Packing it all in....

Oh my goodness! We have been doing so much lately it feels a little overwhelming to blog about. So here are some glimpses into what we have been up to. The time has gone so fast and I can hardly believe that I will be home in a little over a week. We have been so grateful for the many many awesome experiences we have been enjoying!


The vineyards are all blooming right now so our little village looks gorgeous! Our pictures don't quite do it justice. We have been wishing we could have Camille Garrison just come and take our pictures for us haha!

It is so fun to ride our bikes on the many trails around our house. I am trying to enjoy it all before I have to come home.

This is my new friend forever Esther. I just love her! She is the sweetest, most fun girl ever. I want to be just like her. She also speaks perfect English because she served a mission in the states. I just wish I could bring her home with me.

This is the Muller family. They are such a neat family and we love spending time with them. They have been so gracious to invite us over a few times.

Esther and her brother Micah. Both of them are so great! He speaks great English as well because he served a mission in England. So you can see one reason why I personally love hanging out with them.

This is me on an elderly field trip if you couldn't already tell that I am the only one without the need of a walker haha. The cute lady right next to me is Christa. She is Esther's grandma and since I have some extra time on my hands she likes to invite me to do things with her. So this was quite the adventure! I laugh every time I look at this picture.

We finally made it to the beautiful Frankfurt Temple. I was really grateful that we made this trip. I also realized how grateful I am to have so many temples so close in Utah. I definitely need to take more advantage of this great blessing.

While in Frankfurt, we also got to spend the day with one of Brock's favorite mission companions- Elder Dong. It was so much fun! This is the companion that I thank for teaching Brock how to make yummy Chinese food. We had a blast at this Chinese restaurant where you cook your own food on the grill in the middle.

I completed my German class with flying colors. I definitely understand so much more which has been nice during the moments that Brock talks and talks...and talks to people in German. So I can usually follow the conversation, but not participate as much. I can say a lot as well, I just get a little nervous to say much. As you can see, I was able to meet a lot of cool people from all over the world. Their are six more classes they all have to take to get jobs. So I only got the first introductory course.

We had so much fun in Hamburg hanging out with this awesome couple. This is Steve and Babett. Brock baptized Steve right before he came home and then Steve baptized his wife six months later. It is a really awesome story and they are still doing so great! They are such a neat couple. Babett is also an amazing clothes designer and she specializes in wedding dresses.

Hamburg is known as one of the most beautiful cities in Germany.

On the docks in Hamburg.

After our time in Hamburg we rode a train the the beatiful city of Luebeck. Brock spent seven months of his mission in this city so we had a lot people and places to see. We got to stay with the nicest ward members. I was so grateful that I could meet all the people that Brock had grown so close to throughout his two years.

I absolutely loved Luebeck! It is so gorgeous. Their are many buildings that didn't get ruined in the war and they are so neat.

This is the old hospital.

This is the devil outside the cathedral... can't really explain why I'm kissing him. Don't take it to seriously :)

We got a great tour of the city from the Lutter family. We were so grateful for their kindess while we stayed with them. This is their daughter Sarina and her husband Michael.

We came on the perfect weekend of the big ward party. So Brock got to see all of the ward members he loves!

We had lots of fun playing dominoes with the Lutters. I was proud of myself because even though I don't speak German I still beat everyone by a long shot- dominoes just happens to be one of my families favorite games.

We enjoyed a delicious BBQ with the Lutters and other ward members. Brock said it was cool because it was just like the BBQ they had put on for him before he left that area. We had such a fun weekend and we were sad to say goodbye to all the people we got to spend time with. It has been so neat to see how the church truly is the same all over the world and the members are just as loving and generous.

For your entertainment...

Brock has been making a video of our Europe trip using all of our fun pictures and videos! Here is a little taste of one of them. By the way this is Brock who wrote this and Arrienne had Brock write it as if she were writing it. Brock likes talking in the third person...

London in a Day

This past weekend we enjoyed a weekend trip in London which was really only one day. We left early Saturday morning, spent the day in London, and went back home Sunday morning. It was a very fun adventure and we packed it as full as we possible could. So here is how our day in London went.

We left our village at the bright hour of 5:00 a.m. so that we could make the bus into the city. Then we took a train to an airport, flew on a very cheap flight, and rode a bus into London. It all sounds like a hassle...which it was! But it was definitely worth it!

First stop was of course Buckingham Palace.

We had to make time to taunt the famous gaurds. I really think that job would stink because there are always crowds of people around them just laughing, taking pictures, and doing whatever they can to get them to move.

The mainstreet down from the Palace.

Our next stop was The National Gallery. This was filled with such amazing art. We saw so many beautiful paintings by Van Gogh, Monet, Degat, and even from Leonardo Davinci.

How could we not go to London and get a shot in one of the red phone booths right!

We stopped for a moment of silence for Michael Jackson by the "Thriller" theatre. This picture is for my BFF Lindsey Scano because of the many many hilarious, crazy, and fun memories we share because of MJ songs and music videos haha.

I am not usually a fish eater, but you can't say you've been to London without eating "fish and chips" there and I must say it was delicious!

Quick stop at The Tower of London which is very cool inside, but since I have already been inside we skipped that part. We were on a bit of a time crunch to get it all in.

A lovely picture moment at The London Bridge.

"Big Ben" tower at The Palace of Westminster

We ended our fabulous day by seeing the show "We Will Rock You." It is a musical based on the music by "Queen." It was so awesome! This was definitely the big highlight of our trip. The best part of the whole show was at the end when they finally sang "Bohemian Rhapsody." The whole crowd went absolutely crazy.

London is such a fun (and expensive!) city. Also keep in mind that we left out pictures of the hours of walking, and rides on the Metro we did! We were so glad we went even though it was only one day.

An Assortment of fun...

Mercedes-Benz

Brock and I went to the Mercedes-Benz museum last Saturday. It is in Stuttgart and it was so awesome. It is probably one of the coolest museums I have ever been to. The museum has displays of world history along with the cars to give you a good idea of where all the cars and inventions fit into history.

Here is Brock with the first cars ever made.

These exhibits were awesome!

Wish you had one of these huh...

We toured the museums with some great audio devices that gave us the downlow on just about everything. You would just point them at the object you wanted to learn about to hear something.

There was so much to see in the museum. We spent over three hours there. So next time your in Stuttgart, this is one place we recommend

Europa Park

This last Monday we headed to the great theme park of Germany called "Europa Park." It is like their own Lagoon/DisneyLand. It was a really fun park with a lot of awesome rides. As you can see, I was very excited to get there!

This is Timo and Christina. She works with Brock as another intern at Bosch. We were happy that they came with us. They are both from Germany, but speak great English.

The rollercoasters were so awesome here! This is the largest drop on a rollercoaster that I have ever been on. Brock was trying to pull out the camera when we were at the top of the drop to try and get a good pic and I was freaking out and telling him to put the camera away!! Geez, as if I wasn't nervous enough already :)

I Love My Mom

My mom is currently on a Europe tour with my aunt, cousin, and a big group of others. It is the same trip that she and I took four years ago together. So on Tuesday I got a call that they would be in Munich that evening. I had totally forgot that my mom would be in Germany that day. I wasn't sure if I would get to see her because it is about three hours away to get there. I am also not to confident about traveling alone. But of course since I have such a wonderful husband he made it all happen! We found a carpool online to get us there at night. Brock got me to the hotel where my mom was and then had to turn right back around and go home with another carpool since he had to work the next morning. I was so excited to see my mom! We had so much fun together. Isn't she just so gorgeous! I always hope I look as good as my mom when I get older.

I tagged along with their tour group and we visited the Dachau Concentration camp. It is a very sobering experience to see it first hand. This is the memorial statue that they have there.

Here is my Aunt Cindy, me, my mom, and my cousin Jody. It was so fun to be with them. My mom and and aunt are quite funny when they are together so there were lots of laughs going on.

We also visited the BMW museum in Munich. So I really got my fair share of cars after being to two museums.

This is what my dad would have been doing if he were with us. So my mom was doing some great demonstrations for us on how the engines work (even though she has no idea)... it was quite hilarious and pretty much sounded like what my dad would say!

I was proud of myself because I had to lead the way home for my family after the museum since the whole tour group didn't go there. I was a little nervous because Brock usually just takes care of that, but with a little direction and a little of my German we made it back!

We had a great dinner after a great day of shopping, laughing, and sightseeing. It was so fun to meet up with my mom four years later on the same trip in the same places we had gone together. It was funny to think that four years ago I was in Europe wondering what would happen with Brock and I because he had just left on his mission. Now we are married and living here! So I guess all my day dreams came true from that trip.

I stayed with my mom for two nights and then their group was off on their next adventure. I was sad to say goodbye. Brock had everything set up easily for me so that I made my way home on the train without any problems.