The longest update ever!!!

It feels like a broken record to say that life has been crazy busy, so I will skip all that and just jump into the recap of the past 5 months!

Dental checkups! Dr Ana loves her job.

She's obsessed with this purple bunny for some reason and it's currently lost! Hoping to find it soon!

Hanging with Thomas before school

Caroline turned 6! Creme brulee for her birthday-a popular request at our house.

She had a flamingo-themed pool party for her birthday. I was pretty proud of this cake.

Dog-sat Ricardo's mom's dog for a few days. Ana loves dogs and is always excited to see any dog.

Library stop before our road trip to Georgia.

We met my sister's family in northern Georgia for some Labor Day camping. We had really heavy rain off and on which was tough for camping, but we had a great time still! Found out that one of our tents isn't waterproof anymore-oops!

We did some fun hikes:

These two have become a lot better friends over the past few months, it has been cute to watch.

Playing doctor:

Enjoying the pool into the warm fall months. He's found several little frogs and lizards there too.

She has a thing for George Washington. Using this ice pack to dress up like him. 

School lunch with Thomas!

These two have such a love-hate relationship. It's really great when they're actually getting along and we try to enjoy these moments!

He has lots of patience for Ana though!

Ricardo planned a trip for us to Nashville for our 15th anniversary. It was a beautiful fall weekend! 

Boot shopping- we got the kids each a pair.

Loved the show at the Grand Ole Opry, it was awesome!

Caroline's pink boots!

Also in September, we spent a weekend in Ft Lauderdale with friends so we could all go to the temple. We rented a fun pool house and everyone had a great time! It was my first time back in south Florida after living there as newlyweds, and it was fun to be back! And we found out our airbnb was only a few blocks from our old apartment! Full circle moment. 

Watching cartoons!

Career dress-up day at school-both Thomas and Caroline had fun wearing scrubs.

Caroline's cousin got baptized! Post-baptism dinner!

Field trip day with Thomas!

Living her best life watching Minnie Mouse.

She can open the fridge and get her own food out now-it's a problem sometimes!

A rare nap for this one:

She loves to take her babies for walks:

Russell and Thomas got carried away decorating a wheelbarrow and turning it into the ultimate car. They rode it around the neighborhood one weekend.

And making clothes out of garbage bags. Who needs toys?

We were fortunate not to have any significant damage with any of the bad storms that came to Florida this year, but we did know many who really struggled. Ricardo and the boys did a lot of service this fall, cleaning up after all the hurricanes. 

Pre-hurricane swimming with friends:

Hurricane service at our neighbor's house:

We had some friends stay with us post-hurricane and the kids all had so much fun together. 

They were able to come with us to the pumpkin patch with some of our other friends too! We were glad not all the fall fun was canceled this year.

First hot chocolate of the season!

This ghost was from my mom's house when I was growing up, it's been fun to bring it back. Ana loved seeing it in the bathroom every day!

Caroline had fun playing in her first soccer league this fall!

Little sisters watching the game

Fun times at the park. Ana loved her little Halloween dress and wanted to wear it all the time.

Caroline loves getting hand-me-downs from some older friends, she thinks it is the coolest to have their old stuff! 

Halloween 2024! The kids planned out a Harry Potter theme. Russell is 11 and Harry was 11 when he went to Hogwarts so they thought it was fitting. Ana loved her costume the most and talked all month long about how she was Dobby. Even now, if anyone even mentions Harry Potter she will say "Ana is Dobby." It is the funniest thing.

Thomas loved his red hair!

So many Harry Potter themes at our trunk or treat this year. Can you see Voldemort in the background?

Trick or treating! Ana got the concept this year and it was so cute. She fell down a few times sprinting so fast for candy. Some nice friends gave her rides along the way.

The day after Halloween, my college friends flew in for a girls' trip. Always so fun to see them!

Best friends for 20 years!

We stayed by the beach which was still pretty damaged from the hurricanes, but we were grateful our hotel still had beach access. Lots of hotels and restaurants in the area still hadn't re-opened at the time.

We kayaked at Weeki Wachee, it was beautiful!

Squeezed in some family photos this fall. Maybe next year will be the year everyone smiles? Haha

We traveled to Tallahassee in November for the open house of the new temple there. It was a great experience to go inside with our kids! 

Fun to go with friends too

The school pumpkin project was postponed to November due to the hurricanes. Thomas got second place with his Dobby, and of course, Caroline made George Washington.

I got Ricardo his favorite chickens for his birthday this year! We love our silkies!

This photo makes me laugh so much- we were at a church choir practice and the kids were all playing in the gym and nursery, when all of sudden Ana rolls into the chapel being pushed by her younger friend. It was pretty much a slow motion roll and it was so funny! 

For Thanksgiving this year we took a very big trip to Europe to see my parents on their mission in Germany. It was a fun and busy trip and the kids really did travel pretty well, even Ana! It helped a lot to have my parents go with us everywhere that we went. 

Peace out America!

First passport stamps!

Day 1 in Frankfurt: Kind of a blur with jet lag but my parents showed us the highlights of the city and Ricardo and I went to the Frankfurt temple that night. It was very very cold our first few days there!

Day 2: Probably one of my favorite days of the trip. We visited this beautiful castle (Schloss Drachenburg), and ate the best German food of the trip, and it even started snowing while we were inside the castle. So magical!

Trying to eat the snow as it falls:

In the afternoon we drove to Bonn, the home of Beethoven. Russell and Caroline are learning Beethoven songs right now and it was very fun to take them here at this time! 

Gotta listen to some Beethoven while you're there!

Bonn at night was beautiful!

Finished the day at the Haribo factory store where the kids got to try so many fun candies. 

Day 3: Cologne (or Koln) Germany. Chocolate croissant breakfast.

The famous cathedral. Can you tell this was the coldest day?? I couldn't believe all the Germans walking around without hats or gloves. 

Fun park by the water.

We had fun crossing the bridge of locks and noticing lots of fun locks.

Inside the cathedral:

Cologne Christmas market! We sampled lots of yummy treats and Ricardo got the boys a fun chess set that they've been putting to good use.

We brought a lock with us to add to the bridge.

Lock=love

The chess set:

We got back to Frankfurt that night and got to tour the church offices where my parents serve.

Day 3: Church with my parents. Their little congregation was so kind and welcoming.

The kids had fun playing in the church basement when it was over.

It was a potluck Sunday. These kids never got sick of bratwurst at each meal!

Playing in the leaves, a luxury for these Florida kids:

Naptime in the car:

That afternoon we went to Lohr a Main, another idyllic German town. The castle here is rumored to be Snow White's castle because there was a mine nearby where only small people could work. There was also someone who made intricate mirrors in the town. Hence the legend that Snow White lived here.

Day 4: Wurzburg Germany.

Breakfast at the airbnb

Visited the Wurzburg Residence, a beautiful palace.

Definitely had some museum workers follow us around for a while after they spotted all these kids!

That afternoon we drove to Rothenburg, which we loved! Wish we had more time there. It is the most beautiful and well-preserved German city. So fun to be there at Christmastime!

Trying the local delicacies:

Walking around the city on the wall was so fun. Thomas got hurt right before this photo, poor guy.

Our hotel was so adorable. Even this little sink in the bathroom was so cute.

We learned a lot on the night watchman tour! This guy is amazing and has been doing this tour for over 20 years.

Day 5: Cutest breakfast in Rothenburg

Making our way to Neuschwanstein castle. It was pretty tight making our tour time slot but we did it!

Making the most of every speck of snow.

Ana was well-behaved on most of the trip but she did have a major meltdown during our Neuschwanstein tour, she started screaming "I'm hungry!!!" at the top of her lungs. Of course, I had no snacks on me and you're not really supposed to eat in the castle anyway. Ricardo ended up taking her outside while we finished the tour and it turns out she was really just exhausted. None of the kids ever fully adjusted to the time change and everyone was on a lot less sleep than usual! 

Riding the horse-drawn carriage down the mountain: 

Day 6: Drove into Switzerland.

We rode up a gondola to one of Switzerland's beautiful mountain peaks, Hoher Kasten. We ate lunch at the restaurant at the top which rotates 360 degrees over the course of an hour while you're eating. So beautiful! 

Had to make some snowmen while they had the opportunity.

Gondola ride:

Later on, we drove to Zurich and went on the Lindt chocolate factory tour. Really interesting information and delicious chocolate of course!

Learning about chocolate straight from the source:

Chocolate taste test in the hotel:

Day 7: Lucerne

It was a rainy day and snow was running out but it didn't stop these guys:

We had to pivot a little with the rain, but we ended up going to a really amazing museum that the kids loved: The Swiss Museum of Transport. We were there for hours.

Can you see Russell flying the plane?

Took the bus into Lucerne at night. Thomas is singing the wheels on the bus with Ana:

Lucerne is so beautiful, safe, and clean. It was so fun to be there at night with all the Christmas lights.

Fondue night! We had the sweetest waitress ever here. Not every restaurant enjoyed seeing our 4 kids but this one was a winner.

Lollipop treat from dinner, she was in heaven.

Their Christmas market wasn't quite open yet but we did see a fun concert in the square and watched some ice skaters.

Day 8: Saw the lion monument and learned about the history behind it.

We had other plans this day but we ended up getting stuck behind so many accidents on the way from Switzerland to Germany that we had to slowly cancel all our other plans. Grateful that traffic didn't ruin anything else on the trip, but this day was pretty rough in the car all day! We finally made it back to Frankfurt, did some last-minute shopping, and headed back to my parents' house to pack for home.

We got great treatment at the German airport, skipped a lot of lines because of our kids, and we were so happy that Ana slept a few hours on the flight home! The other kids watched unlimited movies for the first time ever. After a few days of everyone up at 4 AM, we adjusted back to our time zone at home.

We got home late on Nov 30 so the Christmas season began with a bang for us! We never got around to outside Christmas lights this year-we just had no time. Ricardo is getting more and more tempted to buy permanent lights. We did go get a Christmas tree! 

Helping me with Christmas cards while watching Home Alone.

Ricardo had a birthday! More creme brulee. We went to the Pentatonix Christmas concert for his birthday, which was a fun way to start the Christmas season. We also went kayaking at week wachee for a day date the week after.

Before school playtime. Santa Hats every day in December!

Neuschwanstein puzzle finally done! And making hot fudge in the background.

Went to a delicious cookie exchange!

They love pomegranates! Wish we could grow them here.

Our church Christmas party was so fun! Russell's church class put on a nativity play and it was great. He loved creating his costume of course.

I couldn't get a great picture of Ana with Santa but she was so excited to see him. She thinks his name is Ho Ho Ho. She was telling me this week "Ho ho ho brought me..."

There are so many other December activities not even pictured, but we also enjoyed Russell's first band concert and Caroline's singing concert:

We braved Disney World the Saturday before Christmas, because we had lots of family in town from Brazil/Utah. It was crowded but still fun.

The girls loved meeting lots of princesses!

Ana was obsessed with Rapunzel's hair:

Pure joy on the carousel:

I wish I got better pictures of Ana with Mickey, it was the cutest! He kept giving her high 5's and she kept trying to hug him. She loves Mickey and Minnie right now so this was so fun for her.

They loved Tron!

On the Sunday before Christmas we had a beautiful musical church service and then headed to Ricardo's sister's church building for one of the cousins from Utah to get baptized. It was a beautiful baptism.

We had Christmas Eve dinner at Ricardo's sister's house with all the family, which was fun. I didn't get any pictures that night, but we enjoyed way too much food and a visit from Santa (Ricardo's dad) and Buddy the Elf (Ricardo).

Christmas morning! Legos :)

Santa brought 2 turtles. Thomas was very surprised and happy.

Caroline spent most of Christmas day driving around in her new car.

She also wrapped up a bunch of makeup and nail polish as a gift for me and gave me a "free makeover."

All of the family came over on Christmas Day for dinner. The kids had so much fun with their old and new cousins. They even got in the pool which was 60 degrees! Ana didn't last long.

Ended the day playing Ticket to Ride Europe. Caroline made it through the game and then passed out.

Post-Christmas gingerbread house which is a little unorthodox but all we had time for this year and Russell did not want to skip this tradition.

It has been nice to have some leisurely days this week after such a whirlwind the last few months. Lots of playing outside, lots of board games. Playing with the silkie chicks is always fun entertainment too-poor chicks!

Russell's church class is moving up from the primary/kid group to the teen group next week. Since I'm in charge of the primary right now, I planned a fun little graduation for them. I love all of these kids so much and will really miss having them in primary, especially Russell!

Happy New Year to all!