Weekend Escape

Don and Leslie were kind enough to let us use their cabin in Pinetop for the weekend.  It was soooo nice to get away before Alex leaves and Taylor gets married!  They weren't gonna come at first.  Brad, Danny, Ryan and I went on Friday afternoon and then the older boys decided to come up the next morning.  We had a last of the season snowstorm on Saturday that was beautiful!  We woke up in the morning and it had been snowing all night and then it snowed well into the afternoon.  I loved reading while watching the snow and the fire.  It was so relaxing.  The boys played in the snow and read and played games and then we went and ate Mexican food.  What a great weekend!

Labor Day Break

On Labor Day weekend, we were lucky enough to borrow a friend's cabin for a few days. We wanted to get out of the heat and we were selfish and wanted Taylor to ourselves for a few days before he left on his mission. We went to Pinetop, not very far from Don's cabin. We ate Mexican food and watched the BYU game, relaxed, played games, went to church, and spent a little time in the mountains up by Green's Peak. We took hot dog fixins' and found a little place to build a fire. As soon as it was time to cook the hotdogs, it started raining. We got them cooked anyway - and after it stopped raining we spent some nice time in the woods. It was so relaxing! We always miss Emily though!

It was hard to start a fire because everything was so damp. The boys had to show me how manly they were! In the picture you see Alex playing with his hair. He had his head so close blowing on the fire that he actually burned some of his hair!

Camping face (a joke in our family!)

All my boys :)

The Second Half

After spending a day in Lucerne, we got on a train again and made our way to Paris.  We took our stuff to a cute hotel that had a view of the tip of the Eiffel Tower.   Then we had the late afternoon and evening ahead of us, so we decided to go strait to Notre Dame.  We decided to travel the city like real Parisiennes and went underground to the Metro.  It was the biggest underground I had ever seen.  Each station seemed like an underground city and we walked and walked a ton.  Anyway, we got to Notre Dame which is beautiful.  Do I overuse that word?  I guess I could say "stunning"!  Brad and I had been there 10 years earlier and our older bodies weren't up to the task of climbing up to the tower this time - so we sent Emily to experience it alone while we wandered in the cathedral.  Afterward we walked around the Eiffel Tower and then had dinner.

Notre Dame

The view from our window

A street named after Emily!

The next morning we got up early, got ready for church and headed over to the Louvre.  We walked and it was gorgeous but kind of chilly.  I had always heard that Paris and hot and humid in August, but most of the time it was beautiful weather.  Well, all except this day, cuz it just got colder and rained and drizzled all day.  I didn't mind, but I was wishing I had brought my jacket.  

We spent a couple of hours at the Louvre.  Emily wanted to be sure and see the Mona Lisa.  It is really an amazing place.  You could spend weeks there and still not see everything!  Afterwards, we walked to church and were kind of amazed that we actually found it!  When church was over we got on a train and went to Versailles.  When Brad and I were here 10 years ago, we didn't make it to Versailles, so I was really excited.  There were tons of people but it was fun to see how the royalty lived back in Marie Antoinette's time.  Everything was so over-the-top.  We saw a bedroom where her husband Louie received visitors and did work in his bed!  And not because he was sick!  The neatest part was probably seeing the "Hall of Mirrors".  We didn't go into the huge gardens that we wanted to see because it was raining so much and the cold was making Emily's shingles miserable.  But we were really glad we went.

Outside the Louvre

After we got back to Paris, we at Crepes in a little cafe and then went to the Eiffel Tower and the Arc de Triomphe.  It takes about 2 hours to get to Versailles, but it is sure worth it!

Our last day in Paris - so hard to decide what to do.  We went to the Pantheon, where people such as Madam Curie and Victor Hugo are buried.  We walked around as much as we could and just enjoyed the atmosphere of Paris.  We all agreed that we love it there and wish we could spend more time.  Brad had to leave for the airport at 1pm, so we walked over to the Eiffel Tower again and then said goodbye.  It was hard to say goodbye to him.  You never know what might happen.  I was so thankful too, for my little "Sherpa"!  He volunteered to lug my cuckoo clock home for me and I know it was difficult with all he had to manage.  Thank you Brad!  

After he left, Emily and I hurried over to the river Siene and took a tourist boat ride.  It was lovely and a perfect way to end our time in Paris.  Then, we went to the train station and rode the Eurostar through the Chunnel to get to England.  Emily had left a big bag in London and she wanted to show me where she lived.  I got to see the outside of the BYU Center and I marveled at her charging through the city knowing exactly what she was doing.  She even got me an Oyster Card (frequent rider) for the Tube because she said it would be cheaper.  We wandered around and she was a little dismayed because there were a billion people and policeman everywhere.  We found out that "Carnivale" had just finished and it is the 2nd biggest in the world!  She introduced me to a waffle with Dulce de Leche on the top - sinfully yummy! 

The next morning we left early for the incredibly long flight home.  We stopped in Charlotte, NC forever and finally got home about 9pm that night.

I feel so lucky and blessed that I got to experience this wonderful trip with Emily and my sweetheart.  I feel very spoiled and I know that I will have beautiful memories forever.  Thank you Brad.  I love you!

Off to Venice and Switzerland!

Emily finished up her study abroad in England and was going to do a little bit of traveling with her friends.  Lucky me got to meet up with her in Venice, do a little traveling and sightseeing of our own - end up in London and fly back together!

It was so exciting heading off to Venice to meet with her.  I have to admit though, that I was very nervous and maybe even a little scared! I know that I was just there with Brad in April, but I was worried that I wouldn't be able to communicate without my trusty language guide (Brad) by my side!  Everything went pretty smoothly though.  I got into the airport and then had to figure out what bus to take.  I finally met up with Emily at the Vaporetto station, which is a public water bus.  She had to wait for an hour or two in the heat so I felt bad about that.  Anyway, we got to our hotel and then started exploring.  It is soo beautiful there.  Like Emily says in her blog, it is weird that peeling paint and really old things can have so much appeal!  We had so much fun just walking around and taking lots of pictures.  We ate lunch by the famous old Rialto Bridge, we went to the square where San Marco (Mark the Apostle) is buried, walked around in the outdoor market, had a gondola ride (of course) and looked in lots of shops.

After spending the night in Venice we headed for the train station around lunch time.  Emily had the experience here, since she had just ridden a couple of trains with her friends.  It was a huge adventure for me!  We had to switch trains 3 different times to get to Lucerne, Switzerland.  I absolutely loved this part of the trip!  Our first stop was Milano.  Then we got on a different train and went through Lake Como.  It was a beautiful city up in the mountains right on a huge lake.  I have to admit I kept my eyes peeled for George Clooney!  

Then we started twisting and turning through the Alps.  I know I keep repeating myself - but, it was gorgeous!  I couldn't take my eyes of the country we were going through:  huge mountains, lakes that didn't even have a ripple on them, waterfalls, gushing out everywhere, and little cute Swiss houses with smoke curling out of the chimneys!  I wish this part could have lasted longer.  Every time I travel, I am always amazed at how beautiful this world really is.  

We switched trains again in Zurich, and arrived in Lucerne at about 10pm.  We were so tired we just went to bed!

We woke up to a beautiful site out our window in Lucerne.  It is situated on a lake and is in the middle of the Alps.  We soaked in the scenery, ate some breakfast, and walked around the town a little.  Around noon, Brad joined us (yay!) and we explored some more.  It rained most of the day and we didn't have a lot of time to explore the mountains or anything, so we just tried to cram in as much looking as possible.  We also had to get souvenirs - Swiss knives for all the boys and a cuckoo clock for me!  I wish we could have spent more time in Lucerne.  It was so interesting hearing the German all around me.  I have heard a lot of Spanish, Italian, and French in my life but not much German.  We ended the day by going to a cute little restaurant and eating authentic Swiss food.  I had Schnitzel and Noodles and it was yummy!

Italia!

Brad and I were lucky enough to go on an amazing trip to Italy this Spring.  Emily came home from BYU and watched the boys and we took off.  I am planning on making a book of our trips and so I only chose a few pictures to represent each place we visited.  We saw so many amazing things that it was really hard to boil it down to just a few pics.  First we arrived in Rome!  We were able to see the Coliseum, the Vatican and lots of beautiful fountains.  Sadly, we were not able to see the Forum because it was closed for a holiday.  So we will save that for another day!

We rented a car and drove through Tuscany.  It was so beautiful.  We stayed at a little vineyard outside of a place called Rhiadda in Chianti.  It was still a working vineyard and very quaint.

Next, we stopped in Florence.  I loved Italy so much, but I think that my very favorite place was Florence.  We stayed in the heart of the old town and got to go to all the museums and eat at little cafe's in the old piazzas.  It was heavenly.  We got to see the "David" by Michelangelo and I was struck by how tall it was.  It was huge!  We even got to attend church in Florence. :)

Our next stop was Venice!  I have ALWAYS wanted to go there and it definitely did not disappoint!  We stayed in a hotel overlooking the Grand Canal.  It was so awesome!  We wandered around and explored and of course had to take a boat ride.  It was very romantic.  :)

On our way home, we even got to spend a couple of days in New York.  We got to wander around town and saw "Mary Poppins" in Broadway.  It was great getting to stop there for a few day because then we weren't so jet-lagged when we got home!  Thanks Brad for the "trip of a lifetime" and for all the wonderful memories.  :)