Family Christmas Newsletter

So, about three weeks ago, we decided to write our family newsletter. Then things got busy, and we didn’t. I (Corinne) suggested a regular letter, but Chad wanted a newsletter, so I said, “Chad, if you want a newsletter, you write it.” . . . . So, it is the Saturday before Christmas, and I am writing a newsletter. Yeah, but Chad's posting it.

ETHAN
Ethan turned eight this year, and not to sound cliché, but EIGHT IS GREAT! Ethan chose to be baptized, and that was a lot of fun. Being eight, Ethan thought it was great because he got two parties, his birthday and the baptism. He has started second grade and cub scouts and is having a blast at both places. He loves to read, loves to play soccer and basketball, telling jokes and eating baked potatoes (this kid can pack taters in). He hates eating fruit (except for one slice of orange or tangerines), cleaning his room and girls who have crushes on him (they act dumb). He is a good kid and we love having him around. This section is edited to reflect only the information that Ethan feels is appropriate for others to know. He believes we should stop this silly tradition and not mention him, it’s embarrassing.



AUBREE
Aubree has turned five and started to read. Once she stopped taking naps, she became a normal child. She still has her spunk, but no longer feels the need to stay up until two in the morning. She loves being a girl, a superhero girl that can save the world, beat up bad guys and carry a cute purse while doing it. She also has a great sense of humor and a vivid imagination. At times, that is challenging. This past April she decided to pretend that we weren’t her real family, we had just found her in the grocery store and decided to bring her home. This was not too big of a deal when we were around people that knew us, but we got really strange looks when we were out in public and she would tell strangers about her old family that dropped her off at the store while they went to work and never came back for her, and how great it was that a new family took her from the store.

She is quick on her feet, and fairly witty – Last week, she just was not listening, or taking no for an answer, so I, the unimaginative mother said, “What part of ‘no’, don’t you understand?” She looked at me, cocked her head and smiled, “All of it!” We shouldn’t have, but all the rest of us had to laugh.

CORINNE
Corinne has been keeping herself busy with the kids, her part-time job that takes a lot more time than planned, making cute kid and baby gifts, editing Chad’s website content and pretending to keep the house clean. She says pretending, because she goes through the motions, but the clean never seems to stick. She has been busy with a lot of painting projects and watching Chad put laminate flooring in (he doesn’t want help.) Her love of strange and unusual cards has continued to grow, and she has greatly expanded her stash of cards that she can’t send away unless she buys one to give and one to keep.

CHAD
You would think that now Chad does not have school, he would not be so busy. Au contraire, he is as busy as ever. Corinne decided that now he was out of school, he needed a “honey-do” list.
So, she ripped the carpet out of all hallways and off the stairs. We now have new flooring and stairs. His “busyness” has caused a major hiccup in his plan for world domination and free sausage for all. (Vote for Chad – our campaign slogan is: Dominate in 2008) The bathroom renovations start this January. He continues to work for Boeing, but he is keeping his options open. He also sold his first website, and now has six others up and running.

BOO
Our poor dog is fully integrated into the family, and has to suffer through many indignities because of this. We like to dress him up with puns and pop culture icons of his name. We dressed him up as a rooster for Halloween, so he could be “Chicken Boo” from the show Animaniacs. This Christmas he had to endure antlers and be “Cari-Boo.” Despite all this, he seems to love us. He loves kids, not so hot on adults, but he does come around.

FAMILY HIGHLIGHTS
We finally took the kids to southern California. We were able to visit a lot of dear friends. Sea World, The Wild Animal Park, San Diego Zoo, the Star Wars Exhibit (with real costumes and props from every movie) and the beach. We had a blast.

Chad and Corinne went to Washington D.C. for a whirlwind adventure. Again, we saw some good, dear friends and had a blast.

In all, this has been a good year. We are so grateful for the great friends and family we have that help us realize what really matters in life. We may have some unfinished home improvements, no cable TV (okay, so that is not that bad) and weird non-life-threatening health situations, but we feel we have great influences and associations with people that couldn’t be bought (although we have the sinking suspicion that some of you might pay to have us go away). We love you and hope that this coming year brings nothing but good and happiness.

Vienna, Austria

The Imperial City of Vienna, Austria was full of stunning architecture and fun events. We loved the experience, but were taken aback a few times.

Just so you know, this picture is entry into the Hoffsburg Palace Courtyard. The drive through is complete with a rotunda inside, absolutley stunning. There are apartments in this building now.

Our first night in Vienna was dissapointing. There hadn't been a tour yet, and we were left to our own devices. That meant that we went the opposite direction of downtown, which was lovely and ended up in the Muslim Ghetto, which was a bit frightening, it appeared that the residents there were shcoked by our appearance as well. Little did we know at the time, that Vienna had no ghettos, or poverty or crime - at least according to our tour gude the next day. Boy, she could have fooled us, but we would have felt much better knowing that the night before.

We had an interesting tour the next morning, we visited an apartment complex designed by a modern architect who believed that there were no straight lines in nature, and there shouldn't be in man-made designs either. Even the floors were uneven. We were also driven past the famous St. Stevens Cathedral and most of the downtown museums. We also received a guided tour of the Summer Palace of the Hapsburgs - complete opulence. It was a marvelous glimpse into the royal lifestyle. The Hapsburgs were the monarchs of the Austro-Hungarian Empire and produced such well known figures as Maria Theresa and her daughter, Marie Antoinette. The palace gardens even had the hedge mazes, it was incredible.

On our own, we went to the Hoffsburg Palace, the winter residence of the Hapsburgs. It now houses some museums and government offices. There we toured the Midevil Armor and Musical Instrument Museum. It had the armor of Maximillian, the Holy Roman Emporer and many others. It is the most comprehensive collection of armour in the world. The musical instruments were also fascinating. I think we, withour dear friend Marette, were the only ones from our group to tour that.

We also went on a tour of the catacombs of St. Michael's Cathedral. It is the second cathedral of Vienna. The tour was very respectful. Just a few months previously a new chamber had been discovered in these catacombs that contained the coffin and body of the grandson of Christopher Colombus. We saw a few of the mummified bodies, and it was very like the movies in that there were piles of bones and skulls, and walls piled with femurs. Chad loved it, Corinne doesn't feel the need to visit them again.

Chad had the opportunity to visit the US Embassy. While he was there Corinne went with the other spouses to the Museum of Modern Art. It was very interesting, and she advises everyone to avoid the first floor, extremely disturbing.

We also got to see an incredible Balalaika band. Corinne really wanted to buy their CD, but we were a few Euro short at the time, and they were just playing on a street corner, so we couldn't find them again.

The last night many members of the group met at a small amusment park on the banks of the Danube. We ate at a huge restaraunt famous for its pig knees. Then we all climbed onto a train car that had been attached to a large ferris wheel. What a trip!

Welcome To Budapest

Believe it or not, this is the welcome to the wonderful museum of Agriculture in Budapest, Hungary. We found this little castle from one of our guided tours. This one was not included in the guided tour, but we spotted it off in the distance, not far from Heroe's Square where the Velvet Revolution was born. We loved Budapest, land of fairy tale castles.

We were able to have a hotel right on the Danube. We went over, under and along the Danube, we also ate dinner on a boat on the Danube. The city of Budapest was wonderful. The food was the best we had - and we had good food in every city. Corinne was especially pleased that she found her favorite yogurt, only available in Europe (Fruchti Gud).

We didn't get a chance to visit the Turkish baths, which we heard were awesome. If we ever get back there, we are going to those. We loved St. Stephens Cathedral, even though it had a creepy mummified hand of the patron Saint of Hungary. (Chad says there are pictures upon request).


We will have other pictures of Budapest up soon. We loved St. Stephen's Cathedral. We even climbed the steps to get on the roof (we got there too) and say Budapest from the tallest building. We also toured the Hapsburg Castle. It was the most like the Fairy Tale Castles of all we saw in Europe (besides the little one pictured, it even had a moat). While there Corinne got to hold a goss hawk, and it had a gorgeous view of the Danube and the Pest side of the river.

We also lewarned that Budapest was once two cities. Buda and Pest. Buda is the hilly side, and is named after Atilla the Hun's brother, Buda. He loved the area and was beloved by the people there, Atilla was jealous and killed his brother to take over the area. Pest is the flat side, don't know where its name is from.

We thoroughy enjoyed Budapest. There weren't as many tourists and the food was great. Make sure to try the Goulash and bring home some fabulous Paprika, wish we had.