O Tannenbaum

Noah's favorite christmas song has been "Jingle Bells" this year. "Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer" is a close second but he does not have the words down for this one. His favorite German christmas song is "O Tannenbaum" and so we thought we would better buy one this year. The last two years we got by without because we were in Germany and California. For economic and ecological reasons, we decided to buy a little Norfolk pine and it has been a lot of fun.

In preschool Noah made a few ornaments for our tree and they are perfect.













And now that the Christmas season is over, we just take off the decorations and still have a fun tree in the house that we can watch grow. If we don't forget to water to it...

I did not attempt to make any Christmas stockings and I did not buy any either. First, it is not very high on my priority list. I was just fine growing up without stockings. So my kids will be, too. Second, I can't sew. The nice ones in the store are too expensive and the cheap ones too ugly. Third, we don't have a chimney/fireplace anyway.

But then last second on Christmas eve Noah got into the Santa Claus thing. So we came up with some fun socks and I think they look pretty good, considering...


Karl made this beautiful wreath. After I failed to do anything with the branches we got from his mom and they were starting to dry out, Karl took charge, sat down, and in a few minutes had made this wreath. I think he got some talent.


This snowman is another Noah creation from preschool. I love it. So does he. He has been getting more into crafts and such lately. During the summer we are just too busy running around outside and, to be honest, I am NOT a crafty person. Hopefully our kids will get some of Karl's talent.


Ok, time to take the decorations down. It won't take very long in this house.

My new trick

Actually, the trick is not so new anymore. I have been doing it for at least a month now and finally someone (Grandpa) was able to take a good enough picture of me to post it.

I can't believe there still is no picture of me rolling over because by now I am a pro at it. I can pretty much roll anywhere I want to. And I want to go lots of places. All the time. I mighty try crawling soon but the doctor told me I should try sitting up first. Does not sound quite as fun but I guess I will give it a shot. Mama wants me to learn to sleep through the night first of all. Little does she know that I already know how to but I just like to have visitors during the night.


Here I am in my jumperoo. I am exercising my legs while jumping. Sometimes the fat rolls on my thighs get in the way though.
























I am pretty cute if I may say so myself. And just in case you are wondering: my eyes are so big because I always want to see exactly what Noah is up to.

Schneeflöckchen

Nach ein paar Trockenübungen im Haus mit dem Eispickel...



...gab es bei uns endlich Schnee! Noch nicht sehr viel, aber genug. Schneeanzug anziehen, Eispickel schnappen und raus. Papa freut sich mindestens so sehr wie Noah. Leider kann ich euch nicht sagen, was genau sie draußen eine Stunde lang mit ihren Eispickel gemacht haben. Da müsst ihr sie selbst fragen. Meines Wissens nach gab es keine Verletzten.



Dann gab es noch mehr Schnee. Wieder Schneeanzug an und raus.





Dieses Mal musste Papa arbeiten. Doch zum Glück waren auch Nate und sein Papa Jesse draußen. Jesse half den Jungs eine Schneeburg zu bauen. Sie setzen sich rein und Noah sagt: "I am watching a movie". So viel zu meiner Fernseh-freien Erziehung.













Die Burg.










Auf Grund großen Hungers konnte Noah das Endergebnis leider nicht genießen. Wir zogen es vor, reinzugehen und Mittag zu essen, um weitere Tobsuchtsanfälle zu vermeiden.

Merry Christmas

We wish all of our dear friends and family a wonderful Christmas. We hope you are all well and enjoying this beautiful time of year.

Karl wrote this Christmas letter for his family. We want to share it with you also.


Frohe Weihnachten und einen guten Rutsch ins neue Jahr auch an unsere Deutschen Freunde

We love you all and are so grateful to have you in our lives

Noah is ...

... German

just in case you forgot

Happy Birthday, Toby

You are one of my favorite cousins and I love you so much

I hope you are having a great birthday
I can't wait to see you and Sam this weekend and play

You and Sam are my best camping buddies

I like you because you are such a fast runner
Almost as fast as me

It is so fun to just hang out with you
I love to come to Logan and visit you

Thank you for teaching me how to ski
We need to do more of that this year

Maybe this year I will be able to do cool tricks like you
Will you show me how?

Max and Friends

Hello Friends and Family,

I figured if Noah can blog, so can I. In my first post I wanted to tell you about my friends. I don't have a whole lot yet but some. Mainly girls, cause I like girls. Out of all girls, I like my Mama the best because she has all the yummy milk. But I won't count her as a friend here.

Then there is Rubie. She is only 6 days younger than me and I can already tell that we are going to be best buds. Just like our older siblings. Usually we just hang out together while our brothers have fun and play. We can't wait to join them.



Sometimes no one notices us. I don't understand how that can be since we are so incredibly cute. But it happens. Our brothers just want all the attention. So then we scream really loud, both of us. That way they will notice us for sure.


I also have my eye on Ireland. She is about 6 weeks younger than me and also really cute. At the moment I can't really decide which one I like better. But my Mama tells me that that is o.k., I can like both of them, and that I will meet many more beautiful girls. I can't wait.


But my best friend is Noah. My big brother is way fun and really good entertainment. When he is at preschool, I don't like it that much. Mama is kinda boring. She always tried to get stuff done when it is just me at home.


Noah always has time for me and teaches me cool things. I don't like his nose kisses that much but I can endure them. Thanks, Noah.


Maybe my mom will finally take some pictures of me rolling from my stomach to my back and the other way round. I have been doing it for a while and still have no proof. When she does, I will post some. Until then I will practice sitting and standing up.

Not Cute

You will probably think that this sweater is really cute. So do my parents.


That is why I don't like to wear it. I just don't like to wear cute things. I like to wear the ugliest thing in my closet at any given time. I think that is why my mom hides the ugly things. She thinks I will forget about them, but I don't. So I put this sweater on mainly so she can take some pictures. And because it was Sunday.













I have to tell you, though, that my aunt Jeanette from Berlin made it. And I have to admit that she did a really good job. The best thing are the buttons: they are from reindeer antlers. Those are pretty cool. Unfortunately I can't just wear the buttons only.

Not a Potty

Hi everyone,

I have not posted anything or a while because I can never get to the computer. Either Mama is writing Emails, reading blogs, or researching something or other. Or Papa is paying bills. But now that I don't take naps anymore, I have some more time on my hands.

Plus, I wanted to tell you about this cool thing. It is called a Bumbo. We are borrowing it from some neighbors and I love it.


I know, it kinda looks like a potty and I kinda look like I am using it as a potty, but I am not. I love to sit in it. Mainly, because it is for Max, and for some reason I especially like all the things that are for Max.

Sometimes I let him use it though














But often I make him lie on the floor while I sit in it. It is just so he will get strong neck muscles. I don't want a wimp as a brother. That is also the reason why I constantly either sit on him, lie on him, pull on him, roll him, etc. Or maybe it is just to drive my parents crazy. Either way it is fun.

2 out of 8

8 is how many swim lessons we signed Noah up for

2 is how many times he went in the water

6 is how many times he watched from the side of the pool



Why? I have no idea! But he sure loved it once he got in. He even passed off all the requirements in one session. Now, of course, he is sad that it is all over. I have yet to understand the reasoning of a 3-year-old.

The last day was play day!



I thought I'd also throw in a picture of Max swimming

Wimmelbuch

Ich weiß nicht, wo sich dieses Buch versteckt hat, seit Noah es von seiner Reise mit Oma und Opa zurückgebracht hat. Aber ich habe es gestern Abend in seinem Bücherregal gefunden und wollte es zum ersten Mal mit ihm lesen.

Ich: "Noah, ich habe das Wimmelbuch gefunden. Willst Du es mit mir lesen?"

Noah: "Nein. Das Wimmebluch lese ich nur mit Oma!" (in Hochdeutsch)


Nachdem ich ihm dann erklärt habe, dass wir Oma und Opa leider lange nicht sehen werden und ich das Buch noch nie gelesen habe, hat er eingewilligt und wir haben es zusammen gelesen.

Vielen Dank für das tolle Buch, Oma. Es gibt sogar Noah's Laufrad drin: aus Holz und mit rotem Sitz. Echt super.

My two lizard lovers

Karl found this really beautiful lizard in the sand in Moab. It must have really liked Karl because it would not run away but just hang out with him and Noah. They did all sorts of fun things with him. Well, Karl did. Noah was only interested for about 2o seconds. Karl, however, had fun with him for at least 20 minutes. That is my biologist.

We wanted to take him home and have him as a pet. Maybe next time.