the end of the last

So on our last day there, we finally got a chance to see Notre Dame. After that we went to the Sacre Coeur church. Notre Dame was cool. Something you just go to because you do. But Sacre Coeur was amazing. We actually got to sit in on a service, and the view from on top was breathtaking.

And then the next day was 4

Today we went to the D'Orsay Museum. This would be my other favorite in Paris. The Louvre had tons of stuff in it, but the D'Orsay had the artists I really wanted to see. And you could get much closer. Rembrandt. Van Gogh. Degas. Gaugiun. Monet. Renoir. Just to name a few of the greats there. That, and it didn't take ALL DAY to get through. Whew! So after that, we went up the Eiffle tower. That was cool.. and a little freaky at first. :)

The view from below...

and atop.

>

Day 3

So after the enormous amount of walking we did and the palace, we decided our feet hadn't had enough and went for the Louve. Yep. It's as big as they say, and bigger even still. The amount of artwork in that building alone is impressive. We didn't get to many pictures, because pictures of art just can't be that exciting. But we did get to see the Mona Lisa. Can I hear an oooooh!

on a side note, we of course had many good crepes. Mmmmm

and sadly at one point we ended up at McDs. But notice the difference? The fries? The custartd? Even the sandwich was worlds better. I feel we are getting a little shorted here in the good 'ol USA.

Catching up

So my husband, who doesn't have to update this, has been pointing out how long it's been since I've put anything up. That... and where did the rest of Paris go? So I'm finally here to show that yes, we spent more than one day in Paris, and hopefully in the next few (i will not specify hours, days, months.. I can't be held accountable) I'll have some our summer in Canada up too. :)

On the second day, we visited the Palace of Versailles. Gorgeous. Probably one of my favorites of anything there. The entire thing was just amazing, and if you ever go.. you HAVE to make sure to visit while the fountains are going. Makes a huge difference. We saw it with both, and there is no comparison!

so this is the back of the palace, facing the gardens.

and this is part of the queens palace gardens. Yes, she had her very own palace and gardens. As if they couldn't possibly share the huge first one.

one of the most expensive rooms. mirrors, gold and chandeliers lining the whole thing. I think there were 17 chandeliers total?

I know, so cute! There are the gardens behind us. Freezing and rainy weather of course. And this was when the fountains were going. It was raining too much when they were on to take a picture. Sorry. You can't even see as far as the palace owned. The queens palace is down by the lake, but to your right a way.

this is to one side of the palace. Stretches past that lake over there. This is the small side. The other side is much larger.

Gone a little too long, but then again.. not really!

That's the last time I'm allowed to go to a photo conference! Look what happens... I forget about my blog! Okay, not really (and trust me... my sister has made sure I didn't), but just couldn't get the time to post. I've been slammed... but it a good way! Being room mom of two classes and getting that stuff squared away for the end of school.. the kids activities, church stuff, and my man's travels. It's been insane. Throw into that mix an awesome trip to Paris, and I think you're caught up! And yes, Paris France!! So thankful for my bff who was willing to take the kids for 7 days so we could go out there. I OWE her, and I will be making up for in early next year when it's my turn to watch her 4 kids. I'm sure you won't be hearing much from me that week either!S So yea, um, back to the trip. Although we had all the bad weather, a wonderful dose of jet lag.. it was all worth it. No kids, and my husband. Life was great! I'll just take you through a quick play of each day, since I can't figure any other way to do it. So buckle up and here we go.

I was going along getting way too much done before my flight out (Matt was already in Paris) and feeling rather accomplished.. I hit stopped traffic. It's then I realize it was a holiday weekend. You NEVER travel on a holiday weekend around here, unless you like traffic, and lots of it. But I made it. Barely. Then after about a 9 hour flight with the meanest stewardess' EVER to fly, I arrive in Paris. The trip started off very French (no offense). Rude, and very unhelpful! After wandering around the airport for an hour with my new friend to whom i bonded from my flight, we finally both figured out how were supposed to get our our hotels and we tentatively went our separate ways. Got me a cab (very smelly driver!) and made my way to the hotel where Matt was. When I finally get there, it was about 8:30 am Paris time. When I asked the desk asked if they could check me in I told them my husband was already checked in and I just needed to find out what room he was in. They guy looked at me and said, "are you sure it's not too early"? Um, HELLO! I just flew 8 hours to see this guy. It had better not be too early!! After a quick 2 hour nap in the room we were off. I didn't have much in me since I hadn't slept on the plane at all (yea, too busy talking to that new friend of mine) and we decided to take it easy. We actually did one of those bus tours. We sat on the top, and completely froze the entire time! I came all the way there, I was not about ready to sit below and ruin my view! It was a perfect way to start the trip because we got all the little stuff out of the way in a quick and time efficient manner. We could get off whenever we wanted, and get back on. So here's some random picts from our first day in Paris!













And can I just say that in Paris, they seem to always build everything big. And if it wasn't big enough then they'd just build another one... bigger. Ugh. Such a little man complex. lol!





While on our adventure, it turns out that around the Eiffel Tower there were some HUGE parties going on. The Rugby team was going to win the championship, and so they were celebrating in support... crossing their fingers for a win. So while that was going on, they were also having some roller blading world record for the highest jump ever. This thing was propped up on the Eiffel tower. So we did as everyone else was doing and just packed in to watch, having no clue what was going on since it was all in French. We figured, something cool to be going on since there were so many people and tv crews and a dj there. So you can see the crowd behind us. And that arrow... lets just say there were at least 1000 more back behind that fence. And yup, there he is just jumping off the platform. He slipped on the way down so it didn't count. He was going to do another jump a little later that day. It was so un-exciting it was almost sad. But hey... it was an experience, in FRANCE. Am I right?!

keep looking

Since I don't want to post it twice, go ahead and check out here where I was for my convention. There's not a lot there... but if you're interested it's a little something. :)

on my way back

So this really isn't what I've been doing with my time (or depending on how you look at it, this IS what takes up all my time. my kids!). I swear! I've got some pictures I am going to post from the convention, and so much I wanted to say from it, that I might not say much at all. Just too much to say. :) But here's a start. Here's the last week of my kiddos. Yes, I have still managed to keep up on pictures every day. I may miss a day here and there (or the entire time I was gone), but for the most part... I've done it. At least there's one thing I've kept up on.

Only 2 more days

I miss you all. :( It's been way WAY to long. But I've been busy, and gotten SO much stuff done it's good. No, it's great. So Monday, when the biggest consumer of my time and attention is back on the road, I'll be here. Number one thing on my list! :)

yes, we did have snow and I never showed you.

Okay, okay, so it wasn't quite tomorrow, but I'm here now. I'm back. It's been a busy couple of days. We are putting in new carpet Saturday, (yay!!!) so I've been emptying out all the rooms upstairs. It's a strange task. I can't decide if I want to spring clean EVERY little nook and cranny, if I want to paint, or if I just think I need to put it all in boxes and move. We've been in this house longer than anywhere else, and so it's a very forgotten but familiar feeling of having the empty rooms. The ones with the kids sleeping on their mattress on the bedroom floor and nothing else in the room. At all. They echo again. I want to say I'm more than half done, but I doubt it. The fullest, messiest room is last. The toy room/office. All those toys... two desks... no fun! Man Matt has it easy traveling all week like he does. Come home Friday night just in time to say good job. 4 rooms isn't bad though, right?! I still have tomorrow. :)

So anyway, the infamous snow here in the ATL. Everyone else has their pictures up, but not us. I got tired of feeling left out, and wanted to share. It was my kids favorite day EVER. Really. They've prayed for snow every night since. Maybe should move. But do you see that snow??? It made me SO homesick. That was Utah snow right there! Big huge flakes. The kind you can make snowman out of. Have snowball fights, and have stick around for two days. Oh, I really did love it! And this first picture. I love that too!

Here's Ase and I on our way back home. She was too cold to really "sled" but managed to love running through the snow covered field.

Helping Nutmeg get back up the hill after a run down.

Think she's having fun at all? Didn't think so.

Throwing snowballs at me. Turkey.

Yup. This is why I called it "sledding". Should it be lidding? Just doesn't sound right. That and no one but us Southerners would possibly know what I'm talking about.

Okay, maybe one of my faves. She was having a snowball fight with Matt. Can you just see the fun factor written all over her face?

And I LOVED watching the kiddos build their snowman (well, and then two more for the neighbors!)

On the 6th week of....

I know. I really need to be posting normal pictures in between these, if I'm going to do these. I'm going to loose everyone really quick here! And trust me, I have another one coming... tomorrow. But here's the kiddo's last week. mmm. Love these guys! (oh and please don't judge that Ase is wearing the same outfit two days that week. I'm sure it was actually two days in a row. shhh! guess I kind hide it anymore!)