Spring Snow

Okay, so you are all bored with my latest history lesson. The first day of spring it snowed like crazy!! Justin made this great snow run and we all had fun sleighing down it!!!! Our neighbors joined in the fun. I had to put up a picture of Vanessa our fun little German neighbor who we ALL adore.

A walk down Unter Der Linden

Brandenburg Gate (1791) there were once 14 gates similar to this that stood in Berlins old city wall. This gate stood unused in East Berlin, once standing on the "death strip."

We continued on our way onto the street of Unter Den Linden. We were enjoying sites such as the Hotel Adlon and Russian embassy when Keanna told us that she needed to go "po, po!!!!" and she needed to go NOW! We changed or gears from a stroll into a light jog and began our search for a WC. Eventually, we reached Museum Island and found a WC. Everyone was generous enough to let Keanna cut in line and she made it to the toilet, just in time!!!! Phew!

Museum Island was beautiful. We enjoyed the architecture, took a few pictures and enjoyed some hot chocolate. Justin and I vowed we would someday return to Berlin, by ourselves, and visit the many museums.Berliners Dom in Museum Island

Keanna at Museum Island showing us her charm

Memorial to the Murdered Jews of Europe

This is a Holocaust memorial with 2,711 gravestone-pillars finished in 2005. The number of gravestones don't represent anything its just the number of gravestones that fit on the plot.

The memorial was very hard and cold and the walkways seemed to go on forever. I think its important to take time and think about the devastation's that occur during war. It seems very apparent that the German government is working very hard at educating people about their dark past. Recognizing that knowledge of these terrible events, will hopefully prevent this from reoccurring.

Victory Column

This column once stood in front of the Parliament Building. Hitler moved it to the middle of a round about. I would have enjoyed this much better if it were by the Parliament Building because we would have walked up in it. Due to the rain and the location we decided to admire it from the car.

Reichstag Building

Next on our Berlin tour, we move to the German Parlimant Building.

The Reichstag was built in 1890 by the last emperor. Here the German republic was proclaimed in 1918. It really hasn't been used from 1933 to 1999 when it finally became the Parliament house.

Here is Justin and the girls in the glass coupla, it rises 155 feet above the ground. We walked up a ramp way that was 755 feet to the top.

Here is a "not so good" picture from mid way up the dome.

Above is a memorial to those who opposed Hitler. There are 96 slats of rock with a name on each one. Every slat represented a politician who was persecuted or murdered because their political beliefs didn't coincide with Hitlers.
Does anyone recognize this picture. HINT look at the chocolate blog.

Checkpoint Charlie.

I was expecting to see a tangible difference between West and East Berlin. I thought there would be some type of wall still in place separating the two sides of the city (there may be, but we could have missed it). We quickly found out that it was difficult to determine which side of the city you were really on. I kept asking Justin "which side are we on now?"

Here is a remnant of the wall and a plaque that was on the East side. This picture doesn't depict the height of the wall very well.


A good historical site is Check Point Charlie. This is an entrance/exit between the East and the West side. Here is a museum which is full of accounts of brave individuals trying to escape East Berlin. Many died trying to escape.

The guards were told to shoot anyone who tried to escape. The last person to be shot at this border was in the Spring of 1989. The wall fell down later that November. A child fell into the river on the West Berlin side. The child was then considered to be on East Germany. Berliners watched as this child drowned. Nobody wanted to rescue this child in fear that they would be shot. These are a few of the many accounts we read about.

It was so humbling to realize all the freedoms that I have. I was saddened to think about the innocent people who suddenly became prisoners within the wall. One of the interesting things I learned, was that the wall was self contained. Those who lived within the walls, were literally living in a box, with no access to food, or other supplies.

The sign as you enter the West Berlin side

This picture of a Soviet Soldier, is hung at the entrance of the East Berlin side, as a remembrance. On the entrance to the West side, they have a picture of an American Soldier.

Gendarmenmarkt

Berlin is the largest city in Germany. It has so much to offer and its difficult to capture all the sites in just a few blogs. So enjoy more of Berlin.

Here are the twin churches originally built in the 17th century. In the picture below you can see part of the front side of the theatre.
Honestly, I'm not sure why they have 2 almost identical churches close to one another. It was just kind of neat to see.

Europes Largest Chocolate Shop!!!!!!!

Austin this blog is for you.

We Welcome you to Europe's Largest chocolate shop! It's certainly the Nordstroms of Chocolate shops, with a red carpet entrance and security at the door. Lets just say I was in heaven!!! I love European chocolate!

Behind Keanna and myself is a chocolate church and another chocolate building. The original church can be found in Berlin. This church was bombed during WWII and never rebuilt.

Here is Justin and Ayla standing next to the chocolate German Parliament building. Pay special attention to this picture a replica will be in an upcoming posts.

CAN YOU BELIEVE ITS ALL CHOCOLATE!

Small spaces.

On our way!

Everyone has to help!

I loved this elevator. It had little wooden doors with windows. We watched as we moved past the concrete.

We want to travel to soo many places. However, we still have to work within our budget. Therefore, we try to find a nice, inexpensive motel or BB that includes breakfast. This was the smallest room that we have ever had. This building was built in the late 1800's. The white wicker door where Ayla was standing was our tiny sink and shower.

Wow! It's windy!

With all this wind, you would think electricity would be cheap in Germany!

We will eventually get to the sites at Berlin, but I couldn't pass up these darling pictures of my girls!

Where did this snow come from?

Throughout this past winter we have only had a couple skiffs of snow. As we packed our bags for our SPRING trip to Berlin we realized this wouldn't be a spring vacation. How does this much snow fall on March 21st!!

Here are some pictures of our cute Keanna braving the cold!

I was tagged

I was tagged quite a while ago. I have been sick as a dog and I am finally strong enough to look at the computer.

5 Places I've Lived

• Sandy Utah, I grew up here


• Poway California, I lived here after High School during the summer and then moved back after my 1st year of college


• Rexburg Idaho. I went to school here


• Logan Utah, after we got married Justin and I went to school here


• Portland Oregon, we spent 4 years here living in 3 different apartment.
  

What I was Doing 10 Years Ago
I was a Junior in High School. In November I had done the Pirates of Penzance (I looked like a gay pirate), for spring break we went on a choir tour to Kentucky all the way down to Florida! We went to Disney World! I was called into the Seminary Council and VERY nervous about that. I was crushing on about 10 boys!

5 things on my To Do list

• Get everything ready for the RS Birthday dinner for Thursday, YIKES


• get a present for Ayla's 2nd birthday (its in a month, but living overseas you need to be ahead of the game)


• Pack and get ready for our upcoming trip. We leave on Friday


• clean the bathrooms


• fold laundry

5 Things I'll Do When I Strike it Rich

• Pay tithing and some other donations


• pay off our debt school loans and car


• put money aside for a house and a dental practice


• put money into retirement


• buy some furniture
  

5 Jobs I've Had

• Sandwich Artist at Hogi Yogi


• telemarkter


• janitor


• loan specialist at a bank


• apartment manager
  

5 Memories I Have with my Family

• Easter at Zions national park


• getting our dog shawnee and having arguments about her name with my brothers. My sister and I were determined to have her name be shawnee.


• our many camping trips


• unloading the car every Saturday after my Mom went grocery shopping


• Me taunting my brothers to say naughty words while I was tape recording them. To try to get them in trouble
  

5 Bad Qualities/Habits

• I leave the cupboards open in the kitchen
• My nose perpetually drips!! Its a little gross.
• I am addicted to chocolate. I am worse then my sister in law, I do more then just eat a cookie every now and then, its more like ALL THE TIME.
• I don't rinse off my toothbrush that well (according to my sweetie)
• I am terrible at mailing things off. There have been numerous christmases where I prepare letters, put them in envelopes, address them and then they just sit on the counter, then in a cupboard. Six months later I throw them out.
  
  
  5 Things You May Not Know About Me
• I have a small "freckle" above my knee. I swear I got it when I was a little girl at dinner time. My mom had just made meatballs and it fell onto my leg, burning me! I don't know if this is really true, but I sure do think so.
• I love boating. I didn't do a ton of it growing up. However, after living with my aunt and uncle for a summer I fell in love with boating!
• I have about 4 years of experience of being a sandwich artist. Working at Hogi Yogi and Subway. Urghh!
• When I want something I get it. After dating my husband for awhile I finally asked if he would give me a hug.
• When I was 13 or so I worked with my friend Jennifer for one week in Wyoming at a farm/ranch. We scrubbed troughs, dug holes, stained decks and crushed on boys. I don't think I was the best ranch hand.

Husband/Marriage Info

Who eats more? Justin
Who said I love you first? I did in June, he waited until November!!! Let me tell you that's an akward 6 months.

Who sings better? Justin says I do, he just doesn't care to sing much

Who is taller? Justin is at 6' 2'', I'm almost 5' 10''

Whose temper is worse? Mine. Justin is so irritating he doesn't even fight back.

Who does the laundry? Mostly me. Justin will help fold and put away.

Who does the dishes? Overall I do most. However, at night we both pitch in. I am much faster!

Who sleeps on the right side of the bed? From the perspective of being in the bed, I'm on the right.

Who is more stubborn? .
Who proposed? Justin. He was so cute and nervous that I saw it coming.
Whose parents do we see more often? For the time, nobody. Who wants to buy a plane ticket?

Who pays the bills? I do and I love it! I love the feeling of getting a bill paid.

Who wears the pants in the family? I think its an even split. Justin thinks I wear the pants does that mean he wears the skirt? Justins explanation to why I where the pants is "I get more uptight about things, so basically whatever I says goes."

Why do I love my husband? I can tell Justin anything and he still loves me. He wants me to feel good about myself and supports me in those things that make me a better person. He is kind, thoughtful and sensitive to others. He is a great dad and a great husband!

Prince Charming

On Saturday Justin and I had the opportunity to get dressed up and go to the DENTAC Ball. During the previous weeks I naively shopped every store in Amberg looking for a dress. Much to my dismay I didn't find a formal. I made whatever in my closet work.

Above is Justin and I before the big Ball! Below is a family picture. I must admit it was fun having my own Prince Charming for the night. Justin looked very handsome.
We carpooled to a small town out of Wurzburg with our friends the Hensons. Talking with the Hensons was one of the best parts of the night. We had a good meal, learned about some of the military traditions and enjoyed some dancing, it was a good night.


The highlight of the night for me was seeing my cousin Jory! I knew he didn't live far from me and we haven't been able to see him. It's been over 7 years since I have seen him and it was fun catching up.