Fun with our family :)

Some pictures that were too cute to not share!

 Our neighbor asked us if we had a high chair and we said no so they said we could borrow theirs that was just in storage. But Elise thinks she should be big like us and since she has just been using a big chair for a month we weren't sure she would use it but she loves it because Max let her borrow it. It also turns into a small chair and table which she LOVES. She loves to sit and read her books or sing herself songs, like in this picture along with numerous other things she comes up with.

She just couldn't make it through this book. Not that it was boring she had just played too hard and was finally ready to give in for a nap.

 Elise's method of learning German and English. Get a friend to help you, have munchies next to you and get your favorite dictionary and read, read, read.

It was such nice weather Sunday that we walked to the next bus stop and enjoyed the day on our way home. Here we found as Spencer puts it "An Awesome Hedge". Here and at home we have seen trees or bushes that are meant to block the view of the house or yard from the street but this one is perfect. It is a well tended hedge that is completely solid. You cannot see through it. It looks like a extension of the wall. It was pretty impressive. Spencer wants one like this if we ever have to live in a city.

 Elise choosing her next "monster" as she calls them. She is carefully selecting the next Haribo Gummi that she will eat. I think her real plan is to try and act like she is taking her time selecting one so that she can get away with eating more than one.

 She is a very sneaky girl. We were doing dishes thinking she was playing with her computer but if you look close she has the mouse to our computer and is looking past her computer playing on OUR computer instead.

When I ask for help cleaning the house this is the kind of help I get. Here my family is helping me vacuum by moving the rug out of the way and then, well they got a little distracted.

My favorite round about

So I know this picture doesn't do it justice but it is a round about with a tree budding out, surrounded by pansies. It is gorgeous to walk by. It is by far my favorite round about, that I have seen so far, much more creative and pretty than most which are just cement or maybe a couple of bushes.

Just as we come into the city when we walk to Bad Waldsee.

Some of our daughter's "addictions"

So our daughter isn't quite two yet but she definitely has a few things that she "LOVES".

 From her father she gets a love for peanut butter. Some days she wants to skip the bread, honey or whatever else and just have peanut butter on a spoon or fingers in this case.

 Her father says I have to say this is from me any my side but Elise definitely has a love for chocolate. We went shopping and let her pick a treat. She chose a big, chocolate Easter bunny that did not survive the walk home. We will blame Elise but in complete honesty she is also a good sharer so mom and dad had a couple of bites too.

 And Elise's other love is shoes! We had hoped that her sandals from last year would make it through this year but they were getting small and our neighbor offered to show me a second hand store in Ravensburg. Elise was a very willing participant in trying on any shoes she could. Luckily we found a pair of sandals that will fit her for a while. She loves them and it has been hard to get her out of them ever since.

Posing for a picture for daddy. He only asked to see her shoes and this is the pose she gave him. 

TOO CUTE!

Our Daughter the Farmer 4/9/2011

We took an afternoon stroll around town and Elise wanted to examine everything but was especially interested in the fields. She would squat down like this and just look and look. Her Grandpa Atkin tried to claim she was useless for farm work until she was two but look at what a good crop monitor she is.

 She also liked to run her hands over the grass as if she was making sure it was just right.

The Joy of Recycling 4/7/2011

We took a walk into town to take the recycling but to Elise it was a great adventure. 

 Elise and her bear ready to go.

 Elise insisted on walking most of the way and what a cute little walker she is.

She stole the camera on the way back and would point it everywhere saying "pretty", "picture". When we got home she decided that she must take pictures of her bear, the dog and anything and everything else. We are going to either have to teach her how to take a good picture or be ready to do a lot of deleting when we actually let her take a real picture with the camera turned on.

Basilica in Weingarten 4/5/2011

We had seen the outside of the Basilica in Weingarten but today we went for a tour inside. I had never been inside any sort of cathedral before so it was fun to see. The artwork that is all over the wall and ceiling is very elaborate. Here are a few pictures of what we saw.

 First we ate our lunch on a bench outside the Basilica. Elise loved watching the birds fly around.

 View towards Gaisbeuren from by the Basilica.

 A better view of the outside.

 Other half of the front of the Basilica.

 Elise really liked sitting on the foot benches in the pews. There were just the right size for her to sit on.

 View from front of Basilica to towards the back. I didn't know that when there is a large group the preacher will stand in the part that sticks out so that everyone can hear him better.

 View from the back towards the front.

 The pipe organ at the back.

 Side view.

 A longer side view.

 From below steps looking up at the Basilica.

Trip to Dornbirn, Austria 4/3/2011

Spencer second area was in Dornbirn, Austria. So on General Conference Sunday our branch doesn't broadcast so we decided to travel the about an hour to the ward house in Dornbirn. These are a couple of pictures from our drive. I should have taken more but we were having to much fun talking with people he knew and enjoying the day. Dornbirn reminds me the most of home. It has mountains on the side and flatter valley in the middle. When we go to look around the area instead of on Sunday I will take more pictures. We were hurrying to get there and then didn't leave until after it was dark. But at least I can add another country to my list.

 My first view of the Alps.

 The Alps again.

First glimpse of Lake Constance or the Bodensee on our way to Dornbirn.

Museum Dorf 4/2/2011

 Elise and her buddies are ready to go. We went to a Musuem Dorf (village) to the North of us about 30 minutes. It is a village of 33 old buildings that have been collected from all over Germany and restored. There is a very big variety and some have extra items on display in them to show a large view of German history. Elise really liked this museum because we were outside almost as much as we were inside.

A picture for Rachel. Unfortunetly the babies are back in that fence area and wouldn't come out. They were so cute but here all you can see is there legs.

Kitchen in the Tanzhaus (The dance house), built in 1832.

Spencer and Elise in front of the Kegelbahn, built in 1896. Look carefully at the next picture and see if you can figure out what the building is before you read the caption.

It is a nine pin alley (bowling alley). This gave Spencer way to many ideas, now he wants to build one.

Outside view of the Tanzhaus.

Spencer explaining the Waaghaus (scale house) to us. The bars are part of a pen used to weigh livestock. Built in 1893.

An old hearse in the undertakers area of the Rathaus (city building), built in 1832.

Schoolroom in the top of the Rathaus.

Stamps in the Rathaus that were different cities symbols. Notice ^  in the second row above the arrow that there is a US stamp. It is from and old city named Untersulmetingen. It is a city in Southern Germany. We tried to see how old it was to see if it was older than our US but it and other smaller cities have since combined with a bigger city in 1972 so we don't know how old exactly it is.

Picture of the Bendelshof (Thrashing house), built in 1756.

In the top of the Bendelshof they have an old kitchen and house appliances display. Here is a picture of numerous old styles of washing machines. Don't they look fun to use?

A sign we came across. Spencer really liked it. It translates to "No Trespassing, Private house, Every third will be shot (the second one was too)."

Elise wandering around one of the exhibits. She really liked to go back and forth over the stair she is standing on.

I was looking at part of the exhibit when I looked up and both Elise and Spencer were lined up perfectly through the holes in the next room. A perfect picture.

A building that was filled with old tractors and equipment. Sorry it would have taken about 10 pictures to show you all of them.

This one is specifically for David so he can see that Case does exist over here :). There not all green!

Elise just wanted to walk around, especially when were outside. I looked back to see if she was still coming and this is what I saw. She loves pockets.

Elise really wanted to push this old mowing machine or at least hold on to both handles but she couldn't quite reach both at the same time.

An old walk behind mowing machine. Although Spencer says that the majority of what they use in Switzerland are still like this. 

A combine that puts the grain straight in the bags. These bags are labeled to go to the Brewery in Aulendorf.

 

There was a little garden. It was planted and had the labels on each row. Elise was being a good little gardener/farmer and walked down, looking at each row and touching the signs and talking to herself. She had to check everything over carefully. 

The girls outside of the Brennerei (Brewery), built in 1877.

There was pea gravel on all of the paths and Elise really wanted to pick it all up. We would be walking and all of sudden she was bent down picking up handfuls of gravel, sometimes throwing it and sometimes just playing in it.

A beautiful, embroidered wall hanging in one of the kitchens. It translates to "Don't complain about the morning of toil and work, it is nice to care for those you love". I really liked this saying and that it was embroidered made me like it even more.

The girls in an elaborately weaved branch tunnel.

A stork nest that is still in use on a farm house. 

These three bowls labeled, Soda, Soap and Sand were found above many of the kitchen sinks. Were not sure why unless there were three needed agents to get different grimes off your hands.

Back view of the Hueb. We're not sure of the exact translation, we think they might have a typo but it was just a farm building.

In the top of the Ziegelhütte (tile house). In the loft there were a bunch of old chairs, sleighs and some more farm equipment. We were having to hurry by this point because they were closing and Elise just wanted to play outside not be packed around or go inside any more buildings.

A garden that was planted like a maze.