Wednesday, November 30, 2011

JUNE 2011

June 1- We got home to our flourishing garden

^Sweet to go out back and pick some lettuce and cilantro. If only I could minus the bugs. ;)

June 2- On a drive somewhere...the typical cute sleeping pics...

^Cute little man with long lashes.
^Boysenberries from our yard.

June 7-
Nasty buggers! Any night I came home late these nasty cockroaches would scatter in the garage. Luckily they were never inside and were exterminated shortly after their appearance.

June 9- Sarah Graduates from 3yr old pre school at Serra Park with Sunnyvale Community Center. Little Lion Cub.

^Sarah loved pre school! Congrats little bug!

Some of her classmates and teacher Suma, Papiya and Vivian.
Sarah and Serra Park. :)

Jun 12- Ed was inspired by the fresh bread in Europe and decided to make his own baguettes. They were great! I love that Ed is not only willing to bake/cook, but he's great at it.

June 13- Happy Hollow with Leah and Livia!
^If you can't tell- Sarah is a little nervous about the frog hopper.
^First ring pops on our way out.

June 14- Berry picking #1 with friends- Ollolieberries

Such a fun tradition every summer.

June 19- FATHER'S DAY
^After church with Dad.
^Cup says it all!
Later in the afternoon we got together with the Katzs and Laytons to celebrate the daddies. Some manly foods were provided.
^Root Beer made by Maren

^Fruit Salad, Ribeye Steaks (not pictured)
^Corn on the Cob
Chocolate Chip cookies with Bacon made by Maren
^And fabulous homemade Cheesecake by Kristen.
Scrumptious food for the men we love!
Ed told me if I loved him I would buy him a popcorn popper and so...
Love the father of my kids! They adore him too!
The Katzs
^The Laytons
^And one more cute picture of Ed and the kids.

June 20- Chillin' with Leah day

June 21- Day at the Santa Cruz beach and ice cream on the way home. Fun family outing.




^Kaylynn gave Sarah her first and only swim lesson. At the beginning of summer Sarah wouldn't even put her face under water. That definitely changed and by the end of summer she was totally comfortable doing anything with a lifejacket on. Especially jumping in!
^Auz and Nimbus- typical sleeping spots at night. Silly cats.

June 25- More fresh veggies from the garden. The kids eat full bowls of fresh peas.

June 25- Last date with Katz's- Dinner and bowling

Can't believe we didn't double more!

June 27th- Goodbye get-together for Kristen (So Cal) and Maren (New Hampshire)
^Yes they are loved and will be missed!!
^Baby blessing and a farewell to the Simmons moving to UT!

June 28- Final cookie baking Maren and Kristen.

Such a fun monthly activity

June 29- Berry Picking #2 with Dad- Strawberries


^Delicious box lunches at Gizdich Ranch!

Love summer!

Saturday, November 26, 2011

Lucerne, Switzerland-Wednesday, May 25th- Farewell Europe!

For our last day in Europe we started the day out right by getting a plethora of our favorite- PASTRIES!!


I grew up eating Bircher muesli (cold oatmeal with fresh fruit) and really wanted to try it authentic from Switzerland. It takes very similar to what I was used to! MMMM!




The Linzer was better in France...

After breakfast we made our way to some sights in the small town.
Some famous lion carved into a rock...
We went to a transportation museum where the boys did a lame flight simulator. :)


Then we walked back through town


We got some lunch and went to the pool at the hotel.






The water was freezing, but we took a quick dip anyway. ;)
Then we got dressed again and went on a Lake Lucerne boat tour.

We were quite impressed with German. Especially the second option- Extrafahrten. :)

The boat tour was very delightful as you can see.
After the tour we got some souvenirs and chocolate, packed a little and headed to dinner at a Swiss yodeling show. A must for me. ;)


We had fondue

Food was pretty good.
Entertainment was great! Everyone but us were drunk I think. ;) We got true Swiss-German music. Yodeling, which Maren went on stage to try, and alphorns- which I tried to do. ;)
I got a Ricola as my prize. ;) Maren's prize was to chug a big glass of beer. She politely declined. :)

Meat and potatoes


I would totally suggest the show. It was great entertainment and gave us a good feel for the culture.

Ed took some night shots of the lake, we finished packing and got some shut eye before our early flights.
On the plane, well vacationed, ready for home and to see the kiddos.
^We all had some difficulties with delays and such (Ed and I had 8 hours in Atlanta?), Maren with customs, etc...




Long delays, long flights= super pooped, but we MADE IT!!!

We loved each country for different reasons and would definitely visit again! To see Maren's take on the trip, here is the start of a string of posts and pics from her blog regarding Europe.

A special thanks to all the people and family that helped us with kids and other things to make it possible for us to go. Love you!

Now that Europe posts are FINALLY over I can catch up on the last half of the year and hopefully get up to date!! Old pics are not near as cool as current ones. ;)