Title.

So I'm basically just getting prepped for our trip, but here's a last post before we go.

I told Brett I wanted a picture of me and the kids but then our nice neighbor Theo saw Brett taking the picture and came over and offered to take one so now we have the whole family.

Even though I still hate my hair, to please my mother and sisters I took some pictures.  However, this does not reflect what my hair actually ever looks like, because I always pull it back.  But anyway, there you go Mom and Lindsay.

The cutest boy on the face of the planet.

What a DOLL!!!

Little sneak!

And finally, if this makes you laugh even a quarter as much as it made me and the kids laugh, it will have brightened your day considerably.

Randomishness

So these are old pictures from Hazel's camera.  This is when we went to the kids' school for Jethro's recital.  We sat up on the top level and at one point Wyatt threw his shoe over the gate and a nice guy underneath us threw it back up to us.  Luckily it didn't hit him on the head. :)

I already reported on this recital I think, but Jethro did awesome and was by far the best guitarist.

Here's a picture of Orrin that Hazel took.  I like it.

Also a long time ago, I found a photo scavenger hunt list and printed it out for Jethro and Hazel to do.  They had a good time and it was fun to compare their interpretations of some of the items.  (I can't find the list anymore, but it had things like color, walk, family, flower, water, favorite place, etc.)  Jethro took these pictures.

The other day Talmage took off his hat and put it on again backwards and said, "I'm a TEENAGER!"

Today Jethro came home from school really sad and I asked him what was wrong.  He said that he had finally finished making his boomerang (cutting the wood and sanding it and oiling it) in Fliegerei (his flying class), and on the way home he threw it and it got lost in a field of really tall grass and he looked but couldn't find it.  So I had Ethne and Talmage come and we all held hands and spread out and walked up and down the field.  We had covered a lot of ground and I was starting to think we wouldn't find it, but then we did!  Boomerangs are cool.

Kami, my sister who lives in Texas, called me today and told me that she was at a playgroup and was talking to another mom there about timing and spacing of kids and whatnot, and Kami said something like, "It really makes a difference-- my sister got married when she was 17 and now she's 30 and already has six kids," and the lady said, "Is your sister Kayli?"  CRAZY!!  It was a friend of mine from our ward in Indiana.  AND she even said she had been thinking about asking Kami if she was my sister before that because she thought we were similar.  And then the 'married at 17' sealed the deal.  :)  So crazy.

I bought new hiking shoes today because the ones my dad bought for me before I moved to Switzerland are pretty much worn completely out.  I got a lot of use out of them!

I'm reading a book right now that is really interesting.  It's called North To Freedom by Anne Holm.  Check it out.  Okay, upon further investigation, it's also published under the title I Am David and apparently there's also a movie that's supposed to be good.

What I need in my life is a perfect t-shirt that is inexpensive.  Anyone have a favorite?

The end.

Smallish Update

A little video of Wyatt walking from a couple weeks ago when it was very very new.

1.  So Hazel is gone this whole week with her class to Kandersteg for Landschulwoche, meaning the week where your class gets to go to the mountains.  She was out-of-control excited and it was all she could talk about for the previous two weeks.  I was a very mean mom--on a Friday she reminded Brett and I at dinner that she needed to give the money to her teacher on Monday.  Brett asked how much, she answered $165, and of course we acted astonished and said that we could never pay that much and that she'd just have to not go.  She was a little nervous, but she figured we were joking, but then on Monday when she came home from school I asked her if she had told her teacher that she couldn't go because he'd probably need to know that, she started crying.  Then I yelled, "I'm just kidding!" and she started crying even harder and stomped over to me and hit me.  She was soooo angry with me.  I know, I'm very mean.  Then later she told me that when she was uncertain whether or not we were being serious, she was going to tell us that she didn't need any allowance or presents on her birthday, or to go out to dinner for her 10th birthday date, or anything.  Poor thing, I almost feel contrite about messing with her.

2.  We recently found out that our apartment is going to be renovated in October.  They'll redo the bathrooms, kitchen, and put in new windows.  This makes things kind of ...interesting, because it means it would be IDEAL for us to move out before then.  For one thing, if you move out before the renovation, you don't have to do any leaving-the-apartment-cleaning/touching up, which in Switzerland is a HUGE deal.  I mean, you can be charged an ENORMOUS amount of money if you don't have everything in immaculate condition.  Obviously, with the amount of wear and tear we've put on this apartment, that would be a huge blessing.  Secondly, you don't have to give 3 months notice if you move out before then or alternatively, pay the rent until you find a new renter.  Thirdly, if we didn't move out before then, we'd have to figure out what exactly to do with ourselves during the six-week renovation.  Supposedly you can stay in the apartment, and they'd provide a small fridge and 2 little burners in the front room so you can still cook, but really that just doesn't sound feasible for our family.  Some of our neighbors are moving away because the rent will also increase once the renovations are finished.  So, this is our new, unofficial move-by date.  Unfortunately, that doesn't mean we will automatically find a good job by then.  But we're crossing our fingers and toes and Brett is looking and looking and sending out resumes as much as he can.  It's always weird to be in the limbo state, needing to plan for staying but hoping that it will be unnecessary after all.  Brett says he's starting to feel 'trunky.'  Anyway, if you happen to know of any biomedical engineering jobs or anyone who might, let us know! :)

3.  I cut my hair, despite Brett's protests, and now- oh the REGRET.  The great, great regret.  But then, it wasn't actually my fault that the stylist cut off like 3 inches more than I wanted.  Chin-length does not equal bottom-of-my-ears-length.   It's awful and I can't do anything to make it look good except wait for it to grow.  Brett was very kind and never said any I told you so's.  However, he is funny because on the way to church one morning when I was feeling particularly sad/grumpy about it he said, "You act as if you have a skunk on your head.  Maybe you don't really like it, but it's not that bad."  I was like, "Uhhh, not that bad?"  And he said, "I mean it's fine."  I was like, "Also not comforting."  And then he said, "It's GREAT!"  And I said "Thank you."  That guy.  :)

4.  A doctor came to the school and gave Hazel's class some screenings.  She came home with a note that she needed some further investigation because she had some indications of scoliosis and that she didn't pass the hearing screening for high tones.  So I took her to the regular doctor and he said that he could see no sign of scoliosis.  So that's good.  We will make an appointment with an ear doctor, and I have high hopes that her hearing will also be just fine.

Here's Hazel dressed as a little French girl. She was looking in the yarn bag and found this hat that I had begun crocheting but never finished and decided it was a beret.  So she completed her outfit with the pretty coat.

I just loooooove this boy.  It's amazing how much love he generates in our family.  Everyone (except maybe Orrin) just adores him sooo much.  He really is a joy-bringer.

5.  I'm planning a little vacation for next week.  We will go to Southern France.  I like planning vacations, but it is kind of a lot of work, because I don't like surprises so much and so I try to read all the opinions of the whole internet to get the best idea of what a place is really like to try to determine if we'll have a good time.  I could probably scale back a bit.

Winnie

I'd just like to state that I never actually planned on dressing Wyatt up as a girl and then having a photoshoot with him/her.  It just happened.  I'm certainly NOT sorry--I just wanted to clarify that I had no prior intention of doing it.

We had just received a package from my mom which contained a bag of small hair elastics for the girls (it's just that you can get 500 thousand of them in the USA for the same price as about 20 here).  They were the really easily stretchable, kind of wimpy kind, and they had been opened and were scattered around the desk.  So we were sitting at the couch and Talmage said, "You should put some in Wyatt's hair."  So I did, and pretty much that did it.  His little piggy tails were the cutest thing I'd ever seen and once they were in we HAD to go rustle up something girly for him to wear.  I have no baby girls clothes in the house (sniff), but this shirt worked very well as a dress.

Jethro and Talmage LOVED him!  He was soooo cute, after all.  And Jethro was the one who decided on the name Winnie.  I kind of love it.

Ethne was over at the farm, playing with her friend Lea, so we had to take Wyatt/Winnie there immediately to show him/her to her. 

And since I passed these very pretty yellow flowers, I did have to put him in the grass and take a few more pictures.  Because I don't have an actual little girl.

And that is why there are pictures of my son in the grass dressed like a girl and holding flowers.  Oh, I could eat him he's so cute!

Lauterbrunnen Bike Ride

Yesterday we packed up the kids' bikes and drove to Lauterbrunnen for a ride.  It was a beautiful day and we had a lot of fun.  The little paved trail/road we were on from Lauterbrunnen to Stechelberg is nice and flattish, so even Orrin stayed on his bike most of the time which is pretty awesome.

 

We watched a bunch of base jumpers jump off the cliff.  Well actually we usually only saw them once they opened their parachutes, but we did see one guy actually jump.  Sooo freaky!  A lot of people in Lauterbrunnen want it to be banned, because there have been so many people die doing it.  Crazy people who jump off cliffs.

 

Then we roasted our wursts and played around for a little bit.

Also, we tortured our children, because that's fun.

There's always a smile on Hazel's face when there's a wurst in  her hand.  :)

On the way back we stopped at a playground at a campground, and it had the most wicked tunnel slide I've ever experienced.  The kids (and Brett and I too, actually) all loved it.  Hazel took videos on her camera which I should post, although I'm pretty sure the video won't do it justice.  

We got back to our van just as the rainclouds came in and it got dark and began raining.  When we got home though, it was bright and sunny again.  Yay for sun!