Welcome to harmony's Roundeo.

We had to say Goodbye to our friends the Cowans the week the kids were off school in October. Grandpa Great left on Thursday. The Cowans left Friday morning Oct. 23rd. It was a sad day.

We have missed them and will miss them. It was really a blessing to have them in our lives here. Ever since we started to plan living here we knew about "the other KPMG mormon family" that was already here and had come just 6 months before us and who happened to have a boy the same age as ours and a girl the same age as ours! (and Jennie and I had actually been in the same freshman dorm building and ward and so knew of each other.)

Since that day we have spent much time together, been through difficult and happy times together, had a third baby a couple of months apart, and just shared our lives here. They were like a family away from family. The night before we left we went to the airport to see them where they were checking in their luggage. As we were leaving, Cado started crying and saying, "I'll miss them so much!" Drew asked Cado why he was said, and he said, "Because I don't want you to go."

Fortunately they're in Utah where it won't be too difficult to visit them whenever we're there. Which we will be soon! Today Paisley saw a picture of Avery on the computer and she said, "I very like Avery much...she likes me best too, and that's the best." I agree, it is the best when you have friends that you love and that you know love you back. We love you Guys!

...And you have lots of photo shoots lined up, what do you do? Well, buy a new one of course. And you know, it has been A LOT of work, but I actually paid that camera off just a couple of months after buying it because of all the photo work! What a blessing. I will not be working as much in the future though, it really took a toll on my job as a mother, and that is much much more important to me.

But, I love my new camera and am so grateful for such a supportive and knowledgable husband who helped me get the right one.  I took lots of photos the week I got it to prepare for the two shoots I had that Saturday. Here are some of the personal and work photos I have taken. My fall has been packed full with photo editing, way too much of it! And if I weren't a mom it wouldn't be a problem, I enjoy it. I really like tweaking photos until they look perfect (to my eye) or doing different effects to them and discovering tools in photoshop, etc. But I'm way too much of a perfectionist and can't let things go until I've tried out all of my ideas! I do hope to continue to do some photography, ideally I'd get a job or two (max!) per month and just keep things steady. But in any case, I'm ready to put my focus back on motherhood!

here's my current business site (one of these days my website creator husband and I will get around to redesigning the harmonyphotography site, until then...)

The Swiss are quite proud of their cows, and I think I can understand why, after all the milk these beauties produce, is used to make really awesome cheese, and amazing chocolate. I think the cows are treated well here.

So, on October 3rd we went to the cow festival called "Desalpes" in St. Cergue*... well, we sort of went.

We did the same thing last year.

See, you have to get up early and leave early and be there early if you want to see the cows actually being paraded with cool headresses and big bells, through the town, by people in traditional swiss costumes, and to hear the alp horns played and such....but we don't do early very well. 

Actually it's more complicated than that. We actually left early enough and all that to be there on time, but for frustrating reasons I won't go into we didn't make it for that part of it. The crowds the festival drew this year were huge, maybe because the Fall weather was impeccably gorgeous and warm, whereas the year before it was slushy and quite cold.

But despite missing the main event, we decided to keep going anyway, because a bunch of friends were already there. So we had a picnic, played on park equipment, chatted with friends, saw a couple of animals, including a few cows, walked through the little market, ate some cotton candy, and sat on some tractors...oh yeah and got a mixture of cow poop and mud all over our shoes and even some of our bums (mine for example). 

Both years for one reason or another we have missed the actual event! Which is a parade of cows and people in traditional costume and cool floral headdresses (on the cows), to celebrate the cows coming down from pasture in the mountains, for the winter. The first year we at least got a glimpse of a cow or two in all it's desalpes headdress glory, this year, I don't even think that happened! maybe next time...

*St. Cergue is about 30 minutes Northwest in Switzerland

In September we had the GREAT privelege of having the GREATS! It was GREAT! okay, I'll try to refrain from using that word for the rest of the blog...but don't count on it.

So, they came a few days after Geneve's bday, and stayed for about a week. Then they went off on a gre-- wonderful European adventure going all over, and I mean all over Europe! They are impressive.

While here, we toured Geneva on foot and bike, visited Gruyere and the Chocolate factory (though apparently neither of us took any pictures or did but they were lost because we both had camera issues at this time), and went to two french towns nearby Annecy and Yvoire. We also just hung out and talked and ate and even slept. I let the kids play hookie for a few days from school and we had perfect weather and a really lovely time. I wish I had written this sooner after the visit I would have more specific things to say. But I think it's safe to say they had a GREAT time too, and it is always fun to share your Ville with someone and show em around. Thanks for coming!

If you're interested in Grandma's perspective I think I'll copy and paste her email, including all her compliments!, so here's what she said about her stay (hope that's alright Grandma!):

" Harmony was so good to us, I can’t thank her enough. It isn’t easy to have guests in her small place and she had things planned for us for the whole time and took the kids out of school several times. It was so fun to see them and spend time with the kids, they are so darling and good. Harmony is a great cook. When we arrived she had a big Relief Society Enrichment Night she was over which was fun to go to. I am so awed at her French and that they go to a French Ward, many of the members speak English and offered and did translate most of the meeting to me. She and 2 friends dressed up and Sang, "I Enjoy Being A Girl." Harmony did fablous and had stuffed her chest and fanny and it was hilarious, all enjoyed it. Another neat thing was that they had this smorgasboard of food after which was sooo fun for me to try all these different dishes and hard to tell what some of them were. We still did some touring of Geneva that day on public transportation.
...we went to the Callier’s chocolate factory where we watched a movie on how they made the chocolate and then came to a place where we could sample all we wanted and it was divine, was very fun and delicious and then of course to their store where you could buy chocolate,  I think cured me of chocolate. Then on our way to the castle, through gorgeous country we saw the celebration of the cows being brought down from the mountains being led by people in costumes and the cows all decked out with headdresses and them blowing horns, that was fun to catch a glimpse of.
Sat. When Spencer was off we went on a boat up Geneva Lake to a lovely old city that we walked around and lunched there called Yvoire. This was also beautiful country, quaint old narrow passages and streets and a bulwark or castle. Spencer was very loaded with work and so it was good of him to take this time with us. He is also Elders Quorum President and then we got to hear him speak in their Sacrament Mtg. Sunday which was also fun.
One of the days the kids went to school when they were out we went to the old part of Geneva, also delightful. Very pretty and they had a very long bench, supposedly the longest in the world? Anyway in the park they have giant checkers and chess games with these big pieces where a lot of watchers and players gather, so fun. In Geneva they have water fountains everywhere with wonderful water you can drink from. It is also much easier to get on and off public transportation there than some of the other places we visited.
One of the really fun days we all got bikes. They have in the city a Genevaroule! Free bike loan, can you imagine that here, ha! These are not just any bikes they are wonderful bikes with fenders and enclosed gearing, top notch. Well Harmony got one with a big wooden basket on the front that the two little girls could be strapped in, so it really extended the front, and I don’t think I could have driven it, but she did great except when she was trying to adjust Geneve who had gone to sleep and drive at the same time, she kind of ran into a wall, nothing serious though.

Cado is amazing on his bike, he goes like crazy. This was such a fun way to see Geneva and we went around the end of the Lake to the other side where there is a nice little beach and this wonderful park with swings some man has made out of all kinds of tires of bikes, cars, etc. He had many kinds of swings and ladders up the trees and woven areas where you could walk around up in the trees, big tire swings with ropes on them so someone could really pull you high and so I had a big tire swing with Dave pulling me and it was fun. There are lots of gorgeous swans all along the lake area too...  so cool. It was definitely scary for me when we went to take the bikes back through the city. We were right next to the cars in the bike lane and Cado peddling like mad behind his mother and then me and then Grandpa and once or twice he wanted to ride up to her side and I would yell at him and I thought what if he falls here, so it was exhilerating but I was pretty nervous about the last bit.
We went to the United Nations buildings and to the beautiful botanical gardens and the science museum, theyhad these echo discs, or sound wave discs where you could whisper in one and the other person far away could hear you and the kids had a lot of fun with that.
Close to the end of our stay we went to Annecey, I hope that is correct spelling, a small French town, which was lovely, what a beautiful place to live. We had fun exploring there and seeing the sights, and we had Crepes in a sidewalk cafe for supper. It is expensive to eat out there and to live and so we went to a Kebab place, which was very good, I enjoyed and McDonalds has some really nice menus we don’t have here in the states, plus things we do.
Well I can’t thank Harmony enough for all her work in our behalf it was a very fun week there and I miss those kids they are so adorable. When Grandpa went back there he said Genev came to him with her arms open and gave him a love and layed her head on him and he said, Oh Grandma is going to be sad to miss this and he was right."