Milan (2nd stop on our taste of Italy tour)

We arrived in Milan around 8 the first night of our trip. We however did not know where our hotel was. We bought a 90 minute metro ticket and attempted to get to what we thought was the closest train station. After running around (often in circles) in the the metro and being misguided multiple times we finally ended up at the train station we wanted to be at. Only to find out that we were still lost. We stopped to ask a lady for help and she guided us to a taxi guy because she did not know where our hotel was either. By this time it was 10:30 (Kevin admitted later he was thinking we might have to sleep at the train station) the taxi guy was very nice though and offered to take us to our hotel for 4 euros. We gladly accepted and were very happy to finally make it to our hotel safely.

The next day we headed to the Milan castle and then walked around a little quant park. Here we found some good entertainment. These women were working out in a large group with all there babies in strollers (great idea for Rexburg huh?) They even had their yoga mats with them.






We then made our way to the Milan Cathedral where we walked around inside and then went up to the top. Kevin and I both agreed that we love views so we would usually spend the extra money to go on top of things and see the view. The cathedral was amazing up top! There was so much detail and cool architecture. Plus an awesome view.








Following the cathedral we ate lunch and then headed over the mall that contained lots and lots of expensive things I will never be able to afford but they were still cool to look at. We of course had to stop by the bull and spin on his balls (they are supposed to be lucky). It was fun to look at all the expensive stuff and watch all these crazy people spending 2,000 euros on a purse! Overall Milan was fun but really busy.

Bern (1st stop on our taste of Italy tour)

Kevin and I decided to start our two week Italy trip off right by going to see the Bern Temple. Since it was a Monday the temple was closed however we were still able to walk around the grounds and marvel at the beauty. We took a train there and when we got off the train we had no idea which way to go. We decided to walk to McDonalds and ask, but before we got there Kevin spotted Moroni. It was amazing how peaceful it was just being on the grounds and how much it relaxed us both after a long day of stressful traveling. The temple reminded me a lot of the Idaho Falls Temple, which is probably because they were built right around the same time. The Bern Temple was also the first temple built in Europe.

After the temple we decided to just go back to the main train station and walk around Bern a little until our next train left for Milan. We walked around for a while and then ended up down a road that had a giant picture of a naked woman. We then decided to return to the train station. I was walking ahead of Kevin when all of a sudden I heard some guy yelling German. I turned around to see a Kevin holding the wrist of some crazy looking man. The man had reached into Kevin's backpack and Kevin had felt something so he reached back and found a hand. Luckily we only had some snacks in that pocket but it still shook us up a little.

Taste of Italy

Kevin and I decided that the perfect name for our two week Italy trip is the Taste of Italy. That is because we got a little taste of all of Italy. We began our trip in Milan and then traveled to Venice, Florence, Foggia, Rome, Taormina, Catania, and Trapani all in two weeks. We didn't spend a long time in any of the cities but we were usually able to see the major sites and relax a little. Our favorite spot was Venice. Along with being very romantic it was also very relaxing and beautiful. The best food was in Kevin's mission, Foggia and Sicily. We traveled by train and used a eurorail pass which allowed us 11 travel days on the train and we have two months to use them. Kevin's Italian seemed to come back to him with ease and It was a lot of fun watching him communicate with all the people. Although I often felt like he was a stranger because I had never seen this Italian side of him this much before. Being able to speak the language came in very handy though especially when finding our hotel was near impossible. In the end we got a lot of sun, walked lots of steps and miles, ate lots of good food, and enjoyed lots of good company.

Did I mention...

Did I mention that Germany parks are SO MUCH COOLER than American Parks.
They are even adult friendly.

5 Kids, 3 days

Okay I admit I have been slacking on the blog thing. Probably because I have so much to blog about and its a little intimidating. Anyways I guess I will start back at the end of April now that it is the end of May. In the end of April my sister took a trip with a bunch of ladies from the ward to Paris for 3 days. This meant that we had all 5 kids for all 3 days. The first day was a success. We were able to get Brooklyns science fair project set up at school and that night visited the fair as a family. That night however did not go as well. Right as we crawled into bed Nikole woke up screaming that the cops were going to come arrest (dang older sister who told her she would get arrested for stealing the flowers) after laying with her for an hour I got her calmed down and back in bed. Only to have the baby start crying. Well the rest of the night was filled with kids having nightmares and me laying with them and then putting them back to bed. The next night however we went bowling and watched a movie and had a big slumber party in the living room. It was a big success and Makenzie actually told me that night that I was the coolest aunt and thanked me numerous times for letting them "stay up late" and eat popcorn and pizza. The next day we spent at the park at some carnival activity. Overall it was fun and tiring at the same time (which i am sure is what most mothers would say). I was just grateful I had my side kick Kevin to help me out. He is really going to be a great father.

Once upon a time

Once upon a time there were 4 princesses and a prince living in Germany. One night the Queen went to a birthday party while the queen was away a wizard came and cast a spell on them. When she returned she found that they had all been turned into something else. The first princess had been turned into a beautiful tough Football Player


The second Princess had been turned into a pretty silly Clown


The third had been turned into an adorable Puppy


and finally the fourth was turned into a cute Kitty





But it was not long until their little brother and their favorite aunt tried to save them. However the wizard got her too and turned her into a funny looking princess. However Prince Carson got away and ran to get Uncle Kevin.




Uncle Kevin knew exactly what to do. He told them to all take a shower and they would be back to normal.






And they all lived Happily Ever After. The End!

Fall of the Wall

This past week we went to the place known for "The fall of the wall" aka Berlin. We left Heidelberg around 9 in the morning and arrived in Berlin at about 2. Due to our first train being late we missed our next train so we had to wait around about an hour. Luckily the train station is huge so it was easy to find some entertainment. We then headed north of Berlin to the Sachsenhausen concentration camp. It was a very humble experience for us both. It is so crazy to think that one man had the power to do so much destruction.









The next day we spent walking around the city and viewing all the historic points. So much has happened in the town but now it is just marked with little landmarks. Some of the things we saw were the TV tower at Alexanderplatz, the Berliner Dom, Brandenburg Gate, the Reichstag (parliment building), the Holocaust Memorial to the Dead, the aquarium,check point charlie and the East Side Gallery (Berlin wall, or what is left of it). Overall it was a good day but our feet sure hurt afterwards. The night ended with some weird meat sandwiches and a sauna in our hotel.

















The next day we woke up early and boarded a Train to Wolfenbuttel a little town where the coolest German lives... KIRA! It was so fun to see her again even if it was a quick trip. She took us around her town and showed us all the sights there and then we drove up to another town where there was a beautiful castle and view of the city and surrounding areas. We then headed back to the train station in the afternoon. We had a very fun relaxing day. Thank you Kira for being a great host and for showing us around. It was so good to see you again!