Lake Powell

We had the opportunity to go to Lake Powell with some friends last minute and we had a blast! 

Here's the sunrise over the Lake

Tal & Jacob driving the boats, following the houseboat

Tal taking a turn in the captain's chair

Diane and Tiffany prepping for dinner

Aiden getting used to the water

Kelsey and Lucy playing in the mud - YUCK!

MORE yummy mud! Mollie, Peter, Kelsey, James, Anna, Lucy & Grace

Out for a ride on the boat. Both kids tried the banana boat and loved it!

Paddle boarding with Kels & Lucy...makes it a little tougher with wigglers. I'm starting to show!

Best buddies

All the kids on the boat

Cory & Tal cooking up some dinner

The ladies: Jess, Tiff, Julie, Diane & Lizzy

Tal wake surfing

I tried it too but never could get far enough away from the boat! Blame it on pregnancy...

More pictures will hopefully come from other people's cameras...including our game night and more pics of us on the boat!

june {random}

I'm playing a bit of catch-up if you can't tell so that I can have the year complete. It's all leading up to the GREECE post...coming soon (haha). This post will be moved to 6/30/09.

Little presents in my shoes

A cupid photoshoot

So many cute ones but since they're nakie, they wont be posted

Tate's Baptism

Laughing together, I snapped the pic via remote

Too cool for school shades

Lowrider

Tschuss!

We have a gas station just down the street from us that has a little grocery store. We seem to go quite often and we've become friends with the non-english speaking staff. That's where I learn my Swiss German!

The lovie my parents bought her in Paris

Belly Shots

My G-I-R-L

A few thoughts...

Tonight I am grateful.

I had a rough day and Tal is out of town with the car. I couldn't have done today without my friend Jenna and my neighbors Mel & Torsten. I thought my water broke this morning, but it turns out I must have just peed my pants. Give me a break, the baby is PUSHING on my bladder. But I never felt the "release" and I never experienced having my water break with Kelsey. However, I didn't call the doctor because A. he's out of town and B. contractions never started. So after vacuuming every inch of the bedrooms, organizing, and moving stuff around, I made Kelsey lunch.

When I went to wash her hands when she was done, she tried to get away by playing dead while her hands were in mine at the sink. This resulted in nurse maid elbow round 2. The doc was out for two hours for lunch and the emergency room told me to wait until the doc was back. I snuggled with my pain-filled daughter until she fell asleep.

Then got ready and took her in the stroller to the doctor via train. NIGHTMARE. I ended up having to pull the stroller up a bunch of stairs while praying for the train that had already arrived to wait for me. Then two good samaritans stopped the train and helped me up the rest of the way with the stroller. At this point my tears ran over. These were not mere tears but sobs of "I can't do this by myself" and "I'm extremely pregnant and emotional right now." It's a good thing Tally didn't pick up the phone or else he'd be home by now. Wait, maybe that would be a good thing. The doctor fixed her elbow immediately and she was back to her old self.

SO GRATEFUL.

Jenna picked me up from the train station, hydrated me, took Kelsey, and then I was on my way with the Huntington family to a photoshoot. It was lovely. Beautiful sights, Hopefully great pictures. Fun family. They took me back to Jenna's at 9pm - Jenna's girls were still up playing with Kelsey WAY past their bedtime. Jenna drove me & Kels home, brought up the groceries she bought me that day, and gave me encouragement. As I bathed Kelsey, I remembered my 4am PST phone call to my parents about Kelsey's elbow and my water and thought they must be worried about me. I called my dad and he asked why I hadn't seen a doctor yet about the baby and possible water breakage. I was so tired and knew that if I called they would want me to come in. But the though of my little baby in distress because I was too busy or tired to check up on him made me call. Sure enough, come in. I tried to call my wonderful neighbors, but their cell phones were already turned off for the night. So I rang the bell. They were just getting ready to go to bed, but with no thought, Torsten stayed on our couch to watch the sleeping Kelsey and Melanie took me to the hospital. We had a great chat, and it was bittersweet because she told me they will be moving at the end of August to an amazing flat. Good for them, sad for us. All checked out well with the baby and it is always fun to hear his heartbeat and hear him move. I am 1cm dialated and the nurse said she wouldn't be surprised to see me again in a few days. She told me to get my husband home (he will be on his way soon).

So why am I telling you all this? It's selfish really. I want to remember how incredibly selfless my friends (and a few strangers) have been towards me and my family in our times of need. I hope one day to be able to pay them back, but if not, to pay it forward. I can only hope that through their service, both sides gain an increase of love, which will form life-long friendships.

On another note, tonight made me so anxious and excited to see my little boy. Maybe that's why it's 2am and I'm amped like a kid on Christmas Eve. I can't wait to know what he looks like, how he'll react to certain things - how Kelsey will react to him! Well, I can wait. At least 3 or so more days. So I'll do my best to hold him in for a bit longer and resist my nesting feelings. I'm excited to meet you baby! I can already tell you're going to be sweet. Thanks for staying all cooped up in mommy's tummy to wait for daddy to come home. And for putting up with all of the roughness your big sister throws your way.

Under 30

As you can see, the countdown is UNDER 30 days. My due date is in one month and I'm 36 weeks now. Kelsey is looking forward to seeing the baby, and thinks my belly is fun to kiss, hit, give rasberries to, etc.

Luckily I haven't had time to sweat over details, possibilities and realities of having a newborn because I've been so busy with photoshoots and visitors! We've had my friend Alea's dad and then brother for two weeks, our friend Rob's girlfriend and her cousin, my friend Dayne from college with his friend Steve, the Ehlen boys (Jacob & Daniel) stopped by for a night, and Tal's friend Rob is coming from SLC for Tal's birthday (and two weeks after), and then my MOM IS COMING! I want the baby to wait for 4 days so my mom can be here for the delivery but it's not up to me. We love having visitors...but who's nextl?


Kelsey was a big fan of Dayne, and continues to say his name over and over even now that he's gone. So he has been affectionately nicknamed "Uncle Dayne." It was good to reminisce while looking at my college photo album and create new fun memories in Zurich. I don't have any other pics of our visitors, but if you have visited recently and you have a picture with us/Kelsey, email it to me so I can post it!

33 weeks & 3 days and growing

Tis the season for boys.

My friend Jennifer just gave birth to twin boys (she was 10 weeks ahead of me), my friend Ashley is 10 weeks behind me, also expecting a baby boy. My friend Rachel would be delighted with either sex, but since she has two girls, a baby boy would fun. In my Swiss branch, there are at least 3 boys under one year (no girls). However in nursery right now, it is 5 girls against 1 boy. Thus, it depends on the year or "season."

I have a few friends back home who are due mid July - two named Ashley and both are also expecting baby boys (yes, three friends named Ashley, currently prego, all having boys). Is the Lord sending out his army?

Our little guy is still a boy, as noted below:

The arrow is pointing at the tip of the penis and the two testis are left of that.

Here's his darling little profile, well, you'll just have to imagine how darling it will be since you can't tell from the ultrasound. The "bubbles" is actually the umbilical cord and he was making a "kissy face" with his lips and opening his mouth.

At 33 weeks he weighs 2.25 kilos (5 lbs.) and is in the 80th percentile for height, weight & head size.

The baby is moving around a lot, especially at night. His head is down and his feet are up. Great news, except that I'm pretty sure my ribs are bruised. I love feeling those little feet move back and forth and watching my tummy distort with each poke. He's not as much of a kicker as Kelsey was, more of a "roller." I think he's already scared and curious about Kelsey because he really starts moving when she's around (especially when she hits my belly too hard or jumps on it/him). Poor guy is going to get both beat up and smothered by her when he comes out. See my friend Jennifer's post with Kelsey holding one of her twin babies. 

I have heartburn quite often, especially when I eat bread and chocolate (which we had Pain au Chocolat or chocolate filled croissants at least once a day in France this weekend). It's all in my throat though, not in my chest. 

I started getting Braxton Hicks contractions on our trip to Greece and now I have around 7 a day (normal). They make it hard to breathe and are very uncomfortable and it reminds me of the finale yet to come.

45 days or 1.5 months... July 12th will be here in no time and I can't wait to meet our little boy! We are still up in the air about names, so now is your chance to make a suggestion (comment or send me an email)! 

Greek Cruise

One year ago, here's what we were doing...

Bon Voyage! 

Disembarking from Venice

 

Jessi & BABY Chloé

 

People wonder how we travel with kids. Here's a prime example of how. 

A lot S-L-O-W-E-R! 

After the party, it's time for a nap (with a book of course)

She woke up just in time to say good-bye to Venice

She LOVED playing in this window and would jump from the window to the bed

Bye Venice!

This was such an amazing port to leave from. We had such a cool bird's eye view of Venice. 

The kids had a primo spot too. 

Look at all the boats!

Views of Venice from our ship

BARI, ITALY

Our first stop was in Southern Italy

Be warned - don't drive your car into the water! 

The streets of Bari

Snuggling with her blankie

I love hanging out with dad!

The Adriatic Sea behind us

First formal night dinner on the cruise

RHODES, GREECE

Doesn't she make a great statue?

I was surprised by how many Greek Americans lived here

Gotta love the crocs!


YUMMY Greek Food
Authentic Gyros!!

Greek Gelato

 

Greek to me!

 

What a beautiful view!

 

ATHENS, GREECE

We hired a taxi driver to take us around the city. Here's a view of the Peace and Friendship stadium.

Bergs and Prices

Excited to see Athens

Such an old city! 

The Acropolis is the hill behind us - can you see the Parthenon?

The top left picture shows the ancient ground level. I didn't realize cities had these until I traveled Europe. Did you know cities literally get built up over time because of all the dirt and what not? Verona, Italy is another place I noticed this. You can't tell in the picture but it's a LONG ways down.
I also thought it was funny that on the market streets there were chairs lined up in the middle of the road for the shop owners to sit outside.

Temple of Zeus

Streets of Athens

That weird graffiti face was also graffitied on signs in my hometown. What is it!?

 

Taking a rest...in front of a cool door of course ;)


The Olympic Stadium in Athens

Changing of the Guards

We got to the palace just in time to see the changing of the guards

I loved the skirts and the pom-poms on the shoes!

And do you know any other guys that can lift their leg that high?

The Acropolis

There are SO many ancient ruins, they are just piled on top of each other.
It's also quite a hike up so it has great views of Athens.

This used to be some kind of theatre.

Random cool columns

So amazing to think people could have made and built these so long ago
Some were so offset they looked like they could tumble

THE PANTHEON

Prices and Bergs in front of the Parthenon at last!

It was a bit surreal to see the Pantheon in person. It's something I'd always wanted to see, but never thought I would. I had to pinch myself.

Here comes trouble...

Kelsey and Abram kept picking up the gravel and putting it on this bench. We were so enthralled with seeing the Parthenon we didn't pay too much attention. Well it wasn't long until we were scolded for it. For some weird reason they don't want their millions of visitors moving the dirt around these historically significant buildings.

Only minutes after being scolded, Kelsey ran under the barrier. Have you ever tried to coax a 1 1/2 year old out of ancient ruins? I finally had to go in there and get here. I was glad not to get scolded again. ;)

Hmm...what can I do to get in the most amount of trouble in the least amount of time?

The Erechtheum
I remember studying this in my high school and college textbooks. The Porch of the Caryatids (ladies behind us holding up the roof) is very memorable. Those are actually replicas! The Greek broke part of the roof while trying to restore them (and all the pollution in Athens was ruining them) so they took the real ones to a museum and put up these replicas.

One thing that opened my eyes being here was how much the rest of the world STOLE from Greece! One of the reasons a lot of it looks so ruined is because of centuries of wars, looting, etc. It's amazing to me that we saw some of the original art from Athens in Rome and France.

After a relatively hot day in Athens (I can't imagine going in the SUMMER!?), we headed back to the boat. The kids actually did a good job hanging in there for us, though the riding in the backpack seemed to be the coveted ride. Luckily, our taxi driver picked us up before we got to the bottom so we didn't have to walk as long! It was a great hike up, obviously worth it. Oh, and did I mention it was FREE to go up? It only is on rare occasions and I guess we got lucky.





ARGOSTOLI, CEFELONIA, GREECE
Despite my sour attitude about NOT going to an island with white buildings/blue roofs, we had some fun. I felt like it was a wasted stop b/c the beaches were on the other side of the island, an expensive taxi ride leaving not enough time on the beach. I guess that's what you get with an Italian cruise line ;0. The natives seemed equally unhappy that we were there. We walked around the town, looked at all the shops, tried to find a rental car shop - didn't find one until we were already heading back to the boat, ate baklava and other tasty treats, and and that was about it. We tried to find Gyros for lunch but weirdly enough NO RESTAURANTS SOLD THEM. They must not be from this region or something.

Drive up gas station, shopping streets, cool boat, COOP in Greece?, Farmer's Market, beautiful landscapes, the Park?, cute kids shops, local florist

Is that a blue roof I see?, baklava, more cute kids shoes!

Our ship

We were dressed for some beach tim

Kelsey got so much attention walking through the streets in her little Mexican dress

We had to tender out to the island in these boats

A "tender" kiss
Instead of laying out on the beach we laid out on the ship! The kids loved playing in the pools and we loved laying out. Tal took Kels for awhile while I read a book about Florence.

Formal night

Our friends, Jessi & Jacob. Eating with kids and having 5 courses was a bit challenging but I think we managed great! I can't imagine if we'd already had Aiden...
Our waiter, Franklin
Every night they would bring the kids a scoop of ice cream for dessert. The first pic is when she saw the waiter bringing it out and the second is her anxiously awaiting. It looks like she's saying, PLEASE!?

DUBROVNIK, CROATIA

I love this picture

Isn't Abram such a handsome boy!

Kelsey's Croatian Flute

Not a bad view of Dubrovnik & the Adriatic

Bus ride back to the boat

Bye bye Dubrovnik! Hugs to Chloé 


Pulling back into Venice

It was cool to see Venice without all the people! From afar...


We had an amazing time and only wish we could go back this year ;). Thanks for inviting us Bergs, we cherish this trip and are so glad we did it together. When's the next one!?


Memorable things from the trip:
-Jessi taught me how to knit
-we took turns watching each others' kids so we could enjoy a night out
-Jessi and I going to a cooking class on the ship - ha!
-saving high chairs
-Italian pizza


I know there is so much more - Jessi, Jacob, Tally PLEASE email me with more!! I'm going to bed.