So much happened in 2012, that I get overwhelmed trying to remember it all. So, Jared and I thought we’d go through our photos and make a small monthly collage of our life happenings…but that proved to be even more overwhelming! How do you sum up so much in only 5 monthly photos? 2012 was by-far the most amazing year of our lives. We experienced so many new places and cultures, as well as learned and grew as individuals and as a...

Our flight out of Frankfurt, Germany was at 10pm. This allowed us to pack up, clean up our Aunt/Uncle’s apartment that they had let us use, and have a more relaxing exit to the airport. Before leaving, we wanted to ensure their apartment was spotless, as a gesture of appreciation for their generosity. We wiped down counters, vacuumed, and took out the trash, aiming to leave everything in top condition. However, with the time crunch and...

It is Thanksgiving in the US, and many Americans will be putting their thoughts of thankfulness into words over a warm festive dinner. This week we have spent about 18+ hours in airports and on planes, flying from Spain to Bangkok. It is our first time in Asia…and saying we’re excited is a bit of an understatement! This year we’re spending our holiday eating traditional American Thanksgiving foods among new friends (other traveling...

A few days before driving to Austria, we were at the dinner table and Ella (age 7) asked, “Where does salt come from?” “Hmm…good question! Want to go to a salt mine and find out?” Of course the answer was yes…and how very convenient that we already had this excursion planned! Our first day in Austria was very wet—a perfect day to be underground! We took off for the Salt Mine Tour (SalzZeitReise), eager to see what so many...

When we found out that the Ludwigsburg Palace has an annual pumpkin festival, how could we possibly resist?! The festival boasts that it is the world’s largest pumpkin festival, with 400,000 pumpkins and over 450 varieties on display. Each year they pick a theme—last year it was dinosaurs (which looked awesome), and this year it was Switzerland (kind of weird). I imagine it’s easy to build displays when your theme is dinosaurs…but...

After learning that there was a Medieval Festival in Rothenburg the day after we visited, we couldn’t help but rearrange our plans to return for the festivities! It was another beautiful day, with clear blue skies and a perfect temperature, to boot. The festival is technically called “Imperial City Days”, and started in 1974, when they celebrated the 700 year anniversary of achieving imperial status. Each year the residents organize...