Once There Was A Snowman . . .

Trek took the day off work for his birthday & since it snowed so much the night before, he took the girls out to build a snowman. They had SO MUCH FUN! My kids are snow bunnies for sure. They made an adorable snowman!

Dinner & The Nerdiest Cake Ever!

For birthday dinner, we got pizza from Trek's favorite pizza place out here: Christophs. He loves their Western Pizza with BBQ sauce, bacon, & onions. I'm not a huge pizza fan, but it's actually edible to me, so that's saying something. My girls are just like their dad: they LOVE pizza! So everyone was happy!

For Trek's cake, I made him an "Apple Logo" cake. It's probably the worst looking cake I've ever made, but it was the weirdest shape. He loved it though. We both laughed at how nerdy we are. The cake was yummy though. I put blackberry jam in the middle of the layers & that totally made it good. We all love eating cake & ice cream together as a family! Happy Birthday Sweetie! I love you!!!!!!

Opening Presents

Trek actually opened up his presents this year in 3 phases. Phase 1 was Sunday night (the night before his actual birthday) so that my parents & Justin & Cari could watch him open his gift via the computer from the states. Justin & Cari got him a subscription to his favorite magazine: Wired & my mom & dad got him an amazon gift card to buy whatever tickles his fancy.

Then after his birthday breakfast, he opened gifts from the kids, me, grandma Cherry, Tylee, & Talon & Carolyn. He got lots of $$ from Grandma & his siblings to use on amazon to buy something fun. I got him a computer app that organizes things (yes we're both nerds), & the kids got him Mario Galaxy 2 for the Wii.

While the kids were at school, he stopped by the PO & picked up a package from Nancy with a few more gifts to open. He opened those when the kids got home from school. He got lots of beautiful shirts, treats, & a battery checker. So it was a present opening day ALL DAY!! It doesn't get much funner than that!

Trek's Birthday Breakfast!

In Potter tradition, I got up nice & early to make Trek his birthday breakfast. Trek LOVES biscuits & gravy . . . and bacon of course. I made up all the plates of food & added a hostess golden cupcake to each plate. Then I put a candle in Trek's little cake. I woke the girls up & we snuck into daddy's room & woke him up by singing Happy Birthday (with cha cha cha's). Then we all came downstairs to enjoy our yummy breakfast.

Trek is now 31 years old. At every birthday breakfast we take a picture of everyone holding up how many fingers the birthday boy/girl is turning. Even Taya got to hold up 10 fingers this year. Man Trekkie, you're getting old!! (Love you!)

Let Go Of The Cookie!

We visited Daddy at work on Friday & he gave Taya a cookie. We wanted her to come back down the stairs, but she insisted on eating the cookie as she went down. And of course she wanted daddy to hold her hand the entire way too. She is so funny!

2 TEETH

Bladen had no teeth for SO long & then all of a sudden he sprouted 2 just like that. They are so stinkin' cute!! (both are on the bottom) Now he can chew up just about anything & is loving to eat anything he can get his hands on. He likes pizza, grapes, cereal, bread, carrots, you name it & he'll chow down. What a cutie pie!!

It's hard to see his teeth in these pictures, but they're there. What a sweetheart!

Pancake Sunday

Every Sunday, I make pancakes for dinner. The kids love it & look forward to it all week. Sometimes I make banana pancakes, sometimes chocolate chip. Last night I made plain old pancakes with peanut butter & jam on top. Bladen was whining for some while we were eating, so I thought. . . why not? I gave him a pancake & he went to town on it. He was shoving it in his mouth as fast as he could. That kid likes food more than even Taya (who LOVES food). What a crack up!

Bladen & His New Hat

Bladen got this cute hat for Christmas this year. He's such a ham!! He loves to pose for the camera.

Lorien & Her Fight With The Floor

Lorien is SO funny. No matter how many times we warn her about jumping on the couch (& forbid her to do it), she still manages to sneak in a few jumps here & there. Well, she "snuck" in a mighty jump, lost her balance, & ended up falling to the floor from the top of the couch . . . FACE FIRST! Yup. That's Lorien. I swear that kid has had more black eyes, bruises, & scratches than my other 3 kids put together. Poor thing. Look at that face. How can you NOT feel sorry for her?

Bladen Getting Cuter & Cuter

Bladen just gets cuter & cuter as he gets older. Now his hair is long enough to spike up really cute & he is "playing" more with his sisters, which they LOVE! Yesterday Lorien was playing with him at lunch & every time his little toy fell over, he would crack up & laugh until he couldn't breath. It was absolutely adorable.

He loves the camera & smiles for pictures. It makes photos of him a lot of fun to take. I love my little mini-man. . . the Trek nano. What a cutie pie!

Cochem Castle with Opa

For Opa's last day in Europe, we decided to take him to our very favorite castle out here: Cochem. We've been there a dozen times, but we still love to go. It's such a beautiful castle!

So, we got up early & thanks to an autobahn exit closure, it took us an hour & 20 minutes to get there (it's normally 45 minutes). I love how they just shut down entire exits & expect you to find your way to where you're going on your own. But we made it right around 11 in the morning. It was 1 degree outside, so it was cold. . . but it was survivable. We put the kiddos in the stroller & hiked up the steep incline up to the castle perched on the hillside. It was nice because the hike actually made us nice & warm in the freezing weather.

Once we got up to the castle, we got tickets for the tour & waited around the courtyard area for the tour to start. We took lots of pictures of the outside walls. The girls love looking over the edge of the castle. They love coming here too.

Because the castle is so high up, you get a GORGEOUS view of Cochem & the Mosel River. It is breathtaking up there.

The tour was great. We had the best tour guide. She knew we were Americans, so even though the tour was in German, she'd take us aside & explain the key points in English as well. She was SO sweet to the kids too. She always brought them up front next to her so they could see the secret passage & the knight's armor up close & personal. At the end of the tour she gave them each a chocolate coin out of a big treasure chest. We've done the tour several times, but it's still fun to go through it. Dad loved the history. This castle was started in 1000 AD & was destroyed by the French in the 1600's. Some lucky guy bought the property for a mere 500 Euro & then rebuilt the castle to it's original glory. It's spectacular. It's fully furnished with paintings, furniture, & tapestries dating from the 1500's up. I love it!!!

After the castle tour, we hiked back down into the town of Cochem where we found the most adorable little restaurant. We are wary about restaurants here because some really don't like kids. But this one was great. As soon as we walked in, they sat us & brought us a bucket of legos, a bucket of crayons, & a bunch of coloring paper. The girls were in HEAVEN!! The food was great too. The girls all got waffles with powdered sugar & whipped cream. Dad & I had gulaschsuppe & Trek had a cheese platter with bread & butter. We all shared everything because it was all so good. It was really inexpensive too. We'll definitely go back there again if we're in Cochem.

After lunch, Dad wanted another Brat before he left Germany forever. I laughed. Dad just loved all the different foods here. I was glad there was a little brat stand for him.

Since the Christmas market was still going on, the girls got to ride a ride before we left as well. They always love that.

I'm glad we could take Dad one more fun place before he left for California. We love you Dad! Thanks for coming out to visit us!

New Year's 2010

Sylvester is an awesome holiday in Germany. I'm glad we got to celebrate it one last time. Sylvester is New Year's Eve Night & it's like one giant war outside! When the clock strikes midnight, the Germans go nuts!! Nothing is off limits. You can shoot off the biggest & best fireworks you've ever seen in the middle of the streets. The entire sky is on fire & it sounds like a bunch of guns going off. It's amazing! It lasts well over an hour too. I'm surprised more people don't get hurt or burned, but everything always ends up okay.

Trek got a whole bunch of rockets to launch this year. The girls had a blast watching him light them.

The next day, the streets are filled with sticks, fuses, & plastic pieces from the lit off fireworks. It's insane! But SO MUCH FUN!!

Happy New Year!!! 2010 is going to be the best EVER!