HINTS OF HARMAN

December 2011

2011-12-31T22:59:00.001-08:00

Dec 3- Ed sells his baby. With the upcoming move to Utah, Ed knew his convertible BMW M3 would not be practical for the weather. It was fun while it lasted!

Dec 10- Cleaning day! 2 days til move!

^Sexy cleaning/moving clothes yes? Yikes!! My favorite Elena who helped me clean my house for 2 years! Best thing I've ever done! Don't want to forget her. She was so sweet to us and our kids!

Dec 11- With almost everything packed - plates made of foil had to do.

Dec 11- Farewell Friends! Kim was nice enough to host a big potluck with most all of our close friends in attendance. Friends we will never forget that have been like family! 5 years together. Love you all!

^Thomanders

^Youngs

^Parkers

^Bergs

^Hendersons

^Dukes

^Maginots

^Baldwins

^Nelsons

^Kirks

^Aufdermauers (minus a few)

^Burlisters*

^Drummonds

^Shafers- also moving this month to Washington

^Bonds

^ So happy to have had you all as part of our lives! We hope to see you all again!

DEC 13- (Sorry no pics) Move to Utah!!!! 16 hours in the car!!! Living at my dad's until we find a house. HUGE adjustment! Bitter-sweet! Warm, yet cold welcome to Utah. Good to be home in time for Christmas. Stressful. Have we doubted our decision, absolutely! But it's worth it to know what will be best for our future. It can only get better. Lot's of changes ahead. We are hopeful. :) Looking forward to making new friendships and having closer relationships with our families!

Dec 20- Friend Party

We got together at Talitha's, had a soup potluck, played Christmas Pictionary, and caught up. Fun to move right back to welcoming friends! I'm excited to resume these relationships. ;) Missed all those who could not make it!

Stephanie, Shandra, Jennie, Mindi, Talitha, Me, Alisha, Jenn (Lisa came later)

Dec 24- Christmas Eve with Johnsons

^After a full day of hanging out from brunch on- we were all pretty tired!! :) Oh, and I had bronchitis. :( We love our family though! Should have taken more pics!

Sarah's ornament 2011

Kai's ornament 2011

Ed's ornament 2011

Sarah's new jammies 2011

Kai's new jammies 2011

Ed's new jammies 2011

Yay ornaments!

Yay Jammies!

Forgot to get pics of mom's. :) Whoops!

Dec 25- Christmas!!

^Kai's loot!

^Sarah's loot!

The kids were super excited about Santa this year! They made some lists, left some cookies, and are starting to get it! Mom and Dad got a TV and Washer and Dryer this year. :) Merry Christmas!

Dec 30- Katz's visit UT

Kristen and the kids stopped in quick for some hair doing, nail doing and play time. We've been lucky to see them so much since we've both moved!

Dec 31- New Year's Eve

^Neil and Jodi invited us out to their house for homemade pizza and games with a small group of friends. Great time! Happy New Year!!! 2012 is going to be huge for change!!! Can't wait!

November 2011

2011-12-31T22:58:00.003-08:00

Since we found out we were moving to Utah near the end of October, I decided to take some last pictures of our cute little CA house on Peach Avenue before I started to start packing. 1300 square feet seemed plenty big for our family, but we're excited to start a new adventure and it just feels like good timing. Very tough decision though! That's the hard part. We aren't leaving CA because we don't like it. Ed loves his job, we have great friends, etc., but one thing is missing... the chance to own a home and live close to family. We'd like to give that a shot!

Nov 8- Sarah's Room:

Master Bath:

Kids Bath:

Kai's Room:

Our Room:

Hallways:

Living Room:

Kitchen:

Yard:

I don't want to forget any of it! We started our family in CA. We love our friends and neighbors. Our kitties love it here. The area is amazing! Hard to imagine it's coming to an end...

Nov 10- Ed's Birthday Surprise!

A gracious friend watched our kids while I surprised Ed with a day out for his birthday (a few days early). First we got burgers for lunch at The Counter. MMM! And then we drove to the Palo Alto Airport...Ed had no idea, but has always wanted to fly a plane. Since we are leaving the area I decided he HAD to go at least once! Expensive hobby... but I finally surprised him!

He was all smiles!

^Looks complicated to me!

^Our HOT pilot!

I got to come along in our 4 passenger plane with Ed and the instructor. We took off from Palo Alto and flew to Half Moon Bay. Beautiful Day to fly!

Beautiful views from above

Ed got to take off and land once. First ever flight! He did great!

^I don't think this look ever left Ed's face. He loved it! And I loved seeing him so happy! Well deserved!

^Stanford University from above

^Ed and the instructor, Howard.

Happy Birthday Eddie Pie! Love you! Glad we got to check one of the things off your list that you really want to do. Our pocketbook fears this won't be your last time flying. ;)

Nov 13- A day out golfing with a friend, Ed's ALMOST hole in one! Hotty!

November 15- Ed's 36th Bday!

It's birthday tradition to go to dinner with Nixon's (Paul's bday is the 14th) and Kaylynn and Brook.

^Birthday Boys at Forbes Mill Steakhouse. Cute!

Nov 16th- L.A. Trip pre- Thanksgiving. We left in the morning and of course stopped along the way for fast food. The kids always love ice cream on the road.

Typical Road Sleeping pics

We drove straight to Kristen's, did some hair and had dinner and let the kids play and then drove to our hotel for the night.

Nov 17th- Disneyland Day 1

The kids had a pretty good time, but they are still scared of a lot of the rides since they are sometimes dark, fast or loud. Oh well! We made the best of it! We spent time in California Adventure and then met Kristen later at Disneyland.

It was critical Sarah meet Rapunzel this time. :)

I couldn't go on some of the rides being prego, but Ed and Kristen took the kids on Matterhorn (which Sarah was obviously afraid of), and other rides.

^Teacups

Kristen left, we had dinner and then we tried to stay late for the World of Color Show at CA Adventure, but our kids must be a little too young and Sarah must have really sensitive ears? We left about 15 minutes into the show. Oh well!

Nov 18- Day 2 at Disneyland! We met princesses. Sarah cared more about this than rides I think. We met:

^Tiana

^Ariel

^Jasmine

^Cinderella

and Sleeping Beauty!

Then the Katz came again for the day, with David this time, and we went to CA Adventure first...

3d at Toy Story

Then we went to Disneyland for the parade. Great seats and the kids loved it!

^We love you Katz's!

^Group pic

^We went on a couple more rides and then stayed for fireworks, but as you can see before the fireworks even started, we lost one to slumber. Long day for little ones. It will only get better. :)

Nov 19- We drove to Katz's for Sydney's 5th bday party. Princess themed as you can see, so we were happy not to miss out. ;)

^Happy #5 Syd! We love you!

^Then we drove to Visalia to see the Cheney's one last time for a while and stay for the night. We got to see the twins, do some hair, go to church in the morn, and then we headed out. :) Love you Cheney's!

Nov 20- The ever so hot (not) pregnancy pictures! 20 weeks!

Nov 24- Thanksgiving!! Ed worked the whole night before Thanksgiving and for 3 nights following but was luckily off for the day! :) We brined and cooked our first turkey, and as you can see...it was beautiful, large, and delicious!!!

^ Our table setting. We were joined by friends who brought most everything else. We had turkey, potatoes, gravy, stuffing, veggies, yams, beans and homemade rolls. Don't forget the pumpkin pie and razzleberry pie. Our company and food was SO SO good! We were joined by the-

^Nelson's

^And McPhies...some of the only other peeps without families around. ;)

^We are so Thankful!

Nov 27-

We had dinner with Thomanders and then went to a Christmas parade in downtown Palo Alto. Gotta get in all the time we can with wonderful friends!! We will surely miss you all!

October 2011

2011-12-31T22:58:00.001-08:00

Oct 5- 14 weeks pregnant photo. Showing much sooner with #3. ;)

Oct 8- Ed and I wanted to do some apple picking with the family and a few others were interested as well. We headed to Gizdich Ranch for a delicious lunch and then picked some apples. Fun fall activity.

Apples right off the tree!

^McPhies

^Bonds (not pictured yet)

Oct 12/13- Ed had a work conference in L.A. so we decided to make a family trip out of it and visit the Katz's while he was gone during the day.

We met up with Kristen in the morning for a delicious breakfast and then went to the beach with the little ones. Such a fun reunion. Sarah and Sydney gave some adorable hugs!

Oct 14- After more delicious breakfast, we took the kids to Disneyland for the day.

Lots of people looked at us like we were crazy taking on 5 young children between the two of us. We were. ;)

The kids and us were definitely worn out by the end of the day. It was pretty crowded and SUPER hot!!

So fun to get away for the weekend and reunite with such great friends! We put the kids down at Kristen's that night and got a sitter and went out to dinner with Kristen and David at a Venezuelan Restaurant and played games at the hotel.

Oct 17- Halloween Decor

Oct 27- Pumpkin Carving

Oct 28- Harman Halloween Party!

^Mikila and Connor Duke/ Potato Heads- Best costume winners- as usual. :)

^Christian and Molly Aufdermauer/ Grave robbers

^Jeni and Jared Nunn/ Baker with a Bun in the oven

^Us/ Olive Oyl and Popeye

^Jared and Tierney Kirk/ forgot?? :)

^Kim and Rich Bond/ Oldies

^Scott and Rachel McPhie/ Mr. Peanut Butter and Jelly

^Ben and Jaimi Thomander/ Cave peeps

^Chase and Mary Baldwin/ Paintings- Vincent Van Gogh's self-portrait and Jackson Pollock painting

^Natalie and Patrick Nelson/ 80's!

^Shannon and Ryan Busby/ Super hot fire and Firefighter

^Michelle and Jon Maginot/ Forgot?? Sorry :(

^Whitney and Ben Shafer/ Tourists

For the party, my friend Kari gave us a cool scavenger hunt idea to do in teams. We split into 3 teams and then had to do random tasks all around town and take pictures doing them. You can see the varieties.

Team 1- Busbys, Kirks and Shafers

Team 2- Thomanders, Nunns, Aufdermauers, and Dukes

Team 3- Bonds, Baldwins and Us

Oct 29- Ward Halloween Party

^Goldilocks and the 4 Bears. (Papa, Mama, Baby, Baby #2 and Goldilocks)

Doughnut contests...

and of course trick or treating. ;)

Oct 31- Halloween!

^Kai with our black Halloween Kitty- Auz

^Trick or treating with Sarah at Preschool

^Halloween night costumes. Kai- Knight, Sarah- Rapunzel

We went to a chili/doughnut party at the Field's and then came home for trick or treating.

^ We're lucky to have Kaylynn and Brook join us and go trick-or treating with us. Brook carried Kai most of the way. :) Thanks for your help and company!

The kids buckets were full! We love our neighborhood!

September 2011

2011-12-28T14:09:00.001-08:00

Sept 2- We started out September with some Labor Day weekend camping. We went for just one night with the Shafers:

and the Bonds:

Sept 3-

Fun times were had of course.

The kids got along swimmingly

^And sweet Pepper slept through most of it. Good babe!

^The weather was perfect

And the kids loved the outdoor time.

In the afternoon we got a sitter and headed up to Sausalito Art Show to see my bro-in-law and sis. Aaron had a booth at the show. You can see his cool paintings behind us or here.

Cami, Me and Aaron

We stayed and went to the city for dinner with them. Thanks to those that watched our kids to make this possible. :)

Sept 5- Labor Day at the Beach

MMM Pizza my Heart at the beach!

We met up with the Thomanders there. Fun outing for the day!

Sept 6- Cami and Aaron came and stayed with us for a couple nights. We took advantage and went out to eat and see some movies a couple nights in a row. So fun to have company! We're not used to staying up so late! ;)

Sept 8-

We also made it up to the city to see some museums and take some quick pics. Foggy!

Sept 16th- Sarah's 4 yr old check up. Such a big girl now!

Sept 16-17- RAGNAR from San Francisco to Calistoga, CA. My Ragnar gift bag. :)

Victorious Secrets was our team name. I ran with 12 fellow female friends.

Van #2-

Sarah, Whitney, Heidi, Me, Julianne and Laura

This was the first Ragnar in Northern CA. And a first Ragnar experience for all of us! I was runner #10= 20+ miles total- and pregnant (11-12 wks), as they all discovered when we got up there. ;) Surprise!

^1st run of the relay: 7.8 miles- 3pm

^Our van supported all of our runners the whole way.

Middle of the night runs with our awesome vests!

^Run #2- 6 miles- 2am

And dreadful run#3 - 6.8 miles in 80-90 degree heat!! One of my hardest runs to go into mentally. Not sure I would ever sign up to do that again!! 2pm

Group shots

^Refuel in Napa

Everyone did so great! So fun to get to know all of these ladies better! Overall Ragnar was a great experience. No sleep and all!

Ed and Multiple friends helped out with these little munchkins while I ran. You can see they were well taken care of. ;) Thanks everyone!

Sept 27- Happy Birthday Whitney!

August 2011

2011-12-27T19:25:00.000-08:00

August 1- I left for a run in the early morning and noticed a squirrel in the bush outside the passenger window. I thought it was a little odd that it didn't scurry away when I backed out, but found it even more odd when I got home and it was still there??

I figured it was stuck so I called on Ed to come help it. He put on some gloves and tried to help it out.

It eventually climbed through the bushes to hide. We're guessing it was either injured or poisoned? Squirrels don't usually stick around. Oh well. They are everywhere in CA!

August 3-7: Harman Family trip in Santa Cruz, CA.

We got a beach house in Santa Cruz for the Harman family trip this year. We were this close to the beach in a great house! Ed's parents, Sis's fam and Randy & Moody were able to make it. We missed the other two families who couldn't come...

- and so did my kids. But we still had some fun. ;) We went to the boardwalk one day and rode rides,

We went to the beach quite a bit,

We searched for sea shells,

We played in the sand,

We ate and hung out,

We made a campfire on our own little private beach,

We played games,

We did exactly what you are supposed to do on vacation- RELAX!!!

Sarah and Kai enjoyed their first slurpees,

And Ed, Randy, Forrest, Melissa and Bri all took surfing lessons and surfed a few times and loved it!

Thanks for coming to California Harman Family!!! Come again!! Only everyone next time. ;)

After the beach trip grandparents and Randy stayed with us. We went on a hike to Sawyer Camp Trail.

After we said farewells to family- I took a pregnancy text confirming we are indeed pregnant with baby#3. :)

August 12-

Library trip with the kids

August 15- Ed get's stung by a bee in his armpit while riding his motorcycle. Youch! Here is the culprit that fell out of his jacket when he got home...

August 16-Sarah's beautiful coloring skills. She loves to color and draw!

August 19th- Kids first trip to Six Flags. Maginots and us.

First try of cotton candy. Sarah didn't like it.

Thanks for letting us tag along Michelle! We had a great time!

August 24th- Sarah's 4th Birthday!!

One of Sarah's friends, Lucy, met up with us at Happy Hollow. Fun!

^After watching Sarah hold blankets on her head all the time as replacements for Rapunzel hair, I decided to make her some hair out of golden fabric myself and then attach it to a headband so she doesn't have to hold blankets anymore. ;) She loved it!

^Since we decided to have her party on a different day, we made panCAKES for dinner. One of her favorites. ;)

She got lots of great presents. Thanks everyone!

August 25th- Sarah's first day of 4-yr-old preschool at Lakewood Elementary.

August 27th- Sarah's Bday party!

^ The complicated prep of braiding yarn for multiple hair/bow holders as party favors!

We had an all girl party this year. The girls were invited to dress up. They colored upon arrival.

^They pinned frying pans on Flynn Rider.

^We made pascal party blowers.

^We painted the walls as Rapunzel does.

^The kids loved it!!!

^Then we ate a doughnut Rapunzel Tower cake. :)

Happy 4th Birthday beautiful Sarah!

^Kai was the only boy... besides dad. :) Lucky!

^All the girls wearing their Rapunzel braids.

Top: Hathaway, Hazel, Felicity, Sarah, Paige

Bottom: Livia, Lucy, Adelina, Izzy, Emerson, Macie

^Opening gifts- Sarah's favorite...Princesses!

^Watching Tangled at the end while waiting for parents.

^And letting our lantern go at the end of the party. ;)

August 29th- Giants game with Thomanders

August 31st- Kai eats it hard at the park! Ouch!

JULY 2011

2011-12-05T22:50:00.000-08:00

July 1st-

This is my way of trying to trick you into the idea that I make everything homemade. :)

My first time making freezer jam alone. :) Strawberry and Ollolieberry from the times I went berry picking...

Then in the afternoon we met up with Layton's and Katz's for a hike at Rancho San Antonio. Ed was on call so he stayed home with Kai to nap.

Always fun to be out in nature with good company.

We weren't able to make it out camping as a group so we decided to camp in our backyard. ;)

^Kaylynn and Brook came to say hello and visit and we made smores over the gas firetable ed concocted.

Yummy!

Parents in Orange, Kids in Red.

Jun 2nd-

^Then in the morning we made delicious breakfast.

Camping on our deck was fun!

^Later in the evening we went bowling with Thomanders

July 4th- Kicked of with the annual ward breakfast. :)

^Then for tradition we got KFC and then went and ate it at Katz's pool.

Then went to a BBQ at Kirks.

Sarah played some baseball

We took pics of our festive outfits...

Later that evening we met up with Katz's at Shoreline for fireworks and snapped some cute pics.

^Fireworks were good as always.

July 7th- We did a lot of swimming at Shafer's pool too this summer.

July 8th- KAI'S BIRTHDAY #2

^Proof of how hot it was that day. That's what you get with no AC.

^Set up for the party

^Kai's cupcakes and cake. (At this age we just pick an interest of the kids and theme the party after it)

^Cowboy/Woody Party and cutie pie Kai!

^Sarah in character

Great company and presents for Kai.

Kai at age 2:

Weight: 30pds 8oz (80%)

Height: 36.5 inches (93%)

Kai doesn't seem to have any food dislikes yet. Loves sugar. He had some immunizations. Talks a ton!! Big sentences. Says things like, "Isss a good drink, and I no want to." Runs more. Likes to jump off things. Big climber. More independent. No sense of fear, hence the multiple times jumping in the pool this summer. :) Still hasn't climbed out of the crib. Sleeps from 7p-7a. Has quiet time and naps for about 1.5 hours. Super active. Gives hugs and kisses. Says adorable prayers. Likes to disobey directions. Zero interest in potty training. Doesn't like loud noises. Still loves his monkey blanket, sleeps with it and sucks on it. It reeks!!!

At this age we also invite our friends to celebrate with us since Kai hasn't established many friendships yet.

^Kaylynn and Brook

^Katzs

^Shafers

Favors

Loot

^Thomanders

^Youngs

Cute pics of the kids after...

Sarah and Emerson

^Kai and Waverly

July 9th and 10th- Visit to Visalia for Cheney babies blessing.

^Proof of how bad the eczema gets on my hands... Gross! And painful.

^We love the Cheneys!

When we got home in the evening I got some pictures taken with a good number of my friends that also have mini vans. (There are many more) I'm not sure this will ever happen again and thought it would be funny. :) Best practical car ever for this stage in our life.

Join the club!! :)

A cucumber from the garden. Obviously a first garden which is why it's fun to document.

July 12th-

^Kai sporting one of his bday gifts.

^Kai mistakenly thought this was an apple I think. :) Took one bite of the tomato and left it as I found later.

July 15th and 16th- Girls Getaway to Monterey

We shopped at the outlets in Gilroy on our way down to Monterey and then caught some rays at the hotel before we headed out for the night.

After our shopping spree...

...we got dinner at a yummy Mexican restaurant, and then went to the latest Harry Potter. (Not pictured)

and then went to the latest Harry Potter. (Not pictured)

In the morning after this delicious breakfast (best hotel buffet breakfast ever) we got ready and went to cannary row and rented a surrey and drove the path and took some pics.

Exhausted from shopping! :)

We need pedicures and yogurt!

^Ed's car was packed full. :) Fun trip ladies!

July 17th- Paige, the kids favorite sitter- before she left for college.

Farewell for Katz's moving to UCLA for business school

^Best friends

July 18th- Kid's mini sleepover with Katzs the night before they leave.

July 19th- Cutest/Saddest bestie goodbye hugs

Sad to see the Katz's go!!! We know we'll see them again!

July 20th- Sarah's first dance class and recital at the community center. Teacher Andrea.

^Cutest ballerina!

Later we went to Happy Hollow as a family and the kids got their faces painted with daddy there.

July 21st- Stew and Nicole visit :)

Farmers Market

^Ed helped me fill 100 balloons for a primary activity.

July 22-24, Yosemite with McPhies and Thomanders

We made it there just in time to make dinner (dutch oven lasagna), set up, get the kids in bed and visit. Ed is a great story teller.

In the morning we got ready and headed out for some hikes to waterfalls and swimming ponds. It was hot!

^We all jumped off that rock into the water and swam with the kids for a bit. Fun!

After a minor detour after our hikes....we had dinner and delicious Cobbler.

Then we just chilled around the fire.

^Ed and Scott decided it would be a good idea to sleep in hammocks that night.

The kids got along great and Ed seemed to have a magic trick for entertaining them.

Jaimi made delicious wheat pancakes for breakfast.

We left the campsite and went on a short hike before we headed home.

We like Yosemite! We had to make sure to go after living in CA 4 years! Thanks McPhies and Thomanders!

JUNE 2011

2011-11-30T21:56:00.001-08:00

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!

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

2011-11-26T13:00:00.000-08:00

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. ;)

Grindelwald, Switzerland/ Lucerne-Tuesday, May 24th

2011-11-26T11:14:00.000-08:00

Tuesday morning we headed out early, the hotel packed us a lunch instead of breakfast and we took a cog train up to Jongfraujoch. One of the highest alps in Switzerland.

It was freezing on top, but so cool!

We had lunch at the top and I shared with the birds...

There was also a whole ice room.

We took a little snooze on the ride down.

^The boys checking out the way the train works

We got back to the hotel and packed up to leave and head to Lucerne. I couldn't help take some last photos of the beautiful scenery as we drove away!

^Ed was quite the driver! We stopped in town to get some last pastries and souvenirs before our drive to Lucerne.

^Goodbye gorgeous Grindelwald!

Hello lovely Lucerne!

^Our hotel room

We got settled and headed out on the town.

Such a charming town.

We got dinner next to the water at Ristorante Rossini for dinner.

Delicious!

Got some Gelato and headed back to the hotel.

Another chill, beautiful town! I like it!

Grindelwald, Switzerland- Monday, May 23rd

2011-11-23T21:35:00.000-08:00

We slept in. Finally! This is why we ended with Switzerland. We knew it would be low key, and not to mention BEAUTIFUL!! This is the view from our window. I could live there.

Every cow has a bell and that's the noise we woke up to. I welcomed it. I loved being in the mountains!

^ These cows were grazing next to our hotel. It looks just like a scene from The Sound of Music.

^Beautiful hills of wild flowers.

^We couldn't stop talking about how amazing the views were.

After our picture taking we headed into the city center to walk around.

Cool buildings

More cool views

A cool cemetery! I wouldn't mind being buried there. Each tombstone was so different and had it's own patch of flowers surrounding it.

So well taken care of and special.

Of course we tried out the local bakery pastries. Delicious as always...

MMM... Apple pastries

More pictures of the many different bathrooms we came across...

^A picture of the different trash receptacles in each country. Just fun to see the differences.

^Ed sampling a fountain in the middle of the town.

After the city we headed to Thunersee Lake

for some more beautiful scenery...

and a short nap.

After a quick stop back to the hotel we came back to town for dinner and had pizza at an Italian place.

Then in the evening we watched a movie and played Phase 10. Nice relaxing day!

Travel Day from Bayeux to Grindelwald, Switzerland-Sunday, May 22nd

2011-11-11T21:19:00.000-08:00

Sunday we headed out for our drive to Switzerland. We made a stop to fill up and grabbed some treats.

^Meat flavored chips that Paul told us about. He was surprised at how many more chip options France has than U.S. He also said there is a shortage of BBQ sauce- so we sent him some as part of a tip. :)

^NOT cheap to fill up. And there were SO MANY TOLLS! My advice- do not drive country to country in Europe if you are trying to save money. :)

Yes, it was a long drive!

^Luckily we had Mad Libs to keep us entertained for part of the time. :)

^And unique snacks.

Finally to Switzerland!

Ausfahrt- a funny way of saying "exit" in German. ;) We loved trying to change our accents with each new country we visited. Good fun!

^We drove past Basel where my grandmother was born.

Then we stopped at the Bern Temple. Each anniversary Ed and I try to visit a new temple.

Pretty cool that the temple was in Europe this year!

We finally made it to Grindelwald!

It was pouring rain, and it was beautiful!

After about an hour of searching and driving far up into the Alps, we found our hotel. Quite a beauty! Luckily they fed us and opened up the kitchen to feed us dinner. :)

^The mountain air was great, but the flies were not! Ryan, hunting for flies...

Great food!

The boys killing more flies in our room...

Our room...

^After dinner we stayed up late and played cards.

Normandy/ A-Day/ D-Day- Saturday, May 21st

2011-11-11T19:46:00.000-08:00

A-Day meaning, Anniversary #7 Day!! Of course the day started with pastries...

Then we met with Paul Woodage (his site) for our D-Day tour.

^We started on Omaha Beach- low tide.

^Very humbling place to be and so neat to learn about all the history!

^The stories Paul told gave such a realistic idea of what it must have been like.

^All the original stuff.

^So many amazing stories about individual soldiers.

^Delicious baguettes on-site while Paul told us stories.

Beautiful views! Gorgeous Day!

^Paul had the coolest accent! I loved listening to everything and he told us some funny english terms too. :)

American soil in France. Cemetery owned by U.S. for lost soldiers. American grass, etc. brought over and thriving in France.

^Jewish graves- can't remember what the rocks symbolize...

^Gravesides of some of the soldiers' stories we heard.

Beautiful countryside we drove through.

Pointe du Hoc-

^Standing in a bomb crater! Crazy!

^and beautiful!

It was crazy to see what damage was done from the bombings

^Huge slabs of concrete thrown all over the place!

Onto another site. Beautiful!

And then on to the German cemetary...

Much different feel than that of the American army.

Black instead of white headstones- and supposedly these crosses were added much later.

After a day of learning about tragedies and triumphs,- we went back to bayeux, cleaned up and Ed and I went to a nice dinner for our anniversary. ;)

^Devoured creme brulee

^The true meaning of the word- shower. Made me chuckle.

^7 years married!

Faking the itch. ;)

Mont Saint-Michel- Friday, May 20th

2011-11-11T19:15:00.000-08:00

Before landing in Bayeux we stopped at a monastery called Mont Saint-Michel. I think it was one of my favorite stops, so I'm glad we went!

It was a beautiful day and a beautiful monastery! As you can see below...

^Cutest place. I love the streets!

^ Isn't it such a charming place?!

Back in Bayeux, we ate a Ryan and Maren's hotel.

^ Not my favorite meal. Sour cream on a pizza? Worth a shot! :)

Drive from Paris to Normandy/Bayeux- Friday, May 20th

2011-10-25T14:20:00.000-07:00

The boys left us Friday morning to pick up a car for us to drive to Normandy and then on to Switzerland. We did a little shopping and packed us all up.

Getting the car was a long process. (I would not suggest it).When they were asked if they wanted to upgrade to something bigger (thinking a SUV) they accepted and finished their business. Then they were brought to their upgrade which ended up being a 9 passenger GIANT van! Not wanting to spend any more time at the dealership they took it. Ed took the liberty of driving.

Ryan did the navigating.

Zero space issues...

^ Not sure you can tell, but there are no markings on the road out of Paris. People just drive wherever they like, or that's how it seemed. Some areas were marked, but not this one. What we thought was 2 lanes, then seemed like 3....crazy! Glad I wasn't driving!

Maren and I gladly sat in the back and let the men get us to our destination. The drive was somewhat long.

We stopped in Caen for lunch. Against my approval- we ate at McDonalds!!! Across the country and we eat at McD's?? Lazy americans and their fast food... Oh well.

^Silly but I thought it was interesting to see how different all the restrooms, flushing mechanisms, garbage facilities and signs are in different countries.

At least the food looked a little different...

It tasted a little different and was good.

But it was American good. :)

^Ed posing with our giant Mercedes van.

The drive was beautiful!! We saw a pastry shop so naturally we stopped in for a try. ;) Each time we struggled to pronounce the pastry names in French.

The Linzer (my pastry) was delicious!!

^More beautiful countryside.

More pictures of more pastries. We didn't skimp on our selections. ;)

I think eclaires were my favorite, but most everything tasted almost as good.

^ There was even pastry dispensing machines. No candy bars.

^MMMM!

^Another shot of the Linzer. I think I only had a few bites when I realized Ed had finished it quick. At least he felt bad. :)

^Macaroons. We were told to try them. Not my favorite and quite pricey in comparison to all the other delicious selections.

Can you tell we LOVED the pastries!! :) More eclaires...

Paris, France- Day 3-May 19th

2011-10-24T20:24:00.000-07:00

Day 3 in Paris we split with Layton's and headed to Versailles for the day. We heard it was a favorite and didn't want to miss out. So we took a train about an hour to Versailles.

It was indeed unique and beautiful. Gold everywhere.

What was more neat was how busy and ornate the decor was inside.

So much to look at!

Hadn't seen anything like it.

Floors were cool.

Railings...

Hallways...

Tapestries...

Super neat.

Windows...

The beautiful miles of gardens...

Yummy food...

...and the best company in a beautiful place on a beautiful day. :)

After our train ride home we went strait to Sainte Chapelle. Much smaller than I expected, lots of security,

...but very beautiful stained glass inside.

^ And neat floors. ;)

After Sainte Chapelle we had a gelato stop:

And then took the metro to Sacre Coeur. We got off one stop early and walked through some sketchy town, but the building was majestic and beautiful!

I even found some cute shoes for 10 euros on our way out of town.

Then for dinner we met up with Laytons at a place across from our hotel.

Once again food was delicious.

Also right next to our hotel we spotted a laundromat.

So that night, we did some much needed laundry.

To the best of our ability. Not knowing a lick of french we managed, but a load of laundry took over an hour...

and we learned later when the lights went out, that shortly after the machines would stop working. ;) My laundry got about half dry. Laytons hung theirs up to dry in the hotel due to the misunderstanding. :) Good times!

Paris, France- Day 2-May 18th

2011-10-03T09:08:00.000-07:00

It was so nice waking up every day and eating fresh pastries for breakfast!

^Nice way to park when your car is half the size of a regular car I suppose?

Our first stop was to the musee d'orsey. It was our favorite museum for sure!

We left and took the Metro

to the arc de triomphe. It was very majestic.

Then we walked down champs elysses, bought lunch on the way and ate it in a park.

Then we proceeded on...

I think most pictures are better with people in them- however, Ed is better at photographing so sorry you see me more often. :)

to the musee du louvre.

So much to see!

^Mona

^Venus

^Some cool fireplace with an H- for Harman of course! :)

^The upside down triangle- not actually in the louvre, but in the mall next door. That was different than I expected.

On our way out we needed to use the restroom only to find out that it costs money to use restrooms in Paris. There are a number of free restrooms, but also a large number you pay to use. Intersting...

Fancy shmancy restrooms though.

I had to take some pictures to show the luxury of these paid restrooms.

^We all thought it was a little ridiculous and planned our restroom stops a little better. ;)000

^Exit sign in Paris...so we learned.

More metro pics.

Next stop: Hotel Des Invalides and Napoleons Tomb.

I loved this building!

Then off to dinner at Le Bosquet- a restaurant we found on our walk to the Eiffel Tower. It was good, but I would have always rather gone somewhere that didn't have english on the menu. It made me feel like it was more authentic.

^The Layton's were definitely more daring in their selections. No snails for me thanks! :)

The creme brulet was delicious! Surprise!

^The Eiffel Tower was surely very cool!

As we went up each section we took more and more pictures. A lot of them look the same. :) And when we had time to spare...

...Maren and I got creative and made some pretty ugly pics. :) One of my favorite things to do...

^Ryan joined in...

And after one more normal picture...

^Ed joined in too. :)

^Much better!

We were at the top at sunset. Pretty neat!

Crepes to end the night before some night pics.

As neat as I thought it would be.

^It sparkles like magic for about 10 minutes every hour or something?

Paris, France- Day 1-May 17th

2011-09-21T21:12:00.001-07:00

I loved hearing phrases such as, "mind the gap" every time we got onto the train. :) Leaving London I realized that everything was about to change though. Everything would now be written in French, as it should be in France, but still a little scary when you don't know any more French than the travel book gives you!

We took the Eurostar to Paris bright and early.

Breakfast from the train station was actually delicious!

When we arrived with our luggage and tried to get around in the subways in Paris and such we thought it was ironic that we came across this sign: :) It seemed like a foreshadowing of what was to come...

Luckily we were wrong. Just navigating through the subways with luggage was miserable. We checked into our hotel, which was fabulous and had 2 separate rooms and a small kitchen. After we dropped off our luggage we headed out for some lunch.

Just around the corner we found Pasta Ritchi. Pizza sounded good, and their menu had some english on in- which would make for quicker selection.

We should have know lunch would be automatically served with wine. They probably thought we were crazy to turn it down. Maren looks pretty temped. ;)

Although the second menu name looked appealing, and surprising :) (maybe that's what Ryan and Mare were smiling about), we decided on some pizza and Paris began to deliver yummy food.

After lunch we headed to Du Pont Neuf for a boat tour of the city. Seemed like a nice way to get our bearings on the landmarks.

Lovers lockets on lots of the bridges.

When we finished our tour we walked to Notre Dame.

^While waiting in line we shared our first crepe. Just as good as everyone said they would be!

The bell tower was neat! It was all neat!

^Sorry Mare, your Quazi pic is much cuter than mine. :)

Interesting to find condom dispensers in the subway. :)

^And fun to see how different each stations walls, ceilings and surroundings were.

After a stop back at the hotel we headed out for dinner. We found a corner restaurant on the street of our hotel (forgot the name) and went with it. Contrary to what some people said about the French, they were very friendly and helpful in trying to understand our few French words and tried their best with any English they knew. It was kind of fun ordering off the menu, only knowing what the main dish was. No real details on preparation or sides, etc. :)

^ This Cheese Ravioli was DELICIOUS!!

So was our other option.

We lucked out and found this pastry shop right as it was closing. One of the workers was so friendly after finding out it was our first day in Paris and gave us tons of free beignets to go with the many other pastries we ordered.

^This is what we came home with the first night! :) People told me to take advantage of the delicious food and desserts, and you better believe I did. Eclairs were my favorite!

London- Day 4- May 16th

2011-09-20T13:40:00.001-07:00

Day 4 started at St Paul's Cathedral. We walked up a gagillion steps and took some pics on top.

Red busses everywhere!

Next we headed off to Buckingham Palace for the changing of the guard and the Queens Gallery.

For such a giant crowd you would thing this exchange would be pretty darn cool.

We waited forever! It rained a little...

And unfortunately it was a "short change" as they call it.

Not that cool of a production for the crowds of people and long wait, but it gave us some time to take meaningless shots of each other. :)

We heard Harrod's shopping center was worth seeing, so we had a look-see. It was quite extravagant!

My kind of place! TONS of candy, but I didn't buy any. Ed got some chocolate and Ryan, some turkish delight.

After Harrods we had lunch at EAT - a local place. I loved seeing Bircher Muesli at lots of places in Europe.

Ed and I shared a pot pie and sandwich.

Yummy!

After lunch we went to see Westminster Abbey.

^ This picture shows some London Landmarks, The Eye, Big Beg, Westminster Abbey, and of course a red phone booth and red double-decker bus. :)

The Abbey is such a neat building!

^Info about the Royal Wedding. ;)

This London trip was go, go, go! We walked close to our dinner spot to Grosvenor Square and took a quick, much needed, and glorious nap on the grass in the sunshine until it was time for dinner.

Then when it was time we went to the Maze Grill, a suggestion from a friend and one of Gordon Ramsey's restaurants.

It was very delicious. Our waiter gave us all sorts of info about Gordon and took us to meat the kitchen staff.

It was a fun experience and apparently we just missed Gordon himself, who was having dinner there that night.

We rushed off and ran to the Queen's Theater to see Les Mis. We barely made it in time! Just in time to see that someone else was sitting in our seats as the lights dimmed and they were not able to correct the mistake in time. We ended up having to sit on the side. I was so ticked!!! Finally mid-show, at intermission we were able to have our real seats!!

The show was amazing and a perfect ending to our stay in London.

Farewell London! We thought you were great!

Our hotel was ite!

Now off to Paris, France...

London- Day 3- May 15th

2011-09-19T20:34:00.000-07:00

It's overwhelming how behind I am! 4 months now! 3 days down- 12 to go for Europe!

We started out Sunday May 15th going to the Peckham ward in London.

^ It was very neat to visit our church in another country. Funny how at home we feel there though.

^ One of the fun things to see on the ground in London since traffic is switched.

After church, we changed and headed to made up Platform 9 3/4 at King's Cross.

Ed decided to take some photos of the tracks

^And in turn got yelled at by the train conductor saying, "Cheers mate, if you do that again you'll be out of the station!" :)

Next we headed to the British Library, one of Maren's favorites. At first I was thinking it might not be very interesting, but indeed turned out to be really neat! There were writings in so many languages! Beatles lyrics and other musical notes, etc. Very cool.

St. Pancras Station

^We had lunch at a suggested Pub and all decided pub food is just average.

Then off to the British Museum. Neato!

We loved having a London Pass and riding double decker busses everywhere.

^We saw lots of silly street performers on our walk to the London Eye- one of the attractions listed as part of the London Pass. To our dismay- this was not true- so we went to dinner instead...

Where? Garfunkels. It was yummy!! It was suggested by a friend for the yummy waffle dessert, but the food was delicious too!

^Bruschetta

^Some kind of sheppards pie type thing...

^Delicious custard, rum cake or other...

^ And the waffle dessert itself! Waffle topped with ice cream, toffee and syrup. MMMM!

We were all quite full after eating the deliciousness!

^Tears of joy being shed after dinner. Cute face Mare!

We had some time to kill before it got dark( the boys wanted some photos), so we took bus 91 to Crouch and back. Took a little snooze and ate some foreign-ish candy. ;)

Then when the lights went out, the boys shot away...

^...while Maren and I froze!

The said night shots: Pretty cool guys!!

^London Eye

^Big Ben

^A smoochy from my love...

And in the end since we were out so late, we sprinted our hinneys to the last DLR train to run for the night to get us back to our hotel. Very painful whilst holding a much needed pee by all! ;)

London Day 2- May 14

2011-08-17T20:45:00.001-07:00

Seriously- SO MANY PICTURES from the trip. I have to post each day separate because there are so many!! Why did I wait!!? And why do I not know how to make collages??!

Our breakfast every day in London:

^Our shoes of choice for the trip. They were great!

First stop-Portobello Market

^Royalty craze!

^Lots of people! Lots of great booths.

^Happy when shopping. :)

^Great food- steak sandwich

^Crepes were what we were told to eat...

^...and that we did! Let the creping begin!

^MMM good!

Next stop- Kensington Palace

^Left us thinking exactly what you see on our faces..."what the..?" Weird friends, weird, and somewhat creepy.

Next stop- City Cruise- Westminster Pier and Tower Bridge

^Under London Eye

^ Family Jewel Holders

^Boys will be boys

^Maybe you can't see what I see...let me give you a closer look-

^Seriously?! Who builds that into their armor? Henry viii. He does. Hmmm.

Loved the Tower of London. Everything was neat! Crown Jewels, Torture Chambers, etc...

^Follow my finger...

^We don't look like tourists at all!

^Right before dinner at a potty break we saw this sign. Translation: " If a person in a wheelchair is chasing you- run this way!" :) Just funny to see how different the signs are from country to country.

We ended the night at Zizzi's Italian Food.

Great Pizza, pasta and breadsticks.

In the evening we went back and played canasta in the hotel lobby. The Irish Cagefighters that were there had quite the mouths. Made us all kind of grumpy. Especially the boys.

^In hotel- Ed driving bus.

^Our room worked just great! We didn't spend much time in it anyway.

To London... May 12/13 Day#1

2011-08-16T13:59:00.000-07:00

Shooting for a post a day to catch up!!

On our way to Europe for the first time! First stop, London!

The plane ride was pretty good, besides the fact that it was long. ;) We had a quick layover in NYC.

I was happy that the plan had individual TVs for games and movies.

Very helpful on a long flight!

The food was even pretty decent

^As you can see we were pretty tired after we arrived. After we got to our hotel, The Holiday Inn Limehouse, we spruced up and headed out on the town.

^My view of Ed most days...

^ Lots of pictures to be taken!

^Views on our walk to the Covent Garden.

^Love all the red phone booths

^And the bright red, double decker buses.

^ Time for some love. Fun to wander the streets together.

^ Went to Punch and Judy's Pub for dinner.

Food was so- so. ;)

^The boys looking awkward in the dark pub.

^ Dessert is my thing so I was thrilled that we found a gelato shop right before it closed. The coconut gelato was to die for!! MMMM!

We were back to the hotel at 8pm for an early snooze to rejuvenate for a busy Day #2.

Europe begins with Utah

2011-08-13T13:19:00.000-07:00

Wednesday May 11th starts our Europe trip! First stop, Utah to drop off the kids. Maren and Leah joined us too.

^Silly faces

^Us arranging

^Chillin' while watching shows

^Put your feet up and relax

^And sleep

^cause it's a LONG drive!! We took our typical breaks and made record time I think!

We spent a night in UT and got the kids situated with Aunt Debbie and Grandma Johnson -stay #1.

^Mandatory stop- the salon with Cami! To try and phase out the blonde she did a color melt. NOW the trip may begin. :) Thanks Cam!

Then we spent some last few moments with the kids before we headed off to London. It was a tearful drive to the airport, but we knew they were in good hands. Thank you family for making this possible! Many sacrifices were made and did not go unnoticed! Off to London we go next...