Here are a few more pictures of us in Switzerland. We took a 5 mile hike up the Jura mountains one day. As you can see, the cows plopped right down in the middle of the trail. We did a tree course one Saturday where you zipline and walk through this obstacle type course up in the trees. It was a blast. Then there are the vineyards. They are everywhere. It's really pretty at harvest time.

We have made it to Switzerland. We moved over on August 19th. That only gave us a few days to settle in before the kids started school. That was fun!! We live way up on the hill about 25 mins from school so Katrina has been driving them to and picking them up each day. We are going to try the bus system starting in January.

The weather was quite warm for a few days and then became wonderfully cool compared to Texas. We have done several things on the weekends. We'll post them shortly if we can figure this blog thing out. Without Kaylee doing, who knows how it will turn out.

We had about 1/8th of an inch of snow a few weeks ago but nothing since. Just lot's of rain. But we have had several days of sunshine up on the hill while the valley was fogged in.

Florida Family Fun!

Kaylee here...mom was killing me with her lack of updating....so I'm taking charge!

At the beginning of June, Mom, Dad, Karissa, Reed, and Kaylee went to Florida for some sun and some fun! (be prepared for a lot of pictures)

It was a landmark vacation for the family because we actually FLEW...like on a plane...instead of driving for days- there and back. The plane ride was fun, but I must say I have a ton of great memories from driving in the car with everyone in the past..."spongeybob squarepants!" "Reed, where are we?" "Canada", Reed dancing in the car as a baby... haha. and of course staying in and visiting random places and hotels (exploring and making awesome home videos. :) )

Flight from Houston to Miami

*Dad sat in FIRST CLASS by himself both ways. But in his defense, he tried offering it to each of us...we just would rather not sit alone with a bunch of boring businessmen. We leave that to him. :)

First night in Miami-Reed and I were the only ones too excited for the ocean to wait til the next day

Boat tour around Miami-we saw plenty of huge famous people house

Reed on the boat. Such a precious picture of him!

Karissa and Kaylee

The walk down to the beach from the hotel :)

Out to eat for dinner one night

Playing on the beach

The start of our sandcastle

floatin' in the ocean

POOL TIME!

One evening after dad's meetings he and the kids went parasailing. It was a first for Reed and Karissa so that was a lot of fun for them!! It was a fun experience...too bad mom missed out.

After Miami, we drove to Orlando to visit Disneyworld for several days...pictures and details to come! If only I had a faster computer....... :) :)

Just got back from our house hunting trip in Geneva Switzerland. We found a house that we like, way up on the mountain. Ross will not have a short commute that he was hoping for, but the house and the view are hopefully worth it.

Rain Rain Go Away!

We have had like 2 weeks of rain now, and it got really bad on Monday night. The weekend before last, we got about 5" of rain, then last Friday and Saturday, we got another 1-2", then on Monday, we got 9-11" in about 3 hours. Here are some pictures of all the rain. Our neighborhood golf couse, or fishing hole. Ross saw someone standing on the green fishing.

Our neighborhood lake. There is supposed to be a fountain in front of all of the trees, and the trees are planted on an incline.

Our pool was overflowing and flooding our back porch. Notice the wind ripped one of our palm trees apart. Above is another neighborhood lake, with the bench now in the middle.

This is right in front of our house. More of a lake than a street at this point.

The kids car. I was watching, and hoping I wasn't going to have to go move it.

Hopefully we won't have anymore heavy rain for a while. It does save on the water bill though, and thank goodness it didn't cause any damage or get in the house. School was cancelled yesterday, so the kids were very happy. We don't have snow days very often, just hurricane and flood days.

SWITZERLAND!

Well, for those of you not on facebook, the news is out. We are moving to Switzerland by August. Don't have all the information yet, but we are busy applying for school for the kids, and trying to plan our hectic summer in preparation for the move. It will be hard to leave kids and grandkids, but hope that we will have more visitors in Switzerland than we have had in Texas. As far as we know this is an indefinite move, which makes it whole lot harder. How many years until retirement? We are anxious to embark on a new adventure, but wish it wasn't so far away, and that we could take everyone with us. Please come visit us!

Well, I am off to Iowa City, Iowa to watch Kaylee compete in Regionals! I get back Sunday, and will wave to Ross as our planes pass on the runway as he leaves for Switzerland. Somehow, Switzerland sounds more exciting than Iowa, but I get to do something way more fun than work, so I guess it is a good trade off. I will post more when I return. If any of you would like to follow the action, they are supposed to have live internet streaming, here is the link. www.hawkeyesports.com%2Fsports%2Fw-gym%2Fspec-rel%2F09-ncaa-w-gym-regional.html&h=d19695141a24b2b722536c71e1ff1d8b

UPDATE: Kaylee competes on Saturday the 4th at 6:00 PM Central Time

Spring Break!!

Spring Break is almost over, and I know I am worn out. We had a fun filled week. Monday was our 1 day of rest. Tuesday we went to the "Blue Bell" Ice Cream Factory. For those of you that don't know, it is the best Ice Cream ever. We stood in line for 1 1/2 hours. I guess everyone else had the same idea. Wednesday I took the kids to the Rodeo Carnival and Exhibits. We got there around noon, and stayed until 9pm. We got our first sunburn of the season, it was 80 degrees. Thursday, Ross took off of work and we went to the Aqarium. It was another hot day, but not quite as long. Friday, Ross was still off, and we went to the Rodeo and Carnival again. This time we went to see Taylor Swift with the other 75,000 people. It was very crowded, and we were there from 11am-11pm. Another long day, but very fun! Today we warmed up the pool and swam for the day. I think the kids might have to go to school to get some needed rest. Maybe I will get some pictures up of all the fun things we have been doing. Hope to hear from some of you.

So, the week is over, and everyone is glad that Spring Break is here. We enjoyed front row seats at the Houston Rodeo and Brad Paisley last night, and had a great time.
Karissa made Varsity Cheerleader for next year, and is very excited.
Kaylee competed at Utah State tonight, and scored a career high of 9.925 on the Beam. It looked awesome!
Hope everyone is doing well, and we would love to see some posts and updates.

Catching Up

So, I made a trip to Utah last week to see Kaylee and Kelcie. We had a good time hanging out and shopping, of course! You would think that after so much shopping there would be nothing left that you don't already have, but they always seem to find plenty to buy! On Sunday, Kaylee and I went to Bridal Veil Falls and Park City for a little sight seeing adventure, it was fun.

Ross, Reed and Karissa were in Dallas last weekend when I was in Utah. Karissa competed in a National Cheer Competition, and their team took first. She was just filling in for someone, but was very excited to get a Champions Jacket for here efforts. Considering she had fallen a week before on our tile and bruised one knee and had fluid on the other one and still managed to compete, we feel she desirved more than a jacket, but oh well, she had a good time.

Reed had Western Days at school a couple of weeks ago. They do line dances and square dancing. He is such a cute cowboy. Even if I do say so myself.

So, life continues to be very busy, but not with anything too exciting. I have been VERY busy making dominoe necklaces for school, invitations for New Beginnings at church, and making a scrapbook for Karissa's cheer coach, while Ross goes to work and sits on his butt all day, must be nice, right? Just kidding, I wouldn't trade my life for anything, and Ross works hard everyday, at least that is what he says.
I am going to Utah next week to watch Kaylee compete against SUU. I am looking forward to the trip and being able to see her. Kelcie is taking the shuttle down for the weekend, so I will get to see her too.
We are going to Karissa's cheer banquet tonight. It is 4 hours long, and Ross isn't looking forward to sitting with cheer moms for that long, I must say, I'm not either. I guess we might as well get used to it since she is trying out again for next year.
Reed had Western Days at school today, they learn line dances and square dancing in PE and then perform them for the parents. I will post a picture of our goof ball cowboy as soon as I get them uploaded. He is quite the character, and makes us laugh all the time. I think he takes after his dad.
Looking forward to a relaxing weekend, and I hope you all have a great weekend too.

Here is the link for Kaylee's picture in the SLC Tribune from last Friday's gymnastic meet in SLC - 2/6/09

http://extras.sltrib.com/tribphoto/Gallery.asp?ID=116745&PubDate=2009-02-08&GID=GYMNA%5F02062009

Koryn

Here's a few recent pictures of Koryn.

Having fun during tummy time.


She recently discovered her hands and loves them!


Look at those blue eyes!


I guess bouncing is hard work!



What a precious smile! This makes it all worth everything.

~ Kitara

February 6

Not a lot going on in Houston, with only 2 kids around, it is pretty quiet for the most part. Yesterday was Katrina's birthday, so we went out to eat at Texas Roadhouse. The food was Great, the wait was not so great. We sat and ate so many rolls and appetizers that by the time we got our meal we were all too full to eat. The sound of coming home and eating the cake that Karissa spent her afternoon making (thank you Karissa) was almost more than we could handle. Katrina got spoiled with more jewelry! At the restaurant they did embarass her and make her sit in the saddle while they sang happy birthday. Darn we forgot the camera, so no evidence of the embarassing moment. The real highlight of her day was talking to all of her kids in the same day!
Kaylee will be competing in Salt Lake tonight. Good Luck Kaylee! We love you and wish we could be there.

hey look-we found a picture! :) so wish i could have been there!! -Kaylee