A Piano Trio

Here are my three oldest at their piano recital on Saturday, June 4th. I love that they can all play.

Royal Wedding

A very English spread:
We enjoyed homemade crumpets with butter and choice of strawberry or peach preserves, yummy maple pecan scones, and apple-cinnamon herbal tea. All served on china with linens---too fun!

I took the opportunity on April 29, 2011 to again watch a royal wedding with my mother, Bonnie. As recorded below in my journal from 1981 on July 29th I wrote:

"Mom woke me up at 3:15 (yes that was am---no DVR back then!) to watch the royal wedding of Prince Charles and Lady Diana (I spelled it Dinana). We didn't turn the t.v. off tell (I meant until) 11:00 in the morning."

This time I invited my mom up to sleep in the guest room and at 5am we began watching our DVR recorded coverage of the wedding.

It was a girls only party at first shared with my daughters Madelyn and Alyssa and a neighbor friend, Alyssa G. (Nothing like commenting on hats and dresses, while sipping apple tea in the early morning hours with your mom and daughters to make a fun memory!) As my other kids woke up they joined the fun. By the time William and Kate kissed on the balcony my whole crew was enjoying the pomp and circumstance of it all. By 9am the school kids were all off and we began our day.

Joshua Is Getting Baptized

Here is my stunningly handsome son in his new suit. Proud Mom moment, yes. He is preparing to be baptized this Saturday. We took these pictures of him at the Mount Timpanogos Temple.


I am so thankful to be a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. I know that when we are baptized we are following the example of our Savior. When we are baptized we are making a covenant with our Heavenly Father to keep his commandments and remember Christ. In turn Heavenly Father promises that the Holy Ghost can be with us. Though young, an eight year old child knows right and wrong and can choose to follow Christ. When I read this scripture (verses 7-11) http://scriptures.lds.org/mosiah/18 to Josh about the commitments that come along with baptism, he was so excited and so willing. His firm "yes" to the questions I posed to him touched my heart.

Recent Happenings

Madelyn is loving percussion in the junior high band. She is the highest rank in beginning percussion and even farther along than some of the students in advanced percussion. Here is a picture of her at the marimba on the elementary school tour. The band instructor had anyone in the audience who knew a band member to go stand by them---Maddie was surrounded by elementary student friends and siblings.I am a wolf den leader and Josh is one of our newest cubs! I got to place his neckerchief on him at his first pack meeting. I am so thankful I have this opportunity to serve and be with my boy.

I am a new aunt again. This is me holding little Curtis Ryan. I love, love these little ones who arrive to experience mortality. There is nothing so sweet. Congrats Colby and Jamie.

Mike earned his black belt in Jujitsu! This event really needs a complete post to itself for all the hard work over the past eight years that Mike has put in. I am so pleased he accomplished this goal. He will continue to train and learn more in this martial art form.

Josh on his 8th birthday. He asked me to make a red velvet cake. Yum. Can't believe he has reached this milestone.

In the Irish Spirit

For lack of enough St. Patrick's Day decorations to spread throughout the house, I made this page and framed it for the mantel downstairs. Cost: free with all my supplies and frame. I did purchase a few cute wooden shamrocks for a shelf upstairs this year. A little here and a little there each year helps to build the holiday collection.

Last night the kids were busy building a leprechaun trap---surely it would work this year! They were so excited. A leprechaun did come and he sprinkled green glitter all around and even left a box of Lucky Charms cereal (which Joshua ate as an after school snack)---but that sneaky leprechaun was not caught! He tricked us again.

A green breakfast this morning to start the day: Green scrambled eggs and ham, green cake batter pancakes, kiwi lime smoothies.

Two of my lucky, little green leprechauns that I hung out with today.

Baking Pillsbury Shamrock cookies with Josie. The kids love these easy cookies as a snack for special days of the year. Hope you had the luck of the Irish smilin' on you today!

Playtime at Our House

Sweet Chelsea at 7 months old. Love her, love her, love her!

Together in Bern---Swiss Day 6

We were together today---yea! We had breakfast together and then left Lausanne by train for Bern. The day we went to the temple, we were not able to explore the old city. So, we chose to do that today.

It was really nice walking the streets and going at a slower pace. We saw lots of churches, towers and fountains in the old part of the city. Because it was Saturday they also had the outdoor market in one of the squares. I love those markets. The only thing that kills me is that I do not have a kitchen here to bring the food home to and enjoy cooking it. So here are a few pics from our day.

Mike on Marktgasse (Market Street.)

This is the Zytglogge. It is the central clock tower in Bern, it is hundreds of years old.

Interior and exterior of the Munster church (tallest spire in Switzerland.)

I enjoyed these street waffles in Geneva, and Mike got to try them with me today---so yummy!

We also found chocolate sold by the slab (as big or small as you like) like we did in Luzern last trip. So many different types to choose from! I tried some with pink peppercorns and it was good. What isn't good surrounded in swiss chocolate? We have several pounds of chocolates that we are bringing chocolate home.

We made it safely to the Zurich airport and hotel connected to it. There is also a mall shopping area in the airport. I had potatoes and sausage for dinner there from SwissWurst.

Home tomorrow!!!!!

Geneva for Me---And the last meeting for Mike, Day 5

Mike was up and off again early. Then I had a nice breakfast (dark chocolate cocoa, included. Oh and some good birchermuesli---look it up:) My first task of the day was to buy batteries for the camera. I found a shop in the train station and for the first time this trip the lady behind the counter really couldn't understand what I needed. Eventually we communicated and I got my pack of 4 AA batteries (for 8.60 francs mind you.) Which is pretty much equivalent to $9. Switzerland is expensive! The funny thing is, I had commented before the trip that the only time we met someone in Luzern four years ago that didn't speak English was when we had to buy batteries! Go figure. I really need to learn how to say battery in many languages---or remember to take my old ones out and show them what I need.

Okay, I went to Geneva by train today. It was great. I saw the Jet d'Eau (a water fountain that shoots 113 gallons of water every second, 460 feet in the air at 125 miles/hour.) It is set in the lake. It really is pretty cool. It is the symbol of Geneva.

Then I walked to part of the old town, listened to musicians in the square, bought fresh raspberries for lunch, and tried some paves de Geneve---chocolate squares that melt in your mouth. I saw a few old churches, too.

Next I traveled to the Red Cross Museum. This was very interesting to me, being a nurse and all. I learned a lot more about the organization.

Finally I went to the United Nations. Had to go thru metal detectors, show my passport, get a temporary photo I.D. badge, wear a neon orange visitor lanyard around my neck, and of course stay with my guided tour group---despite the security it was really neat to be there. Actually I got to keep the I.D. badge and its a great souvenir. Our tour guide was really funny and likable. I learned a lot about the U.N. also. Overall it was a great day.

Meeting for Mike, Castle and Museum for Me-Day 4

I had a really amazing time at the Chateau de Chillon, an intact and restored castle on a rock island along the lake about 40 minutes from here. It was incredible! The kids would've loved this. Parts of it are 800 years old! It took over two hours to walk through the courtyards, rooms and halls. I have never experienced something like it before. Wished Mike could've enjoyed it with me. I took about 100 pics of the place so he could "see" it also.

I also went to the Olympic Museum immediately after returning from the Chateau. The museum was great. I learned so much more about the games. Above are pictures of all of the torches from the modern games and also the medals. The museum displayed ancient things from Greece and modern things like Michael Phelps' signed swim pants, etc. It was really intriguing.

Mike's meeting today went well. I met the men he was in meetings with at a dinner tonight. I was the only "madame" at the table. We ate at the Chalet Suisse which is in a wooded area up the hillside in Lausanne. We had salad, cured meats, bread, raclette cheese (flame melted cheese which is scraped off and presented on a plate), potatoes, gherkins and pickled onions. Very Swiss. We had vanilla ice cream with berries for dessert. Mike liked the raclette even more than the fondue. I'll miss being with Mike again tomorrow.

Trains and the Temple-Day 3

Bonjour!

Tonight we are on the other side of Switzerland in Lausanne. We are deciphering French now and saying merci instead of danke. I really enjoyed the German side in Zurich, but look forward to exploring this side of the country tomorrow. Perhaps the clouds will lift a little and we will see more of Lake Geneva. Today was quite cloudy.

Today was a traveling day. We took a train to Bern. We stowed our luggage in lockers at the train station, grabbed some large pretzels with cheese for lunch and then hopped on another train to Zollikofen to go to the Bern Temple. We arrived about fifteen minutes before the session was to start (they only have two sessions in the afternoon.) They were very nice and waited briefly for us to be ready. The temple district is quite large and we certainly were not the only ones that needed headphones in the session. In fact in the celestial room and the waiting areas they had scriptures in French, German, English, Italian, etc. all laid out so you could choose. The celestial room was really beautiful.

We then traveled back to Bern, got our luggage and took our final train to Lausanne. I fell asleep on Mike's shoulder for that trip. We are a pretty good navigation team---Mike has the tech side down with GPS, hand held internet, etc. I usually am the first to see signs, remember information like names, etc. Together we do pretty well. Tomorrow we will be separate again as he goes to the first of two days of meetings. I have plans, too and I'll post tomorrow how they go.

We truly miss the children. We enjoy getting the e-mails and pictures from home. Our favorite place in the world is with them. Lots of love!

We Split Ways---Day 2 in Zurich

Mike had an early morning train to catch for a business meeting in Heerbrugg, so I was flying solo in Zurich. I knew I would be spending the day at the Staatsarchiv doing research on Mike's ancestors. This is one of the reasons we wanted to return to Switzerland. After asking the hotel desk about using the tram to get up to the university area, I headed out. I am still meeting nice people everywhere---the lady at the tram station counter gave me a heart shaped cookie (possibly a remainder from yesterday) before I even bought my ticket. It tasted of honey and was good. Anyway, I figured the tram system out (just like Paris or Madrid, but above ground instead of below.) I got to the archive and began the search. The staff is wonderful and I was able to work with them and find approximately 65 separate names to add to Mike's family history. Really amazing to read books from the 1700's in German! I acknowledge the Lord's hand in the success. As I showed one of the staff all the family lines I still have to research, she said I should stay for two weeks to get it done. If I could, I would. Tomorrow we leave for Bern and Lausanne.

On the way home I stopped in an olive oil store and tasted different oils and also balsamic vinegars. I tried mandarin orange flavored olive oil, olive oil with an almond undertone, cherry and fig flavored balsamic vinegars, etc. I was intrigued, and you guessed it, the guy in the store was very nice as he helped me sample. Foodie fun. Tonight after Mike returned we went to dinner at a Thai restaurant next door. We read it had good reviews. It was fabulous! We had spring rolls, fried rice with chicken and veggies and masaman curry (one of my favorites). The plates were beautiful and yummy. Our kids would've loved the dishes too. We took pics today, but it is late and we haven't downloaded them yet. By just writing a few things I can remember the day, though. Mike's meeting went well and it is good to be together again.

We've Been Here Before-Switzerland Day 1

Guten Tag!

We made it! A week and a half ago Mike was asked to travel to Switzerland for business. We have been wanting to return to do more research on Mike's ancestors. We always thought we would like to return in the summer---but opportunity knocked in February and we answered. It has been a crazy week in preparation but we are now here in Zurich safely.

So how about Valentine's Day in the Paris, France airport smelling different perfumes and colognes in a gift shop while we waited to board our flight? Who knew? Not us, even this morning our flight was supposed to have gone through Atlanta, but because of a delay the airport booked us on another flight this time through Paris. Crazy. Mike has bragging rights about bringing me to Paris on V-day now. He is a great husband and I love my sweetheart. The diversion brought back lots of memories from Paris. I stopped at the LaDuree (a sweet shop started in 1862 in Paris) pastry cart in the airport and bought two macaroons, one lemon and one pistachio before catching a bus to another terminal. The picture above shows me overlooking a train station in Zurich.

The last time we were here we did not get to see the city center. The old town is really lovely. We couldn't be happier with the location of our hotel---it is next to four beautiful churches and the River Limmat. We took a walk tonight on our way to the Le Dezaley restaurant for fondue.

Yes, we did eat that whole pot of cheese fondue! (We specified non-alcoholic, of course.) It was really yummy. Everyone we encountered today was very nice from our first airport parking shuttle driver to our hotel desk help. Even in Paris they were nice. It has been a VERY long, but very pleasant Sunday-Monday. We thank those caring for our children. Kids, we love you. Happy Valentine's to all!