Celebrating The Lucky Dragon!

Our little guy is becoming a little man! He has grown so much this year. Figuratively and physically. He grew nearly 7 inches in just 6 months! We had to get rid of jeans that we bought and he never wore, but now did not fit! His hands are as long as Lady Hiva's and they wear the same size of shoes too! 

 It was fun to celebrate his birthday. It is always landing on our days traveling so we have tried to make it special by celebrating along the way. We did pinatas with cousins in Beaver and another set of cousins in Salt Lake City. 

We teased him that we were going to do a Pasta Themed birthday due to his love of eating dry pasta. He usually has a pocket full of dry pasta wherever we go. you can hear him crunching away as we walk and as we drive. HAHA. 

We went to get decorations (those are the two traditions we have for birthdays--a pinata and decorations to wake up to) and the package for the banner said "Happy Birthday" but when I opened it at 1 in the morning it was so confused why there was an E after the H. Then I realized it was in German. HAHA. 

I carried through on the Pasta these and quickly drew some pastas to put around the house. Then found some fun pasta related DAD jokes that I thought our Lucky Dragon would enjoy! 

This guy is kind and adventurous. He loves people and making friends. He is sensitive and loving. He is a deep thinker and is asking all kinds of questions about the world. He is creative and is constantly coming up with new contraptions to solve problems. 

He is a beautiful piano player and a talented swimmer. He can play any sport he tries (even if he thinks he cannot do it). He is not too old to hold our hands or give us hugs. He is equally serious and funny. He is a great big brother. 

WELCOME TO GERMANY!

 

After two years of looking forward to our assignment to Germany--including a year of German language studies--we finally landed in Germany! 

It was a bit of a crazy experience arriving from Utah. Our flight in NYC was canceled and we were going to have to stay in NYC without any of our items (they were in suitcases somewhere). As soon as they announced we had canceled flight, I RAN (literally ran, dodging all the tourists going the other way) to the customer service office. They were able to put us on a flight that left in 5 minutes from when we finished and we went to Zurich for a few hours then on to Frankfurt. 

We were not sure our bags would make it. But most of them did. Only two did not. It was a miracle! The two missing arrived a few days later, they were broken up, but they made it! So did we! 

We have spent the last week trying to settle in. We go walking the neighborhood looking for grocery stores and the best bakeries. We are becoming connoisseurs of all the parks around the area too. We have found some amazing parks to expound our energy!  

Koala Bear has become really great with making art out of whatever mediums she has--post it notes, q-tips, blue tape...all of it!

We always stop and read the "Stumble Blocks" marking the jews who lived in buildings before and during the war. These blocks commemorate the people that lived here and where they went and how they died. They are sober reminders of the past. 

We took a quick weekend trip to Rüdesheim--a small wine vineyard village along the Rhein River. It was so iconic and cute. We all loved being outside. 

We explored the small streets lined with family run stores and restaurants. 

The vineyards are beautiful. The line both sides of the hills along the Rhein. In Rüdesheim you can take a cable car up the mountain to the forest along the hills. We did that then walked along the ridge to another small town called AssmannHäuser (translation: Ass Mass Houses). Talk about an interesting place to say you are from! haha

Then we took ski lifts down to the river and road a boat up the Rhein back to Rüdesheim. It was a beautiful day to be outside in nature. 

We were so happy when Big Al showed up! He had come over on a boat while we were on our road trip through the Western United States. Europe here we come!!