Paris - the City of Light

The Third Installment:

We knew a trip to Europe wouldn't be complete without seeing Paris, so we jumped in the car and headed to Paris for a couple of days.

It was a long drive to Paris from Germany, especially with all 3 of us crammed in the back seat, but we knew it was worth it!

After arriving in Paris at about 6:30 at night, checking into our hotel, and figuring out the metro system, we finally headed into the city. And the very first thing we saw, as the subway came out of a tunnel to cross the river was...the Eiffel Tower! I screamed instantly and totally embarrassed everyone - it was great!

We met up with our French friend, Brigitte first thing in the morning and headed to the Louvre.

We saw the surprisingly small Mona Lisa and the Venus de Milo - 2 of the most famous pieces of art that the Louvre has to offer.

We made sure to touch "Point Zero" in front of Notre Dame where, legend has it, if you touch it, you will return to Paris sometime in your life. We made sure to touch every inch of that thing, just in case!!

Our boat tour on the Sienne was a hit - it was something that none of the group had ever done before and we all LOVED it! I'd recommend it to anyone!

Our last stop before the sun went down was Sacre-Coeur and Montmartre - the highest point in Paris. It had an amazing view of the entire city and was PACKED with people!

Brigitte's daughter, Lucille made reservations for us at a fun French restaurant. We made quite the group - 9 people from 4 different countries! The French - Brigitte, Lucille, and Eddie, The Germans - Martin, Susi, and Dean, The Americans - Brad and Becky, and the Vietnamese - Ahn!

We closed out the night at the Arc de Triomphe and Champs Elysses (the Rodeo Drive of Paris). We were a little late to get good pictures (it was past midnight), but it was still a sight to see!

Our German Surprise Party

The Second Installment:

After spending a few days with Brigitte in the Heidelberg area, we drove back to Martin and Susi's via the scenic route. It was gorgeous!

This is in Dilsburg, a cute little town with an amazing view of the entire Neckar Valley.

Brad and Brigitte at the fort in Dilsburg. It was operational back in the 11th century - crazy!
After a long drive, we arrived back in Trochtelfingen to find...A SURPRISE PARTY!

A few of "My Germans" from the program last summer got together to surprise us. Some of them traveled up to 4 hours each way to be there! They went all out - there was tons of food, adorable decorations, and a cute welcome banner, to boot!

After some chit-chat and catching up, we went out to eat at the local restaurant. Brad ordered pizza - in Germany of all places!! I can't take that boy anywhere!

We finished off the night with a fun game of soccer in the park and then went back to Dean's to reminisce and make new memories. It was the perfect surprise!!!

We're Baaaack!!!

The first installment:

We just got back from the trip of a lifetime! We went to Germany and France for a little over a week and had the time of our lives. We got to stay with our German friends and met up with our French friend for the day in Paris. All in all, it was heavenly! ;)

We had amazing hosts! This is their beautiful home in Trochtelfingen, Germany.
Brad's favorite - Schloss Lichtenstein. He sang about it the entire trip!

Schloss Neuschwanstein - the most famous castle in Germany (the one the Disneyland castle is modeled after!).

We fell in love with the castle grounds in Schwetzingen, Germany.

Heidelberg, Germany is gorgeous!

We had a beautiful day in Strausbourg, France with Brigitte and Dominik.

A Very Spoiled Birthday Girl!

It was a great birthday from start to finish! Lots of flowers and presents in the morning, church in the afternoon, and a night with friends and family - what more could a girl want???

Forgive the PJs picture - Brad insisted on this one! ;)

I got to eat my favorite breakfast - sticky buns and orange julius!

Leave it to my mom to spoil me rotten and make sure that everyone at our Oscar Pot-Luck knew it was my birthday, too!

The Jessops and the Oylers

The Crocketts, the Changs, and the Vargas

My dad and the Hardings

My mom went crazy with the dessert options: strawberry short cake, funfetti cupcakes, and chocolate covered strawberries...YUM!!

Yep, 29 looks to be a good year!

Our French Visitor!

Last Saturday, our French guest arrived and will be here for 2 weeks. Her name is Brigitte and she is fantastic! We've had so much fun having her in our home with us and love showing her around! Hooray for foreigners!

On her first day here, we went for a walk at Salt Creek Beach and just missed the sunset! Bummer! But it was still a beautiful walk!

We had a great time at Grauman's Chinese Theatre in Hollywood, despite the drizzle!


After spending some time with the crazies in Hollywood, we had to show her the elite lifestyle of Beverly Hills, 90210!

And, of course, we had to hit up Rodeo Drive!

Brad and Brigitte living the high life on "Via Rodeo"

Then, on Sunday, we took her on our favorite walk - Badlands Park.

Our bean is now a baby!

Here's the profile!!! Word is it looks just like BRAD! ;)

(Who knew my husband is an alien??? JK!)

Wow! It actually looks like a baby! I got to see and hear its heart beat, watch it kick and punch, and thoroughly enjoy all 45 minutes of the ultrasound. Turns out our baby takes after Brad - very stubborn! I had to do all sorts of jumpingjacks, situps, etc to try to get it to move in the right direction! Totally worth it!!!

We're going to GERMANY!!!

Last summer I coordinated and taught a German Exchange Student program for 20 German students and one leader. We had an AMAZING 4 weeks together - packed with everything fun you can possibly imagine! Well, since we're about to be parents and our lives will change forever, we figured the time was NOW to go visit "My Germans". We just booked our tickets last week and we'll be spending April 2 -12 in Germany (and maybe France, too). We can't wait for this trip of a lifetime!!!