30 days of Birthday fun

Josh was fortunate enough to hit the BIG 3 0 this year. He was struggling with it, so I got the idea to surprise him with 30 days of presents. The below pics are just a few of the little poems and presents I gave him.

 

Grandma’s molasses cookies are your favorite treat

I’ll whip up the recipe they’ll sure smell sweet

Milk and cookies together they’ll greet

Sit yourself down and get ready to eat

 

A day at the lake on the water we’ll float

A fun little outing on the paddle boats

On Lake Zurich we’ll float away

This will be such a memorable day

 

Soccer is Europe's number one sport

We watch at the pub with people of all sorts

I know you've been wanting a jersey of your team

So getting you this gift seemed right it seems

 

This pen is classy and cool

It lasts a long time and never goes dull

I know that you would love a Mont Blanc pen

So I splurged a little and got you this expensive trend

This is the last day of your 30 day event

Everything I got you was well spent

I love you and congratulate you on being thirty

My love for you is steady and sturdy

Love of my life!

Those of you who know my husband know that he is not the typical husband. He has always had a good sense of how I am feeling. And with the move, let's just say I have been a little stressed. There has been countless times when Josh has surprised me with flowers or better yet, SWISS CHOCOLATE! Last week he came home with a box of my favorite Sprungli truffles. Thank you babe for doing the simple things to make my day a little brighter. I still get as giddy as ever thinking of how lucky I am to have you as my husband. I LOVE YOU!

Our Angel Kaleb

It’s been two years since Kaleb passed away, and it’s still as fresh in my mind as the day it happened. I still think about him everyday. Naturally the world has moved on from this tragedy while time has stayed still for me. Wondering what could have been with our little guy. Wondering when he would be walking, or talking, Wondering what we’ve would have been doing to pass the time. Wondering what his laugh would sound like. Thinking of how he would love to be playing with his cousins. Wondering if he would be daddy’s little sidekick. Just wondering what memories we would have if only our little Kaleb was here. I would give anything to have him here with us. My love for Kaleb is indescribable. For those of you who have never heard our story, here is a brief description of what happened.Also, some of you have been wanting to see what we chose for his marker. And after a lot of thought, we felt a sailboat and christ would be most fitting for our little guy.


It all started on June 15th about 3:45 am I woke up experiencing severe pains and what we now know were contractions. We were trying to figure out what to do including calling my mom in Utah. About 20 mins later my water broke. Josh hurried and called and ambulance and they were at our place within minutes. At first none of the ambulance personal spoke English at all. They actually called an English speaking doctor to come and could communicate with us. One of the funny parts is the ambulance crew could not figure out how to get me out of the apartment. We are actually only up about 3 stories, but the elevator will only fit two people. Instead of the crew carrying me down the stairs, they called in the fire department. They decided to bring in a crane to hoist me down the building.

Once we arrived at the hospital they did an ultrasound and found Kaleb was still alive but not doing well. The doctor came in a short time later to inform us Kaleb is was dieing and that I would still need to have the child. I spent 13 hours in labor (with no epidural). We had a little boy who weighed 11 inches and 14.18 ounces. He was born at aprox 5:30 pm June 15, 2006. He did not survive the labor and passed away in the womb.

According to the doctor here I had an infection in the membranes that hold the amniotic fluid sack together. The infection ate away at the membranes until there was nothing there to hold the fluid in my womb. My body thought the pregnancy was done so it went into labor. There is only one way to detect this problem and that by putting a needle in through the belly button and piercing the amniotic sack. This is an extremely dangerous test and more often than not will cause birth defects or loss of the baby. Our doctor speculated the infection had been going on for the last few months. Simply there is really no explanation where it came from or how I came in contact with it. Kaleb was perfectly normal and healthy. He had developed everything a 6 month old child should have. He just needed to grow a bigger.

Kaleb is our little angel. We feel peace to know our Heavenly Father is looking after him for us. We feel blessed to have felt of his joy if only for a short time. We feel blessed to know he will not have to suffer the pains and difficulties of this life. Many people in the hospital asked why were able to take this so well. We had lots of missionary experiences with the hospital staff who have never even heard of Mormons before. I feel so blessed to know we have one child who is absolutely perfect and has made it to the celestial kingdom. It helps me live righteously knowing that one day we will be with him again Our hearts are still hurting for we love our little Kaleb very much. We certainly have felt of support from family and friends even though we are so very far away.

J'aime Paris

There's nothing quite like a sunset in Paris, by the Eiffel Tower. We waited two years to go to Paris. When we got there it was a little close to sunset, so we hurried to the Eiffel Tower to experience it in person. We sat there and watched as the sun slowly faded away into night, and then tower slowly lights up. Then after the tower lights up, the twinkle lights turn on and it appears as if the tower is on fire. It really is spectacular to see in person. Another thing which was so fun is there were so many locals that just spend what appears to be every evening hanging out around the tower. There is just so much going on even late at night in Paris. Most of all is the romance. There really is something very special in the air in Paris. You can find a place and really be all alone and you hold the one you love, and it just hits you, like magic. It is such a special place and we enjoyed all the time that we spent there.

 

 

Fine Dining

On our second day Josh set up a special meal at the world famous restaurant Le Jules Verne which is located above the second tier in the Eiffel Tower. One thing that is really cool is they have their own private elevator up to the restaurant. It was magnificent food. I took pictures of all seven courses they brought us. The one I am including is of course my favorite course dessert. It was such an amazing view from the restaurant. The service was absolutely exquisite. If you get the opportunity take it. It is a little expensive but worth every penny.

 

After lunch we went and saw the original Notre Dame cathedral. We checked out the bell tower and even some of the broom closets but the hunchback was no where to be seen. So instead we took pictures of some of the stain glass. When you look at the stained glass the craftsmanship just blows you away. We tried to take some pictures up close, but the level of detail is hard to capture on film.

 

So after being at the cathedral and purifying our souls, we said hey lets go dirty them up again. Off to the world famous Moulin Rouge burlesque house. We didn't actually catch the show. Although when you see the pictures of the actual show you would understand why. Still just a fun thing to see in Paris.

 

Musee Du Louvre

We spent the last day of our Paris adventure at the Louvre. It was actually amazing because on the first Sunday of every month, it is free admission, and they let you take pictures of everything. We didn't know that but found out when we arrived at the museum. We took a lot of pictures of the Mona Lisa. Also we got pictures of famous statues such as the Venus. We felt really lucky as we heard horror stories of long lines just to get into the Louvre. The day we went, no lines, no waiting, we just walked right in. Walk easily up to the Mona Lisa and then explored all the treasures in Louvre. There is just so much to see in there. I have never experienced that level and depth of history all in one place before. The closest thing I could compare it too is the Museum at the Vatican.

 

 

Florence Girls Trip

When in Venice a few weeks earlier, I met a lady who had just done a week long cooking class in Florence Italy. After our conversation, I was convinced to go and take a day course. While researching the different options, I came across this cooking school in this charming little villa. Some girlfriends here all wanted to get away. So what better than a cooking class in Tuscany.

 

As expected we had an Italian chef as our instructor. Who knew I could make ravioli from scratch. We had about 15 people in the class, who all turned out to be Americans. At the end of this fun filled day, we reaped the benefits of our labor and sat down to meal of everything we had made.

 

Florence (Firenze) is the regional capital of Tuscany, in the centre of Italy. A town with a turbulent and action-packed history. Florence's most striking landmark is Brunelleschi's dome on the Duomo, and its most reproduced sight is Michelangelo's statue of David. I was impressed by the size of this statue. His hands particularly stuck out to me. And the detail of the David truly made it a masterpiece. The proportions are not quite true to the human form. The head and upper body are somewhat larger than the proportions.

 

The town is situated on the river Arno, which is spanned by the famous Ponte Vecchio, the only of Florence's bridges not to be blown up in the Second World War.There have been stores on the Ponte Vecchio since the 13th century. I was hoping to find Josh some silver cuff links, seeing as the stores are mostly jewelry dealers. But they were all a bit out of my price range. By night, the wooden shutters of the shops make them look like suitcases and wooden chests.

 

Thanks to Emily, Ashley, and Rachel for a this enjoyably relaxing weekend.