Thanksgiving in Prague!

Yes, I said Prague. When I would tell people that we were going to Prague for Thanksgiving they would get a weird look on their face and say "Whats in Prague?". Well, let me tell you - alot! Just to name a few things... there is a castle, a huge cathedral, a cool old bridge, a river, lots of history, architecture of all styles, main square, a famous clock and much more! We had so much fun! Everyone should take a trip to Prague. I'm posting alot of pictures, if you want to know about all we did and saw go to my sisters blog, she did a really good post about our trip.

What? Nothing.

When we got back to the hotel the first evening after a short city tour they had a full Thanksgiving dinner ready for us! Nice.

Our second day in Prague.

Our first Diet Cokes of the trip. I don't what they put in it but it is SO much better in other countries! I love it!

The Powder Tower

I have a slight, ok full-blown, obsession with silver rings and especially amber. There were shops like these all over Prague. I was in heaven! Poor Hanny had to stop and look in everyone until I found the one I wanted (and a few times after). Lucky for Justin I forgot my credit card.

The famous astronomical clock of Prague. It has quite a history behind it.

The clock tower and main square.
They had a Christmas market going on in the square with all kinds of shops and traditional treats. One of our favorites was called Trdelnik. It was sweet bread twisted around a wooden stick, roasted over the fire and then rolled in sugar. SO good! We enjoyed those more than once.

They had the coolest doors!

The main square with the clock (on the left).

Some times you just gotta sit... :)

We went up to see the castle and St. Vitus cathedral. It was beautiful!

Inside the cathedral.

I jump for castles.

Hanny actually put her finger on the Royal Guards bayonet. It was real. Ouch.

The view from the top. These pictures don't do it justice!

The stairs to the castle.

The John Lennon wall.
Our third day we went for a walk along the river to the Charles bridge. It was so pretty!

Along the river with the Opera house in the background.

On the Charles bridge with its 31 statues.

The most famous is St John of Nepomuk. He was thrown off the bridge and killed for not telling the King what the Queen said in confession. If you rub the statue it is supposed to bring you luck. I was feeling pretty lucky already!

On the brige with one of the bridge towers behind me. I enjoyed all the artists and performers set up along the bridge.

The street behind me leads up to the castle.

Just as we were leaving they turned the lights on the castle and cathedral. It was so beautiful!

This was Hanny after 2 1/2 days of straight walking. We found a little ledge to rest on and warm up. I wish I knew how many miles we logged...it was alot! She perked right up though after we found her another CUTE bag to buy! Until...

We got stuck in this mess. They were having the tree lighting ceremony in the square that night and apparently everyone in Prague shows up for it. It was crazy! This was right before they lit the tree (on the right, which was really pretty). It took us about 45 minutes to make it from one side of the square to the other.

If you want the story on this picture you have to go to my sisters blog. Everyones got their issues. Thats all I'm gonna say.

It was a short trip but we packed alot into it and had a great time! Thanks again to Joey for letting us go and Justin for spending another Thanksgiving on his own so I could travel. You are the best!

The Dwipee

My sister in law Katie created this super cute and handy invention- "The Dwipee", but I think credit for the awesome name goes to Donovan. Anyways, if you know anyone having a baby or has a baby they need one of these! It would make a great baby shower gift or Christmas gift and she has some left over from a boutique she just did, so get them now before they are gone! Check out kurlgirlcreations.blogspot.com for all the info.

Happy Birthday Justin!!

I've noticed that on birthdays/anniversaries most people write a big long list on why they love their husbands but I decided I didn't want to make you all jealous so I will just say my husband is way better than yours in every way. It's true.

Since his birthday was on Sunday this year we went out Saturday night to dinner and one of our favorite activities...goofy golfing. There are some high stake bets (of course) and lots of fun. Justin was pretty determined to win this time since he's never been able to beat me. He did win 2 free dish nights of his choice on a couple of the holes but the game ended in a tie. So we decided we both won. Good times.

Our hole in ones...we're good.

Payback

Growing up my sister Alisa's best friend was Kristi. They loved to hate me, the pesky little sister. They would create exclusive clubs (complete with tape laminated club cards) and promise me entrance only if I would be their slave for as long as they wanted. As soon as they had to let me in, they would make me a card and then suddenly decide they weren't in the Pink Pearl club anymore and would start a new, even more exclusive club. One day I said they would be sorry for how they treated me...that day is today. Alisa and Kristi were New Kids on the Block fanatics. They went to all the concerts, knew all the words, dance moves, had all the pictures. When I found out about the New Kids reunion tour I asked Hanny if she would want to go with me just for fun. She said no she couldn't, she would be in school and didn't know what would be going on and that she'd probably be too busy. Alright fine. Then a couple weeks later she says "Guess what?! I am going to the New Kids concert with Kristi!!" Yep. So this is for you Hanny and Kristi, I hope you had fun at the concert tonight!

Alisa before one of the New Kids concert. Awesome backwards suspenders!!

Alisa and Kristi

Don't hate me, you know you love me! These pictures may be funny now, but you two were the coolest girls ever!

Family Pictures

So my family has never had the best of luck when it comes to family pictures. There was the blush incident, the kneeling in dresses incident, countless color mishaps (dark shirts + black background = floating heads), and most recently the grapefruit incident. Although the grapefruit holder cannot really be blamed for that one. We gave up trying for a decent family picture for years but it seems like that could all be behind us thanks to my awesome brother! Here are some of my favorites that he took last month. Thanks BK!!

Although it was outside in August all the kids behaved pretty well under the threat of no Chucky Cheese after if they didn't smile and hold still for the pictures. Although some of the adults probably would have been as disappointed as the kids if we didn't go. We have some addictive personalities in my family. We joke that if we didn't have the church half of us would be alcoholics spending our whole paychecks at the casino. Instead we try and find some less damaging pastimes to get our fix in. One of these is the "Wheel of Fortune" game. It is so addicting! We all gather around the game (too bad if anyone else wants to play while we are there) and pretty much make a scene. This year Gage and Drey joined in with us (looks like the gene has been passed on) and Drey set a record I'm pretty sure will never be broken- three Wheels of Fortune...in a ROW! Good times.