Germany 2015 - Day 3

Friday was Wedding Day!! The whole reason we flew over to Germany was for Kevin's sister Lenette's wedding to her fiance Christian. The legal ceremony was at the courthouse by the apartment in the morning, so we just walked over. It was all in German of course, but I am so grateful we got to be a part of it.

After the ceremony we walked to a nearby park to eat lunch and take pictures. The area was beautiful. 

Once again, my pictures are lacking. I wish I had taken a picture of the beautiful lunch spread one of Chris's sisters put together for all of  us. Europeans do lunch so much better than we do!

After pictures we headed over to the ceremony/reception venue. We had drinks and mingled while we waited for the ceremony to start.

The ceremony spot was simple and beautiful. There was a violinist and the gentleman performing the ceremony spoke in German and English so we could understand what was going on. Unfortunately the only picture I got was a poor quality image of Lenette walking down the aisle with her Dad. 

Following the ceremony we greeted the couple again and then moved into the reception portion of the evening. There were great drinks, delicious food and AMAZING desserts! The cake was not only beautiful, but seriously delicious. Lots of chocolate! Germans eat the wedding cake before dinner, which is something I think Americans should pick up on. After some delicious food there was a band, more dessert, some inspiring speeches and lots and lots of dancing. We all managed to stay til 1 am, which was pretty good considering we were all still a little jet-lagged. Sorry again for my lack of good pictures; especially of everyone else who was with us. I got too caught up in the moment and forgot. Also, I forgot how to take pictures of people other than my girls. Haha.

What a special day to be a part of!

Germany 2015 - Day 2

On Thursday, we woke up fairly early, ate some delicious rolls (brotchen) from a bakery down the street and took the train into Nuremberg. There we walked around the St Lorenz Church, which was just stunning. It is a medieval church that was destroyed during WWII and then rebuilt.

The pictures don't really do it justice. After touring the church we walked around Nuremberg and did some shopping. I found an H&M, of course (though I didn't buy anything) and we spent way too much at the Kathe Wohlfahrt - the world famous Christmas market in Nuremberg. I wish I had gotten a picture. We didn't end up buying a Nativity here because they were around $100 and that was way out of our budget. 

Below are more pictures of our venture around the city. I can't remember what everything was, haha!

We eventually made our way to the Nuremberg Castle, which was really a fortress. We walked along the fortress walls and the view was gorgeous. 

After the castle we stopped by the Albrecht Durer Haus. We didn't do the tour, but we learned a little bit about him. 

We ended our adventures in Nuremberg with some gelato. This combo was erdbeere (strawberry) and bitter schokolade (dark chocolate). Beyond delicious!

Poor Kevin was so tired on the way back to the apartment.

This was a building we walked by and I just loved. 

Thursday evening we had dinner at an Italian restaurant near the apartment with everyone from Kevin's family that flew over. I should have gotten a picture of the whole group, or at least of the food, but here is a picture of Kevin and me!

To be continued . . . 

Germany 2015 - Day 1

Now that it's been more than a month since we went to Germany, I guess I should finally write about it! There will be a lot of pictures, so feel free to scroll past some if you get sick of them!

Day One

Kevin and I flew out of Salt Lake City on Tuesday, June 23 and arrived in Frankfurt on the morning of the 24th. It was a long flight with pretty much no sleep. Luckily Delta had plenty of free in-flight movies. And since we don't ever get out to see movies, there were a ton we hadn't seen.

We dropped our luggage of at a storage center and waited for Kevin's brother Mike and his wife Amy to arrive so we would take the train into the city.

We only had about an hour by the time we were able to meet up, so we didn't do much in Frankfurt. We walked down some very sketchy streets to the "grazing street"  where there were tons of different food vendors. We bought a bratwurst to share and it was delicious!

We also happened upon the Opera House.

It was time to head back to the airport to meet up with our brother-in-law Scott O way to soon. Some friendly Americans saw we looked lost, so they kindly showed us how to get back to the airport. It was fun getting to know them and to be able to speak English!

Once back at the airport we picked up a rental car with Scott O and made the long drive down to Furth (near Nuremberg) where we were staying. It should have been a 2 hour drive, but with traffic it was at least 3.  We met up with the rest of Kevin's family in the apartment we had rented for the week and ordered pizza. 

This is the street as we stepped out of the apartment. I just love how European it looks!

Check out the street sign! 

We walked around Furth after dinner to check everything out and enjoy the quaint little town. 

I just have to talk about the apartment for a minute because it was so perfect for our needs. It was within walking distance of everything we needed and it was really nice for the price. Here are some pics. 

I have no idea how I managed to stay up the entire day, but it certainly helped to fight the jet-lag. I just kept saying to myself "I can't believe I'm here!" Having never been to Europe I didn't really know what to expect, but I quickly fell in love! 

Day Two coming soon!

2015 Races

The past year I have been working really hard to get in shape and running has been the easiest way to do that. I don't love running, but I figured I would sign up for a few races so I had something to work toward.

The first race was the Thanksgiving Point Tulip Run at the end of April. My goal was to get around 32 minutes and I managed to run it in about 29 mins and 30 secs. It felt hard, but I was so glad I was able to run the whole thing faster than planned.

My second race was the Utah Valley 10K in June. If you would have told me at the beginning of the year I was going to be able run an entire 10k this year I would have laughed in your face. I really needed something to push me though, so I thought I would give it a try. I am so glad I did! 

During the entire race the thought that kept going through my mind was "I can't believe I paid money to do this. I really hate running. But I paid to do this, so I am going to run the whole thing." Haha. The course is an easier one, meaning there is a gradual down hill (still some up hill though) so I ran way faster than I thought I would. I came in at 58 minutes. Slow compared to most, but I was pretty proud of how far I have come. 

My third and final race of the year was the Layton Fun Run 5k on the 4th of July. We do this one every year and my goal was to get faster than my first run in April. I beat it by about a minute. It was great running with my brother Brandon and Aunt Judy.  Also excited that this was the first year I beat both of them! haha.

Kevin and the girls did the 5k walk. They had a blast.