Crossing the border

We went to visit our friends, the Mcleans, in Stuttgart. It was so fun to just hang out with them and talk. They took us to downtown Stuggart and also to Strasbourg, France. Strasbourg was incredible; I loved the narrow cobblestone streets and the amazizng cathedral. We were only a couple miles from the German border, but still it was France. I can now understand how the French got their reputation.

Kristine, Kade, Emily and Ayla. We made it to France!

A Memorial we saw in a cathedral in Strasbourg. It made me reflect on all the sacrafices our troops are making down range

Ayla can't get enough of the view

Cole and Keanna flirting on the streets of France

Ayla and Emily standing by the river


We visited the most intricate cathedral I have ever seen. Every inch of this cathedral was covered in sculptures. This photo is actually an insult to the beauty of this building.

Thanks to the Mcleans we had a blast!!!

Travel to Germany

My friend told me last night (Thursday night) that they had visitors coming from Portland Oregon in January. They paid about 450.00 round trip from Portland to Frankfurt they booked on Travelocity. So... it might be a lot cheaper to visit us then originally thought. We would love to have visitors. Even if you don't know us that well we have a lot of great sights within train or driving distance and free lodging! Have a Great NEW YEAR!

Rothenburg

Lets see if this works. here is a link to Picasa I have a ton of pictures of our trip on this site. We went to a museum that was about Medieval torture. YIKES! So be prepared.

http://picasaweb.google.com/bettibing/20071227Rothenburg

Waiting on Christmas

This year we did a terrible job taking pictures. On Christmas morning the kids slept in, we got dressed ate our traditional eggnog french toast, cleaned up the dishes and waited by the curtain strung across the living room where Santa visited. This tradition of "getting things done before opening presents" is taken from Justin's family tradition. In his family the cows had to be fed, breakfast eaten and cleaned up before opening presents. Maybe that's why he is so patient?

We had a wonderful Christmas day with our little family and were able to talk with a lot of our family! Frehule Veinachten!

This is the way the Ayla points to her nose when we say "Pee-Yew".

Above is our happy girl: life is good!

This is Ayla asking "Where dit go?"

How was my trip?

Tuesday I piled a bunch of household items in our upstairs hallway with the intention to put them in our attic. The day came and went and the items were still piled in the hallway. Early the next morning I rushed to the restroom, but not before some commotion. I ran into our air purifier with my knee tilting it forward and then slamming it onto my toe. Gravity was also thrusting me forward with the air purifier still on my toe successfully scraping off a good portion of my skin. The trip made quite a bang and I made one loud yelp before covering my mouth not to wake up the kids. Justin came to my rescue concerned that an intruder may have been in our home. We wiped away the blood to find nothing of serious concern and we were off to bed. Justin quickly fell asleep as I cringed with my toe throbbing.
I now realize that I am a big wimp. Its now Friday and it still hurts. It is not only uncomfortable to put on shoes and socks and walk, but I am also really annoyed by the entire situation. I just can't imagine the pain of a real injury.

Dancing Keanna

these are pictures of me dancing. I hope you enjoy them. Love Keanna

Family

I have my hands full trying to decipher 2 languages. German and Ayla. Can anyone guess what "nanny nu na na" means? Most children prefer a stuffed animal to comfort them in their sleep. Ayla seems particularly attached to her clothing. She often takes a pants or a pair of shoes to bed with her. She has become a great little sleeper, so whatever comforts her is fine with me.

Keanna has quite the imagination! Every day she is someone new and she has a new favorite. She just started dance class and loves to wear her leotard and tights and dance around. She loves being the "Bright Star" Queen and "Holly" the horse. Keanna is also working on her vocabulary she loves using "new words" in her speech. Some quotes include: "This is the most ridiculos thing I ever heard ( this is used when she disagrees with something I tell her) " "its a miracle" (referring to something quite simple like cutting out a snowflake).

Justin continues to be a great husband and Father. When he comes home its a party at the door greeting him. ALL of us are sooo happy that when he is home. Now that I live in a house and don't have a wonderful neighbor to talk to every day I get a little lonely. When Justin gets home I talk his ear off. He always does a good job at just letting me talk and talk and talk. I sure love him. I am taking guesses at what "nanny nu na na" is so give us a message and lets see how well you know Ayla talk.

Oh Christmas Tree, OH Christams Tree

Oh Christmas Tree, Oh, Christmas Tree!

We had quite the adventure this year getting our Christmas tree, it took 3 days to get it decorated and even after 3 days our tree is unsightly. Our adventures start on
Monday: After work and dinner we were going to head over to the OBI ( a home depot) in Sulzbach to buy a Christmas tree. We quickly realized that the Christmas trees here were all humble trees, not many branches, not many needles. We found the best Christmas tree we could, wrapped it up and put it in our van.

As we were about to begin our car ride home we realized that we had enough gas to go about 24 kilometers. Our journey home was 17 km's so we should make it just fine. However, a problem would arise when I would want to make another trip somewhere with just enough fuel to go 7 km's. Its a little more tricky buying gas here in Germany since its sooo expensive! We have bought coupon books that can only be used at one gas station. Thank goodness for our Navigon, we mapped out all of our options and decided the best choice was to drive to post, 20 km's away, and get gas. It was late, the kids were tired and Ayla screamed the entire way to post. Thanks goodness the gas station was still open and they had chocolate available. We were successful at stuffing Ayla's screaming face with chocolate to enjoy a moment of peace. What an adventure!


Tuesday: We spent Tuesday night at OBI again, buying 220 volt lights. They are very strange and annoying to work with. Its not a traditional strand of lights. Both ends connect at the plug so its more like a circle of lights.

Wed: We are finally able to decorate our tree. It's a sad looking tree, but Keanna says "its the most beautiful tree in the world"


Justin typically takes great pride in a beautifully proportioned and decorated tree. We will have to forgo that tradition until we get back to the states.

Sweet Keanna

Strike a pose!!!

Keanna is really growing up to be a sweet and caring girl. Justin and I often say to each other what a good girl she is. Example: Today we were sitting in Sacrament meeting she moves from scratching Justins back and comes and starts scratching mine. I tell Keanna "thank you, I like having my back scratched." Keanna replies "Daddy likes it too!" she continues scratching my back and then says "I like making my family happy."

We certainly have our moments, but we feel very blessed to have such good girls!

Is it one leg at a time?

For many putting pants on is a simple task, not for me. I continually work on mastering this task and today I successfully put my pants on! After doing so I found it difficult to walk. Below are some pictures of me waddling pigeon toed, but let me point out my PJ pants are on!

I did it!

Waddling over to visit "Daa"

Whoa!

Recovery from the fall

no one was hurt in the making of this blog.