Chicago Connection

(Look to the right and click on snapfish link for our photos.)

Danny writing again:

First of all, I would like to welcome new viewers to Andrea’s blog! Thanks for taking a look into our life. Your comments are appreciated and greatly enjoyed by my sweet wife.

As I have been accused of not supporting the blog, I thought that I would contribute during the slower parts of my classes.

Andrea and Connor went into Prague to the National Museum yesterday and had a good time. Apparently, they have a huge collection of taxidermy (that’s real animals stuffed like in the Bean Museum). I asked Connor how the museum was and he said, “It was great! There were lots of kids there and they had teachers with them!” I think the poor kid is ready to be back in school, what do you think? His other report was that they had lots of different kinds of pheasants, which was also very important. Andrea said that the most impressive part of the wasn’t necessarily what was inside, but the building itself. But then again, she isn’t a big fan of pheasants!

Here is a little info on the Museum:
“It was not until the end of the century that a truly distinguished and appropriate home for the museum collections was constructed at the upper end of Wenceslas Square. Following the design of prominent Czech neo-rennaisance architect Josef Schulz, the new museum was built on the foundation of the Czech parliament from 1885 - 1891 at a cost of approximately two million gold crowns. The beautiful palace became the dominant structure on Wenceslas Square and one of the largest and prominent buildings in Prague. The idea of the building exceeded the mere purposes of the museum: the palace became a representational symbol of the climax of the Czech national revival, a celebrated monument to Czech science and culture. That is why the Pantheon was designed as the focal point of the building, a secular cathedral glorifying the celebrated epochs and figures from Czech history, crowned and accented by the massive central cupola reaching a height of nearly 70 meters.”

We just got home from a fun weekend in Cesky Krumlov. It’s on the southern border of the Czech Republic, about 3 hours from Prague. There is a beautiful castle there and the town was quite quaint. The weekend was a field trip that was paid for by Thunderbird so that made it even better. Danny stayed in the room and kept to the books most of the time while the girls (other wives) and I window shopped and dreamed about the day we could do “real shopping.”

We had a tour guide on the bus (Petr) and Connor thought that it was a pretty cool gig. On the way there Connor asked us if he could sing a song in the microphone to all the students and Danny told him, “maybe on the way back” thinking he would forget. So on the way back Connor took it upon himself to go ask the tour guide if he could sing a song in the microphone. Not wanting to say no to the American kid, and probably not knowing what to do he handed the microphone over. Next thing I know from the back of the bus I hear “ I wish upon a star” belted out over the speakers. I don’t know where this kid gets it from…. his mom the actress, or Danny the one always wanting a crowd!

It was great to have time to just hang out with everyone for the weekend. We are with the best group of students over here and that makes this Prague experience so much fun. All of the students are great to Connor. He is the only kid here and everyone is so nice to him. It’s like he has dozens of Aunts and Uncles. We now have really close friends from all over the world and thats incredible!

The Marriott has become a symbol of home for us. We smile and say “Marriott” whenever we see one. I don’t know why a hotel makes us feel so at ease, but it does.

Maybe it’s because it reminds us of Utah, or maybe it’s because I know books of Mormon are stacked in every night stand. Maybe it’s because Bill Marriott was the founder, or maybe it’s just because it’s an American company. Maybe it’s because you can be almost anywhere in the world and find a Marriott and know that inside everyone will speak English and be nice to you, even though you are an American.

When Danny’s wallet was stolen in Prague we could not find anywhere to go, (or anyone to assist in English) so where did we go…the Prague Marriott. We were not even guests there, but of course they were so kind to help us out, let us use their phones and business center for free.

A few times after coming home from a play group Connor and I missed the night train leaving Prague. We would have had to sit in the train station for an hour at dark; instead we walked across the street and each had a $7 cup of hot chocolate at the Prague Marriott. Believe me, sitting in their nice lobby with English TV was well worth the money rather than Connor and I waiting at the station at night.

Now don’t get me wrong….you all know I am all about expanding my horizons and trying out other four/five star hotels j/k…. Seriously, I do like to get to know the local culture of a place and really the Marriott is not the best way to go. However it is a good break when you have been craving a comfortable bed (that part I am dreaming of now) and a good selection of overpriced American food.

I just got the following in an email from my sister Camille:

I passed the CPA Exam!! Hooray! I can’t tell you what relief this is for me.
No more studying for me for a good 10 years at least!

I am in the process of filling out my paperwork for licensure and then it
will be official. I must say I am very pleased with the help I received from
your prayers and from Heavenly Father. I could really feel your prayers.

I am so proud of her. She has worked so hard at this, and deserves a big fat cruise with a midnight chocolate buffet every night. Can I go? All the nights of studying, having no fun and just plain having to be an accountant have finally paid off! I remember Camille going crazy with these 72 hour cases at BYU. The teachers would assign these insane projects and no one would sleep while they worked these beasts out.

I remember Owen being the most supportive husband. He was pre-med, getting his business degree, working, doing the cooking, the cleaning, and literally WAKING HIS WIFE UP WITH BREAKFAST! (I always remind Danny of the breakfast one)!

Camille was studying all the time, telling us all “I’m going to fail, no really this time I really am!” Then she would always end up with an “A” and drive us all nuts.
After she graduated with her Masters in tax she moved to New York to work for Price Waterhouse Coopers. Camy entered the 80++ hour work week. I remember her comments when she first started: “They tell me they sleep at the office during tax season!!! I won’t do it.” Then during tax season one time on the phone she told me, “I slept here last night, and I’m waiting for a driver. I’m going home to take a shower and then I have to be back in a few hours. Uggg!! “- Price Waterhouse Coopers. Enough said about that one.

Camy moved on to her current job and life got a whole lot better and sleep started to increase significantly.
She started studying for the CPA exam and sleep again declined. Now that Camy is official a real CPA not only can she start making the big bucks, she can start getting some long deserved zzzzzzz’s. Priceless!!

Camille and Owen- Take a cruise! You both deserve it!

Here is a quote that remind me of Camy:

If it’s to be, it’s up to me! - Anonymous

Way to go Cam! I love you.

Hello all! This is Danny posting for Andrea, so it might not be as cute and creative!

This weekend we rented a car with two friends and drove over to Frankfurt, Germany. I don’t think I have ever been as impressed with a country! The drive was about four hours long and we stayed in a hotel on the North side of the ciy. Our hotel was actually connected to a neat mall and I have to say that is was nice to be in a Toys-R-Us again. Pretty much everybody that we came in contact with was very friendly and spoke English. Connor and I went to a very large, three-story grocery store Saturday morning and almost didn’t leave the pastry bar.

Andrea, Connor and I drove out to Heidelberg that afternoon and it might be my new favorite city. We fell in love with the town and wished we could have spent more time there. The castle was incredible and we had a nice walk in the pedestrian area in the middle of the town. (This was one of Devin’s old areas and it was cool to be where he was.)

Driving on the “autobon” was sweet—-I have never been going so fast and had other cars blur by! On Sunday Connor and I drove around Frankfurt and then we all went to Church at the Frankfurt International Ward. This was another place Devin had served, so I took lots of pictures there as well. After Church we visited the Frankfurt Temple.

As far as the food goes, Devin gave us a good recommendation on the Doner Kababs. It is meat carved into a flat bread and is wonderful. I had one (ok, two) each day we were there along with some tasty bratworst. We made it back safe and sound, but now it is time to hit the books!

To view the pictures of the trip, go to snapfish.com and log in with the name family@heidtech.com and password family.

Tschuss!

Connor’s 5th Birthday

Dad wanted to write down some of the things that are important to Connor at age 5!

Favorite Color: Blue

Favorite Toy: His Leapster (Learning toy computer)

Friends right now: Prague: Emma, Julianna, Anna, Elle, Christov

Others: Cassie (Utah), Ethan (Thunderbird), Kaden, Mason and Kyson.

Favorite Movie: Polar Express (Watches in several times per week!)

Favorite Song: Come Thou Font (Mom used to sing it to him before bed.)

Favorite foods: Tuna, Macaroni and Cheese, Cappy Drinks (Fruit Juice in a little bottle; several flavors to choose from), Chocolate

Interests: Space ships, astronauts, rockets

A few words he knows in Czech: Ahoy, dequeí, dobre den, plac (train)

Favorite thing to do with Dad: Tussling and catch with new Velcro ball.

Favorite thing to do with Mom: Snuggle

Favorite Cartoon Character: Diego

Connor had a great birthday party at McDonalds. We had so much fun!

You don’t realize how much you depend on entertainment for your child until it’s gone. When they have no backyard, other kids to play with, tv, or videos to watch, you are the entertainment. The good thing is Connor’s imagination has really grown. He has come up with all kinds of great games like a drumset made out of a pot lid, fed ex box and a waste basket, and used chopsticks for drumsticks. He has made up magnet games, and is currently making plans to sell cookies to students.

That being said, it has been really difficult for me to get anything done on the computer. As soon as I get on-line he wants to play. He can not give me an hour to get any work done at all. Enter “My Father the Hero.” I was just telling my mom my problems and mentioned how great it would be if my Dad could part with his brand new mini-DVD player for a while, so his grandson could watch movies while I could work on our taxes, try to make some money, and get to blogging! My parents sent the DVD player over with our friends parents who are living in Orem. So thanks Dad; I can’t tell you how bad we have needed this. Here is a photo of Connor watching Polar Express and Danny and Connor watching a movie together.

Today was a great day, well at least for Connor and I. Danny is in the middle of midterms and finals for his block classes, so he spent the day studying. Connor and I went into Prague with some friends (Heidi and Julie) and picked up two cakes for Danny. Everyone got together to play basketball tonight and blow off a little steam and then after we all had cake and ice cream to celebrate.

I ordered the cakes from a shop called Prahna bakeshop and they were delicious. One was German chocolate and the other was an apple pie torte. Yum. The students were happy; it was a good break from studies, and a good time was had by all.

Danny got a new wallet for his birthday present today.

Some of his friends posted messages for him on the school message board so I thought I would copy and paste them over.

A little man wandering the halls told me it was his Dad’s birthday today! Happy Birthday Danny! -Justin Brown

Feliz Cumpleanos!!! - Oscar Quinonez

HAPPY BIRTHDAY Danny!! Deborah

¥Í¤é§Ö¼Ö! - (Happy Birthday)- Chun-Hao (Andrew) Lin

Všechno nejlepši- Have a happy Birthday! -Michelle

Happy Birthday………
Sergio sent me a check and he wanted me to take you out to dinner on his dime………………but the check bounced.
Guess you’re out of luck…….have a good one anyway.
Gregg

Part of being a T-Bird…
Birthday wishes in several languages!
I love it! Thanks guys.
Danny