German "Diederich" Tradition

In Germany, there's a first-day-of-school tradition called a "Schultute" or School Cone. Everyone in my family calls it a "Sugar Tuta" since it is filled with candy and sweets. The cone is a giant cardboard cone filled with back-to-school supplies, candies, and other small goodies. This gift, much like an academic Christmas stocking, makes the first day of school extra special. The tradition dates back to the early 1800's in Germany and our family still celebrates it today, only now for those entering Kindergarten.

Logan was eagerly anticipating this special day with Grandma Diederich. His cousin Callie is also starting Kindergarten this year, so they got to go to Kiddie Kandids and have thier portraits taken in the traditional German costumes, the liederhosens and durndel dress. Here is a picture of a typical German school class receiving their school cones. I wish I could have posted the picture of me with my sugar tuta when I was 5 years old. It is now in the basement of our Bear Lake condo. Such great memories.....

Newport Beach/Balboa Island

On the last day of our vacation, we decided to spend it at the beach again. We started out at Laguna Beach, but didn't last very long after we were completely wiped out by a huge wave. Everything soaked!!!! The lifeguard came by and told us that this particular stretch of beach would be completely gone in about an hour so we took off. We then went back to Newport and took the ferry to Balboa. We had a great time playing in the surf and the kids collected many shells and sand dollars.

Here we are saying good-bye to our wonderful hotel, the Embassy Suites Anaheim Garden Grove. Addie loved the roaring lion in the lobby and Logan had a blast with the turtles and koi fish.

L.A. and Santa Monica

We sure crammed a lot in to our Sunday. We wanted to fit in eveything since we figured the traffic might be a bit less. We were wrong, the traffic never lets up apparently in LA. We spent a ton of time in the rental car, and the kids actually did pretty well, that is without a TV in the car. We started out at the La Brea Tar Pits, which is a natural history museum with dinosaur bones and real tar still spitting up from the ground right in the middle of LA.

We then headed over to see the LA Temple. It has been since I was a little girl that I saw this temple. I was in awe over how huge the building was. I'm so used to seeing these smaller temples they are building now. It is closed for renovation now. The location is ideal for many people to see this beautiful edifice as they drive by.

We then ended the day in Santa Monica and the pier. I've seen this place many times on TV and in movies. But it is much more stunning in person. For a Sunday, the place was packed, I guess that's when the locals come visit.

California Surf...

We just returned from a wonderful vacation to Southern California. The Sprouse family met up with us and we headed to the beautiful Newport Beach. We had great weather and the waves were the biggest they've been in 20 years, so we heard. The U.S. Open surfing competition was being held that same weekend, so you can imagine how crowded the beaches were. Of course we had to stop at our favorite burger joint everytime we visit Cali. In-n-Out Burger, we love you!!!!

Logan had a blast running away from the waves. He's such a great swimmer, but in the ocean he only got his toes wet. Go figure!!!!

Addie with Aunt Lori. They were such lifesavers and helped out with the kids so much. So glad they came with us.

Just love this bright, clear picture of Logan with the colorful umbrellas in the background. Thanks Jeremy for taking such great photos.

Jeff really enjoyed himself out there body boarding with all the local teenagers. He sometimes forgets that he's now a 41 year old. Oh well, he had a great time.

Logan decided he wanted to be buried in the sand. And along came Addie and thought it would be so funny to throw some dirt in his face. He sat so still with that sand all over his face.