A Day in the Life

I have been in Poland for business for the past two weeks and I had the opportunity to go to the Auschwitz concentration camp on Saturday. It was a neat experience, similar to Andrea and my visit to Dachau earlier in the year. Auschwitz, however, was focused more on the terror and pain of the holocaust as opposed to our tour at Dachau. The sheer magnitude of the events evokes emotion from anyone but as I walked around the grounds I couldn’t help but wonder what terrible things those walls and buildings had seen. I took hundreds of photos and tried to take some which showed the importance of the memorial while maintaining the dignity the site deserves. I wanted to share some of those photos with you here. I edited these photos in a nostalgic style because I felt they more accurately conveyed the deeper meanings and historical context behind the photos. I hope you enjoy these photos and they encourage you to learn more about these events. Please click on the photos to view a larger version for a more dramatic effect.

When the liberators arrived at the camp they found numerous evidences of the terror inflicted at these camps one of which was massive reserves of Giftgas, which translated from German means poison gas. This gas was Zyklon B, the poison gas used to take the lives of countless individuals.

This suitcase just one of the hundreds on display, belonged to Gertrude Neubauer, an orphan child. These bags were packed but never opened by those who packed them.

Auschwitz I was the original camp, serving as the administrative center for the whole complex. The site for the camp—16 one-story buildings—had earlier served as Polish army artillery barracks.

Each building was identified by a block number. Block 10 was the site of horrific medical experimentation.

Surrounding the camp were miles of barbed wire fences which at the time the camp was active were electrified. I couldn’t help but think of what each barb on that fence had been through.

This building processed each new arrival to the camp.

We also visited Auschwitz II-Birkenau, which was built in October 1941. This facility dwarfed the original Auschwitz. It was massive and although very little is left, the sheer magnitude of the facility is powerful.

This gate was the entrance to the camp. Through this gate passed countless trains jammed full of prisoners, where upon arrival were inspected, sorted, and if determined not fit for work, placed in a line leading to the gas chambers.

The facilities were primitive and too few for the prisoners in the camp.

Unlike Auschwitz I, Auschwitz II – Birkenau did not have brick barracks for the prisoners. They were crammed into these wooden barracks not suited for the rigors of the Polish countryside.

My trip to Auschwitz was emotional and gave me a greater appreciation for the events of the past. Seeing Auschwitz is an event never to be forgotten.

It is crazy to think we are halfway through our trip. In case you have missed us, here is a link to some pictures of our travels so far: Europe 2010 on Photoshop.com

We will give you more information when we get home about all of our travels but we are killing time while our clothes are in the wash. Hilton Garden Inn, thank you for having a washer and dryer so we do not have to use the sink.

Sorry our writing is so weird, we are using a foreign keyboard, and there is no apostrophe. And no °at° sign, and apparently no quotes…

Not much has happened the last couple of weeks, but the blog needs an update, so here we are. Adelyn turned 11 months on October 5th, and weighed in at 17 lbs 2 oz. She is so close to walking, and it is so cute! She walks all over the house holding onto our fingers, or pushing her train, and she LOVES it. She does this funny laugh, where her face gets all scrunched up and smiley and she breathes really heavy through her nose. I’ll have to post a video of that.

Zac went on his 2nd to last business trip of the year, so we are excited about that! He was in Chicago, and next week he’ll be in Newark, NJ. After that, he’s homefree for the rest of the year! I wanted to come with him and spend a few days in NYC, but it was too last minute and I wasn’t sure how comfortable I’d be, traveling from Newark to NYC everyday, alone, and with a baby. Maybe next time.

I’m still teaching piano and voice lessons, and really enjoying it! I also love spending time with Adelyn and watching her learn new things every day. She is such a talker! She can say “Addie”, “Daddy”, “Mommy”, “Bottle” (sounds more like “body”), “Baby”, “Wow”, and “Hi”. And she still gives those slobbery kisses. She actually kissed a boy yesterday at church. Isn’t that where it always starts?! Good thing we like him and his parents:)

Here are some pictures of our little angel:

Andrea and I spent the weekend in Oklahoma City at the Red Man Triathlon. Since December my Dad has been a workout machine. He exercises a few hours a day and has since lost a lot of weight. He is in great shape but wanted some additional motivation to keep going. He signed up for the Half Aqua Bike event at the Red Man Triathlon. The Half Aqua Bike consists of a 1.1 mile swim in a lake followed by a 56 mile bike race. This was his first triathlon event and we are so proud of him for working so hard and accomplishing something so difficult.

The day started out rainy and cold. The race was delayed about an hour because some of the bike race roads were under water. Dangerous for road bikes… We didn’t prepare for cold rainy weather but we did our best. Notice the baby in a trash bag poncho / blanket in every photo. We were trying to keep her lips from turning blue. It rained all day and it turned the whole park into a red mud pit. Needless to say we were wet, tired, and covered in red mud at the end of the day.

Even though the weather was poor my Dad had a great race. He took second place in his age group and was 15th overall in his event. Not too bad for a “Big Guy” (that is what every one called him as he passed, “Good Job Big Guy!”) and for his first triathlon type event. Congratulations Dad, and thanks for inviting us. Now we just need to get training for the next one! Maybe I will join you.

Hello from Oahu, Hawaii! We have taken some time tonight to update you on our trip to Hawaii so far. It will be too big of a task to do the whole trip in one post, so I’m breaking it up. Plus it will add to the suspense for all of you.

Day One: The flights (yes, we had a connection in Salt Lake City) went great! We got the bulkhead on both flights, so Adelyn had some space to roam around and play on the floor. BIG lifesaver. Considering she only slept 30-40 minutes at a time, 3 times that day. We were traveling for almost 9 hours, so it was nice to have the extra space. We even got to watch a couple movies, she was so good on the flights. When we got to Hawaii, we picked up our car and headed to the Dole Plantation. Because Zac is working Monday through Friday, we wanted to cram in everything that he wanted to do on the weekends. So as exhausted as we all were, we headed 20 minutes out of town to learn about how pineapples grow, and taste the yummy pineapple ice cream that we had heard so much about. We took the Pineapple Express train around the plantation, and Adelyn stayed awake for all of this! She thinks she is such a big girl!

After the Plantation, it was back to the hotel and off to bed. Adelyn went to bed about 6pm, and slept until 6am! So much for adapting to a 5 hour time difference. Once again, we are counting our blessings for this!

Day Two: We visited a local ward and went to church, then took a long drive up to Laie. We drove around BYU-H (we both so wish we had gone there for a semester or term), went to the temple visitor’s center, and drove up to the North Shore to try and find some surfers to watch. We didn’t spend much time up there, because traffic was crazy, and we really didn’t see any surfers, so back down to Honolulu we go. Oh, and we met Mark Eubanks on the temple grounds. He was the chief meteorologist in Salt Lake City, who had the white jacket that he wore on the broadcasts that called for snow. He now runs the visitors center with his wife. We wanted to get his autograph, but thought that was maybe a little inappropriate on the temple grounds. Back in Honolulu, we went to the Waikiki Aquarium. Wouldn’t you think that an aquarium right on the ocean would have the most awesome exhibits? We thought so too. Not so much.

Day Three: We all got up early and went to the beach! It was a nice, cool morning, and we walked about 10 minutes to the beach in front of the big Hilton Hawaiian Village (it’s not a hotel, it’s a village. Seriously, there are like 9 huge buildings in this place). These are Adelyn’s reactions to the beach:

Okay, so she doesn’t like the beach. Yet. Hopefully this will change. After Zac had to go to work, my aunt picked me up and we went up to Laie, where she and her kids are staying for the week (crazy that they just happened to be here this week too!) and we hung out on the beach up there for the afternoon. Zac came up after work and we had dinner from the Shrimp Shack (which I’d heard or read was so great, but I thought it was just okay). It was so fun to have Aunt Karen and her kids to hang out with for the day. I was afraid of being bored while Zac was at work this week, but we have found stuff to do!

Day Four: Okay, this is taking forever, because the internet connection at the hotel is SO SLOW, so I’m gonna do the rest of this in bullet format.

• Ala Moana Shopping Center in the morning with Adelyn. HUGE mall, where we sampled some See’s Candy and some Honolulu Cookie Company cookies. Both were delish.
• Iolani Palace: Would have been better if I could have seen the whole thing. Children under 5 are not allowed in the upper rooms (ballrooms, bedrooms, meeting rooms) of the palace, but I at least got to see the basement galleries and an informational 15 minute video. This is the only royal palace on American soil!!
• Ono’s Hawaiian food – we got this recommendation from a coworker of Zac’s. It was pretty good, but I guess I’m not the hugest fan of authentic Hawaiian cuisine, because I didn’t love it.
• Leonard’s. Malasadas. Wow. Please visit this place if you are in Honolulu in the near future. Malasadas are Portuguese donuts, and they are SUPER good. This was my favorite treat so far. We got a custard filled, coconut filled, chocolate filled, and plain cinnamon. Custard was the best.

Day Five:

• Lunch with Joy and Cassidy at unnamed Korean BBQ place: food was actually pretty darn good. I even tried a piece of kim chi. Joy said to eat it with some rice and chicken, and it wasn’t bad at all. Joy was my freshman roommate at BYU, and is from Honolulu. She and her husband are here for an internship this summer. I’m so glad she took me out today!
• Diamondhead Hike with Joy: It was a hot day, but we made it to the top without too much pain, and even carrying Adelyn! Thanks Ashley, the ergo was a serious lifesaver! I owe you one. The view from the top was so pretty. You pretty much get a 360 degree view of the whole corner of the island. Beaches, mountains, tall high-rise hotels, neighborhoods, etc. It was beautiful.
• Wailua’s Shave Ice: Joy recommended this place, and I liked it a lot. I’m not a huge shaved ice person, but this was shaved so finely that it didn’t feel like chomping on flavored ice, like it normally does to me.
• Aloha Tower Marketplace with Zac after work: I was expecting lots of fun shops and restaurants. It is right on the harbor and has a little tower you can take an elevator up 10 stories and look around. The view was great, but the shops left much to be desired. There really wasn’t much there.

Well, that’s it for now. We’ll see you for days 6-10 when we get home!