Coeur d'Alene Christmas, 2013

We got to spend Christmas together in Coeur d'Alene with all of our children (except Elder Christian) and the husbands and grandchildren. We rented out a home that had plenty of space for all of us, and we spent three lovely, busy days all together.  Matthew ended up being the real Santa Claus this year.  He brought a large suitcase full of gifts for everyone, and he especially spoiled all of his nieces and nephews.

Just look at these darling daughters of mine!

 

Here we are by Lake Coeur d'Alene.  Lauren, Steve, Cole, Juliette, Will, Lisa, Isabella, Tracy, Jake, Annabelle, Lissie, Emily, Henry, Liam, Bryant.

I had hoped to get more pictures, but this is it for now.  I wanted one of all of the grandchildren together (in their Christmas garb!),  but with two little newborns and four busy little toddlers, AND the flu bug, it was almost impossible!  We had a lovely time together though, and I am grateful that it all worked out to get together, even for a few days. 

Pre-Christmas in Montana

Getting together for the holidays as an entire family (sans our Elder Allred on a mission) was definitely the highlight of the year for me. Tracy, Bryant and I landed in Seattle a week or so before Christmas, and Emily and children met us at the airport. We were so happy to see her and her cute little kiddos. We then spent a few days at Marie's house where we witnessed the baptism of our first grandchild, Isabella, and blessing of Charlton. In the following days we made lebkuchen and Christmas pajamas for all the little ones.

After a few days, we headed to Spokane with Isabella in tow. She spent a few days with Lauren and Steve while Tracy, Bryant and I headed to Idaho to visit Grandma Minnie and to pick up Lissie from BYU-Idaho; we also made a quick overnight trip to Utah to see Grandma Kay and Grandpa Gordon, and to attend cousin Kathleen's wedding. We then headed back to Montana on Saturday (spent the night) and the next morning hurried to Spokane for the blessing of baby Logan.  Whew!  That was a lot of driving.

 Matthew joined us on the evening of the 22nd and we all (except Lauren and family) spent a couple of wonderful days on the Hermes Ranch in Montana with Aunt Kay. We had the most wonderful time making more lebkuchen, playing in the snow, and cutting a Christmas tree. Aunt Kay is always so wonderful to us. My very happiest childhood memories were spent on this Montana ranch and it simply fills my spirit with joy to be able to spend some time together there with my children and grandchildren.



 Annabelle, Emily, Henry, Jake, Lisa, Aunt Kay, Tracy, Lissie, Bryant, Marie, Charlton, Matthew, Isabella, Liam, and Juliette.

 

Welcome to the World, Baby Logan, November 30, 2013

Welcome to the world little baby Logan Ryan Byers!  We were so happy to hear of Logan's arrival, and to see some of his very first pictures.  He resembled Cole very much, only with blonde hair!

And then we got to meet him for the first time, about a month later.  Lauren and Steve had moved to Spokane from Dallas, and we stopped in our way to Idaho and Utah so we could spend a couple of hours with them.  What a cutie! Here he is on December 22, 2013, his blessing day.  What a wonderful little bit of heaven to make the Christmas season even that more special.

The proud parents and grandparents

Tracy, Lisa, Lauren, Logan, Steve, Yvonne and Brent

Congratulations, Lauren and Steve,

We are so happy for you!

 

Welcome to the World, Baby Charlton, October 25, 2013

Welcome to the world, baby Charlton Edwin Gross, and congratulations to the proud parents, 

Marie and Will! 

Charlton's blessing day, and Isabella's baptism day, December 15, 2013

So glad we could be there!

BYU Idaho Extravadance!

Lissie felt so lucky to have been chosen to be part of the BYU-I Collegiate Ballroom Dance Team!  The team culminated their hard work and long practices with a few routines which they performed at the Extravandance in December. I only wish I could have been there!  But, we did get to see the official video and it was fabulous.  The Salsa number was my favorite.

So Beautiful!

Thanksgiving, German style

Since becoming members of the German Ward in June (after the American Ward was dissolved), we have felt very welcomed into our new ward. We have been invited over to so many members houses for dinner that it is really hard to reciprocate and keep up, especially since our time is so limited now that we all commute to Kaiserslautern for work and school. Our weeks are so busy and tiring! With that said, we had the opportunity to organize a Thanksgiving dinner which quickly grew into somewhat of a ward activity. Tracy and I were glad, though, that we could give back in a small way. We bought all the turkeys and made the food assignments. We were glad that Rosi and Hans-Juergen could join us, as well as the Roses, since they have been our traditional Thanksgiving guests for several years now. Happy Thanksgiving Everyone!

Cross Country Academic All Conference

Bryant joined the Ramstein High School Cross Country team this school year, and was selected for the varsity level. No surprise there.

He finished up as an Academic All Conference member.

Yeah, Bryant! It was fun watching you run those races. You are a natural!

 

Ramstein High School Toga Day

Here is Bryant with Mallory Lacy and Shannon Walker, also former Heidelbergers now attending Ramstein High School.  They're doing their best to get into the Homecoming spirit at RHS, even though deep down they are HHS fans through and through.

A - Jugend

Bryant played in a soccer tournament today that qualified his team - VFB Rauenberg - to move up to the next level. Tracy watched him score some sweet goals and make some timely assists. Playing on this team since he was a young boy has been a fulfilling and rewarding journey for Bryant. He now plays on the highest level team as a starter, sometimes designated as captain, and generally plays the entire game as well. No wonder his first 5K was a piece of cake for him.

As he begins school in the fall at Ramstein, it will be much harder for him to make all the practices and games, but hopefully he'll still be able to fit in a few more soccer memories with his teammates.

This boy is growing up too fast. We're going to miss him when he's gone!

Our sweet "new" Audi

One of the perks of having a daily long commute to work and school is the need for a low maintenance, low fuel automobile.  We decided to sell our Toyota Sienna minivan (farewell minivan era) and get an Audi A4 instead.  We LOVE this "new" car.  It runs like a dream and uses half as much fuel (now diesel) as the minivan did.  Wish you all could fit in it with us!

This daily drive to Kaiserslautern is going to be sweet!

Right?

Pedaling with Style

Lissie is going to her classes at BYU in style this summer. Our original plan was for her to take the bus, but the walks on both ends ended up being too long, so she "traded in" her bus passes for a blue beach cruiser.

Now she has twice daily bike rides and dance classes that should keep her in shape. She thinks she'll be more "buff" than Bryant when she gets back in January!

Happy Birthday Elder Allred!

It's hard to believe that Christian is 20-years-old on his birthday today. We all did what we could to make his birthday special even though he is half a world away and we can't exactly call him up and sing to him.  But we prepared boxes and cards, and thankfully Lissie and Emily's box successfully arrived on time.  I was privy to the contents of some of those birthday packages . . . a German Bible, squirt guns, candy, water bottle, family pictures, assorted aliens, t-shirts for p-day, gift cards, and more candy - everything a missionary could want or need on his birthday!

The box from Germany seems to be lost-in-transit for the time being, but we have faith that he will get to celebrate more in the not too distant future.  He and his companions can have a pizza party with the Domino's gift card we sent.  Or maybe just deliver pizza to someone.  Christian reports that they already have dinner appointments with ward members every single night of the week!

Here he is showing off what is likely his favorite gift this year - a necklace from Lissie.  Too bad missionaries aren't allowed to wear necklaces because I know he would wear this one with pride!

Happy Birthday, Elder Allred, and keep up the good work!

Camp Helaman - Baumholder, Germany

Bryant got the chance again this year to join the Kaiserslautern Military Stake in their week of missionary prep/high adventure -- aka Camp Helaman. They camped at Baumholder and encountered some hungry bugs, but they did have some fun adventures too. On the day of the long bicycle trek, Bryant accidentally crashed his bike and had some impressive abrasions to show for it. On Thursday evening, our area of Germany had it's big "storm of the year" which managed to soak everything (including Bryant's scriptures) and blow away several tents. The storm also hit right in the middle of testimony meeting, but of course, they were undaunted and finished out their meeting in the swim locker room.

Here they are on the day of river rafting:

A big thank you to the Kaiserslautern Military Stake for allowing Bryant to take part this year!

Goodbye!

All I can say is that it doesn't get any easier as the kids grow up and leave for college. Lissie left on the same day that Marie & Will & kids left, which only compounded the difficulty in saying goodbye.  Both Lissie and Marie had left me kind goodbye notes, and I spent the first half hour or so trying to get up the courage to read them!  As I cried through the readings, and then wandered about the house crying some more, all I could think was "This is not right!"  Then I had to pull myself together and go to work.  Tracy stopped in at the library on his way home from the airport, and we sat on the couches there and cried some more! So no, it doesn't get any easier.  We even contemplate its inevitability long, long before it happens. 

So long, Farewell, Auf wiedersehen, Goodbye!  We're missing you already!

Bryant's First 5K

As part of the "Farewell Heidelberg" festivities, the community held a 5K Fun Run on June 7th. Bryant decided to take this opportunity to run his first 5K. I was glad the race started right in front of the library since I had to go in to work that morning. I was able to cheer him on as he took off running, and then 19 minutes and 22 seconds later I cheered him further as he was the first youth to cross the finish line, fifth overall.

Congratulations, Bryant! You are a natural . . . 

and I'm expecting some fabulous finishes in your Cross Country meets this fall!

Happy Birthday Bryant!

Well, the day before Bryant's 17th birthday was the final sacrament meeting of the Heidelberg Military Ward, and since the Clarks were coming down for that as well, we decided to have them over to share birthday dessert with us.  We served Bryant's favorite faux apple pie (apple crisp - a crowd pleaser).  He also had invited Shannon and Marlowe over, and of course, Marie and Will and family were still with us too, so it was quite the happy gathering.  We followed Clark birthday tradition and told our favorite things about the birthday boy . . . fun, playful, musical, kind, grateful, caring, friendly . . . the list could go on and on because there are so many things we appreciate about him.

The next day he wanted to hang out at home and play with his new computer speakers.  Part of his birthday had also been a trip earlier in the week to Europa Park.  Oh, and he wanted us to order take out Indian food on his birthday. And did I mention that he got to take a trip to the Canary Islands the very next day (with Lissie, Marie and Will).

Happy Birthday, Bryant.  Wishing you a wonderful birthday and year to come!  You are dear to us!

A Fond Farewell to the Heidelberg Military Ward

On June 9, 2013, the Heidelberg Military Ward held its very last services. We can easily say that this has been our favorite ward of all time.  Our children grew up in this ward.  Emily, Christian, Lissie, and Bryant were all baptized and confirmed in this ward.  Many of the events and memories of our family can be traced back to this ward and this community.

For this last sacrament meeting, we actually were privileged to hear from most of our youth since it was seminary Sunday.  It seemed appropriate to have the youth address us since they are our future and will carry on the work of the Lord at new destinations.

The following is a picture of four of the former bishops of the Heidelberg Military Ward, all in attendance for the final services:

Christopher Johnson, Kent Duncan, Tracy Allred and Russell Tillett!

   

Here I am visiting with old friends and former members of the ward: 

Kelle Kropushek, (me), Jeanette Clark, Joanna Broderick Ehrhardt, Becky Duncan.

A Fond Farewell to Our Dear Heidelberg Military Ward.

We miss you already!

BYU ballroom dancers come to Germany!

We planned a few excursions for when Marie and her family were here to visit for three weeks, and the BYU Ballroom Dance show was one of our very favorites.  We had to miss their show on June 6 in Kaiserslautern (Lissie's graduation trumped that one), but we were delighted to discover that we could get tickets through the German Stake for a show the very next day in Mutterstadt which is even closer to our house.

We were so impressed with the quality of the performances and the nonstop entertainment.  Even the costumes were over-the-top fabulous.

Here are a couple of pictures from after the show.  It's Lissie's dream to join them on tour someday.

So glad you could come to Germany, BYU Ballroom Dancers!

Congratulations, HHS Class of 2013!

Lissie graduated on June 6, 2013, from Heidelberg American High School.  She graduated with honors and was chosen to sing the German national anthem for the ceremony.  Tracy and I commented on how the German national anthem was more moving than the American national anthem for this particular event!  She sang so beautifully, and we felt profound gratitude for her and for the opportunity we have had to live in the lovely Heidelberg area for so many years.  All I can say is, "We are going to miss this girl!"

Here she is at the podium singing the national anthem:

Also displayed on the big screen: 

And here she is after the ceremony with some of her "favorite" people!

Heidelberg High School has a tradition of treating their seniors (courtesy of the Senior Parent Association) to a Neckar River cruise directly after the ceremonies.  Yes, it is a party boat!

Congratulations, Lissie, and the whole HHS Class of 2013!

Baccalaureate at the Heiliggeist Kirche

The baccalaureate service on June 2 at the Heiliggeist Church in downtown Heidelberg was the beginning of the Heidelberg High School graduation festivities. Many people say that the graduation ceremonies put on for our graduates are the best they have ever seen and I tend to agree. You can't really top the baccalaureate services at the church on the Hauptstrasse, followed a few days later with graduation in the Stadthalle, and then a Neckar River cruise. As a member of the Madrigals, Lissie participated at baccalaureate by providing the vocal music for the service. With the echoing acoustics in the church, it sounded truly angelic. I especially loved how Lissie helped to accompany one song on the guitar.

Here is Lissie afterwards with Mr. Jon Hodge, the HHS Music Director: 

And here we have some fellow graduates:

Lissie with Owen and Allison, also part of the music ensemble

(Owen plays base, Allison plays keyboard)

And here we are taking a few pictures on the Old Bridge after the ceremony.

Congratulations, Everyone!

Farewell Heidelberg High School!

As the U.S. Army base in Heidelberg closed down in June of 2013, it meant the end of an era to many things, including the schools our children had attended, off an on, for many years.  On May 31, Heidelberg American High School held its final closing ceremonies to say goodbye to its students, teachers and administrators, past and present.  Many teachers and students from former years came for the event to commemorate the significance of Heidelberg, and its American high school, in their lives.  It was a touching event, which felt much like a funeral!  It was hard to say goodbye to something that had been an integral part of our lives for the past few years, and an important memory for so many others over the past 67 years! Farewell Heidelberg Lions! We will never forget how much you meant to us!