Challenges or Blessings?

TomAtoes or Tomatoes?

So we all know

"Life is like a box of chocolates. You never know whatchya gOne-na get"
&
"when it hands you lemons...
you make lemonade."


The more I study the scriptures the more readily I accept and welcome the challenges the Lord let's us endure.
Let's rewind a few weeks and I'll splain:

It started with the loss of my iPhone
I've never really been into "the latest and greatest"
or been one to get attached to such.
But since it only cost 1 Euro when we arrived here, I thought "why not."
My phone was awesome.
Then it took a bath.

Next:
my spillage issues follow me to the computer keyboard.
$180 later, we're on our 3rd.

Next, the endeavor to potty-train Afton at 19months.
I knew I'd be house-bound for a good week or more.
No biggie.
Suck it up.
Do my workouts at home.

Stalk-call people

Bring travel potty with me in the back of the car for the grocery trips.

Our 2 daily outings would be walking Porter to and from school.

TOTALLY do-able.


Until you lock yourself out of the house w/ car keys but no house key on the ring...
in the snow...
no wallet...
no cell phone...
and still don't have your husband's contact numbers memorized.
:)

So what's to be done?
Bring the white-trash to Germany!
Knock on my neighbor's door...
wake her from her nap and ask to use her internet so I can send an S.O.S. to the hubby.
Have her feed my child who still hasn't eaten lunch,
and let us use the potty.

Nicht so schlimm.


Same Day: Family-mobile died.

2 Days later: our 2nd car broke-down.

No prob.
We were even laughing still at this point!
What more can be thrown our way that can't be handled with a little prayer!?

Com'mon, try us!

But SRSLY. In the midst of it, these two AWESOME missionaries told Luke they'd be over to fix our car and make us dinner!

SAY WHUT!?!
They pretty much Rock!

Here's the Chef/babysitter:

And this is the Mechanic/babysitter:



The night the missionaries came to fix the car, Afton was just not herself. So cranky.
Which by 4p.m. was making for a cranky ME.

Turns out, that was her first night with....
The Chicken Pox

She didn't want to pose for a picture because she said this was her
"bad side."
And I said, "Oh, sweety, every side is bad when you have
the pox of a chicken!
You need to smile and let me document this for posterity."

So then she made this face and said "Hey. it's all I got.":
{Guess that's the picture that will live on for generations.}

And...

"WHAT. You don't ride scooters naked while wearing socks a
nd begging for your daddy's cereal?"
It totally helps when you have the Pox of a Chicken!

At least we've already had the Swine flu here.
Cause who knooooooooooows what she'd be doing!...

running across the street wearing only a mask?


Next:
Our computer caught a MEAN virus and crashed hard.
BAD, Sony, BAD!
Why can't you be a good boy like our lil' Apple?


We've got AWESOME friends!
I called computer 9-1-1 and rushed my computer over where this amazing guy worked day and night to save our Vaio.
He said we almost lost her...
THANKS, Jeff!!!
(and Laura, for watching the kiddos while he worked even longer hours!)

Let's face it.
REAL stressers aren't fun blogging material. :)
As with anyone, the most challenging "stressers" have been unseen to the outside.
It has just seemed to hit all at once.


I have a stronger testimony that God lives.
He answers prayers.
I have 3 scriptures in the Book of Mormon that have given me strength through trials this past year:

Mosiah 4:9
"Believe in God; believe that he is, and that he created all things, both in heaven and in earth; believe that he has all wisdom, and all power, both in heaven and in earth; believe that man doth not comprehend all the things which the Lord can comprehend."

Alma 32:21
"...faith is not to have a perfect knowledge of things; therefore if ye have faith ye hope for things which are not seen, which are true."

Ether 12:4&6
"Wherefore, whoso believeth in God might with surety hope for a better world, yea, even a place at the right hand of God, which hope cometh of faith, maketh an anchor to the souls of men, which would make them sure and steadfast, always abounding in good works, being led to glorify God."
"And now, I, Moroni, would speak concerning these things; I would show unto the world that faith is things which are hoped for and not seen; wherefore, dispute not because ye see not, for ye receive no witness until after the trial of your faith."

What gives YOU strength through trials?

Now Accepting Donations

No, we're not living in a 3rd world country
&
No, my husband is not out of work
&
No, we don't promote cross-dressing
&
No,
Luke no longer wears his man-boob-ventilation shirts with his surfing cap.
He tried to wear one of these shirts that doubles as a pasta-strainer to church one time and that is where I was forced to put my size 10 foot down!

So I don't know WHERE Porter gets this:

Disclaimers:
A: My 3yro is not still wearing diapers
B: I realize that was the worst head-cropping job on the planet. But the REAL pictures of Luke in his sexy-beast-mesh-top might have ruined his career.
C: Jon George is a name he named his froggy over a year ago!
It is the name of one of my best college friends!?
I still have no idea how he came to name his frog "Jongeorge!"
:)

What are YOU up to?

'Cause we're hiding from Sharks and Monsters.

&

Pumping some serious iron so we can beat them up!

Just Weave

Oh how far he's come!
Last week after arriving at kindergarten, Porter had barely taken his boots off and gotten into his "house shoes" before he started playing "grocery store" with the other kids.
He then looks up and says:
"okay, weave."
(Translation: leave)
Me: "what?"
Porter: "just weave."

OUCH.
and at the same time,
YAY!

Lemme splain.
It's taken 3 months for him to go
From:
gripping my leglike a koala grips a tree trunk
and screaming "DON'T WEAVE ME!"
(I have to say though,
I'd be screaming too if I had a "woman" (?) principal
sporting a curly mullet and saying things like
"Porter let's go do thum-thing togetha")
...
I'm just sayin'

To:
"Just weave."

Which reminds me...
Weevils.
Are weEVIL!
I'm disgusted.
Sick.Nast.
(can you see 'em?)
I've never dealt with these ugly muggers.
After reading up on them, it looks like my food storage will now be looking at me from the inside of a dumpster.
The tainted boxes have been traced to my purchases here.
I CURSE the commissary!


(the first box we opened was a bajillion times worse...it should have been called "weevils with some pasta" instead of "penne pasta". But I was too busy screaming like a girl to think to capture the little muggers on camera.)

Christmas

What better time to post about Christmas than on a Sunday in February, right?
Same focus...
Same theme...
Same happy, smiley faces...
(Here they're waiting for Daddy to get the room picture-ready)

...and I realize it looks like I keep my children in a monkey cage, but really.
It's just an unfriendly German staircase with a babygate that cost me my next born child.

So Christmas started later than usual this year.
I like to start decorating after Halloween.
We didn't get decorations up until the first part of December!
{Gasp}
But alas, we made the most of it.
We bought our first REAL Christmas tree and decorated it as a family
in whites and golds
...my FAVE!
I got to hang all of my hand-made garland and wreaths which always gives me a tingly feeling,
we participated in some Christmas programs,
&
Daphne and I decided to choose one Saturday to just bake.
And we baked for 13hours to put together a
deliciously lovely arrangement for neighbors and friends which had the following:
Coconut Cream Macaroons
German Chocolate Cookies
White Chocolate Pecan Toffee
Lemon Sugar Cookies with a Lime Icing
Raspberry Almond Thumb Cookies
&
Cake Pops


You're probably starting to ask yourself
"where are all the pictures of these so-called events and gorgeous decorations?"

Well, I'll tell.
We had an unfortunate turn of events...
or our Sony Vaio did anyway.
He crashed, taking our December pictures with him...
a mean little virus got to him.
But, lucky for you, I had 2 pics saved to blogger draft before he succumbed.
:)
The 2nd of which is of total scrumptiousness.
Be forewarned, though, just looking at this picture
may magically make you increase one pant size...
or more.

Just sayin'.

...(sigh) I feel my back-side growing as I drool over this picture again.


Either way, we had a wonderful Christmas.
Our 1st Christmas NOT traveling to see family.
Although we missed our loved ones,
It was nice just spending it with our little family and free of travel-stress!

Numbers, Letters, and Mazes

That's what we're doing in this household when we're not playing or poopin',
and he's not at German Kindergarten.

And this is what I found in our basement playroom tonight:

How is it that his hand-writing looks better than Luke's!?!

...he's 3!

Baby It's Cold Outside

This was the calm before the storm:

And this was the foot of snow that fell within a few hours:

And this is one of the munchkins who put it to good use:

A Parisian Thanksgiving

What did you do for your Thanksgiving holiday?

Wanna know what we did?
See these pictures?

Yeah.
I took them.
IN PARIS!
In person.
Over Thanksgiving.
That is all.







Okay, that's not really all.
I'm sorry we couldn't spend this wonderful "season of thanks" with all of our loved ones!
But alas, life must go on.

And so it did in Paris.

We arrived on the eve of Thanksgiving.
The chillins were wonderful during our 7 hour ride in the car!

Thanksgiving Day, we ventured out and learned how the Paris metro system works ,
(same as the others)
saw the Arc de Triomphe

walked down the entire Champs Elysees

and ended up at the Eiffel Tower.

Our 2nd day in Paris,
we visited the Louvre
(I REALLY want to photoshop that lady out...)

where we saw...

Aphrodite
(approx 323 B.C....
I hope I look that good at that age!)

The Great Sphinx of Tanis
(said to be 4,000 years old!)

Dennis and Ann Leary

And, of course, the great Mona Lisa...
which is now behind a wall of plexi-glass,
with a wall in front of that,
and ropes in front of that...
dumb thieves!

...okay, okay,
because I KNOW you're dying to hear about my encounter with Dennis Leary, given that he's like the #1 hottest actor on the "Who's who of the B-movies" list,
I will tell.

He was there with his wife and son... with us at the Louvre.
He and I were chattin' it up.
I told him how great I thought his mullet was,
or rather, his "business on the sides, party in the back" 'do was.
He thanked me and told me not many people complimented his hairdo.
I told him " no problem. I speak the truth."
And then I told him how great movie make-up is!
'Cause it hides some serious freckelage!
Then he said "Happy Thanksgiving, crazy Lady." and they went on their way.

After the Louvre we headed over to the Notre Dame Cathedral.
...
Now fast forward to the evening where Luke and I went on a hot double-date.
And by "hot" I mean I got to play dress-up.
I wore a silk blouse, and tight black pants with my highest, blackest heels.
Did I get any pictures of our hot selves?
No.
Got so caught up not having children, I think I forgot.
We sat at a cozy French restaurant with our good friends, Laura and Jeff
and enjoyed great cuisine and 4 hours of relaxed conversation.
4 HOURS!
No crying.
No pooping.
No fighting.
No whining.
It was nearly 1 a.m. when we left the restaurant.
We decided to then go see the tower in it's nocturnal glory,
because I have a "thing" for shiny, glittery stuff.
What girl doesn't?
Give a girl glitter, and send her to Paris on a pony and she could die happy...
(well, according to Luke, anyway...)
???
Whatev, honey. We'll let you have your little fantasy.

So anyway, after forcing Jeff and Laura to let me take some cutesy pics of them,
Luke and I got into our contrived pose,
Jeff got into his photographer pose and as he was pressing the button,
the glorious, sparkly, twinkling lights shut off!
{GASP!}
And they did not come back on!
Our last night in Paris!
SAD. SAD. Night for Steph.
But all is well.
Our friends have some cute shots and I was able to take in the Eiffel Tower in all of it's shiny glory!!!
At least the memory will live on in my little noggin.

Out of all the shots I got of the great Eiffel Tower, we did not get ONE with the entire family or of Luke and myself!

Ah!
Frustrating.
But, that just gives us a reason to go back :)
I guess I'm a little glad we didn't try to suffer through trying to get the
perfect couples/family shot because I just had my hair done.
(*this pic was taken in the Louvre. Porter had his Sully, and Luke saw a photo op.)
Don't like it.
Too harsh.
Getting it fixed in a week.
I only wanted the dark that was already in my hair, a little richer.
Not all of my lightness gone.

Happy Thanksgiving!

Suhweet Sweden

So Luke flew me to Sweden for my first trip away from any and all kiddos in waaaaay too long.
Nobody was on my hip, and nobody was in my belly kicking or pushing my food back up into my throat.
Nice.
The last time I was on a trip with my hubs without any hint of a child was over 3 years ago.
Daphne made it possible for me to leave for 5 beautifully glorious days.
Thanks Daph!
So when I flew in to meet Luke, he told me upon my arrival that his Hertz rental car had broken down.
(We were in Sweden, home of the Volvo,
but he was given a Ford Focus.
Go figure.)
Customer service is NOT what it is in the states.
We spent hours on the phone trying to get someone to step up and help us figure out what to do.
We had to call a tow truck and then find our own way up to the closest rental place.
So....we hitched a ride with the tow-truck man.
We were squished in there like smelly sardines.
Well, tow-truck man was really the one who had bathed with sweaty fish that morning.
Just sayin'
Tow-truck man didn't care too much for conversation with us.
But Luke kept insisting on striking up conversation just after he'd turn his Celine Dion back up loud enough to drown us out.
I thought it amusing.
After an hour in the truck with Mr. Sardine, we couldn't wait to get into our next Ford Focus!
After this all-day adventure, we had time for a nice dinner out and some bowling.
Sweden's food is AWESOME!
Germany's? Not so much.
After 6 months of trying different restaurants that claimed various national cuisines,
only to find out the common ingredients were still potatoes and salt,
Swedish restaurants were amazingly accurate in their claims!

On the up side of our day, we found that Sweden has signs warning you of the upcoming speed-camera locations!
(unlike the smart, sneaky Germans that have mobile cameras so you never know where they are!)

Stockholm LDS Temple -
we were able to do a session while sporting hot little English-speaking headphones.

Changing of the Royal Guard in Gamla Stan Stockholm

Like England, these guys aren't to acknowledge us or smile.
But Luke made these boys laugh by getting all up in their faces with the camera while they were on trash-duty.
In 1520,
After King Christian forced himself into the position of king,
he hanged and beheaded 94 noblemen, clergy, and commoners in this square.
The event has since been referred to as the
Stockholm Bloodbath

As legend has it, this cannon ball was fired at the king during the bloodbath in 1520, and has been left there as a reminder of the atrocities ever since.

Church built during the 14th century

Inside

Scenic views

Vasa Ship - Constructed in the 17th century, sank during it's maiden voyage, recovered and restored in the 20th century! Pretty awesome ship...it was very Viking-ish, even though Vikings were earlier, it still had that feel. I definitely recommend visiting this museum (built around the ship) and giving yourself a few hours.
This was our favorite part.

Hope you enjoyed our tour of Sweden :)