December in Germany

At the beginning of the kid's three week Christmas break we decided to check out Berlin, Dresden and Nurnberg with Brad's parents. Our first stop was a Tropical Islands water park near Berlin. Our five hour drive to Berlin turned into 12 hours because of snow, traffic and frozen windshield fluid lines. We had to stop about every 10-15 minutes to clean the windshield because we couldn't see. We finally made it to the hotel at 1:30 AM.

Thank goodness for Grandma and Grandpa who entertained the kids during the long drive!

The Tropical Islands Resort near Berlin. This use to hold planes but it is now an indoor tropical waterpark that is open 24 hours. The kids had a blast between waterslides and the kids area with go carts, trampolines, paddle boats and much more.

One of the pools in the resort.

The girls in little paddle boats.

After playing in the warmth, we had to venture out into the bitter cold to head to Berlin.

This is the gate where Pres. Reagan told Gorbachev to tear down the Berlin Wall.

A small part of the Wall still stands in Berlin today.

The Berlin Wall.

This is a church in Berlin that was bombed during the war and was never rebuilt as a reminder of the war.

This is the plaque where Pres. Monson dedicated the land in Eastern Germany behind the wall for the gospel to move forward in Germany. (Dresden, Germany)

The kids at the dedication site, Marshall is so happy to be out in the cold!

This is a church in Dresden that came down during bombings during WWII, but was rebuilt and was finally finished 4 years ago. The darker stones are from the original building.

Next we headed to Nurnberg where the largest Christmas market in Germany is. Kaycee and Marshall only made it about twenty minutes before they got too cold. Brad took them back to the car where they watched a movie. Lexi and I kept shopping with Grandma and Grandpa.

The only part Marshall liked about the Christmas market, cotton candy!

Outdoor stands at the Christmas market.


We finally made it home, and found snow at our place.

The first snowman of the year!

Kaycee and Marshall thought they would give Brad a new hair do!



RUDESHEIM CHRISTMAS MARKET!

One of the best parts of the markets is the food!!!

November '09

Lexi with her new braces!! She was so excited to get them, now she is not so sure after sore teeth and having to eat soft foods for almost a week. She loves the pink on them and looks very cute!

Thanksgiving dinner with great friends.

Waiting for their turn at the food! I remember being at the kids table once!

The "big" kids table.

After dinner the kids thought they would have a beauty salon!

The girls are so proud of the out come. Not much you can do with Brad's short hair.

Beautiful Kim!

Ouch! being pulled on both sides!

Lovely bows!

Poland Trip with the girls, shopping for Polish pottery!

Misty and Kim, thanks for the fun weekend and tips for shopping for pottery! Thanks to the husbands for taking care of the kids!

Halloween '09

The finished products!

We had Captian Jack Sparrow, a witch and a salsa dancer this year.

A couple of witches and a Salsa dancer at the church party!

Our decorated car for the church trunk-or-treat, now Kaycee is an evil salsa dancer!

Our trick-or-treating friends (Captain Jack Sparrow is now a ninja).

Lexi's Salsa performance at school.

The last day of soccer also landed on Halloween!

Lexi playing soccer and getting hit in the stomache (listen for Brad, dad's are so sympathetic).

Kaycee at soccer practice.

Marshall playing soccer.

October 2009

My dad and I (Lexi) won, so now we finally have a blog!!!!!!!!!!!!!! We decided we would start doing a blog. We don't quite know how to use it yet so we will just have to mess around with it.

A few weeks ago we headed down to Southern Germanay to Bertchesgaden. We went with my Grandma and Grandpa Barlow who are here serving a mission. We visited Eagle's Nest, castles, Konigsee and went hiking. The hotel we stayed at had really good hot chocolate.

This is us at Eagle's Nest, which was one of Hitler's homes. It is at the very top of the Bavarian Alps. We took a bus up, we went up a very skinny road with a drop off. When we got to the top we then had to take the "Golden Elevator" to the house. Marshall and Kaycee's eyes are

closed because the sun was so bright.

This is us in front of the Neuschwanstein Castle. Disney got the idea for their Cinderella castle from this. My favorite part was King Ludwig's room because he had a secret door which led to his bathroom. This was Kaycee and Marshall's favorite part too.

This is another one of King Ludwig's castles.

Neuschwanstein Castle



This is during our hike at Wimbachlamm.