Bonn Relief Society Activity~

Our January theme for Relief Society

was to encourage goal setting.

We had inspirational talks and videos by

Annette, the R.S. President

and her counselor Nicole.

We also played some fun games to

emphasize goal setting is not a race

with anyone else, it's an individual pursuit.

We reminded the sisters they might get

sidetracked or things might hinder their

progress, but to not give up!

Its easy to get sidetracked...

And goals take one step at a time to accomplish!

Now, go set some goals-and reach them!!

Our New Addition~

SOME BIG CHANGES ARE ON

THE HORIZON!!!

This is the Engstrom Family

as you have known it the past 16 years!

Jim, Coreen, Bryce, Chandra, Kent, Cody

We happily welcome.....

Tyler Hedman into our family!

Tyler and Chandra attend BYU-Provo together.

Wedding takes place on April 30, 2010

~Denver, Temple~

Tyler's "vitals" :-)

From Ridgecrest, CA; 2nd oldest of six,

4 brothers, 1 sister-the youngest!

Loves dirt biking. Great sense of humor.

Blue eyes, like Chandra!

Majoring in Exercise Science, Pre-Med.

Graduating BYU April 2011.

Cologne, Germany~

This was our third visit to the

Cologne Cathedral.

We were excited to have our kids

see it with us this time!

The "Cologne Cathedral" is the taller one.

A few extra facts:

It's beginnings were in 1248 and it was

completed in 1880, seven centuries later!

It is Germany's largest cathedral,

and one of the worlds as well.

It was hit 14 times by WW2 aerial bombs.

This cathedral stands 516 feet high

at its tallest spire.

Can you see our little group right in front?

We climbed to the top again.

This time is was snowing.

On our way back from Cologne

we stopped in Bonn.

We walked around Bonn's main shopping

areas taking a picture of a popular building.

Beethoven was born in this house

on December 16, 1770.

Welcoming in 2010~

It was a great New Year's Eve!

We ate, watched recorded football games,

ate, read, talked, ate some more, had

another round of "Settlers of Catan"

and threw in a couple games

of "Clue" that Tyler gave us.

Kent and Bryce camping out in

front of the "TV" to watch some football.

When the New Year arrived we were

all set to countdown on our computer.

But our countdown was drowned out by

a barrage of fireworks!!!

We ran upstairs to the back deck and

were entertained and surrounded by

the ENTIRE NEIGHBORHOOD shooting off

fireworks in every direction we looked!!

It was a guy's "dream come true" of the perfect

firework display that could ever be set off!

After 20 minutes we went out into the

smoke filled street and walked around

to see all the fun close up.

The shows lasted for a good 30 minutes.

The video below, that Kent taped, was toward

the tail end of the fun. It does no justice

to the previous 30 minutes of total firework chaos.

It was AWESOME!!!

Prague, CZ Second Day~

We had a great day visiting the sights in Prague

despite the extra cold temps that followed us

wherever we traveled!

We began our sightseeing at the Prague Castle.

This is a beautiful manger scene made of straw.

Okay, so Bryce wasn't so impressed.

One view of the Prague Castle.

There's Bryce leap froggin' through

the square....

...and climbing the walls near Golden Lane.

Kent following big brother up the wall...

I thought of my friend Kris as I looked over

the city of Prague.

She loved to view the red roofs of the city.

A magestic door entrance to the castle.

Well, this is the story.

My feet were not warm enough in

the shoes I was wearing. So Bryce

and Kent took my shoes and

hoofed it back to the van to get

my boots there. So I stood waiting

in the courtyard of the castle with

Jim's wool mittens on my feet.

Chandra had a good laugh and

I got even more looks my way when

Jim picked me up to take me to a

spot I could sit at.

I was quite a spectacle.

Thanks Bryce and Kent!!!

Kent, Jim, Bryce on the Charles Bridge.

You can barely make out the tip of

St. Nicholas church just poking out

behind Malostranska' vez one

of the Charles bridge's towers.

There are 30 Baroque Statues placed

on the Charles Bridge.

St. John of Nepomuk is the most

popular statue. He was a Czeck martyr

saint thrown from Charles Bridge

into the Vltava River below.

St. John's plaque on the statue is

shined up from the many hands

rubbing it clean over the centuries.

The thought is if you touch the plaque

you have good luck and promised a

return trip to Prague....

looks like it worked for us.

We took "this" picture 10 years ago.

Of course we are a few years older

and growing in size!

Beautiful buildings on Old Town Square.

While walking across Charles Bridge at night

we stopped to listen to one of many

muscians and entertainers on the bridge.

Prague Castle lit up at night.

The water wheel scene off of Charles Bridge.

We have an original painting of this scene

depicted during the day.

~The Prague Castle~

Simon and Henry Gordon-Smith came to their

Prague apartment where we were staying and

we spent our last evening playing.....

You guessed it "Settlers of Catan."

We woke up the next morning and played

it again before heading out the door for

lunch and seeing the movie "Avatar."

Prague had a beautiful new movie theatre

we would have enjoyed while living here.

After that it was back on the road to Bonn,

arriving home at 3am!