the Nichols

Kayaking on the Alsea

2011-10-26T10:41:00.000-07:00

We took a trip over the Lee and Lisa Newman's for the weekend. They were expecting some fantastic weather at the coast, so we made a plan to kayak the Alsea River on Saturday. The weather was amazing and it was actually hot!

We had a great time, soaking up the rays and spending some time in the water.

Chels and I getting ready

Chels meets the waterfall--

J and I

Summer 2011

2011-10-26T10:29:00.000-07:00

It's been awhile since I blogged...
I've been trying to think of what's been going on in our lives. We had a really short summer in Oregon this last year, so seems like we didn't get enough of summer activities.

Jon and Chelsea came out this summer for a little visit. It was great as always to see them again. We spent sometime at the Farmer's Market and other things around town.

Orian, our "daughter" from Chile, also returned to Chile in June after 10 months with us. We had a little party at the house during that time.
A family picture:

My fav girls!

Jon, Bruce, and Chris

Halloween 2010

2011-05-12T09:20:00.000-07:00

This year, a few of us decided to get together and change the old house into a Haunted House. The house has a pretty high creep-factor on its own. We spent about a month putting the house together. There were some dark, late nights that were filled with strange noises, which made us jump out of our skin at times. Just for our own sanity, we stayed together while working on it because our imagination made it overly eerie.
We made a maze from the front door and up the stairs. I stayed at the top of the stairs.

The first room was the "medical room." My cousin Blake was the clown and wheeled around in my great uncle Ted's wheelchair that we found in the house. Most everything that was in the room (bedpans, strange tools, beds, etc.) were all found inside the house.
The other room upstairs was the "wake room." My co-worker, Kathy was inside the coffin and sprayed people with silly-string if they got too close.

My uncle Curt (the priest) was also in the room.

We didn't get any other pictures of the downstairs. Which included a black-light spider web, a creepy rocking old lady, and the person with the chainsaw. We had a fantastic time and look forward to doing it sometime again in the future. Here are a few pics from the dinner beforehand.
The McDonalds

The Weedas

The Pirates (Jacqui, Chris, Cheryl, and Dave)

Lucy and Oscar Plews

Zeagan 'the Shark'

Sarah and Jarod

Lisa

Olivia turns 1

2011-05-12T09:14:00.000-07:00

Ms. Olivia Asa turned 1 in October. Since it was close to Halloween, Charity had a little costume party for the kiddos, so they could wear their costumes more than one night for the year. Little Olivia was a "garden gnome."

Olivia has been such a fun niece -- She is always so happy and easy-going.

Orian from Chile

2011-05-12T09:08:00.000-07:00

I forgot to add that we had a house guest, Orian, from Chile! Orian came in August and has been here for the last 8 months. She is heading home shortly and enjoyed her time here (and in Canada).

SloughFest 2

2011-04-12T13:38:00.000-07:00

Lee

SloughTwo happened in September, so I'm about 7 months late, but I'll at least post a few pictures from the good-times. The boys practiced their songs and put on their little concert. The rest of us kayaked, laid in the sun, walked on the beach, made bubbles and had some good times together.

Bernie on the mic

Kristin and I

Bryan on keys

Jason and Bruce

Taking a beach walk (Cameron, Dera, Audrin, and Lisa)

The boys (Bruce, Dave, and Jason)

Lisa and Arwen

The McDonalds and Trooper

Bruce

Eric

"Bernie and the Slough Rats" cupcakes

2010-12-08T15:26:00.000-08:00

SloughFest 2 in Walport called for some mascots this year. The band, dubbed "Bernie and Slough Rats" consists of Bernie Stoll and his rats, Lee, Eric, Jason, and Bruce. This year, they added a couple more: David, Bryan, and Dave.

Jason, Orian, and I worked on putting together some rat cupcakes. Here are a few pics of the project.

Boring 2010

2010-12-08T14:55:00.000-08:00

The summer ended in the best way! Boring. It was a perfect time with friends, and makes me dream of sunshine

My mom and dad

The Darren Nichols family: Emerson, Mona, Doyle, Darren, and Clinton

Jason and I in our "Sunday best" ;-)

Some of my favorite girls!! Laurie, Chelsea, me, and Orian

Getting a tan between meetings. Dave, Jon, me, and Chelsea

The best parent-in-laws: Ron and Cheryl

Elise and Kiera

The Bisbee family- Lisa, Dave and Kiera
So glad this family moved to Oregon!

Biking in Seattle

2010-11-09T13:03:00.001-08:00

Jason and I headed north to Seattle with the bikes, to meet up with Brian Lee and see the sites. Since it would be a long, uncomfortable ride, we just hauled them up.

We met up with Dellas for dinner and the night in West Seattle. The next day, we met up with Brian and set out to see the sites. We rode to the ferry and took the ferry across the water. The weather and the scenery was beautiful!

The highlight of the sites was this little town of Port Gamble! It was so beautiful and quiet. They had an old general store, old houses on tree-lined streets...and BBQ, which we hit for lunch. If you're up in the area, consider staying in this town for a quiet weekend away.

We're BACK...with some catching up to do

2010-11-09T12:51:00.001-08:00

So the Nichols has been pretty quiet since August and now I'm going to try to get caught up with a few things that have happened since the summer.

Stay tuned. . .

Jesus from Spain

2010-08-17T11:52:00.001-07:00

Jason and I signed up for hosting a foreign exchange student from Spain. Jesus arrived at the end of June and stayed for three weeks with us. He spent the days with other students, attending English classes and seeing the sites and then weekends and evenings with us. It was an interesting experience for the both of us...learning how to be parents...doing extra laundry, making daily lunches, dropping off and picking up. Whew! We had anticipated his English would have been better than it was, so Jason often had to interpret because Jesus was good at the blank stare.

While he was here, we watched a lot of soccer and he was pretty ecstatic when Spain won the world cup. We were preparing for an upcoming reunion, so we spent a lot of time out at the farm. He bucked bales and learned how to drive the tractor.
(Click to enlarge)

Zoo trip in June

2010-08-17T11:36:00.000-07:00

I took the day off and went to the zoo! Mom had the boys (Jake, Kaden, and Zach), Nicole met us with Elise and Zeagan. It was Olivia's first time at the zoo and she loved it. She was taking it all in!

Just a few pictures from the day. (Click to enlarge)

Elise and her cotton candy

Zeagan

Charity and Olivia

Jake and Elise

Zach

June 2010

2010-08-17T11:19:00.000-07:00

After three years, I finally finished school. As most people have said, it actually did go by pretty fast! It feels good to move closer to my career goals and work toward my license.

Just got my hood!

Jason and I after the hooding ceremony

Afterward, mom had a surprise party for me at their house, which was really fun. It was great to spend some time to celebrate with friends and family!

Goodbye to Blackwells

2010-06-27T14:18:00.000-07:00

Eddie, Lisa, Lia and Drew are moving out and headed to Arizona. Mom had a going away party for them on Sunday with a few people. It was beautiful weather and the kids spent most of the day with the net in the pond, looking for polliwogs and salamanders. Since I've been taking a cake class with my cousin, Ashley, mom asked me to try making a U-Haul cake for the party. Cakes are hard! I have a respect for cake-makers now and have a looooong way to go to learn how to decorate properly, but here goes to practicing...

Yellow cake with raspberry filling

Getting the outline sketched out.

See you soon!!

More cupcakes

2010-06-20T21:48:00.000-07:00

For my last class celebration, I took some cupcakes. The chocolate with raspberry injected in, is always quick and easy and one of my favorites. This time I decided to do two different icings: basic dipped ganache and chocolate buttercream. The simple chocolate buttercream (using cocoa powder) was easy and tastes really good.

Here is the recipe I used if you want to give it a try.

Chocolate Buttercream Frosting
1/4 cup butter
2 cups confectioners' sugar
3 tablespoons cocoa powder
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
2 tablespoons milk

Mix together all ingredients. May need to add more milk (slowly) until frosting reaches a spreadable consistency.

I was in a hurry, so I just piped on some quick flower-looking things on the top and added a raspberry. The three on the top I just dipped in ganache since I've never tried it before, which was very very easy, so I might be trying more of that in the future!

Denver

2010-06-16T18:21:00.001-07:00

For Memorial Day, we headed to Denver to visit Jon and Chelsea. It was nice to get away for the weekend and see some sun! We arrived early early Saturday morning and headed to Golden, Co and toured the Coors brewery. It was pretty interesting and see the science behind beer making. We roamed around the little town for awhile, which was filled with old buildings and history.

We headed to Red Rock and hiked around there, which has some neat views of Denver.

We stopped by a volleyball tournament on Saturday and Jason was happy to meet up with the Sorenson boys, who he tries to keep in touch with.

On Sunday, we met up with some of Jon and Chels' friends and we had a late lunch together because the Rockies game was sold out. We walked around the streets and had dinner at the Hard Rock Cafe. Jason also flagged down a horse-carriage ride for us, since it's one of my favorite things to do.
The weather was beautiful the whole weekend and it was neat to walk around the neighborhood where they live. There are many neat little eateries and stores throughout the neighborhood, making it really homey. Denver was a beautiful place and spent with some beautiful people. Can't wait they move home for the summer

A new recipe

2010-05-15T21:29:00.000-07:00

I just got the new savarin tray from Demarle the other day, so I thought I would try it out with some individual cakes. Demarle had a recipe for a Chocolate Kahlua cakes, which looked good in the picture and it was pretty good!
Here is the recipe and obviously pretty easy. I just topped it off with basic ganache and a raspberry. Happy eating!

CHOCOLATE KAHLUA CAKE
Preparation time: 10 minutes Cooking time: 45 minutes Yield: 20 servings

INGREDIENTS
1 18 to 22 ounce package chocolate cake mix
4 eggs
1 cup sour cream
1 cup Kahlua
1/3 cup vegetable oil
1 cup semisweet chocolate chips

Make sure the oven rack is in the center position and preheat oven to 340 degrees F. In the Mixing Bowl, combine cake mix, eggs, sour cream, Kahlua, and oil. Beat with an electric mixer for 1 to 2 minutes. Do not over mix. Only mix until ingredients are blended. Stir in chocolate chips with the Spatula. Pour batter into mold. Bake for 45 minutes. Do not over bake. Remove from oven and let cool for at least 15 minutes before taking out of mold. When ready to serve, place serving plate on top of cake and flip it over. Lift mold off of cake.

Mother's Day Cupcakes

2010-05-12T21:48:00.000-07:00

Started out with basic yellow cupcakes and white buttercream frosting

Getting the color was pretty easy, but it was adding the white in for a variegated look that was tricky, which will take more practice. Here is the pink and white variegation that looks pretty cool on flower petals.

I wanted the cupcakes to look like little flowers, so I tried several different frosting tips to try to get the petals just right. But it's going to take a lot of practice I think! Anyway, here is the final product.

So I had in my mind a picture of letters on top of the flowers and brainstormed different ways to do it. I finally decided on getting some of the colored vanilla wafers for melting and using a frosting tips to write them out on wax paper. Jason and I decided on a 'font' and he used his old caligraphy skills to get the letters/words that I wanted. It was tricky to get the melt right, because if it's too runny it will run right out the tip, so it had to harden just enough to write with. Anyway, they turned out pretty cool.

The "Mom"s were kinda tricky, because they were so fragile. I had Jason make a ton of them to make sure that there were enough after breaking some of them. I figured out to put them into the frosting before your put the cupcakes into the fridge, otherwise the cold frosting is too solid to poke the letters into....we broke a lot of letters!

Here is a close-up of one of the M's

Meet Molly

2010-04-16T12:10:00.000-07:00

Dad bought some Limo cows last year and now it's finally time for the calves to be born. The other day, Molly, was born!
She is half Limo, half Brahma, which makes her absolutely adorable with big floppy ears!

Here are a few pics and hopefully the other calf with be along shortly!

a few cute kids...

2010-04-05T15:36:00.000-07:00

I took a day off recently and headed over to mom and dad's for the day. Mom was babysitting Olivia that day, and Elise and Zeagan were also there for the day. Fun to spend time with some of the cutest kids!

Olivia smilin'-- she's such a happy girl!

Elise and Olivia.

Doesn't he just look so innocent? Zeagan came walking into the house showing us the 'rose' he picked...just so happens that it was the only blooming flower mom had in her yard....it was so funny to see mom's face! Such a thoughtful little boy!

Hole in the wall

2010-03-27T13:58:00.000-07:00

After my brother put a hole in his wall and Jason's brother took out a wall....we decided it was time to start working on the hole in ours. We cut out the window and will be turning it into a high bar, so more seating and also access into the living room. I'm stoked! It was driving us crazy that while you're in the kitchen, you can't see what's going on in the living room, when people are over and such, so not we'll be able to keep all the rooms connected.

more birthday

2010-03-15T21:42:00.000-07:00

Jason's mom's birthday. I found these cute boxes that fit mini cupcakes perfectly and added a little decoration to the top. Mini cupcakes are a nice bite-size, especially if regular size cupcakes are too big/much for the occasion.

another birthday

2010-03-15T21:33:00.001-07:00

Jason's grandma's 80th birthday party

Jason's bday

2010-03-15T21:01:00.000-07:00

Jason hit 35 on March 1st. We celebrated down with his parents and had a good time.
This occasion called for Chocolate Cupcakes, with Raspberry Cream cheese filling, with buttercream frosting.

Valentine's Day '10

2010-02-15T18:14:00.000-08:00

Jason and I aren't the romantic dinner/flowers/chocolates-type. So this year my friend Laurie and I decided that we would just hang out at home and cook a nice dinner for the holiday, so she found a menu and we cooked for Jason and Bruce. Beef Croustades and homemade Alfredo. The meal was pretty involved but was really good! Definitely a recipe to try again. If you're interested here is the link to Beef Croustades with Boursin & Mushrooms Fun night, just the few of us.

Love to all (and great food)!

Eddyville studio sessions

2010-02-08T22:00:00.000-08:00

Eddyville is continuing the recording, which has been a fun project for the boys. Darren made the trip down from Wenatchee and they boys crafted a makeshift studio and went to work for the weekend.

My buddy, Laurie, and I stopped in for a little listen and I snapped a few pics. Not sure when they'll finish, but it's a good excuse for them to get together and play some tunes

More Christmas

2010-01-01T23:07:00.000-08:00

We spent time down at Darren and Mona's just after Christmas to get together with Jason's family. We took Elise and Zeagan with us, too, so they could play with Clinton and Doyle and also put together gingerbread houses.

The houses were fun. Amy bought two houses and put them together with Elise and Clinton.

Zeagan and I had a "special" house, which barely stayed together. Doyle helped a little.

...but thanks to Zeagan, ours had two doorknobs.

Elise working hard on her houseEmerson

Christmas Day 2009

2010-01-01T23:01:00.000-08:00

This year was a pretty laid-back year for the holidays. We opted to not do gifts this year so the holidays just consisted of food and hanging out.

We went to my mom and dad's on Christmas Day and had dinner with the family. Jason's parents came up for the day, so it was nice that Jason and I got to spend Christmas day with both parents.

Olivia sporting her holiday garb

Charity, Elise, and OliviaAuntie holding Olivia

Olivia Asa

2010-01-01T22:57:00.000-08:00

My niece is about two months now! I realized that I never posted any pictures of her since she was born. She is pretty alert and starting to smile now. She's a lot of fun!

Sauerkraut 09

2009-11-28T22:43:00.000-08:00

I missed the making of the kraut this year, but made it for the canning. I watched this year and didn't feel like dipping into smelly cabbage to stuff jars. But it sure does taste good! I had a good time playing with the kids and taking some pics:

Pre-stuffed

All ready to eat!
Old pressure cooker from a few generations back.

Dad pulling the jars out

What the other people did...finding creative ways to use gma's piano bench pad...

Flashback- Summer 09

2009-11-28T22:30:00.000-08:00

I ran across some pictures from this last summer, which was a beautiful day. Oregon summers are the best. One Saturday, Laurie, Jason, and I took a hike out in the gorge. Here are a few pics from our little hike, now I just wish it was still summer.

Jason and I :-)Laurie and McKenzie

Charity's Baby Shower

2009-11-21T14:17:00.000-08:00

I realized that I never wrote about Charity's baby shower. My niece, Olivia Asa has been born already, however. I had a lot of help for the shower and it turned out so well and we all had a lot of fun. I don't really like the traditional pastel colors for babies, so decided to go with bright colors.

The cousin, Ashley and I, decorated the room with bouquets of balloons, paper lanterns, and lantern string lights. The table was brightly colored, with candy vases with bright cupcakes. We had a lot of fun tasting baby food, opening presents, and sharing the "joys" for birthing.....

Charity had a lot of help from Elise that night opening presents.

Cameron rubbing Charity's belly. He was a bit curious about Charity having a baby in there. It was pretty cute.

Cheryl Charity and Julie

Eddyville cont.

2009-11-17T21:38:00.000-08:00

(Darren's coffee art)

So just wanted to add a few more pics to the Eddyville post that Jason didn't add on the last post. Just a few cute pics from the weekend.

Jason and Braden

Mr. Spencer Reynolds

My good buddy Laurie came up with me!

Eddyville reunion

2009-11-14T16:42:00.000-08:00

The boys were back in town--Wenatchee, WA, that is--for a reunion gig. It was the third time in as many months that the boys had been together to play as they embarked on a mini NW tour playing two shows in three days. November 5th they played at the Building Industry Association of Washington awards ceremony at the Vancouver Hilton and then on the 7th they were in Wenatchee at Caffe Mela. Both shows were lots of fun and a chance to showcase some of the new material from the forthcoming sophomore release.

Halloween 2009

2009-11-13T15:53:00.000-08:00

We dressed up this year and hit the party at the McDonalds. We ate creepy food, played Catch-Phrase, and played Pictionary. The costumes were great!

J was a convict, which turned out to be pretty creepy. Had to put up with a beard for weeks, so he could save that sweet beard-thing.

Some of his LOVE/HATE tats.Chels, the pirate, and meJason spent a lot of time on this brain...pretty nasty.Bethany as Juno, and Josh as Bleaker

Brian as He-Man, Mari as She-Ra

Char, the pregnant nun

more Fall

2009-11-02T19:48:00.000-08:00

After the patch, Jason and I stopped by the farm. Lee and Hazel were there and asked for their picture to be taken for the Hillsboro field for the Fall 09. The colors at the farm are really beautiful this time of year.

Got one in with my favorite little monkey. Isn't she cute!?

Pumpkin Patch 09

2009-11-02T19:37:00.000-08:00

The annual trip to the pumpkin patch turned out to be a really nice day. We always go to the patch just out of the North Plains where they have a huge corn maze, a boat that takes you to the pumpkins, and a train to take you back. Of course, the kids had to ride the ponies, too.

Here are just a few pics from the day.

Elise picking out a million pumpkins.

Zeagan didn't want to walk that day, good thing for the wheelbarrow.

Just a few favorite pics

2009-10-27T21:43:00.001-07:00

Mont St. Michel

2009-10-27T21:18:00.000-07:00

Mont St. Michel dates back around the 700s. There are only about 50 people that live on the island. The area is very medieval looking, with the buildings all built together with the Abbey at the top. It was beautiful.

The drawbridge entering into the walls

Normandy Tour- cont

2009-10-27T20:39:00.000-07:00

We went to one area that had a lot of bunkers at the tope of the cliffs. The place was bombed to pieces! The craters were deeper than I was tall, the place looked like a golf course. Hilter had created quite a concrete fortress up there to reinforce his 1000 year reign.

Normandy Tour- Cliffs

2009-10-27T20:28:00.000-07:00

All the way west, we went to the cliffs where the rangers were dropped off and scaled the cliffs. Many were cut down by Axis as they climbed up, which is quite a drop. This area had a Sherman tank and a Higgins boat-made out of plywood, which didn't protect from the bullets.

Normandy Tour- Omaha Beach

2009-10-27T20:06:00.000-07:00

Next, we went to Omaha Beach- aka Bloody Omaha. Interesting place to be. It is known in that area that no birds-to this day- don't fly around this beach. Also every so often, these bleeding pebbles show up on the beach that have been studied for a long time to figure out where they come from. There was a definite different feeling here than all the other beaches. It was interesting to see the area that grandpa entered when he came over. It was good to try to understand a little bit of what happened and what the soldiers faced.Here is the bank where the German's were dug in, waiting for the Allies. There are many bunkers still there.

Normandy Tour- Utah Beach

2009-10-27T19:52:00.000-07:00

We spent one full day on a tour of the Normandy beaches and surrounding areas where the Allied forces had been. We loaded in the van and left early in the morning. We started just east of Utah Beach in a little town. Here is a little diagram of some of the attacks.

In this little town, they still had many WWII structures all over the town. Here is part of the artificial harbor that they Allied forces built to eventually make it to land on D-day.

We headed west and visited Utah Beach. Pictured below.

Chateau du Lignerolles

2009-10-27T19:17:00.000-07:00

We stayed at Chateau du Lignerolles, which was the coolest place that we stayed in France. It was built in 1731 and the owners were renovating it. The place was stunning and out in the French countryside. The man that owned the Chateau provided the Normandy tour while we stayed there, so it was really convenient.

The front of the Chateau

French food

2009-10-27T19:10:00.001-07:00

I love crepes- Nutella banana crepes. Dad....loved salads.
Jason's

This spurred an investment in a crepe maker for my kitchen.

Giverny

2009-10-16T22:01:00.000-07:00

After Paris, we headed for Normandy. On the way, we stopped in Giverny to see the home and gardens of Claude Monet. The little community was quiet with narrow streets with stone walls covered in ivy. Monet's house was big, but simple. The gardens covered quite and area, including his own little creek and the famous lily pond. Below is the bridge that is painted in the lily pond paintings.
Front view of Monet's house that overlooks the gardens
Jason and I on the famous lily pond bridge.

Normandy- US WWII Cemetery

2009-10-12T17:54:00.000-07:00

We went to the WWII cemetery as part of the tour. This was one of my favorite places to see. The cemetery is set on the top of some cliffs overlooking the ocean. It was really peaceful there and gave you a renewed appreciation for those who fought in the war. This is one place that everyone should visit once in their life.

This is part of a sculpture at the front of the cemetery. It is symbolic of the soldier's spirit as they die and reach toward the sky. The ground around it reads " mine eyes have seen the glory of the coming of the Lord." It was a really impacting piece of art.
Here is the reflecting pool with a chapel at the end. The crosses/stars are all Italian marble and facing west.

The first Oregonian that we found.

Just one section of the crosses/stars. Perfectly symmetrical.

Trip to Paris

2009-10-07T21:38:00.000-07:00

To start out---this is what happens when Jason has the camera...he wanted to eat there...

After Thun, we took the train to Yverdon to stay with Ralph, Heidi, and kids. We got in late and didn't get as much time as we wanted with them before leaving to Paris. We planned on taking a train to Paris, but Heidi helped us rent a car to drive around. She was a little skeptical of the little beast, but it made it! Here is a pic of the car!

Driving in the car was a way better way to see the countryside. The little towns that we went to looked like they were just out of a magazine or a documentary, it was pretty breathtaking.

We arrived in Paris after dark and it was POURING! Traffic was a bit tricky and Paris is one of those cities that really has no "lanes" to drive in and cars just go however they fit. My dad was pretty shocked about the Paris traffic and drivers....I dare you to bring it up to him sometime. If you do, he might mention Paris traffic being like 'rats being let out of a bag.' We made it to the hotel and then enjoyed a few days looking around.

Paris was amazing. A person could spend days there just in museums. We happened to be in Paris on the one day that the Louvre was closed...wonderful. So here is a picture of Jason and I in front of it. This was probably one of my favorite places in the city.I took this picture walking in to the palace. I liked the shapes of the Louvre museum triangles and a couple walking together. It is the city of romance...We spent most of the time taking tour buses around the city and walking around....and eating crepes...the most wonderful food ever created.

Here is the front of Notre Dame. Here is the inside.

We went to the Eiffel Tower, which was way bigger than I imagined. We talked my dad into going to the top and he was a pretty good sport about the heights-thing. Jason and I at the top of the tower. A picture looking down onto Paris.

Interlaken

2009-10-05T20:39:00.000-07:00

I only took two pictures in Interlaken, which was a really pretty town, but it was clouded in and there were no views of the mountains that surround the town...so I got....

....Jason picking out defects on the hats....

....and a good quote at a chocolate shop

Adelboden

2009-10-05T20:10:00.001-07:00

Adelboden was the neatest part of Switzerland. This is where our family originated before they made the big move to Helvetia in the late 1800s. Dad really wanted to go there and check out cemeteries and buildings for hints of Pieren history.

We look a train for about 45 minutes and then a bus for another trek and finally made it to the little mountain town of Adelboden. It was beautiful and bore a striking resemblance to Helvetia.

We arrived looking for the local cemetery, which we finally found at the bottom of town. Dad suspected that they recycled cemetery plots, which turned out to be right. There were no graves older than 25 years old. Since there isn't enough room to bury everyone in Switzerland, they just recycle plots every 30 years or so. However, there were several recent Pierens buried there.

Dad went into an old church in the middle of town which was built in 1433. It just so happened to be the burial site for all of our ancestors. We were told that they had removed all the grave markers however, so there was no way to tell where exactly the Pieren's were buried, but it's in that small grass area at the bottom of the picture.Inside the church my dad freaked out because our family seal was hanging on the wall with some of the other original families. The name on it was Abraham Pieren, who happens to to be the grandpa of the man that immigrated to Helvetia.

It was all really exciting, especially for my dad. Anyway, here is dad and me in front of the church.

Thun

2009-10-05T19:52:00.000-07:00

We arrived in Thun after a few days in Lucerne. This is the center for most of my dad's heritage and another relative, Ruthie, lives in a little community nearby.

Thun is a really cute town with a river running through the middle of it, with covered bridges also. We stayed in an area just out of Thun, called Hunibach, which also has it's own castle. We took a tour of the castle, which was really interesting. Here is just a peek at it through the trees.

We spent part of a day with Ruthie and her daughter Dorene. It was great to see Ruthie again

Ruthie

Lucerne

2009-09-29T10:59:00.000-07:00

After Zurich, we travelled by train to Lucerne. We decided to go day early so we could see more of the city and I was sure glad that we did. Lucerne is sooo beautiful. It has a river flowing through the city with covered wooden bridges crossing it, which feeds into Lake Lucerne, with mountains in the background.

We stayed at two different hotels. One we loved and the other turned out to be a hostel--oops, the parents didn't love that so much. One night we went to a Switzerland show with the traditional food and and music. The alp horns were really cool, but more importantly...the fondue.

Lucerne used to be surrounded by a wall with around 33 watch towers, and only a few are standing now. We climbed to the top of 4 of them, which was grueling, but the views were amazing. Here is the wall and one of the watch towers.View from the top.

There are two covered bridges in town. Here is one at night.

My favorite thing though, was a horse-carriage ride through the city. I LOVED IT!

Zurich

2009-09-29T10:44:00.000-07:00

After 16 hours of flight, we arrived at 8am in Zurich. We made our way into the city by train and found our hotel. We all shared the same room, which is something hard to find- a room for four people. It was in the middle of city, which meant that there was a lot of road noise, making hard for my dad to adjust to. He claimed that he hardly slept those couple nights, but the rest of us know that he definitely got some sleep...ZZZzzzzZZZzzz.

Anyway- for a city, Zurich is pretty cool. We went up to the top of Zurich, which is a train that takes you to the top of one the hills that over looks the city and the lakes. The weather was beautiful and clear while we were there, making it nice to walk around town.

Here are a few pics from Zurich:

Jason and I- overlooking old town

Night time along the riverMom and dad in old town

Eddyville at Hilmes Wedding

2009-08-31T22:33:00.000-07:00

Our friends, Caryn and Todd, had Eddyville play at their wedding. Dave flew in from Ontario and Darren drove down, and Kyle stepped in on the sax. They all did really well for not playing together for prob 2-3 years. Here's is the FIRST DANCE.

Elise turns 6

2009-08-20T19:43:00.003-07:00

Elise turned six on August 13th. They had a pool party for her. Here are a couple pics from the day!

Z sportin' his sister's glasses

Kiera and her suitor, Connor.

Mr. David Gray

2009-08-20T19:10:00.001-07:00

Last week, Jason entered a drawing through a radio station and won two seats to see David Gray...who just happens to be one of my favorite musicians. It was totally amazing and now the countdown begins until his new record is out. Here are a few pics from the day.
Signing my CD...yeah, it's Sarah with an 'H'
Pics after the show

If you wanna hear the sound clip. The first piano song, called Kathleen, is my favorite.

http://www.kink.fm/Daivd-Gray/4945857

The New Us

2009-08-20T18:54:00.000-07:00

J and I have been dieting on and off over the last few months and been pretty excited about the results! If you're interested, Bryan Joyce is your guy!

Anyway, just had to post a recent pic of the 'new us'

Bug Party

2009-08-13T19:46:00.000-07:00

Mom had a bug party for some of the little boys in the area, including Elise and Lia. They played a bunch of bug games and went bug-hunting in the hats that they made. They later had bug races and ate all the bug food.

Menu:

Butterfly PBJ sandwiches (cut by Jason)

"Bugs on a log"Bug grapes

Bug juiceDessert:
Bug cupcakes (Ashley and Sarah)

Dirt-cups in frog drink cupsThese are bugs...or supposed to be...

Pics from the activities of the day:

Zeagan found a bug on his huntSimon huntin' bugsDoyle
Clinton eating a spiderThe bug races

My aunt Athea

2009-08-13T19:43:00.000-07:00

My great aunt came to visit, so we had her over for lunch.

Quick snapshot.

...one last gig

2009-07-18T14:52:00.000-07:00

The boys were asked to play at Derby Days, the annual Yamhill festival. Chels and I went early to watch the locals and have a great meal at the Trask Mountain Outpost, who was hosting the live music. The drummer was from Yamhill so he knew a lot of people. The people were so outgoing and friendly. We had a great time and it was the best show that they have played yet....and sadly, the last one for a while. It was a great send-off.

Here are a couple pics from Chels' camera.

The Yamhill dancing-machines!

Block Party

2009-07-14T21:41:00.000-07:00

J and the band played again at a block party in St. Johns. This year was a fundraiser for the neighborhood food bank. It was pretty neat. They shut down the street and the boys just played in a driveway and everyone sits out in the street.

Good weather and good music. The boys sounded great!

J on bass Bruce solo'ing it up

New back living space

2009-07-03T21:13:00.000-07:00

So we've been working on the area in the back, to turn it into a living space to hang out with friends. We finally poured the concrete pad and set up the outdoor living area. It's been a relief to get it done and have a space to be outside.

Beginning to end...

First needed a deck.So Jason built a deck.Then the rest of the area sat as a weed pile for a good year...looking really trashy :)

Finally poured the concrete pad to increase the living space.

Then we finally finished....and I love it.

Sun

2009-07-03T20:58:00.001-07:00

Lazy Sunday, hanging out Zeagan and J hanging out.

Elise eating clams/mussels.

Sisters Rodeo 2009

2009-07-03T20:15:00.000-07:00

I'm a little behind on the happenings in our life... In June we went to the Sisters Rodeo as we do each year. We were worried about thunderstorms, but it turned out to be beautiful weather.

Laurie, Chels, and me at Laurie's property

On Saturday we made breakfast. Buttermilk pancakes with fresh picked strawberries. It was the best.

And here is the sweetest mullet in Sisters..... made the weekend.

Camping at Wrights

2009-06-06T09:54:00.000-07:00

Jon, Chels, Lisa, Lee, Brandon, Nicole, Sarah (missing Bruce)

. . . and Birdie-dog

Every year a few of us pack up and meet at Wrights, Cannon Beach. This year was fantastic weather. I can't remember the last time I could wear shorts on the Oregon Coast! We rode our bikes, packed into Lee's VW van and scooted around, hit up the candy shops, watched the sunset, cooked yummy meals, and hunted raccoons.

Here are a few pics between Chels and I of the weekend.

Jason, Bruce, and Lee

Brandon and Nicole

. . . we're going to miss them!!

Chels and I waiting for the sunset

Nicole, Sarah, Chelsea, Lisa

on the beach

The boys

Bruce, Jason, Lee, and Jon

The sunset at Cannon Beach

2009-05-26T16:42:00.000-07:00

The house projects have started for the summer. It's exciting.

First up, new windows and new siding.

Before:

....and then part way...not enough hours in the day.

Switzerland

2009-05-22T13:48:00.000-07:00

It's official and we're excited! We're going to Switzerland in September. My dad has been wanting to pay a visit to the "homeland" for a long time, so he and mom decided that they're ready to take the trip off of Oregon soil....wow. They asked if we could accompany them, absolutely!

It'll be great to visit relatives again and see that gorgeous country.

Count-down begins...

C U P C A K E S

2009-05-20T17:23:00.001-07:00

My mom bought me this book and it is sooo cool. Anyway, check it out if you love cupcakes as much as I do.

Nice weather

2009-05-18T21:31:00.001-07:00

We met mom and dad and the kids for dinner. After dinner, the kids wanted a ride on the bike, so J took them for a little spin in the parking lot.

Zeagan asking J for a ride... Such as cheese-ball!!

Z getting ready for his ride.

Elise's turn

Working men

2009-04-15T16:04:00.000-07:00

Nicole took this picture of Brandon and J when they were working on the concrete project a few months ago. Looking nice and dusty!

Easter

2009-04-12T22:14:00.000-07:00

I love all the colors of Easter. The kids had a good time looking for eggs.We went to mom and dad's for Easter. Had a huge turkey!Here are two of my favorite boys. Zeagan just got done putting an entire Lindt truffle in his mouth, but he got it down.

I hadn't a Jigglers in years and they were gooood.

My niece, Elise
My sharp-dressed nephew, Zeagan. He looks a bit scrunched in this pic 'cause he's smashing his hat down, but he looked dynamite.

New lights

2009-04-11T21:51:00.000-07:00

So Nate comes in handy with the light hookup. He came over and installed new lights in our living room "cave." I guess when they built this house it wasn't important to see, so they just didn't put any lights in.

Anyway, I'm happy happy.

I love cupcakes

2009-04-10T22:02:00.000-07:00

My contribution to Easter dinner was cupcakes. Elise helped me make them..and eat them

I've decided that this is the greatest cupcake ever is:

The Beach

2009-04-07T12:20:00.000-07:00

Monday, Brandon and I called into work and J had the day off, so we decided to take an half-day ride to the beach. We went out to Seaside, down to Tillamook and then headed back. It was amazing weather at the beach, probably 70 degrees. We stopped at Mo's for lunch. Had a great time!
Look there are people on the beach, let alone, in T-shirts! The best....

Looking over Manzanita

Lee's 40th

2009-04-04T21:45:00.000-07:00

Had brunch at Screen Door for Lee's 40th bday. I'd have to say, this was the most amazing breakfast I have ever had. Go there and eat Bananas Foster French Toast.

I forgot my camera, but Jon/Chels had theirs, so stolen picture here.

The group

One week old

2009-03-31T17:35:00.000-07:00

Lasted pics of Emerson-
All three boys

One week old!

Waiting for summer sun

2009-03-31T13:00:00.000-07:00

We had a pretty low-key productive weekend. I bought J a new back tire so we had to take it into the shop to have it put on and get a new front one, too. Brandon and Nicole were also there getting his bike worked on, so Brandon offered to load J's bike and bring it home for us. By this time, it started raining... new tires+wet pavement=not safe. It was pretty entertaining trying to load/unload out of a lifted truck, but they did it!

How to get a heavy bike down a steep, bent ramp. . . Part way down.

On Monday, Brandon and J got together and prepped the bikes for summer. I was pretty stoked to have a clean chain and an oil change. BRING ON THE SUN!!

The third boy has arrived!

2009-03-24T19:00:00.000-07:00

Emerson arrived today around 4pm. We drove down to Salem to meet the new baby. He was sleeping soundly when we arrived around 7pm, but had been wide awake since he as born. Mona said that he has been looking around, taking it all in, and locking in on her since he was born.
Doyle and Clinton were excited to meet their new brother.

His little feet!

Jason and Amy

Congrats Darren and Mona!!

Mr. Zeagan is 3!

2009-03-16T22:27:00.000-07:00

Zeagan turned 3! We went to a birthday party for him and he got a cute Batman costume. Although the belt is too big. . .as you can tell.

He's as cute as ever!!

Elise is always a help, too! Love my little monkeys!

Manzanita

2009-03-16T22:11:00.000-07:00

This weekend, the Nichols clan rented a house in Manzanita for Cheryl's 60 birthday. We drove around to the lookouts and up the trailhead. The trees were amazing up there all covered in moss.

Here is a pic of all of us.

Here is cute little Doyle

We had a nice birthday dinner on Saturday night. Mona and the boys made napkin rings and everyone made something for the dinner. Here is Amy's salad. Very delicioso!

Jon and Jason's Bday Party

2009-03-07T20:59:00.000-08:00

We had a joint party for Jon and Jason since their bdays are so close.

Jess made an AMAZING cheesecake!

And then trying to get a decent picture of the boys with their cheesecake was a bit impossible. This is as good as it gets.Here are just a few pics I took of the flowers at Jon and Chels'

Bill and Andrea's Wedding

2009-03-06T20:56:00.000-08:00

We went to Bill and Andrea's wedding. I only took two pics...and totally didn't get one pic of the bride and groom!

Here are their decorations though!

Skamania

2009-02-28T20:40:00.000-08:00

This weekend J and I packed up Elise and Zeagan and met mom and dad at Skamania. It was a fun time swimming with the kids and then J and I got massages.

I only took one picture of the wknd. Zeagan truckin' around the pool.

Love this boy!

Charley Pride

2009-02-07T21:44:00.000-08:00

Jason and I (and our parents) took my grandma Wilma to Charley Pride for her 80th birthday. Wow, does she LOVE him! I think that it brought her back to the good ol' days in Kentucky when the kids used to "pile into an old truck and head to Tennessee: to see the singers, like Charley. Anyway, totally amusing time with grandma, not sure who was more fun to watch: Grandma or Charley. :-)

It was actually a good show, even though he's over 70 now. All the songs sounded just like the always have. Although, Kaw-Liga is still the worst song ever written...

Here's a few pics:

J and I--- he acting like he's having the time of his life. He acutally loved it, don't let this fool you.

Home Sweet Home

2009-01-13T11:50:00.000-08:00

This is a picture I took just before we left outside the woodshed. We went to mom and dad's to get some firewood and the driveway was too snowy for the Mini, so we had to carry wood to the bottom of the driveway. Good times.

There's no place like home.

Aguas Calientes

2009-01-06T16:18:00.000-08:00

We arrive by train to Aguas Calientes (7,000 ft), which is one of the closest towns to Machu Picchu. We found our hotel and we went straight to bed. We slept in the next morning because it was raining a little bit. We finally got a break in the weather and headed for Machu Picchu (8,000 ft).

We spent about three hours walking around the ruins up there. It was a pretty amazing site and great views of the scenery around the hills. Hard to breathe, that's for sure.

After we came back down to town, we had a great buffet lunch. We spend the rest of the afternoon walking around the artisan markets, buying up art and alpaca blankets and scarfs. It was amazing how cheap everything was.

Peru

2009-01-05T16:11:00.000-08:00

Today we arrived in Cusco, Peru. Elevation is about 11,000 feet. It was nice weather, but a little cool. We were scheduled to take a train up to another town, but had to go to a train station about 1.5 hour away. We got a taxi and he took us the whole way. He was very helpful and stopped off at different view points along the way, so we could take pictures. We finally arrived in the town Ollytantumbo just before it got dark. It was an amazing little town with both strong culture and tourism. We bought some art from a vendor on the street.Here is a picture of some random lady in the square, an area where there is a lot of selling of goods. This is a typical look of the Peruvian women in these rural parts. This is a boy that greeted us when we stopped to take pictures. He came running down a hill to where we were to show us his bird.

Mountain shot during the taxi ride.

Santiago

2009-01-04T15:50:00.000-08:00

After Talca, we headed north again to Santiago. Brandon and Nicole headed on, to the beach, and we met up with them a few days later in Santiago.

We stayed again with the Henriquez family and went to meeting there. We went for great ice cream, walked in the park, and just relaxed. We loved our time there. I had a really bad sunburn on my face from the mountain climb. They grow aloe vera in their front yard, so my face healed pretty quickly there.

We went out for dinner the last night we were there as a thank-you for letting us stay. The next morning (Monday), we left for the airport to Peru.

Jason, Sarah, Orian, Armando, Marlene

Day 14 Talca, Chile

2009-01-02T10:57:00.000-08:00

We arrived at 3am on the bus into Talca. Marcelo picked us up and we went straight to bed. He, however, had to be up in a few hours for work.

We spent two days there seeing the town. We went to the university one day, where Marcelo teaches. There is a lot of interesting art around the campus

Jason, Nicolas, Marcelo, Esteban

One day we went to an outdoor market for fruits and veg. Just a pic from there.

The last night we were there, we went up to a lookout over the city. There is this little church up there and a big statue.

Day 13 Villarica

2009-01-01T11:06:00.000-08:00

We are leaving Villarica today. We couldn't get a bus out of town until 9pm, so we had most of the day to hang out. We went over to a friend's house, Rita and her daughter Gloria. Sebastian, the grandson of Rita, was visiting for the weekend. They cooked lunch and we took a nap and ate again and then headed for the bus.

This is the stove that they cook on.

A chair outside.

Day 12 Villarrica Volcano

2008-12-31T19:18:00.000-08:00

So....this was quite a day....

We got to bed at 12:30 am the night before and got up at 5:30am this morning to go hike the Volcano.

Here we are suited up, ready to start at 7:15am

Nicole, Jonathan, Sarah, and Jason (Brandon taking pic)

There was a chair lift that was supposed to take us about a kilometer to the starting point, but it happened to be not working that day, so we had to hike it.

Here are a few shots from the climb

Here is the crater and some views from the top. The hike took about 7 hours for most...and 9 for me

The crater still has a lot of activity and usually blows every 25 years. This so happens to be the 25th year. The sulfur smell at the top is really strong and burns your nose and lungs.

It takes about an hour to get back down, most of the way is sledding down on this trails. Pretty fun.

Day 11- Villarrica Chile

2008-12-30T12:55:00.000-08:00

We arrived in Villarica early this morning. From the bus station, we went straight to our hotel/resort. It was just out of town, in the country. It was amazing how much Villarrica resembled Oregon in the spring time. Very green and lush.

Our little resort was so nice and perfect for us. We stayed in #9. It had two bedrooms and then another bed out in the living space for Jonathan.

After we showered up, we took the bus to Pucon, which is a cute little tourist town. After spending a few hours walking around town and having lunch with a friend of Jason's, Sylvana, we signed up for a mountain climb up Volcon Villarrica. The streets of Pucon have vendors selling many homemade goods and fresh produce.

We rented a car for the day. It so happened that when we were in the store getting groceries, that the lights were left on, so the owner had to come jump us. That night, we went to the natural thermal springs out in the country. It was beautiful out there, because there was a river that ran along side the pools and the stars were really bright. We stayed until about 11pm, which made it a short night to be ready to climb at 6am the next day.

Day 10- Santiago Chile

2008-12-29T12:41:00.000-08:00

This evening, we visited some friends that we spent a lot of time with at convention. We stayed there all afternoon, playing ping-pong, eating, and winding down.

They had an orange tree in their backyard. I've never had an orange straight off a tree so Brandon picked one and we ate one. Orian, one of the daughters, said that they don't really eat them, that the dog eats them mostly.
That night, we met Jonathan Wright, at the bus station and took the night bus to Villarrica, which is about 10 hours south of Santiago. There are a lot of mountains and lakes down in that area.

Day 7,8,9,10 Placilla Chile convention

2008-12-29T12:05:00.000-08:00

We stayed from Thursday to Monday at Placilla. It was great because all the English speakers received headsets and all the meetings were translated for us. There were several people visitors there than just us. The Elly clan showed up on Friday and it was good to see Matt and Sally.

Placilla has amazing grounds. My favorite part is where everybody eats. They set up benches and tables under the grape vines. It was very cool under there when it's hot outside. The grapes were still green and are harvested in Feb sometime.

Here is a pic of the Ellys, Rozemas, and Nichols on Sunday.

This is Sunday when everyone is leaving. Everyone gathers outside the gate and waves everyone off. To get everyone into town to the bus station requires a lot of trips. Here is a picture of a few people leaving. The man in the middle is a visiting worker :-)
After tear-down on Monday, we left for Santiago to see some friends that Jason wanted to see.

Day 6 Mendoza --> Los Andes, Chile

2008-12-25T11:49:00.000-08:00

We left Mendoza today and headed to Chile for convention. It is about a six hour bus ride, including going through customs. The ride takes so long because you have to cross the Andes mountains, which makes for some beautiful landscapes.

Here are a few pictures:

This is the windiest road that I have been on! It is right after you cross over into Chile, coming down the other side of the pass. Very interesting ride in a double-decker tour bus. We arrived in Los Andes and some people from convention were there and recognized Jason. They came over and were pretty excited to see us. They were waiting to pick some others up, so they ended up just taking us right to the convention grounds at Placilla.
We arrived and were greeted by everyone that was there and were made right at home.

Day 5 Mendoza

2008-12-24T11:32:00.000-08:00

When we arrived in Mendoza, Argentina, Rhonda Stidolph met us there with our tickets for the next day to convention in Chile. She got us a taxi to our hotel and she headed off to another bus. It was nice to see a familar face when we arrived and to get us situated since we just rode the bus overnight for 12 hours.We got a hotel in downtown and it was really nice, with AC and everything. We showered and hit the town. It was Christmas eve, so the streets were packed! We had lunch on a pedestrian street under the trees.

Our mission was to find blankets for convention the next day since we didn't have room to pack bedding. Just before all the stores shut down, we found some.

That night we managed to find a restaurant open for dinner. While we were walking around, a stray dog followed us all over town, crossing the streets with us. It was pretty amusing. We also stopped in on a Catholic Christmas Eve mass.

When we got back to our hotel it was late the door was closed with a piece of wood. The desk clerk was next door at a party. Luckily Nicole had a pen in her purse and managed to stick it in the crack between the doors and eventually get the stick out of the way.

Day 4- Buenos Aires

2008-12-23T09:44:00.000-08:00

Today Luis took us out to the country to an old ranch. We had mate on the way there on the bus.

The ranch has it's own polo club that plays every Saturday. We had a several course lunch, consisting of lamb, veal, pork, chorizo....and lamb intestine. The intestine was probably the grossest food I've had.

After lunch we rode horses around the property, swam in the pool, toured the main house (castle) and church. Here we are back at the Elly's hotel.
Luis Ronchi, Jason, Brandon, Nicole, and I.

After this picture was taken, we caught a taxi down to the bus terminal...however, we managed to get the ONE slow taxi driver in all of Argentina and missed our bus. We paid a few hundred dollars for the four of us for that bus, so we had to buy four more tickets on a bus that left about three hours later.
So we were stuck in Buenos Aires bus station for three hours....with everyone travelling for Christmas. Here is a pic out of the top of the bus after we loaded at 11pm.

Day 3

2008-12-22T17:57:00.000-08:00

We arrived in Buenos Aires! Sea of people. We were looking for our hostal to pick us up and we figured out about an hour later that they weren't showing up. We tried calling them, but the number didn't work. So we finally got a taxi and went to the hostal.

This was a great little place. We had a room with four twins and a balcony and paid $40 for the night and breakfast. It was very clean and old.

Here is Nicole and I sitting on the second floor

Brandon and Nicole on the entry stairs.

Once we got to the hostal, we crashed. We arrive in BA at 8am, so we were tired. We slept most of the afternoon. Jason got a hold of his worker-buddy, Luis Ronchi. He met us at a subway stop and we went and had dinner with him and the Ellys who were in town, too.

Day 1 PDX....and Day 2

2008-12-20T17:34:00.000-08:00

I have fallen completely behind blogging while we're running around down here, so here it goes.

DAY 1

This is how our trip started off:

We realize that our flight was canceled the next day due to snow and ice in PDX. Brandon and Nicole couldn't get any information from calling the airport, so they told him to just show up to the airport to get information. He called us because we were at my parent's house having Christmas dinner my and Jason's family. We cut the afternoon short and ran home and packed in about 20 minutes. At this point, we hadn't even thought about packing, so it was throw a bunch of things in a suitcase and hope it works out. We rushed out to the airport and asked about when we could get out of town since our flight was canceled the next day and we had two connections to make.

Two hours later of talking to an agent, being on the phone with Travelocity (never use them) and Lan Chile (them either), we found out that Alaska (use them) would put us on the last flight that night (and the next three days). There were two catches: we had to fly into Ontario CA airport and rent a car and drive to LAX for our connection....and the other, they only had three seats for the four of us. We went down to the gate and waited in line to put one person on stand-by. As we were waiting in line, the ticket agent ran down to the gate and handed us a fourth ticket!

By this time, it was around 9pm. Flights were being canceled as we sat there. Our flight was scheduled to leave at 8:50pm. Our flight didn't leave PDX until 12:30am because the de-icer truck's equipment were frozen and they couldn't de-ice the plane.

We got into Ontario, CA and found a hotel at about 3am. We paid for a hotel room from 3am-7am and tried to get some sleep.

DAY 2

We went to the car rental and rented a car for an hours and made our connecting flight at LAX. They were really really confused about why we were checking in there, but anyway.

By this point, we decided to wait and eat at the airport after security and none of us had eaten, us since the lunch the day prior. We got through security and there was NO FOOD. A lady with a coffee cart had a few muffins, so we scarfed them down since it was about 24 hours since any of us ate/drank anything. Yeah, so we were completely miserable by this point.

We boarded the plane and connected in Lima and then only Buenos Aires

S-N-O-W

2008-12-14T15:39:00.000-08:00

Snow has hit the valley floor! This is what we woke up to this morning and it hasn't let up yet. We're at a few inches right now and below freezing, which seems to be pretty uncommon weather for us. Seems like we hardly see snow anymore.
Here's a pic of our house today