Jeffers and the Wiggly Crawl

The video speaks for itself...but in short...as soon as the kid figures it out for reals, my life is over.

New Jewelry and Jeffers...

...Jeffers isn't new though...

So like we've posted, I have several new things on the website, let me know if anything interests you. http://triciajewelry.googlepages.com/home Lots of new Pacifier Holders.

Jeffrey got lots of awesome clothes for Christmas (good timing too, the kid is a weed and now wears 12 month clothes), but I must say Jeffrey's uncle Sam (no, not the one who employs his dad) has good taste! I love to dress Jeffers like a little man, maybe because of this little boy who used to be in our ward, he was always dressed like a little man and was always stinkin' cute! I don't know exactly why...anyway, this sweater/shirt combo...my all time favorite outfit right now! He'd wear it every day, but the kid drools and spits too much.

Tricia has been Making More Jewelry

Since I have had time off and have been able to be with Jeffrey during the day it has left Tricia with more opportunity to make her jewelry. The sister in the ward that used to make jewelry and sell to her friends from the ward has left, leaving the opportunity for Tricia to move in. I am sure that she will be updating her web site soon with her new items for sale.

Makeover

You like? We've updated and changed our look for the new year! Cory took the picture in the Grafenwoehr town center and we decided it sort of summed up our semi-transient (or as they say in Spanish, transuente) lifestyle. He's got a really artistic eye for pictures. We hope you like.

I'm finally feeling human after the pneumonia...still sleeping lots and resting and I've taken the next week off of dance, hopefully Cory's cold won't get worse now. Meanwhile I've had oodles of time to make more jewelry, so expect an update to the website soon!

2008

Tricia and I had a quiet celebration for the New Year. Jeffrey seemed determined to stay up as late as we did. He is such an energetic boy that for him sleep may mean the loss of some adventure, playtime, or experience. Therefore, he often fights off sleep just to see what else is going on that just cannot be missed.

At midnight, we stepped to our dinning room window to view the fireworks sent up to the sky from the park and from all of our surrounding neighborhoods. As the fireworks dissipated, the desire for sleep came over us and sent us to bed. I am excited to think that I will pass all of 2008 in Germany. I am sure that I will have many adventures with Tricia and Jeffrey worth remembering this year.

Jeffrey Opening Gifts

Jeffrey at Christmas

The First Vision

While reading ahead for next weeks elders quorum lesson in the new "Teachings of Joseph Smith" manual, I thought about the First Vision and wrote the following down in my notebook.

I believe that the first vision occurred just the way that Joseph Smith says that it did. The account not only makes Joseph Smith special, the way that the ancient apostles are special for what they witnessed, but it also makes us special, the same way that believing and living the teachings of the ancient apostles makes us special. Jesus told his original 12 apostles that they were blessed for seeing and hearing him, but blessed would also be they who had not seen and heard, and yet believes. On Mount Sinai, the Lord only appeared unto Moses, yet that great visitation set the house of Israel free of bondage. Only Saul was able to hear the voice and see the great light, yet millions today come closer to Jesus Christ by reading the account and teachings of the apostle Paul. I have not witnessed what took place before Joseph Smith's eyes, nor anything like unto it in drama or fact, but I can declare that I have been blessed by receiving a witness of my own that his account is true and accurate.

Getting Close to Crawling

Jeffrey is proficient at rolling over from stomach to back, and back to stomach. Just a few days ago we saw him go from a sitting position to a stomach down laying position by putting out his hands to steady and slow his fall. He is able to turn all 360 degrees to explore his surroundings and prop himself up very well. He has been seen dragging himself with his hands over a smooth surface, but he has yet to crawl. With all of these other accomplishments, it should not be long until he is independently mobile.

Our Very Merry Christmas

Jeffrey's crinkle detector was going off the charts as he sat in the middle of us as we urged him to open his boxes and bags. His favorite wrapper is the shiny cellophane. It combines the best of each attraction category: bright color, reflection, plastic feel, and crinkle sound. All of his gift clothes fit him well, and just in time since we took down several outfits downstairs to be stored away just yesterday. His several toys, fire truck, farmyard, turtle, and others kept him entertained all day long. The best part of the whole day was watching Jeffrey touch, feel, grab, pull, and explore all the new shiny things around him.

Tricia and my parents surprised me with the Red Rider gift hiding behind the tree, waiting to be presented as the last gift of the morning. I am going to shoot my eye out – with a Canon 30D dSLR camera.

Tricia and I made our traditional scrambled eggs with sour cream and half and half. Wow, those are some eggs. Last nights ham was featured as the accompanying side dish. The afternoon was spent shooting photos around the house and watching "Pirates of the Caribbean III." In the evening we called our families and talked on the webcam.

Map of our Journey

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Garmisch and Dachau

In Garmisch we stayed at the Hotel Frauendorfer, a quaint bed and breakfast full of Bavarian trinkets and tradition. Each morning we ate a typical German breakfast of a hard roll with meat and cheese, yogurt and fresh fruit. In the evening, we ordered our meal while enjoying and older gentleman play on his accordion and sang traditional songs.

The concentration camp of Dachau took up our second day. There is not very much to see of the camp left, only the footings of buildings and old photographs put on display in the museum. The bitter cold blowing through the camp made us think about how unbearable it must have been to stand in roll call for over an hour each day with no warm coats such as we were wearing.

Linderhof

The Linderhof, favorite home of King Ludwig, was the focus of this day. Although not as large as some of the castles and mansions we have seen before, this was one of the better tours. Every room of the Linderhof is exquisite and impressive.

Müchen

In müchen we parked out car below a mall and walked to the Marienplatz to visit the Christmas Market. Vendors of Christmas ornaments and decorations along with hot food filled the main plaza. Most of our day was taken up in the Residenz, the original home of the duke and dutchess of Bavaria. The enormous home has been converted into a museum to display the royal collection of jewels and valuables, and open to the public to walk through.

Rothenburg, Mid Evil Punishment Museum and the Weis Kirche

Rothenburg was our next stop, a mid evil city that has been meticulously preserved. This is the only city left in Europe with its entire protective wall and dry moat still intact. It seems that the entire city is one big Christmas snow globe ready to be shaken up. Nearly all of the shops feature Christmas gifts, ornaments and decorations. We also visited a museum featuring mid evil torture devices.

On our way to Rothenburg we stopped at the Weis Kirche, a well know church tucked away in a small farming town. While inside this incredibly decorated church it is easy to forget just how small the town in outside.

Jeffrey on Vacation

Jeffrey had a fun time as he traveled. He had to endure a lot more of the car seat than he has had to before, but whenever he was out of his seat many people stopped us to comment on how happy and giggly they found him.

Obstacle Course

I was invited to participate in an obstacle course with the Germany Army. I with the German soldiers near the NCO Acadmey where we took a three hour bus ride trip to the German base which has the obstacle course. I got to know several of the soldiers and we ended up exchanging email addresses in order to share our photos with each other.

The first obstacle was a wall climb followed by a pole slide down the other side. By the time I had climbed to the top of the wall my arms had lost their strength, which made it hard for me to have the confidence to grab onto the pole to slide down all 30 meters. I finally made it and moved onto the ladder climb, which lead to a steel rope bridge crossing and ending in a zip line slide.

The rest of the obstacles of the day tested my muscular endurance with wall climbing, rope swinging, high beam balancing and many other. During the entire course we all had harnesses for safety, which also allowed for more death defying obstacles. This is by far the best obstacle course I have ever been on.

One of my favorite obstacles of the day was the steel rope bridge over which I crossed "commando" style. One I had arrived in the middle and felt the exhaustion set in my arms a truck drove underneath me reminding me of just how high up I really was.

Christmas Card Pictures...

So you want to know how we got this?

It took lots of tries...first we had to set up the camera and a lamp to provide extra lighting.
We didn't always get the camera timing just right...Jeffrey would get distracted when Daddy had to run back and get back into place.
Sometimes he would just make a face like this...it's cute, but not quite right for a card.
Sometimes Daddy just wouldn't make it back in time at all.

In the end, we finally got it!

It took quite a few tries to get his smile just right too...in the end we had to resort to singing the donut song and pinching his leg.

Merry Christmas Everyone!

(This was before I cut my hair last week...it's much much shorter now...I need to post a picture soon.)