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Cody & Heidi.

Feldberg, Germany

 31 DEC 2013 - We wanted to end the year with a bang! So Cody marched the kids up an incredibly long, uphill, snow covered road. Due to massive amounts of whining, complaining and crying, we stopped short of the summit and simply slid down the hill. It wasn't exactly what we had in mind, but coming down the hill sure was fun! Here we are at our peak of the mountain at Feldberg in the Black Forest of Germany.

 Feldberg, Germany

 Once we got to the bottom of the hill, Eli started constructing a snow cave.

Eli: (Feeling proud and accomplished) I dug so deep, I constructed a snow tunnel instead of just a snow cave. What do you think Eve?
Eve: I thought when I came through on this end of the tunnel I would see China.

Dad: Eve, I love your snow bug! So cute!
Eve: Dad, that's not a snow bug, it's a Snow Eve. I think it looks just like me!
Dad: Really, since when did you grow antennas?
Eve: I just thought that was a nice touch on my Snow Eve. ;)

Berliners

Avery: Eve, there must be at least five good reasons why Berliners are healthy for you. 

Eve: You're right! Number one, they're tasty (nom, nom, nom)!

Avery: Number two, lots of fruity filling!
Eve: I love looking at the fruity filling.

 Eve: Number three, powdered sugar on top!
Avery: Nailed it!

Avery: Number four, they're round.
Eve: That's right, unless you squeeze them too hard like I just did. Oops!

Eve: Number five, there's bread in these things!
Avery: I'm sure our wisdom will help millions of people feel better about eating Berliners.
Eve: Ha, ha, ha! It tastes... er, I mean, feels so good to be helpful.

Lucerne, Switzerland

 28 DEC 2013 - On our way home from Switzerland, we decided to spend an unexpectedly warm and sunny day in Lucerne. The clear sky made for an impressive view of Lake Lucerne and the Alps.

 Lucerne, Switzerland

The lake is just crystal clear. The kids enjoyed watching the birds and fish. Eli even took a few moments to pose for a picture. Impressive.

 The boardwalk around the lake is nice even in December. The kids really enjoyed the stairs down to the lake, the parents... not so much. We were just happy no one fell in.

A short walk from the shore is a famous carving designed by Bertel Thorvaldsen called "The Lion." It was completed in 1820 in commemoration of a number of Swiss guards who were killed during the French Revolution protecting the French aristocracy. 

The Chapel Bridge, seen here, is perhaps one of the most famous landmarks in Lucerne. It was initially erected in the 14th century and has been re-built many times over. We enjoyed walking over it although there are a lot of creepy paintings full of talking skeletons and beheaded people. The middle ages were tough.

Eve: Guess what happened to Kjersti and Eli?
Dad: What?
Eve: I locked them in the tower. Hee, hee. Funny huh!?!
Dad: You're in big trouble Eve!
Eve: Just kidding! Tricked ya... again!
Dad: I'm glad I can be the butt of all your jokes.
Eve: Dad, did you just call yourself a butt?
Dad: (sigh).

Engelberg, Switzerland

27 DEC 2013 - The purpose of our trip to this area was to go sledding. Now we're not talking the type of sledding we did last year where Eli's sled got away from him and went off a mountain cliff. No, we're talking about something much safer. Engelberg, Switzerland fit the bill quite nicely. The view just from the parking lot alone was awesome!

Engelberg, Switzerland

We found our way to the gondola and half way up the mountain, we found our kid-friendly sledding hill. You know it was good if both Eve and Heidi are all smiles!

One of the great things about this sledding hill was that it included a "magic carpet." This is basically a man-sized conveyor belt that takes sledders from the bottom of the hill, back to the top.

Eve: Dad, this isn't a man-sized conveyor belt... it's an Eve-sized conveyor belt. See!

Of course, we had a great time with the Anderson's. Jake joined Eli and I on a couple of runs down the hill. The scenery there was spectacular!

I think of all of our kids, Eli enjoyed going up and down and up and down and up and down the hill the most.

Eve was perfectly happy rolling, digging, playing, and laying in the snow. She did so much in the snow that day, her poor face felt the effects for days afterwards.

Heiligkreuz, Switzerland

26 JAN 2013 - The day after Christmas, we went on a vacation with the Andersons to Switzerland. We intended to go see the Lauterbrunnen valley, but fog and rain at the lower elevations made it such that there wasn't much to see. We decided to drive to the house we had rented instead, but the deep snow wouldn't allow our mini-van to make it up the steep hill. Fortunately, the Andersons had a 4x4 that made it up to the house just fine. They were good enough to ferry us and our stuff up to the house from the valley. Without them, we wouldn't have made it! We later learned that it snowed over two feet that day at the home we had rented. In lieu of that, we felt pretty fortunate to have made it up there at all! The next day, after the roads were cleared, we managed to drive the mini-van up to the house with no problems.

Heiligkreuz, Switzerland

The view we had out of the window the day after the big snowfall was picture perfect. Two feet of snow really added a lot to the ambiance of this charming little Swiss town.

The inside of the house was a bit interesting. The lady who rented it to us I think was Buddhist and she liked to hold Buddhist retreats at her large home here. So it was a bit of an odd mix inside; Swiss construction meets major Asian religion. The house was great and Eve like the sun painting on the wall so much she was convinced she needed one just like it in her own room.

Christmas Morning

25 DEC 2013 - Eve: Best day ever!!!

The kids had a wonderful time opening presents and enjoying their surprises!

Eve: I love Christmas. My fuzzy rocking chair is so wonderful. It completes my kitchen.

Christmas Eve

24 DEC 2013 - With no snow on the ground and great sunny weather outside, we ended up spending our day enjoying some of our favorite local parks. The park near Patch Barracks has a great man-sized hamster wheel. We had a great time spinning the kids back and forth until they nearly fell on top of each other.

Then we enjoyed a great park in Boblingen that has a rubber-band type merry go round. You wind it up and let it go and it spinns the kids around pretty fast for about three or four rotations. This is Eli's personal favorite.

 Then we decided to go check out some castle ruins about 30 minutes south of our home in Rotweil. The castle was, as usual, perched atop a hill with a spectacular view of the surrounding area. There wasn't much of these ruins left aside from the re-constructed front gate and a nearby town that was closed on Christmas Eve (can you believe it?!?). ;)

When we got home, we figured it was time to light the reindeer candles our German neighbors gave us. Melting reindeer on Christmas Eve... what a great tradition!

We opened a few gifts on Christmas Eve. Grandma Johnson's gift was one of them. She gave all the kids awesome PJ's with matching PJs for the girls dolls and Eli's Build-a-Bear. What a blast!

Away in a Manger

23 DEC 2013 - Eli: And so it was on the night of our Savior's birth. The end.
Kjersti: That was so fun! Let's keep Eve all wrapped in swaddling clothes all night!

Eve: Kjersti, that would make me sad.
Kjersti: I'm just kidding Eve (kisses her on the forehead).

Kjersti: Instead, let's have Eli wear his taped-on beard until Christmas day.
Eli: That would be awesome! I'm keeping the bow staff too!

Esslingen Medieval Christmas Market

21 DEC 2013 - One of our favorite Christmas markets is the Esslingen Medieval Christmas Market. Part of the market is a regular Christmas market, then the other half is has a Medieval theme to it. The food they cook, the smells, the folks dressed as though they're from the middle ages all combine to make for a truly unique experience.

Heidi and Kjersti love the half meter brats while Cody, Eve and Eli prefer the bread baked on a stick! Soooo tasty!

The games the kids can play are really medieval. Eli threw axes!

 Kjersti threw daggers!

Eve launched balls from a catapult into castle!

And finally the kids dipped their own candles. So much fun!

The Advent Beer Calendar

9 DEC 2013 - Cody works in a great office at United States European Command (EUCOM).  From left to right, Sandra Shurman, Jan Paul, Cody, Anton Kemps, and Chris Sabatini. His co-workers are wonderful and he loves going to work everyday. This year, the Christmas season became a little bit more interesting when Anton brought in a beer advent calendar. Yes, that's right, a different bottle of German beer for 24 straight days. Since Cody didn't drink any of them, he was designated as the guy who pulled the beer from the advent calendar daily and pronounced its German name. A task he loved. What a wonderful cultural experience!

FHE

9 DEC 2013 - Family Home Evening at our house isn't usually this peaceful and wonderful. But it was on this particular Monday night. Heidi planned a FHE that centered on playing Bingo with the First Presidency Christmas message. It was perfect! The kids were helping each other, being good and feeling the spirit. A beautiful thing.

You've Come A Long Way Baby!

8 DEC 2013 - A Sunday that will live in infamy! Eli had long held a strong belief that white, button up, collared shirts were some kind of torture device designed solely to cause him grief and anguish. On 8 DEC 2013, Eli not only put on a white, button up, collared shirt, but wore a tie and a suit coat to boot! He looked so good, Cody decided to throw on a matching outfit as a symbolic gesture of appreciation and unity. Well done Eli... you've come a long way baby!

Tubingen International Chocolate Festival

7 DEC 2013 - Every December, Tubingen hosts their international chocolate festival. Last year, we just couldn't make it but this year, we made sure to get it on the calendar! Let's just say it was pretty sweet. Some of the tastiest chocolate ever! It was so fun to watch people making all kinds of different things out of chocolate and buying plenty of it. Unfortunately, we didn't try enough of it while we were there and realized only after we got home what we wished we would have stocked up on. Oh well... there's always next year.

Tubingen, Germany