Blowies

We took a picnic up to Pride Rock this Saturday. The dandelions are in full bloom, with a few changing into "blowies." Brooke proved to be a true flower girl searching out every single one! She easily could have spent the entire day in that field.

Climbing Pride Rock, pretending to be lions, and practicing pouncing in the tall grass.

Ever since spring (and the dandelions) have hit Switzerland, this girl's nose has been yellow.

Masked Crusader Rescues Princess Chiquita Banana

Easter Weekend

For once we spent a four-day weekend at home. Despite not having any travel plans, we had a very full agenda, including:

an Easter egg hunt

eating chocolate until we were sick

racing homemade boats in the stream

playing with Polly Pockets

building a Lego tower to the ceiling

going for walks to the "farm" by our house

collecting snails for a snail party

a costume / dance party

feeding the ducks

a paddle boat ride on the Zugersee
and of course, fighting bad guys.

Kinder Zoo

Pony rides, train rides, ice cream, animals to feed. Does it get any better than the Kinder Zoo in Rapperswil? Notice the kids still won't give up their ski goggles, even though mom has packed away the ski gear for the season.

Why Spring is Great...

You can ski in the morning...

...and ride bikes in the afternoon.

A little bit of this and that...

for the past 14 weeks...

a few people have told me that each pregnancy gets a little harder: maybe it's age, maybe it's that other little ones require so much care and energy, maybe they just do. regardless the reason, this pregnancy is nothing like my other two were. i blame the nausea on the killer flu bug i had the entire first month, but the pure exhaustion seems endless. it is miraculous that my kids get clothed and fed everyday and that i scrounge together the 6 fulls meals i have to eat everyday. multiple times i have referred to myself as a waste of a human being (besides the incredible miracle in my belly, of course). despite it all, here are a few things i manage to do every day, without fail:

poke a straw through three vanilla yogurts (instant yogurt drink for little fingers)
change at least one stinky diaper
empty a fully kiddie potty (this is more like 10 times a day)
take a nap
eat cottage cheese
drink a dr. pepper
take a prenatal vitamin
put on at least one movie
read stories with matthew
tickle andrew
dance princess songs with brooke
hug and kiss all three of my babies
tell my husband i love him

and here are a few things that i don't do everyday anymore:
get dressed
get my kids dressed
shower
leave the house
check my email (apologies to everyone that i still have not responded to)
do the dishes
pick up the toys

i'm hopeful that the 2nd trimester will bring more energy, but as my swiss doctor so blatantly puts it: "you have three kids and are pregnant. you may be tired for the rest of your life." his pluses are he was able to discover the gender at only 12 weeks. here are some pics of our little baby boy:

Bern (21.03.09)

We finally made it to Bern for a full day in the city. We saw the bears, the beautiful buildings and the cute shops.

Top left photo: Matthew wanted to walk the entire town. It made for slower going than desired, but with Andrew and Brooke asleep in the stroller, we enjoyed Bern with no rush.
Top right photo: Finally, on the walk back to the car, Matthew crashed on top of the stroller. We had to document it just to show yet another way we can carry a child on our incredible stroller.

Chamonix, France

After last year's experience in Chamonix, we felt the need to return to redeem ourselves, this time just the two of us.

Day 1: Sunshine, good skiing, great food. Viva la France!

Note in the picture with Anthony you can see Chamonix in the valley below, with Mont Blanc above (right)

Day 2: Anthony skied the Vallee Blanche...

(1) The halfway point on the Aiguille du Midi tram (2) the view from the bridge at the top (3) view of the start of the Vallee Blanche (4) the ridgeline descent (5) panorama - note the Matterhorn in the far horizon (6) looking back up the ridgeline at the top of the Aiguille du Midi (7) inside the Vallee Blanche (8) glacier (9) more glacier

(1) view down the Vallee where the confluence of glaciers forms the Mer de Glace (2 - 6) glaciers (7) les Grands Montets (8) the hike out of the Vallee - an unexpected surprise (9) fin

Day 2: ...meanwhile, back in town Ashley enjoys shopping, great food, reading in the sun, and shopping

Family Photos

These are my favorites from our family photo shoot last November in Old Town Zug. It's been a while, but I just realized I never posted them. For those of you who didn't get your Christmas cards (which were quite a few), Merry Christmas!

Thanks to Jenny Tomlinson, our photographer.

Our news

Four kids under four coming this September 25th.
Brooke wants a sister, because she already has brothers. Andrew is convinced it is boy and his name will be Anakin Skywalker. Matthew points to his belly button and says, "baby!"

Ski School

Lesson 1: Starting small in our house: "French fries: Fast. Pizza: Slow. Ice cream cone: Crash."

Lesson 2: Graduating to a hill near our house: "Can you take the skies off so I can eat snow?"

God Bless America!

Here is the marathon post of our marathon trip to the States. We were there almost a full six weeks and were able to do everything we had wanted: Christmas, family, cousins, friends, shopping, eating (Chipotle x6) and relaxing. With all the amazing trips we take through Europe, this was our first actual vacation since moving, and it was perfect! Thank you so much to all of the wonderful people who made such an effort to be with us over our visit. We love and miss you all!

Christmas in St George with Grandma & Grandpa

Christmas in Provo with Anthony's family. The kids opened so many presents over different days that they got to the point where they would ask "Is it Christmas again today?" Cousins (an entirely new concept to them) became the greatest thing.


Uncle Aaron scores big with a Barbie. Notice the joy when Brooke opens it... and the fear when cousin Kai tries to take it away.

Staying at Chateau de Bangerter (my sister's house) and playing lots of Rock Band. She is the oldest Woodbury child and I am the youngest, but we couldn't be any closer. And neither could our kids (more cousins!).

Swiss reunion

Unfortunately, this is the only photo documentation I have of our Kellogg Reunion. Fortunately, it is a priceless video.

Back to sunny St. George. But where's the sun? It's not supposed to be freezing here.

The daily joy of being at Grandma and Grandpa's house. All three kids were so content here, there was no adjustment at all...they just settled right into their new diggs and were so happy.

The St. George temple. They would point it out every time we were in the car, so we thought a visit was only fitting. Brooke loved looking at all the white princesses (three brides in the hour+ visit we had there), Andrew learned a tough new word: Resurrection. Matthew just ran around the whole place shouting "Jesus, Jesus" in his happiest voice.

Hiking in the red rocks. These kids were amazing climbers, I was really impressed.

A little more St. George and a little Las Vegas. On the tail end of our trip, we stayed at my brother's house in Las Vegas. Andrew and Brooke share cousin Tanner's love for most things Disney (notice Buzz & Woody). Fancy cupcakes, Wall-E, Hoover Dam and feeding some incredibly hungry fish wrapped up our perfect trip.

London, England

We've planed another trip to London this summer. This time we'll be taking the kids and the furniture.