Edelweiss

Happy Birthday Abby!

2010-11-14T16:16:00.004+01:00

Abby is 4! It's hard to believe. This last year has brought alot of growth for her. Leaving her home in Germany, starting Pre-school, and growing alot! We are so glad to have our Abby.

Some highlights of her birthday was going to Home Depot with Dad, getting her own big bed, and lots and lots of presents.

Holzer Halloween

2010-10-31T23:05:00.005+01:00

Here are some of the scariest trick-or-treaters around. They are all wearing "antique" costumes. Abby is following in her father's footsteps, yes, Kyle was once this cute little bunny, Kirsti is wearing a costume my mom made for my older sister when she was a baby bear, and Elli is also donning some duds from the Holzer costume box which all adds up to alot of time saved and tears that would have been shed if I had tried to sew something. T-you Grandmas!
Despite some serious rainstorms we had a great Halloween. Especially thanks to some umbrellas borrowed from G&G Holzer. Its amazing what you don't have on hand when you've moved a few too many times. The girls were great and loved every minte even in the rain.

Beautiful Colors

2010-10-31T23:02:00.003+01:00

We have been surprised and pleased with the beautiful fall colors that we have seen out our window this year. We had no idea what would be awaiting us in the fall when we bought our home last winter.

Conference Report

2010-10-03T05:44:00.003+02:00

In the spring and the fall we get to watch the prophet and the apostles from our church instruct and uplift us. This is a wonderful time for our family and its always exciting to prepare and look forward to. My Mom and Dad joined us for some of the time. As you can see it was great. Cute conference bottoms. Excited for the begining and to see the prophet.
As the conference wained on Elli and grandma did too.

We would hope Grandpa and Abby are taking notes here but I think there
is some Tic-tac-toe going on.

Take Me Home Country Roads

2010-09-27T05:43:00.004+02:00

I love that song and I love John Denver, but even more, I love going home and visiting my beginings and those I love there. I bravely ventured out and took the girls solo this time, they were very very good travelers and we had a great time.

These are Grandpa's Buster Girls. They sure do a lot of giggling when we visit

Buster Girl in training

Grandpa Buster

The woman who makes it all possible. Its interesting no matter how old you become you still need a mother. This visit I really noticed how much a mother really is the center of the home. We also really enjoyed visiting with my little Bro's (not pictured) they were very sweet to us.

August

2010-08-30T00:49:00.003+02:00

Besides, Mom's Birthday of course, here are some of the other exciting events for us this month:

One of our most favorite visitors has stopped by a few times this summer. I am always impressed at how easily my babies love her. How could you not??

Elli is holding up 0 for her grade in school (Kindergarten)

Abby and her 'schuletute' for her first day of Preschool (thank you Grandma)
(A schuletute is a german present for the first day of school)

Child labor: here is a picture of our apricot girls. We are lucky to have access to a couple of very prolific apricot trees, its a good thing we have such great helpers. We even made up a little working song..."I'll be the pitter, you be the squisher, we all work together to get the job done"

Kirsti's Walking!!

2010-08-30T00:46:00.003+02:00

Kirsti has been walking for a few weeks now and we are all happier!

The Holzer Salon

2010-08-30T00:43:00.001+02:00

Another day at the Holzer Salon, and what other all natural ingredient would we use here??

Our New Way to Walk

2010-08-08T15:59:00.003+02:00

The way we celebrated our new sidewalk!

New Mexico - It grows as it goes

2010-08-02T22:48:00.003+02:00

We took a family trip to New Mexico to visit family and had a great time. We enjoyed the company even more than the scenery!

Happy Birthday Kirsti

2010-08-02T22:35:00.003+02:00

Kirsti loves Grandma Holzer. Who wouldn't!! Here is the birthday girl with her Grandma showing off her "cheese" and her new ball.

Kirsti reached the 1 year mark last week. Her favorite gift was a roll of toilet paper which she has carried around with her the past few weeks tearing off little bits here and there. What fun!

Backyard Beauties

2010-07-06T01:10:00.004+02:00

Just a day's work for these darling daughters and big helpers in the yard. What would we do without them?!

Sucker Sisters

2010-07-06T01:08:00.005+02:00

Every child needs to have the experience of a dum-dum right? It took a little doing (and a lot of cream) but we figured out how Elli could eat a sucker she got when she went to the doctors.

Sweet Childhood

Father's Day 2010

2010-07-06T01:03:00.003+02:00

A tribute to a wonderful Dad and a great husband. We are really so lucky to have him.

A man and his yard to be. He's not afraid to tackle a big project. What a hard worker he is.

Kirsti-Godzilla

2010-07-06T00:51:00.003+02:00

Kirsti has transformed from an immobile little squirt into the kitchen terror. I keep telling myself its a good thing really. In fact we had a big celebration when she finally learned to crawl a few days ago, only 2 weeks shy of her 1st birthday. I don't think she'll be a track star, but we love her still.

Mother's Day at Temple Square

2010-07-06T00:44:00.003+02:00

This year for mother's day, Kyle took me to Temple Square to see the flowers and I think it should become a tradition. I loved it so much and had many memories of my Grandparents who grew beautiful flowers. I think if they have any time off in the spirit world, they must split it between Temple Square and the Keukenhof Garden's we visited in Holland. Wow.

2010-04-26T01:36:00.002+02:00

This is a hike we took up the canyon in Bountiful. The girls were great hikers and we hope to do this again soon.

These are two pretty princesses before our cousin Mary's birthday party. Abby love lipstick a little too much.

All wrapped up. Kirsti the paper towel snowflake.

We really enjoyed seeing Grandma and Grandpa Farnsworth today.

Elli the alphabet Queen

2010-03-10T00:04:00.001+01:00

We are proud as peaches of our Elli girl who has mastered her alphabet even with the transition of moving!! Horray for you Elli! Kindergarten, here we come!

Home

2010-03-10T00:01:00.001+01:00

We are happy and busy making this new house into a home. Please ignore the shoeless children, we've been busy

Here is a look at our backyard. Sledding anyone??

A Fresh New Start

2010-02-08T03:48:00.000+01:00

After 2 1/2 long months of being wanderers in a strange land, we have a home!! We feel very happy and extremely blessed to have found a home for our family. A great location and a wonderful home. We signed the papers 2 days ago. Kyle has already been working on it for a few weeks, and now we are all pitching in to get it cleaned up and ready to move into soon!! Many thanks to all who have housed us in the interim and to those who have helped us get it in working order!

The German Adventure

2009-10-11T21:37:00.006+02:00

Looking back through these pictures we are wondering why we would ever want to leave this place. We are actually still working through that question - but we have just accepted a job in Salt Lake. We start on 18. November this year.

We'll be back. (in the mean time we've got to find a new name for our blog)

Pumpkins

2009-10-11T08:30:00.004+02:00

Fall is the time for farmers to put out the pumpkin cart and sell their goods. The "Kasse" has a metal lock box where you drop in your money (honor system). Of course fall brings rain too.

Abby and Kirsti

Kirsti likes to jump off mom's legs in her swing.

Stadt Mobil

2009-09-22T20:38:00.005+02:00

We've decided to cut our carbon footprint in half. Here is our old car(silver) and new car(red). I think we qualify to have Al Gore fly us home for Christmas in his private jet as reward. We are losing our company car (Ford Focus - size of our old Honda Civic in stationwagon form). This red car represents our attempt at "car sharing" where we pay a monthly fee in order to rent this car at a good rate by the hour/km when we need it. We pick it up when we need it about 5 minutes walk from our house.

The girls fit in pretty snug/cosy. In order to close the doors the plastic child seats have to compress about an inch.

(Confession: its about saving money - I really don't think a smaller car will save any polar bears or karaboo)

Fresh out of the tubby!

2009-09-15T15:01:00.003+02:00

As you can see, it looks like Kirsti will be another blue eyed beauty.

I see alot of Elli at this age in her big smile.

Family picnic

2009-09-13T21:29:00.002+02:00

This is a little park near our house. We did a picnic last week to celebrate one of the last days of summer.

Laptop Repair

2009-09-13T21:20:00.002+02:00

Our cord was acting fritsy so repaired the cable. That didn't fix it so I found a great website that described taking the whole thing apart. I ended up taking the whole thing apart twice like this because the first time didn't do it - I only resoldered the top of the power connector to the circuit board (silly me). So I did it right the second time. Luckily - since this laptop is Sally's life line to family/friends.

Romania Road Trip

2009-09-08T07:20:00.003+02:00

Humungous thankyou to Sally for enabling one of my dreams of visiting post cold war Eastern Europe. A friend from church agreed to come and we left at noon on Friday -returned Saturday night.

Kirsti Smiles & Big Pants

2009-08-30T20:17:00.004+02:00

Turn down the volume on this one if you aren't ready for some gooey mommy-talk.

I've decided that Kirsti wears the pants in our family. She decides our schedule each day and gets fed, sleep, or entertainment at her beck and call.

Sunflowers!

2009-08-30T20:05:00.003+02:00

Mom and Papa Farny sent us sunflower seeds last summer with a promise that they would bloom and did they ever!!

Kyle's Commute

2009-08-26T21:41:00.002+02:00

My bikeride through fields and forest. It really is a pretty ride. Takes me usually 20min - this video is at 4x speed so it lasts under 5 minutes. Beware, it is a bit choppy. If you look fast you can see beautiful barren fields(harvest just happened), a Porsche, a tractor, another biker I pass like he's standing still, a red light I run and the corresponding honk from an admiring observer. All from my helmet mount camera thanks to a bunch of hot glue.

Wildpark picts

2009-08-24T18:51:00.003+02:00

Last Saturday we visited a forest animal petting zoo in Pforzheim - about an hour drive away. We bought the official animal grub (grass pellets and corn kernel mixure) and went to town. We had a great time after the girls got used to the idea of having a big hairy animal multiple times their size lick the food out of their hands. It turned out to be a hoot.

This guy caught Sally's eye. He is an unkilted Scottish beef bull. Kind a hairy. He didn't get any pellets from Abby.

Wildpark Video

2009-08-24T07:16:00.004+02:00

Girls pics

2009-08-16T18:54:00.003+02:00

Here Elli is donning the favorite vest. So far this lovely Christmas piece complete with elves hanging oversized lightbulbs against a cheery black backdrop only graced the bedtime hours. We're hoping it doesn't surprise us on a "you can pick your clothes today for Kindergarten" day. This black christmas vest fettish is shared by Abby, they take turns with it frequently. Even against our encouragement they will wear it on warm nights, waking up with a sweaty face.

Three sleeping sisters. This method saves space.

spontaneous dance and provoked song

2009-08-16T17:07:00.003+02:00

3rd times a charm!

2009-07-24T19:27:00.007+02:00

And what a charm she is! Here is a better picture of her a few days after her birth.

So far everything is going great. How were we ever a family without her?

Kirsti Anna!

2009-07-21T15:43:00.004+02:00

Born 10:09am July 21
7.6 lbs
Sally and baby are both doing well.

Our little German Girl

2009-07-07T10:42:00.004+02:00

As a mother's day present for me, Kyle got a Dirndel for Elli.
I think she is looks like more than 1/4 german.

Just Mom and Abby

2009-06-27T20:20:00.003+02:00

While Kyle and Elli have been in the states this week, Abby and I have been having some great one on one time. It has been so fun being with her, I really enjoy darling personality and all the things she is saying these days. It has been also very nice to have a quiet week for some long overdue rest and relaxation before our new one comes.Photo courtesy of Abby. We are getting closer and its a good thing!

Giggly Girls

2009-06-27T19:54:00.004+02:00

If only I could bottle this laughter! Oh what fun 2 inches of water can be!

Strawberries!!!

2009-06-14T16:30:00.003+02:00

There is a strawberry field - pay and pick - just outside of our town a few blocks from our house. This day was especially momentous for me(Kyle) as I was also picking strawberries as a four year old with my family in Germany the same as Elli. I remember how good the strawberries were, they are still awesome.

Elli did great. Sally has been able to work alot of strawberries into Elli's diet.

Our little Pinkalicious. Abby was the clean up crew - basically just stuffing as many strawberries as possible into her mouth as we picked.

We left the field with 5 kg of strawberries (about 12 lbs)! These boxes represents what was left after we all ate as much as we could for lunch when we got home. We ended up freezing a bunch and giving some away (we are so nice :) ). I think we should go strawberry picking next Saturday too.

Goodbye VanDams - we miss you!

2009-06-14T16:25:00.003+02:00

These are the VanDams, they inspired us to go to the German speaking ward. They are Americans returning to the US today. He was a great bishop and there are big holes in the ward with their departure.

Farnsworth Reunion Dance Performance

2009-05-24T19:38:00.002+02:00

Salzburg - The Sound of Music/Mozart

2009-05-12T07:32:00.007+02:00

We went to Salzburg last weekend. Our Maria is in the mothering way and our Fritz and Friedrich haven't shown up yet, but otherwise we were the spitten image. We sang Do Ray Me all weekend.

We drove past Hitler's Eagles Nest retreat.

As it turns out despite what everyone would naturally assume, Doppler was not Dutch. He was Austrian. I apologize to Justin for the confusion.

Spring in Deutschland

2009-05-03T20:29:00.003+02:00

The Dandelions (Lions Teeth in German) are really amazing here. Big and plentiful! The girls love them and I receive bunches of dandelion bouquets every day. Who could be luckier?

This is one of my favorite things about spring in Germany. Rapeseed (used for canola oil) which is blooming everywhere around here right now. Of course the pictures do not do it justice. Its amazing how deep yellow it is.

Another day, another castle. We finally made it to Burg Eltz which has been on Kyle's must see list for quite a while. Its the only castle in Germany that was never destroyed and rebuilt. It had original paintings and tapestries in it from the 15 and 1600's. It was pretty amazing. Kyle's new favorite castle in Europe.

Elli went to her first birthday party. A little German girl invited her and she had a great time. We are continually amazed and inspired by our little 'Madschen' who does such a great job adapting to a different culture and new situations. A good example for her mom for sure!

Easter dresses given to us by a friend. We were lucky they fit us!! Horray for cute dresses!

Grandma and Grandpa in Germany!!

2009-04-22T14:31:00.004+02:00

I never imagined seeing my parents in Germany, but it was a dream come true. Of all the things I've seen in Germany, they were my favorite. I was reminded while they were here of what wonderful people I have for parents.These girls love their beautiful Grandma. She was the constant entertainer, rode in the backseat of the car with the girls, and was always cheerful and helpful. Lunch at an alpine lake
Casle Hohenzollern and the Royal Family
Neunschwanstein castle
Granpa and his Buster Girls.

Roaring Tigers

2009-04-01T07:01:00.002+02:00

Tyler, Jamie, Alanna & Cali visit

2009-04-01T06:55:00.002+02:00

We had a great time with our fun visitors over the last few days. These little friends had a great time. We can't wait to live a little closer some time soon.

We visited Rothenber ob der Tauber yesterday together. We had a fun time walking around this cool old town.

Porschetag

2009-03-31T21:35:00.000+02:00

We decided to have a special occasion to pull the family together. What better way than to rent a Porsche for a day.

Tyler and I of course didn't waste any time at the chance to take it for a short spin. And spin we did, 0 to 60 in 5.9 seconds as Tyler timed me. Tyler was able to get going a little faster than me, but not by much. You could say we were bookin.

Here was some more family time. Elli and Abby were crying when we had to take it back, "No, please don't take MY black car away!!"

Oh what a Feeling...

Just a sweet car.

Sing with Me!

2009-03-27T19:38:00.002+01:00

Our Amazing Aunt Angie has published a series of children's books to help children in learning to speak. Especially children like our Elli who had a speach delay. She started on this project while living with us in Germany so we really love it. We are amazed to be related to such a talented person! She sings she composes, and now she's an author too!

Here is her latest youtube video (the ending is the best part):
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xciHLXQelOs
(or go to youtube and type in 'speak with me')

Also, here is her website:
www.speakwithmebooks.com

Take a look!

Black Forest sledding

2009-03-22T19:47:00.006+01:00

Jamaican Bobsled team in training. (Minus the tan and Bob marley)

A bit of cross country skiing.

The bobsled team with the team captain.

Head cheerleader hitching a ride. (it was tricky to fit since this cheerleader's back side is kinda big.)

Back at our village right before we got home Sally whipped out the camera and snapped this one. This cute little old man usually alone and has hay in the back.

Fashing and Bebenhausen

2009-03-03T16:14:00.007+01:00

Germany has a weeklong holiday that seems a little odd to us non natives. Its like halloween without the candy and kids get off school for a week and dress up and have parades and parties. Here we have our pirate and princess, type cast for personalities I think. .This is our latest daytrip to a little town called Bebenhausen. Flat Stanley came along for the ride thanks to Jackson Holzer. Bebenhausen is a little town whose main attraction this big church which was a convent. Very cool

So long, Farewell . . . Aufwiedersehen

2009-03-02T21:39:00.005+01:00

So long farewell to non maternity clothes and hellooooo tummy. For those non german speakers Aufwiedersehen actually means "we will see you again" so I'll hold on to that hope.
Thank you Elli for your help with the camera work!

Ich bin ein Kind von Gott

2009-02-15T17:07:00.002+01:00

Once there was a snowman.

2009-02-15T17:03:00.001+01:00

Our backyard.

France - Strasbourg

2009-02-15T16:45:00.006+01:00

This was a wonderful looking bakery on the corner of the French town we visited. Sally was the good supportive mom eating brussels sprouts and rice cakes with Elli and Abby and their special diets. I did my part to support the local economy and bought a crouscant and an eclare. They were delicious. The lady was trying to speak to me but the only thing from high school I could remember was Bonjour and Merci. Where is Justin when I need him?

Behind us was the largest church in town. Your regular rediculously enormous ornate cathedral in the center of town. This french town is about 1.5 hours drive from our house. We spent Saturday morning there, it was a neat town.

Happy Birthday Elli!

2009-02-04T10:49:00.006+01:00

A chocolate cupcake with frosting for dessert! A great treat for a great girl!
At Kindergarten Elli had muffins with all of her friends and got a flashlight from her teachers. Also, a magical wizard puppet comes out and reads a book to the birthday child (I think its a German tradition?).
MORE BEADS!!! Elli now has a new stash to make us all more gifts!! Horray!

Waltzing Matilda

2009-02-01T20:56:00.001+01:00

Our next of kin

2009-01-13T20:18:00.004+01:00

We are expecting the next happy Holzer on July 13th!

My Little Buttercup

2009-01-13T20:08:00.003+01:00

Almost as good as the original:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3Mw9F5zawRQ

Grandma the Entertainer

2009-01-13T20:03:00.001+01:00

Happy Holzer Holiday

2009-01-05T20:55:00.011+01:00

We finished off our American Holiday Adventure by enjoying the plush accomodations of the Holzer Hotel. The vacation was complete with great food, lots of love, constant entertainment, and great people.

I'll be home for Christmas

2009-01-05T20:14:00.003+01:00

This year due to a VERY generous and WISE husband I spent Thanksgiving and Christmas in the states. That meant a very nice long stay at the home I grew up at in Boise, IDaho. It also mean the girls got some great time with Grandma and their tease of a grandpa. We enjoyed the front porch swing, leaning to make beet juice, sleigh rides with Grandma, feeding Sadie dog a million dog cookies, and our first time playing in the snow. What a great trip and what awesome grandparents for being so good to us!!

Ward Christmas Concert

2008-12-14T22:11:00.002+01:00

Next to me is Bishop Vandam and his wife and then Lisa Widmann.
I really like this song (oratorium) by J.S. Bach

Esslingen Middle Centuries Christmas Market

2008-12-14T22:01:00.004+01:00

Christmas Markets are plentiful in Germany around this time of year. But this one is a bit special because it focuses on activities that would have at Christmas markets hundreds of years ago. Axe throwing, beer drinking, wooden ferris wheels, eating worst around a open hearth bonfire, etc,. I went with a work friend since my normal Christmas Market companions are currently in Boise.
Ferris wheel:

Me next to a huge Christmas Helicopter:

Criche exhibit (isn't it great that Germans aren't politically correct):

Italy picts

2008-11-16T19:17:00.002+01:00

Italy

2008-11-16T16:18:00.004+01:00

We had a fabulous week long stay in Italy. We stayed with my friend Nancy and her son Jaron there. They were so great to us!!! We saw Venice, Verona, the Soave castle and Cinquee Terra. What a whirlwind trip!
Here is our entertainment while we are waiting for the train in Cinque Terra. We've found the railway there is a little late. A nice lady came over the intercom ever 15 minutes and told us our train would be delayed another 15 minutes. After our train was over an hour late we decided to take our business elsewhere
Beautiful Beach at Cinque Terra. If you look closely there is a huge sculpture in the rocks behind us on the right.
Kyle at St. Marco Basillica in VeniceElli in Venice. More lovely than any sculpture!
One of the highlights of our trip. An awesome castle in Soave. It was really old and really cool and really rainy. Wow! Inside they even had peices from dishes they found in the castle and original coats of arms and beds and tables and paintings. It was very neat.
We ended up getting stuck at a train station in the middle of nowhere for an hour in the dark. Luckily Elli's happy attitude was the glue that kept us together!

Happy Birthday Abby!

2008-11-16T16:15:00.002+01:00

Abby was SO excited about her new baby and jewelery
Licking her plate clean!

Airplanes

2008-11-16T15:50:00.003+01:00

We have been working up the girls muscles for our long flight back to the states. I hope they make it!

Halloween!

2008-11-03T20:15:00.002+01:00

Here are our princesses before our old ward's Halloween party

Here we are on Halloween night at our "Family Party"

This doesn't have to do with Halloween, just an every day activity for Abby, its pretty hard to keep her clothes on. You think winter would have discouraged her.

More Elli News

2008-11-03T20:12:00.002+01:00

We had the results today of Elli's genetic testing. They found that she officially has a genetic mutation that is classified as Glut 1. So we are official. These results are what we expected. We are relieved to finally have a diagnosis, but it is also a hard thing to know as well. Interestingly the lab hadn't ever seen a mutation like hers. I guess we've always known she is special!

The Daddy Song

2008-11-03T19:57:00.003+01:00

Her debute performance!

Pumpkins and Beadwork

2008-10-26T18:45:00.003+01:00

Elli has been busy with her hama beads. (lots of little plastic beads put on a form one by one and then ironed by dear ol' mom). Take a good look, some of you might see these again around Christmas time.

We had our friend/Kyle's coworker over again for carving pumpkins this year. Her name is Gemma. She is great!

Rottweil

2008-10-26T16:43:00.003+01:00

Because of our affection for Rottweilers we decided to head down to their stomping grounds last weekend. We didn't see any REAL rottweilers but we did see many other great things...
I'm not sure about the funny look on Elli's face. Maybe she doesn't like rotties, or maybe its how hight her pants are being hiked.
I always wanted to ride our dogs as a kid. It never seemed to work out like this.
Elli and mama "kissing" at the great park we found. It was perfect for Elli!
A tower leading into the marketplace. We were there for the Saturday market and had some great samples.

Elli's Latest Cuteness

2008-10-19T14:47:00.005+02:00

We are hearing alot of fun phrases from Elli these days. We thought we would share a few of our favorites:

On the way home from church I see some goats and I say:
M:"Oh Look Elli, Billy Goats"
E: "Billy Goats? That is a funny word. But we can just call them goats also"
M:"Yes Elli"
E: "But we can call them billy goats too because they have belly buttons"

On the way to the toystore, Elli and Abby's seats are on opposite sides of the backseat:
E: "Mom, maybe we can put our seats together"
M: "Why Elli"
E: "Then we can do hugging and kissing in the back seat!"

On the way home from the temple. Kyle and I take turns going in and watching the girls:
E: "Mom, I can wear your skirt, then I can go in the temple too. Then when I am done I will come out and you can wear your skirt and go in!!!"
M: "Elli you are going to go into the temple someday and its going to be so wonderful!"
E: "Yeah, and you and Dad can stay outside and watch Abby"

Mom and Elli role playing introductions:
M: "Hello, what is your name?"
E: "Elli Holzer"
M: "Oh, nice to meet you Elli and where do you come from?"
E: "Daddy!"
M: "Oh and who is that (pointing to Dad and hoping to hear the word Kyle)
E: "Daddy Holzer"

E: "Mom, I am going to have children"
M: "Oh great! How many?"
E: "Four", "and they are going to be blue"
M: "Oh really?"
E: "Yes, and they are going to sleep in my bed. One on the top bunk and one on the bottom"
M: "Really? And wear will you sleep?"
E: "In mom and dad's bed"

After talking about our visit home to Grandpas house for the holidays"
E: "Mom I'm so cited to jump on the Grampoline!"

Coming home from Kindergarten
E: "Mom I learned to speak German today"
M: "You did?"
E: "Yeah, I can say 'sola' (spreading her arms wide)
[fyi: sola is not a german word]
M: "Wow! That's great!"
E: "Yeah, Elli can speak German and Daddy can speak German, but Mom, you can't speak German"
She's right!

Schoenbuch

2008-10-13T11:15:00.005+02:00

Last Saturday we went for a ride in the Schoenbuch which means 'beautiful book' It is a forest near our house and it was beautiful!
Mom by our local library on the way out of town
We are NOT lost!

We love the fall colors here in Germany! How lucky we are to be here and get to go on family bike rides!

Keto Kid

2008-10-13T10:56:00.005+02:00

Horray for Elli! She underwent a napping (20 min.)EEG last week and they couldn't find any seizures! Even though we are still finetuning the diet to get the most success, it is making a difference for Elli. Hats off to her for eating the food and not complaining. She goes through one of these bottles of oil every few weeks! It is not easy, but she has shown us she can do hard things.

Here is a link to a site about Glut 1 Elli's condition. It also has interesting links about the Ketogenic diet. Elli is currently on a ratio of 85% fat 6% protein and 9% carbs. www.glut1.de

Soccer Video

2008-10-06T11:10:00.001+02:00

FC Bayern Muenchin - Soccer Game!

2008-10-06T10:50:00.003+02:00

Nelsen is in town for a few days for business. We went to a Bayern Muenchin soccer game on Saturday. One of my lifetime goals - score! There were actually 6 goals scored, quite an exciting game. We tied 3-3.

Here is some of the pre-game show. A remarkably different style than our marching band at the University of Utah. Any band that does polka in lederhosen has got to be cool.

I was coveting my neighbor's bratwurst. I don't think Moses listed that one in Deuteronomy so I must be ok.

Philip Lamm - one of the young soccer stars in Germany. He was on the national team too this last go around in the European cup.

The stadium. They announced it was a sellout crowd. I saw a few empty seat, but not many.

German Kinder

2008-09-28T19:28:00.004+02:00

Did you know the word Kindergarten is German? Well it is, and boy are they serious about it. Kids start here at 3 and go all day all week and everyone goes. We have a darling and very developed Kindergarten next to our house and decided we'd check it out. Elli has been going 2 weeks now and has been such a trouper about it. Although the teachers all have some English they speak in German as do all the kids. Elli goes for just an hour and a half in the morning and she is just doing great! Boy are we proud of our little Kindergartener!

A couple of her cute Kindergarten quotes were:
"None of the kids there know me, but I'm Elli Holzer"
"Will Mom and Dad be sleeping there too?" (During our initial tour they showed her the napping room and she thought she was going to be staying during the night too. What a trusting girl.)

England video

2008-09-23T16:24:00.002+02:00

Trip to England

2008-09-21T20:00:00.006+02:00

We spent Wed-Sat last week in London. The girls did great and we had a good time. It was a lot of work for Sally - preparing and packing Elli's food and scale, then weighing it all out. One of the most notable food preparation/weighing spots was the floor of Victoria Train Station in London.

Hyde Park - where Pres. Hinckley and many others have preached on their soap boxes. Sunday is the official soap box day here so we missed the hoopla. It was nap time - the girls slept for the next 2 hours on our laps while did a tour on the top deck of the red double decker bus.

Westminster Abbey - where all the royalty get sworn at - I mean in. This is the top of the bus and our tour guide.

King's Royal Palace.

One of the royal guards. He was kind of grumpy - I guess they have an image to uphold.

Two cute Americans we found in England. They followed us around the whole trip. This was our second hotel. It was an old school from a couple hundred years ago. We had the Presidential sweet (not very sweet), the room right about the entrance was with four windows. Dorm style (only updated as absolutely necessary along the way) rooms, one restroom per floor. A good experience though.

Big Ben (actually the bell inside was named after Sir Benjamin EnglishPolitician, not the tower) This is the English Parliament building - built around 1830.

Temple trip - Frankfurt

2008-09-07T19:23:00.003+02:00

We went yesterday up to Friedrichsdorf. It was a good trip again.

Incidentally we heard from the doctor that we need to up Elli's Ketogenic diet to 85% fat. Sally and Elli have both been amazing is making this diet work so far. Once Elli's ketone levels reach the right percentage we can start working on the correct caloric intake and hopefully drop a few lbs for Elli.

Garmisch

2008-08-31T20:11:00.005+02:00

Olympic Stadium
In the spirit of oppressive governments hosting the Olympic games we decided to visit Garmisch, the site of the 1936 winter games. There are a few original structures still here. These ski jumps have obviously been remade and enlarged. But the stadium at the base of the hill is original and really resembles the big Stadium Hitler built over in Nuernburg. This must have been the practice run.

We stayed at the cute little guest house with sheep grazing on the green slopes nearby.

This is right in front of the Zugspitze - Germany's highest peak. The gondola cables are behind us in the distance. We went up to the tip of the highest peak behind us.

This looking down from the gondola we rode. Quite the view - about 1/2 mile to the ground below the gondola. Abby was nervous for the second half of the trip on the way up. I even had a few butterflies especially as the gondola shakes a bit and jerks right as you get to the top getting into the lodge.

The views were amazing. We were lucky the fog burned off. Abby decided she wasn't afraid of heights any more and is leaning over the edge. They built this amazing three story restaurant/visitor's center/conference center right on top of the tallest peak. Very cool.

This is a little Protestant church in Garmisch. Wikipedia (a great source of info) told me it was home to one of the most well known works of one Johann Evangelist Holzer. Now it comes clear to me why the Holzers are so artistic.

Johann did the whole ceiling in a fresco style of painting. After finishing this work in the early 17 hundreds he was 31 years old (a young pup). He just got commissioned to do a huge mural for the archbishop of Cologne at the largest church in the area. He died before he could get started, isn't that always the way it is...

Lichtenstein

2008-08-17T19:52:00.002+02:00

Last weekend we visited a new castle. They are as plentiful as potatoes over here.
This was a smaller castle but easy to get to and we had a very nice visit. One more castle to check off the list.

Here Elli is dangerously close to a huge cliff. Who put her up here for this pose anyway?

3 posing princesses

Kyle's Airplane

2008-08-17T19:41:00.001+02:00

Kyle loves his new remote control airplane he got for his birthday. We fly it across the street from our house in a field. The girls chase it and giggle. Great exercise!!

Summer Lovin'

2008-08-17T18:52:00.006+02:00

The girls in the pool. There are not alot of days warm enough for the pool in Germany. Excuse the immodesty, its time for bigger suits. Ole! Its mexican food!! A good military saint gave us 3 bags of groceries!! We had quite the fiesta. Abby was particularly impressed having never eaten tortilla chips before. We savored every morselKyle got a remote control airplane for his birthday. We have a fun time flying it in the field across from our house. The girls love to chase it around, its great exercise!

Elli singing on her parking lot podium.

2008-08-03T19:51:00.003+02:00

University of Tuebingen KinderKlinik visit #2

2008-08-03T19:32:00.003+02:00

Here we are at the kitchen of the klinik where we (Sally and Elli) stayed for a week. Elli is being a real trooper with her new diet. The Ketogenic diet - our version - has 80% of the calories from fat.

The klinik (hospital) had 5 cool big wooden structures in different places to play with. Here is an English double decker bus, the boat was a favorite.

Abby's enjoying being the sidekick.

We spent some time in the cool city close by on Saturday.

Elli

2008-07-13T20:21:00.005+02:00

We spent three days in the hospital with Elli trying to get more info on her minor Epilepsy stuff. It turns out she is diagnosed with a rare defficiency of Glut1. Elli had to wear this "hat" with ~20 electric sensors glued to head for 24 hours. She was a trooper through all the pokes and prods. We are very proud of her. We are learning more and more about her all the time. The doctors and hospital were great.

We made some Schnitzel for my birthday. Here is the girls working away. Elli says her snitzel looks like an elephant.

Elli on Horseback

2008-06-29T15:51:00.003+02:00

This is Elli riding a small horse at our company party. Last year she wasn't up to the challenge so this was good. She had a great time.

Two princesses

Mom and Papa came over this weekend. The next time we will see them is back in Utah for Christmas this year. The girls had some tears when they drove away to leave.
This is at the library in our little city.

Saturday is a special day

2008-06-22T21:54:00.002+02:00

Interesting how religion somehow has become a great way to promote beer. Abby wants some.

We took a bike ride to a park. Neat 20 minute ride through some fields near our house.

Guess who decided not to wear a diaper?

Elli

2008-06-22T20:33:00.003+02:00

We see these horses to and from church on the side of the road. They live right next to an old Palace the King used as a "hunting lodge".

Elli and Abby playing at a park near Mom and Papa's apartment in Nuernberg last week.

Princess Buttercup

2008-06-22T20:24:00.004+02:00

Abby loves dressup. Dresses, shoes, socks, Elli's underwear, ...

Trip to Nuernberg to see Grandma/pa H

2008-06-22T16:20:00.004+02:00

We visited Mom and Papa in Nuernberg for the last time last week. We are planning to see them next week here in Stuttgart before they fly home in a couple of weeks. We went and visited the huge Hitler Stadium. Impressive.

We are standing on the main podium of the stadium. After the war the main impressive columns and insignias were blown up for a symbol for the losers of the war.

I ran around the stadium and took this pictures from the opposite end. Papa says 6 full soccer fields fit on the inside grounds. There are 3 on this end.

We took a walk close by Mom and Papa's apartment.

Funny Hats

2008-06-15T20:00:00.002+02:00

Our friends gave us these funny hats that are required for swimming in France. We now require them for all Family Home Evenings too.

Abby's loves her hat

Window Flower Boxes

2008-06-01T19:40:00.003+02:00

I just couldn't suppress our Bavarian DNA any longer - we broke out the Geranium window boxes yesterday. We are the good examples in our neighborhood since no one else has their window boxes out yet.

Coo-coo clock pose.

Bikers

2008-06-01T19:29:00.002+02:00

We went on a ride through the woods near our house. Sally too (taking pictures).

It rained a few hours before we went so these girls got specks of mud and twigs all over. Good sports really.

Flower girls

2008-05-30T07:53:00.003+02:00

Trip to Idaho and Utah

2008-05-30T07:28:00.005+02:00

Uncle Alex drives a big DHL truck. Elli thought this was very cool. Abby and Alli giving kisses. Kids discovery museum at the Gateway in Salt Lake. Abby driving a jeep. Elli on a horse.

Old Timer's Festival

2008-05-30T06:57:00.004+02:00

May 1 is the day when some old folks like to dust off their old cars, tractors and planes and take them for a spin. Sally loves to squeeze between our two car seats to keep our two little old folks happy.

Someone drove their tractor to this distinguished event.

A little blue tractor just Elli's size. Either they didn't have child labor laws or this was owned by one of the seven dwarfs.

This old tractor was made by Porsche. It can do a potatoe field at 120 miles/hour.