Happy Birthday Rex!

Rex turned five his year! He is getting big and getting ready to start school in the fall.

Here are a bunch of crazy boys. They played really good together and had a fun time.

Rex got some fun toys! He loved them so much, he was sad to see them go for a few months while they make there way to our new home.

We had a little bit of a different b-day this year. Zachary's and Rex's birthdays are close together so this year they both got presents on each others birthday. You will see why on the next post.

Blue and Gold - Tiger Den

At the Blue and Gold Banquet, Zachary received his Tiger Badge! He loved going to Cubscouts and being with his friends. He is very proud to wear his uniform and liked adding all the beads and patches. Zachary participated in a skit about going to mars. They all spoke loud and clear and everyone laughed. Good Job Zach!

Blue and Gold - Bear Den

In February we attended the Blue and Gold Banquet. Spencer earned and received his Bear Badge! Spencer participated in an assaninations skit and it was really funny. He worked hard and enjoyed participating with his den. He had a wonderful Den Leader that kept track and was on top of everything so the boys could succeed.

Austria, Slovenia, Croatia, and Italy

In February we took a few days to see more of Europe. Our slideshow is linked below on the map. First we started in Austria. We took one day to explore Salzburg and then the next morning we went back into Germany to Berchesgaden. They have a fun salt mine and Spencer and they boys loved it.

Next we went to Lake Bled in Slovenia. It was cold so we drove around the lake, explored the castle, and took a short walk when the sun came out.

Our next few days we spent in Croatia at the National Forest. It was cold but we enjoyed every minute of being in the park. Our last stop was Italy. I wanted to get some pottery before returning home to the States. We took a day to explore Venice once again. The boys loved seeing the gondolas, bridges, and the winged lion.

Basketball

This past winter the boys played basketball again. They all enjoyed playing and had great coaches. It was great to get out of the house durning those dark and dreary winter months. All of them made baskets durning games and it was great to see their excitement.

Our New Home

After a long four months of paperwork and waiting we finally got a place we can call home. Short sales are certainly not short on time. We feel very blessed to get this home and to have a place to raise our boys. It is in Farmington. We will be returning this summer.

We are especially excited for the backyard. Our yard here in Germany is about 1/200th of our new one. We also will be able to have a garden again. I can already taste the sun warmed cherry tomatoes. Mmmmm.

Here is the entry looking into a sitting room.

And here is Amy's Diner! This is what my kids call the kitchen.

Rugs that go to the wall!

Today we went down to Kaiserslautern because Spencer had church meetings. So we tagged along and waited the three hours so we could go out to lunch and then go swimming. When we were at the church, Zachary asked me "Mom, when we move back to America can we get some of these rugs that go all the way to the wall?" I started laughing! He looked a little puzzled so I had to explain that it is carpet! This just goes to show that he has grown up in Europe. Most homes have wood, marble or tile throughout the whole house. We are excited to walk on carpet again! He was very happy to know that more than half of the house has carpet!

Christmas Eve at the Shumway's

This year we had the Lord Family and Melody one of Spencer's co-worker over for Christmas Eve. We had soup and salad for dinner. Then we had butterscotch pudding over vanille ice cream. This year we hid an almond in the dessert and whoever got it got five dollars. Our lucky Melody got it!

Then we acted out the Nativity. Jakob, Brandt and Zachary were the wisemen. Rex and Zackary were the shepards. Marrian and John were Mary and Joseph. Spencer was the donkey. I helped the kids with their parts and Spencer read from the scriptures.

Here they are bring gifts to baby Jesus.

Rex and Zackary are the shepards look up at the new star!

Brandt looking for the baby Jesus to offer up his treasures.

PTA Reflections

This year I was the PTA Reflections Chair again. The theme this year was Together We Can.

Spencer and Zachary submitted entries into three categories. Photography, Literature and Visual Arts.

Zachary took first place in Visual Arts and Spencer took first place in Photography and Literature. They both did a great job and worked hard on each of the entries. I thought they both did the best in Literature. You can read Zachary's above and Spencer did a long comic book about two boys searching for a ruby.

Here they are with the principle after receiving their certificates, bowling tickets, and gift cards.

Elfis and The Sleighriders

Spencer was in the school winter musical Elfis and the Sleighriders. He was Jerry Lee on the keyboard.

He had many parts and remembered all of them. He did a great job!

Zachary was in a music group that sang before the winter musical and at a tree lighting ceremony on base.

Zachary loves to sing, especially Christmas music!

St. Nikolas Day!

St. Nikolas made a visit to our house the night of December 5th.

The boys put their wooden shoes from Holland out and got a great suprise in the morning.

They each got animals, candy, and a clementine.

They were all delighted and happy for German holidays!

SNOW SNOW SNOW!

In December we got a lot of snow! More snow than Germany has had in over 30 years! The kids loved playing out in it. The first night of a big snow storm we went outside and made snowmen from all the snow in the street. Since here in Germany they are not used to this much snow they don't plow much. One Sunday church was cancelled and the Friday before winter break they cancelled school. We also had a few 2 hour work and school delays. It was fun to have a lot of snow and be stuck at home. :)