HAPPY HALLOWEEN

This is Halloween, Halloween, Halloween...

True to the past, Anya has picked another obscure character to be for Halloween. She is always my one that picks something that leaves me going " huh...how am I going to pull this one off this time?". I can never just buy her costumes. This year she picked the Character, No Face, from the movie " Spirited Away". It didn't turn out to be a perfect match, but I think it turned out pretty good. Anya was pleased.

Hannah and Cora went easy on me this year. Hannah wanted to be Pikachu again. A costume that I had made for Anya years ago, which Hannah has used twice now. After Anya's request for No Face, I was thrilled that Hannah wanted to reuse a costume!

Cora wanted to be Belle this year. Also a "reuse", Hannah was Belle years ago, so we were able to raid the dress-up. She looked Lovely as Belle!

I couldn't resist reusing the boy's costumes from last year either. They reprised their roles as Thing 1 and Thing 2. They love it, I think. I love that they keep their hats on the whole time, and they had worn their costume's three times this season for various parties. Kept their hats on each time. Amazing!

And they're off...

Some pre-halloween silliness

The crew right before tricks and treats.

I can now say that I have made two award winning costumes. At the ward Trunk-or- Treat activity for Church, Anya won the award for "Scariest Costume". The Bishop thought she was creepy...perfect for Halloween :0 The boys won the award for over all best costume...Go Boys!! They got a lovely bouquet of fall flowers, which I have justly enjoyed displaying.

It was a fun Halloween, our first in Germany, and the kids were not lacking in Candy!

Carve them up!

Now that we have some pumpkins, it is time to carve them up!

The girls are so serious about their pumpkins, they have been sketching their designs for weeks. It was awesome to see them turn out how the girls envisioned.

The boys wanted to help everyone out so bad.

We finally just let them go at it, but mostly they wanted to play in the pumpkin goop.

Occasionally they were helpful...

I have a thing for pumpkins with "hair".

Every year we try to find one with awesome hair. Last year our pumpkin's hair fell off...but this year we were able to keep it in tact and on :)

Doesn't our friend look awesome?!

The crew with their Jack-o-Laterns all all aglow

I decided not to carve up my pumpkin for display. Instead we cleaned it out, and cooked a pumpkin stew inside. It was so yummy, although some of the kids weren't convinced. I thought it was very festive and fun!

pumpkins, pumpkins, everywhere...

Can you believe it? We actually found a pumpkin patch in Germany! It wasn't too hard, there is a Brother in our Stake who actually grows pumpkins. He open's up his "patch" every Saturday in October for those willing to brave the mud to pick a pumpkin. Or you can buy a pumpkin from him from his cart on the side of the road near our neighborhood. We Jeppson's like adventure and tradition, so we opted for the patch picking!

The boys LOVED it, of course. Last year they were sentenced to their strollers most of the time at our last patch. Here, they got to get out and look at the pumpkins. Brother G. even gave the boys their very own little pumpkins to take home.

My girls that are growing up way too fast, with our finds for the day.

Had to throw in a picture of my boys as well!

Off to load back up in the car and drive home. It was a lovely drive, since the patch is located near a quaint little German village about an hour from where we live. We passed 2 castle ruins along the way...it was a wonderful, fall drive.

Recalling Some Summer Time Fun...

Despite what it may seem, we don't travel all the time. Sad, but true, Matt has to hold down a job. Now the kids are in school so we are confined to weekend trips and breaks...but during the summer while Matt was working, the kids and I did find some really fun parks and pools. Germany has AWESOME parks. There was one we went too that built the slides to flow with the land and hills. It was so cool, and meant that one of the slides was HUGE and STEEP, kind of like an alpine slide. We have really enjoyed the parks here.

Three of the kiddos on a slide we found at a park about an hour away.

(far for a park I know...but I don't like to sit at home with the kids, I like to go out and see and do if I can)

There is a really cool pool/park in the town of Grafenwohr, which is about 5 minutes away. There is a lap pool and a real fun kiddie pool area...but the kids favorite is the zip line they have there!

The Hunt-man going down the water slide in the kiddie pool.

Hunter trying to wear goggles like his sisters...

About 10 minutes the other way from Grafenwohr, outside the town of Eschenbach, there is a really fun lake. We went there a couple times and the kids loved it. There is a beach area with a little sand, you can rent paddle boats with slides on them, It was loads of fun. The kids didn't want to come home.

These were taken at Matt's Organization Day for work. We discovered how much the boys love to play catch.

Matt and Jack

Jack

I love this picture. Here is watching the "guys" play softball. You can just tell how he is studying how to play, and how much he wants to join in the game. This boy of mine will not be a sideline watcher for sure. He loves to get in on the action!

One day back in August, we went with a bunch of friends to a park in Amberg. It was about 30 minutes away or so. And totally worth it! We call it the "Pirate Ship" park. It is the coolest park I have ever seen. There is this lake area, with a water works play system. Then across the bridge there is a ship made out of wood, a tunnel/catacomb system for kids to crawl in and ferries to ferry across the lake on...so much fun!

Hannah and her creatures.

I have told you before, how much she likes to find things. Here she is with a tadpole she found. It took a lot of convincing to get her to put it back. She wanted to bring it home and see how it grows into a Frog. Granted it would be cool...if we could keep it alive, I thought it's chances were better in the wild!

Just look how much energy Jack is putting into that yell.

Anya, the conquering hero!

It was a fun park, and we had a great time this summer looking for new parks where we live!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY JACK AND HUNTER

The BOYS are 2!!!

Their birthday was pretty lowkey. It was on a Friday, Matt ended up having to work a little bit longer. That was ok, because we weren't going anywhere anyway. Just a small party at home. Matt brought home a bucket of chicken which was so yummy and the boys LOVED!

I like to make the kid's birthday cakes on their special day. The girls usually come up with some crazy creation, and I am left wondering how in the world am I going to pull this one off? So, while the boys are still little, and don't really care, I decided to go easy. They both love balls...so there you go, a baseball and soccer ball.

Birthday's are done in birth order, of course, so that means Mr. Jack Jack is first.

doesn't he look like he is about to devour his cake?

Next comes the baby of the family, Hunt, he got to watch his brother go first. So by this time he was VERY excited to have his turn. Hannah kept freaking out because Hunter wanted to touch the flame. She was terrified that he was going to get burned. He didn't though, was just enjoying the ambiance.

Present time...

Where are the boys?

Cora looks so tired in this one!

I love this one, Hannah looks more excited then the boys. We have tons of video's and pictures of Hannah caught "helping" the reciever open their gifts. Often she has to be reminded to "not touch" or she will be excused, what can I say...the girl loves presents and surprises.

If your going to slow...she feels compelled to help you.

We got the boys scooter for their birthday. They love their sister's, so we new they would love their own. and we were right! However, the did not come assembled :(

Luckily Matt has two great helpers!

Hunter is getting it all figured out!

Without intending too, their birthday ended up with a "Cars" type theme. They got outfits with "cars" on them from their Aunt and Uncle, "Cars" cards from Grandma and Grandpa J., and "Cars" scooters. It must be the "in" thing this year :)

I had to post these because I thought they were so cute!

My sister crotched dragons for each of the boys. In my head, I thought they would be little, beanie, sized dragons...nope! These guys are huge. If stood up on their tail, they are easily taller then the boys.

The fellas love them of course.

Jack likes to drag his around by it's head...calling it "oh...baby" as he goes.

Hunter just likes to plop on and tackle his.

My mom knitted the boys matching "Snoopy" sweaters that are so cute. I need to take a picture of the boys wearing them and post it later!

It was a fun day. We got to webcam with family, and enjoy an evening together as a family!

What birthday could be better?

Heidelberg

Lately Matt had been going to a bunch of different trainings and conferences. On a couple of them we decided to tag along and do some sight seeing. It has been really fun, and gotten us out of our little sphere. That is how we ended up here...in Heidelberg, for a weekend.

The main attraction for me was, yep, you guessed it, Schloss Heidelberg.

It is actually this huge fortress up on the side of the mountain. Unfortunately they are in the middle of reinforcing some of the towers, so there is scaffolding everywhere. This schloss was the last stand down between Germany and their mortal enemy...France. The French border is actually only about 80 Kilometers from Heidelberg. Anyway, this structure has seen many battles and was struck by lightening many times. Hannah thought it looked like it had been burned up by a dragon attack. Heidelberg decided not to rebuild it, but to reinforce it so it doesn't continue to crumble away.

This is how you get to the schloss and the top of the mountain, by cable car. You can drive up and park too...but this way is much more exciting.

Here we are, inside the cable car, riding it up the side of the mountain. I am not sure what is up with Hannah. Lately she has been very opposed to having her picture taken. So most that we have of her she is making a face, in some weird position or a blur. What a goof ball :)

The courtyard

They used this space for lots of different things, the girls favorite was a zoo.

Another view of the courtyard

Crossing the ramparts to the library and main area of the castle

It was fun to learn that Heidelberg at one time had the greatest library in Europe. Until the Roman Empire claimed most of the scrolls and books and took them back to Rome.

Another Warming Oven (see Bamberg's post)

They can be incredibly fancy!

Matt and Hunter in the King's Hall. This room was lovely, and the stained glass was glorious.

They rent out this room for events. I think the senior prom for the American high school in Heidelberg is usually held here...wouldn't that be cool. To go to a prom in a castle.

Apparently Heidelberg boast the biggest wine cast in the world. I am not sure if that is true, but it was very large! There were stairs and a walk way and you could walk above all around it. We are not drinkers, being members of the L.D.S. church, but we were still told it was worth seeing.

As you can probably already tell. I love finding out the stories and the histories of the places we visit. I like to talk to people who work there and find out things that maybe other's don't know. Well, while in Heidelberg castle, I started talking with a security guard, and he told me this tale. It is a sad tale, but unique. Apparently the architecht of Heidelberg castle has twin boys, like me. They were about 6 or 7, and their father would bring them to work with him when he came to the castle. The boys would play and have great adventures. Sadly, one time, there was an accident. From the guards broken english, all I could make out was, there was either a fall or something fell on the boys. They both parished inside the newly constructed halls of Heidelberg Schloss. Above one of the entrance ways is this stone medallion, two angels as a memorial to the twin boys that died.

After exploring the schloss and the market platz, we found a nice Kebab house and got some pizza. We decided to eat outside, and had a lovely view of the old town church that sits in the center of the Market Platz.

Oh how I love Europe!