Weekend in Berlin!

This past weekend, we went to Berlin. We're counting it as our first trip there, even though we'd been there before. Of course, that was in 2010 on our way to Poland and was for less than 24 hours. 

In any case, it was Sasha's absolute first time! 

We left for Berlin around 9:30 AM on Friday the 9th of November. The drive was pretty uneventful. It took us about 7 hours to get to our apartment in the West of Berlin. The apartment was great! It was cheap, had a full kitchen, balcony, and a separate bedroom for Sasha. The only thing that wasn't so great about it was the distance to the city center...which we demonstrated after we had dinner the first night. We decided to walk to the Brandenburg Gate, just for kicks. That turned out to be more of an adventure than we planned on. It took almost 2 hours to walk there. Needless to say, we took the train back.

The next day, we spent the morning at the zoo. Sasha went between being scared of the animals to being completely enthralled by them. My personal favorite exhibit was the nocturnal animal room under the cat house! They had Aardvarks!! I don't think I'd ever actually seen one before. It was awesome. I was really impressed with the Berlin zoo. It was huge and had tons of different species and a huge playground and I loved it. We spent 3 hours there and I really wish that we could have stayed longer.

After the zoo, we went to the Brandenburg Gate to meet up for a free walking tour. The tour was supposed to be 3 hours long, but we ducked out early because it started raining on us. The part of the tour we went on was great and informative, but we didn't have our umbrellas, so it just wasn't meant to be. Later that night we went to a grocery store and stocked up on some more food...and that's about it.

On Sunday, we tried to go to church, but the trains just weren't being our friends and when it became apparent that we were not going to make it in time for sacrament, we decided to just go to the city center again. We hung around and ate lunch on a bench, until around noon when we had reservations to go up in the Reichstag. I kind of forgot the Reichstag is a government building, so I was caught off guard when we had to go through an airport-style security check point. At least we didn't have any knives or whatever in our backpack! The dome on top of the Reichstag is so cool! The view was great and the dome was beautiful and there was a free audio guide, too! It was great! We stayed up there for about an hour.

The Brants at the Reichstag!

After that, we wandered over to the East Side gallery and walked he whole length of the wall. Then we went over to the Wall memorial. The sun set around 4:30 PM, so we didn't have a lot of daylight hours. By the time we got to the Wall memorial walk, it was dusk. By the time we finished, it was pitch black. We still had a great time and I learned a lot. I remember learning about the Wall in school, but that was about it. The Soviets were crazy talk! 

The next morning, we were on the road by 9 AM. We had another uneventful, easy drive home and the rest is history! I wish we could have stayed in Berlin for a whole week. There was so much more I wanted to do! At least we did all of the major stuff. And who knows? Maybe we'll go back again!

Brants in Berlin!

The Blog Shall Rise Again!

Well, that was quite a gap in posting. I won't bother backtracking. I'm sure we did lots of terribly interesting things since March, but you're just going to have to deal with not knowing what any of it was! HA!

Last Wednesday was HALLOWEEN!! I really love Halloween, though not so much here in Germany. I haven't even bothered to wear a costume for the past 2 years. Those who know me well will know how strange that is. Getting fabric here just isn't as fun: at the German stores, it's really expensive, and on line, I can't see it in person before I buy it! I've been buying fabric on every trip back to the states that we make, but I just wasn't thinking about Halloween in July. I'll try to plan ahead next year, though.

 Our ward had a trunk or treat ON Halloween, which I thought was a little odd. They also decided to cancel the chili cook off aspect of the activity and JUST do trunk-or-treating. That's fine for the kids, but it took a lot of the fun out of it for me. There really wasn't any time to socialize and it ended up feeling more like a primary activity than a ward activity.

Sasha dressed up in the dinosaur costume that his Grandma Brant got him. He LOVES it!! He wore it most of the day because we also went to Halloween story time at the library. He kept getting down on his hands and knees and roaring. It was cracking me up. The costume is so adorable, too! I love the tail! Sasha was a little shy at the beginning of the night when the kids were doing a costume parade. He just wouldn't join in! But as soon as the trunk or treating started, all reserves were lost. Candy was to be had and the only way to have it was to walk up to strangers in vans. Now if that's not creepy, I don't know what is!

Check out that smile! He's cute and he knows it!

That's it for this update! I'm going to try to put myself on a schedule to post at least every Monday! So...see you soon?

Spring Bucket List!

I keep seeing people make bucket lists for different things (Christmas, Spring, etc.) and since I just LOVE to make lists, I thought I'd make one for us, too!

Poor Sasha is going crazy with all of this bitter cold weather! I call this our "Bring Out The Sun, Already" Spring bucket list:

1. Make Easter baskets

2. Color Easter eggs

3. Plant flowers and vegetables in garden

4. Fly a kite

5. Go see the tulips in Holland

6. Go on a picnic

7. Go to the zoo

8. Make cookies as a family

9. Make cotton ball art

10. Make clay and build sculptures

That's all I have so far. I'm counting spring until the end of May, and when June starts, we'll have to have a SUMMER bucket list (which I already have a ton of ideas for). I'll probably add more things to this list before the end of May, too.

And now it's about time to Skype with the fam back in the states!

Mediterranean Cruise January 2012

So the time has finally come to type up a report of our cruise. I'll start where I left off back on January 19. We were in Bavaria, at a military resort called Edelweiss. We stayed there from January 19-21. Regan went snowboarding on the 20th, and I stayed at the resort with Sasha.

This is how I found Sasha the morning of the 20th. Looks comfy!

Sasha went swimming for the first time ever at the resort pool! He LOVED the water, but hated his life jacket haha.

On January 21, we drove from Bavaria, over the alps, to Italy. The drive, according to Google Maps should take about 5 hours. It took us closer to 9. There was a TON of snow coming down, so traffic was slow and backed up in places. The trees looked so lovely, though!

Winter wonderland! Not so good for driving, though.

Here is a video of our drive:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yjdiQNmbCyY

We spent the next few days staying with our friends, the Lazenby family, in Italy. They live about an hour away from Venice, which is where our ship was leaving from. On Monday January 23, we hopped a train to Venice and got on board the MSC Magnifica! The first day was spent eating, going through safety drills, and getting used to being on a ship.

Me and Sasha all ready for the big safety drill!

Here's a video of our 1st day on the ship:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Zffri304qbM

On January 24, our ship made port in Bari, Italy! We didn't have a tour booked, so when we got off the boat, we tried to find one. We ended up taking a 1 hour tour in a rickshaw! So fun!

The Brant family in a rickshaw!

After our tour, we still had free time, so we walked around for a while and tried to find souvenirs. I used my amazing Hello Kitty powers to find a little Sanrio shop! I got an ice cube tray and a hair clip. We also walked along the shore line for a while and it was really beautiful. We had the best weather of the whole cruise in Bari.

Here is a video of our 2nd day on the cruise:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N0v6a8P6s4U

On January 25, we had a lovely day at sea! It was a pretty lazy day with lots of naps and eating, but I explored the ship and found lots of new places! It was also the Gala night, so there was a fancy dinner and show, and everyone was dressed in ball gowns! It made me wish that I had a gown.

The Brants on Gala night!

Here is a video of our 3rd day on the ship:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IYTeLCz8_nE

On January 26, we made port in Rhodes, Greece. We had arranged for a private tour which took us all over the island. My favorite part of the tour was visiting a small town called Lindos! It was very well preserved and exactly what I pictured a small town in Greece to look like.

Me and Sasha on the acropolis of Lindos!

Here is a video of our 4th day on the cruise:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5y2wfPqw8Ew

On January 27, we made port in Haifa, Israel. We had booked a private tour with our friends, the Lazenby family, and had a little mini-bus and tour guide to take us through the holy land! We visited Galilee and the Sea of Galilee, but not much else. Sadly, daylight was not in our favor and neither was time.

Sasha and me on the tour bus in Israel.

I love this picture of us on a boat on the Sea of Galilee! So funny!

Here's a video of our 5th day on the cruise:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pFKy55i9Wwo

On January 28, we woke up in our hotel in Jerusalem early so that we could fit in a whole day of sight seeing! We saw a LOT that day. We were able to see the Garden of Gethsemane, The Garden Tomb, The Wailing Wall, and the old section of Jerusalem. We had an AMAZING lunch of traditional Israeli food. So good. It was an awesome day and an unforgettable experience! I wish we could go back and spend a few weeks there.

The Brants in Jerusalem with the Dome of the Rock behind us.

Sasha moving a mini-version of the stone in front of the tomb! Strong boy!

Here is a video of our 6th day on the cruise:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FfDTIfgBo0Q

On January 29, we didn't do much of anything. It was an at sea day and we were all pretty tired from our whirlwind trip through the Holy Land. Lots of naps were had, lots of food was eaten, and lots of nothing was done.

Here is a video of our 7th day on the cruise:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cK60Kg9uciI

On January 30, we made port in Athens, Greece! The sky was clear, but it was SO cold that day. I was freezing (and I HATE freezing). We were able to see some really cool sights, but our tour guide, George, was a little weird and didn't seem like he was used to giving tours. Instead of just taking us around, he kept saying "It's up to you." as if we knew where everything was and where to go next! But we still had fun (making fun of George).

Sasha and Me on the acropolis in Athens, Greece!

Here is a video of our 8th day of the cruise:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tvKE9knDIoM

On January 31st, we had another at sea day. Our friend watched Sasha during his nap for us so that Regan and I could go on a little date. We went to the Tiger Lounge and had some (non-alcoholic) drinks! It was really nice to relax together.

mmm those drinks were good!

Here's a video of our 9th day on the cruise:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0sIMVqx4KzA

On February 1, we made it back to Venice and said goodbye to the MSC Magnifica!! We left the ship in the morning and were back to the Lazenby's house by early afternoon.

Papa and Sasha saying goodbye to the ship!

Here is a video of our 10th, and last, day on the cruise

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EKQ1cp0nGsU

And so it ends! It was such an amazing trip! I absolutely LOVED the cruise! I hope that we can go on many more.

Slow Cooker Sunday, Valentine's Day, and Fasching!!

Hello Hello! Time to play a little catch up! Let's start with Valentine's Day. The day before, Sasha and I were as sneaky as possible and snuck into Regan's office after he'd left for the day (we were lucky someone else was still there to let us in) and decorated his cube with balloons, candy, pictures of us, and streamers! I thought I really got him good.

Here's one of the pics we put up in his cube!

He called me the next morning right after getting to work and told me how surprised he was! He actually woke me up when he called because I wasn't going to get up until 8 when Sasha gets up. After we got off the phone, I decided to just get up and go downstairs and what should I find? A surprise of my own!

Flowers and candy! So sweet!

Sasha wearing his awesome V-day crown (made with only a little help from Mama)

Next up, let's talk about Fasching! Fasching is carnival time in Germany. We've never really done anything to celebrate, even though it's a pretty big deal in our area. This year, Regan happened to be off of work on the same day that Mainz was having their big Fasching celebration. We decided to make the drive (it only takes about 45 min) and check it out. Our friends the Ta's came with us and our goal was to get there around 11 when the big parade started!

There were MANY of these scary guys in the parade!

For Fasching, you're supposed to dress up in a costume like at Halloween, but we didn't. I'd say over 90% of the people there were dressed up, though.

I wore my Hello Kitty headband for a costume!

The parade was advertised as being kid friendly, which it pretty much was. The problem was when you stepped away from the parade! It was just a drunken mess! There were people puking every 20 feet or so, and I don't even want to think about how much public urination I witnessed! As we walked down the street, we had to dodge "pee streams" flowing down from the side of buildings when men had been relieving themselves all day. It was also VERY crowded. We ended up staying for about 2 hours and most of that time was spent watching the parade, thank goodness. It was pretty much agreed by all parties that the Mainz Fasching parade was a one time thing. We won't be going back next year. It was yucky.

For slow cooker Sunday, I made Polish Sausage Stew from my Fix it and Forget it cookbook! I picked it with Regan in mind.

It's not much to look at, but holy crap it was good.

Recipe:

1 can cream of celery soup

1/3 cup packed brown sugar

27 oz. sauerkraut, drained

14 oz. Polish sausage, cut into bite sized pieces and browned

4 medium potatoes, cubed

1 cup finely chopped onions

1 cup shredded Jack cheese

Combine soup, sugar, and sauerkraut. Stir in browned sausage, cubed potatoes, and chopped onions. Cover and cook on low 8 hours or high 4 hours. Stir in cheese just before serving.

YUM!

This was REALLY good. Everyone loved it and it made enough that we got to have it for lunch for a couple of days. WHEN I make it again, I will double the sausage. 1 pack just wasn't enough!

Sasha enjoying his stew!

Last Friday, we had a speech therapist come out to the house and evaluate Sasha. It was a wonderful visit! She was really sweet and she pointed out some things that no other doctor has (and considering how many we've seen in the 6 months since we brought Sasha home, that's saying something). She wants to do a second evaluation and bring another doctor with her. She said that Sasha tested really high on pretty much everything except speech and fine motor skills, so she doesn't know if we'll make it into the free early intervention program, but she's hopeful that because of his history, we'll be able to sneak in. I really hope so because I would love to work with her more! I already learned so much from her after just one visit. In any case, I'm very hopeful that Sasha will be able to catch up now and that makes me super happy!

Slow Cooker Sunday: African Chicken Treat

So, we're back from the cruise! We've been back for over a week, but we've been SICK! I'm still sick but I can't keep using it as a reason to get nothing done. Last Sunday, I got up late and layed around sick all day so I didn't make anything for dinner (we probably ate bread and butter or something lame), but this week I was feeling marginally better...so slow cooker Sunday returned! I made African Chicken Treat:

I got the recipe from my Fix it and Forget it cookbook, and of course, I changed it a lot. Here's the recipe I used:

1 1/2 cups chicken stock

2 ribs celery, sliced

1/2 large yellow onion, sliced

1 sweet red pepper, sliced

3 boneless, skinless chicken breasts

1/2 cup extra crunch peanut butter

cracked seasoned black pepper

Combine the first 4 ingredients in the crock pot. Spread peanut butter on both sides of each piece of chicken and sprinkle with pepper. Place in crock pot on top of vegetables. Cook on low for 6 hours. I served it with rice.

Sasha enjoying the idea of dinner before he actually ate any of it.

I know it sounds weird with the peanut butter and all, but it was actually really good. It had a good strong flavor! Sasha didn't really like it, though. But I'm not sure if he didn't like it because of the chicken - he really doesn't like chicken very much, usually. In any case, Regan and I both really liked it so I'm sure I'll make it again sometime.

In other news, on Saturday we had our 6 month post-adoption meeting with a social worker. She came, toured the house, asked us questions for about 2 hours, and that was that. It actually went really well, despite the fact that I had NO voice at all. The lady (whose name was Jessica, just like me) was really nice and positive. Anyway, it went well - no problems. We get to keep Sasha. yay!

I want to make a post about the cruise, but not today. I'm feeling somewhat better, but not better enough to type up that mess~ Later

I should be sleeping...

It's late, and I should be asleep like my boys...but I'm not. We've got internet and I refuse to waste it!

We're in Bavaria, right at the foot of the Alps! We're staying at a military resort here, and tomorrow Regan will head to the slopes and Sasha and I will bum around here. Hopefully we'll get out into the snow!

We drove for about 5 hours today to get here - we met at Regan's work around 3 PM and didn't make a single pit stop! Sasha was a champ. He slept for a little over an hour and only cried a couple of times. He's a good traveler. Mostly Regan and I just listened to music and talked. Oh, and ate junk food, of course. After we got here, we met up with some friends and played cards for a while. So far, that's it!

I guess it was a little early for a trip report, but starting Monday we won't have internet access, so I'm just trying to get a head start on the trip report haha.

Anyway, short and sweet - the end.

Slow Cooker Sunday: Beef and Mushrooms!

So, two weeks in a row the with "Slow Cooker Sunday." I guess that means it's officially a thing now! This week, I made Beef and Mushrooms! The recipe came from the book "Fix it and Forget it" on page 84, but of course I altered the recipe. I wonder if I've ever made anything 100% accurate to the recipe?

Served over rice, of course!

Ingredients:

1 1/2 lbs sewing beef, cubed

4 oz. can mushroom pieces, drained

3 garlic cloves, minced

2 small yellow onions, chopped

3 tbsp. butter

1 cup beef broth

8 oz can tomato sauce

2 tbsp Worcestershire sauce

salter & pepper to taste

In a large frying pan, brown the meet. Drain and add the butter, mushrooms, onion and garlic. Add tomato tomato sauce and mix well. Add meat mixture, Worcestershire sauce, beef broth, and salt & pepper to crock pot and cook covered on high for 3 hours. Serve over rice or pasta.

The flavor was actually really good! The meat kind of shriveled up in the crock pot, but it wasn't weird - it still felt and tasted like meat haha. Sasha ate it with no problems at all, which I was very happy about it. Sometimes he refuses to eat beef for no reason!

Speaking of Sasha, how cute is this picture?

D'awwwwwwww!

This is during his nap the other day. My friend Tina gave him that stuffed dog he's using for a pillow for Christmas and he is just in LOVE with it! We named in Günter because Tina is German and it's a German dog (obviously haha). He takes it with him all over the house. Last night, I forgot to put it in his crib with him and when he came down for breakfast this morning, he saw Günter on the couch and just about had a breakdown! He ran over, picked him up and started crying and kissing him. It was so adorable!!! He doesn't even give ME that kind of a greeting haha.

On the road again

It feels like we're finally back on schedule! Sasha slept ALL NIGHT last night! It was the first time since we got back from Ohio and it made me SO happy! Now if I can just force myself to stop staying up so late, maybe I can get a good night sleep, too!

Next week, we hit the road again for yet another adventure! First, we're leaving Wednesday to go to Bavaria for a ski trip that my husband's office is doing. I've never been skiing, and I probably won't start next week. I'm mostly looking forward to seeing the Alps in winter and playing in the snow with Sasha. Oh, and hot tubs. I love me some hot tubs! Regan is all geared up to go snowboarding. It's been a very dry winter up here, so he and his friend haven't been able to go snowboarding at all like they did last year. Then, a few days later, we're going to leave our group in Bavaria and drive down to Venice, Italy to get on a cruise ship! That's right. We're headed on a 10 day Mediterranean cruise! INSANITY!!!

Sometimes I just have to take a step back and pinch myself. What kind of life am I living?? I never would have thought, not in a million years, that I'd be able to do HALF of what we've done while living in Europe! I've been working on my bucket list a lot lately and while searching the internet for inspiration, I came to the realization that we've done a lot of things that other people only get to dream about. It makes me feel ungrateful, really. I need to do a better job of appreciating our time here and really living in the moment instead of always looking ahead.

Anyway, I got off topic a little bit. Other than that CRAZY trip coming up, we don't have anything else planned for the near future! It will be nice to just stay home for a little while, I think. Traveling is SO fun (it's pretty much my favorite thing), but sometimes you just need to rest and rejuvenate!

Changing the topic completely now, I keep feeling like Sasha is SO CLOSE to talking, but he just can't spit the words out. His babbling has really changed in the past few weeks - it sounds totally different and there's a LOT more of it. He always tries to talk to me (and the cats) and he even seems frustrated that I don't understand him. He's still only saying a handful of "real" words, but I just keep feeling like one day, he's just going to explode with language! I'm so looking forward to that.

Nothing much has been going on this week, even though I feel like we've been really busy. We've gone somewhere every day, but it's just errands - nothing exciting. I guess what next week is for!

Slow Cooker Sunday: Spicy Thai Coconut Soup

So, a new thing I want to try this year is to make dinner in my slow cooker every Sunday! The main reason for this is that church is now at 9 AM instead of 1 PM and Regan and I are sleepy in the afternoon (and Sasha, too, but that goes without saying) so I don't FEEL like slaving over a hot stove! Anyway, it's working out well so far...I mean, we've only done it once, but it worked out well! And I thought, since I've only RARELY used this slow cooker of mine, I might as well post the recipes I'm trying out since they're brand new to me! I'm not a food blogger or anything, so don't expect hundreds of mouth-watering pictures or anything haha.

This week's adventure: Spicy Thai Coconut Soup!

Doesn't look half bad!

I originally found the recipe through Pinterest: http://bevcooks.com/2012/01/slow-cooker-thai-chicken-noodle-soup/

I changed the recipe, though, mainly because I didn't have a few ingredients on hand and it was bland. Here is my altered recipe:

serves 6-8, depending on the amount of rice noodles you add (I have, between yesterday and today, eaten 4 bowls on my own and 2 other people have been eating it, too! AND there is still at least one more serving left!)

2 (14 oz) cans of Coconut milk

4 cups chicken stock

3 frozen boneless/skinless chicken breasts

1 red and 1 green sweet pepper, finely chopped

4 bulbs garlic, minced

1 tbsp ground ginger

5 tbsp low sodium soy sauce

As much hot sauce as you can stand

2-3 oz. rice noodles (I used 4 and it was WAAAAAAAAY too much!)

2 jalapeno peppers, sliced (jarred can be substituted easily, which is probably what I'll do next time)

Salt and Pepper to taste

Add the first 7 ingredients to the crock pot and cook on high for 3 hours. Remove chicken breasts and shred with forks. Replace chicken and add rice noodles. Cook for 30 minutes more. Garnish with sliced jalapeno and add as much hot sauce as you want!

I like my coconut soup SPICY SPICY, so I added quite a bit of my favorite hot sauce after the fact. I actually cooked the jalapenos in the soup, but it just wasn't that spicy. I think next time I'll definitely hold them out until the end. I'll also make sure to have bean sprouts and limes on hand because I think they'll both make a big difference!

If you are feeding this soup to children, I recommend breaking the noodles up before cooking. My 2 year old made himself a slobbery mess trying to eat those super long noodles! He has a decent tolerance for spicy food, but even still, my husband and I added the hot sauce to our individual bowls instead of the whole pot.

Over-all, I'll DEFINITELY make this again! It's super good!

And so 2012 Begins!

Once again, a long absence followed by a not-so-long awaited return! One of my goals for the new year is to keep up with the family blog again. Let's see how this goes!

I won't bore you with another super-long recap. Instead, I'll just write about our Christmas! We set up our Christmas decorations for Family Home Evening the Monday after Thanksgiving! It's still 90% dominated by Regan's Ohio State decorations, but my Hello Kitty stuff is slowly making a dent! And now that we have Sasha, I have someone else's ornaments to help even it out!

Papa and Sasha in front of our lovely tree!

On December 16th, we went to the Kaiserslautern ward Christmas party! Sasha and I spent about 4 hours that morning at the church helping to set up, but I just wasn't that excited about going. We ended up having a great time, though. The theme for the party was The Polar Express! Sasha sat on Santa's lap for the first time...and hated it. He started crying right after I took this picture. Oh well.

"All I want for Christmas is to GET AWAY FROM SANTA!!!"

Just a few days later we got our first (and last, really) good snow of the year! Not a ton, but enough to make this tiny snow man! I have no idea if Sasha got to play in the snow at the orphanage, but I'm going to assume that he didn't. In any case, it was OUR first time playing in the snow! He had SO much fun shoveling the walk with me - he enjoyed that a heck of a lot more than he enjoyed making the snowman. Right after this picture, he knocked the little guy right off the step! So rude!

I hope it snows again soon!

On December 21, we packed our bags and hit the dusty trail for Ohio! We took an 8 hour flight from Frankfurt to JFK, had a 5 hour layover, and then took an hour and a half flight from JFK to Columbus! Sasha flies like a champ. He slept 4 of the 8 hours from Frankfurt, and pretty much the entire time from JFK to Columbus!

Looks comfy, doesn't he?

We spent the next few days in Ohio doing last minute Christmas shopping and spending time with family. A lot of people from the Harvey clan were pulling into town not only for Christmas, but for my brother Jared's upcoming wedding! So exciting!! My parent's house was just insane with people trying to get ready for both. On Christmas Eve, we went ice skating with Regan's sister and her family. Well, I didn't ice skate - I took pictures and video while everyone else went out on the ice. I'm not a huge fan of skating....I always hurt myself when I try it. Sasha had fun, but I think Papa got a little tired from helping him the whole time.

Sasha going skating for the first time! So cute!

Regan's family has their big Christmas celebration on Christmas Eve, so after skating it was back to his parent's house to party! Sasha put on his brand new Christmas pj's (the first present he got to open) and struck a few poses for me!

Awwww!

Regan's Dad (with some helpers) made his traditional egg muffins and then all settled down in the basement while the nieces and nephews put on a little nativity play. Then we played a white elephant style gift exchange game (each family brought a 'family' type gift worth no more than 30$) - we got a set of nerf guns and bullets! Awesome! I'm sorry to say that after that, I kind of passed out on the couch. Regan woke me up around midnight to let me know that everyone was gone and we could go to bed. I felt lame.

We got up extra early the next day to head over to my parent's house for their Christmas morning celebration! We got there a little late (it's supposed to start at 7 and we didn't get there until 7:30), but it was ok, really, because all we did was open stockings and have our traditional cold cereal Christmas breakfast! Since Christmas was on a Sunday, we went to church at 9 with my parents. Church was only an hour, and then it was back home to change and have presents! We got started opening gifts around 11:30, and didn't finish until close to 2! My family has a very particular way of opening gifts - my dad is "Santa" and he hands out the gifts, one at a time, so that everyone can see what everyone else gets! I really like doing it this way - I like to see the reactions to special gifts! Sasha had a lot of fun...for a while. He passed out about half-way through. BUT he had a blast until then!

That is one yucky face! No more Christmas candy for you!

"Stop opening your gifts and look at what *I* got this morning! A FROG!!"

After opening gifts, we sat around until dinner! Dinner was a little late (we usually eat around 1 on Christmas, but we didn't eat until 4), so we had some time to kill. This would normally be great, except Regan's family was eating Christmas dinner at 6...that's not a lot of time between first and second dinners!

Look at that spread!

We chowed down at my parent's house, then ran over to Regan's parent's house and chowed again! It was a very, very filling day!

The next few days were spent gearing up for the big wedding! Mostly, I just played around with the kids.

Cousins having fun!

On the 28th, we took a happy trip to Columbus and were able to witness the sealing of my brother Jared to his lovely new wife Kara! It was an amazing time and I took a ton of pictures, but I'm not posting any of them (except the one below) because I want to give them the chance to post their own photos (which are the ones I took) before I do!

Nothing is more important than being married in this place!

After the wedding and photos, we went back to my parent's house for a lovely open house. There was a TON of food (mostly pies), some of which my family is probably still eating haha. Lots of fun people were there and the happy couple got lots of awesome gifts!

Better than Christmas!

The following day, the 29th, was my mama's 50th b-day! THAT IS A BIG DEAL! So My Aunt Becky, my mom, and me all went out to lunch at Olive Garden! We had a blast chit-chatting and eating yummy food!

Hello, ladies!

That night, we all went bowling! I broke 100 for only the 2nd time in my life! But even MORE exciting was what Sasha did - right before the end of the night, someone let Sasha roll a ball down the lane. It was going like -.3 miles per hour...and he got a strike!!! It was insane!

I'm a bowling pro!

That night, we had a little party for my mom! Instead of cake, she got a pint of her favorite ice cream (mainly because there was so much pie left from the wedding, it seemed silly to make a cake).

Make a wish!

And then a few days later it was back to Germany! The trip went by WAY too quickly and we didn't get to see as many people as we wanted to. I hope some more people come visit us in Germany, soon! I miss everyone so much.

Since we've been home, we've just been fighting with the jet lag. Unfortunately, only Regan has recovered. Sasha and I have been up most of the night every night since we got back - though I would like to point out that it is all his fault!! haha. Poor little guy - no matter how deprived of sleep I try to make him, he still wakes up after only a couple hours of sleep and won't go BACK to sleep until at least 3 hours later! This wouldn't really bother me except that he tries to sing himself to sleep which comes over loud and clear on the baby monitor. I'm hoping that by next weekend, we'll be back on track. I can't take much more of this!