Spass Blitz

Toddler Talker

2012-01-12T22:23:00.005-07:00

If you spend much time around toddlers, you realize they are sometimes hard to understand. They are developing their speech, and with any language there are some stumbles along the way. Ba does a great job at keeping up with LEs new words. Ry struggles a bit, and he realized how much he uses context to try and understand. As we enjoy many games, we decided to develop the "Toddler Talker". Watch the following videos and try to guess the words LE is saying. You can't see most of the props, so it might prove difficult even for you seasoned mothers and linguist out there. At the end of the post is the answer key to each video, so let us know how you did. One of LEs favorite words that didn't make the video is "Fa-gee", and neither of us know what it really means.

First video
milk, orange, cheese, ranch, cheese, plate, cup, mine

Second video
Elmo, dice, tights, headband, jammies, sock, baby, blanket, hat, blanket, pillow, tower

Last video
apple, boat, apple, doggie, ball, milk, car, bath, flower, cat, banana, duck

A little breezy

2011-12-12T14:42:00.011-07:00

Two weeks ago we had a wind storm that cased a lot of damage, we were even with out power for 24 hours . We were lucky that in our little apt. area there wasn't a lot of damage. But driving down the street one could see a lot of trees down and power polls. The Sunday after the storm we went to church to find out that we would just be having sacrament meeting. The rest of the day we were asked to go help clean up the trees, to avoid more problems with a storm predicted that night. It was a very different Sunday but all types of people come out to help each other.

There were four tall firs, and now there is only one tall stump.
Hundreds of trucks were on the roads hauling limbs to the high school or landfill. It was a nice decoration for Christmas having garland strung along every street in the entire city.

The big dump truck at the end of the picture was filled with only a few trees in it. Nearly every pine tree that was over 30 feet tall was blown over.

On a lighter note, we celebrate St. Nicholas Tag. It was fun to have LE get excited to see her shoe filled with candy and a gift.

I know this shirt is cheesy but it is so true. LE loves to help out with whatever we are doing.

Ba is very excited when she was able to get LEs hair into two very small piggy tails. It only stayed in for about an hour but it was still able to be done. She will probably get her first haircut when she is 5.

Little Chef

2011-11-02T20:29:00.005-06:00

We went on a hike last week and in turned out to be more of a scramble than a hike. It is kind of tricky with having a backpack on with a 19 month old in it.

We made it to our destination! That was close. We enjoyed throwing rocks into water, and finding the right path back to the car.

LE and Ba had fun painting glass jars and making them look like jack-o-lanterns. LE is at a very fun age, and learning so fast.

She has started learning the art of dress ups. After moving from trying on all the shoes in the house, she put on as many pair of pants on as she could-or that BA will help her with. She is sporting 4 in this picture.

One of our favorite games to play is hide and seek. Most of the time we just hide her "baby." She thought it would be so funny to hide herself and she chose to go in the block bag. It was very funny because it was clear, and she keep tipping over and wanting to do it again.

LE was a chef for Halloween, and it fits what she loves to do the most. Whenever either one of us is cooking she wants to be right in the action helping.

Our ward had a harvest fair, which turned out to be very fun. With LE's great cooking skills, she won an award for the creamiest pie in the contest. You would think her age played a role in skewing the judges decisions, but it was an anonymous entry.

This is a picture of us at the fair sitting on some hay.

This is a picture of us with a witch. LE didn't like them when they were close, but loved them when they were far away.

This is a picture of us dressed up for a Halloween party. Ba is a cupcake (with cherry on top), Ry is a receipt and cooking supplies, and LE is our little chef.

All five kids did not smile, but they also did not cry, so that is a bit of a miracle.
Ba put a lot of time into hand crafting this outfit, and it just might be the last year for that.

A new time Record

2011-10-11T14:45:00.000-06:00

Sometimes Ry rides his bike to work. It is about 9 miles, and some days he goes super fast. Today was one of those days, and he was aiming for a new record. At one downhill stretch he was going 30mph and crossed a bridge. He looked behind him to find a gap in traffic to merge between cars when his front tire suddenly blew. It is hard to control a bike, and he started to panic right when the second tire blew. He didn't crash or get hit by a car which is good. Ba was not awake yet so he got someone from work to come get him because he was 2.5 miles from a bus stop. While walking down the road a not-so-ugly blonde pulled over and asked him if he wanted a ride. He politely declined, but thought it was pretty funny. In the end a new record was set for getting to work, but it definitely wasn't the fastest.

Klepto

2011-09-25T21:17:00.012-06:00

Last weekend Ry went on an adventure with his brothers. Ba and LE were left behind. Sad? Yes, but it is good for Ry to get in some brother/man time. Ba was determined to have some fun as well, so they went to her sisters house for a day and a half of the trip. LE, Abe and Big Red had a swell time. Playing with shaving cream on the table was a big hit, but Abe was a little hesitant to getting messy.

When Ry is gone, what else is left to do but go shopping!! Ba found some nice clothes for LE for next summer which is always fun. At one store, Ba was checking out and LE was playing with some displays. While driving on the freeway, Ba noticed LE was pulling things out of the bag and was playing with some lotion. Ba didn't buy any lotion. Little pirate snuck her goods under the sensors, and right past the security cameras. Ba had a good laugh and turned around at the next exit and headed back to the mall. We had a little talk about making sure we pay for things before putting them into the bag.

The local town was throwing a safety fair. LE thought she was such a big girl when she was able to sit in the fire truck.

Waiting in line to sit up in the truck.

Aunt Netty and Uncle S were so nice and treated us to ice cream. Abe and LE shared a cotton candy scoop. It wasn't very good, but LE thought it was great. She looked like a little Smurf before she was done.

Over Labor Day weekend, the girls headed over to nick-knack heaven, Swiss Days. We like to get there early and beat all the crazy shoppers. It is always so much fun to walk around and see what decorating ideas other people have, and what the "hot" items are.

LE has become quite the pool shark. She is very sad that our complex pool is now closed for the season. If you look closely, she has just enough hair to make a tiny pony tail. That is 18 months of hard work.

Ba taught swim lessons to family, and she just loved teaching people of all ages. Below is our niece just figuring out how to side breath. Doesn't she look good?

flour power & 6 girls in 18 mo

2011-08-19T13:14:00.027-06:00

LE and I having a great summer. We enjoy swimming, playing at the park and cooking together. LE loves to help out in the kitchen, especially when it comes to measuring and dumping. This morning we were making Zucchini bread. I turned for just a second and she dumped flour all over. And of course she had a taste!

Another day when I was making waffles she was helping load the dishes. There are two things on the door that shouldn't be there: a cup of flour, and LE.

We were getting ready for the blessing of the last of the "Sixlets." All six siblings in my family have had a baby girl within the last year and a half. We decided to take pictures of all the little ladies in their blessing dresses. I think LE's dress fits better now than when she was blessed. Her arms and neck are about the same thickness, she is just longer.
The Lake family came to the blessing, so LE had a chance to play with "Elephant", her cousin from Washington who is 4 days older. They are just getting their heads suck in non-regulation railings.
It was a great day at Wheeler Farm. LE liked the wagon ride and of course all the animals. It is a little gross when she tries to give them kisses.

There are 14 grand kids on this side of the family with one more on the way. There are only a few looking into space, crying, and no nose picking!

The original six Lake kids holding all of their baby girls. A whole basketball team with a sub.

Two months in review

2011-07-13T21:35:00.041-06:00

When we don't blog for awhile it means we are boring people and don't do anything or the opposite. Lets just blame the lack of updates on how much fun we have been having this summer. Last summer was a lot harder for Ba so we are making up for lost time. Here is a recap of some things we have been up to.

Ry's side of the family had a Reunion in Eden up Ogden Canyon, or if you are crazy and want to ride your bike, North Ogden Bypass. It was so much fun to play games, eat good food someone else prepared, and just play with family. LE loved having other kids to play with.

Here we are at a petting zoo, I think this was LE's favorite part of the trip.

She was all smiles the first time she was on the horse, she could have taken a few more laps.

Feeding the animals was a really funny to watch. I think both were scared. LE has learned to give kisses, so naturally the goat was an excellent candidate for some lovin.

She likes to push strollers around even when it has her cousin in it that weighs as much as her.

The Barn yard dog sprawled out- Do all farm dog have their tail cut off?

Family hike! It is hard to walk with a little body moving around all over the place.

Playing at the Lake, it was so much fun we skipped nap time. That is not mud on her face(but could have been), just Oreo.

Painting Dad's stomach with mud. Gotta love that man with a mega farmer tan!!

Playing with a stick on the beach. LE had a great time splashing in the water and going on boat rides.

LE likes to find BA's swim cap and goggles and try them on. It makes her eyes all squinty, and everyone gets a good laugh.

We had a great July 4th weekend, with a ward Breakfast, hiking, fireworks, and BBQ. It was the first weekend in 6 weeks that we were at home, we sure enjoyed sleeping in our own beds.

LE was very good during the hike sitting in her back pack, but at the end she just wanted to get out and walk. Well lets just say her legs had a hard time keeping up with the rest of her. This time it is mud.

Weekend get away! It was a wonderful thing. Ba's parents were so nice to watch LE while we went and hung out with some good friends down in St George. It was so nice to do things that you can't do with children around, like intense climbing/hiking.

It was Ba's first time playing real golf. We played best ball or it would have taken forever. Our teachers were very patient, and can you say SLICE!

We took a short cut through a small river to cool off. Ry was a very good ball gatherer. I think we ended up with 14 more balls then we started with and that is saying something for all the ones we lost.

We did a relay race with some people in Ry's family up in Idaho. You run two legs of about 5 miles, and we both felt very good about how we ran. Of course there is extra time waiting for other runners, so reading is nice.

Yeah, everyone on the team (except for one party pooper) wore tu-tu's. Others were embarrassed when they got passed making it so much more fun.

Camping the night before was also really fun. Ba cropped this picture, but she is wearing chacos with socks. Sick.

We participated in a stake Sprint Triathlon. We both took home some hardware for our performance.

Black ninja strikes again. It doesn't even look like she is trying hard.

This is Ry and he is extremely out of breath trying to catch the guy in front of him (Ed). His dad was talking trash to Ed so it motivated everyone to go faster.

Other pictures from the race.

"I think I can..I think I can.."

2011-06-06T13:16:00.006-06:00

Ry has been biking up the big hills in Bountiful to get ready for his first (and maybe last) bike race this year. He is pretty excited to get started.

He didn't have anyone doing it with him, so he was a bit of a loner compared to all these groups with big teams. He wants to get on a team so he can enjoy group riding, but doesn't want to commit that much time. Tough decision.

The race starts at the equestian park in Draper, and climbs to the top of Suncrest. Once the racers got to the top of Suncrest, they raced down the south side into Highland. Then for good measure, they climbed back up to the top of Suncrest again. That is two category 2 climbs if you are familiar with cycling. A vertical climb of 2100+ feet in just 15 miles such does tucker you out. Ry said that he didn't really see the beautiful view because it was behind him on the climbs. He was going so fast on the downhill (Speeds up to 45mph on a skinny little bike) that he was paying too much attention to not crashing and didn't dare look up.

Ry did well until about halfway up the second climb when the group he was with started to accelerate, and his poor little legs wouldn't move much faster. He finished in the top 70% (okay so that is not very good), and accomplished his goal of finishing.

Ba was very supportive through all of this, and was even a race volunteer.

Trauma Drama

2011-05-23T22:31:00.005-06:00

We had a busy end of the week. LE decided to inhale a small part of a pink crayon. After going to our doctor to avoid the ER, we were sent to the ER at Primary Children's Hospital to get X-rays. Her right lung would not deflate when she was breathing. The doctor said it was like a ball valve, and was wondering if we knew what that was. PLEASE, that is what Ry does for a living. They decided LE needed to get "scoped". To put her to sleep, she needed to have not eaten for 6 hours, and they told us this right after she ate. Annoying. LE had fun playing with all the toys and charming the nurses till about 11:00PM. Then they stuck her with needles, and she was pretty unhappy. Right when Ba had her calmed down, and put her to sleep, they came in to wake her up, so they could put her to sleep. The operation only took about 10min. We had a nice night sleeping in our cloths so they could monitor the lung. We woke up and Ry drove straight to work. He said a lot of his work had to be redone from Friday morning, but we survived. LE is doing great without any side affects, and we think she was the only one not traumatized by the experience.

LE is getting to be pretty adventuresome as is seen here standing up on a motor cycle. With the blue hue to her jamies, the doctors and nurses usually thought she was a boy. BA kept on the pink socks to help remind them.

LE loved to take the "ear lookers" off the wall because the light would turn on, and the she would put it back and repeat for about 15min. The crib was more like a play cage than a bed. We ended up 'sleeping' three on a twin bed.

This toe light was used to help monitor her heart rate. LE liked to chase her tail around, and we think she looked like ET. "LE go hooome".

LE needed to rehydrate so we gave her juice that was only half diluted. What a rush! She pounded that stuff. I thought she was going to have breathing problems on the recovery because she wouldn't stop to get any air.

To top it off when we got home Friday at noon we found out that pipes in our apartment had broken. What fun.

Take a Seat

2011-05-01T21:11:00.003-06:00

When we moved we sold all of our furniture to make the process easier. The problem was that the only thing we had to sit on was some nice soft carpet and folding chairs. We were looking for couches, and we found a microfiber set of couch, love, and oversized chair in amazing condition. We sure like sitting in our new couches, and although they are not the top grade, and "slightly used", they are way better than the floor. It is amazing how much you appreciate things when you are used to having nothing.

Ry made that rocking chair LE is standing on. He looking online at some pictures from a google search, and made the design from there. After a few visits to Lowes, and a friends wood shop we have a fantastic mini playground. We are planning on painting it, but we are not sure what color. Any suggestions? Ba wants white, and Ry wants bright yellow or green (it doesn't match the room). It was fun for Ry to make it, and it is nice that he likes doing crafts like this. Maybe we should have family craft time where we make bows and scrapbook.

For five minutes

2011-04-02T10:12:00.002-06:00

LE has now been officially walking for five minutes. I am a stickler about these advancements in life. I think a baby has to be stable for at least four steps before it is considered a "walk." She does have a bit of a swagger, but it looks pretty legitimate to me. Of course she is motivated by footwear, what a girl. Does it look like a valid walk to you?

A red flag has been thrown from the sidelines, so we will take a timeout for an official review in slow motion. It looks like 7 occurrences of the full weight on one foot in sequence before she reaches the flip-flops. Validated.

ONE

2011-03-21T15:18:00.008-06:00

People always say how quick infants grow up. It is true as we look at her one year mark. Le is at a stage in life where she is learning a little sign language and also learning all the silly things her dad teaches her.

LE was oblivious that the celebration was for her, but she really likes her new car she got for the celebration. She opens the seat and loves putting things in and out of it. She was giggling for hours while playing with a balloon. The concept of things falling up is pretty funny.

Ba did a great job at making this dog cake. Whenever LE hears or sees a dog she gets crazy excited and starts to pat her chest with both hands. (the sign is supposed to be her leg with one hand, but its cute so we encourage it)
Warning: the following is rated NB by the "Mothers Association for Infants" due to the mild Naked Baby exposure.

When given the chance to eat cake, she started off tentative, and was pretty neat.

That didn't last too long when she started to enjoy the goodness of chocolate. She also LOVES ice cream (takes after her mother).

Then she went crazy throwing it everywhere. Someone...(I bet you can guess who) thought it would be funny for her to practice her signs like "Dog", and "Hair."

Happy Birthday Day LE.

Blitz to Arizona

2011-03-14T14:12:00.016-06:00

We moved down to Bountiful two weeks ago because Ry got a job in SLC that he really likes. Too much work and not enough play makes people grumpy, so before Ry started we decided to go on a quick trip to Pheonix, Az. For those of you who are new, "Blitz" means lightning, or very fast. Ba's brother lives down where the palm trees grow in February, so we thought it would be nice to catch some winter rays.

Le did very well on the plane even though we check her oh so comforting "blanket". She liked to walk up and down the aisles lunging out at innocent computers.

Arizonies where so much fun. We had a great time bike ridding, running, walking, and just playing outside. LE loved to watch the girls run around and eat sand at the playground...YUM. She liked to climb on "Bubbes" who is only 4 month old.
Aunt E helped make Ry's 27th birthday a special one. She made an outstanding meal, and dessert. After babies were in bed, we went outside and played nights games.
This is the shirt that LE gave her dad for his bday. It is also her 11 month old carseat pic.
We took some palm tree seeds and we hope to grow them in Utah. We will see how long that lasts.
"Curly" tipped over while crossing a big puddle while riding her bike. Ry decided to give her a break and took a turn.
The girls had a lot of fun together.
We went on a fun hike, the sunset was so beautiful. It was very nice to get away and enjoy time together before Ry started working. Thank you Arizona family, for letting us come stay with you!

Regular LE Clips

2011-02-13T21:17:00.004-07:00

Upon popular request, here are some videos of LE doing regular things that you don't get to see if you aren't around all the time.

The Giggles...

The Rock Star...

The Breakfast...

Bucket List

2011-02-01T19:21:00.002-07:00

A bucket list are things that you want to do before you die. We are not dying, but our college days are over, and it does not look like we will be returning to Logan. Many of you have lived in the wonderful land of Logan where the fun is cheap and the friends are lasting. We were reminiscing of all the fun we had and we thought it would be worth our while to repeat some adventures. What things have you done that were really fun, or what things do you wish you could come back to Logan to do? Let us know what you would put on your bucket list. We will be moving to the Salt Lake area at the end of the month, and look forward to new adventures that wait for us there. Ry is excited for his new job, and Ba is excited for a whopping two bedroom apartment. LE is... um.... cute.

LE Crawling

2011-01-24T14:24:00.002-07:00

For all of those that live out of the State we posted video's of LE crawling. Do to posting dates it is under our Christmas post.

p.s. She is crawling much faster now, and will move on her own.

Christmas time

2011-01-09T11:09:00.009-07:00

This is the family picture that we were going to send to people as a Christmas card, but we didn't take the picture until it was way to late to send them. Maybe we could send it as a Happy Martin Luther King Jr. day postcard...or maybe not. It was really hard for Ry to hold a rubber ducky to get LE's attention and take the picture with one hand. Self photos are the best.

This is LE in a really cute Christmas dress. It was poofy, and glittery, and furry, and brilliant pink. What more could a little girl ask for. She tried to take a nap with it on, but she kept tickling her own face and she couldn't ever fall asleep.

Ba went shopping on two different occasions and purchased these two shirts. It is nice to realize that her taste for clothing doesn't change over a two week time span.

Ry was given this sweater and three pairs of pants. Ba is trying to make him dress a little nicer, because she wants him to branch out beyond a t-shirt and jeans.

LE was more excited about the wrapping paper than the gifts. She just wanted to eat everything, and she sure tried to.

We had the chance to make gingerbread houses. LE did a pretty nice shack with moms help. I wonder if she will discover the secrets of loading the inside of the house with candy.

Ry and his family are very serious about gingerbread houses. I say houses, but the more recent creations have been windmills, boats, tanks, mountain scenes and yurts. It takes hours, but they have a fun time.

We hope you all had a wonderful holiday and had the chance to spend some time with family and friends. Have a wonderful new year!!

Mobile

2011-01-08T10:54:00.004-07:00

It is obvious from her thighs that LE really likes food. She also loves phones as is typical of girls. These two items have helped motivate her to crawl!!! Some of her baby "friends" were crawling away so LE couldn't take their toys, but now we have to keep a better eye on her. Here are two crawling videos for your enjoyment taken her first day of crawling on January 7, 2011. She is the only person in the family who has reached most of her New Year Goals already.

Winter Wonderland

2010-12-19T22:33:00.005-07:00

You have a lot of firsts when a baby is born. First smile, laugh, TOOTH(which we had our first sighting of this week), eating solid food, the list goes on. Today's first is sledding. We were on Old Main Hill at USU, where sledding is quite popular. There are people doing crazy things on this hill (like doing backflips as you shoot the stair gap) so the university posted a sign that any activities are at your own risk. With LE's dad around, I'm surprised they weren't trying to ride down the stairs.

LE wasn't quiet sure of the snow. She didn't cry or smile, just looked at it, and tried to eat it. I have fond memories of sledding as a child at Murray Park. When it comes to cold weather, I am a wimp. I remember throwing up several years in a row because my body couldn't handle being cold. I still get sick if I am too cold, and I think of those sledding days on Murray Hill.

Now a word from the doctor..."Now, the Star-Bell Sneetches had bellies with stars. The Plain-Belly Sneetches had none upon thars. Those stars weren’t so big. They were really so small. You might think such a thing wouldn’t matter at all. But, because they had stars, all the Star-Belly Sneetches Would brag, 'We’re the best kind of Sneetches on the beaches.' " (We might have a biased opinion about our little Sneetch.)

Thanks Auntie E for the wonderful Snow suit.

Scared of Santa

2010-12-12T10:08:00.004-07:00

I have seen many kids cry when their parents force them to go sit on Santa's lap. I think the solution to this problem is to have a Mrs. Clause. Everyone likes a nice grandma. LE was really interested in Santa's bells, but had no interest in actually sitting on his lap. I am sure she will go through a time when she doesn't want to do it, hopefully that time comes in the summer. I am just glad there were some interesting ceiling fans to keep LE distracted.

This Santa was pretty authentic; a little overweight, a full white beard, little glasses and belt of bells. I was thinking he probably could haul in quite a bit of extra cash during the month of December. I wonder how much money they earn for getting sat on for several hours.

Christmas Tree

2010-12-08T17:44:00.004-07:00

Every Christmas that we have been married we have headed up to Idaho after Thanksgiving to cut down a tree for the season. Usually this pine tree will start as a Christmas tree, turn into our winter tree, then out Valentine Day tree. This year it didn't work out to go north, so we thought we would make our own tree. It is made out of a cardboard box with pieces of wood taped on the back so it would stand up.

Of course it looks better when you turn the house lights off. One plus is that a 2D tree doesn't take up much of our limited space.

A "friend" left a huge box on our porch with a note saying that this tree has seen a lot of years of use, but it is still in decent shape. All we know is that it once belonged to "Ron & Peggy ".We were very grateful that someone thought we needed a better tree, so now we have two, and we love it. Actually we have three, but one is only a foot tall for LE as seen above. We are grateful for thoughtful friends and we hope everyone can be a little more Ron&Peggy-ish.

Meat is on the Menu

2010-11-15T19:50:00.002-07:00

LE tried chicken and gravy tonight. It is the first time she has had a chance to eat something that was not a fruit or vegetable. Wait, I need to clarify that a bit. This is the first time that LE's mother has intentionally fed her something that was not a fruit or vegetable. It was all mashed up and in those small glass jars but it sure didn't look like chicken. I am sure it was some sort of processed ground up meat (probably SPAM). Here is her reaction.

Mmmm... delicious.

Tomato Fight

2010-11-07T20:43:00.002-07:00

We don't have pictures to post right now, but we would like to share a wonderful family tradition. As for background, Ba and Ry really don't like to eat tomatoes, but they do have their uses.

Ba's side of the family gets all their old, moldy, rotten tomatoes and seperates them into buckets. Teams are then randomly choosen by selecting slips of paper out of a hat. We were on the same team this year, so no one will be sleeping on the couch. We gather in the garden with our buckets of amunition and the brawl begins by flinging the bad (all puns intended) vegetables at the other team. There is usually a centerline that is not 'supposed' to be crossed, and guidelines about hitting below the shoulder. No permanent damage was done, but by the end tomato guts were everywhere, including down pants, in pockets, and splattered against an ear. It is hardest to get it out of your hair, but everyone who participates knows what they are getting into and it is a pretty fun time. I guess the only good thing to do with tomatoes is throw them at your relatives.

Old school is the best way

2010-10-31T10:59:00.010-06:00

Our society has hit a new low. I thought the whole idea of Halloween, and dressing up is fun. When I was a kid we would print off maps of our neighborhood and plot our route with a highlighter so we could get the most houses in the time we had. Now parents and kids are too lazy to even walk around (curse those trunk-or-treats). Last night was raining (like that would stop us as kids) and we only saw three groups of kids going door to door. Not only are we collecting candy that is very unhealthy, but we aren't even getting our exercise before we poison our bodies with a sugar overdose. It is almost as bad as our favorite habit or pigging out on ice cream while we watch Biggest Looser. Many people say that is is much safer... I don't know anyone who lives in the bronx. If you live in a sketchy part of town, then trick-or-treating seems like a great way to meet your sketchy neighbors without a fruit cake. Going door-to-door seems like the only way to go, but nobody went. What is the world coming to? Now that I am stepping off my soap box here are some pictures of our holiday that we really enjoy.

Ba is using her long tongue to eat the doughnut off the sting at a ward party. She was lightning fast.

Ry dressed up like a tin foil dinner. When we carved pumpkins, we would pick an expression and someone else tried to capture that emotion on the pumpkin's face.

Bobbing for apples made Ry get tons of water up his nose. He was also lightning fast.

A friend party celebrating pie night. LE is a s'more (because she looks like a marshmallow when she wears white) and Ba is a hot dog. Ba made LE's gram cracker crust with chocolate oozing out. It was a family theme of camping food items.

We are ready to go door-to-door trick-or-treating. Remember when your parents made your costumes super big so you could put them on over your coat...

all the 'ings

2010-10-22T21:06:00.010-06:00

There are many fall activities that we have participated in and we realized that they almost all end in "ing". ING can make nouns into action words, so I guess that makes sense because we are INGing type of people.

We really love the INGs up Logan canyon this time of year. The colors have been changING givING us the chance to enjoy hikING, climbING, and cavING.

This backpack sure is nice when Ry is carryING LE around.

LE is eatING solids. I guess eatING is an overstatement. LE has been emptyING jars of baby food with a lot of it ending up on the tray, on her face, up her nose, on the wall, and in our faces. We had to use a plate as a shield to block the spray. She is doING much better now and has this thing for sweet potatoes.

The problem with the spittING is that we think it is funny and we start laughING. This just encourages her even more.

I guess LE thinks toes count as food. This week has been a break through as far as sleepING goes and LE makes it through the night. Ba is very happy.

Ry enjoyed fishING on the Snake River near Grandpas house even though he didn't catch many fish. When he was younger he never caught anything big enough to eat, but you could actually fry this one up.

Fly fishING is much more fun than sittING on the bank for hours with the worm in the water.

We went to Ry's childhood friends wedding. It was really interesting going to a wedding that wasn't in the temple. The couple looked very happy together and we were glad we could join them in their celebration.

It was nice to have family watch LE so we could enjoy the evening.

LE 4 months

2010-10-01T11:29:00.012-06:00

So I know LE is now 6 month old, but I never posted these adorable pictures of her two months ago. A good friend took them and I think she did such a great job.

These next two pictures should be on a Johnson and Johnson ad.

70.3

2010-09-17T15:18:00.014-06:00

Your mind is a powerful thing, if you put your mind to it, you can accomplish nearly anything. This last Saturday Ry proved this by racing against himself in the Cache Valley Masochist Half Iron Man (he made up the name). He took first place overall, and last place overall. For all you unfamiliar with what a 70.3 (add up all the miles to get this number) entails let me tell you.

First- You swim 2200 yards or 1.2 miles (34 minutes). In a normal sized pool you would swim down and back, and do that 44 times. Ba swam with Ry to keep him motivated. I can swim faster but Ry has better flip turns so it worked out well. The picture is not Ry because the guy doesn't have a mega farmer tan.

Second is a 56mile bike ride (3 hours even). Patrick, our brother-in-law, joined Ry for part of the bike.

Third is a half marathon run (13.1 miles - 1hr 49min). A friend of Ry's named Ryan ran with him most of the way. The dark beverage was a mysterious liquid that Ry made to make him run better... I hope it was all legal stuff in there.

Having someone do each of the events, helped keep Ry going.
I must say that I am very, very proud of Ry. He finished in 5 hours and 34 minutes. And he wasn't too sore the next day. What crazy thing will he try next? I don't even think he knows until someone gives him the idea.

Willaby, wallaby

2010-09-17T11:46:00.016-06:00

My niece sings the song, "Willaby wallaby Wellie an elephant sat on ..."
This is a Wallaby, very friendly animals, looks just like a kangaroo. Just smaller.

Last week we spent some time in Bosie, Idaho. We started our trip heading North to Idaho and about an hour into our trip Ba turned to Ry and ask, "Are we going the right way?" Nope. Turns out that we had gone into auto pilot and were heading to Grandpa Lakes house. Bosie is East in Idaho so with a handy Idaho map and a led foot, we made it in time for our nieces baptism. Ellie was great on the drive, she slept almost the entire way.

We had fun at the Bosie zoo. They are getting much better these days, the cages are getting bigger and the area looks more like the natural habitat of the animals. Well I guess I really don't know, but it look like what I see on TV so it must be right.

The giraffes were totally neck butting each other and hip checking. I have never seen them "play" before.

LE will have 8 cousins with the same birth year, with currently one boy. He is 2 months younger then LE and having a grand ol time. I guess safari hats are the latest craze in the double wide.
LE's favorite part about of the zoo was all the plants. She would look at them and start talking. After a minute of talking she would then try to eat it. Good thing we payed to see animals. Maybe she will grow up wanting to be a vegetarian. We need to get some meat in that girls diet.

The famous picture spot at the Boise zoo.

When Mom is Gone

2010-08-29T11:50:00.015-06:00

Nothing really different changes when mom is gone. How they are done might change a bit, but LE and dad do the same stuff. They like to...

drink from mom's sippy cup. Maybe LE should get one of her own.

try to eat rice cereal. More gets in her mouth than out which is an improvement. We have been working on it for two weeks since her 5 month birth celebration.

suck their fingers together. LE does it just like dad because everyone knows "the more the merrier."

put on Austrian hats before going outside.

put dishes away. LE is such a great helper.

do a quick workout to train for another race. LE is trying to get rid of that extra weight around the mid section, and should have a 6 pack soon...just like dad. Strong thighs are good for biking and running, or crawling someday.

get some laundry done. When she is older I am sure she will play astronaut in the same place.

take naps. Dad thought this would make a great bassinet when LE was younger.

try out new outfits. A lot of clothes seem to be a little tight based on her age. This one is too big, but then again, she will probably never fit into a mens large.

have fun playing dice games. LE just wouldn't stop laughing which is ridiculous cute. We just downloaded a new baby app called "Sit-up on your own"

Summer vacations

2010-08-01T10:11:00.010-06:00

After long deliberation and three years of growing, Ba decided to cut her hair. For women this is a very emotional experience, and this was the longest her hair had ever been. It is now cute and short.

We were east of Idaho Falls for a family reunion. We all made tie dye shirts, played endless games of fun, and enjoyed each others company. The "Ranch" where we stayed had a big forest to play in, a zip-line, water slide, two giant slides, golf course, 4-wheelers, ping pong, billiards table, fussball and so much more. It is a playground for any age.

This is LE's first time on a water slide. Ry looks scared, but she seems to be okay.

Ry's brother came home from his mission, and the boys went to climb Mt. Owen in the Tetons. It is the middle peak shown below with the grand on the left.

They had to use cramp-ons and ice axes to get up the glacier. During the day a bunch of snow melted so we had to repel down a rock chimney while getting rained on.

Ba and Ry are on the activities committee for the ward and decided to host a biathlon. It seemed like people enjoyed themselves and sister Little Debbie provided us with prizes. Mmmm.

Our neighbor has a pool that she keeps really warm, and invited us to take a dip. LE really liked it and her mother has plans for her to be swimming before she can run.

Sleeping is always an adventure because LE can now roll over. She gets arms and legs between the slats on her crib but she usually keeps on sleeping. Babies sleeping are just so adorable. If you have any suggestions of how to help babies sleep better, please impart your wisdom. We are first timers here and tips are welcomed.

LE is at the age where if anything is upsetting her we just say she is teething. She started to eat her restraint like it was corn on the cob...so we think she is teething.

Feet are the new "favorite toy". This is really nice because we won't forget to bring them along. She probably plays with her feet because she is teething.

Just Tri

2010-06-07T22:35:00.004-06:00

As many know, we enjoy participating in triathlons. We have had several lately and they have been quite exciting. The first one Ry competed in, it rained really hard, and he almost crashed on his bike. Engineering should have taught him you can't go too fast on corners. Those skinny tires make you move like lightning, but don't grip well when wet. LE came to watch but wasn't very interested, and the loud noises were not her favorite. The trophies were gears with a biker cut out...epic.

Ba got back on track at another triathlon by being part of a team that Ryan's dad totally stacked in their favor. She did the swim section and although hadn't been in a pool for many months, she could still do flip turns. She passed a ton of people who were like shark bait in the water. Ry also did this race, and was super tired by the time he finished. His only goal was to beat his dad's team and he succeeded. We enjoy this form of exercise, and hope we can continue to do races. The picture is Ba's medal she won; it was also pretty sweet because it was made out of a slab of rock. We were doing a stake "Hele-man Triathlon" so the medal was meant to be rugged.

Next weekend Ry is doing a running race in Idaho and Ba thinks he is very unprepared. Ry will definitely be sore. Ba was originally signed up to be on the same relay team, but is not quite up to snuff after labor. Some day I am sure LE will want to join us on a team. If only there was a race to fill up the pool because LE would do great with all her drool.

18th Grade/Baby Blessing

2010-05-16T17:03:00.011-06:00

Today we celebrated our trip last summer to Europe by eating a very hearty German meal. Good times. Here are some pictures of my graduation and of LE's baby blessing that both happened on the same sunny Logan day (a miracle).

LE likes to be outside, but sure hates the sun in her face. This day is a long time coming. I have been going to school since 1989 where I started in Kindergarten and I am now finished with my Masters of Science in Civil Engineering with a German minor. It still hasn't sunk in that I am done.

This group of very distinguished professors put my hood on. The robes are nonsense with all sorts of random dangling cloth, and the backward choking sash was a waste of $30. I bet this all came from the French, and is much worse than a tie.

I have never heard the Spectrum so quite, but I had a good book to read and sat between two good school friends so the 2.5 hours flew by. I guess they make you suffer through 350 names to give you enough time to feel like you have survived one last boring lecture.

Getting through college is really group work, and I wouldn't have survived without lots of help from my peers. Thanks team. Perhaps they should put other names in a smaller font on your diploma.

LE hardly ever cries except for when we were blessing her. Just too many people I guess. Her dress was made by my sister and looks amazing, and so does that other blond girl in the picture.

These cousins were all born within one month of each other. There are a few on the other side of the family as well. The 2010 plan is pushing forward. "Aren't they just soooo cute!!!"

I think all these babies are wearing newborn onesies, but the one in the middle sure fills hers out a lot more than the other two. Ba hates it when I comment on her size, but that sure is no little baby...I think it is the cream. When your rolls from your arm start to cover you hand, you know you have a healthy child. I think she is getting all the fat on her body in the first few months of life that she will ever have, and then it will just spread out.

One big happy family

2010-04-25T22:20:00.007-06:00

When L-E (not the real spelling) was first born we took a picture of her in her car seat. She was 7 pounds and was 20 inches long.

Now L-E is over 10 pounds and 22 inches. She doesn't look much bigger but she sure has gotten quite a bit thicker. Just think if you were to gain about half of your body weight in five weeks. For me that would be 90 lbs (yeah, I'm not ashamed of my weight). That is crazy nuts. She still can't touch her arms over her head because her noggin is so big, and she has cute little stubby arms.

Ba gets pretty tired still, but she is slowly recovering. Sometimes we like to take whole family naps. Both of the girls sleep with their hands by their faces...tender... hopefully L-E doesn't learn how to roll too soon or the couch naps will have to stop.

This is a flume. It measures water through a canal, and is what Ry did his thesis on. He just turned it in to his professors, and we are all happy that he just has to work on editing now. School is basically finished for him, so now it is time to hunt for a job.

Ry was here while Ba was being an engineer widow, but that is over now. YEAH

Whose Baby is this?

2010-04-02T22:07:00.013-06:00

Many people think they can tell where a child gets their physical attributes from, Mom or Dad. Let us know what you think, and participate in a poll near the bottom.

When I look back on pictures as a kid, I didn't know how to smile very well, so I decided making faces was better then smiling poorly. Obviously this complex has transferred. Funny Face...Dad. Sticking long tongue out...Mom.

No eyebrows or eyelashes...Mom for sure. I think she has my eyes...Dad, but Ba thinks it is a little too early to tell. The nose, who knows, ski jump (Mom) or flared nostrils (Dad).

Well she doesn't look Elvish or Vulcan, so that's a good sign. The ears are also a toss up.

Brown hair belongs to...Dad. The good/bad part is Ba thinks there are some blond hairs growing in the back. Hair might go to...Mom, after a few months.

The hitch hiker big toe...Mom. A phantom-tuck-under pinky toe...Dad.

I must admit this one is a little personal for a blog, but Ba is an Innie, and Ry is a half and half. It is looking like an Outie for now, but will it last. Let me know what you think.

Going to the bathroom all the time...Definitely Mom in her previous pregnant state. I think it comes from toting that famous water bottle around.

Spring Break Hotel - Baby

2010-03-21T14:17:00.022-06:00

On Thursday, March 18 Ba started to feel some more consistent contractions. This may have something to do with the hills we climbed on a 3+ mile walk, but I really think it was the buzzer-beaters and upsets the first day of the NCAA tournament that really got her going. We checked into the Logan newborn center for our great adventure.

Ba looks pretty good still because we are just waiting. Contractions were pretty close together, but not close enough, so we had our doctor (Captain Kirk)(actually Kirkman) break the water.

The top red line is the babies heart beat, and the bottom blue line are contractions. From the pamphlet we received I would classify the high points every two minutes as an "angry face" level of intensity.

Not having her name changed yet, Blueberry is about 2min old at this time, and she is getting measured. Completely average on size, she weighted 7 oz, and was 20 inches long. She had a bit of a rough go with the chord around her throat, but she is doing just fine.

Check out those big beautiful eyes, moderately sized nose and one super long tongue. I guess she really got the best of both worlds. I hate to see some of our kids that will get the worst of both worlds.

Mega close-up shot. I was told to take lots of pictures, so I had to get a little creative to spice things up a bit.

First family photo with Capt Kirk. Talk about a dream team...everyone lived. Photo was taken around 9:30 PM just after birth. Ba doesn't even look like she was ever pregnant.

Blueberry really didn't like all the things the nurses were doing to her like take prints. At the very end they did give her a nice warm bath, and she really liked that. They also put her under a heat lamp for a bit, and she was totally spread out basking in the goodness... she gets it from her mother.

I hate to see how she looks as two year old when she is really unhappy... she probably gets that from her mother too.

I think I will go into some sort of Asian cuisine profession because I sure am excellent at the egg roll wrap. (also know as the Mexican burrito)

For scale effects, I let her hold my ring. Okay, so I mostly just put my ring on her hand, but they are pretty close to the same size.

Ba passed out a few times that night, but she still looks pretty good. What a trooper. As long as she has baby with her, she is totally content.

We decided to name her L-E (spelling has been hidden to protect the innocent). We just like the name, it is completely a coincidence that it is also her great grandmothers name. The German spelling was just to make it impossible for her to learn the "e before i" rules of grammar.

She really likes to be in her burrito, and if you take her out you are bound to get some good looks. We left the hospital Sunday afternoon and are really excited to start our family. It is so amazing how well everything works with a new little person. The way baby starts to breath and function, to grow and start developing, it really is a miracle. Yet another testimony that there is a supreme being that loves us and it looking out for us. Brianna had several complications, and our stay at the hospital was long, but all are doing very well and we get along great...until I have to do diapers. The first one I changed I had to do four times because she kept on pooping. I guess she really knows who her daddy is!!

USU Basketball

2010-03-13T14:19:00.007-07:00

Ba says the final point that made her decide to go to USU was when she attended a basketball game. If you have ever been in the Spectrum, it is loud, and sometimes crosses over the line to inappropriate. This was the last home game that we went to as students and it was a hoot. Ry is holding up one of about 3,000 Jared Qualle masks that were printed and left in the student section to taunt the opposing team.

Everybody puts their hands up for a foul shot. These crazed fans have hand signals for every player, and little chants too. Don't feel bad for the other team though. We are students and are really good at studying. Some of the students publish the Refraction, which is a pamphlet about all the bad things the other team has done like arrests, citations, and anything about their personal life. To be honest, how they find out the information my not be entirely legal.
Usually storming the court rarely happens. It has to be a killer come back, beating BYU or Utah. In this case they were declared the outright WAC champions for the third year in a row.
The players get a chance to cut the net down, and do a little crowd surfing.

After having been to USU, it is wonderful to see this song called the Scottsman. The lyrics are super lame, but for some reason gets the whole crowd really excited. I still haven't figured it out. Enjoy.

Babies are Popular

2010-02-25T20:20:00.006-07:00

Tons of people that are close to us are having kids or are pregnant. Three people on both sides of our family are expecting making the count to 7 immediate relatives. What a hoot. Everybody is doing it I guess. To get ready we have been working on a few projects. The first project was growing the baby.

This is Ba and a good friend Lina at Christmas time which was just starting Ba's third trimester. It took us forever to convince them to allow us to take this picture.

This is Ba just within the last weeks aka 9 months pregnant. Doesn't she just look so cute with that little Blueberry bump. (Blueberry is what we are currently naming the child, but that is likely to change for her birthday!)

Over Christmas Ry worked on building Blueberry's crib. It is super sturdy, so I guess he learned something in all of those engineering classes. He designed and built it on his own. If you are wondering, the stain color is Ipswitch which we have never heard of before.

Ry liked working on a mill to make the corners. It was like an etch-a-sketch with a drill attached. As you turned 5 different knobs the wood could move up/down, right/left, forward/backward get clamped down and rotate on the axis. What a dream come true.

Sweet Ride

2010-02-25T20:15:00.003-07:00

The above is our car named Kelly the Pecan because of different license plate letters. We racked up the miles (203,000) and took it places where people were afraid to drive their trucks. It has been really good to us.

Obviously we aren't too torn up about it because we traded it in for this 2008 Elantra that only had 10,000 miles on it. Happy Birthday to ME. It feels like it is brand new. It is a stick shift so you can drive conservatively or pretend like you are on the Autobahn, and rumble right along. It is a little smaller than our Camry, but we don't have to use it as a closet, so it should work out nicely.
Doesn't it look rugged with all the snow. The only downfall to the car is that with Kelly we had an automatic oil changing system. All we had to do was fill it up every 3 months. I am sure our landlords will like not having oil in the driveway.

Life update

2010-01-11T13:39:00.002-07:00

Quick Update: We have decided to start blobbing again. As for now, Ry is starting his last semester of his Civil Engineering Masters, and Ba is "great with child" (due March 14) and loves teaching school. Christmas was a nice break. More to come...

Bonjorno!

2009-06-29T15:44:00.029-06:00

Gracia! That has just exhausted my Italian vocabulary. When there was a language problem we used a mixture of pictionary and charades to get our ideas accross. We have spent some time having a steller experience in Venice, Cinque Terre (the five cities), Florence, and Pisa. Im warning you this is a heary post so grab a snack and enjoy.

We arrived at night in Venice because we took a beautiful bus ride through the Italian Alps to get there. The whole city is made up of 118 little islands connected by little bridges. I was really tempted to see if I could jump some of the canals, but I refrained.

Our tiny, rediculous expensive, no toilet hotel also didnt include a breakfast. I just had to scoup oatmeal out of my shamy cap while it was cold. The first time I had to add some crackers to sweeten it up a bit to the point of bearable. Dont worry, on the second day I found some sugar packets to add in and I used warmer water.

The labrynth of streets were impossible to navigate without a map. With my backpack on I couldnt get through this "street" but no buses, trams or cars are allowed on the island.

We found a couple from Virginia that was willing to split the cost of a gondola ride. It was pretty fun to see the passageways and I didnt even have to row! The city is sinking and we saw some areas where the first floor had been abandoned because of flooding.

This is the most North(#1) of the five cities (Cinque Terre) where we hiked. They are located a little north of Pisa on the west coast. People were shocked when we told them we hiked all 5 of them in one day (6 or 7 miles). We took a long time and made sure to play on the beach and wander through the towns.

The area is not only amazingly beautiful because of the ocean crashing against cliffs and cities perched near the water, but there were acres of grape vines. These were used anciently to help stabalize the slope from sliding into the Mediteranian.

The lady taking our picture was paranoid that I was going to fall because I crossed over "the chain." If you look closly I am sure you can start to see sweaty arm pits and foreheads because of the humidity and heat.

I was indicating the size of the wave, but unfortunately you can tell I underpredicted by about three times. The rocks were slippery, and the return current nearly had me going for a little swim. I am way too skrawny.

This is town number 4 and in regular European style has a castle on the highest point in the area. We went down to the beach on the other side and spent an hour body surfing and drinking lots of salt water... yummy.

This is town 4 where we did some cliff jumping. There were some people checking out a cliff, and I had already seen people jump earlier, so I knew it was good. I walked right past them as they were looking timidly over the edge. They thought I was crazy, but that is what I thought about them when they didnt jump. Sissy pants.

On the "romance walk" we found bike and luguage locks around anything. Tradition is that if you secure a lock it is a symbol of your love being connected forever. A modified tradition should be to throw rocks in the water, but for some reason I dont think it is going to catch on.

City 5 was the biggest of them all where we had some amazing Gillato (somewhat comparable to ice cream). We also went snorkling with the fish and that was really different for me. I almost grabbed one, but right then a wave covered my blow hole and I gulped down a tasty treat.

On to Florence, the great city of art. Unfotunately by this time we were less than excited to see more art. The cathedral in the back was designed without knowing how to make the dome. It sat for some time topless until a new method of double brick reinforcement was developed... I will spare you non-geeks with further details of how it was done.

Out door shoping markets will forever haunt my sleep after a morning of shoping. It was amazing what people were selling like sunglasses without lenses and purses that could only be used for bowling. Crazy stuff, but we had fun looking around. Ba restrained herself and that was very nice.

Gillatto again... Happiness again... Craving for more...

That is not a peace sign I am showing, but an indication of the meal quantity. Like Hobbits, Italians have second dinner. They also slightly undercook their pasta, but I guess since they invented it we overcook our pasta. We bought an Italian pasta book, and sticking to the ceiling is no indication of readiness. Now I find that out after so many years.

"White Night" is a huge festival once a year where all sorts of fun food is served like the kabose of this boar. Original population is 400,000 but on this night there were well over 2.5 million people in the city.

Romantic sunset in Florence over the river. What a beautiful night.

This was by far our favorite band during white night. Total we listened to over 20 groups throughout the city, and we didnt make it to many more. Some of the concerts went until 2:00am but we are old party poopers and decided to go home around 12:30.

What a FAKE. The tower isnt leaning... according to this view. The leaning tower of Pisa actually started to lean right after they built the first two floors. They continued the next 5 floors later and the very top was added quite a bit after that. Each of those three sets are built at different angles. Differential settlement gets em everytime. Who would of thought a total failure would be so great.

We had a long day so Ba decided to "bask in the sun" and take a nap. It seemed to be a pretty popular thing to do. It was funny to see signs that mentioned specifically... "No ball games or frisbee on grass"

We didnt want to get a hotel because our flight from Pisa to Munchen left at 7:00am. We got this flight because it was rediculous cheap (30 Euro for both of us). We decided it would be easier just to hang out at the Aerporto (pretty good Italian eh?). We took this picture when they closed the airport and asked us to go outside.

The sprinklers woke our neighbors up at this time to let us know that the facilities were now open again. Why they made us go outside for 3 hours is really a mystery to me, but I liked sleeping under the stars.

We took a few naps here and there, but really didnt get any super sleep during our non-hotel non-airport stay.

We love cheese bread and are eating it as much as we can before we have to go back to the land of lame bakerys on July 2nd. We just love it here so much. Oh well, we do have to work I suppose.

The green heart of Austria

2009-06-21T15:12:00.011-06:00

One of the best parts about the trip to Graz, Austria was seeing people at church. It was great to talk to the people that influenced my life so much during my mission. Ba was also touched during church, even though she understood little.

It rained the whole day we were in Salzburg, but we still had a wonderful time. Up on the hill is the castle overlooking the city that we took a tour of. It was never taken by force which is pretty cool.

We had a chance to look out on the city, and visit several sights from the movie Sound of Music. It was really fun to resee these sights. We also got into the Mozart Kuglen factory that makes very good chocolates. We stood around the sampling talbe for several minutes snacking.

This was an amazing bakery in Graz that we visited. We definately have probelms because the food is a little pricy, and it tastes so amazing. We sure do love pasteries.

The Alien is a big artistic building in the middle of Graz. From this angle it looks like some scientists are docking a vessel to a giant blue peanut. The building has lights on the inside that shine through at night and change intensity based on the sounds outside the building.

We have had many chances to touch up our bouldering technique. I never realized old pillars would make such excellent climbing material.

This is my favorite restaurant in the whole world...3 Golden Kugel. They have lots of food that is not very expensive. I ate a huge Wienerschnitzel sandwich, plus a plate of fries. These last three items in the picture are amazing deserts. Front ice cream covered with crepes and chocolate on top with cool whip. The back is Marienknodel which is an aprocot inside a sweet breaded doughnut and they sit inside some high class apple sauce. In hand doughnut. Sure it sounds wierd, but it tastes so amazing.

We went on a "little walk" just outside of Graz. The whole time we saw cascading waterfalls at Bärenschutzklam. It was beautiful.

There were 164 ladders and bridges leading through this gorge in the mountains. It was so beautiful, but I was a little disappointed that we couldnt walk in the river with repelling down the waterfalls. It was still a breath taking stroll.

Just Brilliant

2009-06-20T03:09:00.009-06:00

"Lets get on with it"..."off to the lu"..."Im sorry, I dont know mate". These are some of our new favorite phrases in real English. We have to be particlar now to say that we speak American, and not English because there is quite a difference. We had a wonderful time in London. Driving the train into town, everything looked exactly like one would imagine houses on Mr. Bean. We saw many common sights, but after 3 days we were definately done being in such a large city. It was super nice to have Ba take an active roll in what we were doing becase she could talk with people easily.

One of our favorite things to do was to ride the double decker buses. The best was to get in the very front on the top. With the whole driving on the left side of the street and being up so high, we thought we were going to run several things over just because of our perspective. Just riding the buses was very intertaining. We did watch one of our buses fly by our stop because we didnt flag it down like a taxi. We also were honked at several times because we went to cross the street and looked the wrong way to see if cars were coming. It was super crazy with buses dodging in and out with bikers all over, and pedestrians doing suicidal crossings.

One night we went to the Globe Theater and watched "As you like it" (a play by Shakespear). It was super cheap because we got standing room in the peasant area. We felt like a part of the play because actors kept walking through the crowd right in the middle where we were.

We never had a chance to go to the top of the London eye, mostly because it was so rediculously expensive, but it served as an excellent reference point of where we were in the city.

After we saw Big Ben and West Minster Abby we had a chance to go into the parliment building. Several security checks allowed us to go see the workings of the House of Lords, one of the three parts of governement. These officials are experts in their fields and are elected by the queen. It was fun to get in on the debate. The line for House of Commons, officials elected by the people, is aparently more energetic, but the line was too long, so we didnt have a chance to go in.

Dont worry, we never got in trouble with the bobbies. Most of them that we talked too were really friendly and let us take pictures for them. This guy was 26, and was getting harrassed by tourist to get their pictures taken with him. A flock of school kids were right up in his grill trying to get his picture. He was a jolly good chap.

The changing of the guard was entertaining. Most tourists were really short, so I had an excellent view, but it was mostly like a band concert and between songs military personnel would yell. It was really funny that several of the songs they played were American. The best part was watching this female bobbie (cop) on a horse get after people for stopping to take pictures in the walking area. Many people just didnt understand, and I felt pitty for the human race.

This picture was taken from the hip, that is why it isnt totally center or clear. Good ol Vinny (Vincint VanGough) is pretty famous for this little piece of art. I had a homework assignment once to try to replicatethis picture. At the art museem we saw several pictures that I remeber studying in school. We also had a chance to see the Rosette Stone at the British Museem that had very little about Britian in it.

Switzerland

2009-06-13T11:00:00.014-06:00

The awesome Swiss Alps have lived up to their reputation. We have been amazed at how shear they are and how high they reach. For two days we couldnt see the tops of most of the mountains, but today has been amazing weather. These are shots from Interlaken and the surrounding area.

This is where we spent very little time awake, and saw it rarely in daylight. When we woke up in the morning we could see the lake next to our little town of Iseltwald, and the towering mountains on the other side.
This is our "hostel", but dont worry, the term is counter intuitive. Every one is very friendly, maybe a little too much, seeing as how our new friend Mitchell decided to cuddle with Tommy (my old mission companion). Okay, so they didnt cuddle, but we kept teasing Tommy that he would. There were 10 people in this cozy room, and we slept quite well. Maybe that was just because we were so tired. It was definately a new experience for everyone there. Unfortunately it smelled like 10 people slept in the room when we woke up in the morning even with the window open all night long.
A huge waterfall system had cut out the rock (sound familiar?). So much of the rock had been worn away and carried into the stream, the water was gray. Several thousand tons of sediment is carried into the lakes from erosion.
Ba was having a great time with the goats. It was fun to hear them run accross beautiful grassy green fields with flowers, and all their bells jingling. We were going to try and milk them, but our better judgment (the wives) convinced us that would be unwise.
I had to get to the very top of Schynige Platte. It wasnt too hard, just a quick bolder move, and I was there. The sandwich tasted really good, but I am so sick of them. We get sandwiches for breakfast and lunch, and pasta for dinner. Im excited to go out to dinner tonight for our last meal and get some really good food. PS.. We went to a Tia restaurant, and it was amazing food.
Ba sure does know how to pick a good napping spot. She was basking in the sun while the boys were off climbing some rocks. She is just so patient, and she got a little sun burnt. There was this huge restaurant near the peak with out-of-shape people. It was bothersome to me because I am used to a National Parks system where you dont get to see the top unless you get there by yourself. We made sure to try and throw rocks at the cog train whenever it was nearby;)
We took a gondola today because we were so tired from our 9 hour hike yesterday. The little dwarf villiages along the way made it very fun. Sure it was for little kids, but I guess we are kids at heart. I could get into the house just fine if I crawled and squoze my shoulders close together.

The wind was blowing snow off the peaks, and the cows were walking all over the trail. I guess this is why people have these images of the Swiss Alps, because that is how it really is. No Hollywood glorification here.

Castles

2009-06-10T04:08:00.006-06:00

We took a little day trip to the south of Munchen.

Carpa diem- We have been taking that saying literally. We are trying to make the most of our last few weeks in this beautiful country. This last week has been filled with day trips and spending time with our new found friends. These two stunning castles were built by Ludwig II, he was a man of great imagination for his time. The castle on the right (Hohenschwangau) was where his family would go and spend their summer months. His mother loved to hike in the hills and to look over the lakes. Fuessen, the town nearby, is known as the Swan area from olden days ; from the Knights of the Swan. The castle walls are all painted with fairy tale like pictures with swans all over, from the door knobs to the center pieces.

Neuschwanstein (our the Disney castle) was also built by Ludwig II. It was worked on for 17 years before work on the castle had to stop due to lack of funding. This castle was never finished, due to Ludwig II dying of a mysterious death. His body was found in a shallow lake with the doctor that declared him insane also dead. The castle was breathtaking.

Big News

2009-06-07T13:58:00.002-06:00

Yup...

After a semi-annual preliminary financial assesment of our assets, we have yielded to prematurely conclude our European adventures. We will we coming back to SLC early July. We will make a better post later, and put lots of pictures with exact dates of our return. To help us continue to have an excellent summer, we should plan lots of funness.

Road Trip in (almost) 4 countries

2009-06-02T09:39:00.015-06:00

When we got back to our apartment, our roomate Barbra thought we were nuts. I guess it is just an American thing to do road trips. We were 10km outside of Poland, we went to Czech Republic, through Germany, and into Austria in two days. Here is a brief overview...backwards (the pictures downloaded goofy, and I dont have time to fix them)

On Monday night we went to Berchtesgaden, just north of the Austrian border, for the evening. It was amazingly beautiful here at Koenigssee with super shear cliffs, and crystal clear lakes. We have dreams of coming back and living here for a few years. Maybe we'll just spend a few days here later while we are still in Europe. We will see...
Monday during the day we went to Herrenchiemsee near Munchen. This was the party room because at sunset the light would come through the windows on the right, and hit the mirrors on the left. They had crystal chandaliers that would break up the lights into its colors. Basically it make the whole room look like a club with hundreds of disco balls. Rockin old school style.
Ba and I tried to be like the fountains at Herrenchiemsee. I did a pretty good job while Ba choked on her own spiddle. The gardens were beautiful, I sure do love that Ludwig II and his castle building frenzy.
On Sunday we went to church in Prague, Czech Republic. Some in our foursome thought we would get mugged so I played a joke like our car had been stolen. It was just down the street so no harm done.
On Saturday night a huge thunderstrom rolled in at the end of the day. It looks pretty fake, but trust me, my Adobe and paint skills are not that good. It was fun walking in the downpour, and pretty romantic if I'd say so myself.
Saturday day we tried to meet the guards at the palace. We did get this fella to smile when so many others tried in vain. Ba felt bad for the guy who had to stand there all day and get harassed by people like me.
This is the John Lennon hippy wall that created much controversy in Prague. We wrote a little message ourselves, and felt like we were contributing to history.
Saturday morning we had a tour through the city that started here in the city center. We saw one girl getting married, and they sure do have a different taste in wedding attire. The tour was really interesting, and we felt like it was just for us because of our questions, and commentary. I dont remember the tour guides actual name, but we just called him Vodka. There were traditional dances going on in the square and it reminded us of Hollywoods version of classic Russian dances.

Getting familiar with Munchen

2009-05-24T07:51:00.010-06:00

Ba is getting better at German, and lots of people are telling us maybe for jobs. We will see how this next week pans out. We went on a picture scavenger hunt yesterday. We could recreate the Munchen guide book with much better pictures. We really are having a riot over here.

Like I said we are having a riot. FC Bayern the local fussball club was playing Stuttgart. They are rivals. Bayern won the game, but another team had to lose to put them on the top. These are riot police waiting for the train from Stuttgart to arrive.
Here is a super mob of fussball fanatics. They started singing and chanting so it echoed in the entire Bahnhof. It was super loud. The police had all sorts of armor and padding on, it was just fun to be there, and know it was safe because there were over 100 police there. Plus we were far enough away from the action. People sure do love soccer.

This was part of our video scavenger hunt. We have found new joys in taking action pictures at really cool monuments.

Ba is either 260 meters tall or the building she is pointing to is really far away. We went to Olympic park and enjoyed a little walk around and a climb to the biggest hill in the area. We had a great view of the whole city. We want to go back and swim in the Olympic size pool to live Ba's lifelong dream of being an olympic swimmer. We were going to swim in the lake, but the huge fish would have eaten our toes for sure.
This 3D glasses picture in Deutsches Museum was cool. If you "put the glasses on" you could read the book, but the whole thing was a flat picture anyway. It was a hoot.
There were all sorts of puzzles that were very puzzling for Ry. The kids would have loved it because one block could be put into a circle, square and triangle. We were entertained for hours at the museum.
This was a lake outside of Munchen called Starnberger See where people obviously loved to sail. We layed on the dock and relaxed. We were disapointed we didnt bring our swimsuits. Then again, we are in Europe, and nobody would have looked twice if we were skinny dipping.
This is a little castle made by the fairy tale King Ludwig II. The only reason we discovered it because Ba had to go to the bathroom very badly. It was super awesome and we decided we would build a house just like it.
This is Ry being silly on the playground. They have great play grounds here, but we figured they were all too dangerous to be allowed in the states.
This sports bar by our house always has soccer games and really loud drunken Turks. It is pretty fun to catch up on sports while we are there.

We love you and have a great day

2009-05-20T06:03:00.007-06:00

Hey how are you doing? We are doing great, thanks for asking. Actually the job hunt is not going very well, but we are having a grand ol time. I guess that is how is usually works out. Brianna is already hooked on Pasteries (I was from several years ago) and ice cream.

This is Karlsplatz. I was tempted to run straight through, but it was late in the day and it would have taken forever to dry off. People starting from left: Tait..Some random guy that is staying at Tommys house, I did meet him playing soccer at USU once; Some rediculously attractive hunk that bedazles everyone he meats; Ba getting snuggly with her cuddle buddy and looking very beautiful even though the straightner doesnt work; Tommy, Ryans x-mission companion that we hang out with; Katie, Briannas shopping buddy and Tommys wife; a guy sitting on a stone that wasnt supposed to be included in the picture.
This was our first meal out to eat. We were on Marien Platz at the Doninsel, some of you have eaten there before. They had a great live band playing traditional Byrisch folk musik. Ba had some Wienerschnitzel, and I had some meat with knodel. Mmmm. While we were there, some lady wanted to clean the bathroom while I was standing at the stall. I told her to go away, and she thought it was funny that a man was afraid of a woman. The guy next to me laughed and said that he was afraid of his wife, so I didnt feel too bad. These Europeans need some morals.
They put some blocks in the river to make this 1.2 meter wave that 10-15 people would take turns surffing on. There was this "newbie" there and I loved watching him eat it. One time I wasnt sure if he was going to surface. Maybe I should pick up surfing while I am over here...
No explination needed except...amazing car...I still dont get sick of saying it.
The trees go on forever in these huge gardens. It sure does work for a nice afternoon stroll or power nap on the lawn.

2009-05-17T06:59:00.014-06:00

We have arived and we are alive, but really tired. Ba has found a way to take 10min naps, every 10min. We had a good time just walking around the city. Tell us what you want to see on our blob to help us make pages.

A glamorous feast on the plane of chicken and peanuts.

Translation:"love your bike". Nothing could be put more beautifully.
This is the saddest thing I have ever seen. We just restrained getting ice cream at Lidl (grocery store). Ba really wants to try Magnum bars but we havent seen any yet. Probably a good thing for our waist lines.
A neat house in our hood.
Our cozy street. Ba nearly died because she almost got ran over a few times, but it was in the name of photography, what a way to go.
Our spacious pad 1
Our spacious pad 2
Our spacious pad 3
A stash of boos that we are "more than welcome to enjoy." Our landlord is cool dont worry.

leaving

2009-05-14T16:41:00.001-06:00

We are super excited to leave really late tonight/tomorrow morning. This is really boring in preperation for ultra awseomeness and bodacity.

the longest spass blitz EVER

2009-05-09T11:26:00.000-06:00

Why hello there. This is our first entry ever blobbing. Aren't you so proud. We are creating this blob...or is it blot... so those who really love us can follow our European galavanting. We leave Friday morning around 7 am. We will probably be late because not only is it early in the morning, but we are always late. We are tenatively returning to the states August 6. We are pretty stoaked and we will try to keep this thing updated with heaps of pictures. Until our next post Tschuss.