PRAGUE!! (and other sights in the Czech Republic)

Vacation of a life time...

...is what our neighbor said when I asked if she would watch our house while we were gone for 2 weeks. We just got back from an amazing trip. We were in Europe for 2 weeks! I don't know what could be better! There are so many pictures, I don't even know where to start. SOOOO, I will do one post per country. I am going to start with Prague, that being our final destination. Brad served his mission there and I loved going back and seeing the land where he worked so hard. It is hard to say if I fell in love with Prague because it was Brad's mission and he painted that picture, or if it is really that amazing...I think it is the latter. It is by far my favorite European city; and you'll see why!!!!!!!!!!!! We flew into Paris and took the TGV train (high speed, very smooth, and very quiet) to Strasbourg where we met our friend Marketa that we met in the Bahamas. She and her husband let us stay there for the weekend and it was so fun. We then rented a car in Germany and drove down through Switzerland through the alps and it was gorgeous. We made our way to back to Germany, saw some castles, stayed in Munich and then took a train from Munich to Prague. I would do it all again, it seemed like everything was perfect. I missed home and the American conveniences but there is something so amazing about standing by a cathedral that is 500 years old. It puts things into a new perspective. I won't bore you dear blog reader with more monologue...just enjoy the pictures to come!

If you've ever wondered...

...what the Dentist does when he goes home at night, I'm here to tell you...they drill

Yes, drill. This is Brad working on his new hood for his snow hawk (if you don't know what that is wait for future posts). I came into the house and heard this and my teeth started hurting, watcher beware. I'm just glad Brad is so handy.

FYI for those patients out there, this is the drill for making dentures, not drilling on your teeth.

Happy New Year!!

My dad has an Uncle who had a sweet cabin, and is also very generous, we got to go up there for the New Year! Here are the wonderful people behind the great trip: Uncle Gerald and Aunt Linda. They are two of my favorite people. There son Tom and his family were also up there and I think Tom is just about as obsessed with snowmobiling as Brad, so I think they totally bonded.


I didn't add this to my Christ mas post but Daddy got to come home!! This is Dad, Mom and Kenny in the back of the Truck on the way to the cabin.

Brad and I by the Snake River as we were leaving. We had such a great time!! There cabin is about 45 minutes outside of Idaho Falls on your way to Jackson Hole.

It snowed, then rained and we had to get out of there with the huge Snowmobile trailer. Let's just say there were a lot of prayers answered on our way out!! But it was still very beautiful!!

4 Christmases

Nope, not a movie review, I am finally ready to post about Christmas! I know I'm a little behind. I say 4 Christmases because that is our life right now, and very unlike the movie, we love it!! Both sets of Grandparents on my side are still alive so we like to party it up with them as long as they are around! I will go through our Christmas in reverse, because that is the way the photos were loaded ;)
The big project this year, and my excuse for not blogging, was a quilt that I made for sweet baby Teags. I learned from my cute friend Ann in my ward. She is an amazing teacher, and I think it turned out well. It was a huge undertaking, and when Teagan opened her present, we all got a little emotional....oh wait, I always get emotional.
So this is Christmas #4 with my immediate family, the Morts:

Here we are at the Johnson's for Christmas number #3: we had a yummy breakfast and then snacked all day :). We shared gifts and had a Nativity! (this was also nativity #3, and I got to be in charge of all of them, probably because we don't have kids, nice punishment!)

Here is Ruthann getting caught in the act! I think most pretend to not like her snapping shots all of the time, but I know I love it and secretly everyone else loves it because every year she puts together a sweet calendar of all of the pics, and that is the gifts most looked forward to for all of us! We all get our copy and look through and laugh and enjoy it year round.

Christmas #2, at Grandma and Grandpa Mortimer's house: We have Santa come, do a Nativity, and of course, a Mortimer function without a huge amount of food wouldn't be a Mortimer function. My Grandma put this bow on my Grandpa's and said, "you are my Christmas gift!" and he wore it all night! I loved it, so cute! They are so wonderful. I feel so blessed that they have been such a huge part of my life!!

Christmas #1, at the Burton's, my Momma's Parents: This party is tightly bound with some awesome traditions. We usually start at 4:00and go until like 11:00...we started later this year because people were working, but we still partied it up! This is the awesome hat that my cousin gave me for Christmas, I think my Aunt Kazzy is still a little jealous of it ;) I love the hat! It is so cute and so warm!! Thank you so much Kaz!!

Speaking of Tradition! Yes, everyone gets to sit on Grandpa's lap, even the Grandsons-in-law. Emily's husband wasn't warned his first time, and I guess that is weird, sitting on your Grandpa's lap?? But he warned Brad so this is Brad's second year sitting on Rulon's lap!! Classic!!

Both Brad and I loved Christmas this year. We had so much fun at all of the family, friend, and church parties. I think Brad is still getting used to ALL of the family parties. We feel so blessed to have great family and friends to share this wonderful time of year with. And just remember Brad, 4 Christmases means 4 chances to get presents :)