Another Day In Paris, Cont...

We spent our time hitting all the touristy sites and big ticket items.  Kirk had a meeting Friday morning, so I took off on my own to see the Arc de Triomphe and the famous boulevard Champs-Elysees.  The arc was amazing and one of my more favorite things.  We stopped by again the next day because I thought it was something Kirk should see, and then we had lunch at a cafe on the boulevard.  It was great people watching and fun window shopping.

I am not really sure why the flag was hanging in the middle, I thought it might be because of the world cup, but when we went back the next day, the flag was gone, and there was some kind of ceremony going on with soldiers.  

Later I took the metro back towards the river and wandered around taking in the sights and looking through some of the things the street vendors were selling.  

This picture is for my brothers, a Malibu boat in the Seine River, pretty cool, huh?
This is the chain link fence from a pedestrian bridge that crosses the Seine River.  I guess it was known as a place where lovers would meet.  Here they would confess their love for each other, attach a padlock to the fence, and throw the key into the river.  Padlocks line the fence on both sides all the way across.

While I was waiting for Kirk, I treated myself to my first crepe in France.  It was not that good.  I bought it from this street vendor and my second one was from a cafe.  I've had better crepes at home and in the Paris hotel at Las Vegas.  But that is just me.  Notice all the Nutella, this is what I fell in love with while in France.  Of course I have heard of it and seen it, good grief, I read cjane's blog everyday and she has a picture of herself with Nutella, my cousin is always blogging about it as well, but I am not really sure I ever tried it.  I don't know why because that stuff is the bomb!  The rest of my life will be better just having Nutella in it.  I ate it everyday in Paris.  It is the perfect companion to just about anything!  

Kirk and I met at the Notre Dame which was probably my least favorite thing I saw.  The creepy gargoyles keeping watch on top didn't help and why someone would want to buy one as a souvenir, I will never know.
 From there we headed over to the Louvre. 

The Louvre was very impressive.  It used to be the royal palace before Versailles, I didn't know that, which explains how sprawling and beautiful the actual museum is.  We didn't spend much time inside, we went to see the Mona Lisa and Venus de Milo (Greek goddess of love, Aphrodite), and whatever was in between, but that was it.

Next we went to the Eiffel Tower, which is HUGE!  I never imagined it would be so big!
 We waited in lots of lines to get to the second level of the tower.  The top was closed, but honestly the second level was enough for me.  From there you could see just how big Paris is and just how little we had actually experienced. 

That was the end of Friday.  Our feet were so tired!  After the Eiffel Tower, we grabbed a snack.  Kirk got a chocolate ice cream cone and I got a waffle slathered in Nutella!  Waffles were a common snack you could buy at the street vendors.  They weren't Belgium waffles, like the one I had in London, but boy were they tasty with warm Nutella.  You wouldn't believe it was almost 10:00.  It does not get dark forever!

Paris Part I

Paris is huge!  I only saw a little bit, there are still so many things I didn't see, you would need weeks to see it all.  What I did see was lovely.  It is old, has amazing architecture, lots of diversity, full of street cafes, great for people watching, and cold (I sort of expected it to be warmer in June).  After a long flight, my first stop was the bathroom.  I couldn't believe how cute it was.  Have you ever seen a bathroom like this?  

While I was in Paris I fell in love with something new (at least it was new to me), I will tell you about it tomorrow.  We are off to see Toy Story 3!

Name Them One By One

Today I am grateful for

• America.  There is no place like it and being in another country really makes you appreciate how good we really have it.  The food, the transportation, the bathrooms, etc.  We have a good life.
• Art.  One of my favorite things in Paris was the Orsay Museum.  It is the home to many of Van Gough's and Monet's paintings.  Standing in front of original pieces of art was better than I ever imagined.  I left with such an appreciation and awe of their work.  Art is everywhere in Paris and it made me realize what an important part of life it should be. 
• Family.  It is so good to be home and see my boys, they were spoiled and had a good time while we were gone.  And I am so grateful to the family who took care of them!
• The Gospel.  I am so glad to be a member of the church and for the peace, knowledge, and safety it provides me.  
• Ibuprofen.  My legs hurt.  I have really bad varicose veins and all the walking and sitting on airplanes has made my legs ache.  I forgot to take ibuprofen with me and was grateful to come home, put up my legs, take some medicine, and have relief!
• My dad and my husband.  I am lucky to have them both in my life.  I think the highlight of my boys' weekend was riding the horse.  I know it was a lot of extra work for my dad to haul the horse and let them ride, but my boys will never forget that.  

I Have No Proof

I made it to Paris. While I spent most of my day napping, I did take a train into the city to see Paris with my own eyes for the first time. Since I overslept, I woke up, showered, and rushed out the door before it got too late. I left without a game plan and hopped off at the first big station. So big, that I couldn't even find a way out for like 10 minutes. I am not stopping there again. Once I did make it out, it was amazing. I didn't even know where I was, but the buildings were beautiful, I saw what I thought was the Eiffel Tower in the background, the Seine River, and cafes full of people at every corner. I have heard the city is all about romance and I saw lots of evidence of that. The metro station was FULL of people. As I was trying to get out of that maze, I saw couples just stopped along the way sharing an intimate (and I mean very intimate) kiss near a performer. Very awkward, but I guess it is acceptable here. And I saw men buying and carrying bouquets of flowers. I know many consider flowers a waste of money, and they are, but I love them. I got a few great pictures, but despite all the cords laying around, I brought the wrong one and can't upload them. So I have no proof, but will have lots of pics later. I rushed back to the hotel and met my husband about 9:00 pm local time. He left for meetings this morning and I am going to head out on the town for some serious window shopping and meet him later.

Good news is, my phone actually works! This is my 3 trip out of the country recently and the first time it has worked. Now I will have a high phone bill to prove it, get ready Carson! (I share a family plan with some brothers). Last night I told Kirk that I must be crazy to pack up and join him across the world on my own. It is a little scary and sometimes I can't believe I do it. Even remembering Japan makes me realize I was crazy. But it is absolutely amazing as well. I love planning out my day and figuring out where I need to go and then actually doing it, by myself. Leaving my kids just about kills me. So to get over the pain, I started thinking about seeing my husband and where I was going and so far it has all been worth it.

Separation Anxiety

I have the hardest time leaving my kids. 

Name Them One By One

Today I am grateful for

• Second chances.  I really feel like I have been a bad mom lately.  I have a strong desire today to be better, to spend more time with my kids and enjoy them more.  I need to stop what I am doing more often and give them the best of me.  Sadly, they usually get the worst of me after I have worn myself out doing other things that seem important at the moment.  
• My husband.  He is in London.  Absence makes my heart grown fonder instantly.  It is amazing how much I take for granted his presence.  He is my best friend and I much prefer life with him rather than without him.  
• London.  Just hearing about it makes me happy.  I literally fell in love with that city and I can't wait to go back someday.  
• My kids.  In preparation for my absence, I spent some time writing my kids notes to be opened on days while I am gone.  If I think about it too much, it nearly kills me to leave them.  That is one reason we always take them to Hawaii.  I know they get a little nervous when I am gone.  I try to pretend it is no big deal, but really, I hate leaving them and it makes me sad too, but I can't let them know that because it would make things worse.   

After School Snack

This is what we had for an after school snack today.  Mine didn't look quite this pretty, but it tasted wonderful!  We did have whip cream though, because I think that is essential to good hot chocolate.  I had to change into my sweats and slippers because I was so cold and we even turned on the heat.  One day the AC, the next day, the furnace.  Does this only happen in Utah?  

Lately It's Been Good

When I was in college, I had this poster on my wall.  If it wasn't this one, it was one very similar.  I didn't know very much about the photo other than I really liked it.  I think the picture was taken in Paris, which is where I am headed.   And I can't believe it.

Life has been pretty good lately, I really can't complain.  Just before I started this blog we had been through one of the hardest experiences of our lives.  It involved life changing situations and when it all fell apart, we were devastated.  It was sad, hard, embarrassing, and rough.  Looking back, it turns out it was a HUGE blessing, but we didn't know it at the time.  

When I think about all of the places I have been and things we have done lately, I am amazed!  I am going to enjoy the good times while they last.  Kirk gets to see a lot of Europe (for work), I am just going to meet him in Paris for a few short days.  I don't speak any French and have never been there and I will get there several hours before him.  Wish me luck, because I am going to need it.  And if you have been there and have any suggestions for me, it would be much appreciated.  

Disneyland 2006

Name Them One By One

• I am grateful for my family.  We have had a blast recently playing games with my brother and his wife.  It is so nice to have family close by (including my sister who lives downstairs, does dishes, and mows the lawn)
• I am grateful for the gospel and the principle of fasting.  I don't implement this enough in my life and I am always so amazed at the blessings that follow when I do.
• I am grateful for my kids.  I got to visit their school last week and really enjoyed seeing them, their successes, and their projects.  I have really loved their new school.
• I am grateful for my husband's job.  Yes he does have to travel, and yes it is really hard sometimes, but we do reap some benefits.  

For Those of You Who Know Me and My Family....

My newest sister in law Chelsey captured our Memorial Day weekend perfectly.  And since her husband (my brother, Parker) is the family photographer, she has all the good pictures.  I will warn you is it lengthy, but she did a great job capturing the weekend.  If I could copy and paste the whole thing, I would, but I don't know how, so for now here is a link  Enjoy!

Losing It With Lara

I am losing my mind!  This has been a rough couple of days/weeks for me.  Recently I made appointments to go visiting teaching and then I didn't even show up.  I totally forgot about it.  It wasn't like I made the appointment a week in advance, just a day or two, and I still couldn't remember it.  And I even wrote it down in my calendar.  This week I went to Costco.  As I walked in, I flashed my American Express Costco card, then I went about shopping for the things on my list.  As I was unloading my cart, I realized my Costco card was missing.  I emptied my pockets, purse, retraced my steps and found nothing!  Luckily they looked up my info and let me buy my things.  I canceled my card on the way out and left my phone number in case someone turned it in.  I haven't received any phone calls and I still haven't found my card.  I have no idea where it went.  Last week I bought a large amount of flax seed.  I divided some of it up to share and still had a large bag left for me.  It has disappeared.  I can't find it anywhere.  I looked again this morning, still no flax....

Unfortunately there have actually been other things I have forgotten this week and I can't even remember them.  I am forgetful and recently it seems to be getting worse.  Dang it! 

I Am Happy

One of my very favorite things to do is bake or cook in a clean kitchen, wearing an apron, and listening to music.  My ipod died awhile ago.  My little nano was old and served me well, so well I didn't realize how much I missed it when he was gone.  I recently got a new one, an i touch to be exact and it does more things than I will ever have time to figure out, but the most important thing is that it plays music for me.  So today I am baking brownies (those alone make me happy), wearing my apron and listening to some sweet tunes (thanks to my little sister for loading up my ipod with more music than I will ever listen to).  And I am happy!

snow=not so grateful :(

Name Them One By One

I am grateful for a husband who took his boys to Fathers and Sons.  Despite the elements, the boys said it was their best one yet.

I am grateful to live near family.  We don't all live close together, but close enough that I get to see some of them once in awhile.

I am grateful for a sister who is living with us this summer.  My life is busy and uneventful and I am not a good host.  Sometimes I feel bad about not being very exciting, but the boys make up for that.  They LOVE having her around.  When we went to Hawaii, I called her once in awhile to check on her, the house, and the dog.  Each time, the boys asked to talk to her and each of them did.  Those conversations were sweet.  When they get home from school they frequently ask, "Where's Kaitlin?"  Part of it is because of her nintendo skills, but most of it is because they love having her around.  

I am grateful for the rain and chilly weather.  I want summer to come just as much as anyone, but I think my garden and flowers are really benefiting.   

I am grateful for other bloggers.  I enjoy reading everyone's blogs and sometimes living vicariously through others' adventures.  I sort of copied this idea from another blog, but I think it is such a great way for me to reflect on the week and all of my blessings.  I am hoping to do an entry like this each Sunday.  

A Farmer In The Band

Today I was driving in the car with Tyler.  The radio was on when I started the car.  We just started down the hill and Tyler said, "Hey Mom, I could be in that band because I know how to play that instrument."  I wasn't sure what he was talking about so I listened to the song, it was "Piano Man" by Billy Joel and the instrument was the harmonica.  He does love the harmonica and had just been playing it around the house.  Although he doesn't know any songs, he doesn't sound that bad either.  Later, on the same outing he told me how he wanted to be a farmer when he grows up.  He has told me this many times before.  This time he said, "I want to be a monkey farmer!"  I wasn't sure what to say except that there isn't such a thing.

Highlights of Hawaii 2010

We were quite a scene at the airport.

All true, they have the best shave ice.

The Polynesian Cultural Center

Ethan doing exactly what he does everyday at home.

Fun at the beach.

Our second visit to the north shore for shave ice.  We all preferred the shave ice at the Aloha General Store to the shave ice at Matsumoto's.  It was unanimous.  

I loved watching Tyler snorkel around the pool.  I was proud of my boys, they all snorkeled this year and we saw some pretty good stuff.  Including a turtle, right at our resort.  It was pretty neat!

The Pali lookout.

USS Arizona.  Of all the places, Kirk and I ran into a friend here from high school.  Turns out he was even staying at the same place as us, what a small world!

Hanging out before dinner.

These pancakes were worth the drive to Kailua.  Banana pancakes with macadamia nut sauce, they are to die for.

Death by pancakes.

Cousins at the beach.

Getting shave ice on the north shore.

At Pearl Harbor.

Aloha 'Oe-Farewell to you, Hawaii. Can't wait to go back!

My Little Brother

Yesterday my little brother got married.  I am very happy for him and love his new wife.  Today they are in Hawaii and I wish I was too.  All the wedding events turned out lovely.  The best part was I didn't have to make dinner for 2 nights in a row.  I am sure that wasn't the best part for them;)

What I Thought Was Cute Is Actually Disgusting!

Remember when this happened?  I was really heart broken when my kids destroyed all of those eggs.  They were such a pretty shade of light blue and I just thought it was so neat that the birds had made a nest on my door.  We recently discovered another nest in a different wreath I had on the door.  It quickly filled with 4 eggs.  I was busy preparing for our vacation and never got pictures.  The kids have been really excited this time and careful not to hurt them.  

When we got home from our vacation, we had little things that barely resembled birds.  Again I was busy and didn't get a picture, but today I did.  They are starting to look more like birds.  And they are disgusting!  There is bird poo everywhere and it was all I could do to even take pictures, it makes me sick.  I am dying to throw the wreath in the garbage, clean the door, paint it, and retire all my spring wreaths.  Of course I won't do anything until they are gone, but it is killing me!  Nothing about these babies birds is cute.  And yes, that is bird poo that you see all around them and on my wreath, gross!

My Son, The Super Hero

It reads-

With the power of Hercules and strength of He-Man and skill of Achilles and bravery of Percy Jackson, I David is the best hero of all time.

This is what I found this morning on his white board.  If only he had added "with the spelling and grammar of an English major,"  just kidding, he is pretty great, you can tell he thinks so too:)

Blog Trouble

So I was trying to make a slide show of our pictures from Hawaii.  I easily made one with smilebox, but when I went to post it, it said it could not be printed without a fee and it would include their ads.  I deleted it, it made me mad.  Then I started doing another one, it is still downloading, not nearly as easy as the first one, and I thought to look back at slide show I did last time we went to Hawaii.  It is not even on my blog anymore!  Where do they go?  What is the best way to document a lot of pictures?    

It Feels Like Christmas

This morning we woke up to 4 inches of snow.  All the snow on the ground made the excitement of our upcoming vacation even more powerful.  It sort of feels like Christmas-there is snow, cold weather, anticipation, and excitement in the air.  It's just too bad vacations can't last forever.  Tomorrow is going to be a good day:)

What is left of our chain...

The boys are all packed!

Hawaii, here we come!

Chomp, Chomp!

My Sunday nap was interrupted.  The argument started over a bag of popcorn.  We have a box of popcorn from Costco in the pantry, more than enough for us and the neighborhood, but I guess not enough to prevent fighting.  

Latest Adventures

Not much has been going on around here, just the usual.  I had to go to Michaels the other day to pick up some stuff for my mom.  While we were there, she said to buy Tyler a treat for her (since he had been sick, but he is fine now).  Anyway, he looked around at all the stuff and chose a foam army hat and a foam gun that makes noises when you pull the trigger.  It kept him happy and he played with them all day long.  While he was trying to decide on his treat, he also saw a pirate telescope for $1 that was quite tempting.  The next day he begged to go back to "Mikes" with his $1 so that he could buy himself that telescope.  We went back and got it along with some shrinky dinks.  My kids had never done them and I remembered loving them when I was little, so we made some and had fun.  Tyler even blessed the shrinky dinks in his prayer that night.   I guess we should go to Michaels more often.

Recently we went to Barnes and Noble as a family.  David says that is his favorite store and they must make a lot of money.  I don't know why we don't go there more often as well, we always have so much fun.  We went in search of some good reading material for the plane ride of our upcoming trip.  Ethan was really hoping to buy Indian in the Cupboard, but someone had come and bought all of them that day.  He was sad and I promised him we would go back, maybe that's what we should do today...

The boys are off track and we have officially enjoyed our first lazy morning.  I love seeing them laying around in their pajamas reading.  Jacob is loving the Percy Jackson series and we get to hear about all things Greek from him.  

Kirk has been really busy at work.  For the longest time I have been so grateful for his job and that he is busy, even if he has to travel, but now I am getting tired of him being so busy.  I think he is too, we both need a vacation.  I am still grateful for his job and I guess I am glad that he is busy.  It is better than the alternative.

I have been busy in search of the perfect swimming suit.  It has been a difficult job.  My brother and his family are coming with us.  Last weekend we went out to dinner with them and some of my brothers.  My sister in law and I were discussing the trip and discovered we ordered some of the same swimming suits.  I would be happier about this if she weren't so tall and skinny and pretty.  Oh well...

A coupon came in the mail for "glitter toes"  I thought that might be fun to try, so I did, and they were cheap.  I am not sure I love them.  I am now debating whether or not to have them taken off before our trip.  I don't even know how to get them off, little did I know that glitter toes involved gel, like acrylic nails.  

Maybe someday I will look back at this picture and think, "what nice toes I used to have," but right now I am wondering why I posted this.  

Grateful

Tyler is sick.  I hate seeing my kids sick.  He is usually so full of life, so when he slows down, it is so noticeable.  Tonight I gave him lots of medicine, turned on the humidifier, and rubbed Vicks on him.  Minutes later he was upstairs saying he might throw up.  I figured it was just because of all his coughing, didn't think much of it.  Then he cuddled with me and I could hear his crackling lungs.  We went right to the doctor.  Tyler finally quit coughing on the drive over and even fell asleep.  I nearly turned around, but realized if not tonight, I would probably be there tomorrow, so we went ahead.  As soon as they took him back, he threw up all over.  Poor little guy, he only came down with a cough on Saturday.  They think he has pneumonia.  So now we will give him more drugs and wait for him to heal.  This is a first for us, thankfully, and hopefully the last.  As we sat and waited for doctors and x-rays, I reflected on the day and felt grateful I was able to get a nap in earlier.  And I am grateful for kidscare that is open late on the weekends, and for pharmacies that never close, and for a husband who went to fill the prescriptions.  Tyler will get better and I am especially grateful for that! 

Easter Sunday

The day started out with yummy food and we ate and ate all day long.  For that reason, I am glad it is over.

We dyed Easter Eggs and later ate them.

I got interviewed by Chelsey, my soon to be sister in law.

Grandma got teased by Tyler...

We did lots of puzzles while we listened to conference....

We had an Easter Egg hunt after the snow melted.  We have had more snow in April than we had in February, and I am ready for that to change!

It ended with a bath in the big tub...

Hope you all had a wonderful Easter!

Books

Just before I delivered the twins, I was invited to join a book club.  I remember we read Cold Sassy Tree, I think.  Anyways, a good friend had invited me and I knew another girl from my ward, the rest of the girls were new acquaintances for me.  It was so fun to make new friendships, hear new ideas and opinions, and come away feeling better because of it.  All of the girls had such different life experiences.  Some were single, some had careers, some were married and had children.  I continued to attend after the twins were born and then we later moved away.  It was such a positive experience for me that I was anxious to do something similar in my new neighborhood.  A book club got started and it was good.  A good book can get me through a bad day, I love to read.  It was strong for awhile and then it would fizzle, pick back up, and fizzle again.  After awhile it died.  I found myself wanting to read and needing that association, so we started back up again and on a schedule that really seems to work, and I must say that I love it!  I really enjoy hearing everyone's opinions, and I love that everyone has an opinion!  The girls that I meet with are intelligent and capable of good conversations.  It is always so fun to meet because they are friends that I don't get to see very often.  And it gives me something good to read.  I love book club.  Next up I am reading Left to Tell.  I can't wait to get my hands on a copy of it.