Saturday, December 26, 2009
gingerbread houses
Here's our annual gingerbread competition- 
We had Grandma and Grandpa vote for the winner, they liked the african village made bY Rich and Erik, but the rest of us dont think Grandma realized the the village is a cannabal village and those are skulls rolling around the ground and they are cooking a cute black cat on the fire! Curt and Stephie took us to new heights with their light house with a real light, that lasted til the next day! Curt tells me just wait for next year- maybe we will have to make rules for the engineers in the group. Katie and Casey made the house from UP, Anne and I made the Eifel Tower in anticipation of our Paris trip, The Johnsons made a very cool Stars wars ships. All in all they were all great and we had a fun time, made messes in 2 countries and we still love Grandma and Grandpa even if they like the cannibals!
Stars wars by Scooter and Liza and Nathan and Daniel
The Wengel Lighthouse
The eifel tower by Mom and Anne
The Cannibal Village by Dad and Erik
We had Grandma and Grandpa vote for the winner, they liked the african village made bY Rich and Erik, but the rest of us dont think Grandma realized the the village is a cannabal village and those are skulls rolling around the ground and they are cooking a cute black cat on the fire! Curt and Stephie took us to new heights with their light house with a real light, that lasted til the next day! Curt tells me just wait for next year- maybe we will have to make rules for the engineers in the group. Katie and Casey made the house from UP, Anne and I made the Eifel Tower in anticipation of our Paris trip, The Johnsons made a very cool Stars wars ships. All in all they were all great and we had a fun time, made messes in 2 countries and we still love Grandma and Grandpa even if they like the cannibals!
Stars wars by Scooter and Liza and Nathan and Daniel
The Wengel Lighthouse
The eifel tower by Mom and Anne
The UP House by Katie and Casey and ElsaFriday, October 9, 2009
Family happenings
Alot of excitng news since our last post. First of all Katie and Casey added a new baby girl, Leah Jo Kennington, to their family. Katie had her at the German hospital and all went very well. Rich and I were able to be there and it was a really wonderful experience. Leah is a wonderful baby and we are having so much fun having 2 beautiful little grandaughters here with us. Casey has been working very hard with Erik on the attic over the last few weeks and it is almost done, the plumbers and electrician are finishing up their part and then we'll be almost there., then painting and flooring and then Katie and Casey will have an attic apartment to live in for the year. The guys have done an amazing job, I have been very nervous about trying to do all ourselves (meaning Erik and Casey doing all the hard work with Rich and I buying supplies and giving directions and cleaning up as they go!) but it is shaping up quite nicely!
The last week of September was the Berlin marathon, this year was Rich's 10th berlin marathon, which means he can now join the jubilee club, they give him a number for life, a cool t -shirt and membership in the elite club of dedicated runners. I guess this means we'll keep showing up in Berlin every fall for a long time. This year Elizabeth and Scott and Erik ran with him so it was quite a party. Liza and Scott and their boys had quite a trip, they went to Greece for a week and visited Scott's parents and then met us in Berlin. It was Nathan's 4th birthday so he arrived in Greece on his birthday and then had celebrations in Greece, Berlin and in Utah, quite a birthday for one so young. The marathon was eventful in that Rich ran off a curb and hurt his ankle at 5km, kept on running for almost 40km more and found out it was actually broken when he got home. That is dedication! I think he deserves more than just a cool t shirt and a number for that one! They had a good time and all finished together and enjoyed laying in the sun in front of the Riechstag after. Hopefully Rich will give a more detailed account on his runners blog. ( He won't tell you about the broken ankle!) Anne and I had a marathon day with Nathan and Daniel. we took them to legoland and then tried to met up with the runners at the half way point. That was quite a feat with 2 tired boys, a stroller and alot of stairs and escalators and trains to get to where we could see our group running by. I'm very proud of them - it was a great accomplishment for them all.
Elizabeth came home with us and we had a great week or so with all the grandkids here. It was baby central, Elsa had to adjust to having other kids to play with her toys and sit in her high-chair. Daniel started out by over whelming her a little but by the end of their time together she was holding her own quite well. I had a friend come over and take pictures, we didn't quite get all four together and happy ,but got some cute pictures of each one individually. Just going out was an adventure , just trying to get 4 kids all ready to go and buckled in the car, we were tired out!
While Liza was here Erik got his official eagle scout stuff so we had a Eagle family night- what a cute guy. He got his misson paperwork this week so we are excited about that. He has been going out with the missionaries here alot and is ready to get going.
The last week of September was the Berlin marathon, this year was Rich's 10th berlin marathon, which means he can now join the jubilee club, they give him a number for life, a cool t -shirt and membership in the elite club of dedicated runners. I guess this means we'll keep showing up in Berlin every fall for a long time. This year Elizabeth and Scott and Erik ran with him so it was quite a party. Liza and Scott and their boys had quite a trip, they went to Greece for a week and visited Scott's parents and then met us in Berlin. It was Nathan's 4th birthday so he arrived in Greece on his birthday and then had celebrations in Greece, Berlin and in Utah, quite a birthday for one so young. The marathon was eventful in that Rich ran off a curb and hurt his ankle at 5km, kept on running for almost 40km more and found out it was actually broken when he got home. That is dedication! I think he deserves more than just a cool t shirt and a number for that one! They had a good time and all finished together and enjoyed laying in the sun in front of the Riechstag after. Hopefully Rich will give a more detailed account on his runners blog. ( He won't tell you about the broken ankle!) Anne and I had a marathon day with Nathan and Daniel. we took them to legoland and then tried to met up with the runners at the half way point. That was quite a feat with 2 tired boys, a stroller and alot of stairs and escalators and trains to get to where we could see our group running by. I'm very proud of them - it was a great accomplishment for them all.
Elizabeth came home with us and we had a great week or so with all the grandkids here. It was baby central, Elsa had to adjust to having other kids to play with her toys and sit in her high-chair. Daniel started out by over whelming her a little but by the end of their time together she was holding her own quite well. I had a friend come over and take pictures, we didn't quite get all four together and happy ,but got some cute pictures of each one individually. Just going out was an adventure , just trying to get 4 kids all ready to go and buckled in the car, we were tired out!
While Liza was here Erik got his official eagle scout stuff so we had a Eagle family night- what a cute guy. He got his misson paperwork this week so we are excited about that. He has been going out with the missionaries here alot and is ready to get going.
Friday, August 14, 2009
Attic Project
Here are some photos of our attic renovation project. Casey and Erik are working hard and doing a great job so far, they are awaiting the delivery of more materials so they can keep going. It seems to take a long time to get stuff ordered and delivered, we thought it would be easier than many van trips, but certainly not faster.
Here's one wall for a future bedroom, they have put in the insulation and then the sheetrock, now they just have to go up up up to the whole ceiling which is basically 2 floors up. I'm a little worried about how to do that with our limited scaffolding, but the manly men seem to think it is nooooo problem. So far they have been right , so my confidence is building daily!
Another wall almost done, they have a done a great job working around all the exposed beams, and with all the strange angles and crooked walls, there is nothing uniform about building in an old house! This will be the bathroom in this corner with the big beams on/in the exposed wall as you come up the stairs.
This wall has the insulation and plastic sheeting and is ready for the sheetrock, whenever we get some more.
The other side of the room, as yet, with only some basic flooring.
Here's one wall for a future bedroom, they have put in the insulation and then the sheetrock, now they just have to go up up up to the whole ceiling which is basically 2 floors up. I'm a little worried about how to do that with our limited scaffolding, but the manly men seem to think it is nooooo problem. So far they have been right , so my confidence is building daily!
Another wall almost done, they have a done a great job working around all the exposed beams, and with all the strange angles and crooked walls, there is nothing uniform about building in an old house! This will be the bathroom in this corner with the big beams on/in the exposed wall as you come up the stairs.
This wall has the insulation and plastic sheeting and is ready for the sheetrock, whenever we get some more.
The other side of the room, as yet, with only some basic flooring. Now we need to add the pictures of the beautiful children who now live at our house! Katie, Casey and Elsa got here in July and it has been a constant joy to have them here. Elsa is so happy and entertaining, she plays with Jack constantly and walks around singing "happy, happy, happy" which in turn makes us all - Happy! Casey is doing everything needful before we even think about it, building the attic rooms, doing a lot of yardwork and computer work and mentoring Erik too. Katie is keeping busy with Elsa and waiting for the baby to come, She toured the german hospital with Rich and is excited about the whole experience to come now. She is cooking alot- YEAH! ( I love having someone else cook) and helping Anne occupy her summer time too.
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