Other Happenings

So I thought I would also share some other happenings in our lives...

Not sure if I already mentioned this but we are in the Spanish Branch now. It has been a great experience so far and definitely good for practicing Spanish! Also we got a new building! It was dedicated in May. We are so happy to have a new building and the Branch really enjoys it too!

My brother Michael and his wife Sara welcomed a new addition to their family the middle of this month! We are so excited for another nephew! Welcome John!

And last of all we decided to have a little garden of our own. Its really small but it fits perfectly in our apartment! Hopefully we will see some fruits- or should I say veggies from our labors!

Camping with Friends!

The beginning of June we went camping with some friends! It was a blast!

Setting up camp- Chase and Pete.

Getting the fire going.

Sitting by the fire. We love to camp and its been at least a year so it was about time for another camping trip! This one was in Mounds State Park. Alisha and Minnie came, Melissa, Jason and Jack, Pete and Laura and some other new friends too!

Chase the official breakfast chef cooking breakfast!

Eating the fruits of his labors.

Chase and Jack hanging out!

Exploring the Mounds. They are really quite interesting. Ancient Indian tribes built up these mounds for cultural and ceremonial purposes. Not much is known about them unfortunately.

Hanging with the girls.

The guys!

Alisha and Minnie!

It was such a fun little camp-out trip! Thanks Laura and Pete for organizing the whole shin-dig!

After Europe- Back to Normal...Well Sort of!

The next weekend after returning from our Europe excursion we headed to Indianapolis to spend time with family for Memorial Day. It is so nice to be close to family and we love spending time with them!

Brady and Tasha invited us to spend the night at their place...we roasted marshmallows!

Chase and his mallow!

Hanging with the chicas! Isn't Molly so cute sitting there in her little camp chair?

The next day- Memorial Day- we enjoyed a BBQ with B & T's ward at the park. Chase getting loves from Ethan!

That evening Janelle and Paul and kids joined up with us and we had another cookout. We brought some kinder eggs for the kiddos. They really enjoyed them especially the little prizes inside!

The kiddos watching a movie.

Cute picture of W. Couldn't resist adding it!

Then we had picture sharing time where we shared pictures from our Europe trip along with some dialogue. So fun!

I LOVE this video!! Gotta be one of my favorites! Enjoy =)

Going Home- Home Sweet Home!

Overall this trip to Europe was rather amazing and even better because I was able to spend almost all of the time with the Love of my Life and best friend. It was a great way to celebrate our 5th year anniversary which conveniently fell during this trip!

No matter how amazing a trip may be it is always so nice to come home at the end.

A view from my window- while flying home.

Some things we learned and some valuable resources if you decide to do a Europe trip:

1. Rick Steve's has some great books out about traveling in different parts of Europe. He includes top places to see in each area, tips for traveling especially if on a budget, maps and directions, places to stay and eat (although we didn't use his advice in these two areas- eating and sleeping) and other pieces of advice and bits of knowledge. Easy to read and navigate through them! I think most libraries carry some of his books so check them out!

2. We also found that it was way more economic to stay in vacation rentals then staying in a hotel. We loved being able to have all the amenities of home (i.e. washing machine, refrigerator/freezer etc.) You usually have more room and have the option of eating in some of the time if you don't want to eat out all the time. We loved it!

Some good sites are http://www.homeaway.com/ and http://www.vrbo.com/

3. Another site that is a great help is http://www.tripadvisor.com/

It has lots of information about places/things to see in different areas and people's reviews of those places. They also include other information like places to eat and other travel information.

4. If you are going to different parts of Europe- the train is the best way to travel! We learned that if you rent a car and drive you will have to pay a lot of extra in tolls and fees. Also gas is expensive in Europe. I loved riding on the trains personally =)

5. Last of all be flexible. Nothing ever goes exactly as planned especially the weather!

Europe Video Summary

Here is a video Chase put together of our trip!

Fourth Day in Paris

Our fourth day in Paris we visited the Palace of Versailles. It is just 30 minutes outside of Paris so we took a train to and from the site.

Outside the Palace.

The golden gates to get into the palace. Very ornate just like the rest of the palace.

Inside the palace.

Joan of Arc. I read a biography about her. It was really neat- she was quite the young woman.

It was interesting because it seemed we had already received a pre-show for this palace while we were in Germany. One of the palaces we visited there- Herren Chiemsee- was mostly patterned after the Versailles Palace due to King Ludwig II's infatuation with King Louis of France. The difference was that King Ludwig's palace was much newer and had hardly been used while the Palace of Versailles had lots of history and was much older.

There were lots of people!! So just expect it if you ever come to visit here. At times it was like we were cattle being prodded from room to room. Sounds annoying right?!

The palace itself was quite grand and magnificent and had lots of history which was interesting to learn about. It is also very large and took quite some time to go through it.

The palace also has very beautiful gardens which we only got a glance at. If there is ever a next time I would say we should visit the gardens for sure =)

Overall it was an educational trip and very interesting. It is amazing to see the grandeur of the palaces of the kings.

Third Day in Paris

We started the day by walking to Luxemborg Gardens. Quite pretty and serene. Lots of people sitting on chairs and lounging.

After visiting Luxemborg Gardens we headed to stop by the Bon Marche- I guess Paris was the one to invent department stores as we know them. It was a pretty fancy store and very expensive. We didn't stay long!

We then stopped by for some pastries. I love Europe and its bakeries! Cute picture of Chase, eh?!

Then we went to the Orsay Museum- known for its impressionist art. Has works by Monet, Manet and Van Gogh. We actually really loved this museum. It had very neat works of art. We might have even preferred it to the Louvre! It wasn't nearly as large and very doable in a couple of hours.

After the Orsay Museum and lunch we headed to the Rodin Museum. He was a famous sculptor. I am sure you recognize this one...The Thinker.

In the gardens of the Rodin Museum.

Then we headed to Napoleon's tomb. He was actually buried on some island originally but they went and gathered his remains and brought them back and laid them to rest in this ornate tomb. It is huge!

Also nearby Napoleon's tomb is an army museum. It was quite interesting and many artifacts of war.

Some dating centuries ago. I love this one of Chase!

Then....How can you visit Paris and not visit the Eiffel Tower?! We took tons of pictures but here are just a few =) It is very large!

Chase took this one- he is quite the photographer!

Heading back to the apartment on the metro after another fun long day!