Time Flies--3 weeks and he's gone!

This is the rest of the story about a boy named Nils and his adventures in the good 'ol USA. I have to warn you, it's a long one.

No, we didn't train him to be a terrorist. Brent took him to the shooting range in the basement of Whitehead Electric. We were amazed at how well he could hit the target

The young men from church took him rock climbing at Weber State.

Kris' family took him to a hockey game at the E Center.


Damon's family took him for the weekend while we worked at General Conference. When Damon entertains, he really entertains! They went bowling......

....paint balling......

......to The Red Iguana for dinner.....

.....and of course you can't end a weekend without a game of cards. It appears Damon might be losing.

Lily was a great sport about it all.

And of course there is always video games.

We left at 5 AM for a road trip to Bryce Canyon, Zion National Park, and ending in Saint George for the day. And they said it couldn't be done.....!

This is the cliff that Nils wanted to climb to the tip of. I know he didn't have far to go, but there was a little part that he had to jump over to continue to the top. I do hope his Mother appreciates the fact that I refused to let him go any further. The wind was blowing and if you could see the bottom of the cliff (which you can't because it is waaaay too far down) you would understand why I nixed the photo op he was hoping for.

Bryce Canyon is one of those places you can't describe with words or pictures. You just have to go there.

We arrived at Zions at about 4 in the afternoon. Most people spend about 5 days there, but we proved it can be done in 2-3 hours.

Melissa Ryther and family were kind enough to take us in for the night in Saint George. They were wonderful hosts. The next morning we were off to Las Vegas.

Don't worry, no money was lost. This was just for the picture.

What would Vegas be without the typical wedding chapel.

We stayed at New York, New York. I think the best part of the trip was when we finally found CiCi's for dinner (after a 2 hour search--the freeway exit was closed and under construction and their fabulous detours led us in circles). He likes pizza and said all the frustration was worth it.

Nil's fixed us a German dinner of potato pancakes with applesauce on top. It was yummy. The dogs wanted to try it, too.

They learned early in his stay that he was an easy mark.....

......and so did Patch and Rameses.

No one leaves the Kline home without learning to play Cardinal Mexican Train. He ended up taking a game home with him, courtesy of Kathryn and Brent.

All these basic customs for Easter--the baskets, the eggs, the candy--they do the same things in Germany.


Nils brought Halle a cute little purse with candy in it. She decided to use it for a glove.

Halle is such a hoot when she's searching for eggs. She gets so excited and wants to look in each one as she finds it. She hasn't developed that competitive edge. She hasn't been around Paulette enough yet. :)
Halle really liked the candy, but she loved the tattoos even more that the Easter Bunny brought.

Speaking of Easter Bunnies..... While we were sitting at the table enjoying our typical Easter feast of ham and funeral potatoes at Kris' house, I asked Nils what the traditional Easter meal is in Germany. His reply? Well, let's just say that if you ever wondered where the Easter Bunny went when he was done delivering the baskets and hiding the last egg, wonder no more.

Smile Todd! Ah, come on, please?

The farewell party for the group of German students was held at the Classic Skating Rink. Nils didn't last long on the skating floor, but he very much enjoyed the laser tag.

Nils left for home early on April 17th. We miss him and hope that someday he will come back and perhaps even bring his family to visit. This was truly a wonderful experience!