Show Me Your Scary Face!

Big News!

Marianne has been admitted to BYU for winter semester. She starts in January! Congratulations sweetheart! (And in case you're wondering, that's Florence, Italy behind her.  She'll always remember where she was when she got the good news.)

Three-Fifths Done!

Our travelers have been in Europe for three weeks and have two more to go! They've been to:
London
Bergen & Oslo, Norway
Berlin & Dresden, Germany
Prague, Czech Republic
Rome

Now they're in Florence, Italy and they still have Switzerland and France left to see!

The couch surfing and B & Bs have worked out well. There was one place that was dirty and smoky, but John got online and found them a cheap hotel, so all was well! He is a pretty amazing travel agent/concierge!

I have enjoyed daily updates from Marianne. She sends me pictures and we chat every night once she has wifi.

Aaron doesn't usually contact me unless I make the first move or request pictures.

They are both great photographers, but it is fun to see the difference in their styles. Marianne sends me funny selfies that make me laugh, photos of her meals, pictures of their rooms, favorite paintings/sculptures and beautiful shots that she has edited.

Aaron sends landscapes, architecture and photos with interesting angles and/or points of view.

Here are a few shots for fun. Can you guess who took them?

Lavender's Weekend

In her own words, "I climbed a mountain. It was swippery. I went on top of the BIG ROCK."

Evan, being an awesome big brother, took her on a not-so-little hike in the hills near our house. When my phone rang and Evan told me to come outside, I was shocked to see them up so high. And they were indeed on top of a huge boulder. I'm not sure I want to know how he got her up there. I had to go inside when they started to climb down. I couldn't bring myself to watch!

When Evan asked her if she wanted to go on a hike, she was very excited and came down wearing her fancy gold shoes. She informed me that "these are my hikin' shoes." We convinced her to change her shoes, but I decided not to push my luck and I let her wear her pajamas.

Another weekend highlight was babysitting Teddy who is, for lack of a better word, our granddog. Lavender has loved having him here. She insists on kissing him on the lips and says he likes lots of hugs. We know she really loves him because she even forgave him when he ate her last piece of sidewalk chalk!

Saturday

I love General Conference weekend! We get to be inspired with wonderful talks and stories from prophets of God! Watching conference is always an adventure with three little girls. We use the projector so everyone can see and hear. We also have quiet, conference related activities for the girls. We try our best, but let's just say that we all get a lot more out of the afternoon session which conveniently coincides with naptime!

Our morning of attempted conference watching was also punctuated with texts and pictures from our travelers who have to take advantage of free wifi when they can. They have had a great adventure in Berlin and are headed to Dresden next. Norway has been their favorite place so far!

And hey, two out of three sessions today isn't bad!

Today's the Day!

These two just left for a five week trip through Europe! They are staying in 10 different cities and visiting many more! To save money they are staying with friends, LDS church members, at hostels, in a B&B, couch surfing and a couple of places TBD. Some of those options make me nervous, but I know they will have an amazing adventure together!

And yes, that backpack and small suitcase contain everything they packed for 5 weeks!

Grandma Would Be Proud

This afternoon we celebrated Labor Day by swimming with my sister's family. All of my kids and grandkids were there. I love it when that happens!

Dinner was easy because we got In N Out. Well, it wasn't so easy for John who had to keep track of all those orders, and of course everyone had a special order. What a picky bunch!

After I got Lavender to bed tonight, my middle kids and I played a game of Scrabble. We had a great time and we used all the letters except for the "J".

We played on my Mom's old turntable board and we reminisced about games of Scrabble with her. My kids have fond memories of playing board and card games with their grandma. I am grateful they are blessed with such fun memories of time spent laughing and playing together. I hope I can leave a similar legacy for my grandchildren.