::oktoberfest::

More fun with the Wilde family from this weekend!
Kids playing made up pool games--sometimes getting along, sometimes arguing, but always having fun.



Kris always likes to have a German Oktoberfest celebration at some point in October. There's always one happening in some little town not too far away and then we miss it.  So we have to do our own.

This was a perfect time to do it. Blake and Kris went to the same mission in Germany, so they were very excited to make some delicious german food for us.
They went shopping together in the afternoon and got all the supplies, then put it all together while Brooke and I watched (and watched the kids.)


Sandy watching the process while eating two of his favorite foods, pancakes and cheerios:

Girls also watching and entertaining themselves.

They made sauerkraut, bratwurst and knoedel with gravy.
They also bought some delicious german chocolates to finish off the meal.

It turned out delicious, albeit a trifle heavy. Some of us girls had complaining stomaches after, but don't tell the boys.

It's always fun to hear Kris and Blake remember their old mission stories. Some of them are so outrageous.  The food inspired lots of good stories.

It was a very fun night!

::so cute::

Kris says that when cold weather and winter comes out here it reminds him of when he first got to Germany at the beginning of his mission.
I think we're on a similar latitude with germany-and the weather out here is so much more like Germany than Colorado or Utah. So he's reminded of the bone numbing wet cold while tracting, street contacting and street preaching.
I hope we can go back together sometime soon.
Here's a photo that one of Kris's only converts sent us. It's Kris and his companion Elder K. The funny thing is that we ended up living really close to each other in Kansas City without having any idea, and Kris ran into him one day while having lunch by the dental school. We got to get together a few times and get to know his family. It was really fun.
He and Kris have a lot of good stories together, including the catching of at least one thief. We'll have to get him to post those sometime.

Funny picture, right?

So cute.

::six::

Today after church we had six missionaries over for dinner. No, we didn't _eat_ the missionaries for dinner, unfortunately, we fed them. They ate a lot!
For some reason our ward has six elders right now. Two portuguese speaking and four english speaking. They're total goofballs. We had a lot of fun with them.

It stressed me out a little trying to figure out what to feed them all, and once I realized that today was fast sunday and they'd be breaking their fast at our house it was even worse. But we figured it out. There wasn't a bit of food left by the time they left, but I think they may have been full.

It was Max that had the best time though. He was playing with them non stop. Tickling, being tickled, playing games, teasing, yelling wiggling. You call it, they did it.

Magic tricks--making quarters disappear (down your sleeve.)

We took some photos so I could email them out to their moms. Max made sure he was front and center.

It was really fun to have them, makes me wish we could have Murphy and his companions come so we could feed them too!
Missionaries are so cute.

::ARGENTINA?!?::

Murphy is going to Buenos Aires, Argentina on his church mission!! (For those of you that may be unfamiliar with our church missions please see the end of this post)
He leaves in June. We're so proud of him and excited for him! The best part is that I should be in Utah when he leaves. I'm so glad about that.
I don't know anything about Argentina really, and certainly nothing about Buenos Aires, so I thought I'd turn to flickr to try to get an idea for what he could expect to see. Here are a few of my favorite images, courtesy of different flickrites.
visit this photo's site for more info here. Gorgeous, isn't it?
The colors of some of the buildings are so beautiful!
This was only one of the many--to see some more vivid shots look here or here. I love it!!
The countryside looks gorgeous.

This photo's page is here.

It appears that people tend to break into spontaneous tangos in the street.
A lot.
There's loads of cool architecture such as this bridge:
Wow! And for more click here.
Well Murphy, all I can say is take your camera with you! It looks like a beautiful place.

**Our church sends willing young 19 year old men (and women who are 21) on a two year mission where they proselytize and teach. They try to find people to join the church and serve and teach existing members. They're sent all over the world. It's a wonderful program, both for the church and for the missionaries. If you have more questions don't hesitate to ask about it.

Congratulations Elder Randle!!