In Loving Memory of Chrysanthemum aka Chrys

Our little Chrysanthemum passed away earlier this spring. We miss our Chrys and just wanted to put up a little reminder of how cute she was!
Chrys was one of a kind! We are very happy that my parents got to know her so well before she passed away. My mom was actually hand-feeding her and holding her!!! I don't know if Chrys fully understood just how much that meant, but I think she may have had a bit of an idea. She aways did better at my parents' house. Chrys was much loved and is missed!

House Evolution

The photo on the top was taken on May 26, 2007 and the photo on the bottom was taken on July 27, 2008. Ulli has been hard at work in the yard. I have to admit that I spend a fraction of the time out working in the yard that Ulli spends. Literally, I spend maybe a tenth of the time working outside that Ulli does! It's just too damn hot!
In addition to the rain gutters and the new roof the house now has insulation in the roof. We got rid of the nasty spider bushes (that's what I call them--'cause there were a bunch of spiders living in them)! My parents came up and spent a few days cutting down bushes and trees, chipping wood, weeding, and tilling some of the backyard. I actually helped those days. Grandma Yamashita came and helped in the yard too. Recently we've been lucky to have good neighbors who have helped out with some tree branches. They also helped look after the house while we were in Germany. The house did not burn down!
Just thought I'd add some entries that might be of interest to people we don't see very often.... More about our trip in Germany will come in the next few weeks--before school starts again!

Squeak's New Haircut

This is Squeak's BEFORE picture... This photo was taken before we left for Germany this summer.

And this is Squeak's AFTER picture... This photo was taken after we returned from our four and half week trip to Germany this summer. She looks like she lost about "fifty pounds" (according to some)!

Germany 2008

We finally made it back to Germany this summer. It's been three years since our last trip. It was good to see family and friends again.
We also had a(nother) ceremony. We are officially "married" in Germany now. Of course, here in Utah our vows are completely meaningless... Anyway, it was a small gathering--just our immediate families. Becky, Kevin, and my parents flew out for the ceremony. It was my mom's first trip to Europe! Our families were all together for the first time. Nicki and Martin were in Utah in May of 2007 for our other ceremony, so they already knew most of my family--except for Kevin. Everybody seemed to get along just fine.
The first week of the trip was spent taking care of business for the ceremony. Then my parents flew in and then Becky and Kevin came by train. We had the ceremony and then the next day we had a bbq with some friends. It was good to see people and fun to just hang out.
We tried to teach American football to Karin and some of our guests at the bbq. It was a little bit confusing at first...but it seemed to go well in the end. We got a pretty good work out and had a lot of fun! The "field" was a little bit small, but it worked out.
After a few days of hanging out in Thalingburen and Heide in northern Germany, Ulli and I joined my parents and Becky and Kevin on a trip to southern Germany. We visited the concentration camp Dachau, the castles Hohenschwangau and Neuschwanstein, and spent some time in Munich. It was quite the adventure!
After a few days of traveling with my family, Ulli and I began our Oma-tour. We visited Ulli's three grandmas and one grandpa. We ate a ton of food and sat a lot. You have to eat a good breakfast, then a big lunch, coffee with cake in the afternoon, then dinner with dessert, and before you go to bed you have to have some snacks to munch on while you visit. I gained about ten pounds, but it wasn't just because of the time spent with the grandmas--I also ate a lot of Schoko Bons...
We spent the last week or so visiting other friends and going through Ulli's things she had stored at her mom's house. We ended up bringing back three 50 pound suit cases and one 35 pounder. There are still two boxes of things that need to be brought to the states, but Ulli's family will bring that stuff with them when they come visit us next summer.
It was a good trip, but it's strange being away from YOUR house. We worried about the cat too. We only lost one fish here at the house and Squeak is fine. My fish at school...well, that's something for a totally different entry!