So sad to say Goodbye to Aunt Shel, Taylor & Christian

We only had to listen to Ari cry for 10 minutes this time when we dropped them off at the airport. With the promise she'll see them again in a month. We all wish Dave would give up his beloved AZ and move back up here. Taylor had us laughing the whole time with his handfuls of cars (deja vu Dave). We're grateful the fire department could free him from our bedroom without using an axe too. Christian is so sweet and mellow. Cherie said he has a gentleness about him and I thought that was a great description. We are so grateful that Shel was willing to torture herself coming up here - no sleep for her:( We had total confidence that our kids were well taken care of when we are so far away. I owe them big time! I promise I'll return the favor for you guys.

Back to Paris for less than 24 hours - Supposed to be 2 days - Don't ask!

This was our cute hotel that the desk clerks were actually friendly and helpful and directed us to a good french restaurant. Although, B and Aub came away with 2nd degree burns not knowing how to eat "molten lava chocolate filled crepes".

Flat huggly got top priority in the photos. This is on the top of the Eiffel tower. Becca would LOVE to be up there.;) Yeah, I don't like the height thing too much either, but I'm always glad I did it when I get back down on solid ground. When we landed that morning it was cold and rainy so we were glad it cleared up in the afternoon.

The Louvre was closed. Aub and I have been there, but I was bummed that B couldn't see it and I'm sure I could go there 10 times before I felt like I'd seen everything. I got my fill of 'pain au chocolat' but not nearly enough shopping. I don't recommend trying to see too much in 7 days and I do recommend bringing a french dictionary.

On to Germany for the Marathon 25th Anniversary Party

This is the rec hall where the longest part of the party was: this is Aub's host siblings and cousin on the left. Sam, Naemi (pronounced Nah Amy) and Johannes. Miriam is their cousin. They are all very musical and can play trumpet, guitar and piano and they sing too. We were entertained with cake and coffee, choirs, brass bands, tributes, poems, food, food, food, open bar (they were stumped why we only wanted water to drink) and a really good young German band that played for a couple of hours. B and I started failing around 1:00 am and went to go sleep in the car. Thankfully, Naemi took pity on us and drove us home. A 15 1/2 hour party that was very impressive ending at 4:30 am. The German people really know how to celebrate these milestones. We could learn something from them - maybe not THAT long but making it a bigger deal.

This is Anne & Gabriel, at the beginning of the party they had a church service. I couldn't understand much, but Aub translated that it was about their relationship being blessed by God walking through life with them. Amen!

Everyone there was very kind and patient trying to speak English to us. I learned to say "Nice to meet you" but said it so slow that I just shouldn't have attempted it. B learned to ask parents if he could buy their children. When they figured out what he was saying they both laughed and the mom said "no" and the dad said "how much?"

It was really awesome to be there with them. Their family is unbelievably kind and hospitable and we are so lucky to know them. Germany is really beautiful and looks just like "Sound of Music". We even drove down a roads that were canopied with trees and I expected to see Von Trapps hanging from them singing. I mentioned this to the Simons but none of them had seen or even heard of "Sound of Music". There are literally castles on many of the hills. We took the train from Frankfurt and it's like watching an incredibly scenic movie.

This is when my camera battery died. I tried using a disposable camera but none of the photos turned out. When we got to a bigger city the day we left I went hunting for a battery or charger (didn't bring mine - argghh my camera woes!) A very nice saleman couldn't sell me the charger without the camera but charged my battery for me while we did some more sight seeing.

The Beginning of Our Trip - Paris

Aub's favorite at Musee' D'Orsay....can you say creepy?

B and Aub and "Flat Huggly" (Mr. T's Flat Stanley) are the newest Saints inducted into the Notre Dame Cathedral. Check out the headless Saint. Wish I spoke french so I could have asked about that one.

My favorite will always be Monet.

Baseball season with the Bad News Bears, I mean the Reds

Mr. T is playing baseball for the first time this year. This is "my sport", so it is truly painful for me. B just doesn't have the same passion for the game as he does football, so he spends most the game on his "crackberry". I think every kid on the team is playing for the first time. None of them even know how to play the game, let alone catch or throw or hit balls. There are, however, a couple teams that just kill our poor team. One of the moms that I know came over and said "Oh I'll just warn you, our team is going to crush your team, we've been playing with the same coach & kids for 3 years". Well if that didn't get my competitive spirit up and I found myself praying all those other kids would strike out! No such luck, their team, indeed, crushed ours. I also can't help myself yelling a little too much and B has done some coaching from the bleachers too. I'm afraid we haven't made a good impression to our fellow parents. B keeps telling me I need to work with him, since it's my sport - so I took him to the batting cages. where he got worse at hitting the ball. He struck out for two games and then told me he thought his bat might be cursed. He started using a different bat and what a surprise - started hitting again. At the beginning of the season, his coach taught him to bat right handed. I thought he'd hit so much harder left handed, because he is left handed, but he couldn't hit anything again. So, uncursed bat and right handed is the trick because he's got hits every game since. I think I've lost my edge on "my sport".

Flat Sammy visits Florida

I know I am very behind, but we've been busy and I'm just plain tired.

B and I took a very quick trip to Florida. The twins class did a "Flat Stanley" project and I knew we were taking some trips, so we just took them along. Ari named hers Sammy and here he is as a lifeguard and laying out in the sand. If your children ever do a project like this, just a quick suggestion: do not let them decorate it with marshmellows and then take it to a hot humid climate. I did find out though that marshmellows can go from rock hard to gooey no matter how much time has passed, depending on your climate. Put some of those in your food storage!

Life Is Good: Mother's Day 2009

B and D got me flowers and a cool feminine bike helmet to go with my new bicycle! Now we can go on family bike rides without me struggling on B's old bike (he's 6'2", I'm 5'3" you get the picture) Okay, so I did pick out the helmet, but it was presented very nicely with breakfast. I am very blessed and sometimes spoiled. Thank you for making my day so special! Lelu made me the cute vase too at activity days!

Aub came up and went to church with us - which was awesome, esp since it was her idea. She brought me sugar-free jello in cute heart shapes and lingon berries for pancakes. Very thoughtful since I was off sugar for 13 days (but then I took a 24 hour hiatus for Mother's day, back on the wagon tomorrow) Love you Aub! Life is especially great when I have my whole family sitting together in church - I feel as if everything in the world is okay.

This one is from sweet Mr. T - he was right. It WAS The Best Mother's day!

Ari nailed our likenesses, don't you think? Translation: eny wan coad had = anyone could have! I love my mini-me!

Saturday night we went over to mom & dad's for a Mom's day BBQ and Becca's birthday. It was fun to see everyone, Roma, Becca & fam, Sherisse & fam. Thanks so much for hosting & grilling, M & D! I took my camera with me in my purse, but somehow totally spaced pulling it out and snapping some photos. I swear 39 years of failing to take photos is a hard habit to break, but I'm determined to overcome it! I'm asking for help in reminding me, please!!! Happy Mother's day to all the amazing Mom's in mine and my kids lives!

Fun Fotos Friday

How Did Aub Get So Old So Fast???

We rushed home from St. George on Sunday so that we could get ready for Gma's & Aub's birthday celebration. Aub missed Gma's birthday by 6 hours. She was due on Gma's birthday too. I won't say how old Gma is, but Aub is 21! What??? That just can't be possible. I'm sure she's quite happy about it, even if I'm not. We wanted to BBQ, but UT decided to snow again, so I opted for the burrito/taco bar & strawberry shortcake. It was Paige's b-day too - Happy Birthday Paige! Is it 14?? Thank heavens for birthdays and holidays or I swear life gets too busy, we'd never see anyone. I vow to do better at that. We'll really celebrate with Aub heading back to Germany this month to see The Simons. I can't wait!

Our Quick Trip to Sunshine!

This is my friend Stacy's yard in St. George. Her husband is a landscaper and it's an acre with over 200 trees. Wow! Six women from my old ward planned a trip to go down there with the kids for the weekend and without sounding too pathetic, I discussed with Cherie how much I feel like I'm in "no-man's land". All these women are young and have babies, toddlers and preschoolers. Cherie is now back in that season of life with her baby and preschooler. Where are all the women with their kids all in school that aren't grandma's yet? I think working or going to school. Anyway, Cherie passed on tidbits of our conversation to Sharon, who has her last preschooler until the fall, that I felt bad not being invited. Not true! I must defend myself. Honestly, it kind of sounded like a headache. I like the mom trips without kids. Sharon's kids are my kids ages and she thought it may be a little crowded staying at Staci's and invited us to go & get our own condo. We did and still went over and hung out at Staci's pool. 7 women & 21 kids hanging out together leaving husbands at home. I have to eat my words. It was quite fun and wasn't a headache at all for us, except for being bossed around by Ari but that goes without saying no matter where I am. Sharon and I missed out on the barfing fun in the middle of the night at Staci's house. Sorry for them! These women are all excellent moms and I came home inspired.

On Thursday, I went to Women's conference with my good friend Connie (also a fabulous mom). The weather was amazing! My favorite talk was about how much power Mom's have in setting the tone and mood in the home. Our example and leadership affects our children more than anything else. And that we have "Veto Power" and we need to use it. I like to tell my kids that B is the President and I am Congress. B tells me he wants "line item veto". Which lines? It's been an insightful week for me.

FREAKS! FRIDAY