Tommy & Katie

We're Back!

2010-10-08T21:42:00.000-07:00

Yep, after a full year (to the date even) we're back. Well, we have actually been back since last August from our European adventure, what I mean is we are back in the blogging world. I have been working on a long, LONG post. Pretty much a year in recap. Stay tuned :)

Ciao Venice

2009-10-08T15:56:00.000-07:00

For our last European hoorah we decided to meet up with our dear friends, Yannick and Carolin Adler, and do a little sight-seeing in Italy. Our first stop, Venice!

In the Ford Wagon...

Heidi was a little temperamental at the beginning of our trip. Lets just say she had a hard time finding Venice's Hotel Palladio. She decided to take us on a road that didn't exist. When we visited this imaginary road an old Italian grandma, apron and all, started yelling at us (in Italiano of course) that we went the wrong way. While the old lady was screaming at us Yannick was in the background saying I forgot all the Italian I learned!! It was seriously hilarious. Once she realized we had no idea what she was say she just laughed and pointed still speaking Italian.

Driving through the beautiful Italian Alps. The hills were covered in vineyards!

Welcome to Venice!

Tommy modeling the lovely room at The Hotel Palladio.

Super Classy and cozy for the FOUR of us...

Don't you just love the sofa bed?

Rialto Bridge

Entering Venice. The city really is on WATER!

Picturesque

I took MILLIONS of pictures. Venice is seriously a photographer's heaven.

San Marco Square

I insisted that the flag had to be blowing in the picture. Sorry for being so picky Adlers! You are great photographers.

Before we went to Italy my Dad told us we absolutely had to visit this little island called Burano. I must agree it was definitely a place we didn't want to miss! It was so colorful!

People say the fisherman painted their homes so they could find them easier after a hard days work. It could be true... all the houses were a different color. I'm pretty sure they just re-painted because they were extremely bright!

Don't you just love the drying laundry hanging out the windows?!

We absolutely loved everything about Venice.

Saying Goodbye to Munich...

2009-10-08T15:25:00.000-07:00

We were SO sad to say goodbye to beautiful Germany. We had such a wonderful summer. It was so great to live somewhere new and figure out how to live without our families an hour away. (we were so excited to get home to them by the way. We were missing all of your faces!! They just aren't as lovely on skype as they are in person!!) Anyway, Germany was the experience of a lifetime. We loved every minute of it!

One last look at the famous Glockenspiel...

The beautiful city I wandered and got lost in daily...

That face is definitely scared. We climbed the bell tower while the wind was blowing (terrible idea) and the tower actually shook. I was so terrified, my little heart was pounding! Tommy was loving it.

Our last dinner at one of our favorite restaurants, Donisl. The food and entertainment was always excellent! My mouth waters for their apfel strudel :)

Cute Tommy on our last Ubahn ride. (Isn't he just handsome?!)

Auf Wiedersehen Munich.

We miss you.

We'll be back!

BMW + Tommy = LOVE...

2009-08-13T05:10:00.000-07:00

Tommy was DYING to see the BMW museum so finally I caved in and decided to go. Surprisingly I loved it! In fact, I loved it so much I took over 100 pictures. OOPS :) They had quite the display of cars and carparts... I especially LOVED the oldies. Do I even have to tell you what Tommy thought??? (refer to picture below)

Of course he LOVED it.

The OLDIES :)

Can we just say Tommy would love his car to look like this? Really.

Totally nerdy listening to the engines VROOMMMM

Kind of boring towards the end. I am not a fan of futuristic cars.

For the sister-in-law :)

SO HOT.

BANG!

2009-08-13T05:06:00.001-07:00

Some friends in our ward introduced us to this awesome board game called "Bang." We loved it and will be buying when we get home. Family, Friends, we'll be calling you to come play soon.

Bike Tour of Munich...

2009-08-13T04:52:00.001-07:00

We decided to try out the free bike tour with our friends. It turned out to be so much fun!

Our sweet cruisers
Our friends Hector and Adelaide
You wish this was beer.... yummy apfelshorle

The surfers never get old. There lots today!
Husbands

Even though we had seen most of the sights before we loved hearing the history behind our city. It was such a great day. Sometimes I still can't believe I'm in Germany.

Fun Date Night...

2009-08-13T04:37:00.000-07:00

One of our fun friday date nights in Munich.

We just can't get enough of the jumping pictures.

Happy Birthday Tommy!

2009-08-13T03:20:00.000-07:00

Tommy turned the big 25 this year so we decided to celebrate Euro-style. Audi was celebrating their 100 year birthday and hosted a tournament in Munich. The teams were AC Milan, Boca Juniors, Manchester United, and FC Bayern. We were able to see all four teams play on one evening. It was soccer euphoria!

In front of the stadium...
Quite the production...
One excited birthday boy!

FC BAYERN MUENCHEN!
A few action shots...
Rhonaldinho # 80

Red for Bayern Munich...
Crowded ubahn station - full of singing fans!
Still excited. (look at all those fans!)

Happy Birthday babe!

I Love to See the Temple...

2009-08-10T12:44:00.000-07:00

A few weekends ago our ward took a trip up to the temple in Frankfurt. Yes, it is considered a trip because it is a few hours away and there are a lot of logistics involved in getting everyone there. The temple in Frankfurt is right in the middle of this suburban neighborhood. That little building on the left is a quasi hostel where we stayed.

The beautiful temple...
Cute Tommy...
We had a very early morning! Breakfast started at 7 am, but someone had to be up to make it so I was up at 6:00 hurrying to get ready so I could help the breakfast crew. We had one delicious "American breakfast" - english muffins, bacon, pancakes, and CHOCOLATE MILK! Definitely been missing that stuff for about 3 1/2 months now.

The crew eating...
In front of the temple...
The Ladies... ( Don't worry there are shorts on those white legs!)
"Carpool family"
Meet Andrea Metzner who we obviously ran into in the hostel cafeteria. She is from Pforzheim which was Tommy's first mission area. He was so excited. He ran and found me outside and brought me in to introduce her. He was all smiles!

We were so grateful for the oppurtunity to attend the temple in Germany. It was definitely different hearing the session in German. I did it all in English, but Tommy did everything auf Deutsch and loved it. Such a neat experience - glad we got to be there.

How Do You Say Delicious auf Deutsch??!

2009-07-31T14:18:00.000-07:00

Spaghetti Eis!

They take gelato and push it through a "noodle maker"... not sure of the correct name of this kitchen utensil but it is divine! Under the gelato noodles is A LOT of whipped cream, then a raspberry sauce is poured over the top. White chocolate shavings complete the "spaghetti" imitation as parmesan cheese. UNREAL. Why did it take 3 months to discover this little treasure?!

Weekend Visit to Nuernberg...

2009-07-30T05:07:00.000-07:00

Tommy was working at Puma for the week so I decided to come visit him and we stayed in Nuernberg for the weekend. Here are a few pics of our adventure in Franken!

We had Sunday dinner with the Preiss family. It was delicious! Tommy served in their ward for a year and this dear sister always cooked at zone conference. Her tiramisu is legendary!

Nuernberg was where the Nazi party hosted huge rallies. There is a whole complex of buildings, etc. where the rallies were held. This is the Colosseum that wasn't ever finished. It is HUGE!

Kate up at the tribunal where you know who entered and preached to the masses.

Thousands of people could gather here in the Zeppelin field and watch, etc.

This is a cool little town we stopped in when we took the long way home. It took us through the Fraenkische Schweiz which is a super pretty part of Franken. There were cliffs, rivers, and darling houses the whole drive! It was gorgeous!

It was such a great weekend! We played volleyball with the ward Friday night, ate Burger King (I was ecstatic), Tommy went paintballing Saturday on an Army base, we had fajitas for dinner (yum), and Sunday we went to church where Tommy served. It was so fun to see Tommy interact with the people from his mission. He loved being back in "his" dear Nuernberg.

The Dautel family took very good care of us. We loved playing with their cute little girls and celebrating Robbies birthday. Unfortunately I didn't take any pictures of us together. What was I thinking??

We've Been Counting the Days... Parents Visit!

2009-07-14T09:20:00.000-07:00

(excuse my bad handwriting)

We had such a great time with our parents! We loved having them here and were so sad to see them go! As you can see our trip was packed! We got to see so much! Thank you both sets of parents for such a great trip. We had a blast being with you and making memories! I had to put all of our pictures in a slideshow. I had way too many to post them one-by-one. Also, I got to take my dad's other camera around so I don't have any pictures in Salzburg! Oops.

London...

2009-07-01T00:40:00.000-07:00

The day after we got back from Switzerland I headed to London. Unfortunately, Tommy had to work so he didn't get to come. (someone has to pay the bills :) ... jk) He actually started working in Nurnberg on Puma so he really couldn't take any days off. The timing was pretty perfect though, I didn't have to stay home alone all week while he was gone. Anyway, London was great, and it was so nice to hear English again! I have been missing it! Here are a few pictures of what we did and saw. I'm pretty sure we saw just about everything! My favorite part of the trip was at the airport in the passport line. The stamp guy asked Brianna where we were staying; after she told him, the look on his face was priceless! All he said was, "well, that's a pretty scary neighborhood. Be in at 10 and act like you know what you are doing." haha. It was a great start to our little adventure. (Stop worrying Mom we were fine)

Windsor Castle. VERY OLD... (we got a kick out of the "Where's Waldo" shirt...haha)
Shakespear's Globe Theatre...
London Tower Bridge...
I couldn't resist...
The nice Bobbies. I love their hats...
The London Eye.
Can you tell I was stoked to see this?! Big Ben!!
The Parliment buildings were huge! I couldn't get them all in with my tiny camera...
Standing where the Queen Elizabeth's body laid for 3 days before her burial. (in a coffin of course) This room was the oldest room in the whole buiding. After visiting this room we went into the House of Lords to watch the debates. I was totally lost about what they were talking about, but it was still pretty sweet to see where the queen sits when she attends.
Westminster Abbey was incredible. This picture doesn't do it justice...
In front of Buckingham Palace...
Watching the changing of the guards was a pretty interesting experience. It was nothing like I expected. They did this big parade thing around the grounds then marched in the gates and played Thriller and Mission Impossible. After all that the guards switched and it was over. I thought the best part was watching the bobbies on their horses scooting and yelling at people to form a walk way. English accent + anger = entertainment.
The place was packed! This was my little space. (I am guarding my backpack because they said it was the best place for those dirty european pocket pickers)
Trafalgar Square...
My 2 favorite paintings are in the building behind me. Vincent Van gogh's Sunflowers and Georges Seurat's Bathers at Asnieres! That was the highlight of my entire trip!
On Thursday night we bought tickets to see "As You Like It" in the Shakespeare Globe Theatre. We only paid 5 pounds and stood the entire time like the peasants did. As bad as that sounds, it turned out to be a blast! I loved every minute of it!
The bus rides were so entertaining! We had way too much fun on them! The perspective is a little off when you sit in the very front seats on the top. Anything in front of you or to the side of you would just disappear when you got close to it. We loved watching bikers and cars get "crunched." (they really didn't-that's just what it looked like!)
Another picture I just couldn't resist. I at least thought the guard would smile while we weren't looking...

Adilynn Reese Hartigan...

2009-06-20T04:08:00.001-07:00

This sweet little girl came Monday while I was in London. Happy to be there, but SO sad I missed out on this! I can't wait to meet her! CONGRATS!

(Thanks for sending the pictures Dad we loved them!)

More Cowbell!!

2009-06-18T16:17:00.000-07:00

This is our super fast purple people transporter. We rented a Ford when we went to Prague and this time we ended up with this sweet, roomy Kia. The back seat had lots of room and it also served as our storage facility since our hostel didn't have any lockers. Purple is the new black!
The Lakelodge Hostel. This was where we slept, ate, and showered only. It's in Iseltwald, which is a little outside Interlaken, but right on the waterfront. The bathroom was clean and the water was plenty hot so we were content. Sleeping with 8 other people in one room was a new experience for us, though!
Like I said above, Tommy and Katie + 8 more people= cozy (and some funk in the morning...) The Willeitners, Tommy and I were on the top and Tommy got to sleep next to a stranger. His name was Mitchell. He came with us on the first half of our long hike and was from California....about all we know about him. Luckily he didn't snuggle.
We didn't get to the hostel till late at night so we weren't too sure what our surroundings were like. This is what we woke up to, the view out of our window :)

This is in the Lauterbrunnen valley. It was a little overcast and threatened to rain, but we never got dumped on too bad. This is on our mini hike where we checked out this awesome glacial waterfall that has carved up the mountain all cool.
Us looking up at Tommy poking out of one of the platforms. There were lots of stairs and tunnels going up and down the side of the mountain to give us a good view of the waterfall. It was very impressive!!
Kate posing in front of the waterfall sign.
Day 1 random hike. The tourist maps were terrible, but we thought we would try to find our way up the side of the mountain anyway. We weren't really sure where we were trying to go, but it was still pretty. Here's Kate with some goats we discovered. They all had bells and followed us as far as they could.
Tommy and the Willeitners posing on our hike. The wildflowers and sheer beauty of this valley never got old. Add in the tingling cow and goat bells and this place was super therapeutic!
After our aimless wandering in the Alps we decided to check out our neighborhood a little more. This is obviously sunset on a dock.
Us on the top of Schynige Platte. You can cheat and take a train up to the top, but we did it the old fashion way (and almost killed ourselves). It took us 9 hours from the time we left the car to when we got back, but the views were worth it.
Chillaxin on the side of the mountain, taking in the serenity.
Ryan and Tommy wanted to go check out the next peak down. I got this picture of them on their way over there. It was a sheer finger that they had to scramble up on to, but they said it was sweet.
View from the top with the Jungfrau in the background. The Jungfrau is the highest point in all of Europe. You can take a train up to the top, but it didn't fit in our budget. Next time....
The day after our big hike we took it a little easier. This is at a ski resort in the Interlaken area. We went on a little kid experience trail that had a cute story about a dwarf and all his friends. It would be a great place to take kids someday.
Us on our dwarf trail. The ringing cowbells serenaded us the entire time. The ambiance is just unreal. We will try to post the video so you can hear it! These are "Happy Cows" for Cyndi.
After following the dwarves around we decided to rent this little peddleboat and take it out on the lake. The water was so clear and pretty, but COLD!
Look out tan lines! These white boys tried to get some sun...obviously they could use all they can get. Maybe some time in the gym wouldn't hurt either! Love you babe ;)
The worst decision I made the whole trip. Tommy wouldn't get in and I should have joined him in that thought. It was FREEZING!!

Sunday we woke up, got ready and went to church. After church we drove home and spent 2 of our travel hours in bumper-to-bumper traffic. We made a potty stop in Zurich and would have liked to have spent more time there. Seems like a pretty cool place. Our GPS "Heidi" decided to give up the ghost so we had drive the old fashion way by using street signs. We made it home safely and Heidi decided to work once we got to Munich. Thank you Heidi for adding some adventure to our trip!

This is what we were hearing for all of our hiking adventures, but no yodling. I need more cowbell!

Monday Excursion...

2009-06-07T09:50:00.000-07:00

Thank you Catholicism for the Monday holiday. We had such a great day. It started out cold and dark but the weather finally cooperated and turned really nice in the afternoon. We decided to go to Chiemsee and check out one of Ludwig II palaces. It's on an island! It was incredible. Because we got such a good deal on train tickets by riding with the Willeitners, we decided to go further and check out a place called Berchtesgaden. Berchtesgaden= Heaven.... literally ;)

Our boat ride to Herrenchiemsee...
The boat...
The Palace...
Close your eyes now....
We weren't allowed to take pictures inside but we just had to sneak one! The "Hall of Mirrors" was incredible...
Berchtesgaden... B-e-a-utiful!

On the ride home...

(Parents get excited, you'll get to see this! We can't wait for you to get here!)

Weekend Getaway to Prague...

2009-06-05T01:55:00.000-07:00

The sunset the night we left was absolutely beautiful. It was really hard to get a good picture but this will have to do. I took the shot out of our tiny European rental car. Oh the cute little thing... It was nice and cozy.
The Comfort Hotel. Definitely a first experience for me. Who would have ever thought I was high-maintenance?? (Thank you Mom and Dad) We did get a nice LARGE breakfast every morning and the sheets were clean. Trust me I checked them thoroughly. Also the water was hot so I guess I really don't have too much to complain about.
Downtown Prague...
My favorite spot! Old Town's astronomical clock. I was totally fascinated by this magical thing. So much that I took quite a few pictures... You're lucky I only posted two.
The clock was built in 1410! It is one of the most well known Prague landmarks.
Tommy in front of the Church pictured below...
Us covering the ugly buildings that hide this sweet old church, Our Lady Before Tyn...
The inside...
The Jewish Ghetto...
Oldest standing Synagogue in Europe... It was Saturday so we didn't get to tour around the Ghetto but i have read it is pretty cool.
The Estates Theatre... Loved the choice of green for the building.
Um this creepy thing is a character from Mozart's Don Giovanni. He conducted the premiere of this opera and also played the piano during the performance.
On Charles Bridge. It was so crowded!!
Still on the bridge. In the rain...
John Lennon Wall... We all wrote our names on the wall!
In front of the Saint Vitus Cathedral...
Really old frescos...
There is a cool story about this saint. I guess he allegedly knew all the queen's confessions. He was thrown off the Charles bridge from keeping her secrets from the king. The coffin is made purely of silver.

On every wall there were these HUGE stain glassed windows...

In the gardens overlooking the city...
Charles Bridge...
Our awesome tour guide Volta. He was excellent!
Our yummy Czech dinner...
Dancers...
Isn't this city incredible?
On Sunday we decided to try and find the church building. Quick Europe lesson... the streets are not straight. However with a few minor detours... a parking garage... we managed to find the small familiar sign. In czech of course.
On Sunday, after church we drove into the country to try and find a national park the Willeitner family went to when they were over here. We drove and drove. We were supposed to go East then North, but ended up only going east and further east. We were about 10 km from the Polish border! OOPS. On our way back we found this cool ruin. Not sure what it is, but it was old and cool. We took some fun pictures.

Pure bliss... haha isn't this picture great? Ichabod Crane?
We had such a great time in Prague even though it rained most of the time we were in the city Saturday. Tommy rubbed the golden dog on the bridge so if the saying is true we'll be back to Prague someday!

Schatzkammer and Cuvillies Theatre...

2009-06-02T06:52:00.001-07:00

On Friday the weather was bad again so I decided to do another museum with the Willeitners. If you can't tell I just love being the third wheel. Haha. It has been fun having them around to run all over with while Tommy is working. They have been so nice to let me tag along. Anyway, we visited the Schatzkammer (the treasury) and the old theatre. I have to admit the Schatzkammer was even more amazing than the palace! The jewels were HUGE! It was so hard not to take a picture of everything! I especially loved the crowns and necklaces. Some of the items in the Schatzkammer are over 300 years old! The theatre on the other hand, was destroyed during the war and this is only a recreation of what it looked like. It was still incredible. This cute man grabbed us outside the door before we entered and told us all about the theatre. He told us when it was built and that it was never destroyed in the war. He also let us know that Mozart performed on this very stage. He was so excited and passionate about the information he was giving us. Only problem is that when we entered the theatre the drapes hanging from the side rails were made of metal and painted red. We asked the guard and he told us that the theatre WAS destroyed in the war and it had just been recreated to look like it used to. I think the cute little old man was just excited to show off his english. It was still a great story though, and he wasn't kidding about Mozart!

All of us inside the theatre...

Mozart's first performance, Idomeneo, was performed here in 1781...
I tried to look like i was wearing the crown...
This box was made for King Maximilian II when he traveled. It had everything in it! From what I could see it had cups, bowls, clippers, silverware, a nail file, flask, scissors, mirror, toothbrush, ruler, etc. Too many to name... The attention to detail was phenomenal.
This was made out of tortoise shell!

My favorite necklace worn by the King Ludwig II. Unfortunately the jewels were fake because the family sold them off. Could you imagine wearing this??
Some of the swords designed by kings of Bavaria...
My favorite crown! It had real diamonds, pearls, and real RUBIES...
King Maximilian's II crown...
His wife's crown... It didn't look like this originally, it was changed by King Ludwig II. From what I can see he loved everything to look fancy and extravagant. He was known as the "Fairy tale King." You'll see why when we post pictures of his palaces...

Museum Fun at the Residenz...

2009-06-02T05:43:00.000-07:00

On Thursday the weather was a little bit on the cold side so i decided to tag along with the Willeitners and see the Residenz Palace/Museum. It was AMAZING! There were 120 rooms to visit and I loved them all. It would be so great if we could just go back in time and see everything how it once was. Especially since the war destroyed almost everything in Germany. The Residenz was pretty incredible and they did a great job restoring and recreating the palace. It was also great they had some of the original items that were used.

They actually had a church built in the palace...
Look at all that GOLD!
This room had a bunch of neat little trinkets...
This is in the Green Room. It was definitely my favorite!
Loved the red...
Some VERY old harps...
The walls... I tried to find a statue that looked like Tommy so we could pretend he was there. But no such luck I couldn't find one.
Inside the main hall... It was HUGE!
I know you can't tell i tried to get a close up but this is made entirely out of seashells!
This picture is in front of the courtyard fountains. It is made out of seashells!

Institute Friends...

2009-06-02T03:05:00.000-07:00

For the past month we have been attending institute every Wednesday night. It has been so fun to meet new people and learn more about the gospel. On our first Sunday at church it was so nice for sweet Sister Robinson to invite us to come. The only thing she forgot to mention was that it was for young SINGLE adults. When we showed up we quickly realized we were the only ones married! haha...we loved it. Anyway, another couple we are friends with started coming too and now there are 3 married couples attending the young single adult institute class. We love Wednesday nights! This last week we celebrated David Bronz's mission call to Berlin after class. It was so fun. We ate yummy snacks and watched the fussball game... thanks to my husband. We also took some fun pictures with David. ENJOY!

David with the ladies...
Funny faces...
Holding up David...
The MARRIED couple...

A Little Bit Like Writing In My Journal...

2009-05-25T02:36:00.001-07:00

Well I am sad to report that this blog has started to turn out like my journal writing. I always buy these cute journals and get super excited to write in them. Don't get me wrong, I do write in them, but only for about a week or two. After that months go by and each new entry starts with "I'm sorry I haven't been a great writer, this is what has been going on..." OOPS. Anyway, I will try to keep posting every week. The past two weeks have been pretty exciting. Here’s a look at what we have been up to lately! (It goes in order but it starts at the first of the post...)

To get home we used this website pretty much called Carpool.com/hitch-hiker.com I was so terrified to see who was taking us home. We had the option of going with some guy, but he said something in his profile about taking a dog box with him and Tommy and I got a little scared he might just try to make me ride in the dog box... Luckily we found another option and we got to ride back home with this cute girl Stefani. She was great and safe. Tommy and I were so tired we practically slept the whole way home (6 hours).
The view...
The whole Adler Family...
Cute Carolin and Yannick at dinner...
Later that evening we went out to dinner with the Adler family. They were so fun to be with. We had such a wonderful time being with them. The food was amazing. It was the best German food I have had. The scenery was also amazing. I took a few pictures but couldn't quite capture just how beautiful it really was. Thank you Adler family for such a great night, it was the perfect end to our vacation! We also are so grateful for Carolin's family they were wonderful and so nice to let us stay with them. Saturday we were able to spend some time with them in their yard. Thank you to them for letting us stay at their place and taking such great care of us! Lastly, thank you Yannick and Carolin for such a fun weekend! We are so lucky to have you as friends!

Walking around the streets of Bielefeld. It was their annual city fair. It's called the Leinenwebermarkt... Literally the linen weaver market. Bielefeld is a city that is heavy in the mercantile industry, particularly in clothing and mills, etc. I guess you could sort of compare it to the Weber County Fair or 24th of July Rodeo/Demolition Derby...

On Saturday morning Yannick and Tommy went and played soccer with some of the ward members. Tommy had a great time. He came home filthy though. Notice his dirty head and ear. I can only imagine what happened...

In Bielefeld there are these huge salt water walls. We were told they are good for you. We took a few big sniffs! They were everywhere!
Slightly embarrassing...Happy I didn't lose.
That night we went bowling with some of the Adlers friends. Here are a few action shots...
In front of the Hermann Denkmal (monument). The statue is of a man name Arminius who led an "Army" of northern German tribesman against the Romans in 9 AD. They slaughtered the Romans repeatedly which ultimately caused Ceasar at that time to rethink his foreign policy and ceased the Roman Empire's northernly expansion efforts. Yannick stated, "If it weren't for him, we would all probably be speaking italian right now."
Total tourist picture...
While walking to see the Hermannsdenkmal we saw a bunch of old Cadillacs. Tommy was so excited! He loves old cars. We took a lot more pictures of other cars but i think this one was great for the blog. Can you just tell Tommy is in Heaven?

The pool...
Tommy and Yannick...
Friday we decided to go to see what Bielefeld was all about. First we had to show you just how beautiful Carolin's parents yard was. We spent all day Saturday there just relaxing and eating fresh strawberries. It was amazing, and they don't even have a gardner - they do it all themselves! Hopefully we will have a yard like this someday. (you can even swim in this pond. Unfortunately it was too cold while we were there).
This is a Kletterpark. You get the idea...

Oh Tommy, You're such a stud...

The Adlers...
Definitely can tell there is a little fear in that smile...

Thursday, after breakfast we decided to go to the Kletterpark and swing through the trees. We weren't allowed to take the camera with but here are a few pics before we started! It was so much fun. Can you tell i was terrified? That night we barbequed with some of the Adlers friends. It was a blast. We had a bunch of delicious meats and bratwursts, salad, and grilled potatoes with some yummy sauce. After dinner the girls watched Germany's next top model and the boys went over to the church to play a little fussball.

Some pretty flowers in front of the Adlers house...

Carolin made us a delicious breakfast the morning we arrived...

Yannick's dad has some very nice automobiles. Yannick picked us up from the airport in a sweet Audi. After a phone call to Yannick's dad, Tommy was in the driver's seat and loving every minute of it. At one point Tommy was going 260 KMH (that's 161 MPH!) I was in the back covering my eyes... SCARY! Lucky we lived. This picture is not the car Tommy was driving, but we did get to drive around in this lovely automobile all day Thursday. Thanks Detlef for making my husband so happy!

We had a holiday this Thursday so we thought it would be a great idea to go visit Tommy's mission companion in Bielefeld, Germany. It is up north near Hannover. Sweet Carolin, Elder Adler's wife found us a great deal on BerlinAir for one way tickets to the Meunster airport. We had to leave at 4:00am to catch the train and get to the airport by 6:00am! The airport in Munich is pretty far away. We were SO tired! This is Tommy showing you it is 4:24 in the morning! We didn't sleep the night before we left because we were packing. BAD IDEA! It was a fun trip anyway, and the flight was only and hour long! We loved spending time with Yannick and his wife Carolin. They took great care of us and we are so lucky. We stayed with Carolin's family in a guest bedroom. We were definitely pampered! Thanks so much Yannick and Carolin! We loved spending the weekend with you and your families! We can't wait for Italy!

This is the view from the hill overlooking Olympia Park. The opposite side is a view of the city. Hard to tell but it was so cool. It reminded me of the pictures from my art history book that they take of Florence only we're in Munich of course.

The soccer stadium was HUGE. We haven't made it over to the one they built for the 2006 World Cup. Too bad we weren't there for the real thing...and the Bundesliga, german professional league, ended this weekend. Hopefully we can make it to some friendlies later in the Summer.

I tried to take the picture myself. This is the view of the entire Olympia Park...

This is the control tower from the 1972 olympic games. If you have seen the movie Munich you know the story... From what i have read, in 1972 the olympic games began as a celebration of a new democratic Germany but ended up in tragedy when 17 people were killed in a terrorist attack by a Palestinian group.

Wednesday Brianna and I decided we needed to go shopping. By the way, the shopping in Munich is incredible. They have so many great stores! We decided to check out H & M first. We ended up staying there the whole time. It was great. After shoppping we met up with Brianna's husband and headed up to Olympia Park and the Soccer Stadium. On our way to meet Ryan we ran into this guy painting on the street. This is what he was painting! The entire image was full of detail. Everyone that passed it was in awe. I just had to take a picture.

Tommy, me, Tate, and the Willeitners after dinner on Karlz Platz...

Monday Tommy's friend Tate came and stayed with us. He has been all over Europe and decided to stop in and stay with us one of the nights! It was so fun having him around. We went to Nymphenberg Palace on Monday and walked around. Of course I completely forgot to bring my camera! I plan on going again don't worry. After we met up with Tommy and decided to have a German meal for Tate. Here we are eating at the Donisl. I guess Tommy's mission president loved this place so we did a little reminiscing. The food was great and filling of course. Tommy was so happy he finally got to eat his favorite treat, Semmelknudel.

View from the picture below...

This is just one of the many courtyards and palaces.

The door was incredible. It was carved completely out of wood... No mistakes...

My glance inside...

In front with the Willeitners...

After church on Sunday we decided to go see Schleissheim. This palace, according to our travel book, was modelled after Versaille. It was built in 1701. Sadly, we didn't get to go inside. We got there just as the tour was ending. I could only see a little bit of what inside looked like through the windows. Hopefully we will go back and see it. I guess it is full of vaulted ceilings and frescoes. The outside on the other hand was enormous! I tried to capture just how big it was but it was impossible. There were multiple gardens and even lime trees!

On Sunday we had Stake Conference in Erding. We had to leave our house at 7:45am to make the train and get to Erding for conference by 9:30am! As we were leaving our house we had an exciting suprise on our doorstep! The Willeitner's were in Germany from Logan, Utah. We were so excited to see they made it and were going to church with us! They made our long trip much more eventful and enjoyable! Stake Conference of course was fabulous. We had the opportunity to hear from Elder Oaks from the 70. (oh and I forgot to mention the meeting was all in GERMAN. Lucky for me they had a translator and headphones). These are a few pictures of Erding. The little town was darling. I just had to take a few pictures!

This is the Beer Garden where we ate dinner...

Out on the dock in Herrsching. Don't know why we are matching...
Sailboats
Had to take the picture. It was just so perfect.

The sunset was beautiful...

On Saturday, May 16th we had Stake Conference meeting. It was great. After the meeting a bunch of our friends from the ward decided to go out and eat dinner at one of the beer gardens by the lake. We all got on the S bahn and headed toward Herrsching. The ride was BEAUTIFUL! When we got off the s bahn the sun started to go down. It was incredible. Here are a few pictures we got. We ate dinner right next the lake. It was such a fun night with yummy food, good friends, and of course GELATO.

A Great Weekend...

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In the City...

We got to see a turkish wedding celebration on the street. They were honking like crazy! Tommy was so excited and was screaming for me to take a picture. I didn't even realize the bride and groom were in a BENTLEY. I was a little late.

Of course we stopped for this...

An old fresco from a church that was destroyed. There were only 2 saved and preserved...

The "White Rose" was an anti-Nazi party and leaflet written in hopes to let Germany know Hitler was doing the wrong thing. It was started at the University by Hans Scholl, Sophie Scholl, and Christoph Probst. This is a picture of them and the their published leaflets from 1942. It is in the ground at you enter into the University. From what i have read, they were found guilty for passing around these leaflets exclaiming things such as "Hitler Mass Murderer," and "Freedom!" They were charged and killed for what they believed. I think there is a great documentary filmed at the University where we saw this! We'll have to check it out.

It's funny because the University was so upset with the students involved with the White Rose, yet they have a memorial for them... interesting.

This is what the inside looks like.

Odeonsplatz... I learned that the mouths of the lions are only open to the goverment buildings and not to the church next to it... It says you can open your mouth to the goverment but not to the church. Thought that was a pretty interesting little fact.

Our friends... So fun to be with!

Tommy and I in front of this Japanese Tower in the Englisher Gartens...

The beautiful view from the Englisher Gartens. This was huge! I think it is supposedly bigger then Central park!

The Greek tower full of fabulous smelling lilacs.

(and bees... i freaked of course)

They actually surf in the river! Tommy loved this. He is not allowed to try it. There is a huge picture of skull and cross bones... these people were crazy!

The Munich Opera House

Back stage! Always fun when you know the right people. They were practicing for a ballet... Of course i was excited!

This is the entrance for Royalty...

In one of the many beautiful rooms. We loved the chandeliers. Every room had a different one.

On saturday our ward had 3 baptisms then a potluck after. We were so happy our friends called that morning to remind us, we almost forgot! I am so glad we didn't miss out. The 3 baptisms were incredible - 1 in English, 1 in French, and 1 in German. What a neat experience! The potluck was also great. There was so much yummy food! Our ward is great and we have been so impressed by the members. They are incredible people. After the potluck we met up with some friends we met through the ward. We were lucky to meet a girl who sings in the Munich opera. (she has an incredible voice and was actually taken out of her Masters program to come sing with the Munich opera...we hope to see one of her shows!) Anyway, she took us all over Munich and showed us the opera house. We probably walked for over two hours sight seeing! I think we saw all of Munich as well! It was a great day. It was so fun to spend time with our friends from the ward and hear all the cool stories about the history of the city. I also had my first Durner for dinner. (If you don't know what this is, you might not want to... It is a sandwich or wrap filled with meat that cooks out one a big stick all day long. There is just this huge slab of meat, and i mean huge.) I was very skeptical about eating one because these are not allowed in the states. I don't do to well eating things that might make me sick. Everyone else got one so i just had to try it. It turned out to be REALLY yummy! I actually can't wait to have another one. Probably the best thing I have had since we got here! (haha, I actually haven't had much German food yet.) Plus I didn't get sick either. Saturday was so fun, when we got home we were pooped! Unfortunately we stayed up late writing our talks. Yep, we got asked to speak the first day at church - they went well. After church on Sunday our friends the Smaltzy's invited us over for lunch. It was delicious. We had cafe rio pork, spanish rice, homemade salsa, and brownies for dessert. It was so nice to get to know some of the ward members. Well, that was our exciting weekend! Here are all the pictures to show you where we went and what we got to see! It was so much fun! Enjoy! (Thanks Ashley for telling me how to put more pictures up!!)

No wonder Tommy loves this place...

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I should have guessed... My husband is a huge

fan of BMW. Every BMW we pass he gasps and

says, "oh kate... That's a beautiful machine."

It's old and full of history.

Everything reminds him of his mission...

Which i love hearing! He has tons of great stories.

This is just a random picture... Isn't this place

AMAZING?!

Tommy had to get a picture of this guy jammin'

he was fabulous.

(I can't figure out how to post all my pictures at once. SORRY! We will keep playing with this thing and hopefully we'll figure it out someday. We hope that everyone at home is doing well. We miss you all! We are definitely enjoying it here and are sad we have already been here a week! I am however missing my bed, washer and dryer, straightener, pillow, toilet, lights, oven, recipes, cafe rio, and sheets. Those few things are pretty different over here, but I'm pretty sure i can do without for 4 more months!)

To Sum Up the First Week:

Pretty much Tommy comes home and falls asleep. We had to make a rule that he couldn't get on the bed until at least 9 o'clock. Anything before is trouble. The first day, Monday, i thought they drugged him at work because he came home at 6, layed down on the bed and was instantly asleep till 12 that night in his work clothes! I would probably be tired too if i had to crunch all those numbers and then translate them! Anyway, the rest of the nights we have been going out after we eat dinner (that has been a challenge with no oven and 2 stove tops.) and just seeing the city. Tommy lets me get us there and then get us back home. It has been quite the adventure with me in charge of directions. I have picked out a few German words to get me by so far :) ... We also try to speak as little English on the Subway because it attracts the bums. During the day i have been walking around exploring. I also am trying to learn German from the "Rosetta Stone." I do that for a while then get bored and go out. It has been great. Hopefully once i learn the subway system i can go out on my own and see more! (Sorry this post was long just wanted to let you all know what we are up to!)

It's a beautiful day in the neighborhood...

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Odeonsplatz...

A house i love on our street...

The park by our house. Same one

we rolled our suitcases through...

Our cute little grocery store...

Our apartment... (Ours is the second window)

Tommy started work on Monday and is enjoying it. I am still trying to get my bearings straight with the crazy subway system. Hopefully someday i will be able to go out on my own! Tommy gets home around 5:30 or 6, we eat dinner, and then we go out and see the city. Here are a few pictures of our neighborhood and some of the sights we've seen!

The Green Dot

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Tommy accepted a full-time position with Deloitte in SLC starting in September so we just had to do something to pass the time this Summer. We figured coming to Germany would be an adventure and being able to work for Deloitte at the same time would make it doubly exciting. This is where Tommy will be working as an Audit Intern. Viel Spass!!

Day 1 Pics...

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Sprechen Sie Deutsch?

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Nope, not really. We realized today that neither of us really speak much German. Tommy is doing his best to get us around, but the vocabulary is a little rusty. We had quite the adventure trying to get to our apartment. Tommy arranged to have someone from the ward pick up our apartment keys because May 01 is a holiday here. We couldn't get ahold of him from the airport so we just went to the subway station where we were supposed to meet and called again. He forgot his phone at home but fortunately his wife answered and....long story short we waited in a park next to a nice fountain for about an hour or so. We even saw a guy on his bike take out a 2 liter bottle and fill it up in the fountain!! I thought Tommy told me we weren't in a 3rd world country; he said he'd never seen that before! Anyway, we traveled to our subway stop and started wandering aimlessly with all 400 something pounds of our luggage because we forgot to get a map. Everyone we talked to wasn't from the area so Tommy left me on the side of the road with the luggage and went to a gas station to buy a map. We weren't too far from our street, but had to backtrack a few blocks because we were at the wrong end (we were about 80 house numbers off). We got into our quaint joint and here we are. We haven't had a real night's sleep since Tuesday in Logan but that seems like so long ago now. We would like to crash, but decided that wandering around the city was a better idea. Katie may have fallen asleep walking, but she made it to a very authentic German restaurant, McDonald's. We have to ease into this whole European thing, right? Enjoy the pics!!

Isn't it about time?

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Welcome to our blog! We finally decided it was time to start one of these things. I am still in the process of learning how do everything, but we are excited! Enjoy!