archives

We have so much to catch up that you have to go to the archives to see the rest of what we have posted. We hope you enjoy.

New Year in Germany

We arrived back in Elder and Sister Tingey's apartment in Kiel on New Year's Eve after traveling along Germany's Romantic Road in the south. They were relieved to have us back safe (this was, after all, my first time driving a car in a foreign country, and there are a number of speedy BMW's and Audi's on the autobahn!). After the new year, we drove around together to look at some local windmills, which originally were used to grind wheat. Space was tight in the little Opel Corsa, so Michelle had to go with the stroller in the back!

Rothenburg ob der Tauber

Our last stop on Germany's Romantische Strasse was Europe's most well-preserved medeival town Rothenburg ob der Tauber (German: Red Town on the Tauber). The Tauber River runs alongside Rothenburg, which is surrounded by thick stone walls and guarded by entrance towers. Inside the walls of this town is a complex of narrow cobblestone streets - sometimes the walls of buildings were so close you could touch both sides at the same time! The architecture was amazingly old, yet inside this town there was a fully-functioning grocery market and lots of souvenir shops (of course!). It was here in Rothenburg where we purchased a traditional German dress for Adylae.

Fussen

Fussen lies in the very southern part of Germany in the Bavarian Alps, close to the Austrian border. There were two castles that we were able to see here: Hohenschwangau (German: Highland of the Swan) and Neuschwanstein (German: New Swan Stone). Hohenschwangau is the yellow one which was created on the same site as a twelfth-century castle built by the knights of the Order of Schwangau, whose emblem was the swan. The second castle was created by the "Mad" King Ludwig II near the end of the 1800's in honor of composer Richard Wagner. We took a carriage ride up to Neuschwanstein - it would have taken about 30 minutes by foot. The castle is very beautiful - to be there and see the castle from the Marienbrucke (Mary's Bridge) feels like something straight out of Cinderella.

Wurzburg

Wurzburg was our first stop along the Romantic Road (Romantische Strasse) in southern Germany. The Residenz is one of Europe's most sumptuous palaces, surrounded by beautiful gardens and decorated with ornate architecture. It is forbidden to take pictures inside, but there is a gigantic staircase with a vast painted ceiling overhead which symbolized the heavens (the one who commissioned the painting and the bishop, of course, are included in the great painting, reserving places for themselves in heaven). Halls for entertainment and dancing were on the upper floor, along with a historical documentary of efforts to preserve the Residenz after severe damage during World War II. Wurzburg has many other ornate cathedrals which are neat to look at for their architecture, and the medeival Marienburg Fortress lies across the river near the center of the city. If you look closely you can see the vineyards underneath.

Hamburger Weinachtsmarkt

The Christmas market of Hamburg (or "Hamburger Weinachtsmarkt) was quite a place to see. Everyone sets up little shops to sell all sorts of stuff - everyting from roasted chestnuts to bird houses to music boxes to decorative nutcrackers. Lots of green boughs, red ribbons and white lights decorate the tops of these temporary structures which are taken down shortly after New Year's. The Weinachstmarkt is a German cultural thing, and at night the lights and decorations make the place feel enchanted. The gigantic pyramid with the windmill was located in the center of the Hamburger Weinachtsmarkt. Elder and Sister Tingey, Michelle, Lisa, Adylae and I had a good time looking at the little trinkets for sale and trying out the various pastries and cakes!

Christmas Eve in Germany

We were privileged to spend Christmas Eve with the Zicklers, who live in Kiel, Germany. The Zicklers prepared a uniquely German meal of Bochwurst cooked in sweet ginger sauce, saurkraut, and pickled red cabbage. Lisa and Michelle were not too fond of the ginger (which the Germans add to a lot of their sweets), but the Zicklers had also prepared ham for those with an American palate... Afterwards, they lit the Christmas tree using real wax candles. Each candle has a little dish to collect melted wax and is attached to the boughs of the tree with a clip so the candle stays upright. A bucket of water and a dish rag were nearby to prevent any disasters! After the tree was lit, we opened gifts (the Zicklers were very generous and actually gave us little keepsakes from Germany!). Even later we ate a towering dessert of ice cream, chocolate and whipped cream. The whole event was quite a treat!

Birthday Fun

We had a great turn out for her birthday. She loved her cake. That was the same day she also was introduced to real milk. She wasn't sure about whether she liked or not. We are still working on it.

1 YEAR OLD

Wow time flies by when you have kids. My little girl turned one in December. My little baby really isn't a baby anymore. I attempted at making Adylae's cake. What was supposed to be a sun ended up turning into a flower. Chad and my friend ELEL both encouraged me to redo the sun thought. So we ended up with a flower. I think I did pretty good for my first try. For her birthday we did a tinkerbell theme and mickey mouse.(Boys wore the mouse eares). She gobbled down her cupcake and had another. Addie as always been a clean eater but that day she stuck the icing all over her hair, we had a good bath after the party. Her cousins M.J and Paige were big helpers in helping decorate the cake.

December

Even though we spent Christmas in Germany we still decorated our house a little. Personally I really liked my tree. It was sad to take it down when we got home.

Thanksgiving

Happy Thanksgiving! We had a lot of food. With 20 people attending you would think there wasn't any left overs. There was though. We ate turkey and ham for a week.

Home Projects

Well in November we were really busy. Luckly our friend Spencer was staying with us and helped us out a lot. Thanksgiving this year was at my house with my brother brett from Idaho and some good friends from Tennessee. Before that could happen however we had to get our kitchen floor taken care of. Our floor decided to start pilling up all over the kitchen so we had to replace it. Chad and Spencer did it all in about 24hours since Thanksgiving was the very next day. I thought you would like to see the transformation. To say the least I was very stressed out.

Happy Halloween!

Hello fans. I know its the new year but I thought I would catch you up at least since October of 2008. Well as you can see Adylae is Minnie thanks to Chad's mom who found the adorable costume. Sitting next to me is our good friend Misty and her little boy Mykie. We had a good time at the branch trunk or treat. Later Chad took addie around the circle to knock on doors. My goal this year is to at least blog once a month.