Jeffrey Opening Gifts

Jeffrey at Christmas

The First Vision

While reading ahead for next weeks elders quorum lesson in the new "Teachings of Joseph Smith" manual, I thought about the First Vision and wrote the following down in my notebook.

I believe that the first vision occurred just the way that Joseph Smith says that it did. The account not only makes Joseph Smith special, the way that the ancient apostles are special for what they witnessed, but it also makes us special, the same way that believing and living the teachings of the ancient apostles makes us special. Jesus told his original 12 apostles that they were blessed for seeing and hearing him, but blessed would also be they who had not seen and heard, and yet believes. On Mount Sinai, the Lord only appeared unto Moses, yet that great visitation set the house of Israel free of bondage. Only Saul was able to hear the voice and see the great light, yet millions today come closer to Jesus Christ by reading the account and teachings of the apostle Paul. I have not witnessed what took place before Joseph Smith's eyes, nor anything like unto it in drama or fact, but I can declare that I have been blessed by receiving a witness of my own that his account is true and accurate.

Getting Close to Crawling

Jeffrey is proficient at rolling over from stomach to back, and back to stomach. Just a few days ago we saw him go from a sitting position to a stomach down laying position by putting out his hands to steady and slow his fall. He is able to turn all 360 degrees to explore his surroundings and prop himself up very well. He has been seen dragging himself with his hands over a smooth surface, but he has yet to crawl. With all of these other accomplishments, it should not be long until he is independently mobile.

Our Very Merry Christmas

Jeffrey's crinkle detector was going off the charts as he sat in the middle of us as we urged him to open his boxes and bags. His favorite wrapper is the shiny cellophane. It combines the best of each attraction category: bright color, reflection, plastic feel, and crinkle sound. All of his gift clothes fit him well, and just in time since we took down several outfits downstairs to be stored away just yesterday. His several toys, fire truck, farmyard, turtle, and others kept him entertained all day long. The best part of the whole day was watching Jeffrey touch, feel, grab, pull, and explore all the new shiny things around him.

Tricia and my parents surprised me with the Red Rider gift hiding behind the tree, waiting to be presented as the last gift of the morning. I am going to shoot my eye out – with a Canon 30D dSLR camera.

Tricia and I made our traditional scrambled eggs with sour cream and half and half. Wow, those are some eggs. Last nights ham was featured as the accompanying side dish. The afternoon was spent shooting photos around the house and watching "Pirates of the Caribbean III." In the evening we called our families and talked on the webcam.

Map of our Journey

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Garmisch and Dachau

In Garmisch we stayed at the Hotel Frauendorfer, a quaint bed and breakfast full of Bavarian trinkets and tradition. Each morning we ate a typical German breakfast of a hard roll with meat and cheese, yogurt and fresh fruit. In the evening, we ordered our meal while enjoying and older gentleman play on his accordion and sang traditional songs.

The concentration camp of Dachau took up our second day. There is not very much to see of the camp left, only the footings of buildings and old photographs put on display in the museum. The bitter cold blowing through the camp made us think about how unbearable it must have been to stand in roll call for over an hour each day with no warm coats such as we were wearing.

Linderhof

The Linderhof, favorite home of King Ludwig, was the focus of this day. Although not as large as some of the castles and mansions we have seen before, this was one of the better tours. Every room of the Linderhof is exquisite and impressive.

Müchen

In müchen we parked out car below a mall and walked to the Marienplatz to visit the Christmas Market. Vendors of Christmas ornaments and decorations along with hot food filled the main plaza. Most of our day was taken up in the Residenz, the original home of the duke and dutchess of Bavaria. The enormous home has been converted into a museum to display the royal collection of jewels and valuables, and open to the public to walk through.

Rothenburg, Mid Evil Punishment Museum and the Weis Kirche

Rothenburg was our next stop, a mid evil city that has been meticulously preserved. This is the only city left in Europe with its entire protective wall and dry moat still intact. It seems that the entire city is one big Christmas snow globe ready to be shaken up. Nearly all of the shops feature Christmas gifts, ornaments and decorations. We also visited a museum featuring mid evil torture devices.

On our way to Rothenburg we stopped at the Weis Kirche, a well know church tucked away in a small farming town. While inside this incredibly decorated church it is easy to forget just how small the town in outside.

Jeffrey on Vacation

Jeffrey had a fun time as he traveled. He had to endure a lot more of the car seat than he has had to before, but whenever he was out of his seat many people stopped us to comment on how happy and giggly they found him.

Obstacle Course

I was invited to participate in an obstacle course with the Germany Army. I with the German soldiers near the NCO Acadmey where we took a three hour bus ride trip to the German base which has the obstacle course. I got to know several of the soldiers and we ended up exchanging email addresses in order to share our photos with each other.

The first obstacle was a wall climb followed by a pole slide down the other side. By the time I had climbed to the top of the wall my arms had lost their strength, which made it hard for me to have the confidence to grab onto the pole to slide down all 30 meters. I finally made it and moved onto the ladder climb, which lead to a steel rope bridge crossing and ending in a zip line slide.

The rest of the obstacles of the day tested my muscular endurance with wall climbing, rope swinging, high beam balancing and many other. During the entire course we all had harnesses for safety, which also allowed for more death defying obstacles. This is by far the best obstacle course I have ever been on.

One of my favorite obstacles of the day was the steel rope bridge over which I crossed "commando" style. One I had arrived in the middle and felt the exhaustion set in my arms a truck drove underneath me reminding me of just how high up I really was.

Christmas Card Pictures...

So you want to know how we got this?

It took lots of tries...first we had to set up the camera and a lamp to provide extra lighting.
We didn't always get the camera timing just right...Jeffrey would get distracted when Daddy had to run back and get back into place.
Sometimes he would just make a face like this...it's cute, but not quite right for a card.
Sometimes Daddy just wouldn't make it back in time at all.

In the end, we finally got it!

It took quite a few tries to get his smile just right too...in the end we had to resort to singing the donut song and pinching his leg.

Merry Christmas Everyone!

(This was before I cut my hair last week...it's much much shorter now...I need to post a picture soon.)

Instructor of the Year

While the Academy was gathered at the gym during graduation rehearsal the commandant announced the winner of the Instructor of the Year Competition. Me! Along with the title I recieved the Army Commendation Medal, several coins, a watch, a very nice carry on luggage bag, and the traveling trophy to be set on my desk for the next year. The best part of the awards is not having to be on the Staff Duty list for the next year.

Begining to Crawl

Tricia had me grab her camera just in time to record this scene of Jeffrey begining to crawl. If you watch closely you will see him put out his hands and pull himself forward. He kicks his feet a lot, but he has not yet worked out coordinated movement between arms and legs.

Goodbye Trusty Friend

I purchased a Canon PowerShot A75 in Korea on my way to Iraq where it managed to survive the sand. It then traveled with me back to Colorado and has taken great photos for me here in Germany in all weather. The view screen finally failed today as I was taking a photo of Jeffrey. I highly recommend the Canon Powershot series to anyone looking for a great point and shoot digital camera.

Fortunately, Tricia still has her PowerShot A85 so that we can continue to send everyone photos of us and our adventures.

Counting Down to Christmas

Counting down to Christmas Tricia purchased our now traditional count down calendar with chocolate eggs. This is a treat we love to eat all year long, but at Christmas the makers put together a calendar with an egg for each day. Inside each hollow egg is a small container with a toy. We have quite a large collection of toys.

Grandpa MacNeil hand knit Jeffrey a stocking almost big enough for him to fit inside.

Sergeant Morales Club Induction

Yestarday the induction ceremony for the Sergeant Morales Club was held. After several rehearsals the event unfolded in the Tower Theater on December 5 in the afternoon. Command groups from all around the area were invited to attend. SSG Snook, SFC Gathers, SFC Renick and I were presented as the latest inductees into the club. Each of us recieved an Army Commendation Medal, Sergeant Morales Club coin, Induction Certificate and the Sergeant Morales Club Medallion. The medallion is worn during formal events, such as a ball, with the Class A or dress blue uniform.

28

I turned 28 yesterday. Tricia helped me to celebrate with a delicious batch of brownies and some new clothes. She also spent her hard earned money from teaching dance class on an iPod for me.