dilly-dahle

reflecting

2012-01-05T16:05:00.001-05:00

Normally deciding which photos make the cut for our annual year-end slideshow isn't too difficult. This year it was painful. We had so many fun adventures this year, and I had almost 600 photos in my "favorites" folder. So here is the very condensed version of 2011, including...

horse back riding
rodeo
gem and mineral show
selling our first house and moving across the country
selling two cars and buying a new one
a new cousin
spending a good chunk of the year on the road.

total days away from home: 64
places visited: Denver (twice for me), Idaho (twice for me), Illinois (twice), Montreal (twice), Quebec City, Boston, Portsmouth, NH, and York, ME (as well as many day trips exploring Vermont)

new friends
a half marathon, and a 10k
lazy days at the beach
3 visits to the ER (luckily nothing too serious)
a new found love of farmers markets, berry picking, and fresh apple cider
lots of bike rides
my brother's graduation

We hope 2012 brings many more adventures. First on the list...skiing.

snow

2011-12-08T15:23:00.000-05:00

There is something magical about waking up to snow covered trees. Even just an inch of snow completely transforms the world.

fall adventures

2011-11-10T23:00:00.000-05:00

Time to post something new because I'm tired of looking at pictures of me dressed as ginger spice.

apple picking at chapin orchards


picking out pumpkins

harvest festival at shelburne farms

hay bale maze


wood jumping

yummiest corn ever!

making vine tiaras

before running a 10k with these awesome girls

the girls participating in the kids' 1/4 mile run


ribbons and candy

after running a 10k with these awesome girls

more apple picking at shelburne orchards

tired of picking

the swing!

cider donuts

halloween festivities

2011-10-31T23:37:00.001-04:00

Friday: We were in charge of the photo booth at the ward Halloween party.

10 points if you know who I'm supposed to be.

Here's a hint.

Saturday: We visited the Haunted Forest with fun friends after eating a delicious dinner at Monty's Old Brick Tavern.

Sunday: The girls were excited to wake up to a light dusting of snow.

Monday: We had fun trick-or-treating with cute friends.

My favorite witches wish you a spooky Halloween.

around town

2011-10-14T20:55:00.003-04:00

orange is my new favorite color!

yesterday...

2011-10-12T21:09:00.000-04:00

...we enjoyed a little walk in the forest about 10 minutes from our house.

it was beautiful...

ella wore her cowboy boots...

sophie tried to squeeze ella's hand as hard as she could...

the girls collected leaves to put in their hats...

did I mention it was beautiful?...

and that my girls' are cute as can be?...

i think this is what it's like to live in a story book...

sophie's first day of school

2011-10-09T20:52:00.000-04:00

Sophie started preschool this week. She has been persistently reminding us since we arrived in Vermont that she needs to go to school. We enrolled her in a small class at the high school with her friend Ethan. It is a cute class, and there are several high school student teachers as well as the main teacher, so she receives lots attention. One drawback though was that it didn't start until October. Six months is a long time to wait when you're four. Her back pack and lunch box were packed and ready to go back in August.

Finally, October 4th arrived, and school seems to have lived up to her expectations. She basically bounces out of bed every morning, bed head and all. She can't wait to get to school. She's gotten dressed and ready in record time all week. On our way to school every morning she makes a mental list of all the things she wants to tell her teachers and friends. And on the way home she tells me all about her adventures (after first telling me that she can't remember what she did at school, of course). It's picking her up from school that has presented the biggest challenge. I've found that I cannot, under any circumstances, be the first mom to arrive at pick up. That is unacceptable. And regardless of when I pick her up I am greeted by the infamous Sophie scowl. It requires a great deal of discussion before she'll agree to put the sand box toys away and get her stuff to leave. Oh, and she about had a meltdown yesterday when we were trying to explain that school isn't in session on weekends. I hope this enthusiasm for school continues for a while.

foliage

2011-10-07T14:45:00.001-04:00

Fall pretty much rocks in Vermont...cool mornings, apple picking, fresh cider, pumpkins, rainy days, foggy mornings, watching the trees change.

Last weekend my parents came to visit. On Monday we drove over to Stowe, and up through Smugglers notch with them. It seems that we were a little early for the peak color...a lot of the trees were still green. But it didn't really matter because Vermont is amazing no matter what season it is.

stowe

mt mansfield toll road

mt. mansfield toll road

smuggler's notch

our (half) marathon weekend

2011-09-14T13:33:00.003-04:00

Last Saturday we headed to Manchester, VT for the day.

We watched the sunrise over the green mountain state as we traveled south.

I participated in the Maple Leaf race...

...barely, but technically running across the finish line.

The girls had fun handing out medals to the runners...

...and playing (I think her neck is feeling better).

After the race we explored the area.

The St. James Church and cemetery in Arlington where Ethan Allen's wife is buried, as well as some members of the Green Mountain boys (from the Revolutionary War).

Lunch break.

Hildene: Robert Lincoln's (son of Abraham Lincoln) home in Manchester.

We also visited a Norman Rockwell exhibit (not pictured).

It was a pretty great day.

summer's last hurrah

2011-09-09T13:52:00.005-04:00

We had a plan to visit Maine before school started. But then Hurricane Irene blew through the area, and we had to put our plan on hold.

So we went to the Champlain Valley Fair instead.

Then we decided it would be fun to do a last minute trip to Portsmouth, New Hampshire over Labor Day weekend.

Pretty much the first thing we did was visit the Portsmouth Regional Hospital...

...so that Sophie's neck (which she hurt doing somersaults on the bed at the hotel) could be evaluated.

Fortunately, it wasn't serious. She was diagnosed with an acute cervical strain, and given

some "neck medicine." Once she could get up, we were discharged, and Sophie spent most of the rest of the weekend looking over her right shoulder.

At that point we considered calling it a weekend and heading home, but Ella really wanted to go see the lighthouse. So we decided to do that first.

Portsmouth Harbor Lighthouse

By the time we finished our tour, Sophie seemed to be feeling much better, so we went on with our weekend.

We picnicked by the beach.

Explored the tide pools.

And played on the beach until the mosquitoes came out.

Then we headed down to Hampton Beach to enjoy fireworks, corn dogs, caramel apples and ice cream cones.

On Monday, after doing some shopping and general people watching in Portsmouth, we headed north to York, Maine where we enjoyed lobster rolls and fried clams at the Shore Road Restaurant.

Mmm...yummy, buttery lobster.

While we were waiting for the Labor day interstate traffic to thin we went and found the Nubble Lighthouse.

And then spent the afternoon at the beach.

Overall, it was a pretty successful way to spend the last days of summer...

...and it appears that autumn has arrived in Vermont!

first day of second grade

2011-08-31T15:25:00.000-04:00

irene

2011-08-31T09:29:00.007-04:00

So...the hurricane. Who would have thought that we'd have to worry about hurricanes when we moved to Vermont (it may not be that unusual...I really have no idea). Technically, Irene was a tropical storm by the time it hit Vermont on Sunday. The actual storm, at least what hit us, wasn't so bad. It basically rained fairly hard for about 24 hours, and it was a little windy. We didn't even lose power (we've lost power every other storm we've had). On the news they were encouraging everyone to get to higher ground if they needed to and stay indoors. And church was cancelled...that seemed weird because it didn't seem to be that bad of a storm. In fact it was a pleasant, lazy day. We stayed in our pajamas most of the day, and made pizza and root beer floats for dinner. It wasn't until later that night that we started hearing about all the flooding, and people with out power.

It was incredible to see how high the Winooski river (the main river in the area) was the next morning. The berry field down the road from us was completely underwater. Driving around town was tricky because of road closures, and all the people stopping to take pictures of the river. Unfortunately, I didn't get any pictures...so if your interested in pictures I'm going to direct you to my friend Sara's blog,
or my friend Erin's blog.

Southern Vermont was hit the worst. If you've seen pictures on the news...that's what your seeing. This video of the 140 year old covered bridge being swept away makes my heart hurt...and also helps me realize how fortunate we were. There's nothing like a little tropical storm to help you appreciate mother nature. We hope that the people in the communities in Southern Vermont are safe and able to recover quickly.

And on a funny, related note...the girls have been trying to figure out why they named the hurricane after their cool aunt Irene.

question: what is the best way to spend hot, muggy summer afternoon?

2011-08-26T11:44:00.006-04:00

answer: cooling off in Lake Champlain.

...especially if you're with friends...

...and extra especially if you've got friends with an sweet inner tube and a boat to pull it with...

some day I will learn to sail.

So, I haven't visited every lake in the world, exactly...but I have a hard time imagining there is a lake more beautiful than Lake Champlain. (Please feel free to come check it out yourself if you don't believe me).

question: what is the best place to spend a random summer afternoon?

2011-08-23T12:56:00.001-04:00

Answer: probably Stowe, Vermont.

i'm lucky...

2011-08-10T14:28:00.000-04:00

...to have spent the last 10 years enjoying life's adventures with my best friend.

nous devrions faire une tarte aux fraises...

2011-08-04T15:19:00.000-04:00

...et voila!

Montreal

2011-08-01T16:24:00.000-04:00

Not too long after we arrived in Vermont we headed up to Canada for a quick weekend visit to Montreal. We loved it. It was especially fun because my parents were there too.

currently enjoying...

2011-07-26T13:21:00.001-04:00

...freshly picked raspberries over hot milk cake with whole milk vanilla yogurt.

Sophie

2011-07-25T11:15:00.001-04:00

Sophie turned 4 last month...she really wanted a rainbow birthday party.

At her request the party included: rainbow sprinkle cupcakes, fruit loops, strawberries, blueberries, the game "don't eat pete," a pinata, and party hats.

We hung prisms (rainbow makers) over the food table, and they doubled as party favors.

We took her down by the river to take some birthday portraits. Which was a mistake because she HATES bugs. Mosquitoes stress her out.

Once we got her calmed down she agreed to let us do a few photos as long as Jacob stood by and fanned the bugs away with the reflector.

We even captured a few genuine smiles.

Our second location had fewer bugs...she was much happier, and more relaxed. We got some fun shots.

A few things about Sophie, age 4...

She loves to play with her sister.She's been trying to learn how to read, so that she can read like Ella.

She loves to draw and paint...which recently has included face painting...

She is resourceful and independent. Case in point...she needed a band aid. We were out. she made her own out of blue painter's tape.

She really wants a pet. She would prefer a dog, but birds are much more plentiful around here. She's been trying for weeks to catch a bird to be her pet. She's been building nests (complete with eggs pilfered from the refrigerator, and bird seed) in order to entice the birds close enough to catch.

So far...no luck.

Her favorite foods are blueberries, strawberries, carrots and chocolate.

She loves to ride her bike and play outside.

If you ask her what her middle name is she'll respond "Sophie Claire Dahle," or "Sophie Claire Madeline Dahle." She refers to a large number of anything as a flock, ie..."Let's go to the library so we can get a whole flock of books, Look at that flock of hay." She loves going to primary. She reminds us every night that we need to read scriptures. She loves to sing.

We're so glad she belongs to us!

heat wave

2011-07-25T09:26:00.000-04:00

Last week Vermont experienced a little heat wave. When we moved here I promised myself that I wouldn't complain about the cold.

I didn't promise anything about the heat...

We are used to hot summer temperatures, but we are not used to hot summer temperatures with humidity. And we are definitely not used to hot summer temperatures, with humidity, with out A/C.

Day 1: It reached a mild 92 degrees in our house, so we hunkered down in our basement (where it was a cool 85 degrees) with a fan, our camping chairs, and The Apple Dumpling Gang Rides Again. By 1:00 AM it had cooled down to 89, and we managed a fitful night's sleep.

Day 2: We dropped Jacob off at his air conditioned office and then spent the entire day basking in the cool waters of Lake Champlain.

That evening we decided there was no way we were going to survive without A/C, so we called around trying to find any store that still had window units in stock. At about 9:50 PM we ended up at a Lowe's 20 minutes from our house. They had 1 unit left. It was much bigger than we had originally planned on buying, but it was a good unit, and they gave us a discount. We couldn't pass it up. Unfortunately, it was so big that it didn't fit in our car. Fortunately, our super nice neighbor was available and willing to drive down and pick it up for us.

Day 3: Jacob spent the day building a stand to mount the A/C. The girls thought it was the coolest thing ever, that we could take the screen out of the window. They soon discovered the joys of throwing stuffed animals out the window for each other to catch. The A/C was installed and running in time for me to enjoy the cool air when I got back from my hot, sweaty jog that evening.

Boston

2011-07-12T17:00:00.000-04:00

View of Boston from MIT

Boston's been calling our name since we got here. We have some friends who were talking about going to Boston for the 4th of July, and it sounded like a great idea to us. We were able to see several historical sites as well as participate in some of the events happening around the city for the holiday. It was enlightening to see the historical sites and hear stories of Paul Revere, the Boston Massacre, the Boston Tea Party, etc while standing where they took place. I came home with a better understanding of our nation's history, and greater appreciation for the founding fathers and all the soldiers who have fought for freedom. We also ate lots of good food, and watched the most amazing fire works show I've ever seen. Boston for the 4th might become a tradition for us.

Among the highlights...

watching the Wizard of Oz in the park
Ella learning to read the maps and navigate the subways
fife and drummers
Sophie trying all weekend to catch a bird to be her pet
hearing the Declaration of Independence read from the balcony of the Old State House
watching the USS Constitution out in the harbor
hanging out with the Larsens
good food
listening to the Boston Pops concert and watching fire works along the Charles River

4th of July 2011-Boston from Heather Dahle on Vimeo.

A few little details about the slide show:
The audio was all recorded while we were in Boston. The second song was the Middlesex County Volunteer Fife and Drum band. The last song was Martina McBride singing "God Bless America" during the pops concert. I don't remember what the first song clip was from. That was Ella reciting the Pledge of Allegiance and the excerpt from the Declaration of Independence. She memorized them at school.

Also, at the very end, if you look to the bottom left of the picture, you can see the fireworks reflecting in one of the buildings (it's kind of cool).

summer days

2011-06-22T00:07:00.001-04:00

lazy mornings, nancy drew, and maple creamees.

welcome summer!

expectations

2011-06-20T16:00:00.000-04:00

I expected this move to require a lot of work. I expected to be frustrated and overly stressed occasionally. I expected that I would feel lost for a while. I expected to provide emotional support for our girls as they transitioned to a new home/school (surprisingly, they haven't needed much). I expected Vermont to feel a little foreign and mysterious. I expected to feel cold and damp. What I hadn't counted on was the combination leaving me feeling completely disoriented, which caused some moments of panic... "what the heck were we thinking!"

Fortunately, the anxiety has subsided significantly. I've scrubbed and unpacked the house enough that it's starting to feel like home. We've met our friendly neighbors (a family a few doors down with a little girl, and a family across the street with two young boys). We are able to sit outside in the evenings and chat while the kids play. One of our neighbors also works at IBM so he and Jacob are able to car pool. We have a fantastic ward with amazing people. We've been invited to do play dates, BBQ's, and dinners. The cold rainy weather has changed, and Vermont is warm and green. We feel so lucky to be here. It took us 5 days to unload our furniture between rainstorms.

The ramp we put together to move the piano into the house. We moved it by ourselves (go us)!!

drug store easter.

exploring our forest for the first time.

just behind our house.

gathering acorns.

Lake Champlain flooded from all of the rain.

sign of spring.

germinating.

(note Ella's pockets stuffed full of various treasures collected in the forest).

wish.

petals in the road.

spring!

Lake Champlain at sunset.

dilly-dahle U.S. tour 2011:

2011-06-15T00:00:00.000-04:00

11 states in 11 days.

After signing the contract for our new house we flew back to Denver in time to do some laundry, grab a few hours of sleep, pack back up and head to Idaho for a quick trip to meet my sister's new baby, Christopher. We rented a minivan so that the 4 of us, plus my parents, could travel together and my brother could come back with us. It was a fun, busy weekend, that wasn't nearly long enough. We are so glad that we were able to go.

meeting Chris.

celebrating my mom's birthday.

blessing day.

family photo.

cousins.

Before we left Rexburg, my brother was able to give us a behind-the-scenes tour of the conference center at BYU-I where he works as a sound technician.

Then it was 10 hours in a crowded van back to Denver to do laundry (again), and finish enough of our taxes to file an extension, before packing up our own little car and heading east.

After a quick stop in Nebraska, we made it to Illinois to spend some quality time with Jacob's sister and her family. It was a fun, relaxing couple of days. The girls stayed busy playing with their cousins. We really only saw them when they decided they needed to eat.

picking dandelions.

pizza night.

pink panther marathon.

aunt Irene.

making s'mores.

We really wished we could have stayed longer.

The last couple days of our trip were long. We were ready to be in Vermont, and tired of living out of suitcases. The last day was particularly rough. We were driving into Burlington, not knowing if we were going to be able to get the key to our house. We had planned to spend the night in our new house so that the moving company could deliver our truck, and the gas company could come turn on our gas first thing in the morning. Our landlord was out of town in Hawaii, but planned to leave the house key at his wife's office with the receptionist. He told us to contact her when we were ready to pick it up. We called from New York to schedule a time to get it from her, but she had no idea what we were talking about. We tried to contact the landlord, but couldn't reach him. The most frustrating part was not knowing if we needed to arrange for a hotel, and cancel the moving truck delivery etc... Finally, around 6:00 PM, as we were arriving in Burlington, the landlord called us back. He had left the key, but hadn't told the receptionist, so after another half hour of phone tag we arranged to meet her to get our key. Phew. It ended up just fine, but the uncertainty made for a tough afternoon. We made one more quick stop at a store to buy a space heater, and a blanket. Unfortunately, we couldn't find a space heater. At 40 degrees, with no heat, we spent a chilly night on the floor, huddled under the blanket.

We set up our i-pod on the front window of our car to record a time lapse video of our trip. We basically recorded the entire trip. This video is our first look at Vermont. It starts just as we cross into Vermont on route 22A heading north to Burlington.

Welcome to Vermont from Heather Dahle on Vimeo.

Here is the girl's first look at our new house...

All in all, it was a great road trip.

And a few more photos from the road...

back tracking: house hunting

2011-05-15T21:31:00.000-04:00

After my parents arrived home from Ireland, Jacob and I headed to Burlington with high hopes of finding the perfect rental. We decided that renting was the way to go for now. As much as we like to pretend that we are spontaneous, fly by the seat of our pants type people, we are not the kind of couple to commit to a permanent residence, and mortgage with out doing much more research than we could ever hope to get done in a month (let alone a week). We opted to find a rental that would allow us to get to know the area, ward, commute, weather, etc before deciding if we are going to buy. It's much less permanent so there was much less pressure.

Before we left we compiled a list of what we wanted in our ideal place of residence.

1. At least 2 bedrooms
2. An attic or basement
3. Covered parking
4. Good school
5. Lots of windows, with good light
6. Close to work
7. Close to church
9. A good office/work area
10. a good back yard for the girls
11. Close to park/grocery store/gym/bus line
12. Has character.
(sort of in that order).

The girls decided their ideal house would...
1. have stairs
2. have a swing set
3. Be purple or pink (this was Sophie's).

Finding it proved to be much harder. It was a rough week.

Things we learned:
1. Having our kids, and owning our own home have definitely ~~raised~~ changed our priorities in a rental. The only other time we were looking for a place to rent was just before we were married. I was still in school and Jacob had just started working at IBM. The only things on our list that time were that it was on the east side of Tucson, and had a washer and dryer in the apartment. It took us an afternoon to find an apartment.
2. As it turns out the Burlington area has essentially a 0% vacancy rate, so there is not much available to start with.
3. There also isn't a central place to find what's on the market (no mls) and so it's hard to find what is available. We spent a lot of time searching craigslist, local classifieds, realty sites.
4. We had a difficult time getting a hold of people. Most people didn't call us back for 2-3 days. A couple of realtors never called us back. Which was extra aggravating since we were only in town for a week.

Despite the frustrations we did find a place. We ended up with 5 or 6 of our 9 requirements. (The girls ended up with 1 out of 3 of their list). It is a 2 bedroom condo, with a basement, and a one car garage. It's about 5 miles from IBM, and 3 miles from church. It does have several parks close by, and the bus line is close (although the grocery store and gym aren't super close). The upstairs bedrooms have great windows/light, but the main floor doesn't. It doesn't have a great work area, but it'll do. We essentially don't have a back yard (we have a forest instead), but there is a great spot out front for the girls to ride their bikes. The jury's still out on the school. The districts out here have great reputations, but I'm not so sure about Ella's school. We'll just have to see. And you could say the place has character, but unfortunately, not the good kind. Although, with some TLC, a good scrub and our own furniture/pictures, I'll think we'll be fine. On the plus side we did get a little bonus: the land lord really liked us and rented the place to us without making us fill out applications, checking credit, or references.

Here it is. This picture was taken April 4. There was still snow on the ground.

Montpelier

2011-05-08T22:59:00.000-04:00

We have fun pictures and anecdotes from the last month (which I plan on posting soon). It has been quite the adventure getting to Vermont, and we're so happy to be here. Our first impressions of Vermont: it's beautiful, hilly, rainy, unique, friendly, outdoorsy, and laid back. We love it! We are still in the process of settling in. Between the cleaning, unpacking, registering Ella for school, trips to the DMV, work, etc., we've had fun exploring the area.

Yesterday we headed to Montpelier, which is about a 40 minute drive from our house. A local bike shop was having a bike swap. Since Sophie has taken over ownership of Ella's old bike we decided to check it out, and see if we could find a suitable upgrade for Ella. We found a great purple bike for her, and ended up getting a bike for me as well (Happy Mother's day to me).

It was a little project fitting both bikes into our trunk.

Down the street from the bike swap was the first out door market of the season. We wandered around for a while, bought some lunch (yummy Pakistan food, fresh baked artisan rolls, and pain au chocolate), and then played on the lawn of the state capitol building. It was a fantastic way to spend a beautiful spring Saturday.

tribute to Tucson

2011-03-23T22:02:00.000-04:00

The first phase of our move was completed successfully. The house sold and closed without any problems, and all of our worldly possessions are on a semi, somewhere near Burlington, VT. A huge thank you to everyone who helped out, watching our girls, helping us move furniture, and being just all around great friends.

We are hanging out in Denver, house sitting for my parents while they are in Ireland. It's been a nice break from the chaos of moving. When my parents come back we'll start on phase 2 of the move: Finding a House. We are going to leave Ella and Sophie to play with the grandparents while Jacob and I fly to Burlington and check it out. Fingers are crossed that it will be easier to find a house than it was to buy our "new" car. Note to self: 2 weeks before moving across the country is not the best time to be trying to buy a car. It's a used, but in beautiful condition, Acura TSX (if you're curious). It's awesome.

We left Tucson a week ago today and it's been fun, but it just feels like we're on vacation. I end up with a little bit of anxiety when I remember that we're not going back home.

Here is a little farewell to Tucson...to our great friends, experiences, memories...(Jacob's proposal on Mt Lemmon, first apartment, teaching dance, dance festival, my internship at St Mary's, our first house, our girls' births', Jacob's master's degree, amazing friends, and our adventures-camping, exploring, parties, running, biking, serving in Mutual). It was a great 10 years. Tucson is a great place to live.

Farewell Tucson (480p) from Heather Dahle on Vimeo.

Music credit:

Admiral Bob / CC BY-NC 3.0

mw-p1: day 5

2011-03-15T03:55:00.001-04:00

mw-p1: day 4

2011-03-13T21:36:00.000-04:00

No pictures today, but it's starting to sink that we're leaving the place that's been home for the last (almost) 10 years. We have met many amazing people that we admire and feel privileged to call friends. We are excited for our Vermont adventure, but also anticipating the pangs of homesickness that are sure to come.

a few of the things we'll miss (in no particular order)...

great friends
mexican food
never having to worry about being under dressed
november bike rides
january picnics
monsoon season
the best book club ever
tucson's laid back pace
warm summer nights
350 days of sunshine per year
arizona sunsets
no daylight savings nonsense
installing christmas lights/ decor in 80 degree weather
road runners
fresh citrus right off the tree
"sonoran desert, after rain" smell
driving up mount lemmon
antifreeze? what's that?
flip flops=always appropriate foot wear

mw-p1: day 3

2011-03-13T21:29:00.000-04:00

moving week-phase 1: day 2

2011-03-12T00:15:00.000-05:00

A deer friend was reclaimed from storage, and keeps mysteriously escaping from it's moving box.

Sophie learned to ride a bike!

*we realized right after taking a few photos that we forgot the helmet, and she wore it for the rest of her ride.

Meanwhile Ella decided the birds needed a nest, in case the new owners of our house want a nest for birds in the back yard.

moving week-phase 1: day 1

2011-03-10T15:22:00.001-05:00

our favorite cowgirl...

2011-02-24T13:04:00.001-05:00

...wishes you a happy Rodeo Weekend.

OBE

2011-01-05T17:03:00.000-05:00

current blog status: on hold due to current dahle family status

current dahle family status: in transition.

official blog announcement: "ahem. may we have your attention please...We would like to announce that we are currently in the process of heading across the country to try our hand at being New Englanders"

the details:

who: All members of the dahle family.

what: We are moving.

where: Vermont, which is "somewhere close to the North Pole, but still in the United States of America" (as I overheard Ella explaining the move to a friend).

when: ASAP, exact timing TBA.

why: Jacob was offered (and accepted) a job with IBM's technology development team.

In the meantime: I did manage to finish our annual family slide show only a few days late.

Dahle Family 2010 (480p) from Heather Dahle on Vimeo.

Hear Us Now (poptastic mix) by scottaltham is licensed under a Attribution Noncommercial (3.0).

jacob's guide to housework #283

2010-11-07T15:59:00.001-05:00

and then prince charming appeared

2010-10-31T17:25:00.001-04:00

"In an old house in Paris...

2010-10-31T17:05:00.001-04:00

"that was covered with vines...

"lived twelve little girls in two straight lines...

"the smallest one was Madeline."

experience

2010-08-24T16:00:00.000-04:00

"experience: the thing you get the second after you needed it."

I got in a fight with 2 mesquite trees and 3 yucca plants last night. I won. But just barely. It's clearly time to invest in some chain mail armor if I intend on doing any more pruning in my yard. I look like I wrestled with half a dozen ornery cats.

While I was working, several neighbors walked by and expressed their sympathy. "I had to do that last week, it's not very fun," "Good luck with that!" and my personal favorite, "Well that's a mistake you only make once! I just hired someone to pull all my yucca's out."

(Um, can I get the name of that person).

Other things you (should) only do once...

take a baby on an airplane with out a change of clothing
buy an Alero.
try to fix a bad hair day with a pair of scissors.
lick a nine volt battery.
give a cat a bath.

I've got plenty more, but I stop there for now.

Anyone else have any one time ~~mistakes~~ experiences?

six!

2010-08-21T20:24:00.000-04:00

Happy Birthday, Party Girl!

so grown up

2010-07-28T17:37:00.000-04:00

Ella wrote me the sweetest note...I love how she signed her name.

she will hear this story for the rest of her life

2010-07-23T15:40:00.000-04:00

Prologue: This is a story about Sophie. She just turned 3. Sophie's a little hard to describe in one sentence, but we usually hear one of these two from other people who meet her. "She sure is independent." or "Wow, she's a girl who knows what she wants." I personally think the words "completely uninhibited" fit pretty well.

Setting: A summer evening at Brick Oven Pizza Restaurant (Provo, Utah) with 25 extended family members (Grandma, Grandpa, aunts, uncles, and cousins in attendance).

Synopsis: We had a fantastic dinner, and everyone was finishing up. It wasn't until our servers came out with desserts to celebrate the June birthdays in the family that we realized that Sophie wasn't at the table. She also wasn't under the table. Or at any of the nearby tables. Just as I started to panic a little, Sophie walked into the room holding all of her clothes, wearing nothing but her birthday suit. She walked over and calmly said, "Mom, my clothes are all messed up." Little Miss Independent had decided to go potty all by herself, but couldn't get her clothes back on. The poor server (who could barely be heard over the laughter) just said, "Well, um...we're going to sing Happy Birthday now."

Epilogue:

my favorite preschooler!

2010-07-20T16:12:00.000-04:00

Finally! Sophie's turn to go to school.

she spent lots of time getting ready this morning...

making sure her hair was just right...
classic sophie camera face...

Yep, still here.

2010-07-19T19:35:00.000-04:00

Our summer was great. We had the usual...swimming, girls camp, soccer practices, road trips, fireworks, etc. I hope to post a little about our summer exploits soon...

...meanwhile, back at the ranch...

School started today.

Ella started 1st grade. She's been so excited all summer, but we could tell she was pretty nervous last night and this morning.

Clue number 1: Last night when I tucked her into bed she asked me to pack soda crackers and applesauce (we have a bunch in stock, left over from a bout with the stomach flu last week) in her lunch, in case her tummy wasn't feeling good at school.

Clue number 2: She was up at 6:15 sharp.

Clue number 3:She was on the verge of tears all morning

Clue number4: She did not want any photos taken this AM. Negotiation ensued, and we came to the following compromise. Ella would smile. I was limited to 5 photos....

Photo number 1: the outfit
Photo number 2: the shoes

Photo number 3: excited to see a friend

Photo number 4: 7:55 AM

Photo number 5: waiting for the bus
Photo number 5a (don't tell Ella): Homecoming-hot but happy.

I want to create more things like this!

2010-06-20T23:29:00.000-04:00

Fantastic photography, great message....

The years are short.

gaping

2010-06-19T18:26:00.001-04:00

Ella lost another tooth. Now she has a giant hole in her mouth that is the perfect size for a straw, so naturally we had to celebrate with Oreo milk shakes.

Her other front tooth should be coming out soon too.
(Welcome to the awkward adolescent years)

How did this happen?

2010-06-14T00:33:00.000-04:00

When did she grow up?

Grand Master of the art of the arm shelf...

"No Mom, I want my leg like this."

And the birthday details...

The menu: Pizza, Sprite, Olives, Raisins, Chocolate bakery Cake, Strawberry ice cream

Her non-negotiable requests: Animal plates, bakery cake, Sprite. She requested animal paper plates and bakery cake a couple months ago. For the last 2 months every time we walked by the bakery counter she would say, "I want cake, but it's not my birthday yet!"

Ella bought Sophie an etch-a sketch with her own money.

Sophie also received a shopping cart, roller skates from Grandma Jean and Grandpa Gordon, a play preschool house from Grandma Wendy and Grandpa Bob, and a piggy bank from Aunt Megan, and a little computer from the Scotts.

It was hard to tell who was more excited for Sophie's birthday.
Sophie's been telling us for weeks that she's turning 5 like Ella. I think she might be wondering why there are only 3 candles on her cake.

Happy Birthday Sophie!

photo diary: monday 05.24.2010

2010-05-25T17:06:00.000-04:00

8:30 AM

9:21 AM

10:11 AM

10:39 AM

11:13 AM

11:15 AM

11:21 AM

12:59 PM

2:27 PM

3:01 PM

3:29 PM

6:37 PM

6:58 PM

7:41 PM

8:32 PM

9:15 PM

9:28 PM

10:43 PM

little roadtrip

2010-05-06T17:20:00.000-04:00

Gila Valley Temple

My favorite part: Sophie saying, with as much enthusiasm as could be mustered while still managing to whisper, "Wow! This is SO AWESOME!" (And she even remembered to whisper)!

once upon a marathon weekend

2010-04-30T17:53:00.000-04:00

This post is dedicated to the one and only Jacob. He's pretty amazing and deserves a shout out for pulling off our adventures last weekend.

Here's what last weekend involved (the short version)...

A "spy" "mission"
A surprise visit from my brother

A makeover
A Lincoln MKS
A Krav Maga self defense class
A surprise party downtown
A wedding
A fantastic Mariachi Band, Mariachi Sol Azteka
A drive up Mount Lemmon
a little bit of rock climbing
and some delicious Dough Boys.

And the extended version:
Jacob coordinated the whole event: flew my brother in, recruited friends and strangers to participate and do surveillance (I was apparently covertly filmed and photographed throughout the day), arranged for a car, hair appointment, and private Krav Maga class, all without me suspecting a thing.

The story: The FBI recently apprehended a spy named Helena Dashnikova, (wanted poster here ). They need Heather (who looks remarkably similar to Helena), to play the part of Helena. After a new haircut, new clothes, hand-to-hand combat and spy training, Heather will make a drop, then follow the courier, a smuggler named Joe Ramirez, (wanted poster here ), back to the buyer.

I woke up Friday morning intending to get some work done before going out to lunch. Jacob had supposedly taken the girls out to breakfast and open gym. I got a call at about 8:30 from a misidentified male voice (I thought it was Jacob, but it was really one of Jacob's anonymous accomplices).

"Take the Lazer to Java Edge on Nexus. Be there by 9am. Ask for Natasha."

At Java Edge,

an employee (Natasha), slid a plain manila envelope across the counter:

"Take the Lincoln to Bookman's on Speedway. Be there by 9:40AM. There is an Agatha Christie novel in the Mystery section that you are going to want to look at."

Inside the envelope was a wireless key fob. In the parking lot was a black Lincoln MKS that beeped when I pushed the lock button.

In the passenger seat was a box with a black purse and a new cell phone. After finally figuring out how to start the car (you leave the key fob in your pocket, put your foot on the brake, and push a button) I left for the bookstore. While searching the shelves for Agatha Christie, someone handed me a book, and said "is this what you're looking for." I said "I guess," and took the book from him. Then I looked up and saw that it was my brother. Awesome.

Justin showed me the wanted posters and briefed me on the "mission". We headed up to Tucson mall, and I was given an envelope full of $20's for a haircut, and wardrobe change. After a few hours at the mall, and a quick lunch we headed over to Ultima for some hand to hand combat training.

Then off to No Anchovies, by the U of A, where we were instructed to wait for a mustached guy in a leather jacket to show up on a motorcycle. He had "the package" and we had to follow him on foot.

We followed him down University Blvd, down 4th Ave, under the railroad tracks, and down Congress to La Placita Park (amidst a Mariachi event, and a protest). We only lost him once.

Friends (and a friendly homeless guy) were waiting at the park to surprise me with some fantastic Magpie's pizza and European Truffle pie.

Saturday Jacob and I were scheduled to shoot a wedding. Justin came with us, while Ella and Sophie went to a birthday party.

Sunday we went up mount Lemmon after church. We found the rock where Jacob proposed, Sophie peed in the bushes for the first time, we found a suitable picnic spot after some debating, built a camp fire, and roasted dough boys. Then the sun went down and it got cold so we packed up and headed back down the mountain. We stopped at the overlook point and climbed out on the rocks, Justin didn't find any suitable climbing rocks, but we enjoyed seeing the city lights.

By the time we got home the weekend had caught up to us, and we were all in bed by 10:30.

It was such a good weekend that my newly thirty year old self is just now feeling recovered (just in time for this weekend). We were so happy to have Justin down to visit. My girls in particular were sad to see him go. They miss horse rides and playing on the rocks, and were determined to plan a spy mission for Justin's birthday.

Happy (a day late) Birthday Justin!!!

Happy Earth Day!

2010-04-23T01:09:00.001-04:00

Mobile Garden Container found here

roller coaster

2010-04-21T15:29:00.000-04:00

Jacob took this video while riding the Crazy Coaster with Ella. It's a little loud for the first 20 seconds, but after that it's fine.

Ella's Rollercoaster Ride from Heather Dahle on Vimeo.

2010-04-20T18:26:00.000-04:00

We had our annual family outing to the county fair last night. This was the first time that the girls have been old enough to understand what it is and to look forward to it. So it was extra fun this year. The weather was perfect, and the girls were on their best behavior. We wandered the exhibits, and admired the animals, pet the goats, saw lots of friends and enjoyed the rides. We just had a few little glitches in our otherwise fantastic night.

Misfortune number 1:Picking the Goliath Slide for Sophie's first ride experience.

After the ride she promptly informed me in no uncertain terms that "it was too scary."

And apparently the adrenaline rush was too much for her bladder. Luckily, there was a port-a-potty with no line at the bottom of the slide.

Phew, accident successfully averted.

Misfortune Number 2: Thinking that the climbing/maze "ride" that parents aren't allowed on would be better for Sophie.

Sophie was excited at first, but lost her enthusiasm when she couldn't make it up the rope ladder. The ticket guy (I'll call him Ticket Guy for short) let me go up far enough to lift her over the rail to bypass that part of "ride."

She happily continued on, until the bridge.
She didn't like the bridge, so she tried the hands and knees approach.
No luck. Still too uncomfortable for her.

We got Ticket Guy to let Ella go up to help her. Ella did a great job coaxing her across the first bridge.
But then she saw the second bridge, and she was done.
She didn't want Ella's help.
She didn't want to go forward.
Or backward.

This guy in the picture (I'll call him Friendly Guy for short) tried to help her but she let him firmly know that he needed to keep his distance.
So he kept his distance.
And she just stood there.
There was no crying, or hysteria. No panicking.
She was just done.
So she stood there.
And Friendly Guy stood there.
We asked Ticket Guy if we could go up and get her, but he said no.
There were a few more minutes of Friendly Guy trying to help, and myself trying to negotiate with her over the noise, and Jacob taking pictures.
Ticket Guy still wouldn't let us up. He was a little annoyed that we sent Ella up again because he'd already let her up once.

At this point, everyone in the immediate vicinity had stopped to watch what was happening.

So Ticket Guy went up to get her.

Still no crying, but she looked a little annoyed that Ticket Guy ignored her protests, and just picked her up and carried her down.

After she came down she told us very matter-of-factly, "It's too scary, I don't like it."

Fortunately we were able to redeem Sophie's 2010 fair experience with the Merry-go-Round...

the dragon roller coaster...

...and the Ferris wheel.
Surprisingly, the Ferris wheel won the Sophie Double Ride Award, so height is apparently not the issue.

And the winner of the Ella Double Ride Award...

Misfortune #3: Not keeping track of how many rides we had left on our pass.
Just before we left, we thought it would be fun to do one last ride all together. We picked the bumper cars. The girls were in line, excited, and then we found out that we didn't have any rides left on our pass. Luckily, the disappointment didn't last too long...we distracted them with ice cream.

We left exhausted, but happy. And the best thing about the end of the night...it's only a ten minute drive home.

We are already looking forward to next year.

friday photos

2010-03-26T14:58:00.000-04:00

Laundry day...

2010-03-16T20:46:00.000-04:00

...should have been three days ago... (hey, there's that pink shoe we've been looking for)!

...and by the state of their faces I'd say it's also bath time.

Friday Photos

2010-03-12T21:00:00.000-05:00

Have a great weekend!

Meet May

2010-03-07T14:49:00.000-05:00

A little bit about May:
Her birthday is May 16th.
May is 10 years old.
Her favorite colors are pink and red.
Her favorite food: Grapes.
Her favorite song is "Rudolph the Red Nose Reindeer."
She's pretty quite. She mostly just sits on her stool and listens to Ella.

Night Owls.

2010-03-05T18:34:00.000-05:00

Bed time is 8:00PM. We aren't super strict with it, but we usually get the girls in bed by 9:00PM. Then they read, play, do math, and tease each other for hours. Around 11:00 PM they start to wind down, and after several drinks of water, and a couple of complaints from Sophie "(Ella, stop reading so loud, I'm trying to sleep,)" they are usually both asleep by midnight.

This is Sophie's new "bed." She's outgrown the crib, but we don't have a real bed for her yet. Maybe we'll get bunk beds here soon. Her pillow has gone MIA, so she's claimed the red couch pillow.

Ella generally likes to pile all of the extra blankets in the house onto her bed "in case I get cold," even though our house rarely gets below 70 degrees.

at 9:30 AM the next morning...

...evidence of their adventures the night before...Sophie's in there...somewhere....

...and Ella's blankets always end up on the floor sometime in the middle of the night.

And that is why we signed up for afternoon kindergarten.

growing up way too fast...

2010-02-18T16:43:00.000-05:00

I can't keep up.

melts my heart!

2010-02-16T17:50:00.000-05:00

sunday evening sound bites

2010-02-15T14:10:00.000-05:00

From Ella (5, who is quite enamored with the Olympics): "What's a Canadian?"

From Sophie (2, who has claimed Ella's scooter): "No, no, I can do it! I just need to practice!"

anyone want to trade cars?

2010-02-05T14:31:00.000-05:00

I had to go get emission testing done on my awesome car yesterday.

It failed.

I got kind of offended. Then I was annoyed with myself for getting offended that my car failed the emissions test.

"It's a '01 Oldsmobile Alero, that has 147,000 miles on it for crying out loud. It's about time for it to start failing emissions."

That's what I had to tell myself last night as I was driving (after adding air to the leaky tire) to Checker Auto.

So sad. I was really hoping that I had developed a more healthy, moderate, relaxed attitude toward life, but alas my type A personality is still alive and well.

In conclusion:

I still need to work on the type A thing some more.

I can now add "environmentally challenged" to the growing list of issues of my high maintenance car needs addressed.

Note: We replaced the gas cap and the car passed emission the second time around. I'm so glad it was something little.

adventures of the amazing sophie

2010-02-02T16:03:00.000-05:00

Some (slightly) more coherent thoughts on change...

2010-02-01T13:51:00.000-05:00

Some big changes for us this week.

as of last night...

We are in a new ward (we are on number 5 since moving to Tucson).
We will be attending church in the new building which only 3 minutes from our house. (We should now be 10 minutes closer to being on time).
I am no longer serving with the Young Women.

as with any big change, I have mixed feelings...

Anxious to meet new people.
Ecstatic about meeting in the new building.
Excited to have old friends in our new ward.
Regretful about things I could have done better.
Grateful for the things I learned from the girls and the leaders I served with, and for the friends I made.
Sad about leaving the most fantastic girls.

I will miss seeing their smiles every Tuesday and Sunday, (and sometimes Saturdays and Thursdays). These young women are wonderful in every way. I loved spending the last few years , singing, cooking, eating, painting, teaching, camping, swimming, crafting, sewing, dancing, filming, photographing, photo shopping, baking, laughing, hiking, and serving, with these young women.

To my fabulous girls:
Thank you... for being wonderful...for being excellent examples...for being so good to each other and to your leaders...and for listening to all my analogies :) When you're in the neighborhood come come say hi.

To the amazing women I've served with over the past 2.5 years:
Thank you...for your examples...for teaching me...for your strength...and for your friendship. I hope that we will find ourselves serving together again sometime.

To the wonderful Vail ward:
Thank you...for all the things that great wards do...for the support...for the help...for watching out for us...for teaching our girls.

To the people in our new ward that we already know:
Woohoo!

To the people in our new ward that we don't know:
Here we come. We will be the family in the back with the two-year-old that can't seem to find her quiet voice, and the five-year-old with the pink bag who thinks church is a great big party every week.

the discomfort zone

2010-01-28T16:44:00.000-05:00

This is Sophie's comfort zone (more of a nest really). Doesn't it look nice?

I think I've spent a sufficient amount of time today in the awkwardness of trying to expand my horizons. There was some anxiety and uneasiness involved. It was tough...and uncomfortable...and probably worth it. I'm pretty sure I grew as a person, but right now I'm ready to climb back into my cozy little world.

I'm thinking hot chocolate, and the new book I haven't had a chance to start yet would be perfect.

But let's be realistic...I'll probably have to settle for taking Ella to ballet and going grocery shopping.

Which actually sounds fantastic. A perfectly mundane and wonderfully normal thing to do.

The book and hot chocolate will happen later...

Yes later tonight will be great...

Like 10:30...

Perfect...

I can't wait....

It's turning out to be a good day.

Some thoughts on change...

2010-01-27T18:00:00.001-05:00

A little bit of change isn't necessarily a bad thing...it can be quite useful...

A lot of change has a tendency to just weigh you down.

So empty your pockets once in a while.

??????????

(Thanks to Ella, my trusty assistant, for stacking all of my change for the photo above)

A little bit of winter

2010-01-25T16:33:00.000-05:00

Snow in the mountains. Not quite the Colorado Rocky Mountains, but still very pretty.

Full washes from all the rain.

A little bit of flooding.

Fantastic sunsets.

The cold rainy weather was fun while it lasted.

on my mind

2010-01-20T13:33:00.001-05:00

There's nothing like a good run and a hot shower to improve my mood.

Ella's seems to be doing really well with her reading at school, but she doesn't like to read at home.

I want to go back to school.

I'm excited to try out a new camera lens.

I'm not so sure about Facebook.

I think it would be awesome to move to Europe for a few years or back East.

Sophie's toes point in when she runs. Do I need to call the doctor?

I need to donate some money to Haiti.

When is Glee going to be back?

I think I want pizza for lunch.

I have to go pick up my new glasses sometime.

The car needs new tires....and probably an oil change.

I hope my car doesn't break down in the middle of running errands this afternoon.

The girls have a new little cousin...I hope we get to see him soon.

I'm really looking forward to making some Valentine cupcakes.

I'm not looking forward to Ella's dentist appointment tomorrow.

I'm so not looking forward to taxes this year. Maybe we need an accountant.

I don't know why I keep getting this sharp pain in my stomach. I wish it would go away.

I really should go to Costco today, but I do not enjoy shopping there. Maybe I can get away with just going to the grocery store.

Why is my bank account $60 off?

Wow, the sky sure is blue today.

I'm looking forward to this weekend.

I need Strawberry, Quick!

2010-01-20T13:18:00.000-05:00

This girl loves strawberries...and strawberry cupcakes, and Strawberry Shortcake (the cartoon not the cake...well actually she likes the cake too), and her strawberry dress (which had to disappear because it's too little), and her little red strawberry shoes.

We introduced her to Strawberry Quick this weekend, and now it's all that she wants to drink. I only hope that we haven't ruined her taste for real strawberries with the sugary fake flavored stuff. Oh well, at least she's drinking her milk...her little pink mustache is pretty cute too.

attempt number 1

2010-01-16T01:13:00.000-05:00

I'm pretty happy with it. I like how the binding turned out, but I think I'll do the cover a little different next time.

Uhhh...

2010-01-14T22:43:00.000-05:00

I think these guys (see YouTube clip below) must have been Wile E. Coyote fans growing up...

maybe it's been a while since they've seen the cartoon...

things don't usually work out for him...

It's pretty cool...even though it turns my stomach.

I know we live in Tucson and all...

2010-01-09T19:36:00.000-05:00

...but it is January.

I just can't seem to convince my girls though that it's not quite swimsuit season...just give it another month.

(Yes, I am bragging a little bit).

Irene, are you ready to come visit yet?

If only...

2010-01-04T00:36:00.001-05:00

Muggles for Harry Potter!!

image from www.freeclipartnow.com

I really wish I could come up with a temporary sticking charm for my house. Things would stay put, and the charm would wear off only when I was done cleaning.

I also really wish I could come up with a vanishing charm for my walls...then...any marker, crayon, pen etc that came withing a 1/4 inch of my walls would vanish. Come to think of it...I would also place the vanishing charm on my couch and cupboards and floors.

And since things just can't vanish into thin air...they would end up in the room of requirement I would be sure to put in my house. Actually...I guess I already have a room of requirement of sorts...it is more commonly known as the garage.

On a related note...I just finished reading the entire Harry Potter Series...I loved it just as much this time around.

The annual slideshow

2009-12-31T16:31:00.000-05:00

It was a good year...

Dahle Family 2009 (SD) from Heather Dahle on Vimeo.

Merry Chrithmath!

2009-12-19T13:57:00.001-05:00

Dear Santa,

2009-12-17T21:00:00.001-05:00

To summarize, clarify, and otherwise conclude (updated)

2009-12-09T23:54:00.000-05:00

France by far had the best food. Bread, lamb, bread, couscous, bread, crepes, baguettes, cheese, quiche, bread, steak, pizza, duck, bread...I don't think there is such a thing as bad, or even mediocre bread in France.

Switzerland gets the award for the most amazingly picturesque countryside.

London was the most entertaining. There was so much to do, see, watch. And the tour guides themselves were fantastic. All the tours we went on were more like performances than tours.

And to clear up any confusion...

1. This was our 3rd trip to Europe, but our first time to Switzerland and London. We have also been to Belgium, and Luxembourg.

2. Jacob served his mission in Belgium and France.

3. I do not speak French, but I can understand anywhere from 10%-90% of a conversation depending on the topic (I'm really good if food is being discussed), the speed of conversation, and how much Jacob is speaking (I understand his French the best). I was surprised how fast I started picking up phrases this trip.

4. It is because we drive this....

...and this beauty....

...and have a couple of wonderful grandparents...
...that we have been able to manage these international trips.

So we'd like to thank our old run down cars for hanging in there for a little bit longer, and my wonderful parents for making these trips possible.

oh...and the girls loved their vacation too. Theater, picnics, playing in the leaves, non stop attention from Grandma, and Grandpa...what's not to love.

And now it's time for me to stop living in the past...

Post posting addition:

I realized that I didn't post any pictures of the two of us together....so here is our only evidence that we did in fact hang out together in Europe. Also, I forgot to mention that everyone we met was so nice. We, and by that I mean Jacob (remember I don't actually speak French), had a great time talking to all sorts of people...other tourists, restaurant owners, security guards...we met some fascinating people. Europeans, especially the French, seem get a bad rap for being rude to Americans, but we haven't found that to be the case. Aside from a fair number of American jokes from the tour guides in London, everyone was not only nice, but went out of their way to help us when we needed directions or any kind of help.

Last Night

2009-12-09T22:50:00.000-05:00

We spent our last day in Europe shopping...we met a guy in the last little shop we were in who was very knowledgeable, well informed, friendly, and well connected...kind of reminded us a mafia guy. He was awesome. He gave us all sorts of advice...business advice, legal advice...he told us about hanging out at the motorcycle classic in South Dakota, and about his business in Florida selling beach wear to tourists. We bought a couple Eiffel Tower trinkets and some mugs from him.

After all of our shopping we were hungry for Moroccan food. This was the restaurant that our French Mafia friend suggested. We had couscous agneau, and a tagine. It was fantastic.

One last look of the Eiffel tower. We have taken this shot on all three of our trips.

The Louvre.

2009-11-24T18:26:00.000-05:00

Our favorite place to visit in Paris.
We were there for about 5 hours, until our feet were so tired and sore we just couldn't handle any more. This was our third trip to the Louvre, and I still don't think we've seen everything. One of my favorite things was seeing all the artists around sketching the sculptures.

The paintings are pretty unbelievable.

This whole room was paintings depicting a queens life.

The Mona Lisa paparazzi.

I found it ironic that we were standing in front of possibly the most famous piece of art in the world, and there was only one person actually looking at it. Everyone else is busy taking photos, or checking their camera to make sure they got a photo of the Mona Lisa. I wonder how many people get so caught up in getting their photo of the famous painting that they forget to actually experience being there in person. A good reminder to stop and smell the roses...or something like that.

Winged Victory.

The sculptures are our favorite.

Paris at Night

2009-11-23T02:06:00.000-05:00

After our marathon touristing in London, we slowed our pace in Paris. We spent our days wandering around the Louvre and shopping, and spent our nights admiring the city of lights, and eating fabulous food.

Enjoying two of our favorite French foods (crepes, and paninis) in the rain. The food in France is fabulous. So delicious. Pain au Chocolate, Baguettes, cheese, chocolate, duck, lamb...not to mention the best ice cream ever (Belgian Chocolate) on the The Avenue des Champs-Élysées.

We were thoroughly impressed by the Europeans parallel parking skills.

London in 48 hours

2009-11-20T02:22:00.001-05:00

So much to see, so little time.

Big Ben

Double Decker buses.

Supposedly, possibly the most visited site in London.

Westminster Abbey

In a park where we listened to an angry cafe customer argue with the manager over a sandwich that was stolen by a pigeon. Apparently, she didn't see the sign that said that the restaurant would not replace food stolen by pigeons.

The British Museum.

Greece wants their stuff back.

The tower of London.

Jack the Ripper walking tour.

We managed to find time to eat, occasionally.

British Museum, again.

St. Paul's Cathedral. Too bad you can't take pictures inside. It's pretty spectacular.

Tower Bridge.

The London Bridge experience included a haunted house...very spooky.

Pretty Awesome.

Lake Geneva to London in 8 hours

2009-11-16T03:03:00.000-05:00

As much as I like traveling, I'm not exactly a fan of the actual travel days.

Particularly when it involves trying to be on time for planes, trains, or buses.

It kind of stresses me out.

Having a car was awesome.

We had grown quite fond of the little Fiat.

We went where we wanted, when we wanted.

and next time we're planning to go where we want, when we want in this.

But now our rental time had come to an end.

And we had a deadline.

(No, really...this is serious business)

Our goal:

51 Shaftesbury Avenue
London, W1D 6BA, United Kingdom...

...by 7:30 PM...

The execution:

Up at the crack of 9:00 AM (we opted for our cell phone alarm to wake us up. It seemed a little ridiculous to ask for a 9:00 AM wake up call).

Up. Packed. Ready.

Quick breakfast of granola and milk and chocolate (hopefully they don't charge for adding things to the mini bar fridge).

On the road by 11:00 AM.

Three hour drive to Basel, Switzerland.

Needed the extra time we allowed to for getting lost. (Got lost several times trying to find the airport and the rental car return. We did, however, learn two words in German...Ausfahrt "Exit", and Abfahrt "Departure").

Checked our bags...we were well under the weight limit...even with our 10 lbs of Swiss chocolate.

Security check point.

Customs.

Luckily our flight was about 15 minutes late boarding.

In the air at 3:30.

2 hour flight to London, Stanstead.

Bought train tickets on the plane (very convenient).

Landed on time at 4:25...luckily we gained an hour.

To baggage claim (remember to walk left).

Customs. (how come customs agents are so unhappy?).

Out onto the train platform, quick bathroom stop (missed the 5:00 train by 2 minutes).

On the 5:15 train to London, Liverpool Street Station.

I love trains! It's the best way to travel.

45 minute train ride (met an awesome couple from New Zealand).

Liverpool Street Station is pretty awesome at rush hour (Wow...people are tall hear..and dress really well).

On the Underground to our hotel by 6:15 (Holy Cow!...people are tall here...and dress really well!!).

Check into Citadines Apart'hotel at London Barbican at 6:30.

Quick change of clothes.

Back on the Tube at 6:50.

Transfer at King's Cross to the Piccadilly Line.

7:15- arrive at Piccadilly Circus.

Can't find Shaftsbury Avenue.

Ask a nice lady who doesn't know, but has a map.

Eventually find it via our GPS.

7:35 Arrive out of breath at the Queen's Theater for...

It was fantastic. exquisite.

ABSOLUTELY worth the rush.
(and we only had to wait 10 minutes to be seated).

11:00 PM dinner at a little Chinese place across the street from the Queen's Theater.
12:00AM wandered around Picadilly Circus for a little bit.
12:30 AM bought Cinnabon for dessert and headed back to our hotel.

The Underground at 1:00 AM

Château de Gruyères

2009-11-14T00:06:00.000-05:00

Gruyères, Switzerland

2009-11-13T22:37:00.000-05:00

A quaint town named after the french word for crane. Famous for it's cheese, and supplier of fresh milk for the chocolate made by Callier.

Une Grue.

Aging gruyère cheese.

Stiring the curds and whey.

The stash of chocolate we bought at the Callier chocolate factory. We probably would have bought more if we hadn't just made ourselves sick on the samples at the end of the tour.

Vevey, Switzerland

2009-11-12T00:04:00.000-05:00

Musée Suisse de l’appareil Photographique

(Swiss Photography Museum)

The first photo shop.

Cool postage stamp sized gold portraits.

Window shopping.

This is the pre-dinner "I'm so hungry I can hardly stand" look.

I'm curious what the significance a mail bearing, peg-legged knight has to be painted on the side of a building.

Waiting for the bus to take us back to our hotel.

Laundry Day

2009-11-11T19:29:00.000-05:00

Doing laundry can be a challenging, and a quite complicated when your are on vacation. Here's our step-by-step guide for doing laundry while staying in Montreux, Switzerland.

1. Figure out how to say "Laundry Mat" in French
2. Ask several locals if there is one around.
3. Consult the GPS
4. Make a quick trip to the information center to acquire a short list of "local" laundry mats (within 60km).
5. Reconsult the GPS.
6. Drive 40 minutes through Swiss wine country
7. Follow the GPS instructions to a tiny alley, with no laundry mat in sight.
8. Assume the GPS was wrong.
9. Park the car, and try to ignore the overpowering fermented grape smell, and the drizzly rain, while attempting to find a local to ask if there really is a laundry mat close by.
10. Follow the local's directions back up the alley to exactly where the GPS said there was a laundry mat, and notice that there is in fact a small, closet sized space with 1 working washer, and no dryers which could technically be called a laundry mat.
11. Appreciate the little village, but decide to try the next address listed.
12. Drive another 20 minutes to a slightly larger town, and locate the Self Wash.
13. Realize that you need soap.
14. Ask other patrons in the laundry mat if there is a store near by to get laundry detergent. If it is past 6:00 PM the answer will be "no."
15. Borrow two loads worth of soap from a nice young man.
16. Wash, Rinse, Repeat.
17. Dry clothes (without dryer sheets for the full experience).
18. Take pictures while waiting for the clothes to dry.
19. Fold, and repack clothing.
20. Appreciate freshly washed clothes.
21. Remember to bring detergent, and dryer sheets next time.

Luckily, it was humid enough that the static was only an issue when we first took our clothes out of the dryer.

Château de Chillon

2009-11-09T15:40:00.000-05:00

Chillon castle was important for control of the trade routes along Lake Geneva. The castle is first mentioned in history in 1150 when it was controlled by the Counts of Savoy. In the 1500's the Bernese took over the castle. It became the property of the Canton of Vaud around 1800 during the Vaudois Revolution. The castle became famous when writer Lord Byron wrote a poem called "The Prisoner of Chillon" about François Bonivard , a monk/politician who was held in the castle for 6 years.

And that is about the extent of my knowledge of Swiss history.

The sentry walk

The safest place in the castle is the keep. The little door is the only way in. Once you climbed up the ladder into the keep, you would pull the ladder up after you so no one else could get in.

Lord Byron carved his name on one of the pillars in the prison.

One of the prison rooms.

The castle is built right into the rocks.

Looking down into a prison room.

One of the rooms available to rent for parties.

Chillon is technically built on an island.

Lake Geneva, Switzerland

2009-11-08T14:08:00.001-05:00

We stayed in a fabulous hotel in Montreux, Switzerland right on the Lake. We began to suspect we were a little out of our league when we saw several Ferrari's being valeted by the casino. Our suspicions were confirmed when we started asking around for a laundry mat, and were told (politely) that the closest laundry mat was 40 minutes away. Apparently Montreux is a vacation spot for the rich and retired types, who like to spend their vacations relaxing, gambling, and wandering around 5 star hotels in their monogrammed cashmere bathrobes while their laundry is sent out. I'm sure we were frugally conspicuous as we opted to walk around looking for a bakery to buy a few pastries, rather than paying for room serviced breakfast. The area is beautiful, and I can see the appeal. Maybe we'll visit again sometime when we fit in more with that crowd, and are more comfortable sipping $30 hot chocolate from tiny espresso mugs. I'm pretty sure I could get used to someone else doing my laundry. Then again, I think we prefer vacation spots where the restaurants stay open past 6:00 PM.

View from our hotel room balcony.

Along the boardwalk.

Château de Chillon

Swiss Countryside

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Mountains, rolling hills, sheep and cows grazing in the green meadows, white churches, bikers everywhere. Beautiful. Stunning. Breathtaking. Amazing. Etc.

Bern, Switzerland

2009-11-05T12:12:00.000-05:00

We made a quick stop to see the Bern temple. And we watched the Saturday afternoon session of conference at a little chapel next to the temple. It was a nice little detour after being charged 30 Euros at the border to use the auto route. 30 Euros!!!! At least the pass is good until January.

Colmar, France

2009-11-04T12:53:00.000-05:00

Our visit to Colmar involved admiring beautiful flowers and tiled roofs, appreciating the German influence, and eating delicious couscous and bretzles. It also involved a large gathering of German protesters, and the French police, (something to do with nuclear power). If you're going to have a protest, Colmar is a beautiful place to have it.

Les 3 châteaux de Ribeauvillé

2009-11-02T19:22:00.000-05:00

While driving to our hotel one night we saw this hill. If you look closely you can see the ruins of three different castles. It seemed likely that it was the 3 castles of Ribeauvillé that I had read about prior to leaving on our trip. (We never actually heard any natives say the name of the town, but our best guess is that it's pronounced "Ree-bo-vee-lay"...roughly). It was getting dark, but we decided to see if we could get closer to take pictures. We drove into Ribeauvillé, and drove around until we were lost. We stopped a local who told us that we could drive a little further up to a parking lot, and then we could hike up to the ruins on foot. He advised against it that night, since it was getting dark, but we decided to go check it out anyway.

Ribeauvillé at dusk from the trail.

You have to imagine this view with the cool, crisp autumn air, standing on the trail on the edge of a vineyard, and the sound of the bell tower ringing the hour.

A few shots on the trail.

Castle number 1: Saint Ulrich

This is as close as we got before we decided that it was too dark to continue. One of the castles is supposed to be haunted, so we decided it was best to turn around.

We came back the next morning (after packing a baguette, cheese, grape juice and chocolate lunch) to attempt the 9km (5.5mile) hike again. It was a perfect day for hiking.

This is a school. We had to hike past the kids smoking in the vineyard.:)

We met an awesome Belgian couple. They were visiting on a weekend trip. We hiked for the first little bit with them. They told us about their trips to New York, and Washington D.C., and how to make Gauffres Liegeoise. We almost considered making a trip to Belgium specifically to have these amazing sugar waffles. We've tried to replicate them, but haven't gotten it quite right. Apparently the secret is "lots of butter."

The trail wound through the outer walls of castle number 1.

A ghost?

The narrow, rickety, steep stairs to get up to the top of castle number 1's keep. Scary. I was so relieved to get down safely, I took a picture.

Castle number 2: Girsberg

Castle Number 3: Haut Ribeaupierre

These ruins were at the very top of the hill, and were closed so we couldn't go inside.

It was such a fun day. On the way down we met a couple from Virginia that currently live in India. They were very vague about why they are living in India, so we decided that they are either spies, or missionaries.

We came to the conclusion that we'd go hiking a lot more if there were cool castles to explore in the U.S.