Denmark, Day 1 & 2

Spring Break - DENMARK!!!

I'm 1/4 Danish.  I was practically born there....which is tricky, since my Mom never went there.  So really, you can see why it was important for me to go there at least once during my life. 

I let my Dad plan this trip, because he actually HAS been to Denmark before.  He served a mission for the LDS church there when he was a young lad.  So I figured we were safe in his hands, and we were.

Heading out for a 7 hr. drive (it was longer) the first day. Joe was driving and didn't make it into the picture.  Sorry Joe.

Our first night we stayed just over the border in a town called Tonder.  We used Airbnb for all of our lodgings, so it was a mod-podge of houses/apartments/cottages.  We never knew what we were going to get from night to night (well, I did, but nobody else did).  It worked out pretty good, and I would do it again.

Joe dubbed this one the "Ikea house".

It was really small, but cute as could be, and didn't feel cramped at all - good used of space.  An open kitchen/living area.

 2 small bedrooms downstairs.

 And a loft upstairs with enough beds for everybody, and then some.

 The best part was the awesome playground outside....

 ....and the view!

We woke up and drove 1/2 hour away to Aabenraa (FYI - the double A's are pronounced with an O sound).  This was one of the towns that my dad served in, and he just wanted a quick trip down memory lane.

 This was Easter Sunday, so memory lane, and all the other streets, were EMPTY!  I guess everybody was at the church :)  We heard the bells from the church, calling the people to service, and we followed the sound.

 

I was tempted to go in for the service, but I think I would have had a mutiny on my hands.  Instead, I became obsessed with the doors in the streets.

I need doors like that in my life.

Next we headed to Ringe, for an early check-in to our place for the night - Alfred's house.

 This place had character.  I would like to live in a house like this.

On the one hand, he had Legos for the kids to play with.  On the other hand, there was some highly questionable art in the bathroom that was straight in your line of sight whenever you were sitting on the toilet, but...well...let's move on, shall we?

After we checked in, we went to the nearby city of Odense.  My dad served here as well (his first area, I believe), and we even found the house he lived in.

There's a funny story behind this house.  He and his companion had to move into this house because they got kicked out of their last place.  When my dad was younger he had a false front tooth that he could flip in and out of place with his tongue.  One day he flipped it out and grinned really big for his landlady.  He thought it was funny.  She didn't.  As luck would have it, she had the exact same thing, and thought that he was making fun of her, and gave them the boot!  To funny :)

In Odense we walked through the downtown area. 

We visited the Cathedral and the gardens surrounding it, including a memorial to Hans Christian Anderson.

 

Next we tried to go to the Hans Christian Anderson house/museum, but they were about to close (4pm - why does everything close early?), so we decided to come back to that on our last day in Denmark, and we headed back to Alfred's house.  But on our way, we came upon Den Fynske Landsby - The Funen Village.  This little village allows you to see what everyday life was like in the country in the 19th century.  There were poorer farms and wealthier farms, a mill, granary, school, an inn, prison, etc.  We got there 1/2 hr. before they closed, but we thought, what the heck, let's do it!  And what happened within 2 minutes of getting there?  We lost Alex.  Grrrr.  He wandered into the theatre and somehow got himself locked in there.  Joe and I told the others to go ahead while we searched for him, and it only took a few minutes to find him (although it seemed like longer).  Then we all RAN through that village, and darn if we didn't see the whole lot of it :)

 

My dad with his nose to the grindstone.

 

We kept laughing because inside a lot of these buildings were these dummies/mannequins set up, and they kept startling us every time we came across them unexpectedly.  Plus, they could have been weeping angels (sorry if you don't get that reference).

 

We REALLY wish that we could have spent more time here!  There are a lot of demonstrations that they do.....when it's not right before closing time.  There are animals on the farms.  And everything is hands-on.  Our favorite thing was the wooden stilts we found, and I think we spent a good 10 minutes just playing around with those.

 

Finally we headed back to Alfred's house, and his naughty art, and basked in the glow of our first glorious days in Denmark :)

Second Chance at Love

My Dad got married!

Her name is Lynn, and she's pretty fabulous.  They met on LDS singles online, and they have a lot in common - for one thing, they both like music and dancing.  My dad was on the ballroom dance team at BYU back, back, back in the day, and Lynn has been taking dancing lessons, which is something she's always wanted to do.  They prepared a waltz for their wedding reception, but I don't have a video of it....yet.  My dad has been smiling ever since he met her, and I am so happy for them both :)

We weren't able to make it to the wedding, but that's okay because they decided to come to us for the honeymoon ;)  Actually, we've been planning this trip with my Dad even before he met Lynn.  When he started dating her I was Skyping with him one day and I said that if things progressed too fast with Lynn he would have to bring her to Germany with him.  He got a big smile on his face, and I could see the wheels turning in his head.  It was pretty cute ;)  Anyway, they will be here for the whole month of April, go to Denmark with us over spring break, and be here for Alex's baptism at the end of the month. Good times will be had by all.

Soufflenheim Pottery

I went with some lovely ladies/friends from church on a pottery shopping trip to Soufflenheim, France, which is about 2 hours away from here.  Soufflenheim is one of the only two remaining traditional Alsace pottery production towns in France, using clay from the local area (legend says that a 12th century potter was in the forest searching for clay when he rescued a man being attacked by a wild boar.  As luck would have it, that man was Emperor Frédéric 1st Barberousse who granted all Soufflenheim potters and all male descendants the right to source clay and wood from neighboring forests).  It is a very small town, and it is ALL about the pottery.  I'm not even sure how many pottery shops they have there, but it is a lot, and we only got to a few of them.

There were all kinds of colorfully enticing delights to choose from, and not nearly enough money to buy them all (these are a few pictures that my friend took of some of the shops we visited.

I bought a few things, including two (yes, two) butter dishes.  What?  Why wouldn't you need two butter dishes?

Then we enjoyed lunch at a little crepe shop.

The restaurant was using a lot of the pottery that we had just been browsing, and as far as I know, that's pretty typical in that region.  It felt fancy to me, because I don't have nice dishes at home - I have Corelle, because they don't break....that seems equally happy and sad....maybe a little more sad, but I'll put a winky face here anyway ;)

I ordered a Gallette (which is a crepe made with buckwheat flour) with ham, cheese, egg, mushrooms, and sautéed onions, and it was delicious and French....because I was in France.

It was my first time in France.  I approve.

After lunch we raced back home in time for our kids to come home from school.....we were an hour late.  Oops.

Another Year Older

Cora decided to turn 14 last month.  I didn't have anything to do with it.

 



 She decided to have another movie themed party because we already had all the stuff for it.  They didn't make a movie this time, though, just watched one.

Cora has a wonderful group of friends from school here.

They decorated her locker and got everyone to sign this card for her.

14 years has gone by in a blur, and I've loved every minute of having Cora in my life.  If everybody had a teenager like Cora, nobody would be scared of having a teenager.  She is such a joy.  At 14 years old, here are 14 of Cora's favorite things.

1) Favorite food - Pasta
2) Favorite dessert - Cheesecake
3) Favorite color - Navy Blue
4) Favorite movie - The Maze Runner
5) Favorite TV show - Fringe
6) Favorite song - Viva la Vida by Coldplay
7) Favorite vacation - Disneyland
8) Favorite place to live - Utah
9) Favorite school subject - Art
10) Favorite book (so far) - Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban
11) Favorite thing to do in her spare time - Bake and Draw
12) Favorite thing to wear - Hats
13) Favorite teacher - Ms. Jones (language arts)
14) Favorite sport - Running

And that's Cora.