Our German Adventure Part 1: Edelweiss Hotel, Olympic Ski Stadium, and Neuschwanstein Castle

What a trip this was!  We made our way as a family to Germany.  We flew into Munich, rented a car, and drove to Garmisch, Germany to stay at the Edelweiss Lodge and Resort.  It's located on an army base there.  We left sunny Sigonella and made our way to Bavaria and the Bavarian Alps.  

Here's a picture of us before even leaving our driveway.  The adventure begins!

The views at the resort were breathtaking!  Lucy and I kept the "jumping for pictures" theme going for a lot of this trip, too.  

On one of the days there, we drove over to the Olympic Ski Stadium that is located in the valley.  It was built for the 1936 Olympics that were held there.  Benny was thrilled to be taking pictures again.  

Jason and the older kids hiked up near the top of the ski jump.  

Here's a picture from one of our breakfasts at the hotel.  It was a little pricey, but we looked forward to it every day.  The hotel really was awesome.  There was an indoor pool in the basement and a door that walked out to a big and beautiful outdoor hot tub.  Every evening we came back to the hotel, got our suits on and rode the elevator down to the pool.  We sat in the hot tub and watched as snowflakes would come down and melt.  

The hotel has restaurants and gift shops, too.  We started a movie for the kids in our room and had a little date night at the restaurant.  It was great!  

Garmisch is the small town that the Lodge is located in.  We were told about this awesome restaurant called Werdenfelser Hof that serves great food and has traditional entertainment.  We were able to see a few different dancers come out and perform a dance that is a traditional Bavarian slap dance.  It was pretty cool!  

Sullivan spent a couple of the days we were there at the Child Development Center (army base child care center).  They had a great hourly rate and allowed active duty tourists to use the facility.  It made it so we could do more of the outdoor trips.  By the late afternoon, we'd go pick him up and decide on dinner.  He was a big fan of the dancing!

One of the main reasons we traveled there during December was so we could experience the German Christmas markets.  The one in Garmisch was small, but still fun.  We LOVED the one in Munich best.  It was really big and very festive.  

More pics from the Olympic Ski Stadium

I love this shot of Sully.  He was cold and, as you can see, not thrilled to be hanging with Mom while the other kids and Dad hiked.

My attempt at cheering him up with a selfie photo shoot.  

I'm a little irritated that we didn't get more photos of our morning at Neuschwanstein Castle.  The battery on our nice camera had died and our phones were in use.  You see, this was the beginning of Sullivan's Frozen addiction.  To get to the castle, you have to park in the cute village of Steingaden and make the 45 minute hike up the paved road to the castle.  Sully was not a happy camper.  We had the stroller, but he continued to fuss.  So.....Frozen became his soothing balm.  We didn't have the movie downloaded, yet, but we had the soundtrack.  He LOVED the opening song....the one that doesn't say any real words, it just says "Nah, nah, nah, hey, nah, nah" over and over in a choir.  It's not a long song, so we put it on repeat and he listened to it over and over and over and over again until the phone died.  The baby and I road on a horse drawn carriage on the way back down the road.  We had to go warm up a bit.  

The castle is pretty incredible.  It was built for King Ludwig II in 1880's. The shy king built it to withdraw from public life.  It is the castle that Walt Disney patterned the one in Cinderella after.  

                               Here's a better picture that I found on the internet.

Christmas 2014

Christmas! I couldn't get the pictures to arrange in the order I want, so I'll just journal about them how they are.  

Sully's hair is pretty non existent in this picture.  I'm sure that this was just days after I tried to cut his mullet in back on my own and ended up taking him to the Community Center salon and they had to buzz it all.  

Judging from the lack of mess and other children, I think this picture of Benny is from Christmas Eve.  

This cowboy was thrilled with his gifts!  He wanted cowboy boots and a cowboy hat.  Santa delivered!

Christmas evening we decided to drive up to Castlemola (village on the tippy top of the mountain above Taormina).  The Fahey family had gone the year before and told us about it.  

We enjoyed walking the tiny streets and getting gelato.  The views did not disappoint.  

Carolyn (Fahey's grandma), Brendan, Graham, Evan 

The kids had a great time running up and down the stairs and streets in Castelmola.  Notice Benny in his boots.  

Back to Christmas morning.  Benny was at the height of his Frozen addiction at the end of December.  

While Lucy and I were in Belgium, we got these swords for the boys.  I knew Lucy wanted the gloves, so I got those for her when she wasn't watching.  

Right before J and I went to bed.  Such a magical and exciting sight to me.  

Rockin' the jams that Grandma and Grandpa sent.  Love me some Aggie wear!

Lucy's ornament this year was a flute.

Benny got a transformer Dinosaur because his bicycle ornament hadn't come yet.  

Graham got a Diary of a Wimpy Kid guy.  I don't remember what Sullivan got, but he did get one......promise.  

We did our annual Nativity play with narration, characters, and music.  We were so grateful for the costumes that Grandma made for us!  We needed more actors, so we invited the Fahey family to join us for the production.  

Megan, Graham, Lucy, Brendan, Evan and Benny

Post-trip Recovery and Christmas Blues

We went to Germany!  Maybe someday I'll get around to posting pictures and journaling all of our adventures.  We saw three different Christmas markets, we sledded, we ate....a lot, we swam in the pool and hung out in the outdoor hot tub.  We saw Austria, an Olympic park, and stood on top of the highest peak in Germany (Zugspitz).  Benny had the pleasure of puking in not one, but two airports and an airplane.  There were more than a few moments when Jason and I had to just look at each other and laugh so that we wouldn't cry.  Traveling with four kiddos in a foreign country had it's moments, but it was fabulous and I'd do it again tomorrow if we could.

We made our way back to Sicily on Saturday.  It seems we didn't have time to even take a breath.  We are back in full swing here in Sigonella.  I am the Relief Society president in our branch and there are two big events this week.  I am hosting a cookie exchange at our house for our monthly meeting.  We are hoping to use it as a fellow shipping event also, so lots of friends and neighbors will be here, too.  Lots of ladies and lots and lots of cookies!  Our little town house isn't roomy, so it'll be tight, but hopefully it will go well.

This Saturday is our branch Christmas party, so we're trying to get the finishing plans in order.  Our branch presidency was reorganized yesterday, so for now, Jason is no longer in the branch presidency.  The new president hasn't called counselors yet.

Sullivan is starting to talk so well!  He says "Mama" and "Da-Da".  You have to imagine him yelling it, because he never just says it.  He says "Santa" and when he sees Jesus in the nativity he says, "Bay-Beee".  It's pretty darn cute.  He's currently going through Frozen detox.  During the trip, just to keep him happy, he was always either watching Frozen on the iPad or one of our phones or he was carrying one of our phones around and listening to the soundtrack.  He LOVES the "na-na" song at the beginning of the movie.  He loves "Frozen Heart" and "Do You Want to Build a Snowman".  In fact, when he's asking for Frozen, he clicks his tongue over and over again like Anna does in the Snowman song.  Do you remember that part?  He cries for it while yelling, "NA-NA, NA-NA!"  We have to hide our phone and the iPad from him.  It's too cruel to allow him to see it.  It would be like smoking in front of a man trying to cut the habit.

Graham and Benny both have their final flag football practices and games this week.  Lucy would have them, too, but she's in a cast with a fractured thumb.  She has a science fair expo tomorrow and auditions for the school play, Wizard of Oz.  She's hoping to be one of the Citizens of Oz.  She practiced her song last night and got up really early to practice some more.  I hope it goes well for her.  I can't wait to talk to her tonight when she gets home.

As I'm sitting her typing, I'm listening to the Johnny Mathis Christmas album that Mom and Dad sent in their package we got a couple weeks ago.  It brings back so many memories.  I remember listening to it every year growing up, all through December.  Mom and Dad had the record, so it would catch in places and we'd have to jump next to the player to get it going again.  I sit here wishing I was in our home visiting with my Mom as she makes cinnamon rolls for us and the neighbors.  My kids and their cousins would be coming in and out from playing and fill us in on the latest argument they've had.  All the while, Johnny would be singing, "It's a marshmallow world in the winter" in the background.  I miss my family.  I miss my house.  I wish I could picture them all there.  Lucy and I had a little pity party last night for ourselves.  I found it interesting that she was most upset about Sunday dinners at Grandma's house.  She said she loved walking home from church and then everyone coming over for dinner together.  I miss that, too.

Christmas, for so many people, is a time of happiness and celebration, but it can also be so sad.  I'm just missing a place....my parent's home in Layton.  Many, many people are missing other people.  I can't even begin to imagine what that will inevitably be like.  It's hard to be away from our loved ones, but my loved ones are there.  I can call them.  I can picture them laughing together, even if it's in a different house in a different town.

I am grateful for my Savior.  Even when those extra lonesome Christmases come and I'm missing someone that has passed, it is because of Him that I'll be able to look forward to seeing my loved ones again.  No matter how sadly sentimental I get, that testimony will get me through.

December Randomness

These first few are from our Branch Christmas party.  Lucy and her BFF Bailey Wilson look so small!  They've grown so much in 8 short months!

Kylen and Korley Jones

Jett Jones and Graham

Lucy and Bailey performed a song for the group.  

I don't remember what happened.....I just remember it looked awful! 

I sent Christmas packages to the states to our fam.  It was complicated and hard.  I won't be doing it again....sorry.  

I went brunette for a while.  

Lucy broke her thumb at her flag football practice.  We didn't take her in for a couple days.  Finally I asked our neighbor, a doctor, what he thought.  He said we should get it looked at.  Low and behold...a cast was put on.  Parent fail.  In our defense, she does tend to hurt herself a lot and it hadn't swollen much at all.  Poor Lucy.

While wrapping Christmas presents one night, I had gone into our storage area to get the tape.  I accidentally knocked over a cast iron griddle and it fell directly on my pinky toe.  OUCH!  It hurt SOOOO BAD!!!  I thought it would fall off.  

I have to document our wonderful Christmas outfits that Grandma and Grandpa sent us.  Aren't these kids....and their clothes...adorable!

Sully woke up from nap with a fever, so he wasn't too chipper, but we got him to crack a little smile.