would imagine a kingdom would be built in the 12th century. We have some wonderful pictures, way too many to share here, but we are all anxious to tell you about what we saw.

The pictures above show: us walking in the Procession, the wine cellar in the basement of the 5th generation pewter shop, a Meissen City municipal building with the banquet hall located in the wine cellar (our first night in Meissen), the Albrechtsburg Castle home of the House of Wettin, the final Sister Cities banquet and a view of Meissen from the hills overlooking the City.

Speaking of kings and queens, that is how we were treated in Meissen. They were feeding us every time we turned around. We ate a lot of bruts and kraut, along with pigs knuckles and potatoes, oh and the weenies that were a foot long, as big around as your thumb and had really tough skin. We even broke down and ate at McDonalds the day we went to the Freiberg temple, because after a week, we seriously needed American food. They had some awesome appetizers at the get together they had for all their Sister Cities (4 were there).

It was an amazing experience but my two favorite events were the Wine Festival Procession, which included entires from all the vineyards in the area driving wagons filled with cases of their wine. The people in the crowds had glasses and they would just walk up to the wagon and they would get their glasses filled up. We had bought some cowboy hats and as we walked along shaking hands and handing out metal cowboy key chains, we each picked out one person in the crowd that looked like a hat would mean something to. It was awesome. Another favorite was attending the play 'Taming of the Shrew' performed by the High School kids. I can honestly say, you have never seen "Taming of the Shrew" performed like this. They put a modern flare on it and it was hilarious even though we couldn't understand a thing they said.

The most favorite experience was at Ina's house. You may remember Ina and Katja were the two young German girls that can to do interships in Provo for 6 months. They have become very dear friends. In fact Ina calls me her American Mom!

Her parents invited us over to eat with them on Sunday afternoon. They invited Katja and her mother too. This is a picture of us. Ina's sister had decorated the table with tiny little dasies. She had them stuck into the tines of the forks. They had American and Germany flgs on the fence. The food was the best of the whole trip. Ina's dad even made Rod a hamburger out of ground up pork and some incredible kind of seasonings that made it soooooo yummy. They had cucumbers and tomates they had grown in their garden made into side dishes. They even had kiwi trees (you have to have a male and female). It was a delightful, relaxing afternoon with lots of stories, laughs and 'Good Eats!"

We visited Dresden and took a tour through the rebuilt Old City and rode a boat up the Elbe River. We had wienies in the dinner room on the lower deck of the boat . . . oh did I mention that they only drink carbonated water. . . . yes it's true. You have to be really creative when you ask for something to drink. One waiter finally understood when he said, "Oh River Water?" Sometimes saying 'still water' worked but you've never sure until you take a sip.

Hello Family~

We took some video of Alina today singing "This is My Beloved Son" We thought that it would bring a smile to your faces. We are also including some video of Alina giving Kaia a horsie ride, Kaia twirling, and my two Cinderella girls cleaning my floor.

Here's an update:

April has dived right into being the Primary chorister in our ward and has been coming up with (or finding on the internet) fun things to do with the kids to get them to sing and learn their new songs.

Alina is just as talkative as ever and will often break into song. She will probably have the entire children's songbook memorized by the time April is released from her new calling. Her favorite is 'I am Like a Star' and will go get the little version of the songbook and find the words to show us just in case we have forgotten them (not that she will let us). If Kaia is having a hard time falling asleep at night, which lately has been every night, she will sing her songs in hopes that she will stop screaming. Alina is always reassuring us that she will watch over Kaia. They also love to laugh and giggle with each other. We were reading a story the other day and a little frog says, "Oh Golly" and Alina has picked this up. She says it to Kaia and they both break into laughter. Oh, the sweet sounds of parenthood!

Kaia, other than the separation anxiety attacks of falling asleep, is as happy as can be running through our house all day long. If you ever wanted to know what the sound 'trip trap, trip trap' looked like you can just watch her run her laps around our kitchen. She has also become the family shoe retriever. She will every so often go and get your shoes for you and insist on helping you put them on. I'm excited for my Psychopathology class in the fall so that I can learn all about shoe fettishes to see if we can cure it. She loves to brush her teeth and insists every time anybody enters the bathroom. Kaia went to nursery for the first time today. The leader said she was really good she just wanted to be held the whole time. She went in a little bit early to nursery because Matt and I have callings that are not Kaia friendly for the 3 rd hour.

And Matt is enjoying not being in classes and being able to enjoy the evenings without homework for now. He is hard at work getting his presentations ready for the APA Convention in San Fancisco in a couple of weeks. He just got the final dataset last week and has been analyzing everything that he needs so that he can put it all together in time. It should work out just right.

Amidst all that we read Harry Potter and enjoyed it very much, enjoying having the missionaries over for dinner about once a week, and laughing at the funny things that our two little girls do. While we were reading Harry Potter April was able to do lots of projects. I finished our Family Home Evening board, and board for the girls room that says, "Twinkle, twinkle little start do you know how loved you are?" Both of these turned out really cute. Also, she colored lots of Sunday projects for the girls to do during sacrament meeting, and put together some things for singing time. It was nice to read together and get so many much needed projects done. I also just finished a picture board covered in pink fabric to put in our girls room.

So we have had lots of fun lately! We can't wait for April's mom to come visit us on Wednesday this week. Matt also is going to the APA conference on Thursday.

We hope everyone is doing well,

love,
matt, april, alina and kaia