Irish Country!

Here we are walking to the Blarney Castle.

Here Zachary is waiting to go on a boat to look for Fungi the Dolphin.

This is Kerry Bog Village. It was a fun cluster of cottages dating back from the 1800's.

Brandt did really good in this car seat. It was nice to have Spencer the Younger sitting next to him to help out with the cheerios.

Irish Country!

This is Staigue Fort. The kids and Dad loved climbing all over. This was part of the Ring of Kerry.

Zachary is the funniest kids! He cracks us up all the time.

The boys loved running on the beach.

They are really getting into pulling faces for the camera.
We are on our walk to see the majestic cliffs.

Spencer just got back from Russia and Kazakhstan. He will be sending out his pictures soon or you can click on the link from our map below.

It is always fun when dad returns home from trips. He always brings gifts. These are giant kinder eggs from Helmi (Spencer's taxi driver). She is so nice to bring the kids fun things.

Happy St. Patricks Day!

We had a great St. Patricks Day! The boys were all excited to wear green. When we woke up in the morning we noticed that we had a visitor in the night. A mischievous Leprechaun did some naughty things in our house. It started in Spencer and Zachary's room. Socks, pants, pajamas, and books were all over. But the boys found a sack of coins that the Leprechaun dropped. They were pretty excited about that. Then we noticed a Shamrock sticker was missing from the stickers I bought for all of us to wear. Then on our way down to breakfast we noticed that the Leprechaun tried to eat some green M&M's but spill a lot of them in the kitchen. He also took all of our shoes off the shoe rack and put them in front of the door. And just when we thought he couldn't be any more naughty...we found a green container from the playroom filled with green toys! The container of toys was spilled by the stairs. We think that the Leprechaun tried to take them but maybe got scared when Brandt woke up in the middle of the night. :)

Now the boys are thinking about setting a trap next year. Or maybe we can catch him in a few weeks when we go to Ireland for spring break. Wish us luck!

We hope you all have a fun St. Patricks Day!

(Big thanks to Brittany for all her wonderful ideas!)

Happy Birthday Zachary!

Zachary has turned 5! We had a great time celebrating his birthday at the bowling center with his friends. All the kids had a lot of fun bowling and dancing when they turned out the lights and played disco music.

Spencer doesn't look too happy though. He was mad at me because I told him that next time I am not going to take him out of school for a party if he doesn't listen to me. Maybe I should have been nicer. :)

This year Zachary was a spoiled for his birthday. He got lots of legos! Also he got to celebrate his birthday three days in a row. The first day was bowling with his friends. The second day, his real birthday, we had his best friend Johannes over for his birthday dinner. And for day three, he got to celebrate at German Kindergarten.

Happy Birthday Zachary!

Jade's Baptism

Spencer had opportunity to baptize a girl in our ward named Jade. Her family just moved in a few months ago. It was a special day for our ward because three girls were baptized. It is exciting to see them make coventants and be willing to follow the Saviors example.

Sports Physicals

Here the boys are getting an EKG and physicals so they can play soccer. Zachary and Rex get to play on the same team this season. They are pretty excited. When I told them to get ready to go sign up for soccer they went and put on shorts and t-shirt and were about to put cleats on before I noticed what they were doing. They were pretty disappointed we weren't going to the soccer field. We'll keep you posted on how the season goes.

Also on the way home from the doctor Spencer the Younger said he didn't want to play soccer. I told him too bad and it was a little late to tell me. Then I told him that he is getting really good and understanding the rules well, so he should continue to play and get even better. He then said "Mom, the reason you want me to keep playing is so I will be famous!" I had a really good laugh and dad had even a bigger laugh when we got home!

Happy Birthday Rex!

Rex has turned 3! He got to celebrate his birthday a day early because tomorrow is a really busy day for us. We had a few of his friends over and they all seemed to enjoy themselves. Happy Birthday Rex!

Another International Dinner Night

On Valentines Day we had an International Dinner Night. We invited a few couples from our ward who's husbands just returned from Iraq. The countries represented were Austria, France, Italy, and England. We enjoyed a cream soup with cinnamon croutons, roulden (beef roll), Knodel (potato dumpling), coleslaw, and for dessert we dipped strawberries and donuts in a chocolate fountain. We had an enjoyable evening!

Groundhog Shadow Day!

On Groundhogs day Spencer the Younger got to go to work with Spencer the Older. His school calls it Shadow Day. They had a great time together and Spencer the Younger enjoyed being with his dad all day. Everytime the boys and me go to Spencer's work, which is not very offen, his co-workers load the kids up with candy. They all think it is great!

Happy Valentines Day!

Our big surprise for dad was breakfast in bed! We made him heart waffles with whipped topping, strawberries and bananas. We also made him strawberry milk. The boys loved helping me get it ready. It has been a big secret in our house for a few weeks. The boys did really good at not telling him. HAPPY VALENTINES DAY!

Girl Scout Cookies!

Mmmmmmmmmmmmmm! Brandt's first Girl Scout Cookie! I love thin mints!
....anything to keep him happy until dinner is ready. :)