A Berlin Easter Sunday + Birthday

In London, I got a cute birthday banner to use on our birthdays! Everyone needs a birthday banner, right? I whipped mine out a couple of days before March 31, and found out our banner said "Happy Birday" instead of "Happy Birthday". :') 

So sad, two of the letters weren't put into the packaging... I improvised and now we have a Happy Bday banner. 

On March 22, we got to meet up with some of our best Memphis friends at our favorite donut shop! Sean & Kennedy moved to Italy around the same time we got to Germany. Last year, Justin and Sean were teammates for the Hustle and Evie was only a little baby!! Can't believe how fast time goes and that we're both in Europe. I love, love them. We need to plan a trip to Varese ASAP.

Smiley boy!! Logan is seriously the happiest baby (unless it's time to eat). Ha! He will smile for anyone but it gets extra big when Dad is around. He looooves his dad. <3

Our cute, favorite Brazilian family changed wards and we won't get to see them quite as often anymore. Limhi is on his mission in Portugal right now! So grateful for the joy and friendship each of them brought into our lives - including their amazing mother!!

I've bought these every week since Whitney introduced them to me. Mmmmmmm. I love them. Except for yesterday, Justin talked me out of buying them... Because I asked him to... Because I have a goal to not eat candy for one week! Then I'll be back on it haha.

I won't ever get tired of saying it, I love where we live! Cozy, safe, and feels like home. All of the buds and leaves were starting to peek through. Now it's beautiful & green & I couldn't be happier!

BYU sends interns to Berlin each semester and we got to meet Maddy & Hunter a few months ago! Love them so much and can't believe how fast the last three months went! 

Maddy introduced me to "date bark" *chef's kiss* and it is my new favorite snack!! 

Such a nice, good couple & it was so fun having a friend my age here to do things with.

Baby boy got his second round of vaccinations at the pediatrician.

I love cooking and baking. I especially love when our meals have lots of color. This one is a new favorite recipe. The seasonings on the chicken are incredibly yummy. 

I got to accompany a friend for Easter Sunday. Sophia and Logan were pretty interested in helping play the piano while we practiced the song. 

It truly started to feel like spring the end of March. We began having consistent sunny days and the temperature continued creeping higher and higher. Logan and I went for a walk a few streets over from our apartment. 

There are endless side streets and cobblestone roads. I had never walked this route before and it was beautiful. Cute colored buildings and flowers!

Then March 31 arrived. Easter Sunday and 24 years old! The Church has placed an emphasis on Holy Week in the last few years. I loved remembering the Savior's last week before his Atonement, Crucifiction, and Resurrection. It was a sacred week full of studying, remembering, watching favorite videos, and music.

Justin had an afternoon game which couldn't have worked out better. We got to go to church as a family and Justin listened to me play the organ and a musical number. Grateful for the extra help with Logan too!

Classic rushing to church elevator picture, featuring the glaze for my carrot cake!

Some friends invited us over afterwards for a birthday lunch + Easter gathering. I felt so, so loved. Birthday plates were set out, a balloon tied to my chair, and lots of people we love around us. 

This was also the only picture we got of Logan in his cute Easter outfit before his diaper leaked through. :') 

I know that Jesus Christ lives. That He willingly came to Earth and give Himself as a sacrifice for us. Because of Him, death is not the end. We will all be resurrected and live with our families forever, if we choose to keep the commandments and love God. 

Because of Him, we can repent, ask for forgiveness, and change. We can become better and more like our Savior. 

Because of Him, I don't have to worry and fear. I can look unto Him, trusting that it really will work out in the end. 

I know the Gospel of Jesus Christ leads the way to eternal happiness and joy. I see it every day in my own life. I'm so grateful Jesus Christ & these two boys who mean the world to me. It was a happy Easter. 

It was also Daylight Savings (we're a few weeks behind the U.S.) which means more daylight! Logan found his new perfect bedtime of 7:30. He's been sleeping 10 hours straight (hallelujah!!). Kissed our little Easter bunny goodnight and ended the night with some card games. <3

Two Days in London

After Whitney texted me about visiting us in Berlin, she asked if I would want to go to London with her for a few days after. I was still pregnant with Logan and had no idea what traveling with a baby would look like. 

A few years earlier, I had seen a post on social media about a mom going on hikes with her babies because she loved hiking. She didn't let having a baby stop her from doing what she enjoyed. I've tried to keep that in my mind with Logan. 

I knew that I wanted to travel while we live in Europe but it's hard with Justin's current schedule! He only gets 3-4 days off per month and when he travels, it's hardly ideal to coordinate everything and go with him. 

I jumped at the opportunity to be in London with Whitney! We did it and it was awesome (& hard & tiring, yet possible thanks to sooo many nice and patient people).

We landed and took the tube to our flat! Do I sound British??

After some complications with Logan's pack-n-play, the hosts brought it over at 11 PM. We woke up, ready to see what the city had to offer.

Tower of London!! Dates back to 1066. Wowowow. Lots of history there and we got to see the Crown Jewels of the royal family. They were insanely beautiful and did not look real.

Our two days in London were the last days I carried Logan in his baby carrier. He weighed almost 20 lbs. in that picture and my back couldn't take any more weight haha. He was an angel baby and slept/handled our crazy schedule so well.

These are the Beefeaters of the Tower of London. There are about 30 that live inside the tower with their families to protect everything within the walls. It seems so medieval to me that that's their life, but it's an honor for them to serve their country in that way. 

London Bridge! This was probably the highlight of the trip for me. It was so fun walking across the bridge in the crazy wind. Everything felt so surreal. Being in LONDON, with Whitney & Logan, walking on this beautiful bridge, watching red double decker buses pass us by. 

Spontaneous moments like those are some of my favorites.

Borough Market was also a pretty big highlight. I wish sooo badly Justin could've been there in that moment. He is one of the biggest foodies ever and would've had the best day of his life there. Tens of hundreds of booths with authentic food, treats, and snacks. 

This bridge was in one of the Harry Potter movies. I feel like I need to rewatch them all after visiting. :') #HPForever

Favorite picture from the trip, hands down. Sweetest angel boy. Still so proud of him for being such a happy traveler. 

Iconic haha

We stayed on the sixth floor of our flat. No elevator!! Got our workout in each night hiking up the narrow stairwells. 

On day two we popped out of the tube and walked out to this beauty. It was so big and right there in our faces. I turned to Whitney and said, "That's Big Ben right?" She responded, "I'm not sure... It has to be though right?"

We were just so close to it, it was hard to get oriented haha. It indeed was Big Ben.

Westminster Abbey

iSpy the London Eye!

Highlight of day two was walking through this beautiful park!! It was hardly spring time when we visited, but the green grass and blossoms got me sooo excited. I love nature and seasons changing. I can only imagine how green and pretty it is right now!

Buckingham Palace. Also surreal to see this place I've heard and read so much about. We went for the changing of the guard and KING CHARLES drove past during it. I didn't see him inside, but I saw the car! Basically counts as seeing him right?? 

Whitney's friend from school is currently living in London while her husband works there. Emma showed us around and brought us to the yummiest fish and chips restaurant. Mmmmmm

The last thing on our list to do was see Platform 9 3/4 from Harry Potter. It was such a maze through the tunnels to get to it and when we finally did, it was kind of a let down hahaha. Everything had been roped off and you had to pay to get a picture in the exact spot! 

Smart for marketing purposes. Sad for those who are too cheap to pay (us).

So we snapped this picture and moved on. I should've brought Natalie's wand she got at Harry Potter World!

It was the perfect amount of time to see a new place. We checked off everything we wanted to do and loved being together. 

We used our Oyster cards for the last time and I got off a couple of stops before Whitney for my airport terminal. She headed back to SLC, and Logan and I boarded for Berlin. What a crazy adventure!! I was definitely traveled out. I think Logan was too. We were so excited to be back in Germany with Justin & are perfectly content to stay here until the season's over. 

Logan got back to his routine pretty quick and hasn't missed a beat since being home. Thanks, London! Maybe we'll be back one day.