Day Four, January 1, 2008

Today we visited the Eiffel Tower up close and personal...It was so fun!! We spent most of the day there and then went to the Latin District and ate some really good food! Here are some picture from the day.... Does this look safe?This is a picture heading up in the elevator.

We made it to the second level. Do we look tired in this picture!?!? It could be that we were a little nauseated from being up so high...

haha...Oh Josh!

In the elevator on the way up to the 3rd and highest level!!!! We were a little scared!

Just part of the FOREVER winding line.

View from the top. For some reason, when we were all the way on the third level, I wasn't as scared as I had been when I was on the second level, and we were WAY higher....Beautiful city!

Back on the second level, we decided to take the stairs down to the first level...Here is the view looking up.

Latin Quarter

Just so you know....Latin is not the Spanish Latin....This was the area where the university students would come and converse in the 17-19th centuries. they only spoke Latin in the universities --hence the name...

Sundance Film Festival

So, yesterday we went with our friends, the Adlong's, to Park City to walk around and be just be part of the Film Festival "Scene". Some things I noticed in our time there:

1. Everyone is staring at EVERYONE trying to see if you are a famous person or not....

2. Rocky Mountain carmel apples taste amazing.

3. There is no need to buy hot chocolate when you visit. All you need to do is bring your Cocomotion (hot chocolate-making machine), milk, hot chocolate mix, and a thermos...Then you have to find a plug....We found one in the bus station....

4. You don't have to be famous to get people to gather around taking pictures of you, all you need to do is hire a Hummer Limo and arrive at a club with a big group of people...(this happened last night and a big crowd gathered around and started taking pictures while people were filing out of the limo, but alas no famous person came out, just a bunch of drunk girls).

5. Everything costs more in Park City...

6. After you walk up the Main Street all there is left to do is walk back down the other side of the street and then go home...

It was a lot of fun! We're glad we did it. We didn't see any famous people, but that didn't bother us! Good times!

School......

Can I tell you a little bit about what it means to be taking 21 credits in my last semester of BYU? It means that I am constantly doing something for some class. It also means that I am always tired around 10pm and awake by 7am ready to start it all over again. I am constantly busy with one thing or another, and yet, I am having the time of my life. I am so excited to almost be done with school that nothing seems to phase me....HAHA! Even being constantly busy with school stuff-is not a big deal! I am totally loving my (busy) life!

Josh is taking 18 credits and so he's super busy all the time too, but that's okay! Life is good! We are so grateful for all of the things that we enjoy. We're just glad that we can be going to school! It's great to be here and to be having these great experiences. We are having a really great time! It's crazy to think that in less than a year we'll be totally done with school--probably forever! We're going to enjoy this last little bit that we have here at school and then get ready for the next part of life........work........

JANUARY BIRTHDAYS!!

We just want to say HAPPY BIRTHDAY to everyone that is celebrating a birthday this month. We especially want to say HAPPY BIRTHDAY to......

MY DAD....

Happy 61st Birthday, Daddy!!! We love you and hope that you have a great year. Thank you for everything you do for us. We are really looking forward to this summer when we can spend a lot more time with you and mom. Have a great birthday!!!!

OUR BROTHER-IN-LAW, LUKE...

Happy 29th Birthday (on the 18th). We hope you have a great day and a great year!!!! Good luck with your new position in Ohio. We are so excited for you guys and hope that you have a great time there!!! HAPPY BIRTHDAY!!!!

Also, a happy birthday to Jessica Jorsch and Kristi Nelmark (they are my friends from home). Enjoy being 23!!!!

PARIS!!!! Day three, December 31,2007

Day three....The pictures speak pretty much for themselves....We had a great day. It took us two hours to find our hotel in Paris last night, so we're all a bit tired today, but that's all right. It was our first full day in Paris and we made the most of it. We went to the Louvre. Of course, you can't come to Paris without saying hello to the Mona lisa!We walked around for a few hours in there, exlopring Napolean's Apartments among other things (for those of you that don't know, The Louvre used to be the residence of Kings and other rulers, including Napolean). After that fun we headed off to explore more of Paris. No disrespect, but after a couple of hours in that museum and we were all tired and ready to leave!We walked along some bridges, strolled down the streets and eventually found our way to Notre Dame. We were going to climb to the top, but it closed earlier then we thought, so we just walked around the inside and enjoyed that. After that we walked the streets some more, window shopped, and walked the Champs Elysees--which is ALWAYS fun!!! and then we headed home for the night.....

JUST KIDDING!!!!!!

Come on, we're cooler than that!! I mean, it was NEW YEAR'S EVE!!!!!

We did decide that we needed to find a place to eat--and quick before we died of starvation. Well, that was not easy, being New Year's Eve and all...After walking the streets for a while we finally found an Italian restaurant hidden on a side street, and it was close to the Eiffel Tower which was where we were headed next, so we ate there. GOOD PIZZA!!

After eating we walked over to the Eiffel Tower. It had just passed 11pm so we only had an hour to wait. We people watched, took a bunch of pictures, enjoyed the illegal fireworks, and just had a great time. We were amazed at how NOT crowded it was. Apparently, the Eiffel Tower isn't the coolest place in Paris to celebrate the New Year. (Later that night while trying to drive home we found that Champs Elysees and the Arc de Triumph were the hot spots!!!)

When midnight hit, the Eiffel Tower did its cool light show and we cheered and hugged and Kissed:) and then we headed home....That was about it. HAHA! It doesn't sound all that exciting as I type this, but at the time it was really cool being there and having that experience.

After that, we really did try to go home, and again, it took over two hours to get to our hotel....FUN! It was a great day and we had a blast HAPPY 2008 everyone!!!

Brugge, Belgium AND Paris, France

Day two: So, we woke up early today and got ready and headed to church. We found a branch in Brugge and so we went there. It was great. They spoke Dutch, so of course we didn't understand a word of it, but that's okay! After church we headed back into Brugge to explore the town some more. Half the group went to a chocolate museum and the other half went back into the center of town to walk around and explore more there. We ate bratwursts and Belgium chocolate. It was great! Around 3 we headed down to Paris. It wasn't a long drive, but at times it felt like it...We got there around 5 or 6pm, got something to eat, and went to the Eiffel Tower. At night, every hour there is a light show at the Eiffel Tower, so we got there to watch that. It was really cool. We walked around there, went and bought some crepes, and took a million pictures. It was a fun night!!!

When it got time to head out to our hotel, we got lost--really lost and ended up turning a 5 minute drive into 1 1/2 hour drive....We were really tired (1:20am) by the time we got to the hotel....It definitely did not take long to fall asleep when we got there. It was a really great day and we were really excited to be in Europe.