Home to See Hermana Rowley!!!

Logan and I got to hop on a couple of planes to Utah to welcome Courtlyn home!! She's been in Ecuador for 18 months, serving as a missionary for the church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints. 

Twenty-four hours before our flight was scheduled to depart, I was in bed with the worst stomach pain I have ever felt. I was about to change my flight, but after lots of prayers and blessings, my food poisoning ended after lasting 10 hours. Soooo thankful we were able to keep our original itinerary. I was definitely weak & not feeling my best, but we were getting on that plane to see Hermana Rowley.

I hadn't traveled alone with Logan since he was five months old. Surprisingly, this time around was much easier. He did so well. He had his toys, books, and the TV on the chair in front of him to entertain himself. He probably spent 50% of the flight standing up on his chair looking around at everyone. 

The only downside was out of 11 hours of flight time, sweet Logan slept for 40 minutes... I don't know how he managed because I was exhausted haha. 

Plus one more short nap when we landed in SLC! We had the pleasure of sitting on the runway for just under an hour because Customs didn't open until noon and we were early. :') At least Logan was asleep... & we were in UT!!

We hadn't seen these people since July and I was so excited to hug my dad. Seeing everyone interact with Logan is always my favorite. FaceTime isn't quite the same as being face to face with your family. <3

We headed home and got all settled. That night, Logan familiarized himself with the house and we made final preparations to welcome our Hermana Rowley home.

The next day, we got back in the car and headed to the airport to pick her up!!!!!!!!!!! We had been talking about this day for so long and I can't believe it came. I missed Courtlyn so much. I could count on her to call me almost every day when she was at USU. She's one of my best friends & lots had changed since we said goodbye two summers ago.

The airport was CRAZY. There were at least 30 families there to welcome home their missionaries on a Wednesday morning. They had lanes all taped off and a certain set of doors designated for missionary arrivals.

Family and friends gathered around us and we stood on our tiptoes trying to see our missionary through the cloudy glass doors. 

Then there she was, right in front of us, speed walking into Mom's arms while we cheered and cried. <3 It's a moment and feeling I won't forget. Truly like heaven seeing and hugging her. One cousin remarked how you could feel the Spirit as soon as you saw her. She truly was the best missionary and knows the Savior so well. 

We hugged and stood in awe, not really believing she was right there!! She got to meet her very jet-lagged nephew and finally felt like a real aunt. ;)

The best, best, best day.

We ran and got some pizza at Litza's with Grandpa and Grandma before driving home. 

Driving home from SLC felt like getting off of an emotional rollercoaster. There had been so much anticipation and excitement upon Courtlyn's arrival, when we finally had her with us I crashed haha. We all may have dozed a little in the car between Crumbl cookies.

We gave her a "tour" of the house and she told us everything that was different. Got in her comfy Sunday casual best & we soaked up every minute from that point on of being together. <3

Welcome home, Courtlyn! We're sooooo proud of you. 

Sights, Sounds, & Tastes of Our Berlin Holiday Season

 Writing this from Utah (!!!) while we're here to welcome Courtlyn home from Ecuador. 

Logan & Justin's birthdays are in the middle of November. As soon as those festivities were celebrated, we put up the Christmas tree & made a list of everything Christmas we wanted to do. Bought lots of candles to light, downloaded new albums to listen to, and added some cheesy Hallmarks to our watchlist. 

We also turned on The Christ Child & Light the World videos when we had some downtime to really bring the Christmas spirit. <3

Logan was pretty happy to have a new toy to mess with full of ornaments and things he shouldn't grab!! I will say he's done surprisingly well & hasn't pulled the tree on top of himself lately. 

Made some macrame angels for our tree & gave a few away to friends. 

Since Halloween, we've been saying we need to watch Harry Potter. Well, we FINALLY did and our biennial Harry Potter movie marathon has come to a close. Man, those movies are so good. 

Christmas market season officially began on November 25, and we've been to 9 markets so far. The food is unmatched & we enjoyed looking forward to certain things we loved from last year... Specifically the potato tornado! 

The Bahnhof down the street from us has the most beautiful wreathes and lights put up!

We took a night outing to see this beautiful tree up close. It was amazing!! There was even a free concert going on in front of it. Still deciding if the singer was drunk or not... Ha!

One of our bucket list items was Walli's Christmas concert at the Berlin Dome. Some friends watched Logan while we walked along the river and past some markets to get to our concert. I love where we live!

It was our first time inside the Dome and it is beautiful. There's a huge organ on the left side of the second level. Hearing the organ solos were some of my favorite pieces of the concert. Most of the concert was in Latin & we saw a few kids from our ward also performing with the Kennedy School. I definitely felt the Christmas spirit as we sang along to some of the hymns in English and German. 

It's moments like those that I can't believe we get to live in such a beautiful place and experience a new culture with all of the amazing people who come with it.

I definitely want to go back next year!

Justin and I headed across the street to a Christmas market & snagged some Nutella churros before going home. It was the best date night!! So grateful for friends who watch Logan and make those nights possible.

We had one last outing with some friends before heading to the U.S.A! Tried a new Greek restaurant and holy cow. I'm a converted fried zucchini fan and can't wait to go back. There are THOUSANDS of restaurants in Berlin. Like 7,000. So many different cuisines and authentic dishes we've loved trying. 

We had a great Berlin holiday season & were lucky enough to be home for a couple of weeks leading up to Christmas.

Pictures From the Car Window

I still find myself sticking my arms out the car window to snap pictures of this city that we call home. The architecture, history, beauty - all of it, is something I know I'll miss one day. Just trying to be as present as possible and take it all in before we blink & find ourselves in a new place and phase of life. 

The Reichstag  

Victory Column

Markthalle Neun 

Berlin Cathedral

Altes Museum (as seen in the new Hunger Games ;)

Beautiful Spree River!

Berlin Wall Memorial

A pretty special place to become familiar with and make memories with my little family. 

Is Jesus Christ your King?

One of my current favorite pictures of the nativity. I love the light around the Savior & Mary. <3

I had my second German lesson with Marlies! We played a round of Mensch Ärgere Dich Nicht! (aka the board game Sorry!) and worked on our numbers. 

Then we learned some Christmas words and started talking about Jesus Christ. She told me she's a Protestant and asked me which church I belong to. I told her the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints. 

She asked me, "Is Jesus Christ your king?" I've thought a lot about that question this week & I'm so grateful to have the knowledge and testimony that yes, Jesus is my king. <3 

Slowing Down - Be Still

We had the best Relief Society discussion a couple of weeks ago. We studied Elder Budge's talk, Seek Him with All Your Heart. We talked about being still and how it's not about dedicating more time to scriptures and prayer, but making the time you already have more focused and centered on the Savior. 

A comment at the end really brought it all together for me. The sister mentioned how when she grew up, the only digital communication was email. 

The world was slower & waiting days for a response was normal. Life at times, can feel rushed more so than not. Pressure to respond and always be available to others seems to creep in. But the Savior never rushed. 

We discussed how when Lazarus died, the Savior waited. Martha and Mary even expressed how if the Savior had come sooner, he would not have died. Yet, God's ways are higher than ours. 

When Peter was in financial trouble, the Savior didn't rush to his aid. He didn't rush to heal the daughter of Jairus. 

It made me think about my life and how being still and not rushing around to do everything every day can help me to feel more connected to Christ. I can be "productive" by my standards and go, go, go 24/7 but I don't think that's what I need or what Heavenly Father wants for my life. 

Some of my favorite moments are when I take off my watch and put my phone in the other room. We're not meant to be connected and available to others all of the time.

So, when Logan wouldn't go down for his morning nap, we went to a part of Tiergarten I've been wanting to walk in before the seasons change for good. 

It was beautiful & perfect. I'll never get tired of the slanted sunlight and smell of leaves that autumn brings to Berlin. Logan was a little fussy during the walk and I walked fast to check this outing off my list. 

But then I noticed Logan fell asleep. 

I didn't want to risk waking him up by transferring him into his carseat. I slowed down and started to enjoy my time a little more. I took new trails & didn't care how far we wandered from the original plan. I stopped at a bench & was able to sit and read my scriptures in the peaceful surroundings of the Tiergarten. 

The whole experience was more meaningful once I slowed down. 

When I was a missionary, I loved the quote "work hard, walk fast". Now, I'm trying to walk slower. Even around my apartment! Things don't need to be done in a rush & if they don't get done, it's not the end of the world. One of my resolutions for next year is to be more still by slowing down. 

Life is good. God is good. I'm thankful for little lessons that I can hopefully learn from and be better because of. 

Gather, Gather, Gather

What a month it's been! We feel like the luckiest people to have made such special friendships and connections in our short time here. I'm so grateful for the feeling of belonging that comes from gathering. Small moments during the day, and intentional gatherings in certain places. Each help me feel more sense of family while were far away from loved ones.

I get to serve in the Relief Society, which means spending lots of time with these ladies! We met at the church & put up the Angel Tree for our ward.  

Another friend from church invited Logan and I to a Disney Christmas baby concert. It was in a part of Spandau I hadn't been to yet. The building was beautiful red brick surrounded by a moat. A pretty cool place for a concert.

Logan was in his happy place surrounded by babies and music. It was such a fun event & there are so many similar opportunities for families all over the city. Lots of people comment on how kid-friendly Berlin is. 

I loved getting to know my friend Clarissa and her daughter Olivia better. They're the sweetest family from Honduras & she was introduced to the church & baptized a couple of months ago!

Later that evening, we got to gather yet again with some of our Relief Society sisters for our Friendsgiving & Family History activity!

I love hosting & truly love the sisters in our ward. We're a diverse group who bring different perspectives, experiences, and goodness to one another. 

We talked about the importance of us recording our own personal and family history & what that can look like. These were two quotes from Elder Soares that we discussed.

I love those words. We read a story from President Eyring who had the impression that our experiences are not given to us just for ourselves. We need to record them to help others learn from them as well. Lots of ideas were shared for what recording history can look like. Journaling, blogs, writing letters to yourself, a keepsake box, video and audio messages, etc. 

One sister created an email for her baby boy and shared it with her extended family. Whenever they have an experience they want to share with Matteo, they send him an email to read when he's older. I loved that idea. How special to have messages from your family members to draw strength from throughout your life.

Everyone brought a holiday dish that's meaningful to them. It was such a fun night!! 

This next "gathering" was a miracle to me. For months, I've wanted to get to know our neighbors Ludwig and Marlies better. We brought them cookies last year and have smiled and exchanged "hellos" in our coming and goings. 

It's not the German way to be close with your neighbors and I considered the language to be a barrier. That's not an excuse though because now we're pretty good friends with them. <3 

I was going out to the post office and some other errands and happened to run into them on my way out. We walked together for about ten minutes and had the best conversation! Their English is great and I was so grateful for the interaction. We brought them cookies again that night & they invited us in to see their Christmas decorations a few days later. 

I was on cloud nine. Such a miracle & I LOVE them. Marlies sent us home with some cheesecake and we set up an appointment for her to teach me my first German lesson. 

I loved our lesson! I showed up and she had my booklet and worksheets all printed out. Thankful for high school Spanish and Portuguese for giving me a head start on knowing how to conjugate verbs. 

I learned more about her family and got to show her pictures of ours too. We have our next lesson scheduled for next week. Again, such a miracle and answer to prayer to have that friendship I've wanted for so long. 

Thanksgiving!! <3 Thanksgiving was honestly not on my radar until the day before. So much of the excitement around holidays for me comes from the anticipation and talking about it. Since Thanksgiving isn't celebrated in Germany, no one was asking or talking about their plans for Thursday! We got to celebrate with some of our best friends & Brazilian family. 

I felt so comfortable and like I was at home. Another miracle to have that type of comfort and friendship. We ate some good food and enjoyed everyone's company. 

Justin had a game that evening but the pressure of performing wasn't there due to the broken wrist. We've talked about how this time of recovery could be viewed as a really difficult time with Justin not being able to do everything he normally does around the house and with Logan. Instead, we've felt so blessed to spend so much time together and truly know we've been enabled by Christ to handle the situation. 

Lastly, we got to see these two one more time before they head back home for the holidays! Sara and Joe match our personalities so well & we're so grateful for them!! 

There's my gratitude post for the month on gathering. So grateful and so blessed. Can't believe it's December 1 tomorrow. Rabbit Rabbit!