Coolest Thing Ever

Keith and I took a train to Zurich Thursday night and then boarded our sleeper car around 10:30pm.  I'm not sure why I thought it was so awesome, but I really felt it was the coolest thing I have ever done.  Of course the room was tiny but they greeted us with water, cookies and even individual bottles of wine. (kind of wasted on us.)  The room had a bathroom with a shower, a table and two chairs, and even air conditioning.  They brought us breakfast in the morning of hot chocolate, yogurt, breads, cheeses, meats.  Keith slept like a baby and I barely slept.  There was so much movement.  But still, go to sleep in Zurich, wake up in Vienna. Coolest thing ever.

So Much to Look Forward to -

When we have regular weeks like this past one there is not much to highlight on my blog and I don't often take pictures of the day to day stuff.  But I wish I did.  Yesterday as I was driving with my friend Lori over one of the beautiful bridges in Bern the view of the Alps literally took my breath away.  The skies were so blue and with the Aare so turquoise and then the snow capped mountains - I wished I had my camera and could share what I saw.

I also wish I had brought my camera Saturday night when we went to dinner at my friend Monique's house.  She had a beautiful table set outside with sunflowers and an array of goodies.  They had constructed an awning to protect us from the predicted rain.  We had the most amazing meal with five different kinds of meats, wonderful salads and breads, and incredible desserts.  Unfortunately the rains did come and even though we were protected for awhile, a huge gust of wind tumbled it all down and we had to run inside for cover.  It was a wonderful evening, thanks to Monique and Hans.

Another highlight of the week was that Keith gave a talk in Sacrament Meeting and he gave it in German.  How amazing is that, and it was amazing.

So even though the last week was a little slow, this is what I am looking forward to and I will definitely bring my camera for it all:

-Keith and I leave Thursday night, take a private sleeper car to Vienna.  Spend two days in Vienna, then take a train to Prague where we have three more days.

-Mike and Becky Richards come and we look forward to spending some time with them.

-Keith's parents come and stay with us for two weeks.  The kids and Keith will have one of the two weeks off to travel nonstop.  We can not wait! They leave Friday September 28th.

-Keith and Josh have a Father/Son camp out Friday night.

-Carolee and Doug Romney come to stay at our place.  We will only have 24 hours with them, but Kelly and I are extra excited to see Carolee.  They come Saturday.

-We leave Sunday to spend two weeks in England and Scotland.

-During the time we are gone Susan and Brad Andrews are coming to share our flat with the Romney's.  Unfortunately our paths won't cross with the Andrews.

Stresa, Italy

Wednesday Andrea and Ken Wilkinson came to Bern and it was so nice to see them.  We walked around Bern a little and then headed back to our house for our traditional raqulette dinner.  After dinner we took the funicular up to the Gurten, visited and walked around there for awhile.  They headed back to Zurich that evening but it was great fun to see them.

Friday Keith was ready for an adventure.  The kids and I have been going non stop but poor Keith felt like his summer was too short.  We found a great place to stay right on the shore of Lake Maggiore.  It had an amazing pool right on the lake and because it was in Italy, the food was fairly cheap and delicious.

What is it about Josh and gelatto - Look at his face, SERIOUSLY!

The Ellis's

We had one day to regroup from our trip to the states and then Thursday morning we met the Ellis's at the train station bright and early.  Leslee, John, and Sarah came to visit for a few days on their way to France.  It was so great to see them!  We dropped their stuff of at our house and then headed to Zermatt.  It was a beautiful day and you could see the Matterhorn perfectly.  We took the Gornergrat up to the highest point where the views were spectacular.  We walked around the cute town of Zermatt, had ice cream, went to the museum, and then headed home.

Friday was a really fun day.  We took the train to Grindlewald and then took the gondola up to First.  We planned on taking the zip line down but the line was too long so we took the tram down to the half way point.  From there we rented scooters and rode them down this beautiful path into town.  I was so glad the zip line didn't work out because I think the scooters were much more fun.                       

From Grindlewald we went to Lauterbrunnen and then Trummelbach Falls.

 Saturday the Ellis's headed off to the Chocolate Factory and Gruyere,

 I headed off to bed.  When they got home they all rode their bikes down to the Aare River and went swimming.

 Sunday we all went to church together, had a great dinner, then spent the afternoon seeing Bern and the Temple.

Monday the kids had their first day of school.  They were so sad to see the Ellis's go, yet they were happy to go to school and they each had a great day.

It was the best of times, it was the worst of times.

Emily and Meg traveled around the last week while Kelly and Josh finished their last week of school.  They had a "I survived a year in a new school,  in a new country, speaking a different language"  party Friday night and spent Saturday hiking in Gimmelwald.

Monday, July 9 we all flew to Atlanta together.  Meg and Emily headed to Salt Lake from there and we went to Los Angeles. In spite of the horrible tooth pain on the plane, the many dentist appointments, the two root canals, the new bridge, and the obscene amount of money spent on all that, we had a nice trip.

We went to the beach with Mel and Hunter.

 We went to our cabin in Sedona.  James and Ryan caught a fish.

 We hiked and swam in the creek.

Thanks to Ty, we watched movies outside at Jen and Ty's beautiful new home in Flagstaff.  We hung out with the kids and held Hadley every chance we got.

Lastly, we spent time in Phoenix with my family where my family takes such good care of me.