Just Mom and Abby

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

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

Strawberries!!!

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!

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

Salzburg - The Sound of Music/Mozart

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

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!