More Europe Pictures

I just felt like I was in a fairytale while I was in Switzerland and Germany.  I guess it was all the castles and rolling green hills.  Here are some more pictures from the last half of our trip.

The Temple near Bern, Switzerland

The temple grounds were beautiful and simple (for most temples)

a cute little church next to our hotel (no the bells did not wake me up, I think I was too exhausted from Paris to even notice)

I loved just how green everything was in Switzerland (and most of Germany)

The giant cuckoo clock  next to the CUTE cuckoo clock shop in the Black Forest.

Part of the Heidelberg castle

There was a group of men singing German songs in the streets of Rudesheim

Those cherries tasted so good!

Candles in a church (we just happened to walk by)

Did I mention I loved to take pictures of the flowers that were EVERYWHERE!

A cute garden we found walking around one of the smaller German towns.

I am so glad Jeff and I had the opportunity to go on this WONDERFUL trip.  It gave me memories and experiences I will treasure forever.

The Colors of Paris

Sainte Chapelle

Since Jeff did most of the writing and I did almost all of the picture taking I figured I would just share a fraction of the pictures I took in Paris.  I will post some more pictures from the rest of the trip some other time.

Along the Seine River at night

Small Park next to the Musée de l'Armée

Napoleon's Tomb

Garden in the Rodin Museum

View from our hotel window.  I was fascinated with the windows and the window boxes all over Europe.  I took way too many pictures of windows.

Dinner our 2nd night.  The potatoes were my favorite!

Arc de Triomphe

Arches National Park Trip: In Photos

Well, here are just a fraction of the photos I took on our grand adventure this weekend. It was so much fun! I was just so happy that I took my camera with me so I could be the official photographer.

Midnight hike up to Delicate Arch:

This is my absolute favorite picture of them all!

The Fiery Furnace:

(Our interpretation of Abby Road)

Devil's Garden:

Happy Birthday My Love!

29 reasons I love My Love (sorry for those who don't do mushy, I am required to be mushy on his birthday).

In no particular order

1. What WhAt!

2. is a Geek

3. is a geek who is obsessed with dinosaurs

4. sings me made up songs all the time

5. laughs sometimes when he doesn't even think it is funny

6. can quote all of Star Wars and Lord of the Rings (did I mention GEEK)

7. Lets me be myself

8. Takes me on amazing vacations (we are going to Europe this summer!)

9. snuggles me all the time

10. makes delicious breakfasts

11. is a great writer

12. keeps me safe

13. works REALLY hard so we can live the life we do

14. laughs when I am not trying to be funny

15. doing his Jeff dance

16. lets me cry even when it is his kryptonite

17. keeps the yard looking nice

18. shares my love for reading

19. learns about all sorts of things and then teaches me

20. can think logically when I don't

21. passionate about knowledge

22. kind

23. loving

24. patience

25. does mental math WAY better then anyone else I know

26. Loves pi/pie

27. cute

28. always growing

29. my BEST friend!

There are more, but this will be the list for this year. The best thing is that I get to be with him forever! Jeff, I love you always!

Happy Mother's Day Marme!

Many sleepless nights with colic or a nightmare

Often a nurse, teacher, chauffeur, therapist, and playmate all at once

Time together creates priceless memories

Helpful hands to a child in need

Eternal

Responsible for who I am today!

I love you Marme and I always will!

Popcorn Popping!

I looked out the window and what did I see? Popcorn popping on the apricot tree!

Ok, so I sing this song all the time with the Sunbeams at church, so naturally that is what I thought when I got up this morning and looked out my window. I saw that the tree in my front yard had started to blossom, and it gave me hope that warm weather would come to stay for a while.

First time Flowers!

Today I did something I have seen a hundred times, but have never done on my own before. I put together my first hand tied bouquet, all by myself. Now I know it isn't perfect, but I was happy with how it turned out.

I have watched my mom do wedding flowers for years. Ever since I could hold a piece of floral tape and wire I have been helping her with cleaning and getting the flowers prepared. It looked so easy how she knew just where to put the flowers and greenery (I have come to find out in recent years that some of that was experimenting). I have always thought it would be fun if I could help people with flowers the way my mom did (it was always more of a service then a business).

I finally got the opportunity to help with a bouquet for bridal pictures (I felt better about this because then if she hated it then she didn't have to use it). There was a lot of guess work, calls to my mom, trial and error. In the end I think it turned out pretty well. Just don't look too close!

Note to the OCD I fixed the pins later after I notice them in the picture.

Eating Better!

I have this on going battle with my weight and I think I am winning right now! Lately I have been making such good choices in the food I am eating and making for dinner. My favorite so far was I made a mock version of th California Pizza Kitchen Thai Chicken pizza. I am very proud of myself, and it even tasted good with a whole wheat crust.

Lots of fresh veggies on top make it taste light and delicious!

This is what I came home to and I was a bit worried that the pizza wouldn't turn out good.

The whole wheat dough.

Cooking it up!

Final beautiful product!

Now is the time for FUN!

Ok, so I haven't been the best blogger as of late. I figured that Jeff does such a good job of keeping everyone informed of the things we are doing and entertaining them along the way that I haven't really had much to say.

Well, here is the quick update from my side of life.

-I just finished Parent/Teacher conferences for the second and last time for this school year! Yay!

-I have been called as the YW camp director and have no idea what I am doing. I have been with little ones for so long that I have forgotten how to teach big people. I think I like it when I am taller then most of the people I am teaching.

Now for the fun news! I got a new DSLR camera! I am having so much fun getting to know all about how to use it and what it can do with photos. It has been a long time since I have done some serious photography so I am a bit nervous to get back into it, but excited at the same time. Well, I hope to take and post some great pics soon (the jelly beans were taken with the new camera and I put them up to celebrate Spring and Easter coming soon).

Wii had a great time!

Well, it has been a while since Christmas but I wanted to share how wonderful our trip to California was. Since Jeff and I stayed in Utah last year it was California's turn this year. It also happened to be a special year because my Oma turned 90 in November. This meant that all of my family got to come home for Christmas and to celebrate my Oma (who is amazing and wonderful). By Christmas afternoon I had my parents, Oma, all of my brothers and sisters (and 2 sisters-in-love, as Ann likes to call them), and five neices and nephews. We also had my Mom's whole side of the family too. I think it was the first time we had all (the extended family) been together in quite a few years. Family was the best part of it all.

Now, onto the funny stories. My parents are VERY generous people and I love them so much. We had spent Christmas morning opening gifts from each other and watching the small ones enjoy the process of ripping up paper. Jeff and I picked up a rather heavy box from my parents and my mom calls over my dad to watch us open the box. Well, he comes over and picks up his camera. This is code for a special present. I couldn't think of anything that would surprise me so I was a little confused. Maybe it is a new something for the kitchen, I thought. Well, I started to peel back the paper and it took me a second for my brain to comprehend what I was seeing.

My parents bought us a Wii! I was in shock because that was the last thing I was expecting to see. Jeff and I had often thought about getting a Wii, but never got around to getting one. Lets just say the picture speaks for itself and there were lots of hugs of thanks that followed.

The other surprise of the day was a similar looking box that looked and sounded like it would be some kind of board game. I love board games and I had put a few of them on a wish list for this year, but the present had a tag that said I had to guess what was in the box. I had a hard time thinking, but then my mom started giving me clues. "It will remind you of your childhood" was the one that finally tipped me off. I shouted, "It's the BAD GAME!"

Now most of you are probably not familiar with the Bad Game. That is because that is not the real name. It is really Star Wars Return of the Jedi Battle at Sarlacc's Pit Game. As a small child I would want to play this game all the time with my dad (he is the only one who would play with me, and for good reason). I didn't know the name so I just called it the Bad Game and I didn't know how to play. I made up my own rules (different every time, I'm sure) and I magically always won. I still don't know how to play, but it will be fun to actually find out how to play, though I might have to invoke my own rules just to make sure I still win.

Well, like I said the presents were fun, but the best part was being home with my whole family and having Jeff get to see a little bit more of who I am and where I come from.

Anyone up for some Wii?