It has been fun to be back with Matt..and even though it has been cold this week- we decided to get out and do some fun stuff and enjoy all the time we have together :)
Of course...we played Just Dance!!
Matt's teammate, Radenko, and girlfriend, Ivana came over for "American Pancake" night. While I was gone, they had pancakes at least once a day :)
It turned more into a battle...rather than a dance!
We also went to a water park...called Bullabana- an indoor pool/sauna.
It was SOO nice and fun!!
I love these first couple of pictures- it was so warm in their my camera was all steamed up-- but it looks like I edited them that way :)
Colton was in HEAVEN! I have never seen him so happy in my life- for 3 hours he ran, splashed, squealed, and smiled :)
Towards the end of our visit more people started to show up, and Colton just watched the little boys run around.
Notice the little speedo-- most of the little kids don't wear suits at all
The next evening we were going to go bowling-- but it was full of German military, so we went back to our house and played UNO instead :)
However, the next day we did get to go bowling!!
Colton, LOVED that too-- he got to bowl a few times although Matt almost threw him with the ball ;)
Our wonderful friends, Katrin, Basti, Sandra, and her boy Jason
I HAD to post these..he is such a WIMP when it comes to stairs, and I mean really- is that little ledge even classified as a stair...
SOOOoo.... A lot of people think it should be really easy to cook in a different country. Just type in everything on google, translate it to English and BAM---
Leak clean and cut into thin rings. Meatloaf in a little hot oil. Mitdunsten garlic and mix briefly. 3/4 liter water pour in Bag and contents einruhr boil while dysentery. Shmelzkase unterruhren over medium heat about 15 min. Cook from umruhren and then.
Yep...that's it. By the way, this is how to make this Amazing cheese soup-- but it's taken me a few tries! A lot of the words don't translate, and to cook is the same as to boil-- so who knows about thaT? It will be nice to be back to reading and understanding instructions.
But I'm not going to lie, we have gotten quite a few laughs from the translations!
Sylke and Christian took Colton and I with them to Leipzig for an "Exhibition" while Matt was in Frankfurt for his gamE! It was almost like an indoor fair type thing?? ANYWAY- I hate when I don't take pictures of EVerything-- so I only have a few but it was such a nice day to get out of the house in the Still cold February! SAND CASTLE: There were dogs, cats, birds, cows, chickens, rabbits, etc. etc. and Colton ran around petting the dogs and looking at all of the animals-- then we had some lunch at one of the restaraunts inside- and Colton pretty much crashed right after that, so we got to walk around and enjoy the rest of the time just looking :)
They have A TON of meat and cheese stands. It is all not refrigerated so it kind of grosses me out a little bit, but no one gets sick so it must be ok :)
They also had stands with Easter Decorations, displays of German "Gardens", displays of furniture, etc. etc. oh and they had stands with "Soft Eis" Everywhere. I kept wondering what the hype was with the Soft Eis that Everyone had! So...we got some and it was basically just yep, soft ice-cream out of a machine :) I prefer the Gelato!
Colton and his dad are back to being best buds. Colton absolutely Loves sitting in Matt's lap, maybe it is bigger than mine so he fits in there better or something???
After leaving Germany for 3 weeks and then returning, I noticed quite a few differences that I didn't really notice after living here for 6 months... AND I have to document of course :)
In America, yes there are a lot of restaraunts (fast food/sit down/healthy/unhealthy) Of course this can be a bad thing...However, it can be a VERY convenient thing/fun thing/form of entertainment. If you are in the mood for some Mexican, chinese, italian, and I am sure even German- you can find a place to go to satisfy those cravings in America. So, although I think a lot of people think we eat "fast food" a lot, there is more to fast food than McDonalds. We have fast food pasta places, sandwhich/soup, salads...etc. etc. It is one thing I miss, is having a variety from 1000 different cultures to choose from-- although not eating out does help shed a few pounds...
So, when I moved here I started to get the feeling that a lot of the "older generation" in East Germany were "Grumpy" Grumpy as in, you smile at them on the street and they give you a strange look, or you are going to get in line at the grocery store with a child whining to get out of here and they race in front of you (yep, it has happened). Anyway, I kept thinking- they are grumpy because of everything they have gone through, bla bla. Well- when I went back to America- there are some grumpy old people there too :) I guess it's all about what you are looking for. I came back and started looking for the people that DID smile at me or Colton, and there were quite a few!
I went out to a movie while I was home and the show started @9- we got there 2 hours early because the earlier show was sold out. Anyway, as we were walking around the movie theater- there are shops/restaraunts all around it-- and there were about a 10000 people out and about. Maybe I haven't been out that much at night in Germany, but from what I can see everything closes down about 8 or even earlier...ok maybe just in Weissenfels :)
OK...I have noticed this, but after going home it kind of amplified it-- the milk cartons are SO small...gallon jugs are pretty nice when you are having to open several new cartons a day!
And lastly...Germany is so green! I enjoyed coming back and even though there is still some snow, when it melts I see GREEN underneath! Crazy???
P.S. Does anyone else notice Germany right behind us in the Olympics?? Maybe I have never paid attention that closely before...
The flight back was as good as it could have been I suppose.
I did have quite a bit of good luck come my way though...
Colton was running a fever for 2 days straight before we left, and the morning we were headed to the airport- no fever :) Just a cough/stuffy nose!
When we got to the airport there were about 300 people in line ahead of me- all trying to figure out their cancelled flights from Atlanta. We asked a bunch of people if I could move to the front or I was going to miss my flight, but they kept saying Sorry! Finally, we found the right person who led me to the front of the line ahead of everyone 45 minutes before my plane took off!
I had the ONLY open seat on the 8 hour flight from New York to Berlin- So Colton didn't have to sit in my lap the entire way! And he slept the first 6 hours :)
There was a wonderful lady on my plane who held Colton when I went to the bathroom, and even walked around with him towards the end of the flight to give me a break :)
Anyway- I was a little nervous about flying alone with Colton- but my prayers were answered and everything worked out just fine!!
Going home was great, I loved being with family/friends, eating some of my favorite foods, and watching some of my favorite shows :) I think I missed Matt waaaay too much though.
Here are a few pictures from my trip ( I was SOO bad at taking pictures while I was home)
The whole family eating at Fudruckers :) with Mikkel. Greatest hamburger place- even though I get chicken!
Colty with his grandpa Clair playing in the snow
Colton with his cousins Kudter and Kache riding the sled
At my parents house with his buddy Shadow- he would say Shadow (ok-he tried to say Shadow) while he would sneak some food to her.
My mom is such a very creative woman. Every Valentine's Day, she makes a "red dinner" Everything we eat is red, or on red plates, with red cups...etc. She made this cute display of red velvet cupcakes to go with it :)
My brother Travis is not living at home, he is away at school. Tyson was wearing his Jako shirt the day Travis came home for the "Red Dinner" and Travis happened to be wearing it too- so I told Tanner to go put his on so we could have a Jako shirt picture- even though I actually don't have one!
It was a fun night, after our dinner, my mom bought the Wii game "Just Dance" and we all went downstairs and danced the night away..haha.
I loved being home and having Colton meet all of his family! Last time we were home he couldn't walk, talk (not that he talks a WHOle lot now), or even hardly recognize a lot of them- so it was fun seeing how different he interacted with everyone!
Thanks for letting me come spend a few weeks with you all! :)
I can not believe it's been a week and a half since I left for America--and Sylke is already gone! Coming home isn't quite as I imagined it would be- well I should say coming to America isn't quite like I imagined it would be. It has been wonderful seeing family/friends, but I don't think it really matters where I live --as long as I have my husband :) I think everyone that has a young child/baby traveling across the world has some kind of interesting experience- ours was exactly that--interesting. We got to the airport and they told me that I had not previously purchased a ticket for Colton (which I had). I got a little panicked, but called my wonderful husband, and he said "Just buy another one, and we'll worry about it later" Great advice- so I just bought another one and got on the plane. We got on the runway about to take off- and they tell us there are a few engine problems we need to go back and check out really quick. Really quick turned into 4 hours--4 hours!!! This was before our 9 hour flight even began. I was about ready for a refund and drive back home at that point. Once we got up in the air though, Colton took a nap, played, looked at books, took another nap-- and I watched 4 excellent movies :) We arrived in New York, and of course, we missed our flight. My cell phone worked though- which was wonderful!! We got vouchers for a hotel/meal-- too bad it took us a couple of hours to get through customs and to our hotel, and by that point it was 3 A.M. Germany time (9 P.M. in new york). We fell asleep for 4 hours and were back up at 2 A.M. New York time to get on our next flight, which Colton slept for the first 3 1/2 hours of-- so I can't complain :) Sylke was ready to go out on the town in New York because it was her first time there, but I was all about going to bed. We did get to stop in a souvenir shop so she got to pick out a few things before we lefT! Colton on the New York- SLC flight. Dang-- he was tired. Too bad he took up the entire row! The day after we arrived we took Sylke SHOPPING! And Shopping she did :) We also made a stop at good old Cafe Rio! Sylke got a salad! At Cafe Rio I noticed Colton wouldn't really eat anything, and when we got home- same thing. This is NOT normal for my son who will put anything in his mouth at any time of the day. He started to get really tired and was sitting in my little brother- Tanner's - lap (facing him) All of the sudden he started throwing up in Tanner's lap- and yep- Tanner shoved him away! Poor little guy. So, we got him all cleaned up and he seemed happy. About 30 minutes later it came again. This time, A TON. We gave him a bath- and put him in a big old pink t-shirt so ALL of his pajamas wouldn't have puke on them and this time and he seemed better again. Well, there was a Third round of throw up and then he just sat there like he had no energy in the world. I thought this was going to be an all-nighter when all of the sudden he sat up and started giggling. He wiggled down onto the ground and for the next 2 hours ran around like a happy little camper! Talk about a trooper! The next day we went to Tanner's basketball game and he did awesome, but we came home early because we were still exhausted from our journey....And my mom got sick! And Colty was a little weak after his crazy night the night before! So- Wednesday morning, we drove to the lovely Park City. We got to do some shopping in the outlets, and went and saw the town. After we got home Wednesday afternoon, Sylke started feeling sick and throwing up, and a few hours later- I got the same thing!!! We were supposed to be headed to Idaho the next morning, so we just relaxed that morning trying to feel better before taking off to Idaho. Well, we made it to Idaho and got to go out to eat at Texas Roadhouse-- even though we both hadn't eaten anything that day. Those rolls still tasted SOO good! Here are my nephews- Kudter and Kache, they loved seeing Colton! The next day we showed Sylke around the town! And then went out for dinner with the girls at Chilis!!! Sylke, Mikkel, Abby, and I Here is the whole gang-- with Matt's dad joining on the girl party :) Mikkel has a game called Just Dance, on the Wii. Greatest game ever!! We played it for hours! Sylke riding the horseS! Later than night- Matt's parents both starting feeling sick (and brother and sister and law)- and got the same thing we all got...talk about contagious? Colton must have gotten something bad on the airplane! Something I have been looking forward to was going to an ISU basketball game. Obviously, it's not the same as when Matt played- but definitely still worth it to watch the guys he used to play with and to see everyone! Lisa Kinghorn came with her daughter, Ella, who is 6 months old! Soo cute! All the girls again! I have always loved all of Matt's old coaches wives and it was soo good to see them again! 2 of them are expecting babies in the summer--all girls! Dinner at the Stucki's before headed home Sylke had to get the Welcome to Utah picture :) Sylke also learned how to bake "American Style" On her last day, we took a tour of SLC. It was almost 50 degrees and Sunny- so nice! That night we were able to go to a Utah Jazz game, and they were playing The Mavericks with their very own Dirk Nowitski (from Germany). We tried to figure out a way for Sylke to meet him, but it didn't work out :( We did get to sit down close while Dirk ran out and Sylke snapped some pictures! The Jazz won, so we were happy, and Dirk played well as usual- So Sylke was happy too! It was so fun having Sylke here with us since she has shown me so much of her life in Germany, it was fun to show her a bit of our life in America!
