HOME SWEET HOME

Boy, its good to be home. Bethany picked us up from the airport yesterday. We landed in Salt Lake to the same weather we left from and had in Europe, cloudy and cold, but today has been beautiful. Bethany and Ike helped a friend move and then came back over. Heather and her new roommate, Amy, came over later, bringing Duke home. Boy was he excited to see us. We girls stayed up until 10:30 gabbing, what we’re so good at.

Getting back to work today has been hard but, alas, life goes on. 

Day 11, Last day in Europe

I couldn’t sleep during the night so I got up and took a hot bath and finished up yesterday’s blog. It still took awhile to get back to sleep but I think I got a couple more hours. We said our good-byes to Robert and Melanie around 8:00. The kids were all still asleep so we weren’t able to tell them good-bye. When we got to the airport, we grabbed a bite to eat for breakfast. We are now on the plane home. We have watched a couple of movies to bide the time. We were lucky enough to have 1 seat empty on our set of 3 so we had some extra room. That was nice.

We have had a great time, racking up 5 different countries (we missed Switzerland because there was too much snow to do what we were going to do) and traveling about 3000 km, which I think is about 1800 miles, but I can’t wait to get home, sweet home.

Day 10, Back to Paris

The last full day of our vacation. We left the hotel at about 9:00 and got to Paris at about 3:30. We had a 1-hour pit stop in Belgium. Our hotel is near the Charles de Gaile Airport. About an hour after checking in and getting settled a bit, we made our way by train to the city, stopping at Notre Dame, The Louve, the Arc de Triumph, and the Eiffel Tower. We ate at a McDonald’s near the Arc, great French food!!!!!! We treated ourselves to a crepe near the Eiffel Tower and then made our way through the subway system back to the airport where we caught a shuttle back to the hotel, arriving at nearly 11:30 completely exhausted.

Here is an observation made by Carolyn. We had breakfast in Holland, lunch in Belgium, and dinner in France. How’s that for a day. Not too many people can say they’ve had their 3 meals in 1 day in 3 different countries and, might I add, not many would want to.

Some things I have enjoyed here:

Beautiful countryside with its scattered villages.

The autobahn, where the left lane is actually kept clear for people to pass in.

Castles, we sure don’t have them in the U.S.

No traffic lights. I have kind of gotten used to the roundabouts.

Some things I won’t miss:

Having to pay to go to the bathroom.

Having to pay for water in the restaurants.

Everything costing so much and having to make sure we had some Euro with us at all times.

Pigeons.

Skinny, winding streets.

Having to use a GPS wherever you go.

Graffiti.

People smoking everywhere.

Some things I’m very thankful for:

My kids and that I still miss them when I’m away.

Straight and wide streets.

Free public bathrooms.

Spending all this wonderful time with Jim, Carolyn, Robert, Melanie, Natalie, Nicole, Eric, James, and little Steven (I will definitely miss them). Oh, and Steve.

My computer and the internet. It has been great keeping a log of our travels.

Day 9, Keukenhof, Holland, The Netherlands

Our last day in Germany. We got up very early and left the house by 6:30. We drove through Germany and cut across Belgium on the way to the Netherlands. After taking a 1-hour rest stop just as we got into the Netherlands, we drove 2 more hours to Lieden where our hotel was. Boy, did Robert pick a nice Holiday Inn. The inside was like an atrium which was right over the balcony from our 3rd story rooms. After we got checked in and had some lunch, we drove to Keukenhof to the tulip festival. On the way there, we saw acres and acres of tulips, just like our corn fields, all along the road. It was beautiful. At the festival you can’t even imagine how many hundreds of different kinds of flowers there were, let alone the thousands of colors and varieties. It was such a sight. I would love to bring Grandma Hatch here. She would think she was in Heaven. Hopefully our pictures will do it some justice. We didn’t take too many pictures, but Robert and Jim, along with Melanie and Carolyn, took 100s of pictures. Steve and I had a Belgian waffle, his with cherries, mine with strawberries, yummy. We bought a few souvenirs and then after spending over 3 hours there we went back to the hotel where we ordered some pizza and ate in Jim and Carolyn’s room. The hotel had a buffet but it cost 30 Euro which is about 40 dollars. Crazy. After dinner, Melanie, Robert, Steve and the kids went swimming. I put the  baby down to bed. I knew I wouldn’t be able to really play in the pool because my shoulder is really giving me trouble. After they were done I took a long, hot bath. The bathtub in our room was the best tub I have ever been in. It was long and it had a great back and head rest. I was in heaven. I’ve really been missing my hot-tub so this felt really good. 

Funny story from last night. When Robert took Steve and I onto the base, Steve went to the ATM to get more Euro. When it came time to enter the amount, Steve hit dollars, by habit, not Euro. So he got all this cash in dollars (which we did not need). He tried to do it again to get Euro but the card was denied because he was over the withdrawal limit for the day (we had already gotten some out earlier that morning). He came back saying he was a dumb dork. When he told Robert, Melanie, and I what he had done, we just cracked up laughing. 

Day 8

We had a nice, quiet short day for a change. I slept in, not too late, but later than the last couple of days. When I got up, all the adults were talking about the next couple of days. We’ll be going to the Netherlands tomorrow, Paris on Saturday, and we’ll fly home on Sunday. This might be my last entry until I get back because I don’t now if I’ll have internet access to do the blog after this. After I showered, everyone else went on a walk through the woods and village while I stayed back with the baby who was sleeping. I really wanted to get packed. After I packed, I had time to catch up my reading of Joseph Smith’s Teachings for Relief Society, 3 lessons worth. Good stuff to catch up on. When everyone got back we had some lunch and then went to Ramstein Air Force Base where Robert is stationed. We picked up a cuckoo clock to take back with us. I’m going to hang it in my work room. After getting gas we headed off for the Wildpark Potzberg, traveling through very windy, narrow roads, seeing more of this beautiful country. When there, we saw a great bird show. This picture is of a bald eagle that landed in between Steve and I. It came swooping from behind. Amazing. The kids fed some animals and then we went on back home for dinner and getting ready to haul 6 adults, 5 kids, and 2 cars, for 2 nights away, traveling through 4 different countries. Try doing that in North America!!! 

Okay, so that wasn’t the end of the day. After dinner we went to the commissary for food for our trip and Robert took Steve and I to his work to see what he does. It is now almost 10 and I’m off to bed.

Day 7

Our days are getting longer and longer. Today we got up at 5:30 and left at 6:30. We drove for 5½ hours, with a stop for gas, arriving in Ettel at about noon. We walked around a monastery a bit (where I hiccupped in the chapel and it echoed which made Steve, Robert, and Jim laugh) and then ate at a little café before we got back on our way. We then drove 20 minutes to Linderhof Schloss and took a tour. This is a palace built by King Ludwig II of Bavaria. It was pretty amazing. He also had a cave built nearby underneath a building so he could have his own sort of opera house. He was a strange man. We did quite a bit of walking and left there at about 3. Then we drove about an hour to the Castle Neuschwanstein where we took a strenuous 20-minute walk up the mountain to get to it. It was pretty cool. We didn’t take the tour as we really didn’t have the time and decided to buy a book about it. We’re good with that. As we walked back down the mountain we took pictures of the other nearby castle, Castle Hohenschwangau, which was built by his father. Both castles are on the tops of mountains and I can’t imagine how they were built. We’re now on our way back home and will probably arrive around midnight. Nothing planned for the morning, so we will be sleeping in.

A funny story from yesterday. When we were in St. Gorg shopping we went into a little shop where this gentleman offered us a shot of wine. Carolyn and I said no thank you. He asked us where we were from and I said United States and then said Utah. Then he smiled and said ah, Utah, Mormons do not drink. I said “smart man.” We all got a little laugh out of it. He was very nice. It turns out he has children in the U.S. and knows a bit about it, but I was surprised he had heard of Utah and Mormons.

This country is beautiful and I have thoroughly enjoyed seeing it. We saw part of the Alps. They are beautiful. We also drove a bit in Austria, so one more country under our belt. We drove through Garmisch and saw the ski jump where one of the Olympics was held. Steve’s nephew, Robert, has been a great guide. We now have a running joke with him though. Yesterday we were rattling off questions to him and he kept saying “I don’t know.” So now we just ask him stupid questions that he can say “I don’t know” to. We’re having a great time.

So we got home at about 10:45 thanks to Robert’s quick driving (he says 110 mph). But get this. As fast as he was driving down the Autobahn, cars were zooming by us faster than you could get a look at them. They had to have been going 120-130. It was crazy.

The picture above is of the monastery. The pictures below are of the Alps, King Ludvig II Palace, and Castle Neuschwanstein

Day 6

Boy, I thought yesterday was long and busy. Today topped that. We left at 9:30 and got home at 5:30. What great things we saw. We went to Bacharach, a little town on the Rhine River, and caught a tour boat that took us north for about 45 minutes to St. Goar. St. Goar has been settled since around  500 BC. Crazy. Along the river, we saw several castles. It is so amazing to think they have been there hundreds and hundreds of years and built without our modern technologies. They just stick out of the mountainsides. I have become quite awestruck by them. Also, all along the mountainsides are rows and rows and rows of vineyards. The area there is best known for its wine. I cannot imagine how they harvest these things because they are at a pretty good slope. We walked around St. Goar, did some shopping, and stopped at a bakery for some delicious goodies. I had some yummy apple strudel and Steve bought a bread goody shaped like a little mouse. So much for my Weight Watchers!!!!  We then took the tour boat back down to Bacharach where we shopped a little more while Robert took the kids to the park. We found us a little place where we could get us an ice cream cone and then went back to join the others. It was another very fun trip. 

One of the things that I have loved as we drive around is that every little village that you pass by has a big church in it that must be hundreds and hundreds of years old. It is so amazing to think about how long these villages have been around, longer than anything in the states, I’m sure. I would really like to look up some history behind them. 

Castles and vineyards on the Rhein.

Day 5

Today was a long busy day. We left at about 9:30 and went to the base. It took about a half an hour to get ID for Steve and I and his sister and her husband to get on the base. Then we went to the BX and did a little shopping, bought our mug for the day, and then drove to the Lichtenberg Castle, an old abandoned castle built in the 1200s in Thallichtenberg. It was so cool. We climbed to the top which was 114 steps. Got my exercise for the day. We then drove to a zoo to watch a bird show but the show wasn’t playing today. We’ll go back Wednesday and I’ll write about it then. We then went to another BX and did more shopping, bought this cute little remote control helicopter like Robert had, and went on home while Robert went to the commissary to buy groceries. We were in the car for quite awhile today. The kids did really well.
Robert cooked up some meat on the grill and we had a delicious dinner, after which he built a fire in their pit and we made Smores. Another fun day.

MAKING SMORES

Lichtenberg Castle

Day 4

We had a quiet day today. We all slept in as church wasn't until 1:00. That was nice. Eric got baptized today, which is the whole reason for making this trip. It was fun to be able to attend. I can't wait until my own grandkids get baptized. After and before church we played some Zigity, a card game we brought which the kids have really enjoyed playing along with the adults. We also played a game called Spite and Malice, a game similar to Skip-Bo with some interesting twists. Great fun. After taking some pictures outside we came in for a great roast beef dinner. I've learned a new way to cook it so, kids, get ready for a great meal when we get home. The weather was a bit warmer today, NO RAIN.

A picture of the church we went to.

This is a picture of the front of the Steve's nephew's house after we got home from church.

This is the birdhouses in their back yard. Their back yard is the woods.

Day 3

Last night after dinner we played a couple of fun new games that I’m gonna have to buy (get ready kids). They were Make-n-Break Extreme and Blokus. What fun. I even won one of them which does not happen very often. Today, we went to the Teknic Museum in Speyer, Germany. It was full of old vintage cars, planes, motorcycles, and trains. There was a lot of old war planes and paraphernalia. There were also old clothes, an old carousel, and just basically old technical wonders. There was also a life size space shuttle--huge. Outside there were old planes supported in the air that we were able to walk into. One was a 747. What a huge plane. There were some helicopters and boats and even a submarine that we were able to walk through. I would not want to be in that for more than an hour. It was so cramped inside. I can’t believe that several men lived in there for weeks at a time. The weather, unfortunately, has been horrible and we had to eat our picnic in the cars. It pretty much rained the whole time. The trip home took twice as long because of a car accident. Not the greatest of days but saw some interesting things nonetheless.

Steve and I are having a great time with Carolyn’s grandkids. They are so cute and fun to play with. I can’t wait until we can do things with Macy. What fun that will be.


This is a picture of us inside a turbo engine at the museum.

Day 2, Hauptstuhl, Germany

This morning we waited 2 hours at a train station in Paris and then took a 2-hour train ride to Saarbrucken, Germany, where Caroline’s son, Robert, picked us up and we drove about an hour to his home in Hauptstuhl. Robert’s kids were extremely happy to see their grandma and grandpa. I already miss my kids and grandkids (I know, oh mom).

These are pictures of us in front of the train we rode and the Italian restaurant owned by Italians in Germany where we Americans ate!!!

Day 1, Paris

Here we are in Paris after a very long plane ride. I’m here in the hotel while Steve, Jim, and Carolyn are out seeing the sights. Since I’ve already seen them I stayed in the hotel to try to rest up. I’m still not feeling well. Hopefully tomorrow will be better. But get this, the weather here is exactly as we left it in Salt Lake, cloudy, rainy, and cold!!!

This is Steve, Carolyn, and I on the balcony in our hotel room. Jim is taking the picture from across the street.

We're off

Steve and I are off on a trip to Europe with his sister and her husband. I'm going to try to write daily on our trip, but that will depend on when I can get internet usage. Catch ya all later.

Macy's 1st birthday

Macy's birthday was May 28th. These were taken on the 29th. What a fun day this was. She's the cutest!!!