Priceful Memories: August 2007

Sunday, August 26, 2007

Soccer Tourney & Goodbye to the Barlows

There's not much of an update from us, just waiting for the timer to go off. It's like when the brownies are in the oven, almost done and smell really good but they still have to cook for 10 more minutes. Those 10 minutes seem to go by a lot more slowly than the entire time it took to cook. Yes, our little bun still has about 2.5 weeks of baking time and hopefully not a minute more.

This weekend, we said "see ya later" to our friends, the Barlows. It's not goodbye as I'm sure we'll see them again down the road. This is just half (well, technically more than half) of the family.

We're going to miss you guys!!

Last weekend, the entire Zurich stake had a fussball tournament. Tally played (obviously I didn't - I look like I'm holding a soccer ball under my shirt and some of the kids really thought that was the case).

Tally realized how out of shape he was. He has since gone running and will hopefully be in better condition next year. He just started working with the young men in church doing activities, so I'm sure there will be a lot more soccer in his future.

Thursday, August 16, 2007

36 Weeks - One Month to Go!

The babe is gaining about an ounce a day. At my appointment last week she was 2.8 kilos or 6.2 pounds so at that rate, she's at least 6 1/2 pounds today and gaining. She was near the top in each percentile which scares me a bit but maybe European babies are smaller? Cross your fingers for me. Next week, she will be considered full-term. She's already in a head-down position and seems to get the hicups everyday. She also is startled by loud noises andbig movements. She doesn't like her space to be reduced even for a second - like when I bend over to pick something up - she'll let me know that's her space I'm invading! She's too big to get a good ultrasound picture anymore, so instead I'm posting the pictures my friend Jenny Schumacher took of me & Tally this week. Isn't she awesome!?

Mom, I know you'd love this one with the Swiss building in the background.

Saturday, August 11, 2007

Baby Shower

Okay, I have to start off by saying I am so lucky to have made such wonderful girl friends here in Switzerland. I've only been here since mid-March and I've been welcomed with open arms. Jessi & Janelle threw me a baby shower today that was beautiful. I got to see most of my good girl friends here and spend time talking about all the things girls love to talk about - babies, food, and even how to recycle in Switzerland! Here are some pics from the party.

Almost all the food was pink! It was a great "tablescape" and delicious "chick food" too.

My two fellow pregger friends (Niina & Jennifer), one of which was due today! Hopefully we DON'T see her at church tomorrow! Then we have Abbie, me & Rachel.

More chatting...Janelle, Sadie, Alisa, Sam & Ava ... and then present time!

Jessi, the practical one. These things were all on my list of things I needed to get before the baby comes and now I can cross them off (I love that)!

Janelle, always stylish, and now baby girl will be too. A present from the good 'ol USA.

My work friends from the US, Finland, & New Zealand - quite the international bunch! A gift with European flare.

I had to include this one b/c it's my favorite "present opening" shot. This is a little European lullaby crib toy (what do we call them in English?). It's soft and darling and perfect for Special K's crib. Love how it matches the sleeping bag.

Most of the girls contributed to little K's Baby Bjorn fund and put money into that little rabbit "piggy bank" (right photo). I'll have to post a pic once I get it. I also realized I don't have a pic with Rachel & Elisa from the party. We'll make up for that later, I'm sure. The pic on the left shows the cards, party decorations, and my little advice book that was passed around that Jessi made in about 2 minutes. Thanks girls for putting on such a fabulous shower and for coming and celebrating this big event in our lives!

Friday, August 10, 2007

Swim on the Lake

Despite the unseasonally rainy weather (while the rest of the world has red & orange, Switzerland has blue and green on a weather map), we had a particularly sunny day and we took full advantage. After work, we went for a dip in Lake Zurich. It was very refreshing and a good workout for me. I thought it would make me feel more bouyant but instead, it felt harder to swim than ever before. We didn't stay in for long - it started getting choppy and the storm light came on so we decided it was time for some of Janelle's great cooking.

It's always a bit cold at first so Tally had to coax me in slowly after he already jumped in. It wasn't so bad.

Monday, August 06, 2007

Montreaux - Chateau de Chillon (Shee-yon)

Tal and I decided to take a trip on Sunday (after sacrament) to the Western side of Switzerland. They speak mostly French there and I must say I'm definitely more comfortable with German now. We actually went because we bought a nice, used stroller from a couple in Lausanne so we made a trip out of it. AND WE FINALLY HAVE A STROLLER!

In Montreaux is the Chateau de Chillon which I've been wanting to see. It's in ads all over Switzerland and I didn't know it actually existed until Aarika and friends came to town with a brochure on it. Anyway, it was definitely worth the trip and the 12 CHF to get in.

I fell in love with the architecture of this castle! I especially love the doors and windows (Tal - "note to self, Jessie really likes old, big, medievel looking doors.") The picture on the right is looking away from the castle, across part of Lake Geneva. You can hardly tell but the Alps are in the background. Here are Tally and I on the throne, respectively. As you can see, he prefers the 700 year old toilets while I prefer the royal chair.
As history goes, this 5th pillar is where the rebel Savoy family member, Bonivard, was chained for four years. He was then immortalized by the poet Lord Byron in his poem, "The Prisoner of Chillon." On a visit, Byron signed his name on the 3rd pillar. I would paste in the poem, but it's way too long!

There was this little secret passageway leading from one room to the other. You can't tell but it was pitch black in there and had spider webs. I made Tally go first! We decided it would be perfect for sneaking into your partner's room in the middle of the night!

Here are some cool pics of the architecture and furniture that I loved so much (more to follow).

GNO - GIRLS NIGHT OUT!

We decided to switch things up a little bit for Friday's GNO. We played beauty shop and did face masks, hair masks, and foot scrubs. It's never fun to do your own, so we took turns being the client and being the massage therapist. Meanwhile we tried to watch Pride and Prejudice but we ended up talking and telling stories. And of course everytime Erin's husband Matt walked it, we were talking about something more girly than he wanted to hear about! Isn't that how it always works?

Here's us before...sad, sad creatures.

Here's are pics of us during our beautification...scary creatures.

Here's a quick shot of me after...and the girls.

Wednesday, August 01, 2007

Road Trip to Cinque Terre - Italy (Trip Leader Talmadge, Navigator Lang, Hike Master Framy

Cinque Terre is a beautiful national park in the north western part of Italy. I heard about this not so hidden gem a couple months ago, and I decided it would be a great place to visit while Aubrey was in town. Although I started planning the trip a month in advance, we (Josh, Aubrey, and I) found ourselves scrambling to get everything in order the day before we left. First of all, we couldn't find a place to stay because CT has a limited number of hotels and everything was booked solid (not a problem, we'll just sleep under the stars for a couple of nights - even though one of my friends was arrested for camping in CT a couple years ago). Secondly, when I went to book our train tickets I was informed of a rail strike in Italy and there would be no way for me to get back in time for work on Monday (not a problem, I'll just buy the car we we're planning to get anyway). After pleading with the dealership to get the car ready in time, registering for a Swiss license, obtaining insurance for the car, and printing off detailed maps for our road trip, we we're ready for our 6am departure the next day.

Josh

Tal

Aubrey

We arrived in the most nothern town of CT (Monterosso) Friday afternoon. After locating a couple potential camp sites and checking out the latest European swim wear fashions (please see Aubrey's blog aka "Miss Independent" if you would like to see some of the pics), we decided to hike from the first city (Monterosso) to the second city (Vernazza).

Monterosso(Left) Vernazza(Right)

I decided that I'm not cut out for the story telling...and I figure none of you really care. Here's the summarized version and some more pics.

On Friday night I said, "The only thing that could make this more perfect would be fireworks." Less than 2 minutes later fireworks started.

We slept on top of a parking garage because we (Josh) didn't want to haul our gear to the awesome camp site we found earlier that day. I think Josh and Aubrey got drunk because they had the most random conversation as they drifted off to sleep.

I woke up to Aubrey standing over me and forcing me to get out of bed so we could be on the hiking trails before 7am.

The last city, Riomaggiore

Lovers Lane

Josh cliff jumping

Vernazza

Tons of Seafood

Hundreds of Stairs leading up to Corniglia

Hikemaster & Trip Leader on the trail

Stopping to take a break

Here's a guy swimming next to his boat

Before we left, we had to ditch a crazy Italian train policeman because he wanted to charge us 25 EURO for not stamping our tickets. In the end, we hiked the entire 7 miles between all 5 cities, went cliff jumping, snokeled for a couple hours, came up with a nickname for everyone, and only had two girly momemts. Yep - pretty much the perfect trip.

Kelsey Speaks

April 14: Advertising works, even for kids. Kels just came up to me with my iPhone and the app "Team Umizoomi" ready to purchase. I asked her how she knew about it and she said, "this mom put team umizoomi on for her kids and it teached her kids and he did it all by himself!" I've seen that commercial too, but never realized how much she soaked in! I'm a sucker, I downloaded it.

March 14:

We were having a new babysitter come and Kelsey wanted her to play a game but wasn't sure she'd know how. "What language does she speak?" I said, "English." Kels said, "Oh no!" I said, "Kelsey, did you know that YOU speak English?" She looked surprised, "I do!?"

October 17:

We had our carpet pad replaced today and the carpet guy was using a heavy duty iron that smelled like burning. Kelsey came in and said, "Mom, is that dinner I smell?" Thanks Kels, thanks. Says a lot about my cooking!

October 11:

So I'm on the phone and the Kelsey does soemthing that makes Aiden cry. I tell Kelsey, PLEASE make it better, say your sorry and make him stop crying. She starts singing, "Flower gleam and glow, let your power shine, make the clock reverse, bring back what once was mine..." I started cracking up. I think she's a little too obsessed with Tangled.

February 19:
Family prayer
"Thank you that Aiden is incredible and that he could watch Incredibles with me. And thank you that mommy can change things."

February 9:
Family prayer tonight by Kelsey: "Thank you that mommy could be a good listener (?), thank you that mommy can be so stretchable...in the name of Jesus Christ, Amen." I laughed and asked her what stretchable meant. She said it meant that I can read Aiden books and change his diaper, put us to bed, play with us, and wiggle us and throw us, stuff like that. Does that mean she's grateful I can do mommy stuff?

January 5:
While at my mom's house in California, she said, "I want to stay at Mimi's forever!" I asked, what about your toys and our home in Utah?" She replied, "I like Mimi's toys downstairs." "But what about your friends back in Utah?" She replied, "they can get in the car and drive really, really far and come see me!" She has it all figured out.

January 4, 2011:
Tally read aloud a sign as we passed a church, "Jesus is making a list." She said, "No, Santa is making a list, and checking it twice."

December 20:
She was sad after I scolded her for taking her brother's food. I asked her why she was sad and she said, "My life hurts right now."
"With Christmas just a few days away?" I said. She perked right up.

December 13:
Tal was going to bed early and we all jumped in bed to give him hugs and say goodnight. Kelsey said, "I like it when our whole family is in bed together. Dad, you're hot. But I like it hot. You're the hottest."

December 9:
I had made a big effort to go to the gym and literally had 30 minutes to work out and then be back before everyone came over for play group. I get Kelsey out of the car and walk around to get Aiden. Kelsey says, "Mom, you can't wear THOSE shoes to the gym!" I looked down and sure enough, I was wearing my Crocs. I'm so glad she saw it before I'd gotten Aiden out of his car seat, gotten the kids checked into day care, and stepped on the treadmill. 10 points for trying, right?

October 22:
"Mom, I don't wanna have a baby in my tummy. I don't want to have a baby doggy come out."

October 3:
"Mom, you shut up and I'll shut down." (playing around with the word shut up to get a reaction from me).

September 30:
"Aiden, you have pretty eyebrows."
August 15
While sitting in our master bathroom, Kelsey said, "You guys have two sinks."
Us: "Yes, we have two sinks, isn't that nice?"
K: "No, I don't like it, you need to take one out. I need more room to sit."
Tal: "When you get married, you can have one sink in your bathroom."
K: "When I marry Aiden?" (who she said she wanted to marry when we were talking about weddings the day before).
Tal: "You can't marry Aiden, he's your brother."
K: "I want to marry DADDY!"
Jess: "He's mine, darlin. Daddy is already married to mommy."
K: "My cousins?"
Us: (Laugh, gave up...we'll have this talk one day when she's ready) She is constantly playing with my bouquet of silk flowers in my room and saying, "I'm getting married mom." I guess she picked that up on her own...I don't think I've ever talked about the flowers with her!

August 11:
As I'm putting her to bed I said, "Kelsey, your little body is so tired because you didn't take a nap today and little bodies need naps."
"And sometimes big bodies do too?" she said.
After the gym today, we caught her doing her hand clasp thing. Tally said, "Don't do that, you're doing it so hard you're getting sweaty."
She replied, firmly, "Well I just back from the gym." (which is true, but she was at the play place at the gym)
May
(While shutting herself inside the kitchen pantry)
K: Alright Aiden, I'm going bye-bye to Lily's house, 2 seconds, and when I come back, I'm going to Zoe's house. Okay? Okay, see ya later.
(about 2 seconds later, she opens the door)
K: Oh, hi Zoe's house!
She has been cracking me up (mixed with a little worry) with her imagination. If you ask her what she did today, she'll say she played with her cousins. We don't play with cousins everyday, but she does, in her imaginary play. She'll tell Libby and Zoe to come downstairs to the playroom or come outside with her. Then I'll hear her telling one of them to go hide or that this doll is for them or that they are nice. She will also throw in Lily and Edie, and an occasional Colton, Carter or Spencer. But that's more rare. Maybe because she sees them the most? Or because they are boys.
She also loves to pretend she's mommy and I'm Kelsey. She'll ask me, "is your pee-pees coming, mommy?" (No, is yours?) She'll also say, "you want a treat Kelsey? Okay. " Or my favorite, "You go in time out mommy, no-no." When I ask what I did wrong she'll say it's because I hit Aiden. Shocking.
She is also such a good sister. When I was reading my friend Mary's blog today who just lost her baby girl and bawling, she came over and gave me a big hug and said, "it's okay mommy." Then, because I wasn't paying attention to the fact that Aiden had run out of Cheerios and was "asking" for more, she fed him her Cheerios. Then she came up to me and said, "mommy, Aiden wants more Cheerios." She's a great little mommy.
5/?- (while Tal is at work)
K: Mom, I want to tell dad I had fun at the doctor today - daddy, I had fun at the doctor today - oh you did - yeah, dr. M was really nice. Yeah? Yeah.
She has little conversations with herself as she imagines the conversation she had or will have. These crack me up. She does it all the time, I just need to remember to write them down.
5/29 -
K: Mom, don't let Swiper come swipe our new house, okay?
M: Okay, I will. I'll tell him, Swiper no swiping, okay?
K: Yeah!
She's on this kick where she says "everytime" or "everday" with almost every sentence. I guess she's learning how to tell time/days?
She also sings all the time, usually "I am a Child of God." How can I ever get mad at that sweet little thing?
February 1, 2010
J: "Kelsey, get up on the stool so we can wash your hands."
K: "Mommy, you need to pull my pants up first."
J: "Okay, sorry"
K: "You don't need to say sorry mami."
She's been saying sorry to EVERYTHING and so I think she's heard that a lot lately from me. It's funny to hear your own words come from the mouths of your little ones.
January 28, 2010
K: "I want to be baptized."
J: "You do? How old are you?"
K: "TWO! Aiden wants to be baptized too."
J: "You have to be 8 to be baptized."
K: "Oh, I EIGHT!"
A little boy was baptized last Sunday and she started noticing it more in her books about Jesus and we talked about it a few times this week. But the subject hadn't come up this day - she said it out of the blue.