Cologne

 On Saturday we went to Cologne.  Here s their Cathedral.  It has a very Gothic look to it.

 As tourists were inside taking photos there was actually Catholic Mass going on.  I can't imagine what it would be like for us to have tourists in our buildings during Sacrament Meeting.

 Nato, Jacob and Uncle Cliff decided to climb the 500-ish steps to the belfry and get some cool photos.

 The bell

 Unfortunately there was quite a bit of graffiti in the stairwells.  But still an adventure to climb up.

 We walked around the city and even went to a chocolate museum.  It was fun to learn about the history of chocolate.

 Remarkably the chocolate washed off the faces pretty well.  

If only it was that easy to wash chocolate off our hips!

Xanten

Just a 20 minute drive from us is an archeological park.  Where a Roman settlement has been discovered that dates back to 200 BC.  Many of the structures and buildings have been rebuilt to show what life was like while the Romans lived here. 

 This is what their wheat mill would have been like.  

 Just like my kitchen, the boys were very excited to help out in this super sized kitchen.

 This is the ruins of the temple they had constructed here.

 Everyone smile!

 Temple ruins.

                                      

This was their little colosseum.  They had many Gladiator  type games here and. . . 

 a thumbs down meant the looser was to be shown no mercy.

 It wasn't all about history though.  This huge bounce apparatus looked just like a striped green caterpillar, but a LOT bigger.

 Of course the little ones found a way to enjoy themselves too.  

Left Over Birthday Cake!

A 3 year old Birthday

Three Months

We have been here three months and there are days I don't feel I have much to show for my time here.   Then something wonderful happened:

I made bread!

Yes is really took me three months and I don't want to count how many tries, but I finally made bread.  Actual edible bread!  I always have a slight lull as I trouble shoot and figure out my bread for each climate we live in, but I was getting a little discourage this time.  I was starting to wonder if I needed to just embrace the local bread while we are here.  But the need to HAVE to run to the store for bread is something I don't desire so we kept working on it.  Finally I got it!  Maybe we can function here as ourselves after all.

Table Topper

This is what happens when Matthew gets hungry.  Since he has found this new climbing skill it is mandatory to keep the kitchen table cleaned up after every meal.  Otherwise Matthew will just take things into his own hands.  When our other children where at this stage I could prevent a little of this by simply keeping the table's chairs pushed in and under the table.  This house has a fabulous build in kitchen table with a bench that goes around it.  It is awesome and very German, but there is no way to scoot the bench "under" the table.  Luckily there are doors on every room, so sometimes I can keep him off by just closing the doors and leaving the kitchen.

Regardless of the woes, He is still cute when he is getting into mischief.

Bat Girl

 Meet Bat Girl!

 She is the newest of our superhero family.

 Actually I have pictures of each one of the boys dressed like this at the 2-3 year old age.  It cracks me up to see each of them act so similar when they put on this particular outfit.

I particularly LOVE the red bows in her hair beneath the mask.  Just thought I would share this little stage of Jane's life with you.

Love you all!