Hinkson Family Circle

Mission Call

2012-02-05T15:13:00.000-08:00

Devin received his mission call. We are still having a hard time believing that he is going to Kyiv, Ukraine. It is the same mission that Bryan just came home from. It is the same country that our 2 adopted boys are from. He will be speaking Russian like our oldest son Tyler who went to Russia. We are starting to wonder if there is some significance in all of this. 3 missionaries in the last 4 years and they all go to that part of the world. What are chances?
Dave and I decided that it is time to learn Russian. If nothing else we will understand what the kids are saying at family reunions. We have been looking forward to going on a series of missions someday but I am kind of nervous to turn in papers after this :) JK....kinda.

Maui

2012-02-01T22:20:00.000-08:00

Dave and I decided to take a week out of the cold January weather and head to Maui. the flights were ridiculously cheap ($110. each from San Jose to Maui.) We used our Marriott points and also stayed at a beautiful resort in Makena and had a great time. We saw a lot of whales and some dolphins, turtles, wind surfers, kite boarders, and lots of flowers and sugar cane fields. Here are a few of my favorite pictures.
ALOHA to All
Christy

Sealed Forever

2012-01-14T07:23:00.000-08:00

December was one of my favorite months of all time. Bryan returned from his mission in Ukraine. It is so good to have his good spirit back in our family. We had all the children here for Christmas which probably won't happen again for many years. We had Vitaliy and Spencer sealed to us in the Logan temple and the next day Tyler was married in the same room to Janalee Lnnghurst. We love her and are so happy that she is part of our family. We enjoyed all the festivities and being together with family during this special month. It gave me an added testimony that the plan of happiness really works. Times like this make all the hard times really worth it. This was truly a time filled with joy and the best kinds of joy come from family togetherness.

Half Moon Cay

2011-12-06T22:26:00.000-08:00

Our last day was spent at a gorgeous private island Half Moon Cay. We have been another cruise line private island and this one was superior hands down. The White sand and blue water was breathtaking. We even saw a rainbow and relaxed to the max. I would highly recommend this place. AHHHHH

Aruba

2011-12-06T21:51:00.000-08:00

Aruba
Dave and I have wanted to go to this island for a long time. Way before the Natalie Holloway and other disappearances. It was as beautiful as promised. The white beaches covered with powdery sand were very nice. We rode the city bus (surprisingly nice and clean) to the high rise hotel district and enjoyed Palm Beach. We felt a little more at home because there was a building that looked similar to the Logan or Manti temple. We then walked down the road to Eagle beach and enjoyed more time on the beach there. This island was FULL of geckos or a small lizard that looks like one. They were all over on our walk on the way to the other beach. When we saw the first ones we took a bunch of pictures but soon realized that they were not a rare critter in these parts.
We did some shopping and got the kids some souvenirs and enjoyed some Italian gelato. I know….we weren’t in Italy, but I guess it saved us a trip to Italy for a little while. We decided that Aruba is a place that is definitely worth the trip to see.

Haiti

2011-12-06T21:29:00.000-08:00

Haiti
We didn’t stop in Haiti but we did go close to it and saw the Haitian fishing boats and the land a little bit. I was surprised with how much vegetation there is there. It also didn’t look very populated at all. We were probably on the side without much population. Here are a couple of pictures in case anyone is curious.

2011-12-06T21:13:00.000-08:00

Bonaire
The beautiful island of Bonaire was very unique. We rented a car and drove around the island and saw a lot of amazing things. The beaches that we saw were not sandy but were full of white coral and so it was a lot like walking on bones and it sounded like pieces of china clinking against each other as we walked on it . I will post a picture of the coral beach. All the beaches we saw were like this. We did see some sand on one beach and it was the whitest I have ever seen. It looked like baby powder.
The island was full of wild donkeys, goats and flamingos. We were told that there were more flamingos than people there. They said that they fly to Venezuela (which is about 20 miles away) when it rains in Bonaire. They speak the native language as well as English and Dutch. They say Bon Bini which means “welcome” and if you think someone is cute you say ” Dooshi.” If we took our grandchildren there, they would be saying that all the time.
We saw some pyramids made of salt that were very impressive especially next to the gorgeous Caribbean teal water. What added to the color fest was a group of pink/purple standing ponds where the salt company was drying out the water to harvest the salt. The whole island is a nature reserve and is like a spike sticking out of the water and so the after a few feet the shallow beach drops off drastically which is perfect place for coral to grow and fish to congregate. Surprisingly Dave decided not to snorkel but we heard reports that the fish and coral were very impressive. The island was beautiful to see and had a light blue ring around it surrounded by a dark blue ring where the water got suddenly deep. So pretty! The salt trade was run by slaves before slavery was discontinued in Bonaire about the same time it was in the USA. They lived in little huts that were so small that you had to crouch to be inside. About 6 slaves lived in one hut ad they were not midgets. It was a very interesting place to visit. We had a wonderful day in Bonaire.

Colon Panama

2011-12-06T21:09:00.000-08:00

Colon, Panama,
We only had a little while in Colon (pronounced like cologne ---the perfume) It was too dangerous to leave the confounds of the port terminal and so we sat by some little shops in the terminal and used the very slow WIFI and tried to soak in the culture a little bit.

more Panama Canal Pictures

2011-12-05T06:56:00.001-08:00

more Panama Canal Pictures

2011-12-05T06:54:00.001-08:00

Panama Canal pictures

2011-12-05T06:50:00.000-08:00

more Costa Rica Pics

2011-12-05T06:44:00.000-08:00

Panama Canal

2011-11-29T13:56:00.000-08:00

Panama Canal

We arose early and went out in the rain for a couple of hours to see the ship cross through the Gatun Locks to enter the Panama Canal. We have learned a lot about the canal on this trip and about all the obstacles that the United States had to overcome to build the canal. It is pretty amazing. The passage fee for our ship to go through the canal is $350,000.00. That is a lot of money that Panama is making. The jungles of Panama are green and gorgeous and we are having a great day here. We are docking in Colon Panama this afternoon for a couple of hours where we can post these pictures and check our email. They warned us to not go outside of the cruise terminal because the crime is very high there and their idea of being kind to tourists is to let you keep your memory card when they mug you and take your camera. We will be keeping our day non-adventurous and will stay in the terminal. It is amazing to be sitting on the deck close to the equator and be surrounded by green and know that back home we have snow on the ground and walking outside feel s like walking into a freezer. It is nice to have all the seasons where we live but it is also nice to have the ability to borrow someone else’s season sometimes too.
Dave took some awesome pics of the Panama Canal. I will have to post them when we get home because the internet here Is way too slow. He is starting to get bored because he is also taking pictures of all the power scooters on our ship. We decided that if you lined them up they could reach from bow to stern of the ship. Did I mention that we are kind of young for this cruise bunch? My parents would be the spring chickens on the ship too.
Bon Voyage

Costa Rica pics

2011-11-29T13:42:00.000-08:00

Costa Rica pics

2011-11-29T13:34:00.000-08:00

Puerto Limon Costa Rica

2011-11-29T12:39:00.000-08:00

Puerto Limon, Costa Rica
We had a great day in Costa Rica. It was the first port after a couple of days at sea. We got off the ship and walked around town close to the port. There was a beautiful park close by and as we entered the park we met 2 young barefoot boys who were eager to show us a sloth in the tree and also an owl in the trees. We also saw an older homeless type man leaning up against a wall going # 2 in the park. That was kind of disgusting. We also saw several people laying around on the sidewalk kind of like the stray dogs did in Ukraine. Rain forest area here was so beautiful but the city area was similar to most of the Caribbean towns that we have been to. People living in dirty conditions and poverty but they don’t really mind while they are surrounded by some of the most beautiful creations on Earth.
We had booked a zip line tour that was a day line adrenaline course but there were not enough participants so we had to take another tour. Since the average age of the people on our ship is about 80 (I am not kidding) I can see why they didn’t have enough sign up for the big time zip line. As it turned out, it had quite enough adrenaline for me  Dave said that he could have gone twice as long but I was happy with the tour.
As we got off the bus to get set up for the tour. I stepped up on a little hill to take a picture but it was really slippery mud and I fell flat on my side and seat and hopefully everyone saw me so that they didn’t think that I was so scared by the zip line that I had an accident. We met some really nice people on the tour and there was even a guy who did it who was 90 years old. I hope I am still up for adventures when I get to that age.
We saw some little red frogs that are poisonous. You can’t touch them and then touch your eye or mouth or get it into your blood stream or you could die. This island is also famous for hummingbirds that have teeth. Sorry I didn’t get any pictures of those.
We learned a lot about Bananas (their big export) and the yellow fruit that I am posting a picture of is the fruit that we get chocolate from. I didn’t know that cocoa beans come out of a fruit. I thought they were in a pod like beans but they are in this fruit and they dry them out and grind the seeds to make cocoa. This information strengthened my interest in making sure the rainforests stay safe, even more 
Costa Rica is a very beautiful place. We were on the Caribbean side which from what we understand is more impoverished than the other side where it is mostly Europeans that live there. We feel blessed to get to see the beauty that is here.

Update on the Family

2011-11-29T12:34:00.000-08:00

Update on the family
I haven’t been very good at blogging lately. Usually that is either a good sign or a bad sign. In this case it is a good sign. Everything is going well and we are gearing up for some big events. Here is an overview:
25th Anniversary; Dave and I are in the Caribbean celebrating our 25th. Today we went to Costa Rica and tomorrow we go through the Panama canal. We will also see Bonire, Aruba and stop at the Bahamas
on the way back. I will try to post about the ports as we go.
Bryan is coming home: We are very excited that in only 15 days our son Bryan will be coming home from Ukraine where he is serving a mission. We are anxious to see him after 2 years and also anxious to hear about all of his adventures.
Sealing the boys: After Bryan gets home we are going to all go to the temple and have the boys sealed to us. We are all excited to make them a forever part of our family. Vitaliy even put on his Christmas wish list that he wants to be sealed to us. Ahh.
Devin’s mission call: Devin can turn in his papers on Dec 30. We can’t wait to see where he is going to go. What a fun time of life this is.
Scott’s baptism: The last of our kids will soon be accountable and be baptized. We are excited to share that wonderful experience with him.
When I told my sister about all that we have coming up she said “Your life would be pretty boring if you weren’t Mormon.” So True. So many blessings and happy times to enjoy thanks to the Gospel.
PLUS…. We just got a text from Tyler and he said that he is ENGAGED!!!! We are so thrilled. We hope it is really true. We can’t talk to him by phone on the ship but we are trying to text him back. We don’t know the date etc. His fiancé’ is absolutely amazing and we could not have picked out a better spouse for him if we had looked for a million years. CONGRATS Ty and Janalee.

Remembering 9-11

2011-09-15T15:35:00.000-07:00

It was 10 years ago that we saw great tragedy followed by a great outpouring of love. I thought it was interesting to see this week in our town this same attitude that we witnessed after 9-11. A car and a motorcycle collided and the motorcycle driver was trapped under the car. Good people, complete strangers rushed to the burning area while risking their lives and lifted the car and saved the life of the young man. Perhaps you saw it on the national news this week. I was so proud to be from Logan. Just like I felt so proud to be from America right after 9-11. I believe that it is within our natures to rush in and even risk our lives to help someone in need. I believe that when all is said and done even when bad things happen, love prevails.

In memory, I wanted to share a song I wrote after the original 9-11 10 years ago. The link to hear the song is here: This song is performed by Angela Winston. I will also write the lyrics below.

http://www.heartrisemusic.com/Downloads/Music/Winston-Prevail.mp3

Love will Always Prevail
You show your hatred, you bring us pain
But we always find a way to love again
You cause destruction, you tear apart
But you’re never going to stop our beating heart
Because
America is built on Love
And the heart of this land will never fail
When all is said and done, we will still be number one
Because Love will always prevail.
We’ve been scarred by you before
And I’m sure America will see some more
But your hatred cannot compare
With the love you’re gonna see this nation share
Because
America is built on Love
And the heart of this land will never fail
When all is said and done, we will still be number one
Because Love will always prevail.
Try to tear us apart
And watch us pull together
America’s heart
Will keep beating forever.
Because
America is built on Love
And the heart of this land will never fail
When all is said and done, we will still be number one
Because Love will always prevail.

Expensive Lessons

2011-09-01T16:47:00.000-07:00

Vitaliy (13) has been begging all summer to get the job of mowing the lawn. I think it has something to do with him liking to ride the big,new,green John Deere riding lawnmower. I finally ignored my gut feeling and assigned him the job last month (August.) We gave him lessons but I guess we didn't think to tell him everything that he could do to break the machine. During the first week of him doing the job we had to send it into the shop (a $60 pick up fee) to have something fixed with the starter. I don't know if this was his fault or not but he did keep the ignition going and going and going. even when it was started and it did something and it broke. After getting that fixed, he drove it into a ditch (we don't have ditches in our lawn, but he found one by the neighbor's corn field.) This broke another major part and we had to fix that. Then this week we are replacing the whole ignition because he couldn't find the key and decided to use a pair of scissors to start the mower and somehow stripped the ignition. Grrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr. The lawn looks nice, however.

New Family book published

2011-08-10T13:09:00.001-07:00

Dave and I were engaged 25 years ago today. It was the best decision I ever made. To celebrate we had a book that we have been writing together for a few years, published. It is called Our Fight For the Family and How You Can Win Yours. Right now it is on Amazon.com for $2.99. The link for the e-book is:

http://www.amazon.com/Our-Fight-Family-Yours-ebook/dp/B005FZ1BSU/ref=sr_1_3?ie=UTF8&qid=1313003214&sr=8-3

If you don't have a kindle, you can put a kindle app on a computer, I pod or smartphone etc.

We are not expert parents, but we have been blessed with good information and experiences that we hope will be a help to other families.

New Baby Penrose

2011-08-05T10:53:00.001-07:00

Here are pics of Holly and Brian's new baby. He is so sweet and Holly looked like she didn't even walk a mile let alone deliver a baby. What a sweet happy family.

New Baby Penrose

2011-08-05T10:50:00.001-07:00

To Erica

2011-07-31T21:15:00.000-07:00

For some reason I can't seem to comment on your blog. In case you are reading mine here is what I would like to say about your last post:)

Oh my goodnes. I am so sorry that you are having such a crazy time with the girl and the glasses. It seems like they get on one with the attitude and everything is an issue. I hope the "I want Ukraine" stuff stops soon and she can start to see things clearly (the glasses may help with that :)
Hang in there.
Christy
PS we aren't moving. Email me at hinkson@pcu.net and we can chat more

2011-07-31T20:26:00.000-07:00

PS doesn't Amy look like Jessie on Toy Story??

Water skiing with Mary and Amy's Family

2011-07-31T20:16:00.000-07:00

We had the time of our life last weekend going water skiing with the Rast family and Mary Cannon. They are so nice to us and everyone had a blast. Amy made us all an amazing lunch and between skiing and riding the tube, the brave people decided to jump off a cliff into the water. The water was really high at Hyrum Dam this time and so it made for a beautiful day.
Here are some pictures:

Selling the Provo House

2011-07-24T21:56:00.000-07:00

Thanks to our FABULOUS realtor, Wendy Richhart, we are in the process of selling the Provo House. It is officially under contract and we are excited to have it sold since our kids are staying closer to home to go to college. Wendy has been amazing to work with and I would highly recommend her. If you want to hear how great she is you had better have more than a few minutes to listen to me go on an on when you call.

Opposition in the adoption process

2011-07-21T15:58:00.001-07:00

Does anyone know anyone who has just sailed through the Ukrainian adoption process? NO there is always some kind of obstacle to face and roadblock to disnantle. Whether it is while they are in Ukraine or when they get home it is not an easy journey. Some very wonderful people have faced some big issues this year while adopting. Last year it was us in the middle of the adventure with a capital A. Hang in there if you are still having struggles. You are doing something monumental. Here is my take on why this is happening:

The devil, who is real and is a real jerk doesn't want to see children of God have a home and family because he knows that families can better equip children to return to God someday. He (the devil) just loves to throw a wrench in the works when big positive changes are about to happen. Notice that he isn't doing much to thwart the non important aspects of our lives but when it comes to the big stuff he is right there sticking his nose in where it doesn't belong

Yesterday was Vitaliy's birthday and we had a little discussion about how his life has changed since he came here a year ago.. We talked about how his life would probably be a lot better in the long run, because of his coming here. He sometimes isn't sure if this is true (especially on days when we do yard work,) but I think that he is starting to get the picture. I asked him about the boys he knew who had graduated from orphanage life and what they were doing. He said that most of them work on the fire trucks. I asked him how much money they made. He didn't know but someone had made enough to buy an I-Phone so they were probably getting pretty rich. I don't know if the boys will ever fully appreciate and understand what has happened to them but I know that the devil does and he is ticked.

a Little Lesson in my Garden

2011-07-06T21:39:00.000-07:00

Today the kids and I were doing our "family work" and were planting some clearance tomatoes and other things in the garden. I had Daniel putting fertilizer on the plants and Vitaliy was watering everything with a hose. He watered the new plants pretty quick and asked if that was good. I said to him "We better water these some more, These plants are transplants and so they will need a little bit extra." As has happened so many times in life this little teaching moment taught me. Our new sons are essentially our transplants and they do require a little more than the others. A little extra..... I always wanted a chance to go the Extra mile. Here's my big chance :)

Zion's National Park

2011-07-04T21:17:00.000-07:00

Here are some pictures from Zion's National Park. We stayed with Dave's Mom in Hurricane, Utah and went to the park on the way home. It was beautiful and inspiring.

Love this Resort

2011-07-04T21:01:00.000-07:00

We are home but I wanted to blog about the resort that we stayed in in Palm Desert, California. We received an email on some special pricing for this resort and since it is a Marriott Property and we have had such good experiences with them in the past we decided to give it a shot. The price was only 129 a night for a stay of 3 days or more. With this deal we received free breakfast for 2 adults and the kids and 20 percent off all golf and spa treatments and a $50 credit per day to our room. We also attended a time share presentation which gave us another 175 dollar credit and so when it was all said and done we paid about 300 dollars for a fantastic balsony room for 3 nights and a 2 hour spa treatment and an amazing breakfast each day which included a great buffet and fresh squeezed OJ etc. etc.

The resort had 5 beautiful pools and lakes and waterfalls throughout the property. They had flamingos in one of the lakes and ducks, swans and fish in the other lake. They had little boats that came into the lobby of the hotel and took us on a ride around the lake. They had parrots and other exotic birds in cages in the lobby by the lake. The kids loved the pools and we had a wonderful time. If we had been able to tear the kids away from the pool, we could have played Mini golf, tennis, basketball and other games.I would recommend this resort any day.

2011-07-04T20:56:00.000-07:00

2011-07-04T20:51:00.000-07:00

California Vacation

2011-06-30T08:09:00.001-07:00

We have been having fun in Sunny California. It has been over 100 degrees everyday we have been here. We need some of this sun in California to "dry up all the rain."
Sunday we went to church in Irvine and went to see the Newport temple. The grounds were absolutely beautiful.
Monday we spent a day at Magic Mountain. Dave and I decided that our Amusement park days are officially over. Go ahead and turn us in for being mean parents but the agony that we go through is not counterbalanced enough with joy by the kids and when they complain all day about lines etc.. it it time to hang up the Mickey mouse ears. I guess we are not as kid at heart as we used to be :)
We are really enjoying the resort we are at in Palm Desert. It is by Palm Springs and is beautiful. There are real Flamingos in the lake surrounding the resort. There is a beautiful golf course and a lot of pools and fun thngs to do. The kids are swimming up a storm and so far no serious sunburn. Dave asked the kids "who wants some sunscreen?" and Spencer said: "Ice Cream???" You have to hear his little soprano/Ukrainian accented/question voice to appreciate this. I don't know if he has water in his ears or it has something to do with his grasp on the language or lack thereof, but he has said some pretty funny things this week. Alisa was talking about french braiding her hair and he said "Alisa wants french bread in her hair??" He also calls a boogie board a "booger board." Both boys still have a hard time with the short "A" sound like in "at" Instead of Dad they say "Dud" or "Dod" or "Dead" Dave is pretty patient to put up with those names. They mean to call me fat and say that I am "Fet" since "fet" is just as close to "fit" as it is to "Fat" I just say "Thanks' and suck in my stomach a little more :) I texted this observation to a couple of friends the other day. What would I do without my support group of sistas?
The trip has helped us to notice some more English we need to work on.
We hear things like:
I should have bring my...
I put them where my clothes is.
I gotted wet.
etc.
We are making them say it correctly 5 time and hopefully they are learning. Who really knows :)
The big event yesterday was when a mother duck and her cute babies wanderred into the swimming pool. The kids loved that and tried to help them out when the Mother duck wanted to leave.
Here is to a couple more days of relaxation.
Christy

2011-06-30T08:03:00.000-07:00

California Vacation

2011-06-30T07:56:00.000-07:00

America's Got Standards

2011-06-26T20:01:00.000-07:00

America's Got Standards.

A year ago today was one of the happiest days of my life. It was the day that we entered back into the United States of America and upon stepping onto American soil our 2 adopted boys became citizens of the greatest nation on the Earth. There are many things in their life that have changed and that would be a really long entry in itself, but today I want to write about some of the things I absolutely love about America.
Yes, I know that our country has a lot of problems and I know that in some ways we are in precarious positions with our national debt and the gradual but very real deteriation of some very important principles and values as a nation but when you compare the US with the rest of the world it is still an amazingly GREAT nation.
We have freedoms in our country that people in other places have never even dreamed about ever seeing in their lands. We have been able to balance quite beautifully the freedoms we have with the power of government and society to uphold certain standards and values among our citizens that keep them morally and physically truly free. I think it great that we stand opposed to harmful drugs and at least have legal limits for alcohol and safe driving. This compared to the drive-thru bars in Mexico help me to understand why so many have a desire to migate to America for a better life. A friend of ours, who served as a missionary in Amsterdam, where just about every vice is legal, said that when he got off the train in Amsterdam he was approached by a man selling drugs with an immediate offer to sell him drugs. Upon seeing his nametag, he appologized by saying "Oh Sorry, I didn't know you was from Jesus."
In America it is still considered wrong to be unfaithful to a spouse and to abuse other people. Despite the over-the-top efforts of the gay community to make us believe that there is nothing wrong with homosexuality, most people in America still see it as a perversion that should be overcome instead of succombed to . We still punish dishonesty and corruption in government and everyday interactions. Other parts of the world have let integrity go to danerously deep levels. Many complain about dishonest politicians in America but in reality we have NO idea how bad it can really be. The fact that people are standing up to expose and complain about discrepancies they witness is a tremendous tribute to the honest heart of America.
America has standards that make sure that our water and food keep us safe and healthier than we would be otherwise. After spending many weeks in Ukraine and seeing water come from faucets that looks so dirty that it could have passed for lemonade and witnessing milk being sold in pop bottles after hours of sitting in the sun. After seeing what passes for a resturant or a bathroom in China I no longer complain about the regulations, sanitation requirements, and permits we have in our sweet country. I am not an advocate for big government being involved in our everyday life but I am glad that we have enforced laws that prohibit prositution and that we don't have to go chase the hookers off of the street corners close to where our children play.
Our roads, our military and police protection and our healthcare are envied by many other nations. we have done so many things right as a nation. I wish that we could rid our nation of gangs and pornography and abortion. I wish we would raise our standards when it comes to faith and honesty, moral strength and modesty. This country was founded on firm moral principles and it is up to us to keep our great country great. Every time I leave the land that I love, I come home loving her even more. God bless America and God bless those who stand up for what makes America GREAT.

pics of Laguna

2011-06-26T19:43:00.001-07:00

2011-06-26T19:36:00.000-07:00

2011-06-26T19:15:00.001-07:00

2011-06-26T19:15:00.000-07:00

2011-06-26T10:37:00.001-07:00

pics coming soon they won't download for some reason :(

Laguna Beach California

2011-06-26T10:19:00.000-07:00

We are on vacation. We are in Laguna/Newport Beach California today. The kids had a great time at the beach. We have the 4 younger children with us on this trip and they are having fun and didn't have as many complaints in the car as we expected. We sang our family vacation song once along the way (here is a link to the song so you know what I am talking about.)
http://www.heartrisemusic.com/Downloads/Music/05%20Family%20Vacation.mp3

When they would ask us how much longer we would always say 3 more hours. It kept them guessing :)

Here are some pics from the beach.
Happy Summer Everyone
Love the Hinksons

Happy Birthday Alisa

2011-06-22T21:07:00.000-07:00

Alisa is now officially a teenaber. Here are a couple pics from her Bday Party

2011-06-14T13:16:00.000-07:00

End of School Awards and Apple Pies

2011-06-14T11:57:00.000-07:00

Here is a picture of Vitaliy with the ESL award that he was given at the end of school. His ESL teacher chose him out of all the ESL kids to recognize. He was so excited to come home and tell us all about how she praised him and even cried at the assembly in front of the whole school.

We have a tradtion at the end of school that we have been doing for years. I thought it would be fun to share it with my blog friends. I make apple pies (or buy them) and give them to our favorite teachers with this poem. I think they feel a little of the appreciation we feel for all they do for our children. Here is the little poem:

An Apple for the Teacher
A tradition of the past
In gratitude for teachings
That last and last and last.

You have been my teacher
And I have learned from you
Things I will remember
And use my whole life through

You have shown me sweetness
And made me feel I'm fine
You have added spice
And made your teachings shine

A simple apple all alone
Simply wouldn't do
And so I bring an apple pie
To show my thanks to you.

CRH

Prom and Graduation

2011-06-01T21:16:00.000-07:00

Here are the pictures from Devin's Prom and Graduation. We are proud of him and the fine young man that he is becoming. As far as HS graduation goes we as parents are half way through. 5 down and 5 to go. Congrats Dev!!

Happy Birthday Blake

2011-05-26T11:48:00.000-07:00

Holly and Brian had a very fun family birthday party for Blake who turned 2 on Monday. Here are some pictures of the cute birthday boy. He is such a sweet heart. I always wondered why my Grandmothers kissed us several times when we would go to visit. It always seemed enough when people gave us one kiss but i NOW UNDERSTAND! for Grandmas you just can't help kissing those cute chubby cheeks a number of times.

Seminary Graduation

2011-05-22T18:34:00.000-07:00

Here are a couple pics from Seminary Graduation. This is Devin and Melanie who is a very cute girl in our ward who is good friends with Devin. They will be going to Prom together on Saturday.

Payback

2011-05-22T08:21:00.000-07:00

It seems like May is the "payback" time of the year with graduations and award banquets and the recognitions for all the hard work they put in all year. It seems to me that I am entering the payback time of life and we are starting to see the rewards of all those Diapers and "hard work in the trenches" time of life. The adoptions put us back in the trenches for awhile but the hard work (or mere endurance) is beginning to pay off. This past couple of weeks were full of proud moments for us. Here is a quick rundown:
Tyler-headed off to New Jersey to work for the summer. He is doing great.
Devin-Graduates from Seminary tonight, Sang at a City wide contest and did great. He is serving in a stake calling to organize Camp Helaman for the priests of the stake next month. He is looking for a summer job and looking forward to serving a mission when he turns 19 next April. He plans to attend Utah State University in the fall.
Daniel: Was just awarded the award for outstanding Sophmore actor (all those early morming practices paid off)and he was put in the presidency for Encore next year. He continues to write songs and is going to sing in some of my EFY sessions this summer.
Alisa: Was awarded a medal at the Breakfast of Champions for getting a 4.0 the whole year. She is the most likely from our family to be a valedictorian like her dad.
Vitaly: is as close to getting straight A's as he can get given the fact that he has only been speaking English for a few months. We have been amazed at his transformation from being a boy who went to school completely to flirt with girls and develop socially and who cared nothing about an education to a young man who really cares about his classes, grades and performance. He even took a math test over again and got 100% correct. This would never have happened 6 months ago. He will be playing soccer in the kohls cup this next weekend.
Spencer: Loves school and played his last soccer game yesterday (they won :) He played a duet at the kids piano recital and is fighting to hang on to his ability to
speak Russian and Ukranian.
Scott: also played the piano at the recital. He is becoming quite a good artist and gets the award for "best peacemaker" in the family.

One Year Later

2011-05-08T21:17:00.000-07:00

A year ago today we arrived in Ukraine. It was the beginning of a wonderful adventure full of many growing eperiences for many people. Despite the trials we can say that "Yes" this was a good decision and "Yes" we would do it again.

The boys we adopted are doing fantastic. Their progress has been incredible. It is hard to imagine that there will be another year in their future when they will face as many changes and make as much progress as they have this year. They went from being skin and bones little guys to skin, bones and muscle little boys. Although they are still as skinny as I aspire to be, they have each gained about 30 lbs and grown several inches. They are both doing well in school and getting good grades and actually earning them without special allowances from the teachers.

Their english is great. They still have accents and don't know every word in our English language but the challenge at the present time is trying to make sure that Spencer keeps his Ukrainian/Russian. Vitaly still rattles it off well, but Spencer is starting to forget words and phrases. He talks a lot about wanting to be in the air force or being a pilot and we think that he will have great opportunities in life if he can hold on to his bilingual abilities.

We talked to Bryan (our son who is a missionary in Ukraine) today for Mother's day. As he talked about the country that he has grown to love, I actually didn't experience nausea. I am losing my distaste for Ukraine as time passes and I don't flinch at the thought of returning there someday. Amazing how memories tend to sweeten with time.

Vitaly and Spencer like to go to church and have been able to manage other actiivities like scouts and sports and they are integrated into the family just like the rest of the kids. They shower everyday and don't hoard or tattle or display the other inappropriate behaviors that rattled us at first. They are not afraid to pitch in and help with family chores and they have stopped trying to show their willful talents and have come to sincerely appreciate the blessings and security of life in a family.

Today for Mother's day the kids made a special book with letters from and pictures of each of them. Vitaliy signed his entry "your adopted son" It actually struck me funny to read that. Maybe he is just afraid that I may be forgetting that he is adopted or something. It is possible that I may have had a few too many Mother's day treats today but I have to say that Family blending can be a beautiful thing.....a year later.

Women's Conference and Happy Birthday Devin

2011-05-01T20:41:00.000-07:00

Thursday and Friday I got to go to BYU and join my cute Sister Debby at Women's Conference. We heard many words of wisdom and inspiration in the classes and were able to be a part of the huge service event. We tied baby quilts and made little princess crowns for homeless shelters. I made the mittens in the picture (I haven't made these ever before) and we felt the great feeling of being with thousands and thousands of good women who love and desire to serve the Lord.

Devin turned 18 yesterday and we have been dragging out the celebration as much as possible. We watched a video of the day he was born and WOW, how things have changed over the years. It is hard to believe that 1/2 of our children are officially adults now. That is worthy of some celebration isn't it?

Happy Day
Christy

Hoppy Easter

2011-05-01T20:38:00.001-07:00

We had some fun Easter festivities. We dyed eggs, had an Easter dinner and an Easter egg Hunt. Here are a few of the pictures.

Prom for Devin and Daniel

2011-04-22T19:32:00.000-07:00

Devin and Daniel had a fun prom. Devin had his "Day Date" at our house and they served a huge sandwich to their dates and did an Easter Egg hunt. They seemed to have a lot of fun just sitting on the trampolines and talking.

Daniel went with another group and they did their "Day Date" at the sport's academy and did gymnastics. I don't think the girls have time to spend a lot of time getting ready with this "Day Date" tradition they do now. Personally I think that they should take them to dinner and the dance and have too ask for another separate date if they want to take the girl on another date. They also watch a movie after prom which is kind of like 3 dates in one. I sure hope the girl likes the guy a little because that is a lot of hours to spend together if not :)

P.S. I think the boys looked handsome in their tuxes.

Soccer

2011-04-16T14:20:00.000-07:00

We have entered into Soccer season. It is my first time being a Soccer Mom. I have been a football mom, a stage mom, a basketball mom and the mom of kids in music groups etc. but this week I became an official Soccer Mom. Since Soccer is about the only sport in Ukraine the new boys think it is awesome. They are on separate teams. In the past couple of days we have been to 3 games and 1 practice. I learned that they don't have bleachers at Soccer fields and you have to bring your own chairs. The first game we sat on a Walmart sack to keep from getting muddy. The team that Spencer is on plays about 10 boys on the field at a time and the games are about an hour. Vitaliy's team plays 4 on 4 and so their games are only 35 minutes. You can get as much action and adrenalin going in 35 mins. Vitliy is number 12 and Spencer is number 11.

It has been exciting to see them excited about their games and I think that the timing is good right now. When we first got home Dave got Vitaliy on a really good team (the coach was a patient of his and had 2 sons who played pro soccer) He wasn't ready for that at the time and had to drop out before the season even started. I think it takes some time to adjust to the language, family, school etc. and it looks like now they have that down, they can handle some extra things. Here are some pics of our soccer boys.

My New book just published

2011-04-14T13:35:00.001-07:00

I just published my 2nd E book on Amazon. You can see it at this link:

http://www.amazon.com/s/qid=1302812941/ref=a9_sc_1?ie=UTF8&search-alias=digital-text&field-keywords=christy%20hinkson

It is called A Diet a Day. After Italy I need it more than anyone.

Very Excited, (about the book...not a diet.)
Christy

Happy Birthday Daniel

2011-04-14T09:01:00.000-07:00

Here is a video of Dan and his b-day cake with friends

Happy Birthday Daniel

2011-04-13T07:11:00.000-07:00

Daniel turned 16 on Monday and we are still stretching out the celebration for as long as we can. On Saturday we drove to SLC to go to a trampoline place called Airborne where the kids had fun jumping on a ton of trampolines and playing in a big foam pit etc. We were joined by the Richharts who are one of our favorite families in the world. They have kids the same ages as some of our kids and I hope we get to do more with them in the future.

After jumping their heads off we stopped at Red Robbin on the way home and everyone filled up on Burgers and lots of fries.

On Monday we had a surprise party for Daniel at our house and I have never seen so many beautiful girls and handsome boys in one spot. I think Daniel got the message that he is loved by his friends. I am VERY thankful that our children have the opportunity to have such great friends.

For FHE we watched a video that my Dad took when Daniel was born. It was so fun to see the family at that stage of life. Everyone was so little. We remembered what life was like with 6 under the age of 8. Whew! Can't believe that little baby is now 16. Time flies when you are having fun.

pronunciations

2011-04-07T21:00:00.001-07:00

We are laughing our heads off. Vitaliy is reading the ads in the paper and he says he wants to go to Ka holes (Kohls) and buy a Jock-et. When we chuckle at that he says nevermind I want to go to the Mail (mall) and buy shoes. He decided that he could settle for Shop-ka.

Side note: We have bought a record number of shoes for this kid and in a few weeks we see the other kids wearing his new shoes. When we ask why he doesn't want them anymore he says "They are too little for me" in such a sing song way that it has become a family chime now.

Every morning we hear the boys asking what is for Brock-fust.

Another Mom said her daughter wanted to see the movie tang-gled.

Ha Ha Ha. What other weird pronunciations have you heard?

2011-03-29T07:32:00.000-07:00

2011-03-29T07:31:00.000-07:00

pictures of Italy

2011-03-29T07:26:00.000-07:00

Here are some last pictures of Italy. Some of these were taken by Devin or my sister Debby. It is a beautiful place. Good memories from this trip but now it is time to get back to real life. I have 2 sick boys today and a broken dishwasher and some flood damage from the broken dishwasher hose to deal with along with tons of laundry and the regular post vacation catch up.

Here are some last pictures of Italy. Some of these were taken by Devin or my sister Debby. It is a beautiful place. Good memories from this trip but now it is time to get back to real life. I have 2 sick boys today and a broken dishwasher and some flood damage from the broken dishwasher hose to deal with along with tons of laundry and the regular post vacation catch up.

Happy viewing
Ciao

2011-03-29T07:25:00.000-07:00

Coming Home
We flew from Rome to London to NYC and stayed over in a hotel and flew from there to Chicago and then to SLC. When we arrived in NYC we were at JFK airport and it was such a great feeling to go through passport control and hear them say "Welcome Back" It kind of choked us up to be back on American soil with a renewed appreciation for our life in this great land.
We decided to take the airtrain and subway to the hotel near LaGuardia aiport where we departed to go home very early the next morning. We should have taken a taxi or shuttle because it was quite an adventure to get to where we needed to be. We ended up taking the airtrain, the subway, the subway again, a bus and then the hotel shuttle. We met a nice woman and her daughter who took us under their wing and helped to get us to the right place. It was freezing cold compared to Italy and we had 2 sleepng babies and luggage in tow. When we arrived at the hotel about 3 hours after our plane landed, we went right to bed :)
Here are some picture of the kids as we traveled. They were SOOOO good the whole trip. I wouldn't have dreamed of taking either a 2 year old OR a new baby on an international vacation but Heather and Joe are amazing parents and did such a great job with their little family this whole trip. I am sure that they will be ready for a vacation from their vacation now.

Coming Home

2011-03-29T07:23:00.000-07:00

A few things to expect with EuropeanTravel

2011-03-29T07:22:00.000-07:00

We flew out of Rome and so we met Heather and Joe and Devin and the kids at the airport as they flew in from Prague. We headed to our favorite hotel (NOT) the Rome Courtyard Marriott. We made the mistake of booking 4 nights total at this hotel and prepaid them and so even though the first night was not good we had to keep staying there or just lose the money that we had paid for 2 rooms.
This night we arrived at the hotel and were told that I had made the mistake of not specifying the number of guests and so they had only charged us for 1 guest per room. Even though we had stayed there 3 times before and even though I had ordered king sized beds and cribs an a rollaway bed, we were told that we would need to pay an additional $360 on top of the 150.00 we had paid per room in advance. I should point out that in Europe the rooms are not booked as a room like in the US but they book per person and so you can expect to pay extra for each and every person in your party. If you order 2 single beds they will be tiny twin beds and not the traditional queen beds that we are used to in hotels in the US.
Fiinally after a lot of discussion we were able to reduce our bill at the hotel down to 25 Euros (about $42.00) instead of the initial $360 that they demanded. We have learned a lot on this trip and it is too bad that we are too exhausted to put all that we learned into practice with a return trip to Europe anytime soon.
For anyone planning a trip to Europe here are some things that you can expect so you won't be too shell shocked when you get there.
1. Hotels are booked by the person. They say that they have laws that prohibit extra people etc. etc blah blah blah but they can always find a way around those laws.
2. Buying food is like paying airport prices all the time. Ukraine and CZ Repblic had more reasonable prices but overall it is more expensive than the US.
3. Smoking is not a social ill in Europe. Almost everyone smokes and it is pretty much smoky everywhere. Joe Jokes that on his mission when he hadn't been around the smoke for awhile, he would start to go through nicotine withdrawal have to go outside to breath some smoke to get rid of his headache. (He was kidding, but it is a serious issue if you can't handle the smoke smell.) Even though their cig packages are pretty blatent and say SMOKING KILLS they don't care and will light up right in front of you and if you are like my sister Debby and start coughing, they just look at you like you have a disease and continue to blow smoke in your direction.
4. The water is not clean. Ukraine was the worst with water that looked like lemonade, but you had bring along your Immodium if you plan to drink from the tap. I did brush my teeth with the water and didn't get sick but we stuck to bottled water mostly. The cities may clean the water but many of the buildings have plumbing that is much older than our country and so the water doesn't always make it to you very drinkable.
5. There are not laundrymats. I made a bet with my niece and nephew and they did see a laundrymat in Paris but we didn't see any where we visited. Most of the people wash their clothes in the sink and hang them to dry. If you are lucky, you may get a room with a coil heater in the bathroom that heats up and dries clothes more quickly.
6. Hair straighteners don't work abroad. You can buy one with a European cord but I totally fried one in China (the ceramic plate actually melted off) and this time when I plugged mine in in Italy it started to smell funny and I hope it works when I get home.
7. Good luck finding a microwave. We did have them in our apartments in Ukraine and most apartments have them but not the hotels so leave behind your microwave popcorn. We always had a water boiler that worked well for hot chocolate and ramen type food but microwaves are not commonly offered.
8. You will probably have a bidet in the bathroom which is like a little toilet shaped sink that you sit on to wash after you use the toilet. It is not a bad idea expecially if you are like many people we witnessed via the way of aroma that obviously didn't shower daily. At least some places get clean :)
9. Washcloths are not always in the hotels especially in Ukraine and Rome. The fancier hotels have them along with everything else you could need (shavers, toothbrushes, mouthwash, shoe shining equipment, bathrobes, nail files, etc etc.)
10. The typical European breakfast is what we call a continental breakfast. They love to have coffee and cresants and many times antipastas like meats and cheeses. Since we don't do coffee we are looked at a little strangly sometimes . They will usually give you some kind of juice and maybe cereal. We had nice breakfasts where we stayed but don't feel cheated if they don't have a waffle iron and bacon and eggs.
11. Scarves are always in style. Even in the summer the local people love to wear scarves. Many of the men in Italy especially, get away with wearing clothes that someone would get beat up for wearing in the states. They are very stylish with brightly colored pants (like girls wear in the US if they are brave) and leather shoes that are very stylish and scarves that are wrapped around the neck just like the women wear them in the United States. I am not talking about men that are gender confused, I am talking about rough and tough guys with an equally stylish girl on their arm. It is totally normal to look a little more feminine in Italy. It is also normal for women to walk hand in hand or arm in arm because they are talking and don't want to get separated in the mass of people.
12 Don't buy a lot of food to refrigerate in one trip. The fridges are tiny and will only hold a few items. The resturants don't really have to-go boxes like in the US so eat up at the resturants and don't stock up on stuff that requires refrigeration. Milk in a box that doesn't need to be refrigerated until opened can usually be found in most places in Europe.

2011-03-29T07:20:00.000-07:00

2011-03-29T07:18:00.000-07:00

2011-03-29T07:16:00.000-07:00

Food in Italy

2011-03-29T07:13:00.001-07:00

OK so I have to admit that one of the best parts of Italy is the food. Today in the NYC airport on the way home a guy was carrying a bag that said Italy is Eatly and I think that pretty much sums it all up. Here are some pics of foods that I have talked about and that we had in Italy. WARNING: it may make your mouth water.

Fountains

2011-03-29T07:11:00.001-07:00

We headed to Trevi fountain for one last Gelato. We also descovered another fountain that we don't remember seeing i n the past. It was in the Piazzo Republico and was pretty moss covered. The main figure in the middle is a man holding a large fish with water coming out of his mouth. Here are some fountain pics.

2011-03-29T07:10:00.001-07:00

2011-03-29T07:10:00.000-07:00

2011-03-29T07:07:00.000-07:00

We toured the ruins of ancient Rome and saw some cool things. Here are some pics from that part of the day.

One more Day in Rome

2011-03-29T07:02:00.000-07:00

Very early on Saturday morning we flew to Rome and had one more great day in the city. We toured the inside of the Colloseum. This is where some christians were martyred but it was mostly used to hold all day entertainment where real wild animals were hunted in elaborate stage sets and killed in front of huge audiences. Cabellas may have thought of ressssurecting this kind of a thing but the animal activists would have really been upset to know that about 5000 animals were killed in just the opening festivities of the c olloseum. After the hunts the gladiators would come out and kill each other as the crowds cheered them on. It sounds pretty barberic but these were the same people who killed Jesus. Even though we don't have sport killings in our society we do have plenty of movies that show people killed designed for our entertainment and so I guess we haven't come to far in this regard. Here are some pics from inside the Colloseum.

2011-03-29T06:59:00.000-07:00

Our original plan was to drive back to Prague the next day and catch our morning flight to Rome. We recieved an email that the morning flight on Smart Wings airline had been cancelled. They offered us an afternoon flight but Dave was depressed because that would mean that we would miss our anticipated last day in Rome. we decided to buy a ticket for Dave and I from Vienna to Rome and we let Joe drive the car back to Prague where they stayed that evening. This gave us a date in Vienna and so we went to dinner at the hotel and tried some typical food from Vienna. I had Weiner Schnitzle and Dave had a vegetable souffle. Dave thought the Weiner Schnitzle would be some kind of hot dog but it was veal pounded thin and breaded and fried or baked. It was a great meal topped off with apple Strudel served with pudding and whipped cream.

St Stephen's Cathedral

2011-03-29T06:39:00.000-07:00

From the top of our hotel we could see a large gothic cathedral and so we set out to find that . It was the St. Stephen cathedral. Here are pics of that.

Schoenbrunn Castle

2011-03-29T06:36:00.000-07:00

In the rnorning we went about a mile from our hotel and and toured the Schoenbrunn Castle and gardens. It was beautiful and where Marie Antoinette was raised. Here are some pictures of the castle.

Vienna Austria

2011-03-28T18:03:00.000-07:00

After a great evening in Zlin we drove to Vienna, Austria. As we drove into the city late at night the buildings had a beautiful golden gleam to them as we drove down the streets searching for our hotel. The next morning we saw things in the daylight and could see why the shadows on the buildings were so charming. Here are some pics of vieneese buldings. Classy is a good word to describe the tall buildings with carvings, statues and ornaments at every turn. Vienna is a beautiful city.

Zlin

2011-03-25T13:16:00.000-07:00

We traveled to Zlin (pronounced z-lean) and saw the town which was started as factories for Bata shoes. The man who started the company was a great man who even built houses for his workers and was good to them. He is remembered with great fondness. After hearing about him we went to support the cause and Devin got some new shoes.

That evening we met at the church building with members from the branch there who love Joe. It was a great experience to see and hear how he touched their lives as a missionary.

CZ Easter tradition

2011-03-25T11:46:00.000-07:00

This cute little store all decorated for Spring reminded me of an Easter tradition that Joe told us about. On the Monday after Easter the kids go from house to house to people they know with willow branches and hit the women on the backside in exchange for eggs and candy. They don't really hurt the ladies but it is supposed to give them fertility and good luck. They sing a little song that basically says "give me eggs."

2011-03-25T11:45:00.000-07:00

Kromeriz--The fairy tale town

2011-03-25T11:39:00.000-07:00

On our travels on Thursday we stopped by what Joe called the fairy tale town. It was a lot like I expected Sienna would be like for some reason. It was quaint and beautiful (the colored buildings resembled easter egg colors) and it had everything including a castle. We walked around and saw the castle gardens and a little zoo they had. We enjoyed hot chocolate which was thicker and creamier than ours in the US but not quite like Ukraine.

Here are some pics of the magical city.

2011-03-25T04:01:00.000-07:00

Czech Food again

2011-03-25T01:07:00.000-07:00

We are impressed with the way that they decorate the food here and garnish almost everything. It makes it even more fun to try the new dishes.

Here are some pictures of food we had in CZ. The dish that looks like mac and cheese with bacon in the middle is called haluski. Last time it had the sour kraut stuff in it that is called zelli. This time it was goat cheese and it was really good. We even bought a special kitchen tool so that we can make it at home. The noodles are made with potatoes and flour.

The Green casserole dish was chicken and eggplant and potato pancake (which was like a tortilla.) It was very rich and impossible to eat the whole dish. Look how fancy they were with everything. Even the french fries had parsley on them :)

2011-03-23T07:05:00.000-07:00

Brno and Castle

2011-03-23T06:52:00.001-07:00

This city is the 2nd largest in the C.R. It is pronounced Burn-o. Our hotel has a beautiful view of many churches and every where you look from the balcony there are several steeples. The sad thing is that most of the people (I think Joe said about 90%) are atheist. Hardly anyone believes in God but there are churches everywhere. He says that the government pays for the upkeep of the churches and that no one goes to church except for Christmas and Easter.

We visited a castle on a hill that is across the street. It was once taken over by Hitler's men and so they left their Nazi marks on some of the walls. We love the bells that ring on the hour from many churches here and from the castle. It reminds me of the Sound of Music. There was a great story about an opposing army that was trying to take over the castle and they vowed that they would do it by a certain time. Someone told all the churches to ring their bells early and when they did the army quit and went home since they had not met their goal.

2011-03-23T06:50:00.000-07:00

Hradec Kralove

2011-03-23T06:43:00.000-07:00

We stopped in a beautiful town named Hradec Kralove where Joe served on his mission. We walked around and had fried cheese sandwiches (a specialty here) for dinner and then went to the church to meet some of Joe's friends from his mission. It was great to hear their stories and about their families and about life in the CZ Republic. The thing that they remembered most about communism was only have one choice for brands of food at the grocery store. Our guide in Russia said the same thing. That people would wait in lines for hours and then only be able to buy o loaf of bread and one kind of butter etc. It was a dark time all over this part of the world. Here are some pics from Hradec Kralove.

Colors of Bohemia

2011-03-23T06:36:00.000-07:00

This part of the world is called Bohemia. One thing that I noticed when we flew in is all the Terra Cotta colored tile roofs here. It was a lot like Germany except the houses in Germany seem to be white with the Terra Cotta roofs and here they are all different colors with the terra cotta roofs. It was like a cross between Germany and Italy. As we moved outside of Prague the house seemed to get a little bolder in color. Here are pics that are a sample of brightly colored Czech homes.

Kutna Hora

2011-03-23T06:28:00.000-07:00

We picked up the van we rented and hit the roads of the Czech Republic. We saw a few potholes but only about .005% of what they have in Ukraine :) We drove to a church that Joe had heard about that had human bones in it. That was an understatement. The church was in Kutna Hora and for people who love Halloween, put this place on your list to see. There were a lot of people who died in this area and so they decorated with the bones. Here are some pics of the creepy place. After this I think we have seen about every kind of church.

Czech food

2011-03-22T01:00:00.000-07:00

I wanted to tell about the food we had for lunch. The dish that most of us had was what Joe calls 'Glorified mac and Cheese" It was a little different than he thought it would be but it was good. It had little dumplings made from potatoes and flour and boiled and ham (or bacon) and then some kind of sour kraut cabbage in it instead of the typical cheese. We may try it again with cheese sometime. Dave had a chicken patty with potatoes and tarter sauce-like sauce that was good and Joe had a gravy with dumplings that look like pieces of bread but are different that you dip in the gravy.

For dessert we had strawberry dumplings. They were a strawberry wrapped in dough and cooked and then served with a yogurt tasting sweet sauce. We were impressed with Czech food and don't think that you could starve here in this great country.

2011-03-21T14:49:00.000-07:00

prague

2011-03-21T14:41:00.000-07:00

After seeing the castle complex in daylight we took pictures of the city from a great vantagee point. One of my friends told me that Prague is the most beautiful city in Europe that she has been to and I have to agree, It is a very picturesque city. We loved all the ornate buildings and the steeples of the churches etc. etc. I loved the tera cotta tile roofs on the beautiful buildings of different colors. The river and the bridges add a special charm.

We went across Charles Bridge and saw the statues and etertainment on the bridge. At the old town side of the bridge is a huge statue of King Charles (our ancestor.) We walked through Old town and ate lunch at a Czech resturant that translated means "Czech Kitchen." I will post pictures of the food we had and try to describe it.

We took saw the Astronomical clock that was created by a talented artist . After he finished the clock, they burned his eyes out so that he wouldn't be able to create another clock for any other country. That was rude.

tour of Prague

2011-03-21T14:38:00.000-07:00

Tour of Prague

Joe took us on the walking tour of Prague that they used to take the new missionaries on and it was a really great day.

We Went through a big park and saw the place where Stalin had errected a huge statue to himself but it was torn down when the people became liberated from communism. We then went to the castle where we visited last night and went inside the church that King Charles had built. I have seen a lot of churches and cathedrals but this one was amazing. The huge pillars, high ceiling and beautiful stain glass windows were stunning. In the lower corner of one of the windows it looks like 2 LDS missionaries, (at least that is what Joe used to tell the new missionaries :)

2011-03-20T15:48:00.000-07:00

Castle at night

2011-03-20T15:33:00.000-07:00

After dinner with the Czech members we decided to walk around the famous castle in Prague. The guards let us in and we learned that it was the largest castle in Europe and perhaps the whole world. In the middle of the palace complex was a huge gothic church that was commissioned by guess who.... King Charles (my ancestor) He also has a statue of him at Charles' bridge that we hope to see tomorrow. I guess he lived here too and had a goal to build up Prague. The woman that we were with said that I have his nose. Evidently he had a long nose. It kind of brings this city to life to know these things. I have heard about Charles bridge for many years. Who knew. They love him here, they even call him Charley.

Dinner with Jarka

2011-03-20T15:23:00.000-07:00

We were invited to Jarka's house and she had a dinner of soup, bread, compote fruit tea and dessert waiting for us. This woman is amazing. She was married to the man who has been mentioned in conference talks etc as a forerunner for the church being established here in the C.R. She has hosted President Monson etc and so we felt lucky to meet her. Here are pics of the dinner.

Here are also some views from her house. The steeple with the green top is a large catholic church where Joe was invited to preach for midnight mass while he was here as a missionary. The priest believed what the missionaries taught and let them teach his congregation. The priest was kinda sent out of town after that.

Church in Prague

2011-03-20T15:17:00.000-07:00

We went to church in Prague and Joe loved seeing old friends and branch members there. The church is on the first floor of the building and the mission home and mission office are upstairs. It was fun to hear the Czech language and we had a great time meeting people who knew Joe as a missionary.

2011-03-20T15:14:00.000-07:00

Prague, Czech Republic

2011-03-20T14:57:00.000-07:00

We made it to Prague and we LOVE it. When we left Italy we were in a pretty good mood because they let us through security with almost no restrictions. We didn't have to take off our shoes and we all walked through with big water bottles and no problems at all. Funny thing is that we didn't feel any less safe on the flight.

When we flew into the immaculate airport in Prague we were delighted that our hotel is only a few yards from the terminal. Our rooms were very nice and the staff was amazing. They gave us free water, free internet, and everything thing we need is immediately delivered with big smiles. It has restored my faith in the Marriott Courtyard brand. A major contrast to our experience in Rome. We haven't heard one airplane taking off or coming in and it has been a delight to be here.

Our rental car place is next door and downstairs from the hotel is a Billa Store. Those who have been to Ukraine may recognize that name. We went shopping last night so we would have food for Sunday and it was like Ukraine but very clean and nice smelling. The produce is fresh and nice looking. I am so impressed with the classy way that Prague has made it's way through post communism with flying colors.
Here are some pics of our hotel.

Florence

2011-03-19T14:02:00.000-07:00

It took longer to drive into Florence than we ended up having time to spend there. We ran to a beautiful church and then to see the David statue and then to the river and then we had to leave Florence.

On the way out of town we had a hard time getting our van out of the underground parking garage. Behind us were 2 cars with the Moons, Richards and Reeds. As we were leaving an Italian couple chased us down and said that one of the cars in our party bumped into their car and caused damage on their bumper. We had to call the police and got to witness the drama of Italians yelling and gesturing etc. We think that they probably made up the story but the insurance companies can figure it out. It made the day even more memorable. Here are some pics of Florence.