Trek's Castle Sunrise

Friday, Trek woke up at 3am & drove an hour to the French German border to his favorite biking/hiking trail in Europe.  He comes here often to enjoy the beauty of France & Germany.

He parked his car & hiked up the steep mountainside so he could catch a glimpse of the sunrise (at 5:24 am) one last time before we leave Europe.  It did NOT disappoint.  It was gorgeous.

On top of this mountain is a beautiful castle ruin that overlooks 2 other castle ruins as well as continuous mountain ranges reaching all the way to Austria.  It's just a spectacular spot.  It's gorgeous.  I'm so glad he took the time to do this once more before we leave.

 

Bladen's Spring Band Concert

Last night was Bladen's last band concert in middle school.  Next year he will be in the high school band (maybe even the marching band if he wants to be).

This year he played mallets & LOVES the vibraphone (just like his momma)!  He does a really really good job at it too.  I love his enthusiasm & love of music.  Bladen is happiest when he is playing music & it makes my heart happy.  Bladen is such an amazing, talented, sweet young man.  I love him so much.

 

Lorien & Taya's Spring Orchestra Concert

This week was Lorien & Taya's last orchestra concert of the year.  This marks Lorien's last concert in high school.  I hope she continues to play cello in college.  She is SO good.  And it's always so fun to see Taya improving her viola skills.  Both girls make me so proud.

I almost cried when I walked into the school & saw the senior banner for Lorien.  This is her last week of high school.  I wish I could hold onto them forever, but I'm so proud of her & know it's time for her to move away & do amazing things on her own.  I'm glad we'll still be living close enough for her to come home anytime she wants or needs to.

This was the orchestra's best concert this year.  I was impressed with the difficulty level of each song, as well as how well they played.  It was beautiful.

Thank you Dr. B for a memorable 4 years for Lorien & 1 year for Taya.  We will miss being in orchestra here in Germany & we will 100% miss these orchestra friends.

 

Ribbons + Molasses

Last week I ran to the base to pick up my mail.  One thing I've learned here in Germany is that you never know what your mail will look like by the time it gets to you.  Sometimes it's perfect, & other times it's a scary mess & you wonder how it even made it.

I’ve been waiting on several packages so I was hoping they’d all come.  Some of Canyon’s bday presents finally came, some clothes I ordered ages ago, but I have been waiting for 500 yards of ribbon hoping it would get here by Tuesday.  For Adventure Group in RS this week, we’re learning how to make leis for graduation. I wanted to make Lorien some leis for graduation next week.  I ordered about $60 worth of ribbon & needed it to get here NOW.  Well, the post office guy brought me 6 normal packages, & then one package in a plastic bag covered in goo.  Apparently there was a “molasses incident” at the Frankfurt airport customs office & one of my packages was somehow in the center of the “incident.”  Of course, THAT was my package of $60 worth of ribbon.  (Insert face palm here).  It took me nearly 20 minutes to work my way INTO the box that was completely covered in molasses.  It had hardened & was like glue.  Inside were 5 rolls of ribbon. Luckily, 3 of the rolls were encased in plastic & I was able to save them for the most part.  Only the outside ring or two of the ribbon was black so I cut it off & saved the rest of the roll just fine.  Two of the rolls were covered in molasses. . . a blue roll, & of course my ONE WHITE ROLL which was now a dull grey color.  :-(.  I filled the sink with the hottest water possible & some German laundry soap & got to work scrubbing 200 yards of ribbon by hand for 2 hours.  The water was absolutely DISGUSTING.  I had to re-do that a few times just to try to get the ribbon clean.  AND IT WORKED!!!  I got both of them clean.  Now they are drying & then I have to untangle them all & roll them up so I can make them into leis.  I kind of feel like a super hero right now.  I can’t believe I got them clean!

Always an adventure!

 

Change of Command

While Trek was learning about his new job in UT, he got to go out shooting clay pigeons with his new team.  He loved it & hit more than 50% of his shots.

That afternoon was his Change of Command Ceremony.  This is the ceremony where the commander of a unit or squadron passes the leadership over to a new commander.  The U of U's current commander passed the leadership over to Trek.  It was SUPER cool.  I wish I could have been there, but my parents, Trek's parents, & his brother's family were all there to watch & support him which was VERY special.

Look at Trek's name plate on the wall.

Afterward they put on a nice luncheon for everyone who came to the event.

Trek is SO excited about this new assignment.  He gets to command the exact same ROTC Unit that he started at in 2004.  His career has come full circle.  We are excited for this new adventure.

Sunset view from our new house in UT.