Welcome to harmony's Roundeo.

Hello Family & Friends.  Well, we have now made over 10 applications for apartments.  We have gone on multiple day outings with our agent, Josephine, and others on our own.  It has been exhausting, tiring, trying, and frustrating!  I have been struggling to put my faith in God and believe that it will all work out for us for the best.  It has been hard to be hopeful and faithful, and I feel like such a wimp!  On Friday morning we found out that the 4 applications we had in were rejected (one of them was actually for a new complex, so there were 4 or 5 available apartments).  It was disheartening but in a sad way, expected, and relieving since at least we could now move forward.  The most frustrating part of all of this is how long we've had to wait for a response.  And until that response it is hard to know how to move forward since it doesn't make sense to put more and more applications in at different places without knowing about the ones you've already made.  We had already scheduled visits for that day with Josephine for the only things on the market that fell within our parameters, which made it only 4 places!  Crazy!  3 of these places were in a place called Versoix where we looked at the beginnning and almost applied to one, but decided we'd rather keep our search to the city, Versoix is about 20-30 minutes outside of the city and a nice area, next to the lake, a little more village like than Geneva but not as much as Veyrier where we are now, it has a grocery store and parks, and the train goes right through it.  So, a while back after things weren't working out we told Josephine to widen our search to include Versoix again and pretty much ANYTHING!  Our first visit on Friday (we took the kids who both fell asleep for most of it) was to a place in an area very close (a street over) from "our favorite" apartment from the beginning of this search, one on Rue Daubin, this apartment is on Rue de la Dole.  We checked it out and it was great, great location, park right next to it, centrally located in the city, nearby our new friends, etc.  It has two bedrooms not 3 and is not as grand, large or wonderful as most of the apartments we have been able to look at, but very nice.  Spencer has maintained better spirits than I have in all of this and he said very happily, I like this, this would be great, etc.  I just numbly and neutrally said, yes, its acceptable, lets apply, though I'm sure we won't get it.  When he made other positive remarks about it, I said, "yes, I'm sure the people who get accepted for this place will love living here."  He looked at me with compassion and said, "I'm sorry honey."  I said, "thanks. I just can't get all excited right now, its too hard.  I just want to say yes we'll apply or no we won't, I'm not going to be all jazzed about something that probably won't happen."  Then we went to the Versoix ones.  They were all fine, but one was an unbelievable price: $1325 francs which is less than 1300 dollars!  We were startled by that and interested to see what that meant.  It was a decent place, actually of similar caliber to the house we lived in in Corona, old, but not in a charming way, run-down, somewhat dirty and dilapadated, but not gross or unlivable.  And for the price, it was hard to say no.  If we were to live there, we'd want a car, and at the price it would be easy to get one, so we decided to apply for it and the one on Rue de la Dole.  Very similar in size, but different in price and location.  The one on Dole is very much in our price range also and actually under what we expected to pay, I don't remember but I think its around 2200.  So there you go, we made our applications for these two on Friday, with them being the only prospects on the horizon.  Both available immediately though, which would be really nice and is sort of amazing.  I cynically remarked to Spencer, "watch if we get accepted for either of those, it will be the Versoix one."  Because we think we would prefer the other, and we tried to avoid Versoix for awhile.  So the search continues . . .

Until today that is when Spencer called and said, "We got accepted to the Versoix apartment!"  I laughed and said, "I told you so!  What did I say? I knew it!"  I couldn't believe it though!  Can you believe it!  You probably can because its easier to be on the outside of something, but I felt very humbled.  The problem is, what about the other one.  What should we do?  Josephine said the other place will be deciding by Wednesday, but will Versoix let us wait until then to respond, probably not.  Are you seeing the dilemma!  What if Dole accepts us, if we prefer it, then we'd like to wait to find out, but if we are forced to turn down Versoix in order to wait for Dole and then Dole rejects us, we'll be kicking ourselves.  Spencer said he'd call Josephine to see what our options were.  I promptly went to thank my Heavenly Father.  Boy do I feel small.  I am so grateful!  I asked that God who knows everything would help us know what would be best for us, and I poured my heart out in gratitude for this great blessing. I felt like there's no way we can turn down this offer unless I feel very strongly that the other option is going to work out.  So I prayed for wisdom and guidance.

Spencer called back not too long after.  "Josephine did some searching and found out that we got ACCEPTED for the Rue de la Dole apartment!"  WOW!  talk about humbling. I feel so incredibly impatient and doubting.  I cried with joy; and sorrow for my lack of faith.  I feel soooo incredibly blessed and grateful.  I'm overwhelmed by this huge blessing, and looking back we really haven't had to wait very long, its just so hard when you don't know how long you're going to have to wait!  We talked about it and we're going to accept the Dole apartment which is really amazing.  I told Cado that God answered our prayers, it felt so good to say that.  Earlier in this Cado cried about not getting accepted to one that he really wanted (Daubin) because he saw that one and it had a park.  He said, "Why?"  I said "Well. . . God has something better planned for us." But though my lips said it, my heart and mind were very doubtful.  I'm grateful God taught me a lesson.  I hope I remember it. 

Thank you for all your prayers! your advice! your listening, sympathetic ears!  I think we'll be moving by the end of the week.  I can't believe it.  I'm so excited!! 

Its so hard to keep up on all the photos and videos that we have.  This weekend we went to a castle which is a museum of Swiss History. It was pretty cool.  We'll try to share that with you soon. 

We have made great new friends here which has been a great blessing, and have been able to have a lot of fun and do a lot despite the struggles.   Getting out of the hotel and into this place has been a huge blessing also.  Its helped a lot to lift our spirits and help us feel like we actually live here.  We'll keep you posted with our new and last move!

Here's one video for you.  More to come.

My Parents' Marriage! 

Congratulations!  I am so proud of you and have been thinking of you a lot lately.  I hope you had a nice weekend and have a nice day.  I love you both so much and am so grateful for the sacrafice and dedication of both of you, for your committment to a higher cause and for never giving up.  You have shown great maturity in overcoming differences, obstacles, problems, and trials to become better and stronger and stay together, which means a lot to me, as I imagine you know. 
Despite all the hard times, You also had a lot of fun, and showed a lot of playfulness, and affection between you and I'm grateful for those times.  There were numerous times where Mom chased Dad down to tickle his feet and the whole house was in uproar with Dad's enormous laugh and Mom recruiting all of our help.  You managed to take us on many meaningful, memorable vacations; sit us down for many gospel conversations and scripture studies; worked hard to provide Family Home Evenings; get us all to church on Sunday; provide us with a clean, beautiful place to live and regular and delicious meals.  I appreciate your committment to traditional family roles: I'm grateful Dad worked hard to provide and allow me to have a Mother who was always there to provide in a different way.  I always loved hearing Dad compliment Mom and tell her how gorgeous she looked, or see Mom tease Dad with a playful comment and watch his big smile and chuckle come over him.  You took time to spend time together, go on dates, or take the family on outings.  We really had a lot of fun together and I know it probably required a lot of effort and some things that weren't so fun to do it. 
You've taught me about love, patience, unselfishness, faith, and so many other things.  I've seen you grow so much together and I am so grateful you didn't give up, I hope you never do, though I'm sure there will probably be times when you might feel like it.  I hope in those times you'll be able to remember all of the good times, the wonderful things you've gained from staying together, and the great gift you've given your children by remaining a loving partnership, and of course the eternal reward and joy that you'll be able to experience having helped to refine and perfect one another in this relatively short time on earth.

Hello All,
I think the honeymoon is over for us and this hotel living situation.  I wonder if this is a test and I have to pass it before I get rewarded with a real life, and if it is, I imagine the questions are:

can you be nice to your children even when they are screaming and out of their minds?
can you carry on a normal life, meaning, have some regularity, schedule and accomplish things, have order, and be the kind of fun, creative, energetic mom you want to be, even in a tiny space (not use the space as an excuse to put life on hold)?
can you figure out how to save some per diem money by making food in a more than tiny kitchen a few times a week?
Can you be happy and grateful where you are even though you are anxiously awaiting a better future situation? 

I think I am currently failing or at least getting straight D's in all of the above categories.  So I hope its not a test.  I really don't know if I could ever pass!  Or at least I'm too tired to think about trying right now! 

On a brighter note, I am trying to count the many, many blessings we have received with this move.  I was actually going to write a blog about that a few days ago when the honeymoon was still going, but sorry, today its over!  I'm going to try to escape now by taking the kids to a really cool park, called Parc des Eaux-Vives. (living waters).  i'd love to share pictures, but it will have to wait, my kids have escaped and are wandering through the winding hotel stairs at the moment.

I'm frustrated!  I was thinking about my good friend Paige all day yesterday but I couldn't figure out how to let her know.  I wanted to write an email but we don't have our desktop computer up (and won't til we have a home) that has my email addresses on it.  I couldn't call her, come to think of it, maybe i could have, but the time difference and lack of time are issues, and obviously post would not have arrived for quite awhile.  So, here I go with a blog.  i can't even add a photo bcuz they're on the other computer too.  I'm going to direct this at her even though this is probably the most indirect way to reach her.  Paige if you read this, let me know!

PAIGE GONZALEZ THUNSTROM!
Wow, what a journey we've had since we met in the freshman dorm at BYU!  I love you so much.  You are such a light in the world.  You've always been a positive, inspiring, and happy influence in my life.  If there's anything I want to talk about,  I can talk to you about it.  I remember so many times of just talking together for hours and feeling like we could keep going.  You teach me about faith and patience and allowing life's experiences to help us grow and learn.  You are so pure in heart and have such pure desires and such a strong desire to do what is right.  And despite all the challenges and struggles in life, you can always find the joy and the fun too, and laugh and brighten the world with your beautiful, enormous smile.  Its funny how I was insecure when we left BYU, wondering if you would stay my friend, because I knew I wanted to be friends forever.  And here we are.  I feel like our hearts are forever knitted together in friendship, and that feels so good.  Thank you for your enduring, true friendship, love, support and for all that you have taught and teach me, for how you help me to be what I want to be, and yet assure me that who I am is good enough too.  YOU'RE GREAT!  I truly admire and love you.  hope you had a nice bday.

Enjoy the videos.  sorry if they're long.  to me they're full of great stuff, but if you get bored you're probably not a grandparent to these kids and i think you can fast forward if you must, just don't tell me you did!

just wanted to give a quick update on what we're doing.  Yesterday we found out how this apartment search works.  We are really blessed to have so much help.  first of all, the Cowans (American couple I referred to before, Brent, Jennie, and their kids, Drew and Avery) connected us to another American and member of the church here, Alma, who said she would watch our kids for us when we looked for apartments!  something we hadn't sought out or asked for or even thought about!  So Spencer took the kids over by bus and walking and with our new stroller yesterday morning around 9.  it was also great for the kids to have a playmate, she has a daughter in between their ages.  then the company KPMG hires to help people find a home, called Network Relocation, sent an agent out to pick us up.  Her name was Josephine and we spent the entire day wtih her!  She got here around 10, and she gave us our schedule.  The day was packed with visits to different apartments all over the geneva canton.  we visited a few then we droped off and picked up keys at different real estate agencies then visited a few more, then picked up and dropped off keys, etc.  our day didn't end until around 8 pm!  A long day for us and the babysitter!  Funny enough, our favorites were the first and last of the day and completely different in location and style.  After seeing a wide variety, from old to new, and nothing but a sink in the kitchen, to a fully equipped modern kitchen, from ghetto to posh, and a price range from about 1600 to 2600, we felt we knew what we really wanted, except the location.  do we want to be in the city or outside of it a bit?  We decided either would be great and a different experience, but if we had our choice we would like to be in the city; as we'll probably never do it again and Geneva is a very safe and beautiful city with a lot to do, and we can still visit the more country places.  it was a decision between living in the city and visiting the country or living in the country and visiting the city.  we both felt solid after going back to the first place at the end of the day, that it was the one we wanted. 

See the way it works is that it is best to put in a "firm" application and commitment to one place and "hedge" on the other one.  Fortunately Spencer had Josephine clarify this language which means that a solid commitment is more likely to result in a solid acceptance.  And our second choice is one we could say, well, we'd like it we think, but let us know  before you sign us up.  This means that as soon as you put in an application whether its solid or less solid, they consider it solid and can complete the contract right then.  then if you say, no, we actually got in at a different place or remit, they can charge you $300 for having to deal with your contract at all.  So we are forced to put all our eggs in one basket, which is actually fine, since after going over all the options again, the one we chose is really the only one we would want. the others are too expensive, too ghetto, or not opening up until December! no thank you.  So now you get to wait with us and feel a bit of the anxiety we are feeling.  she said it could take 5 days to find out if we get it, and then if not, we would be starting over again.  whoo hoo.  as much as i want it, i am telling myself it won't work out, after all it doesn't seem fair to get what we want.  i would almost feel guilty if we did.  whatever happens I know we'll eventually be in a place and make it a home.  if we can make this hotel feel somewhat homey, i think we can make it with an apartment!  maybe i'll figure out how to show you the little video we shot of it.  and then if we don't get it you can be dissapointed wtih us too.  we're gonna try and take you on this rollercoaster ride!

Hello.  Yes, we are here.  we are safe.  we are good!  WE LOVE YOU ALL and miss you already.  Right now, thats really all i'm going to say, but i promise to give a real blog later, but right now, here's some photos to tide you over!

OKAY, HERE'S THE REAL BLOG.  take a deep breath!

Alright, so first of all, a huge thank you for all the support and help we've been given.  We couldn't have done it without it!  those last few days were crazy and exhausting, but we got it done, thanks to lots of help!  So, we stayed at my parents house on Friday night, and it was nice to spend some time there before we left.  We'll miss them tremendously as our lives were quite intertwined.  After our tearful farewell, my dad drove us to the airport.  We were running much later then we had planned so we were a little concerned.  we got there at around 2 ish (?) and our flight was at 3:35.  We were allowed to take two 51 lb. bags per ticketed traveler, so 8 bags.  we bought assorted large duffel bags which worked great.  It was quite the laborious process packing these, keeping in mind the weight limit and the liquid restrictions on carryons,etc.  spencer and I all day were on and off the scale holding enormous, awkward bags.  we ended up deciding to go with two overweight bags for a $50.00 charge each.  We could also take one little suitcase as a carryon per person and then one personal item as a carryon.  So, we did just that.  that means we looked crazy!  i wish we weren't so rushed now, because us and all our luggage would have made a memorable photo.  we got a porter right away so all we had to deal with was our carryon stuff.  the people at AirFrance checkin were very nice, though they took quite a long time, and finally we were able to pay our fee and start our journey toward the gate.  we opted not to take a stroller which is a good thing, we had no way to push it and our four suitcases.  I was a little worried about the weight of our carryons because they're only supposed to be 13 kilos ? and all i know is we put as much heavy stuff as we could in them hoping no airport employees would ever know.  well, we definitely got looks from everyone with how excessive we looked with our baggage, and i heard a fair share of under-the breath comments, like "i didn't know you could have that much carryon!"  but we knew, besides their weight, we were within the limits.  So we showed our tickets and started walking onto the "gangplank" and suddenly we were halted by Madame AirFrance, (not her real name or title) who said, no no no there are way too many bags here!  Oh great!  Spencer assured her that we had four tickets and thus we were fine, she made him show her the tickets and though that should have cleared us, she decided she didn't want to look like she was wrong, so she said, well these are all too big, they won't fit in the overhead container.  which we knew was false.  I was getting sort of worked up and not holding my tongue as i should have, which didn't help.  of course none of our suitcases fit, hardly anyone's does.  the reason we caught her attention and everyone elses is because we were two adults with 8 carryons and 2 small kids which are like carryons.  as we stood there we watched all the other "too-large-to-fit" bags stroll by nonchalantly wtih their owners.  I said, "look at all those bags, they're too big too, and they're not trying to deal with two kids, why don't they get pulled aside.  the young guy left to carry out the madame's will was peeved with me, the feeling was obviously mutual, and said, "hey, it doesn't get any higher up than her, we're doing you a favor anyway, now you just will have less bags to deal with, they'll just be checked."  i saw his point and also spencer's who was shushing me, and tried to let it go.  but he unfortunately ended picking up one of the bags to my dismay and said, wow!  this is way too heavy too.  I did insist that they let me keep the carryon with all the kids entertainment stuff and he said, oh yeah, that ones fine, its not even too big"  which wasn't true, it didn't fit in the "test cage" either.  Well, eventually we did make it onto the plane and we had four seats next to each other, one across the isle which was unavoidable, and began our journey. 

The kids did really well on the flight.  We kept them entertained with coloring and stickers and books.  i had packed a small backpack for each of them with little toys, books and stuff to do, and the stewardess brought them each a kid gift courtesy of air france, which i was impressed by.  We were fed snacks and drinks, and then a dinner of salmon or chicken, we chose salmon, and one chicken, which for airline food, was quite yummy, complete with a "President" camembert, yum, and une petite baguette.  oh, and a little dessert of cake topped wtih cheese cake.  Then we began trying to get the kids to sleep.  Cado didn't take long at all, but paisley, well that was another story.  before long most everyone on the plane became acquainted with her white-blond head going up and down the aisles being sung to and shaken by mommy or daddy.  this went on for quite some tiring time.  as always we ended up much more tired than she.  i finally said, forget it and just let her wander back and forth between me and her chair, wearing herself out, but mostly me.  finally she fell alseep and was placed awkwardly into her chair with two pillows on either side, but she tosses and turns a lot so we had to monitor and fix her a lot.  Then Spencer and I got a few hours of sleep before breakfast came around, some cold cuts, cheese, bread, fruit, juice, etc.  I think the kids slept until right before we started the descent.  So the flight really wasn't too bad.  We landed in Paris about 10 hrs after our flight began.  It was very nice to be walking around and the airport is really cool-looking.  We were all in good spirits being free again.  We went to our gate and had a small snack, one of my favorite patisseries, "pain-au-chocolat" which is also Paisley's favorite, anything with chocolate.  Cado remarked that he wanted us to take the skin off, meaning the bread, so that all that remained was the chocolate! 

So we boarded our second flight which was only 50 minutes long.  About 10 minutes after our ascent, we were told we were going to descend, but even so they were able to squeeze a meal in!  Very-un-american wouldn't you say.  we're lucky to get a bag of snacks or peanuts on an american flight.  That was actually my favorite meal on the flight, cold chicken breast wtih a ratatoiulle type stuff and feta cheese crumbles on it, a multi-grain baguette with cheese and a pineapple upside down cake.  And then we were in the long-anticipated Switzerland!  Cado was very excited and many times on the flight asked if we were in Switzerland yet, and when would we be there.  Oh, it was cute, when he woke up in the morning on the flight to Paris, he said, "this was a very good flight." 

Soon we discovered that two of our bags were missing, one of the carryons that got checked at the last minute (with all our photos and newly finished wedding album ) and one of our large duffel bags (with all my dresses, pants and skirts).  this was obviously unnerving, but we did what we could and then had to move on and hope that they would do what they could.  Cado was very excited to be in Geneva.  He said, look, this is Geneva!  with a big smile on his face.  And said it many times, we're in Geneva!  etc.  Francois Ensler picked us up at the airport.  He is the man set up by KPMG to assist us in finding housing.  He is english and swiss, so he spoke english.  On the way out of the airport Cado heard someone say hello in English and he said, "oh!  that means hello in english!"  It was cute.  It was like, Hey, I recognize that one!  we keep telling him, oh that means ___ in french.  Francois took us to our hotel.  As we approached he was telling us about the city and why people love it, etc. and the main reason he said is that it feels small and relatively speaking for a large international city, it is small, around 180,000 people, and with a lot of community areas and feeling.  Then he said, now, your hotel is near the red-light district but you shouldn't even notice, and then we proceeded to drive through it, fortunately the kids were both asleep.  It makes me ill to be around that stuff.  Then we pulled up to a building right next to a red-light bar, and . . . stopped.  yea, near it is right!  so as long as you don't look or turn left out our hotel, you're fine! 

Cado woke up when he was taken out of the car, but as soon as we were in our room I crashed with Paisley.  Spencer took Cado on a little walk which he'll have to report on.  Our Hotel is the Hotel Residence Lafitte.  It has an entry area with a table, then a room with a couch that turns into a bed, then a tiny kitchen/bathroom where one side is a kitchen sink, microwave and rangetop, and the other a bathroom sink, and then a toilet/shower room, then a bedroom.  After moving all our bags in, there isn't much room at all, but we have to make it work until at least the 15th, possibly the 1st! as those are move in days for apartments.  we are going apartment hunting on thursday, which seems late in the week to me, but i guess thats how it worked out.  the american, mormon, utah kpmg family (couple our age and a boy cado's age and girl paisley's age!) said we could borrow their car when they leave for vacation thursday and also hooked us up with a babysitter that day!  how nice, and we haven't even met, though her and I were in our freshman byu ward together! 

well, paisley eventually woke up, and i thought it was early in the morning, but it was actually 9 or 10 pm (we went to bed around 5).  and she was wide awake, ready to play.  so eventually i gave in and got her some food and toys and books and watched winnie the pooh with her on the laptop, etc.  cado and daddy were asleep.  then i said, i'm done paisley and she gradually fell back asleep again.  I thought that it was 1:30 am at this point.  well, spencer and cado woke up next and woke us up with noise, etc. and spencer said it was 1:30 am.  i was like, noooo, it was 1:30 when paisley and I went to sleep.  turns out i was looking at the L.A. time on Spencer's watch.  we couldn't believe how long the night was taking!  we ate breakfast, i think i actualy cooked, or maybe that was later, its all a blur now.  we let the kids play for awhile and then spencer went in the room and crashed and i layed on the couch with the kids jumping on me.  spencer came back out after awhile and we just laughed at the craziness of it all.  i think around 3:30 we were all asleep again.  we woke up again at 5 I think and then again at 9!  what a night!  monday spencer opened a bank account and got what he needed to connect our computer.  Paisley and I took a walk down to the Lake and had fun, and then decided we all needed to go, so we came back and got the boys.  Paisley loved chasing all the pigeons and said, "Get 'em birdies!"  Cado and Paisley know a lot of french words and Cado really seems to enjoy learning.  I have no doubt about their abilities.  I get frustrated because I can really speak better than understand but i don't like to speak because then people speak back and i can't understand!  it will get better, and i promise you, i'll be fluent before the end.  Oh, the weather here is beautiful!  Its my favorite, FALL!  I love the crisp, just cool enough to wear a sweater or jacket weather. 

Oh, so when Cado woke up yesterday afternoon to go play, he looked pale and skinny and he said he wasn't feeling well.  he has a very sensitive stomach and gag-reflex and has already thrown up more times in his little life than i have in all of mine i think!  , which is quite troubling since it really affects his psyche regarding food and eating.  So, i said, cado i think you are just hungry and thirsty.  so he ate a tiny bit, and then he asked the classic question, "am i gonna throw-up?" with worry fraught on his face, and we calmlhy reassured him, which is really all we can do, and sure enough, he threw up.  poor baby!  then, he wanted a bath, but dealt well with the fact that we only have a shoewr, so we took a shower and he crashed out.  When he woke up he looked a little better and we tried to get him excited about having fun.  we were able to do that and after our play time yesterday he said he was hungry, yay, and we asked him what he wanted, he said, a hamburger and fries!  so we made the long journey to McDonalds in which Paisley fell asleep very heavily in my soon-to-be-aching arms!  i have to tell you that mcdonalds tasted quite good.  and we had a McEmmental which is one of three Sandwich Suisse on their menu.  cado and paisley both ate well and kept it down!  so we think that cado largely takes stress in his stomach and it is very mental.  then we had to stop at the wal-mart type place called "Migros."  and Cado had his first, i want to go home moment.  He said, "why are we in Switzerland, i don't like it!  i want to go home! etc"  And I said, "how bout some chocolate?"!  not quite, but after consoling him and talking to him for awhile, i did say that, and it DID make everything better!  then we went home and tried contacting our families with skype.  and opened up the toy suitcase and played with chalk on the tiny balcony.  Eventually we were able to talk to and see both of our families with the webcams and internet, so brilliant and amazing.  i'm telling you folks, it only costs around $30 for a webcam and then you can see people, like us, and talk for free over the internet!  so when you get one, let us know! that was really nice and the kids loved it and i think it helped them overcome some homesickness, though they were very tired and it was quite late by the time they got to bed. 

but for Paisley it was not nighttime still, it was naptime, so she woke up in the middle of the night screaming.  her screaming woke up cado who then started crying and so before long we were one miserably awake in the middle of the night family.  when paisley got over the screaming she decided it was playtime and eating time and pooping time, so i dealt with all of that and then finally got back to sleep, but not very well, since she still squirmed all over the place and all over my face and kept asking for drinks, books, food (our favorite snack that we bought is these biscuits beurre (little butter cookies) topped with La Vache qui rit (laughing cow cheese which is like cream cheese), etc.  eventually she fell asleep for real, which is where she still is now, and i should probably be waking her to try to get her on schedule, but then i wouldn't be able to do this and this is important to me too.  I have to tell you that Daddy and Cado looked so adorable as they left for work this morning!  Daddy put Cado in his suit (but with his batman hat   on as well) and they took the train to KPMG to take care of stuff.  How cute!  cados never been able to go to work with daddy in the US so he was very excited, though he held it back to look very big as he said, "yep, daddy and I are going to work mom."  and he did say it just like that, with proper grammar.

so all is going well, and our plan is to get the little basic, essential things done little by little day by day, but mostly try to have fun and meaningful experiences together, as i think that will be the best way to combat homesickness or feeling like we shouldn't have done this, etc, and instead turn what could be a really difficult first 6 months into a really special and memorable time of growth and learning and fun as a family!  I think especially for the kids, but also for us, we need to make this fun, or Cado really will be overwhelmed by "i want to go home-itis."  Well, if i haven't answered all your questions, i would be shocked, but nevertheless, if i haven't, ask and I shall!  LOTS OF LOVE FROM THE ROUNDYS IN GENEVA TO ALL!!!!  It really means so much to us to have your love and support and frienship in our lives.  MERCI  INFINIMENT! 

Here's the third group:  Monday and Tuesday.

Here's the second group. These photos are from Friday and Saturday, and Sunday morning.

There are a trillion photos!  So I've divided them into three sections.  The first covers Thursday, when we went to Valley Forge with Doreen's parents.

That sounds hick-ish, and in fact they did get married in a renovated barn at a place called Normandy farms, but in reality it was quite a posh and far from rustic wedding.  They got married on June 17th, (coincidentally Brian's birthday is in June, and Doreen's is on the 17th of February if I'm not mistaken) which also happened to be Father's Day.  It was wonderful to see them committ to one another for the rest of their lives, and we are all excited to call Doreen family.  This means I have a sister (in-law).  To understand the beauty of the wedding, you'll have to refer to photos.  Although, mine aren't that comprehensive or great unfortunately.  We had our hands full with our kids and the heat and humidity!  They put a lot of thought into their wedding and infused it with their personalities, and that made it really cool.  Brian wrote a story called Lulu&the Bear and put that inside a CD with a bunch of songs, one of which their friend Ben Shirey wrote to go with the story, and Brian made Lulu and the BEar cake toppers and painted a painting of them, etc.  The tables were named according to favorite movies, the flowers were gorgeous, etc.  Doreen looked beautiful, Brian looked handsome.  It was awesome to see family, as the wedding was on the East coast it drew a different crowd-Mike and Anita and Mike and Kirsten came with most of their family members.  A great turnout, a great celebration, a great couple!  I had the privelege of getting Doreen all beautiful before hand, that was fun.  My kids looked sooo cute! 
The night before they had a "rehearsal dinner" which was really just a nice gathering for family and friends.  There was excellent food and lots of talking and playing.  That was Cado's favorite part.  They had tons of toys and Doreen's sister has three boys, one who is 4 1/2 and they had lots of fun together.  We ate really well the whole trip. 

And here's why I would live Back East if it weren't so far from family and so humid (and hot, and cold, etc)

 

 

 

 

Gorgeous!     Green!     Hydrangeas!     History!



Lots of pictures to come, and stories to tell!  Thats all for now!

I've been meaning to write this blog for a while now.  I bought an eight dollar pool recently and it was well spent.  The kids were using our outside toy box as a pool and they enjoyed it immensely, perhaps too much . . . it soon had a large hole in the bottom that for obvious reasons made its use as a pool obsolete.  I have had my eye out for a cheap kiddie pool for months because I know how quickly they go, it seems by July stores are putting out fall sweaters.  My diligence was rewarded when I came upon the shockingly cheap 3-ring inflatable pool.  I set it up the next day and filled it up.  The kids played in it for hours!  For those of you who are out of touch with motherhood, that is AMAZING!  Kids (at least mine) don't do anything for hours.  I cna hardly get them to do the same thing for minutes, so it has been heavenly.  I have joined them on occasion and I must say even a kiddie pool offers a nice retreat from the heat, and a great way to bond with my kids.  Its wonderful to see them enjoying themselves so much with so little effort from MOI !  The downside is that they cannot be outside alone now, and that neither of them seem to grasp the concept of pool rules, such as cannot go in without permission, cannot go in with clothes on, cannot put dirt, rocks, knives, or towels in the pool, etc.  Nevertheless I don't miss that $8.00.

Paisley and Cado are very able little swimmers.  If Paisley falls on her back, she just rolls right over and is hardly even phased by it, and Cado does running jumps and all sorts of crazy things in the pool.  We put our slide in it too, for added fun.  Daddy has joined us once or twice as well as Grammi.  For Memorial Day the kids got to experience a big pool, and LOVED it.  We went to Krystal's Grandma's community pool.  It was a blast.  Yesterday Cado saw the pictures from it, and said, "Lets go to Krystal's house! Come on Mom."  I said "No, sorry not today."  To which he replied, "WHY?"  I am hearing that question a lot lately, and I assume I will be hearing it a lot more for the next several years.  We have entered the Why years.  Needless to say they love water and swimming and i am once again glad i live in southern california where the sun always shines.    on another pool note i've signed us all up (minus Spencer) for mommy&me swim class.  Oh and they have both gotten a little tan, though Paisley seems to pick it up more and her hair has gotten white, all that plus her bright blue eyes and adorable smile = Wow!  And even Cado's hair has lightened a little and he sure is handsome & they're both hilarious and really quite good buddies.  Enjoy the photos!

I know that is a loaded statement, meaning it evokes many different emotions for many different people, and for us included, nevertheless we have done a lot of praying, fasting, talking, thinking, searching, etc. to come to that conclusion and we feel like it is good for our family and for Spencer's career. We will miss my parents terribly as we have lived in the same city for three years. I know it will be hard. Thank you to everyone for your thoughts on Spencer's blog and for any other thoughts you've shared. We actually discussed a lot of the exact same things that we're said as comments to Spencer's blog before we read them. Your support and love is very important to us. Now we (I) have the overwhelming task of making any and all preparations necessary emotionallly and physically to make this move. There is actually a couple that just went to the same office in Geneva from Utah with a 3 yr. boy and a 1 yr. old girl! That is a comforting fact. Our report date is Sept. 15th and return date is August 30th, 2009, which means Spencer will be returning to the Orange county, KPMG office. We will be returning at least once a year, and we encourage and welcome visitors any time!! We had a really good time in the temple together and on Saturday and Sunday talking and thinking and praying. We feel that the decision to go is acceptable to the Lord, and that our devotion to Him regardless of where we go will be a blessing to us. We're so grateful for our relationship with God in our lives and the guidance and peace we can have because of it. We love you all so much!