Ben, Marinda, Emily, Caroline and James Host Gramma and Grampa



Before I get too far, recall the blog-challenged entries from the recent past, and bear with me on this one. Gramma and I received an awesome reception from the pictured committee as Ben delivered us to Robinson Barracks, Stuttgart.




Among the many great activities we visited this palace in Stuttgart--the grounds were beautiful and the bratwursts were hot.




We attended the pumpkin festival and found these two babes hanging out amongst the pumpkins.




We got to attend James' blessing. If you haven't already heard, James was a perfect baby at all times except for the blessing--not much was heard over James sounding off during Ben's blessing pronouncement, but he was very calm and collected immediately following as Ben held him up for the congregation to see--big smile and plenty of drool for all in attendance.




We got to go to the Tripsdrill amusement park and the girls showed off their boating and driving prowess, among other skills (like the caterpillar roller coaster).





We got to visit Strasburg, where Marinda served as a missionary--and did some tree climing in one of her favorite parks, and . . .




checked out the moat around the old city and all the flower be-decked homes on the water . . .




and the awesome cathedral that, as Caroline pointed out to us, turned orange as the afternoon wore on.



We got to see lots of cool castles.




and cool people . . .




peeking out of cool turret windows.




We got to travel the Route de vins (the Wine Route) through the Alsace region of France and Marinda took us to the town of Riquewehr (I think that's right) which is reportedly the model for the Disney creators of Belle's hometown in 'Beauty and the Beast'





Emily and Caroline are carousel gurus--can't pass one up; this little plane actually rose up and down while the carousel was going around, using a button on the Caroline's control panel.




Here's Gramma at the top of the Zugspitz--the highest point in Germany just outside the town of Garmisch. We took a cable car to the top and . . .




if you look closely you can see the car emegering from the clouds; Gramma commented she was lucky the clouds obscured how high we were or she'd probably have lost consciousness on the way up.



And we saw lots of fountains with hot chicks hanging out.




And we stopped in a wood carver's shop in Ettal, near Oberammergau, and saw some amazing creations--even bought a few.


We


We got to see the Neuschwanstein castle of Ludwig II, King of Bavaria . . . it was very cool.




The day before we had to leave Bavaria it snowed during the night, so we made a Belle snowperson--can you tell which of the three princesses in the photo is Belle? Hint: she's the one with the M&M necklace and pretzel tiara.



And we got to see plenty of celebrities in their shades . . .




and spend lots of time with Ben, Marinda, Emily, Caroline and James.   Thanks again for your generosity and hospitality!! And for all the training on making marble mazes and dancing to the countdown.




A couple more of those celebrities I mentioned.




Yes, the Bavarian scenery was spectacular and we had a fabulous vacation with Ben, Marinda and their family. And we kept very busy so that when we finally got back to Stuttgart . . .




there was no problem taking a rest. Thanks again to the Stuttgart Shahas for a most excellent visit and vacation.
Love, Grandma and Mister Gwampa



Normandy Sculpture

I heard about this on the radio and thought it was worth sharing.  This was done by a sculptor to commemorate the D-Day invasion and is on one of the beaches in Normandy where it occurred.  I read that visitors were moved to tears.

How General Authorities Eat Their Reese's Peanut Butter Cups

I just showed this to Katie and she mandated that I share it on the blog. Enjoy :)

chill out baby

Oakley is confident she can handle her new baby brother.

Kaiser James

I can hear you laughing now, Pat

I

Natalie started Kindergarten and other ventures!

Mom gave Natalie this outfit for starting school. check the shoes! I had to get the necklace and hair thing to match. Isn't she swank! This is actually what she wore to meet her teacher at a pre-Kindergarten assessment thing. Based on previous posts about the alphabet game involving European nations, I think that Emily will slam-dunk this assessment thing.

                                        

Note: She has to have a bag, Rudolph the Red-nosed Reindeer and a bear, and several books. You must admire her taste in books: Cowardly Clyde and Diary of a Worm (very graciously given by Lucy, who had an extra copy. Thanks!)

This is Natalie the morning of her first day of school. Shea took this before she went to her babysitter's house. Unfortunately I had to work the whole day and didn't get to see her until that night. She loves it, though. She kept telling me, "When Ms. Shmits rings the bell, you've got to put your hands on your head!" We also repeatedly need to play school, a game in which she is the teacher and I am the student.

Here we are at Costco - still working on our family picture skills. 

Jack's going for cool and hip in this one. . . 

and brutally delusional in this one.

Natalie's got skills though. 

I went to get a drink and Natalie had placed this on the refrigerator. Some NRA weenie must have sent it to Shea. Don't worry - he hasn't joined - but he still repeatedly fakes me out that he has. It irritates me every time - and pretty much works.

Natalie's bed on a regular basis. Notice the small rubber chicken (who lays an egg if you squeeze her) lying on the doll bed with a blanket of stickers. Natalie's doted toys continue to be quite random and change daily.

She remains very magnanimous with the comfortable doll bed though. Sweet dreams Woody!

Jack is in Heaven right now - hucking dirt all over himself with a Barbie helmet on. Word to those with new little boys - if you let them - they will be content to throw dirt on themselves or kick it at inanimate objects  for hours at a time. It's a double-edged sword really - it keeps them happy and occupied, but daily baths are royally lame.

So fashionable - umbrella chairs in the rain.

Dad's working and Jack is perusing  the Veggie-Tales Bible - another favorite library find. I can't tell which man is more concerned about his salvation. . . and stuff.

Natalie recently rediscovered this bear. It had been hypernating in a toybox for about a year and a half. Mom gave it to her as a baby and I love how she has been totally obsessed with it like it was her lost treasure. I don't know the bear's name, but all Natalie's play things - no matter how masculine they appear, are girls and most are named Adra. She still loves the bear Mom!

Still Catching up - pictures from Cousin Brian's house over the 4th of July

Look! The tents that Grandma Williams made are still in good use. There was a serious conference going on in there!

This is Wynn(sp?), Brian's son. He had a huge 3-year-old birthday bash while we were there.

The birthday bash supplied they millions of children there with a Sheriff"s hat, badge, and homemade horse on a stick. Randy, Lindsay's husband also gave them all Cowboy lessons involving lassoing, stick horse-racing, and target practice with water pistols. Lindsay's daughter had no mercy and thought is was hilarious to try to repeatedly squirt me point blank to the face.

There he goes - to go sit and throw dirt behind the barn. I did think this was a cool shot of Jack in his Sheriff's hat against the back drop of Grandma Thompson's old fields full of corn.

Yeehaw!

Megan made these chocolate molds of cowboy hats and put them on the tops of a lot of cupcakes. Jack was a major fan and probably ate half his body weight in chocolate that afternoon - of course a lot of it stayed on his face.

Natalie commandeered both their horse's for this shot. She also named both of them. The one horse is Merida (from "Brave) and the other horse is Adra (a name I still think that Natalie made up, but that is her own version of  "Heartbreath" - the name that I made up and considered the most beautiful in the universe.)

After a few cold ones, this cowboy and cowgirl plan to take the world by storm.

Slow down, cowboy!

I got this book on a whim from the library and we finally had to order it on Amazon my kids like it so much. As I showed some of you, the President of the United States consults the military about what to do about the Tomatoes attack and one of the cartoon generals looks strikingly like Grandpa Shaha. As you can tell by the photo, it's pretty intense.

Somehow this became cool - to put the stickers offered from stores on your forehead. Jack asks me to help him do this now. Natalie is also demonstrating a toy car driving on a swatch of carpet. . . I don't get it either.

Majorly Catching up - These pics are from Joe and Bethany's visit In June!

I added in this picture. It's pretty cool that we can get both Grandmas together, right? Who would have thought that would ever have been plausible in our family.

Sorry - had to add this one too. What makes you think that my child might be spoiled? Please note the Lightning Mcqueen slippers, sequence covered tootoo, and Tinderbell back-pack. She works this biking thing!

Dad, and grandchildren on Cloud 9

Natalie and Lucy looking pretty serious - they were looking at a 3D book about Zoo animals.

If these next few pictures are any indication, the next family picture is going to be a doozy. Jack's trying to be an angry pirate or something.

hit and miss

Way to go Hailey!

Nice one Natalie - her father taught her this expression.

Yay Lucy! Now I just need to train my kids!

Musings of a 5 and 3 year old

Here are a few funny quotes as of late:

I've started reading the illustrated Book of Mormon stories to Em in the mornings.   I was 
reviewing the previous lesson and asked her why Lehi and his family left Jerusalem.

Em:   Because Lehi told Laman and Lemuel they needed to repent.   And if the didn't repent 
Jerusalem would.... (searching for the right words).... blow up.

As I'm pushing Em and Caroline in the stroller:

Em:   Mom, let's play the alphabet game with countries.   A is for Albania.   Your turn Caroline

C:   I know what letter makes the "wuh" sound!  Wuh, wuh, W!   

Em:   No, you have to think of a country.

C:   (Affectionately) I like Botswana.   

Em:   A country that starts with A.   Like Argentina.

C:   No Emily.   It has to be a country in Europe.   I know a letter that makes the "Yuh" sound.   Y!  Yuh, yuh, Ukraine!"

Em:   That's a good try Caroline, but Ukraine starts with U.   Yemen starts with Y.

C:   I don't like Yemen.   I like Hungary.   It starts with H.

Em:   We have to go in order!!!

As you can imagine, Em gave up on Caroline pretty soon after that.