Welcome to harmony's Roundeo.

So up until June of this year, since living here, we've had two visitors My mom (twice! ) and my Uncle John! Now, we have also had the pleasure of hosting Spencer's parents who came to Europe in June/July. They arrived in London, spent a few days there, then came to us, spent a week here, and then went to Paris for a few days. Yeah, they did the speed tour! They wanted to watch the kids while they were here and give Spencer and I a break, so we went to Venice for three days, (which I wrote about previously). Basically that meant that Spencer and I were with them for only 3 full days (and part of two other days).  But we wanted to show them some of our favorite Swiss places anyway, so we had a very tiring, busy and fun week! 

Monday we did a Geneva tour and familiarized them with the city and stuff they could do/needed to know while we'd be gone. We started with a bridge dive into the river near our apartment, then ate kebabs, saw the jet d'eau, went to old town, and across the lake,  and walked a lot! It was fun, but exhausting! So by the second day in Venice I was feeling all the walking (and river swimming).

We were in Venice Tues-Thurs, then on Friday morning we went on a two day trip to see: 

Friday: Avenches & Murten, The Berner Oberland/Alps (stayed here, it was awesome, thanks trip planner Spencer!)

Saturday: Bern & Gruyeres

I can't believe what we packed in to such a short time! 

We really enjoyed having visitors and once again extend the invite to all our family and friends!  Including those who have already come! 

So Spencer and I had the lovely treat of being able to go to Venice just the two of us! Spencer's parents planned a trip to Europe and asked us if we wanted to do a trip for a few days while they watched the kids. We said WOW, OK! And decided on Venice and then Spencer made it all happen. And it was wonderful! It was really so nice. And it was win-win. The grandparents and grandkids got one on one time, and we got some really rare and precious one on one time!

Spencer's parents arrived (after visiting London) on Sunday night June 28th and we left Tuesday morning June 30th. We traveled by train, about 7 hours. Among the first people we saw were a bunch of missionaries, on their pday! I love that. It's so cool to see them everywhere!  We got on the vapeur (bus boat) and got to see a lot of the grand canal on our way to our hotel. After checking in we went exploring the city. Venice is shaped like a fish, it's pretty cool, and is surrounded by a bunch of small islands.  I don't think I'd really want to do this city with kids, so much walking, and so not stroller friendly with stairs and cobblestone, etc. We walked a ton. It's just a really cool place. It's great because as we read in our travel book, you don't have to do anything to be rewarded by the city. Other places you have to see this and do that, but Venice you just take in. It's beautiful and fascinating with how old it is and all the canals and tons of amazing cathedrals everywhere.  We enjoyed lots of gelato, and some other treats, and the pizza and other yummy Italian specialities you can get everywhere. We went to the Basilica of St. Marco (Mark) first, and WOW WOW WOW. That place is unbelievable. From about 30 feet up the entire walls and ceiling are covered in ornate, gold and jewel encrusted mosaics. And below that the walls are entirely made up of marble slabs cut and mounted in a very artistic way, and below that the ground is completely mosaic tiled floors as well. And then there's of course amazing paintings too. Really a sight to behold. It's overwhelming to think that human beings created all of it, and so so long ago before they had so many of the modern helps in building and creating that we have now! No pictures allowed though, sorry. We ended the day wtih a free concert in the big square, which was really fun.

We were really exhausted by day's end. And the next day we slept in, which we could do since Venice is such a chill place and we had 3 days, which is plenty of time to do it in. I said, let's try to cut down on the walking if possible today. (We had swam in the river in Geneva the day before and sadly enough this meant that I was seriously exhausted and hurting). We did take it easier this day, but exploring Venice is basically a by-foot experience. We went to an art museum, featuring art from really famous establishment Italian painters like Titian, and Giorgioni. Then we went to the lido, a famous beach, which I guess had its heyday a long time ago, and it's definitely past. The island/town reminded me a lot of Southern California, with a less impressive beach, though it was nevertheless nice to chill on the provided beach chairs and eat gelato under an umbrella, and go on a walk along the shore and gather shells, of which there were many. We ended our evening with a gondola ride! If I had ever made a "bucket list" I'm sure gondola ride with my sweetheart would have been on there, so-- CHECK! It was really cool. Gondolas are just cool! I mean its one guy with one oar on the back of a really long boat going down skinny canals and under low bridges. The way it works is that a gondola is made off balance so that when the gondolier is on it, he's able to stand on one side and be stable.

 The next day we started with the fish and produce markets and then went off to San Murano, the glass making island and got to watch a demo and go through the shop, and I actually bought a couple souvenirs. We finished off with another visit inside the Basilica, and this time we paid for a little tour around the walkways at the top and got to have a closer look at the amazing and detailed mosaics, and go out on the roof.  I think that's it. We talked to the kids and their babysitters every day and they sounded like they were having a wonderful time, but 3 days was the perfect amount of time and we were ready to go back. (I'm still breastfeeding Geneve, so I pumped the whole time so I didn't have to stop). 

So Venice is: amazing cathedrals everywhere, gondolas, canals, bridges, boats, skinny alleyways and close, crumbling buildings, often with laundry lines hanging between them, art and art museums and galleries, really cool old buildings and architecture and lots of tall bell towers, gelato and pizza and calzones, crazy cool shops of masks and costumes and puppets, glass, and other fun stuff; and warm and relaxing and romantic and beautiful!

THANKS HONEY!! You made a dream come true. Venice was amazing!

(And Thanks Grandma and Grandpa Roundy for making it possible.)

So we got back from the states on Saturday May 2nd, and then: 

MAY

3rd, I taught Relief Society

9th, Geneve Stake Women's Conference

11th, Mother's Day

12th, RS presidency meeting

13th: book club

14th: french class

15th: Alma's hip hop concert

16th: went to the temple and took James Gillespie's photos

17th: Visiting teaching

19th: Dance class/Photos, RS meeting

20th: Alma's bday party, leave for Normandy

20th-24th: Trip to France (Normandy)

25th: first day at our pateaugoire (wading pool) and Versoix pool

26th: dance class/photos

28th: french class potluck dinner

29th: Geneva Storytelling festival

31sth: BBQ at pond with Hiatts

31st: I spoke in Sacrament meeting

(Also Geneve started crawling this month)

JUNE: 

2: DANCE/PHOTOS

4th: wading pool/park with our family

5: Enrichment night (I'm the Enrichment counselor, therefore much of the weight of this falls on me)

6: Primary Activity

9: Dance/Photos; Cado's school spectacle

10th: Car (front passenger tire) fell in a hole on our way out of our parking spot

11th: Paisley's school picnic

12th : Book Club

13th: Cado went to a friend's bday party; RS Stake meeting; Adult session of Stake Conference

14th: Stake Conference, dinner at Bayart's

15th: Cut Jennie's hair

16th: meet with Cado's teacher

17th: Big Play day for Penny at Pirate Park

18th-19th: Spencer in Zurich

19th: Shower for Becky

21st: Father's Day

24th: Cado's Fete des Ecoles; submitted kids photos into a photo contest (mentioned because it was very time consuming to edit/choose/upload etc.)

24th-25th: Spencer at a conference

26th: last day of Cado's school

26th-27th: Father & Sons

27th: Cado's Birthday Pool Party

28th-July 5th: Mom & Dad Roundy come for a visit (went to Venice and did a quick Swiss tour)

(Also, Geneve started walking this month)

WHEW! So yeah, we've been busy!  Things have slowed down a just a bit which is nice, but I'm not complaining about the busy-ness. We enjoyed it, though I think those two months did wear me out a tad!

(First of all . . . I know I'm a whiner, but does anyone in the world care about my blog? And yes that is me fishing for comments!)

Okay, so after seeing Normandy beaches we went to Mont St. Michel. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mont_Saint-Michel . Which is extremely cool. Later that day we went to a port city called: St. M, because I can't remember it's name for some reason! I'll have to edit this blog when I think of it. Anyway, it was a great day! The pictures will hopefully help me tell the story because for some reason that is all I can think to say on the subject! sheesh, no wonder no one cares about this blog! ;)

Wow. What an experience this was. I thought of my Dad who is a huge history and especially war history buff, and of course his Dad who was a Naval officer and participated in this war (though not in active combat). For those of you who don't know much about the significance of this place, I invite you to learn a bit, there's plenty of info on-line for starters. I personally wished I knew more before going, but now really want to. 

We talked to the kids about the significance of these places and explained to them that many people gave their lives for the cause of freedom, and we spoke of their bravery and selflessness. It was a really cool experience to do this, and even to share it with our kids. I was a little concerned about Cado, but he handled it so well. With the memory that kid has, I think this may just be something he never forgets. 

We started with Point du Hoc, the place where the army rangers took out the artillery of the Nazis, then we went to the American Cemetery and from there down to Omaha beach and then to Utah beach. All impressive and very emotional sites. I was really overcome with gratitude and awe at what those who fought here did for us. I can hardly fathom that kind of bravery and selflessness coming from regular people like me, with families and futures, many never to be seen again or realized. It's so important that we always remember.

So, when we got back from the States our friends the Cowans said, Hey, do you want to come to Disneyland Paris and Normandy France and Mt. Saint Michel with us? And we were like, hmmmm, yeah, I think we would, and so we did. We were a bit iffy on going to Disneyland because we had just gotten back from doing the Disneyland thing and its of course pretty expensive, but then we decided doing it with friends in Europe would be a pretty awesome and once-in-a-lifetime opportunity so we said, what the hay! Yep, that's what we said.

Anyway, it was pretty awesome and I'm glad we did it. It was fun for us to share the experience together and it was fun to see all the differences and similarities between California and Paris. I like them both for different reasons, but conclude that California is better overall. A couple cool things is that they've really elaborated on the themes of each land and made a very thorough statement with the whole look and feel of each place; and that during the parade you can sit or stand wherever the heck you want to, on the grassy hills, sitting on fences, etc.  A couple not cool things are that the food is awful (and of course expensive) and that they do not manage their crowds well (hours, rides having different opening/closing times, not enough space, etc). We decided now all we need to do is go to Disney world and the Asian Disneyland (Tokyo?) and we'll be members of the world Disneyland visitors club (that I just made up), which clearly we must do now, it is our only course of action. onward Disney fans! anyhoo...

I got to be the Disneyland trip planner and it was fun to plan it and show the Cowan's around, because even though I'd never been there, it is laid out similarly and there are a lot of similarities. Our trip was May 20th to 24th. So we drove to our hotel Wednesday night and went to Disneyland Thursday, then stayed at the same hotel and headed to Normandy Friday, and did Mt. St. Michel Saturday. We're very glad the Cowans invited us. More to come!

Most of you probably don't care, but I'm excited about Jennie's new haircut. She let me do it and a makeover! It was so fun. She wasn't a huge fan of getting her picture taken though, but I think there are still some good ones.

As her husband said, and I'm sure you'll notice, she is beautiful no matter what, even when she didn't get any sleep, has no makeup on, and just pulled her hair out of a ponytail!