Better than I imagined...

One positive thing about Pete being gone for the summer was it gave me the excuse to go over and visit (My mom and sister also joined in the fun). We spent three scenic days in Switzerland and three crazy, jam-packed days in Italy. Both Countries were beautiful and surpassed all of my expectations and to make it even better I got to spend some long overdue time with my Hubby:)


Having lunch on the banks of Lake Geneva




Outside the church in Lausanne, Switzerland were our ancestors joined the church.




spending time together in Geneva




The beautiful Lauterbrunnen valley-my picture does not do it justice. I wish you could see how many waterfalls come over the cliffs into the valley-it was incredible.




Florence, Italy




One of the many outdoor restaurants in Italy-minutes later a bird pooped on my head!




St. Peter's Basilica inside the Vatican-it ended up being one or our favorite places in Italy.




The view of Rome from the top of St. Peter's Basilica




The Colosseum




The sistine chapel-we were not supposed to take this picture and right after we did a security officer started yelling at anyone who was taking pictures




We had such a great time eating gelato two to three times a day, walking for hours down city streets (my mom's feet were covered in blisters), getting ripped off because we were Americans ( One restaurant charged us $30 for some fries), and seeing as much of these beautiful countries that we possibly could see. These pictures don't even begin to show all the things we did while we were there-thanks to my sister Catherine for all her many hours researching what to do in Italy-we didn't have a dull moment. Thanks also to my mother-in-law who watched Ry so I could go on this adventure.

A million miles away...

I received a phone call, in the middle of the night last night, from Pete calling to tell me he was in the hospital over in Switzerland. He had been in excruciating pain that had gotten increasingly worse by the minute to the point where he couldn't walk (he said all he could do when he got to the hospital was lay on the floor and wait for someone to help him). They discovered he had a kidney stone and later sent him home with a bunch of pain medications. I felt like we were millions of miles apart and I was helpless here in Utah. I am so glad he is okay now and grateful we only have 3 weeks left...

What would we do...

...without Grandpas?

letter from home

Dear Dad,

I just wanted to show you some things mom and I have been up to.

Sometimes we eat popsicles for breakfast


We like to go swimming in the pool or bathtub with your old chemistry goggles


Mom went to the Taylor Swift Concert


Friends have gotten married


I've been helping mom shred things


And we've done lots of hanging out


We sure miss you around here.

My Little Blue Box

This arrived from Switzerland yesterday-just in time for mother's day. I apparently don't give my husband the credit he deserves because I honestly thought he would forget. I am starting to feel a little guilty about the dress I bought myself as my back-up present...

p.s. it was a pair of earrings

Our First Official Family Vacation

With a big giant change looming over us (that happened May 2nd), we decided to take a little family vacation to spend some serious time together-just the 3 of us. Pete has an uncle that lives in California during the week, but goes home to his family in Utah on the weekends, and he let us stay in his rental home. I got off work on a Friday afternoon and we then headed down to California for the weekend. Ryan was better than we ever imagined that he could be in the car-in fact Pete told me I complained more about the car ride than Ryan did:)

We headed to disneyland Saturday, it was so crowded that we didn't get to ride a lot of rides, but we still had a great time. We rode bikes and went to the beach and then Monday we headed down to the San Diego Zoo and then drove home from there. It was a quick trip but so much fun.

Ryan was terrified of the characters


He LOVED the Buzz Lightyear ride


Nap time




Hermosa Beach


The San Diego Zoo

...Hope...

We celebrated Easter all the traditional ways, but the real celebration came from the powerful messages of hope I was able to hear in church from 4 of my family members. My family has been thru some extremely difficult things and continue to endure trials, as I am sure many of you do, and it was wonderful to focus on the positive aspects of hard things. Knowing there are better things to come some day is the real reason to celebrate.

...I can FINALLY check this off my list...

Running a half marathon has been a goal of mine for a REALLY long time . I have trained twice in the past but had to drop out each time because of sickness-so I have never actually crossed the finish line of a half marathon. Well, yesterday was finally my day. Unfortunately, it was not my training partner's (a.k.a my little sister) day-she got sick this past week and was unable to run it with me. It was a lonely, cold run (it snowed the majority of the race) but I did it and I ran the entire race! Walking today is quite another story though...


                                                            ...My training partner...

I know these pictures of me are the most beautiful you have ever seen and yes those are hot pink ear muffs, but I had just run 13.1 miles so I don't really care.

...really?...

Seriously? Again? You would think after spending my entire life here in Utah I would be used to this yo-yo weather pattern-nope I get my hopes up every year that spring will come and stay and then it decides to do this again.