Europe Post #2

Hereàs the next set of pictures.

Our next adventures...

Here is the the castle of Neuschwanstein, which Disney used as the model for the Sleeping Beauty Castle. It was so beautiful inside and out, but we got soaked!

Sporting some attractive Austrian Hats.

Katie fell in love with the massive sugar pretzel donuts in Salzburg.

In Salzburg Austria we hopped on the Official Sound of Music Tour. It was amazing.

Here we are 16 going on 17

Here's Katie in front of the Belvedere Palace. This is near an area where her dad served as a misisonary.

We traveled from Vienna to Venice in a night train. In our little room there were 6 couchettes. The others were filled with Koreans. We ended up talking about American movies and pop culture for a long time.

Here's a pic of us on the Rialto Bridge. It had a great view of the canal and gondolas.

Here's a shot of our first authentic Gelato. Words can't describe how good it tastes.

He is a shot of the venetian streetway, aka, the rivers! It was a beautiful little town. Imported sideways. sorry

Made it to Europe!!!

Hello all. We#ve made it to Europe in one piece and weäre loving it. Here are some pics.

First - Paris
We had a great time in Paris amid all of the hectic people, rushing and bustling. One of our most memorable events was finishing our pizza dinner, getting a crepe with nutella, and walking to the lawn in front of the Eiffel Tower. It was all lit up blue with flashing lights. That was cool. Versallies was incredible too. There was so much art and golden stuff. The gardens were massive!

We put some audio tours on the iPod and weäd listen as we walk. On the side of the Notre Dame Cathedral.

the Pizza in Paris was soooo good. the mozarella cheese was delish.

At the Hall of Mirrors at the Palace of Versallies.

In front of the Gardens at Versallies.

At the Orsay Museum.

In front of the Louvre

This goes out to all of the coldplay fans. Viva la Vida!

The Arc de Triumf

Next - Bern Switzerland

Bern was too cool. It is the captial citz of Switzerland, but there wasnät a lot going on there. It was quiet and serene. It was fun to stroll the streets and go people watching. We attended church here too, after we got lost for about 2.5 hours. The little branch was so cool. One of the american sister missionaries translated for us. Das is gut! We spent the rest of sunday chillin at the hostel watching the Nadal Federrer duel. You could rent bikes for free too, so we biked all over the town.

This was a Saturday night in Bern. All of the older men from the town gather and play chess. We met a nice man named Hans here. He told us of all of the hot spots in Bern.

Up on a hill that looks over the town: The Rose Garden.

We got bikes for free and cruised the town. Here Katie is in front of the baby eating town Ogre. click on it and zoom in. Funny!

Next was Lauterbrunnen and Gimmelwald Switzerland

The alps were soooo big!! We were taken back at the sights and sounds of the moutain ranges. The grass and trees had such a dark beatiful green to them. Every little home had flowers out in front and they were all so friendly.

Here was our view of the city of Lauterbrunnen. It was gorgeous!

We ate some of this "beer" one night. It was too good and very addicting.

here is a pic from the top of the shilthorn Mountain. Incredible. They filmed the James bond movie In Her Majesties Service here.

Now - Ruette, Tirol, austria.

We love austria first becuase of the cheap prices. We are in a great little town called Ruette. Last night we ate Goulash soup, and today we had some wienersnitchels. So tasty. Tomorrow we plan on visitng the Neuschwanstein Castle, which is the one Disney based its castles off of. Weßre loving it so far.

We are now in a little city called Ruette, Austria. We hiked up a mini mountain this morning to go to an old castle.

That´s it for now. We hope to post again in a week or so. Party on! (send money please! the Euro blows)

Farewell to New Jersey

I think this will be our last post in the Garden State of New Jersey. It has been an awesome 6 months and it has flown by. FYI - the kidney stone stuff worked out ok and there shouldn't be any other problems. To all of you men reading this blog, drink lots of water always! Here are some final pics.

About 2 weeks ago, Ray got baptized. He's a great young man that will be going to Japan in August to study. He's surrounded by Elder Zanatta and Elder Farmer, 2 awesome missionaries.

Here's my cubicle at work.

In the words of the great Destiny's Child, "Say my name."

Tonight we attended the baptism of Abby. It was a phenomenal service and we hope the best for her. The ward members here are on fire!

Here we are with the missionaries and another young couple, Christian and Cora Wallin. We had some good times with them.

Someone's gonna give birth...

But not to a baby... a kidney stone! About 2 months ago i had a little kidney stone episode. Last Thursday and Friday things flared up again and so we went to the ER to get it checked out. I got some work done on me and here is what the stone ended up looking like when they took the x-ray.

Crazy huh!

This is not my x-ray, but it is very similar to the one I got. It was a 5mm stone on my right side. So the doctor had me get a lithotripsy, which is a procedure that uses high frequency sound waves to break up the stone, to make it easier to pass. This is what it turned out to be like...

Ha.

They laid me on a table like this and that orange ball thing is right on my kidney. After that I was out from the anesthesia.

Now I'm chilling at home on my heavy medication and this is how I feel. I also did this blog entry while on the med's, so that might explain my randomnocity.

But in all honosty, thanks to those that kept us in their prayers and thoughts. We really felt like things went very smoothly and without error. We'll let you know how things turn out. Hopefully all of this gets taken care of before July 1st!

We're Going to Europe!

After much deliberation and meditation, Katie and I have decided to take a trip to Europe! We figure that our family size is right, we have no jobs or apartment waiting for us in Provo, and so we'll take the plunge. We leave on July 1st and fly out on July 31st. It'll be a month long trip of bagettes, gelato, cheese, hostels, weak usd conversions, and other fun memories. This is the breakdown:

1. Paris FR
   
2. Bern SW
   
3. Lauterbrunnen SW
   
4. Gimmelwald SW
   
5. Munich GE
   
6. Salzburg AU
   
7. Vienna AU
   
8. Venice IT
   
9. Florence IT
   
10. Rome IT
    
11. Cinque Terra IT
    

Here's where it'll be on the map

If you've been to any of these places and have suggestions, we'd love to hear about it. Party on!

Jeff Visits, Katie's B-day, & Steve Nash

These are a few of my favorite things. We had an awesome weekend and it deserves some major blogging. Shall we?

Waiting for Jeff at the Airport...

Actual video footage. Once the clip ends, Jeff proceeds to hug Katie for the 1st time.

Geoff in the mornin a shavin.

We then walked the Brooklyn Bridge. It was a nice day, or so it started.

Sha na na.

The crew.

Once we got near Central Park, we found many celebrating Hari Krishna, or practing it, or something.

Katie talking to a member. We think she will shave her head an join.

We then went to the Central Park zoo and from a distance noticed a tall figure. I said, that looks like Steve Nash... Wait a sec... IT IS STEVE NASH!!! We confessed our Platonic Love (thanks Devin) and then snapped a photo. He was a nice guy. He is married to a nice hispanic lady and they have 2 cute little twin girls. Totally awesome.

Amidst all of the excitement, Katie only had one thing on her mind.

The crazy monkey had lots of fun with a Gatorade bottle.

Jeff in front of the Manhattan Temple. This was one of the highlights of his trip.

We then made our way to midtown. Jeff in Times Square.

We also went to the Museum of Modern art. It happened to be Katie's Birthday and it was Flag Day! How appropriate.

This is Katie's Birthday cake. So modern

Here are some gifts she got later.


Jeff and I ended up winning tickets to go see wicked. It was wicked good. I can officially say that we have corrupted Jeff by taking him to Wicked stuff. hardy har har har.

Pizza & Lightning

Hello everyone! This passed week we got seriously fried cause of a major heatwave that came through Jersey. Oddly that night, we were watching a movie and then we heard a bunch of thunder and it started to pour. We got some cool pic's.

Here's some pic's of some excellent home-made pizza we made at, well, home

Yes, I added corn to mine. I had to represent the Venezuelan pizza.

Katie enjoying her pizza. She was very very excited.