The Dudley Bunch

Aug 30, 2012

EUROPE in a nutshell

For my big 40, the hubs took me to Europe. It was a riot. Here is what we did in point form every day.

1. Flew into London, arrived Thursday morning. Toured Tower of London, went and saw Buckingham Palace, scored tickets to Gold Medal match of Men's Beach Volleyball.

2. Toured Westminster Abbey. Saw Big Ben, and Parliament. Sat in Trafalgar Square, toured the National Gallery, ate at a pub. Went to Victoria Palace theater and watched Billy Elliot. Amazing.

3. Took train to Dudley England to see Dudley castle and where the scoundrels are all from. Found a cool china plate with the castle on it, and some books about the history of Dudley. Took train back to London and then took the Train to Paris. Took a night cruise on the Seine. Gorgeous. Then Montmartre and Moulin Rouge. Long long day.

4. Explored Notre Dame Cathedral and the Latin District. Walked around the Seine, bought a painting from a young artist there. Went to the Trocadero, then to the Eiffel Tower for dinner. Rode bikes all around Paris until 2am.

5. Went to the Louvre in the morning, then spent the day riding bikes around Paris and eating. Saw the Pantheon and the Musee de Cluny. J'adore Paris.

6. Rented a car and drove out to Loire Valley. First stop was Chambord Castle, then the town of Blois. Food in Loire Valley... delicious.

7. Drove to St. Regle and checked into Chateau des Arpentis. So gorgeous. Went into Amboise. Walked around, ate, then rented bikes and rode them over to Chenonceau. Stunning chateau built over the river. Did the tour, and rode back to Amboise. Ate raspberry eclairs from a bakery there that were to die for. Very few English speakers in Loire...I am forced to try and speak French...Hahaha

Our Chateau for the Night...

Chenonceau...gorgeous chateau

8. Drove back to Versailles and toured it. It's huge, and over the top totally. Went back to Paris. Went to Musee D'Orsay, by far my favorite art museum. Full of my favorite impressionists.

9. Took high speed train to Annecy, near the French/Switzerland mountains. Totally different landscape and food. Full of European Vacationers. On a gorgeous lake, I was overdressed in my tankini. Walked around town, which has canals running all through it. Ate the regional specialty, a tarteflette. Not to be missed.

10. Tim rented a road back and road around these mountains. I sat at the beach and shopped. Very relaxing couple of days. Shopped and ate more tarteflettes tonight.

11. Took a taxi to Geneva Airport and flew home. The jet lag and time change took about 10 days to get over! So worth it.

Jul 4, 2012

Obsessed Much?

I don't know where he gets it, but Cooper is OBSESSED. I use all caps, because it is that big of an obsession. It all started with a Yoda back pack that his Aunt Angie gave him after Christmas, and it has spiraled out of control since then. It's cute bordering on annoying. Everything he sees, hears, or touches, is somehow related to Star Wars, at least in his mind. Note the photos taken of him over the past several months...notice anything? Wowsers. I will even try to post a video I took of me watching Cooper watch Empire Strikes Back. Hilarious. Don't know how long it will last, but I think it could be here a while.

Don't be fooled by the sponge bob shirt, he is sleeping with his dog, and his light saber of course.

McCall

Who needs a 12 hour drive to Canada when McCall is 2 hours away??? That is what we are asking ourselves. We took the kids up to McCall for 4 nights, and rented a cabin on the lake.

It was gorgeous. Hot enough that the kids could swim, but cool enough to light a fire on the beach every night. The kids had fun traipsing from lake to hot tub, learning to paddle board, ice skating, eating ice cream, fishing off the dock, watching fireworks over the lake, and making smores every night.

The trip was a huge hit, and the drive...not so painful. Hooray for the mountains of Idaho.

Our Story...the short version

Tim and I met in 1994, after his mission while I was in University in Lethbridge. After breaking and entering the Prince of Wales hotel that was under construction in the middle of February, we started spending a lot of time together. ( If you need more info about our meeting/breaking and entering...call me). Tim left that summer to go to Kansas City to take some science classes for Chiropractic school. While he was gone, he managed to get another girlfriend. Needless to say, we went our separate ways...and I was a little bitter. I guess he liked me best though, because for the next two years, he called me anytime he was home on semester break. Eventually he wormed his way back into my heart, and the rest is history. We married in October of 1996, and have been blissfully happy ever since. He is truly one of the best men I have ever known, and a great husband and father. That isn't to say he never drives me nuts...I am only human after all.

Family Vacations

There is nothing better than a family vacation. We have made it a huge priority to take vacations as a family. Not all of them are extravagant. In fact, some of our favorite memories are our trips to Alberta, or to the mountains a couple hours away. But one of our family's favorite destinations is Cancun, Mexico. What's not to love...the beach, ocean, food, and company is always outstanding. We went again last fall and had a blast. The kids were all at ages where we hope they will remember it. We had so much fun playing in the sand, and just hanging out together. The kids all got to swim with dolphins, and I was happy to be the photographer...in fact I may have gone overboard with my 500+ pictures. Here are a few of our favorites. Happy Memories.

Sisters

I have been blessed with 2 sisters. I didn't always think that was such a treat, but as I have gotten older and hopefully wiser, I have come to realize that sisters make the best friends. There isn't anything...(and I mean anything), I won't talk about with my sisters. A couple of years ago, we started having our "girls weekends", and let me tell you...that is fun. Undoubtedly someone is always nursing or pregnant, but it is still a blast. I was even lucky enough last year to be part of Kami and Tonya's births. I have always wanted to be on the other side of labor, if you will, and just be there as a support. Kami gave birth to Kiyomi in February, and Tonya to Walker in July, and I was there! They were both so amazing, and it was so cool to be part of it, and I am grateful I was in a position to go. Anyway...I love my sisters! Blood and all the others I have adopted to my heart over the years.

Family

Not only are Tim and I lucky to have our sweet kids, but we are blessed with great parents, siblings, and nieces and nephews. It is funny to see how big both families are getting. There are soon to be 24 grandkids on Tim's side, and soon to be 13 on mine. It is so much fun to get together with them whenever we can, and our kids have such fun when they are with Grandparents or cousins. It is a real blessing to have so many people who love you, love your kids, and are involved in helping them become the great people you want them to be. I don't think there is any way we can overestimate the value of such support. I am especially grateful that family is always there in the tough times, even more than when it is all fun. Just want you all to know how much we love and appreciate you all, even if we are too dumb to say it very often. There you go...a full serving of cheese. But I really do mean it all!