Rothenburg ob der Tauber

So yesterday on Dave's day off we jumped on a train with the kids and went to a darling little village close by called Rothenburg ob der Tauber.

This is the city wall that goes around the entire center of the city. Apparently  there was a war called the "Thirty Years War", and when they got to Rothenburg the war went on for 2 days. According to the legend, after those 2 days the General of the military told the Mayor of the village that if he would drink 3 liters of wine, they would leave his village alone. So he did just that. And that is why this is one of the few remaining city walls in Germany. 

We visited a torture museum that had authentic torture items used centuries ago. It was really disturbing and interesting. Landon found his new time out chair (not sure if you can tell in this picture but it's covered in nails.)...ironically enough about 10 minutes after this picture was taken Landon was rolling around on the ground throwing a fit. We could've really used this chair right about then.

It is an old medieval village so the boys were very excited about all the armor, swords, and shields. 

They have this Christmas store there that is open year round. It had beautiful glass ornaments....perfect place to take 4 small children.

Truck that is permanently parked outside of the Christmas store.

Super fun day learning new ways to torture our children into obedience...here's to hoping they work!

Annnnnnd....we made it!

I still have so many posts that I want to write about Hawaii, but from here on out, I'm just going to try and post the current events and then as I have time (read: get my lazy butt motivated!) I'll post about Hawaii. 

At the SLC airport.

So... we made it to Germany! We had to leave for the airport about 7am on Sunday. Both my mom and sister had to drive their cars to fit all of our crapola! Man you need a lot of stuff when packing to live out of a suitcase for 3+ months! Our first leg of the flight was from SLC to Atlanta and it actually went relatively well.

I LOVE Lolo's photo bomb in this picture. 

The boys did awesome on the flights.

We were a little late taking off for that flight so by the time we landed in Atlanta and made it to our next gate they were paging our names for the final call. The flight from Atlanta to Frankfurt...well, let's just say that I hope we never see any of those people again. It was about a 9 hour flight and one and/or both of the girls were crying for the first 5 1/2 hours. I heard the guy behind me ask the flight attendant if he could switch seats. It was not a pretty flight.

We arrived in Frankfurt at 8am (midnight Utah time), got all of our stuff (we were a sight to behold!) and starting walking to the exit doors, hoping someone was there to pick us up. Luckily there was! Actually there were 2 (remember? we had a BUNCH of crap!). It was about a 2 1/2 hour drive from there to our "apartment" (the hotel we are staying at has one little apartment that we were lucky enough to get. And after seeing the size of the hotel rooms here, man am I glad we got an apartment! Not only are the hotel rooms super small (though I don't know if that is just for the village we are in, or in general in Germany), but there are none that attach to each other, so even if we got a couple of rooms (which we would've needed!), they wouldn't be connected....now let's see, should Briella have her own room or Lolo?).

Outside our hotel apartment (on the right) in Bad Windsheim. It is the cutest little village!!

 Literally, the minute we got to our hotel apartment, we unloaded our stuff and Dave had to leave to go start "inprocessing". By this time we had officially been traveling for almost 24 hours straight. Exhausted isn't even the word to describe how we all felt.  The poor kids have had a rough time with the time change. At least 3 of them were up for 3+ hours in the middle of the night. But last night only Briella was up for 1 hour in the middle of the night so hopefully they are all adjusted to the time. The boys started school this week also. Since we still have no idea where we will be living, we decided to enroll them for now in the school on base. Needless to say, there are a lot of new things we are all trying to adjust to.

The best picture I could get of the boys' first day of school. They were SO tired after being up from 1am-4am.

The army personnel we have met so far have all been so helpful and kind. The doctor Dave will be replacing has been showing us all over, let us borrow cell phones, and even made our kids muddy buddies. Another guy let us borrow his minivan until our car gets here, which might be another month. Their kindness has definitely helped this past week go MUCH smoother than it otherwise would have!

So, overall we are doing well. Just trying to take everything in and adjust. But this country is beautiful with so much history and we are excited to start taking it all in!

Awesome Parenting at It's Finest.

As I'm sure you will soon find out, there is no order to this blog (but our lives are TOTALLY in order and super calm and collected, so no worries)....

Warning: After reading this post, you may feel like you might never measure up to the parenting bar which we have set for you all. Just remember, everybody has their talents. Yours just might not be as awesome as ours.

While packing the last few things to get ready to travel (alone! super awesome!) with all 4 (which is the new 10, mom) of these cute kids to Utah, here is the conversation that Izak and I had.  Keep in mind this conversation happened about 2 hours before heading to the airport. At which time the kids would have to say goodbye to Dave for 2 1/2 months.

Izak: Mommy, I'm super nervous about my swim team tryouts (he was going to try out for the swim team, for the very first time, a few hours after we landed in Utah).

Me: I know Izak. I would be too, but all that matters is that you do your best. As long as you do your best then even if you don't make it, it doesn't matter and you can just take swim lessons instead.

Izak: If I make the team, I'm super excited for Daddy to see me swim at the swim meets.

Me: Oh, well swim team will be over before Daddy gets to Utah.

Izak: What? What do you mean?

Me: (Holy crap!) Umm, Izak, you know Daddy isn't going with us to Utah, right?

Izak: (As he breaks down sobbing) He's not?! Why not?! When will we see him again?!

Yep. That's right folks. In all the craziness of trying to get everything done and shipped to Germany we TOTALLY forgot to explain to our children that their Dad would be M.I.A. for the summer.

We.Are.Super.Awesome.Parents.

Izak-after he made the swim team

"Road to Hana" Drop-Outs

So, we recently visited Maui. It was the last island Dave really wanted to visit before we leave this beautiful island....so off we went....and it was gorgeous. The first 2 days we enjoyed the beach out our front door. Starting at 5:45am every day. Yep, 5:45am.

Hard at work on their sand castle 

I love Briella's face in this pic.

Seriously in love with this little girl's hair

An awesome blow hole we found on our hike along the ocean

Resourceful love: Your husband finding someone elses' heart with their initials in it, and rearranging the initials to be yours.

Gorgeous sunset on the beach

They hate the beach

Enjoying our solitary hike....no one else was cool (read:stupid) enough to do the hike in the pouring rain.

How Landon keeps quiet...

Dave really wishes he never had a baby girl

Caption: Life as the mom of 4 children

Our last day there we had planned about 8 hours to do the "Road to Hana". We read up on it, planned which hikes we were going to do, and which mile markers to stop at. It was going to be awesome. And it was. Until mile marker 2. At which point Izak said he was about to throw up. So Dave ninja jumped over the seats to quick grab Izak a ziploc bag in which to throw up. At mile marker 4 Dave started to feel sick. At mile marker 6 I started to feel sick. And by mile marker 8 Landon was threatening to blow...so Izak had to relinquish the ziploc-throw-up-bag to Landon. This was the point that Dave and I looked at each other and started laughing. And for the next 15 minutes (which was how long it took us to go 1 1/2 miles) Landon was yelling at us to, "Quit laughing and just get me some water before I throw up!". So....we managed to make it to mile marker 10 where we did a hike. In the POURING rain. Declared ourselves "Road to Hana" drop-outs and turned our pathetically-weak-stomachs around and headed back down the mountain. 

Kauai

After the Big Island, we jumped on a plane and headed to Kauai....we got a hotel right on the beach and had the most gorgeous weather while we were there! 

Our first stop was Waimea Valley, which is considered the "Grand Canyon" of the  Pacific, I believe. It was gorgeous.

Notice no pictures of Landon...I'll explain about that further down...

This beach was absolutely gorgeous, and the sand was so fine and soft. Dave HATES fine sand....it ends up EVERYWHERE and is really difficult to get off. 

Every beach we go to, Dave and the boys dig a toddler-size hole and stick Briella in it. They then fill it with water and she absolutely LOVES it. It's hilarious.

We all survived staying in the same hotel room. Wasn't sure how it would go down with two baby girls...but everyone actually slept amazingly well and there were no issues. It was really fun.

We went on a GORGEOUS hike along the Na Pali Coast. It was one of the most beautiful settings ever.

I love how Briella is poking her little head out in this one. She and Lolo did awesome on the hikes.

Izak wasn't super excited about this hike. But then his genuis mom asked him what level he was on in Super Mario Bros. and he was a happy camper explaining all about it for the remaining miles. Aww....game systems-the way to any boy's heart. 

And then we all hopped on a plane and Lolo and I went to Utah for a quick trip where Lolo was reunited with her long-lost sisters.

We had such a great time on our trip to the Big Island and Kauai. But it wasn't all sunshine and rainbows (get it---all there is in Hawaii is sunshine and rainbows:) I know, I'm hilarious), so here for your reading pleasure are a few "Keepin' It Real" moments that may or may not have been experienced while on our vacation....

1. Briella screamed the ENTIRE flight from the Big Island to Kauai. Not just screamed, but flopped and flailed her little body. I overheard the (single-with-no-children) girl behind me say, "Good thing this flight is only an hour, huh?".
2. Landon is not pictured in the above Waimea Valley pictures because he was too busy laying in the back of our car recovering from his violent puking. Lets just say the road up to the Valley was VERY windy. Poor kid.
3. One parent might have been overheard saying to the boys, "If you continue to make this day miserable for me, I promise I will make it just as miserable for you guys as you are for me." (Mom. Of. The.Year.Award....pending)

Overall, it was an awesome experience! We have loved our time here in Hawaii!!

The Big Island

During Dave's time off, we headed to Kauai and the Big Island....I wasn't quite sure how it would be with two baby girls not getting their naps, but it actually ended up being so much fun! I'm glad Dave talked me into this trip!

Landon and Izak at the southern most tip of the United States.

We had to hike a few miles in to get to the green sand beach. The boys loved having so much open land to explore.

We made it to the green sand beach! It's hard to tell in the picture, but to the left of us in the background is all green sand. 

We had to hike down to the beach. The sand was an olive green. It was really pretty and the water of course was gorgeous.

The black sand beach was really cool. Lots of sea turtles come here and one was up hanging out with us while we were here.

We stayed inside the Volcano National Park in some military cabins. It was so much fun. Behind us  is all steam from the volcano. Some pictures we took didn't even turn out because there was too much steam.

This cave was formed from lava flow. When the lava finally hardened, this is how it turned out. It was really cool to walk through.

I actually took this one myself....we were in one of the tropical rain forests on the Big Island.

This was Dave's and my favorite part of the trip. We did a 4 mile hike across  this crater made up of dried lava rock. It felt like we were on another planet, especially because it was only us and one other family that did this hike. 

The only guide to where we were suppose to hike was these cairns you can see behind us.  The lack of trail markers added to the entire feel of the hike. Such an awesome experience.

Here's a shot from the top of the crater we hiked across.

We weren't able to see actual lava flow as right now it's only flowing on someone's private property that you have to pay $90/person to see or go in a boat, as it is flowing into the ocean. Neither of which was a great option with little children....Dave and I decided that means we have to come back another time to see it. But it was still really cool to see the glow from the lava flow. I love this picture because you can see Briella's little pig tails in it.

All in all, it was such a fun experience and we were so thankful we got the chance to go to the Big Island before we move! The boys absolutely loved getting to see such different things than we see on Oahu.

Let's Start with the Best of the Best

So, before we head off to begin our adventures in Germany, I figured we should probably document all the amazing things we've been able to experience here in Hawaii first! So...we'll start with the best thing that happened to us here in Hawaii....

 The arrival of Lorna Mae!!!

 We were a little concerned how everything was going to work out with her birth not having any family on the island and Dave working really long hours (and having to go back to the mainland a little over a week before my due date) but thanks to the best mother-in-law ever it worked out perfectly!! (If you don't like long-winded birth stories, this is the part where you scroll through to the end of the post to see the cute pictures of Lolo and be done reading!)

Landon meeting Lolo for the 1st time

I was due on Tuesday, October 9th. The Friday before I was due, I went in to have a check up. They said that I was dilated to a 4 so that if I wanted they would go ahead and induce me then. I really didn't want to be induced and Sandra wasn't flying in until Saturday night so I told them that we would wait. The Dr. said that since I was far enough along if I changed my mind during the weekend that what I should do is go into the hospital, tell them I'm in labor and that at my last Dr. appointment I was at a 2 so when they checked me and I was close to a 5 they would go ahead and admit me thinking I was really in labor.

Izak meeting Lolo for the 1st time

I started having contractions that night so Dave and I decided that if they got any stronger he and the kids would drive me to the hospital before we put the kids down for bed...I was going to have to have the baby all alone because we just felt like it would be too much to have someone watch our 3 kids over night. Luckily, a few hours later they stopped (which was a miracle-all my other labors, once labor started there was no turning back).

Heading out for our run

 Sandra flew in on Saturday night and we were SO excited to see her! Sunday morning comes and I'm feeling WAY too good. We found out that Dave actually had Monday off of work so I decided that this baby had to come today. Seriously. So, I told Dave that I was going to run  (read:waddle) this baby out of me. So, Dave and I got our running clothes on and went for a run up and down a ridiculously large hill (oh how I miss those nice FLAT runs in Arizona!). Still nothing. So then Sandra and I went out. Nothing. So at about 4:30pm we decided to pull the sneaky little plan my Dr. had suggested and go into the hospital pretending to be in labor. By this point my contractions were about every 10-15 minutes apart, VERY mild, but I felt like if my Dr. broke my water, it would really help things along.




We made it to the hospital about 5:30pm. And man was it awkward trying to feign being in labor when I felt way too good. And then it got really awkward when the nurse decided to monitor my contractions BEFORE admitting me to the hospital or checking to see how dilated I was. The whole time while we were waiting for a contraction (which took at least 10 minutes!) the nurse kept saying things like, "But, this is your 4th baby so I'm SURE you know when you're REALLY in labor"....yea, it was awesome. Finally the nurse gave up on waiting for a contraction and said she'd go ahead and check me. And just like the Dr. said, the planned worked perfectly. The nurse even complimented me on how I came in at the PERFECT time, not too early in labor, and not too late. So, I was finally admitted about 6pm.

Briella trying to figure out what that thing laying next to her is...

The Dr. was on the other side of the island, so she didn't end up coming to see me until about 7-7:30pm. Ironically by then, my contractions were coming less than 5 minutes apart. And I had dilated to a 7-8. So, she decided that I was progressing enough on my own that she wasn't going to break my water. And I decided to go ahead and have this little baby with no pain medication.

2 months old-She is SO loved by her brothers!

The Dr. came in about 9:15pm and I was dilated to about a 9.5 so she called in the nurse and got everything ready. She then broke my water and all 7lbs. 14oz. of Lorna was born less than 10 minutes later. I didn't feel any pain, I just heard angels singing the whole time. I kid, I kid.

Lorna 3 months old

So, 4 hours after going to the hospital in "labor", Little Lorna Mae was born al natural. It was an amazing experience! It all worked out perfectly. And we absolutely LOVE  her.

Lorna 4 months old

It's hard to tell in the pictures, but this little girl totally has red hair---maybe Dave will get his little redheaded child after all. We love, love, love having this baby girl!!