Cause for Excitement

We said goodbye to these two fine young men, Christian and Taylor, last Monday at the Frankfurt Airport. They were on their way to Provo and their first semester at BYU. We got the chance to skype with them briefly during their layover in DC, and their arrival was eagerly anticipated by their sisters and families on the other end -- hence, the title of this post. They were causing some real excitement on both sides of the globe! Here are the two of them (chillin' on their guitars) just a few days before their departure.

And here is a picture of Christian in his new apartment.  Emily, Marie and the kiddos helped him get all situated (more details can be found at www.notesshewrote.blogspot.com.)  Don't they all look radiant?

And one last silly picture from back in July

Good luck at college, Christian and Taylor.  We miss you guys!

Yet Another Week . . . in Garmisch!

We have had a bit of a tradition of going to Garmisch with the Clark family, and we wanted to continue that tradition (despite the fact that Bryant and Ezra had been "stuck" in Garmisch for the five previous weeks, and despite the former harrowing experience with "the bugs").  We all wanted one last summer hurrah with Christian and Taylor before they headed off to college.  And this year, the Nelson family joined us too, which only tripled the fun!

There were songs to be sung and created, time in the pool and at the gym, card games and board games, afternoons on the river and in the lake, and a side trip to Salzburg and the salt mines.  And throughout the week the boys worked on creating a new movie (something about aliens).  I think it's still a work in progress. 

In the following collage we have the kids just after they went busking in downtown Garmisch and then counting up the money they earned.  The picture with all the bubbles is when they were helping me clean off all the dish soap that had spilled onto all of the clean dishes.  The bubble bath was a bonus.  And finally, Lissie talked them all into making a music video for her blog.  You can find their fabulous performance of "Tonight, Tonight" at www.notesshewrote.blogspot.com  I love it!

Thursday was our planned day trip to one of our favorite cities -- Salzburg.  It is the birthplace and childhood home of Mozart.  We also took the chance to take the local salt mine tour.  It looks like the kids are about to launch into space, but they were actually about to ride and slide several hundred feet underground.

Here are the girls -- Jeni, Lissie, Jessica and Rachel.
                                                                        And the boys -- Ezra, Christian, Taylor and Bryant.

The kids spent a lot of time playing card games and singing songs together.  And in the bottom pictures they are out on the Eibsee with their paddle boat - swimming and diving and jumping!

Here are two of my favorite musicians, Christian and Lissie.  Really, "they should get jerseys 'cause they make a good team!"

We already have some reservations for an after New Year's jaunt down to Garmisch again . . . it will give the boys a little more time to finish their movie! And won't it be great to be together again?

Camp Adventures

This past summer has had its fair share of camp adventures (Camp Bayern, Girls Camp, and a Ramstein/Heidelberg High Adventure Camp).

Starting on July 8th and for the following four weeks, Bryant (along with Ezra Clark) was hired as part of the scout staff for Camp Bayern in Garmisch.  He was assigned to teach the art merit badge to the younger scouts, and he liked to spend much of his down time (he says there was no "free time") at the archery range. 

This is a picture of one of their awesome campfires

Bryant and Ezra climbed to the peak of the Kraemer in just TWO hours (I'm impressed),

 while their climbing buddies got stuck in a ravine!  

This is the view from the top

The staff tents were set up in a meadow just above the lodge.  

What a beautiful place (and Bryant and Ezra's home for four weeks)!

Catching little mountain frogs!

Lissie said that this year's girls camp was one of the best she has been to . . . the food was great and she got to camp with her peers and fellow YCLs from the other wards . . . and this was even tent camping in Baumholder, not a castle in Switzerland!  She also got to mentor Nadya and Madeline, two nonmember friends, which made the camp even more special this year. I loved Lissie's testimony about letting her light shine to help others along the way.

And finally, the boys had the opportunity of a high adventure week in Garmisch. They hiked to the Eibsee in the pouring rain, and went white water rafting and to the ropes course, but the highlight of the trip was a hike to the top of the Zugspitze, the highest peak in Germany.  They started out very early in the morning and hiked through the Partnach waterfall gorge in the dark.  Bryant says it was misty and dark and reminded him of the King Kong movie.  I am amazed that they made this hike, especially all in one day since this hike is often split up into two days.  But, hey, our boys are Eagle Scouts and they were some of the first to make it to the top.  Christian said it was the hardest hike he has ever done.  I heard their friend, Jared, say how he was "done with that mountain for the rest of his life."  What an accomplishment boys.  We are very proud of you!

The Zugspitze

So that ends the report on all of the camp adventures, but not the end of the adventures in Garmisch. More to follow . . .

Cat Escapades

I don't have any pictures for this post, so just imagine me scouring the neighborhood on the morning of our departure to Garmisch where we were to meet up with Christian and Bryant after their high adventure camp.  Turtle (the cat) was nowhere to be found.  I asked the neighbors and I even got out the treats, but I could not find her.  I seriously considered just staying home (in case she came home).  How could I have fun on vacation when she might be stuck somewhere or hurt or worse?  But in the end, after consulting with Bryant, we decided to leave the side door open with the rolladen mostly down so that if she came back, she could also come back in.  Our neighbors graciously agreed to come in each evening and check for Turtle's return.  So we downheartedly left for Garmisch. 

Throughout the drive, all I could think of was the cat and what kinds of danger or distress she might have encountered. Little did we know that when she escaped she had also found a friend (another cat).  And when she came back two days later, she brought him with her!  Our neighbors had to chase him out and lock Turtle in. What a crazy cat.  She thinks she's the "queen of everything" and that she can just have a party in our absence!  But even despite her antics, we still love her, and we are thankful that she came back to us.  When Bryant received the phone call from our neighbor that Turtle had returned, we all clapped and cheered and said a little prayer of thanks.  She had had her little escapade wherein she discovered that there are other "forms of cats" (other than us, haha), and of course that there's NO PLACE LIKE HOME!