Happy Thanksgiving...2 Days Late

As Thanksgiving is an American holiday, it is not celebrated here in Switzerland. However, that doesn't stop the American's here from going all out. And this year, around 60 people RSVP'd. I did a turkey, yams for 12, and 2 pumpkin pies. After about 10 hours of straight cooking, even our oven was tired. I cooked the yams last and somehow, they didn't turn out. I must have missed a step - but oh well - we had one of the turkeys and had to leave. I put Kelsey in her new Thanksgiving dress and adorable Janie & Jack shoes. Then as I went to put her in the car seat and I hear a big rumble down under if you know what I mean. I went to change her and it was record-breaking explosion of poo, all over her perfectly planned outfit. I changed her, salvaged the dress and off we went. Tal handed me the yams to hold in the car so they didn't spill. About 10 minutes from home, we went up a hill and I suddenly felt warm, sticky liquid creeping up my leg and around my butt. Fortunately or unfortunately, our friend Josh had forgotten to go to the store to bring his butter and jam so we stopped along the way and I managed to find paper towels in the men's bathroom (that's because not a lot of men here wash their hands - gross!). It was a hectic start to our Thanksgiving feast but I couldn't have done it without Tally. He even stayed up until 3am to take the last pie out of the oven. Lucky for him the BYU Basketball game was on. Anyway, we had a button-popping good meal and had a really good time hanging out with our friends here.

This is only part of the line of people. Our friend Jenny put this whole thing together and we had it at a school cafeteria.

Now you might say a good nap was in store after this crazy turkey feast but instead, we got all hyped up for the BYU GAME!! We left the school and went over to our friends house to watch. Tally brought our laptop with Slingbox and we hooked it up. About 20 people came over after the dinner and we fully invaded their house! It was fun to cheer on the Cougs with a crowd of fans. We only had one Ute at the party but deep down he bleeds blue so he was allowed to come. :) It was a painful game to watch until the last 5 minutes. I about to go into depression mode when Kelsey woke up. I went in one of the bedrooms to feed her and I came out to everyone cheering! I ran out to see BYU pull ahead and make the game-winning touchdown. It was a wonderful sight to behold. Once again, Kelsey cried when everyone cheered but she'll get used to it ;).


Tal and "Kelso," Tally's little boy.

Some of the guys anxiously waiting for the game to begin

Kelsey and Matthew. One day she'll be swooning over him...

Sometimes I Just Watch You

Sometimes I Just Watch You
In awe
I should, could, would
dishes
laundry
phone call
blogging
But instead I just hold you
And watch
As though I've never seen a baby
This smart
This smiley
With bright-eyed curiosity
And I savor
Every laugh to your single audience
A twinge of guilt that I get you all to myself
I'm mommy

Tagged: Me & My Other Half

I was tagged by my friend Ashley, so here goes. I tag anyone who hasn't done this in awhile. It ended up being fun!

What is his name? Talmadge Layton Price - yes, they are all towns in Utah, although that's not the reason he's named those names. His mom liked the name Talmadge and Layton is after his grandpa who is not from Utah and was not born LDS.

How long have you been together? We're coming up on our 5 year mark this summer.

Who eats more? It's a tie. Yep, I eat a lot and he doesn't eat that much for a guy.

Who said I love you first? He did :)

Who is taller? He beats me by almost a foot.

Who sings better? Neither one of us is very good but I love to sing. Once I made him sing a duet with me at our family gathering. It wasn't good, but maybe sweet? We sing to Kelsey all the time though. Tally makes up songs as he goes and he's actually really good at that.

Who is smarter? It depends on the subject. I'm better at German but he's smart about investments and math. I suck at math.

Who does the laundry? I do mostly now but he used to do it a lot when we both worked. He still brings it up from the basement for me sometimes (we share a laundry room with one other tenant who always leaves his boxers in the dryer).

Who does the dishes? Funny you should ask. He says that when we were dating I said I'd do the dishes and he'd vacuum. What really happened was that I said I prefered the dishes to vacuuming. HOWEVER, I did not agree to a lifetime of dishes. They need to be done at least 3x per day and vacuuming only happens 2x per week. However, I do end up doing the dishes most of the time but he mops the floors. I hate mopping.

Who sleeps on the right side of the bed? Right or left doesn't matter for us. I always sleep next to the door. It used to be because I got up to go to the bathroom. Now it's convenient with the baby. So right now I sleep to Tally's right but we may switch our room around which would put me to the left.

Who pays the bills? He does. To pay bills here, you have to go to the bank and use a multimat machine where you put your bill in the machine and it takes it out of your account. It's pretty cool but I've actually never done it. I've only watched.

Who mows the lawn? We don't have a lawn and haven't our whole marriage! IF we did have a lawn he would do it.

Who cooks dinner? I usually come up with the idea and make sure we have all the food. I set it out and start before he gets home however with the baby, he usually ends up cooking the majority of it.

Who drives when you are together? He does, I prefer to be the passenger.

Who is more stubborn? He is. But I can be about certain things.

Who is the first to admit when they're wrong? I am. He would say it's because he's always right but we all know that's not true.

Whose parents do you see the most? When we lived in Salt Lake we lived with his parents for a time and then right down the street however since we moved to Switzerland, we've seen my sister, cousin & parents.

Who kissed who first? Tally, on the second or third "hang out" after tutoring me in Spanish. After he left, I ran and slid across the kitchen floor and into my awaiting roommates. It was comical.

Who proposed? He did on Easter weekend with an "egg hunt." We ended up at a mountain peak in Provo and it was very romantic. It's one of the few times I've seen Tally emotional.

Who is more sensitive? I am. See above.

Who has more siblings? He does by 2. He's the youngest of 5, I'm the oldest of 3.

Who wears the pants in the family? It depends what it's about. I take charge about the house, he's in charge of finances. Like Sandra, we each have a leg and walk side by side.

Ballerina Verse

Two Months Already!

Update on Nov. 17th: I hope I don't jinx this but....SHE SLEPT THROUGH THE NIGHT! At least what I would consider night. She slept from 10pm until 5:15am. I only wish I hadn't waited up until 1am thinking she'd wake up! I so hope this lasts and just gets longer. I started "cluster feeding" before bedtime about 3 days ago and she slept 6 hours the first 2 nights and now 7. I definitely have a "textbook baby" for all you Baby Whisperers out there. I'm such a lucky mom. I'm sure the second child will be a terror. Here's some pics over the past week or so.

Our friends Niina & Marko and their daughter Wilma came over tonight to "celebrate" (actually we just had dinner, dessert, and good conversation). At times the girls had crying competitions but mostly they were pretty good. One day they'll actually notice eachother and maybe even interact! ;) Well the adults had fun anyway, though their idea of fun has changed a bit in the past few months. It was fun to swap newborn stories and look forward to more fun memories with the Wuorinens.


Niina set the table and taught me how to do that cool thing with the napkins. Oragami 101! My table has never looked so good.


The proud papas giving the mamas a break


Isn't Wilma so sweet!


Kelsey and Wilma "playing"


Finally, a decent picture of me and Niina!


Family Photo

First Snow at Our House

Not the Best Ideas We've Ever Had...

First idea. Taking a drive to see fall leaves.
What went wrong? Winter came a day too soon.
Here's the scoop. On Friday, we went for a drive to see all the fall leaves. Unfortunately, the storm the night before stripped many of the trees of their colorful leaves. Then, on our way back home, it started SNOWING!! It didn't stick but it was Kelsey's first snow - not that she saw much of it! I can't say it was a total bust, we just should have done it sooner.
These are the trees right outside our house. You can see all the beautiful leaves one day, and barren trees the next.










Here are the fall pics we took on our drive. The top right was actually a few days before. Can you see the difference?

And here's us driving home in the snow!

Second idea. Taking visitors around Zurich
What went wrong? It was rainy, windy and cold - worst weather since we've been here.
Here's the scoop. On Saturday, Kevin and Marian Cheney from my old Agoura 1st ward came to Zurich on their way to Germany for a business trip. We picked them up from their hotel and took them to Grossmuenster. Despite our efforts to stay out of the elements, we got drenched. I had Kelsey in the Baby Bjorn with blankets and mittens and everything. She did well but she kept looking at me like, 'Mom, are you serious? What are you doing to me?' We all decided we'd had about enough of the cold so we dropped them off a their hotel and went home. We had such a great time visiting and wish we could have spent more time with them! . We should have just sat down in a restaurant and waited out the storm. Next time, right?



Third idea. Driving to Konstanz, Germany.
What went wrong? It was windy and rainy (we don't learn quickly). No PP for Kelsey.

Here's the story. On Sunday, we had a church conference in the North/Eastern part of Switzerland, about an hour away (mom & dad, we met Elder Eilen and he says hello, he's doing great). We decided to go up to Konstanz, Germany (only 15 min. further) to check it out because Kelsey and I had never been (Tal went with the young men to Europa Park). So, after our church meeting we headed up there. Once again, it was rainy, cold and wet. We crossed over the bridge where the Rhein flows into Lake Constance or "der Bodensee." Then we followed a road to the Bodensee and found a beautiful trail around the lake. We put Kels in the pram (she has a thick sleeping bag in there to keep her warm) and put the rain cover on the stroller. We didn't get far before we decided to stop, take a picture, and then head back home. The wind almost blew the rain cover off the stroller and as you can see, it was almost too windy for pictures. Tally decided the wind was perfect for a photoshoot though so we goofed around for a minute and then left. But not before taking a picture of Kelsey in Germany. That was the dumbest idea. Who takes their almost 2-month-old out of the stroller and into the rain for a picture? Don't worry, it was only for a second but she was pretty confused about what was going on. Poor thing! She's such a good sport! Oh, and we got stopped at the Swiss/German border (because Tally told me to roll down the window and take a picture of the flags - good shot though - NOT!). To make a long story short, we got away with showing them Kelsey's birth certificate and our receipt for her passport.

Oh yeah, and some of the signs, when read outloud, sound really bad if you speak English!

Faces of Kelsey

Here's a little collage for all you Kelsey fans out there...
She cracks us up with some of her facial expressions! The one with her smiling in the blue outfit with the bow is her passport picture. She's smiling more and more and we love it!

Here's a funny story too. We were watching the BYU game (live!) on Saturday night and when BYU made an interception, Tally screamed, "Ooooya!" Kelsey, who was just happily sitting in her bouncy chair, burst out into tears. I guess she got scared by the loud noise. Then today, when we were waking up from our morning nap (in my bed and yes I'm still trying to sleep when the baby sleeps), I yawned as I was stretching and she burst into tears again! It was so sad and cute at the same time. Usually she smiles when I yawn or sneeze - like I'm trying to imitate her or something. It's cute.

Fall In Switzerland

I took a drive to Zug (about a half hour South of us) to visit my friend Niina on Halloween with Kelsey. She has a baby just one month older than Kelsey. I worked right beside her at Goldman - both of us with our big bellies - and we became good friends. She's from Finland and talks to Kelsey in Finnish. Babies understand Finnish! Anyway, the drive to her house was beautiful with all the changing leaves. Unfortunately, I didn't get a pic while driving but Niina took a pic of Kelsey and me on our walk through Zug.


Here's Niina and her daughter Wilma when she was first born and Kelsey was still in my tummy.

Happy Halloween!

Although Halloween is celebrated in Switzerland, it's not a huge deal. They don't really have decorations you can buy from the store, no one (but the Americans) puts gravestones in their front yards, and kids don't really go trick-or-treating.

However, last Saturday, the Americans put on a Halloween activity for kids for anyone who wanted to come. I did a booth with my friend Jessi doing "Spooky Prints" where the kids could put their thumb on the ink pad, stamp it on a page, and then make a spider or pumpkin out of it. It turned out pretty cute. Kelsey let her friend Emily borrow her cow costume and she went with her pink nurse outfit so she could match her mom ;). She actually slept through the whole event - she sleeps better with noise.

Here's some of our festive friends

 

Last night for Halloween since I knew we wouldn't get any trick-or-treaters, Kels & I went to Young Men/Young Womens with Tally (he teaches the 12-18 year old boys at church and this is their activity night). Kelsey got to wear her cow costume and the kids thought she was pretty cute. We watched them carve pumpkins and make scary looking spaghetti & Rice Krispie Treats.

 

Here's Kelsey trying on different costumes to see which one she likes best.
Swiss cow (she's missing the bell)

Swiss Princess

Miss Piggy