New Bicycles(s)!

It was Bryant's 15th birthday last Friday. He decided he wanted an apple pie (instead of an ice cream cake) for his birthday dessert. Here he is right before we sang "Happy Birthday!" to him.

He also decided to buy a suit coat and a new bicycle with his birthday money. He says he likes his suit so much that he could wear it everyday. With this combination, he looks just like a missionary. So handsome!

Then on Sunday, we were privileged to get to see our friend, Joanna, with her new bicycle. It is a "cargo bike" and when I first saw it I said, "that is not a bicycle!" She actually rode it to church (about a 40 minute ride) and she was beaming! She is in love with her new cargo bicycle and I can see why. She can just place her baby, Timothy, right up front and talk to him as they explore the wonderful world together. (There's also room in the "cargo area" for her gorgeous green purse and . . . at least two or three more kids!)

I attempted to put a video of Joanna riding around the church parking lot right here . . . but obviously it didn't work. I guess I'll have to go the YouTube route (watch for a later post).

She also let Bryant and Christian go for a spin . . .

They might have been a little more wobbly than Joanna. We were a little concerned for some of the parked cars. And baby Timothy!

Here is Timothy after those two crazy rides. He doesn't talk yet, but I know what he wants to say, "MOM! Who are these crazy people and what were you thinking?"

The Fun of New Bicycles!

Swing Kids

We actually just watched Swing Kids last night (a movie that I definitely recommend because of its compelling message of courage), but it was also fortuitous for these kids (below) because I was going to give this post the title of . . .

Tutti Frutti!

These are the lucky boys from the advanced ballroom class --
Parker, Matthew, Ethan, Bryant, Christian, Myles and Devan

Lissie and Devyn got together one afternoon and made them all matching T-shirts for the Tutti Frutti swing dance performance (the girls were in poodle skirts).

Here they are in their "Charlie's Angels" pose:

with their lovely teacher, Arianna:

And showing off their nicknames (and muscles!)
It is hard to see in these pictures, but Lissie and Devyn came up with 50s names for each of them --

Hipster, The Bomb, Kookie,
Finger Zinger, Cupid, Beefcake and Hunk-a-Chunk

The boys loved them!

Showing off again!

One more picture with the girls too:

It was the last day of class before the summer break . . .
and they had to say goodbye to a few class members that are moving soon
(Parker, Devyn, Abby and Emma - they will be missed!)

So long to such a wonderful year of ballroom dance together.

Ballroom Dance Soiree

Here is Lissie with dance teacher

Arianna Heck

Every year the ballroom dance classes culminate their year with a Soiree at the Village Pavillion. It is an evening of elegance as each class displays their diverse dance skills. Lissie and Christian have been taking lessons since the classes started being offered in 2005, and Bryant since two years. They are all together now in the advanced class in which they were taught some impressive routines for salsa, rumba, swing, and even a 50s dance to "Tutti Frutti." Here is Lissie (and friend Catherine) in her Poodle skirt just before the performance.

The YouTube video:
(All of our kids are up front)



Bryant and Lissie also learned a couples swing routine to
"Dance with Me Tonight"
Here they are just before their first performance:

We had to come up with new costumes (rather than the blue dress remake and bow-tie from a previous post). That pretty blue dress was unfortunately causing some technical problems. But they still looked WAY cute!

Here is the YouTube video:



Here are Bryant and Christian at the end of the evening with their teacher, Arianna:

And a couple more pictures of them with Lilly (Arianna's daughter):

Can you tell the camera was getting weird on me?

Seminary Graduation

This title can be a little misleading . . . our family didn't have any seminary graduates this year -- just certificates of completion -- Christian 3 years, Lissie 2 years, and Bryant 1 year. We are all glad for their successful year and for the chance now to get a little more sleep :) Last Sunday evening we gathered at the Kaiserslautern Stake Center to honor the graduates and seminary students in general. And, 20+ students earned the

Seminary Excellence Award

by memorizing all 25 scripture mastery scriptures, reading the entire Doctrine and Covenants and Our Heritage, and by having at least 90% attendance. I thought the most challenging part of those requirements was the Joseph Smith History scripture which is about a page long. Lissie surprised me late one night by coming to my room (I was asleep) and excitedly saying that she had memorized it and asking if she could recite it to me RIGHT THEN (it was well after midnight). So I woke up to listen to a page-long portion of the Joseph Smith History -- three times. I was impressed! She definitely deserved to receive the excellence award and accompanying Sunstone pin. She was elated too that her dad arrived to the stake center (from a meeting in Frankfurt that day) just in time to present the award AND to give her a big hug.

Congratulations Lissie!

CLB's day off from school . . .

I don't like to make a big deal about my birthday, especially as I get into the upper age categories . . . but Tracy and the kids seemed to want to make it a memorable holiday. As soon as we were back from seminary, Tracy let the kids have a day off from school and sent them downtown on the strassenbahn while he went to a work meeting. They didn't tell me where they were going or when they would be back, so I simply went back to bed and had a wonderful morning nap!

Here is evidence of the fun they had downtown
"birthday shopping!"

The next picture definitely needs some explanation. Lissie has been calling Bryant "fat" and "chubby" for the past several months. This happens on a daily basis and Bryant (who is one of the most fit young men we know) just takes it in stride. I like to remind Lissie that she might want to cease this name calling habit (albeit friendly and in jest) . . . it might come back to haunt her someday! So they thought this postcard they found (while in search of my birthday card) was hilarious!

Translation: Fat children are harder to kidnap!

I know this is only funny if you have been present for all of the teasing banter between Lissie and Bryant. Basically, it is an inside joke and I completely understand if you don't understand their humor.

One more pic of CLB's day off from school . . .
They all got new shades!

So basically, this was the beginning to a wonderful birthday celebration. They arrived home with a whole new outfit for me (including summer hat!), birthday card, and chocolate (saving it for Sunday)! Then we went to lunch at Giardino's, stopped at IKEA for my birthday wish - a new duvet cover (plain white floral), and then watched the movie Tangled (Lissie's wish for me).

Happy Birthday to ME!

Bow-Tie and Dress Remake

It's amazing what can be done with an extra large hem!

I ordered this dress from Macy's for Lissie since she needed a dress for the upcoming end-of-the-year ballroom dance recital. She and Bryant will be doing a couple's swing routine to Dance With Me Tonight (from the movie That Thing You Do). Lissie envisioned something akin to the dresses in the movie musical Hairspray. Plus, she and Bryant are doing a series of amazing dance lifts for this special number and she needed a full skirt to make it all happen. As we examined this dress online, we thought it looked like it had an extra large hem -- like maybe 5 inches. And this is what I was able to do with an extra 5 inches of fabric off the bottom of the dress . . .

I crafted sleeves for the sleeveless . . .
and a matching bow-tie for Bryant.

I can't wait to see them perform on Saturday, 4 June.
Wish you all could join us!

And I thought I was "Prom Free" this year

A couple of months ago, Christian asked me if I thought he should go to prom this year, and I replied, "Well, yes, I think you should go either this year or next year." And he readily decided that there was no girl this year that he "wanted to spend that much money on!" Then last Sunday I was observing some of the girls in YW who were contemplating whether or not to wear their prom dresses to church on the day after prom, and I thought to myself, hmmm . . isn't it nice to be "prom free" this year.

So we were all a little shocked when Lissie came home from seminary on Monday and announced that Ryan Nelson had asked her to prom. Then I responded, "Really?! Isn't prom this coming Saturday??" Well, Lissie had already told Ryan that she would have to "get back to him on that," and that gave us Monday afternoon to do some preliminary prom dress hunting. We drove out to RNZ (Rhein Neckar Zentrum) and scoured all the stores . . . but guess where we found the dress that she wanted? H&M, of course. She was in love with this flowy, knee-length, off-white dress, but I wasn't convinced yet. We bought it, but I reserved the right to return it if we found something better. However, by Wednesday afternoon, after a trip to the Heidelberg Hauptstrasse, we had the whole ensemble assembled . . . H&M dress, Monsoon shrug, Bijou Brigitte white flower headband, and red satin shoes from Ibiza Jeans. (Lissie's fashion style dictated just a touch of red amidst all that white (red shoes, red lipstick, red corsage).

And she truly looked LOVELY

And isn't the Heidelberg Castle the perfect place for a prom?

She had a lovely evening and we're all glad she got to go,
even if we thought we were "prom free" this year!

Ryan Nelson and Lissie

Heidelberg Prom 2011