Day Two

On Sunday our treat was meeting up with Mel and Rach and Tommy. They braved a snowy, cold, windy day to come over and hang out and go to church with all of us. Scarlet and Rach are just a month apart in age. Tommy and Brauer are just 2 months apart. It was a houseful and Lara always amazes me by feeding us all with a super delicious meal and seemed to be effortlessly done, but I know it wasn't! We survived the 3 hours of church during naptime, or I should say, the moms did.
DAY THREE: We skiied Snowbird. We woke up to 26inches of fresh snow that covered the world in a blanket of white. Couldn't believe our luck, considering this is the end of March. We skiied in POWDER today. It was incredible. No pictures. Just imagine beyond perfect skiing conditions and you might get the idea. Natalie and Noel, Mel, and Tom and I were the lucky ones.

First Day

We have hit the ground running...and we are in Grammie/Pop heaven. After some close connections at the airport, we arrived safely and drove straight to Seth/Heidi's to meet our newest grandson, Taft Taylor. He is stinkin' cute. Can't get enough of him. But the great thing is that ALL the grandkids are here! Our first day was spent with Seth's family and Dan's family. Soccer game and riding the gondola in the Canyons to see Larry/Robin play their gig had to be highlights. And having lunch with Taft and Scarlet!

Just when you think you know it all

Went with my friend Deb downtown today. She showed me a really cool area that I have never seen before. It's La place Saint-Gery. The old covered market with restaurants and bars and lots of young people. Then we walked an archeological circuit that had a long part of the original wall that I had never seen. She also took me to an old church that is baroque style inside...but the story that goes with it is what is interesting. As you know the Belgians pay a portion of their salary to the Catholic church. This particular pastor was housing homeless people, most of whom were illegal refugees. The government wanted the church to stop housing/helping these people b/c they were illegal. The pastor of the church refused to stop. The government then said they would stop funding them. The pastor said, "go ahead". It was a big showdown. The church is still there in fine condition. Guess the pastor won.
We had so much fun downtown that we forgot we were in a 4 hour parking lot, but we had been gone for 5 hours. Oh fun. So how to get out? Deb asked somebody to drive up and get the parking ticket, then back out and get a second one....giving us the extra ticket. We were lucky there were no backing up spokes!
And for the record, our new grandson is named Taft Taylor Herway!

A Beautiful Baby Boy

Congratulations to Seth and Heidi. Their baby boy arrived yesterday on March 16th! He is 8 pounds and 19 inches. They live in Salt Lake City and that is his birthplace. His name? I think it will be Taft Taylor Herway. But I think Cash Taylor Herway is in the running as well. Heidi's parents are first time grandparents. Her mom sent me some pictures that brought tears to my eyes. Especially the one of Heidi when her baby is first given to her. The emotion in the picture is tangible. It is not a picture to share really, just know that Heidi and Seth are thrilled to have a son, to become a Mom and a Dad, and we are confident they will be terrific parents.
Lucky for Tom and I, we will get to hold and snuggle with him in just 10 days.
Welcome little boy! You will definitely be loved!

The French are stinkin' lucky to have her....

I hope they (the French) know we are willing to share for 18 months, but after that we claim her back!
Oh, notice the count in the beginning of the song. Felt it was appropriate!

sushi

Thanks to my friend Roz for sharing her pictures and her talent. Supposedly I know how to make sushi (again). Seth, call me on it. Let's make sushi when I come to visit!

Soeur Colie

First photo: Left to Right: Aurelie, Dorianne,Stephanie and the baby Marie-Cambelle in front . Learning about living prophets & apostles.

Second photo: A classic missionary moment. We wait at the bus stop for an ami to come to church. The bus comes but there is no ami. Bummer! (Alma 31:31-35). How handy that the chateau is right there. Plus our faces look weird.

Third photo: Happy Valentine's Day from our ami Lis from Peru. Her house is full of random stuff (and she made me wear the hat). What a hoot!

Fourth photo: President has a HUGE board with cards like these for the 150ish missionaries in the mission. We were at the bureau so I took a photo. The cards go L to R, oldest to youngest. The red dot means you play the piano. How funny! The top left # shows what month you go home (a pink card means you go home in 2009, the blue card is 2010). The bottom right number shows the last time we moved. I came to Versailles in November! Cool, eh?

More to come.

at least I have cool pictures

So even though I have nothing to report, no excitement to splash on my blog, I at least have the cool National Geographic photos that are new each day.
Just doing the same old, same old and loving it. Waiting by the phone for the call from Seth and Heidi that their baby is here. Counting down the days until I get to see ALL of my grandchildren in one room, and get to visit with my Mom. Oh, and I have another countdown going on as well. Nicole is serving her 56th week out of 76 weeks total. She of course hopes she never makes the 76th week b/c she loves her mission with her whole heart and soul and would rather it never ended.
But I am finding that I enjoy every day, every moment. Or at least I am trying to. Hard to savor the moment. Seems I am always looking forward and not always appreciating the here and now!
Off to teach yoga. I am the substitute for the volunteer!

Why am I scared?

I start my first class of Institute tonight. Why am I scared? Surely they won't throw spitballs, or boo and hiss, or will they???
The study is the OT. Wish me luck.

Swiss Fondu and Raclette

Ruth is my friend who is Swiss and her home is in Bern. Today she invited the tennis group to her house for Fondu and Raclette. It was fabulous. She is a great cook anyway, and then add the fact that it is truly a Swiss meal, and it was delightful. The question came up, "What is a truly American meal?" There was myself and one other American and we couldn't come up with anything specific. I guess we just borrow from other countries. We tried to say that lasagna was a pretty common American meal. They wouldn't go for it b/c it is an Italian meal. Chicken? That's everybody. Hamburgers? I don't fix hamburgers and wouldn't consider it an American 'meal'.
What would you have answered?