oops

my france post accidently posted itself before I was done...how...I have no idea. technology is beyond me. I finished and added more pictures. Have a looksee!

just 'cause I feel like posting

Our Friends Courtney and Zach came over last night (Zach killed us all in b-movie game. It was a slaughter) Courtney worked in France for a while and it made very nostalgic. I thought I'd post some of my favorite pictures from my mission in France. I served in four cities: Angouleme (NW coast), Bordeaux (2 1/2 hours s. of Angouleme), Nice (SE coast or Cote d'azur) and finally my favorite, Marseille.

this was such a rewarding day. Bernard and Marie-Jeanne were finally baptized after 6 long years of learning about the gospel and seven long months of teaching them. The story goes so much deeper if you ever want to to know ask me.

Ah, "Les Calanques" this was my absolute favorite spot to go in Marseille. It's absolutely stunning!

Tien's baptism. This girl is absolutely amazing! She's from Vietnam and by being baptized she risked everything she had and can longer have a job there. She had so much faith and such a pure heart!

Vieux Port in Marseille. I loved this place. There was always so much going on. Life was always buzzing around you!

I guess you can't really see in the picture but this is a giant Poppy field. I had to scale the wall in order to get some. I had tons of pictures of the poppy fields in Provence but don't know where they are :(

Soeur Skousen and I would go on walks every morning. One day we found this abandoned lot with this written on the wall: Love one another-Jesus.

I was having a really bad day and I looked up and saw that these tiny flowers had made their way all the up into this drain pipe and sprouted out the seam. The name of the street was Rue Esperandieu. Which means hope in God. It was the perfect reminder to put my faith in the Lord and blossom where He needed me.

I loved being on the mediterranean. Everything was so vibrant and full of life.

My last pain au chocolat in France. That was such a hard day! I cried all day!

This was the hardest goodbye to say. Roselyne became my best friend in Marseille. I watched the atonment take a broken woman who had absolutely no faith, no confidence and no desire to be happy and turn her into an amazing woman of God.

this is in Angouleme. I had been there for two months, we walked through this square everyday and I never noticed this statue. I started laughing hysterically! I mean who misses a giant head in the middle of the street!

Once again in Angouleme. Almost all of the architecture was from the byzantine period and it was stunning!

Angouleme is the comic book capitol of France. Everywhere you go you see comic strip murals painted on buildings. This one was my favorite. It's a dog serenading a hen and the Rottweiler in the bushes is cursing the dog with the guitar because he thought of the idea first!

This was on the ramparts surrounding the ville in Angouleme.

Total randomness in Bordeaux

Nissa la bella. This is in Nice or the Cote d'azur. The water really is that clear and turquoise

I just couldn't decide which Ferarri I wanted...so I got both :)

Monaco grand prix

Monte Carlo in Monaco

behind our apartment in Nice was an abandoned trai station. One morning we woke up and found hundreds of sheets of colored paper. What did we do...played in it and had paper ball fights

Nice!

the Italian alps

this was my favorite statue in Bordeaux. It was Michael the archangel carrying Christ up to Heaven

this was in Nice. They're real basses that had been set in cast iron.

the best Christmas present I've ever received! 1/2 gallon containe of Nutella!

Sunset at Vieux port in Marseille

These are just a few of the almost 3,000 pictures. Man I sure miss it!

Wulfgar Saves the Day!

I was having a really bad day today. I got absolutely no sleep last night. Bella has been crying and spitting up ALL day and she refuses to sleep. Her bottom two teeth went back down and are coming back up again. We just found out that thanks to good ole' George W. Bush, there are longer any down payment assistance programs. We were counting on that to help us get a house! Our options for homes just got drastically reduced. :( So, anyway...I was in a terrible mood almost on the brink of tears when I walked into my bedroom and saw this. I immediately started cracking up and I think I can now survive the rest of the day.

Wulfgar snuggled under our duvet

We're going to be homeowners!

Last night at about oh I don't know 10pm...we decided to buy a house. I know it sounds crazy! We sat and talked about it for quite a while and realized that we could be buying a house for the same price that we're paying for rent! In 3-5 years we could turn around and sell it for possibly double. W decided that we would just rent it out when we go to San Francisco. We would like to return here if possible and then hopefully make our way to the east coast once Joe has 5 years experience as a web developer.

Now comes the hard part! I think we looked at a hundred houses today! We found one that we absolutely fell in love with. It was 138k. It was a bank owned short-sale. It was such a cute house. I called the realtor and it had already been sold. I talked to him on the phone for a bit and every house I wsnted to look at already had 2-3 offers! Super frustrating. We're not in a huge hurry, which makes it not as stressful. We're got approved for a loan with a 4.25% interest rate which is awesome! Our house payments will end up being around $860-$900/month depending on the price of the house.

Wish us luck!

Tulip Festival

We went to the Wooden Shoe Tulip festival on Monday and it was so gorgeous! It's in Woodburn off of the Newberg hwy. The festival is 40 acres of tulips of all kinds. It's quite breathtaking. Mt Hood sits in the background surrounded by dozens of diiferent colors. I never knew there were so many different types of tulips. Bella had a good time. She was wide-eyed the entire time. She wanted to touch and at one time taste everything around her. I highly recommend it to anyone who wanta to get out of dodge and not have to go very far. I would suggest going on a weekday. It's 5/car on weekdays and $10/car on weekends. Plus on weekdays there's far less traffic. It's a one lane hwy. the entire way to the farm once you turn off I-5. I imagine a weekend day would be pretty swamped.

family phot-op

I love this picture with Mt. Hood in the background

Bella was quite finished. She was so tired she just pooped out right in Joe's arms

this reminds me of my train rides through Provence. Absolutely stunning.

It's been a while

March Madness!!!

It's been a wihle since I posted anything. To get right down to it, I've just been too lazy. March was a super busy month. We had lots going on. To name a few things:

Twilight came out on DVD. I had a super sweet party at my house. I got to see Wicked with Katie and it was...WICKED! It has become my new Les Mis. Katie's t-shirt looks way better on her than mine does on me! My boobs kind of stretch out Elphaba's face. Bella and I went to the Zoo with Rachel, Daschel and Beckham. Upon arriving we remembered that it was spring break and decided that it was way too stressful trying to get two strollers around a million screaming kids and adults and decided to go to Jerusalem Cafe instead! We went to the beach. It was so gorgeous! It was in the 60's, blue skies and lovely! Bella and I flew to Utah to visit my best friend Jill and go to my mission reunion. It snowed the entire time. I couldn't believe it! We had a good time. Bella did awesome on the plane. On the way home as we were taking off she had a MASSIVE diarrhea blow out! it stunk! It oozed out all over my arms, all over her, it was disgusting. I just threw the clothes away! Let's see what else...Bella has her two bottom teeth. I can't believe it! She's ony five months for crying out loud! She had a couple rough nights with them but all in all it wasn't so bad! She started cereal and solids this month. So far we've tried pears and sweet potatoes. She loved sweet potatoes! Whenver she takes a bite she says: umm ma mummmm and smiles. It's super cute. My grandma flew in from Illinois. I was so glad to see her. She was so excited to see her two newest great granddaughters. We had a really good visit. I'm just sad she lives so far away. We get to see her once a year if we're lucky. There you have it our last month or so in one big nutshell!

Wicked with Katie!
Lincoln City
Bella's Glow Worm.

This thing was my saving grace on the airplane!

The garden Restaurant for Jill's b-day lunch!

We ate fried pickles and they were awesome!

Cole and Bella at Esther Short Park

Cereal!!!!

Chubby bunny!

Bella loves her Papa!
Pure sweetness!

Happy Easter!

Bella and Nana