And more......

I know, this is a lot to look at

We finally took the walk up to Philosophenweg. It is beautiful. It is so green and all of the flowers are in full bloom. One of my favorite things to see was all of the wild flowers growing out of the old brick and stone. We are going to miss this amazing city.

The countdown has begun

The boys and I are leaving in 10 days, wow. We have been getting things organized for the past few weeks and I am feeling pretty good about the move. I am a little nervous about the flights. I bought some toys for Micah to help the time pass. I got him a magna doodle, a little puzzle, a Cars coloring book and crayons, a little motorcycle, and the Doc Hudson, Sally, and Sheriff cars. He has been wanting these for a long time. If I sense a melt down coming on, then I can whip out one of the items (he doesn't know I bought all of this). I think that we have a ride to the airport. Andrea (friend from our ward) is hopefully picking us up around 7 am on Tuesday. Patrick has a final that morning and won't be able to take us to the airport. We are sad about the crappy timing. Our first layover is in Dublin and then we are off to Chicago and then we will finally land in Salt Lake City. I am glad that we have two layovers. It will help break up the time. I hope that the flights aren't packed. I am looking forward to seeing some family. The boys are going to be ecstatic. The hardest part about leaving will be going with out Patrick. Three weeks is a long time for us. I will post some new pictures of the boys to get you excited about seeing them.

We Are Back

After many problems with our computer (don't ever buy an ASUS) we ended up having to buy a new computer. Let's hope this one lasts a very long time. We have been with out the internet for a week (I know, a whole week). This will be our shortest post. I am tired and am headed to bed. I hope everyone has a great night.

Decisions

We had a usual week with the our usual ups and downs. The weekends are always nice and long because Patrick has Fridays off from school. He has been studying for a linguistics test. We will be glad to get that over with. Patrick got accepted to UT Southwestern. It is funny how things work out. A year ago that was our #1 school. We loved the idea of having family right in the area and really loved the cheap tuition. It is also ranked in the top 20. The benefits of THE Ohio State University definitely out weigh what Texas has to offer. Here are things about OSU that have us excited: We will not be the minority with our kids, there are a lot of married students with children that attend OSU (there are about 20 students on average a year from Utah). It is a very family friendly city, lots of good neighborhoods and school systems (UT is located in the red light district of Dallas.) The financial aid department is amazing and are great about getting you all the money you need. UT is quite the opposite. Any married student's spouse is expected to provide financial support for their family. They award the same amount of financial aid to all students even if you have kids. The exception with kids is they award you extra money for child care so that you can go and work. I am not willing to put our kids in day care while Patrick attends medical school, even if the day care is paid for, no thanks. Housing in the Columbus area is cheap and there is a lot more to offer. OSU also offers two different curricula, either the independent study program or the integrated pathway (that is more traditonal). Both are organ and system based. UT doesn't offer the independent route and the curriculam is different. The grading system at OSU appeals to us a lot more. They have a pass/fail/honors system. UT has a letter grade system the first two years and no one seems to like it. The two things that I remember hearing about both of the interviews from Patrick were how stressed out the UT students seemed and how much they complained about the curriculum and grading systems. He said that the students at OSU were easy going, open, and seemed more like a family unit. Also, the faculty didn't seem as accesable where as OSU both the students and faculty raved about the accesability of the faculty. The cool thing is both schools basically the same averages on the USMLE's. Both schools also have a high match rate. Those were some of the deciding factors for us. We eventually might end up in Dallas for residency. UT has an outstanding and very competitive surgery residency. Patrick is pretty interested in surgery (pediatric) and who knows, we will see what he ends up doing in four years. These last four years have certainly flown by.

Deutschland:2 Poland:0

What a great game. We love our Germans. They play so smooth and pretty. The Polish team was good, but, they just don't compare to the Germans. The game just ended and everyone is out honking their horns, it is great. Fußball in Europe, there is nothing better. Daniel and Joelle (siblings from our ward) stopped by to watch the second half of the game. It was a nice surprise. Our computer has miraculously been working since last night, just in time for us to watch Turkey and Portugal play. We were able to Austria and Croatia play today before Germany and Poland. Germany plays Croatia on Thursday. They seem to be a pretty good team. They lost a lot of their steam the second half playing Austria, which was also a good game. With any luck our computer will hold up until the European Cup is over.

H&M

I just wrote how bad that I was going to miss my favorite store and decided to check out their website and see if by chance they had one in Ohio. To my surprise they not only have one in Ohio, but it is located in Dublin. The Dublin H&M is an 8 minute drive from our house (thank you, Map Quest)! I am stoked to have an H&M so close to us. The one here is only an 8 minute walk from our apartment. I guess that is all for now.

Warm Weather and New Underwear

Today was a nice day. Asher took a good morning nap and then both boys took great afternoon naps. I appreciate days like today. They might be sleeping so well because it is so warm here. It is also very humid. We were lucky enough to inherit 2 floor fans that keep the heat and humidity bearable. Both of the boys are growing up so fast. Asher is already 6 months old! He and Micah have become quite the friends. Micah gets Asher laughing so hard. Micah eats up the attention that Asher gives him. All that Micah has to do is walk in the room and Asher starts to laugh. Micah's english is improving daily as we speak more english with him. His german accent is so cute. Micah was in the need for some new underwear, so we headed to H&M (I love this store and am going to miss it so much). He picked out Cars themed underwear and was extremely excited. He got 6 new pair. He has worn all 6 of them since we came home. He changes them every hour or so. I wish that I got as half as excited as he does to buy myself new underwear.

Don't get us wrong, we are definitely going to miss Germany.

So, just so you all realize that we aren't anti-German(y), we've prepared an equally relevant list of things we are going to miss when we have to leave to settle in Ohio: #1. Bakeries. Although we are looking forward to american donuts of many varieties, you can't beat the smell of a bakery every morning when you leave the house. They're on every street. Within a 5 minute walk we can get to 5 or 6 different bakeries. Add two or three minutes to your walk from our house, and you have over a dozen options. Within each bakery, there are more options than one would expect from Germany after being in a grocery store. Micah's favorite has always been the ubiquitous Butterbrezel (buttered pretzel). Bre's favorite is the Zimt-Campingbrötchen (a sweet cinnamon roll thing) from Göbes (our favorite bakery - and it's right on our street!), and Patrick's favorite is the ever-popular Schokobrötchen (chocolate filled croissant-type roll). Whenever we go to Göbes, they give Micah a free Kinderbrötchen and he loves it. #2. Good public transportation. As much as we're looking forward to having a car in Ohio, we really didn't need one here. We can get anywhere we need to go and don't have to worry about parking, gas, insurance, or staying awake during the ride. Yes, trains can be dirty, and we have to walk to the stops, but it's a convenience that the US doesn't generally have. That's why we'll have to have a car when we get home. #3. The Neckar. The Neckar is the river running through the middle of Heidelberg. It's beautiful and fun to take walks by and boat on (we've only tried it with a paddle-boat). The view of the city and the castle is very nice from the shore of the river. And that takes us to... #4. Neckarwiese (meadow on the shore). The Neckarwiese is a town favorite hang-out spot on sunny days to barbeque, throw a frisbee, play soccer and volleyball, and there's a large playground that Mikah loves. Part of the playground is pretty standard (slides, swings, etc.), and part of it is very unique, like the water play area we mentioned in a previous post, and some very fun teeter-totter-like toys that are even fun for adults. They have a big basket swing and a sand-box area. Whenever we ask Mikah if he wants to go to the park, he says he wants to go to this one. There's also a lot of ducks, geese, and swans that hang out in the water waiting to be fed. Mikah is cautious when it comes to birds, but he loves seeing them and feeding them. And again, the view from the park can't be beat. #5. Heidelberger Schloß. Heidelberg's castle is one of the city's (and country's) trademark sights and definitely one of our favorites. You can see the whole city from its grounds and the castle and the grounds themselves are a pulchritudinous step back in time. #6. Alte Brücke. The old bridge and bridge gate area is one of the coolest and oldest parts of town. There's a lot of refurbishing work being done for tourist season, but the area, the gate, and the bridge are beautiful and a walk across it offers a nice view of the town and the castle. There are a lot of older houses in the area, crammed into narrow streets that add to the neat feel of the Altstadt. Also in the area is... #7. Heiliggeistkirche (Church of the Holy Spirit). Built in the 1400s, it's Heidelberg's oldest church still standing and its late gothic architecture with the baroque rooftop and spire make it one of the more interesting-looking churches around as well. The organ player for the congregation practices often with the doors open, so you can have a seat and listen to the music. #8. Bouldering at Riesenstein. The Riesenstein is a 10 minute walk for Patrick from our door. It wouldn't be his first pick of places to climb, but it's decent and fun and closer than LCC was with a car! #9. Haribo. OK, so they have Haribo in the States as well, but do we really need to say that it just isn't the same? This is another area where Germans display their ability to offer true variety. Sure it's all gummi-candy, but when there are 50 different kinds to choose from in the smallest of grocery stores, who cares? #10. Döner. If you've tried one, you probably just stopped reading for at least a minute and a half to reminisce. Telling people they're like a Gyro, but turkish and better just doesn't do the thing justice. It's worth a trip to Germany to try a few of these. #11. Heidelberg's Fußgängerzone. Heidelberg reportedly has the longest pedestrian zone in Europe. I don't know how long it is, but it takes a solid 20 minutes or more to walk from one end to the other. Along the way you're favored with views of the castle, the Haus zum Ritter, the Church of the Holy Spirit, numerous Jesuit statues, the town hall, and access to more clothing and shoe stores than you can shake a stick at, more restaurants than we could have ever hoped to try out in a year, two Starbucks (unfortunately), the best Döner in Heidelberg, a dozen or so bakeries, a number of street performers, our very own missionaries (often anyway), a very good chocolate shop, and almost anything else you want to suit your fancy. Mikah loves running around here. #12. Knocking for Professors at the end of every lecture. Patrick is going to miss kocking on the top of the table or desk at the end of every class. It's done in every class, every time. It's kind of funny at first, but a tradition he'll miss. #13. The chalkboard wipe-down. Typically (mostly in Physics classes since the rest of the university uses white boards), a teacher will give the class a 5 to 10 minute break halfway through a 1.5 hour lecture so that he/she can go to the sink (there's one in every lecture hall) and get a wet sponge to wipe the boards clean, after which they squeegee the board dry. No dust, no dirty suit coats for the professors, and it's fun to watch... hypnotic even. Everyone wins. #14. Soccer. Germany's league is one of the best in Europe with one of the best national teams in the world. The excitement for the European Cup is growing and it's fun. Also, you can always find some people to play soccer.

Home sweet (future) home

Since we have been in Germany we have been missing a lot of things from the US and are looking forward to getting some of those things back when we move to Ohio. We came up with a list and want to elaborate a little on each one. We will begin our list in no particular order:

#1 Customer service. Simply put, it just doesn't exist here, seriously. For the Germans, it falls under superficiality (see #13). #2 American hospitals and health care. A good health care system doesn't equal good health care. I have had a baby here and have had my wisdom teeth taken out. Both experiences were a joke. There is no art to their medicine. Bedside manners are a luxury. Hospitals are disorganized at best and all appear to be from immediately post war 1950. They don't use computers, seriously. Everything is kept on paper (and we are the tree-killing paper-wasters?) Haven't slept for 72 hours and are 36 weeks pregnant and you have a two year old to raise? Drink some organic tea. Can't open your mouth to eat or talk? Get some fresh air and take a nap. Can't walk because you just popped a baby out of your vag? Take an Aspirin with tea. Germanys inpatient care is reportedly good (surgery and cancer treatment), but, in our experience, outpatient and maternity care leaves much to be desired. #3 Having our own washing machine and dryer in our home. First of all there is one washing machine and one dryer for the 25 families that live in our building. It costs $2.67 (at the current exchange rate) to wash a load laundry, and $1.57 to dry a load of laundry. The washer and dryer are located four flights of stairs below us. #4 Owning a car again. As nice as good public transportation is, it is always more convenient to do things on your own time schedule, especially with kids. #5 One stop shopping. Where do we even begin. Okay, here is a typical day spent shopping, we start off at Penny Markt to get little things such as jam and random canned food items, then we are off to Aldi (which is 8 stops away on the street trolley) to purchase the rest of the groceries except milk, for which we head to Rewe to purchase (the only place you can find skim milk in bulk at a good price). To buy formula, toothpaste, toilet paper, diapers, etc. we can either go to DM or Müller. To get ANY kind of medicine we have to go to the pharmacy. This includes cough drops, Ibuprofen, you get the idea. If we need any random clothes, say socks, we can only find them at a clothing store. Need a notebook or a pen? Go to a stationary store. Need a can opener or a toaster? Head to a department store (which in their defense do have pens and notebooks as well). #6 Having friends and family in the same time zone, or just one or two away. This doesn't need any explanation. We are sick of waiting until 1 am to get to talk to anyone. #7 Donuts. Oh how we miss american donuts, maple bars, chocolate cake, glazed, the list goes on and on. The reason I put american donuts is because they have recently become a novelty in a few bakeries here and they are horrible. Looks are pretty deceiving; they appear to be a perfectly good, chocolate-covered donut an illusion that is quickly dispelled if you buy one. They taste like crap compared to any respectable american donut. Again, in their defense there are Dunkin' Donuts in Berlin, for only $4 or $5 a pop. #8 Air conditioning. German arguments against air conditioning fail to take into account that heat exhaustion (a real illness common even in Europe)can kill you. #9 American cereal. Cereal is not a big part of their breakfast. Their idea of variety are versions of Frosted Flakes, Corn Flakes, Honey Smacks, Cinnamon Toast Crunch, and Cocoa Puffs. That is all my friend. No matter where you go, no matter which grocery store you decide on. #10 American ice cream. Nothing compares. I admit we love italian ice cream, but, it is not real ice cream. We're pretty sure that there isn't any cream in it. At grocery stores you can find the Germans' version of either chocolate, vanilla, strawberry, or cherry. Their version of ice cream is awful. It is light and airy. #11 Screens on windows. For some really stupid reason there aren't any screens on windows anywhere in Germany. That certainly doesn't mean that there aren't bugs, rodents or any other pests here. It justs means your cracked or opened window is an ivitation for them to come hang out with you. #12 Genetically engineered food. If you shop at Wild Oats, or otherwise prefer so-called "natural" or "organic" food, then stop reading now, go munch on some "organic" soy, and protect your sensitive stomachs from this tangent. First of all, the Egyptians performed genetic crosses to obtain a more viable, durable, and favorable wheat crop. Virtually every culture in the world has done the same in order to sustain their own population within their respective region and climate. We did the same with the Native Americans' corn to get the crop seen in the midwest now. The only difference between what the members of any given culture did back then and what is now being done is that we do it faster. Instead of breeding and cross-breeding thousands of generations of the same plant, we just insert and delete the necessary genes and get a plant that is bigger, has more nutrients (i.e. golden rice), and is more resistant to pests and other contaminations. Technology can outrun evolution in many cases, and this is one of them. If you have additional arguments against "gene food," then leave a comment and I'll be happy to refute it and point out the flaws in any argument against it. We support local business and agriculture, but not in an arbitrary market where supply and demand are even more artificial than the food is "natural." Genetically altered food is the only hope of introducing some crops to starving areas of the world. Germany has their qualms with it, with a valid point of concern here and there, but no real reason not to have cheaper, healthier, more sustainable crops. #13 Not putting up the "know it all" mind set. Americans are stupid, lazy, anti-environmentalists, fat, politically ignorant, naive, negligent of our own health and the health of our children, obviously without culture, superficial, have too many children, we all drive SUVs, take our many children to McDonalds for breakfast and lunch, shoot a deer for dinner with one of our many guns that we carry in our SUV, and are (as monolinguists) incapable of progress because we don't learn dead languages. And last but not least #14, We are sick and tired of animals having more rights than our children. Dogs are honestly more welcome in a restaurant or train than a child. As much as we love animals and Germany, there is something deeply disturbing about a culture which not only lays out animal rights in its constitution (yes, they really do), but even has members who, when offered several hundred Euros per month for over 20 years to have kids, choose instead to buy a dog to take to the restaurant, but become vocal in their objection to a noisy child in the same setting.

What we have been up to lately

As you can see, the sun has been shining and so we have been going to the park along the Neckar River. Micah loves it. There is a really cool and big water area for kids. It has been nice having such pretty weather. The rain season is officially over!

More pictures of our day...

Thanks to all of the family who remembered Micah's birthday. He loved all of the cards, emails, calls, presents, and posts! We miss you guys.

Check out that chunk of meat. Don't you just want to pinch it and slap it?

A year older!!!

Micah is officially 3 years old! I can't believe it. I remember this time three years ago. He was so hairy and little. He has grown up so fast. We are so lucky to have such a cool little boy. Micah had a great birthday. We started it off right by opening up a couple of gifts. He got the Monsters Inc dvd and some little cars. He has yet to experience his coolest gifts, he was only able to see pictures of them. One being a super cool low rider bike. His very first big boy bike! It is waiting for him at the farm (thanks Grandpa and Grandma!). He is so excited to ride it. He also has a cool Cars quilt waiting for him there. He was so happy to see the pictures and a little confused. He probably thought that we were just teasing him. He will be relieved to see them and know that we weren't just lying. We continued the big day at McDonalds. We go there every year to get breakfast on his birthday. Later that day we rented a kick boat. It was really cool. The weather was great. It was also quite the work out. We followed it up with dinner at McDonalds (yes, we really do love our cheeseburgers). We feel right at home there. After our final stop at McDonalds, we headed home and had birthday cake. It was a fun day hanging out together (thank you Oma Gayle for the kind donation). All three of the boys are asleep in bed and I am looking forward to getting there myself. Enjoy the pictures of Micah's big celebration.

Micah's 3rd birthday party!!!

Our little man is almost 3!!! We can hardly believe it. He had a great birthday party. He celebrated with his Uncle Clint, and three friends; Ole, Celeste, and Tylan. They had fun beating the cool race car piñata, courtesy of Uncle Clint. They also decorated cupcakes and played in the backyard. He loved all of his gifts. His Uncle Clint cool Cars rug, he loves it. We moved Asher's crib so that there was room for it in their room. He will officially turn 3 on May 5th! These past three years have flown by.

Congratulations Kara and Jayme!

My little sister is having a baby! That's no news for anyone in my family, but what is news is that she's having a baby girl! They found out this week and we're really excited for them. She's due in September (the 21st last she said). With their girl there will be 4 granddaughters and 2 grandsons for my mom. Kara said they've picked a name, but they're not telling anyone until she's born. Here's a picture of my newest niece:

Our home to be

Here it is.

Some new pictures for your viewing pleasure

Patrick is teaching his class and the boys are down for their afternoon nap. I had to let you know that the sun is shining today. It is so nice nad warm. Patrick was able to go climbing this morning. The boys and I actually played out in the back. There is a small play area with a sandbox. It is great because no one is home during the day.

We got some pictures of our townhouse a couple of days ago. We only get to live here for a few months ,that is sad.

Most of you have been asking what the moving plans are. Here is what we have planned so far; the boys and I fly into SLC July 8th. We will be with out Patrick for about 3 weeks. Micah and Asher are going to be stuck with the boring parent. Poor fellers. I will get our various belongings that are scattered around at Kami's house, Clint and Nicole's house, and my Aunt Karen's house. Then I will pack it all up and get going on the organization. Then the boys and I are off to USA. We will get to play and hang out with the family (and gather our belongings up that we sent off with my Mom, Emmy, and Anna). Then we are off to Joshua. We will get to spend some time on the farm before we head off to Columbus. Patrick will be leaving around the same time from Utah and we will meet at our new home. The drive from Joshua isn't that bad, about 17 hours. It is going to be heinous for Patrick; 25 hours, all of which will be just him and the moving van. He gets to go through the lovely states of Wyoming, Nebraska, and Iowa (and others, these are just the high light states!). Talk about scenic. Good luck Pate. It is just prepping you for the long days and nights in medical school.

Introducing solids into Asher's diet

Asher turned 4 months old on March 24th and ate rice cereal for the first time. It is always funny seeing your baby's reaction to new tastes. Asher did great. I forgot how slow they are at learning the whole chewing and swallowing thing. Now he is almost 5 months old and we have introduced him to his new love, carrots. It so cute how anxious he is to devour the next bite. In the States they don't have you start veggies and fruits until 6 months of age. He has also tried applesauce, not his favorite, infact, he dislikes applesauce very much. So for now we will stick to carrots.

Another dark day in Germany

It has been rather dark. It is a bit depressing. Micah doesn't even want to go outside. I am ready for summer time. We spent the weekend inside except for our trip to Penny Markt and Rewe to grocery shop. What madness. Everything in Germany (maybe through out all Europe) is mini; mini cartons of milk, mini shopping carts, mini cars, mini bags of rice, you get the point. That is why the majority of people go shopping everyday. I can not do that with my two kids. So, when we go to the store we buy enough for the whole week, the looks we get, you would think that we were naked and headless doing jumping-jacks. We load up the car (our amazing stroller) which already has two kids in it, first the basket and then we start hanging bags on it and strapping them in various places. We can fit it all in our stroller. Our stroller can take anything. We love it. The kids are in bed and Patrick doesn't have any homework.

When will it end?

It is 12:38. Micah and Asher have been asleep since right around 7:00. I have checked on them 4 times already. What is my problem? Why do I absolutely have to check their breathing this often during the night. I do this as a part of whatever else I might be doing. If I am watching a movie, I will pause it and make sure that I hear and see breathing. If I am already in bed and I need to pee, or get some water, I do it then as well. I do it if I wake up during the wee hours of the morning, it is incessant, and well, crazy. I have these horrible thoughts of what has gone wrong or what could go wrong and go racing in their room to save them, or find them dead. Luckily this has never been the case. Such madness has plagued me since Micah made his arrival way back in May of 2005. Now, I really thought that this was something that I would grow out of, or just not do so often especially when he started getting older. That has not been the case and it is actually worsened with Asher's arrival. Perhaps you can relate. When you first bring home your little baby you are completely paranoid and have the most random and crazy thoughts. Every time you don't hear them, you know they are dead. You check on them constantly, and wake up them up on accident trying to see/feel if their chest is rising (or maybe that is just me and I really have a problem). However, I haven't out grown it and it has become just a part of my nightly routine. The bigger question here is, will I continue to do this even when they are 15, 16, 17? I wish you all a good night. I am going to finish this and go to bed (brush my teeth, pee, and check on the boys).