Trip to Utah

It's been 6 months since Emmett was diagnosed with obstructive sleep apnea and started wearing oxygen while he sleeps. We still don't know what is causing the obstruction. So back to Utah we go for a follow up sleep study. We needed to be in Utah by noon on Friday to meet with the pulmonologist first.

Thursday after work we drove to my parents house to sleep, it broke up the drive to Utah a little better. We didn't have to leave quite as early.

On Friday, we met with Dr. Daftary. He went through what he thought should happen on this visit, versus what the "Boise" doctors thought should happen, and then he asked Scott and I "as the parents" what we thought should happen. I wanted Emmett to have the same type of sleep study that he did 6 months ago, so that we could compare the results. I felt like if we varied from the test at all, we wouldn't have accurate results telling us in fact that he still does have apnea, it is worse, it is better, or better yet it is gone! Dr. Daftary agreed and Emmett had the study done exactly the same way.

Emmett and I reported back to Primary Children's Hospital at 8pm Friday night. Scott stayed with the rest of the kids at the hotel. I kept Emmett from taking naps through out the day so he would be tired and go right to sleep for the test. As the nurses were "hooking" him up, he just sat there. Which surprised me, I thought he would be grabbing everything they stuck to him, but because he was so tired, he didn't. Emmett slept pretty well and was ready to get up at 6am. The nurses came in, took the wires off, cleaned him up, and sent us on our way. We won't know the results for 2 weeks.

Here is Emmett ready for the sleep study.










Saturday: After getting back at the hotel around 7 this morning, I crawled into bed and Emmett went to sleep in the pack-n-play. The rest of the family slept in until around 8:30am. Then we were up and off to meet with our accountant and visit friends.

Today we had lunch with one of my mission companions and her husband. They were visiting from Texas. Karen's husband had a mission reunion last night. Karen and I were companions 17 years ago in Montgomery Alabama. We had the best time together. Our birthdays are both in March, so we were able to celebrate them together. Here is a picture of us together on our mission and 17 years later, married and each with 4 children. Love you Karen!





It was a quick trip to Utah and back. Now we wait for the results of Emmett's test.

10 day spring break for the kids...

Our kids had an assignment while we were gone to Europe, they needed to take pictures and document all the fun things they were doing with grandma and grandpa.

How do you tell your parents (your kids' grandparents) THANK YOU? We have been so blessed with my parents living close by. Fortunately they are retired and are able to support the kids' every sporting event, dance recital, Emmett hospital stay and babysit while we vacation. Mom and dad, Thank you and we love you!

Journal by Garhett:

Day 1: Opening day of soccer. Trent scored 3 goals!










Paige at our house













Having fun at Grandma and Grandpa's!!!











Day 8: Playing at indoor play land in Twin Falls













Day 9: We went fishing and we caught 6 fish! Paige was so funny. She was the first to catch a fish. When she reeled it in and saw it, she screamed and ran.













Everything between pretty much stunk! The weather was cold, snowy and rainy the whole time mom and dad were gone.

Day 10: Saying good-bye to Europe

So today we say good-bye to Paris, all of Europe, and our new found friends. Today we head home to Boise. Our flight out of Paris is at 10:50am, but because everyone is so paranoid with International Travel, our wake up call was at 6am, our transporter picked us up at the hotel at 7am, and we were to the airport at 7:30am. By the time we got checked in and through 2 sets of security, we were to our gate at 8:30am. Only to find out that our flight was delayed until 11:30am, so we still had 3 hours to wait. Oh the joy!!!














We boarded our flight out of Paris bound for Cincinnati, Ohio. A 9 hour flight. So after a snack and a drink, I pulled the eye covers over my eyes and slept. Knowing this was going to be my last peaceful sleep before arriving home and becoming a mom again. Because of our delay in leaving Paris, we arrived late in Cincinnati, which cut our layover time in half. Now we had to hurry through customs, baggage, security and to our gate. We weren't sure where our gate was located in Cincinnati, all we knew was that we were late. So we came up the escalator, the heavens opened again, and gave us a miracle; our gate was at the top of the escalator and the attendants were holding the plane for us (once again). So we boarded. Onto Salt Lake for an hour layover, but we stay with the same plane, then onto Boise. We arrived in Boise at 9pm, or 3am Paris time.

The kids were awake and in the car to greet us. I am not sure they greeted us cause all I heard was, "What did you bring us?". So when we got to the house, we unpacked all the souvenirs and went through them with the kids. They loved it! That was it, we hugged, we put our PJ's on and climbed into bed.

Day 9: Day 2 in Paris

Today we had the whole day to explore Paris. We started the morning off with a day tour around the city and then a stop at the Eiffel Tower. What a different city Paris is during the day than at night. It is almost like they are two different cities.

We had a different tour guide for our city tour today. She was a native Paris woman who guided us. We saw similar sites as last night, but it was when Scott and I left the tour that we were able to see a lot more of Paris. Our tour guide gave us some valuable information when touring any of the sites, especially the Eiffel Tower. She told us that the gypsies will walk up to you and ask if you speak English, you are to say, "No, no" and they will walk away. If you say yes, then they will distract you enough to steel your possessions. It was the craziest thing. As we were walking (as a group) to the Eiffel Tower, sure enough, we had gypsies walking towards us, but they didn't ever stop. They would brush against you and whisper in your ear while passing, "Speak English?". We would say "no no" and continue to walk. You didn't make eye contact with them either, that was a dead give away that they would stop and harass you. I felt so bad for this one girl, who spoke English to this gypsy guy, she tried to walk away and he would corner her at every direction to get her money. She finally raised her voice and yelled "I don't have any money" and started to cry. I walked by her and told her that she needs to say "no no" and not look at them. She caught up with her friends, and I don't think she'll be looking or talking to them for the rest of her vacation.

On to the Eiffel Tower, as a part of our package, we were able to go the second floor of the Tower. I was reading that you were able to go to the top as well. I am not a big fan of heights, but I figured since we are here, what a chance of a lifetime, so we decided to go to the top. We told our tour guide that we wouldn't be getting back on the bus, that we were going to go on our own for the remainder of the day. So as soon as we got to the second level, we purchased tickets for the top floor and got into line. Ken, one of the guys in our group, went to the top last night and said that he waited in line for 2 hours to get to the top. So once we got our tickets, we figured we should hurry and get into line. We made it through the line and to the top of the tower in 30 minutes. It was awesome. I have included a video from the top of the tower.


After the Eiffel Tower, we decided to walk over to the Arc de Triomphe. The Arc de Triomphe is a monument that stands in the centre of the Place Charles de Gaulle. The triumphal arch honors those who fought for France, particularly during the Napoleonic Wars. On the inside and the top of the arc there are all of the names of generals and wars fought. Underneath is the tomb of the unknown soldier from World War I.

The street that surrounds the Arc, has 12 different streets arriving into one round about. It is the most kaotic thing I have ever seen, our tour guide said the only thing you need to do is look to the right. She said nothing else matters. As we watched the traffic flow around the round about, there were no accidents, a lot of horns, but everyone who looked to the right flowed smooth. I would have terrible road rage if I was driving around that round about. As we crossed under the street to the Arc de Triomphe, we decided to climb to the top. So in a very steep spiral concrete stair case, Scott and I climbed 284 steps to the top. Here is how Scott felt when he got to the top.













After the Arc, we took the Metro train over to Notre Dame Cathedral and walked through the church. I have to say they have amazing Cathedrals. We walked over to the Louvre. The Louvre Museum, is a historic monument, and a national museum of France. Nearly 35,000 objects from the 6th millennium BC to the 19th century AD are exhibited over an area of 652,300 square feet. It shows Leonardo da Vinci's Mona Lisa.
















It was getting to late in the day so we decided to head back to the hotel. We ran into some others from the group. One set wwas going to dinner and invited us along. They were going to a spendy French restaurant. Scott didn't want to do that. Another group was going to Moulin Rouge at $200 a ticket, Scott definitely wasn't going to do that. So we decided to go with a few others to an Italian restaurant.

Our last night in Paris and our last night on our European vacation. Words can't convey how much Scott and I have enjoyed this vacation. We have seen and visited places that we never dreamed we would. We have met some wonderful people along the way. I have missed the kids terribly and am ready to see them.

au revoir et salut (good-bye and take care)

Day 8: Paris, France

Woke up early this morning, have a long day of travel on the bus. We are getting use to the bus travel now. Everyone changes up their seats, talks more, and jokes around. Ken has managed to supply everyone with the booze to ease the pain of sitting on the bus. There were a few that stayed liquored up for most of each bus ride. We found out on this last leg of our bus travels, that Mario (our bus driver) is only allowed to drive 2.5 hours at a time, then has to take a mandatory 45 min break. Are you kidding me? That means our already long 9 hour travel day is going to be that much longer. I guess Mario's company governs the bus and knows how long he drives, how fast he drives, and how long he takes a break. Everyone was talking about their own travels and how long they drive before taking a break. We push 4-6 hours before taking a break and our kids have been doing that since their life began. I guess our talking about it rubbed off on Mario, because he pushed on for 3 hours before taking his first break and then another before the 2nd. Go Mario! The trip moved along that much faster.

We arrived in Paris around 5pm and had a little time before our "City of Lights" dinner and city tour, so Scott and I walked around near the hotel. What a perfect way to end a fabulous tour of Europe - Paris!

Tonight we had a perfect introduction to Paris! After a full-course French dinner that took a full 2 hours to enjoy, Elzo showed us Paris at night (City of Lights). We ate at a little quaint restaurant just across the street from the Notre Dame Cathedral. Next to the restaurant was a souvenir shop that just opened and had the best deals on merchandise. So during the before dinner drinks, we snuck over to the shop (we thought it would be okay, since we didn't drink). We scored on shirts, hats, Eiffel tower souvenirs, and what not! I know our first night, we haven't even done the city and we were already done with our souvenir shopping for the kids!

After dinner, we loaded on the coach and drove through the city. What a magnificent city of lights. Words can't even begin to express how beautiful the city is at night. We made our way over to the Eiffel Tower which is lit up at night. The rain had started to come down, by the time we pulled up to the tower, but we didn't care. The Tower has flickering lights that come on at 9pm, 10pm and 11pm. We were there for the 10pm flickering lights that stay on for a total of 5 minutes. Scott was able to get some fabulous pictures.

What a fantastic night we had tonight. I am looking forward to more of Paris tomorrow.

Day 7: Lucerne, Switzerland

Second Day in Lucerne:
Today we are taking a cable car up one of the Swiss Mountains. As our bus pulled up to the bottom of the mountain, the workers notified us that they just closed the mountain. It was unsafe for anyone to go up, due to the rain, snow, and ice combination on the cable. Luckily we had another option, a different mountain. The mountain we are going to now, you go up on a train instead of a cable car. Our group loaded onto a private rail car. As we trudged up the mountainside, the snow became thicker and heavier. As we reached the top of the mountain the winds were blowing and the snow was falling so hard. We were planning on staying at the top of the mountain for an hour; to play in the snow, have a snack, or sit in the hotel cafe for a bit. The weather was a lot worse than Elzo thought it would be, we found that the hotel was closed, so when he stepped off the train, he quickly said in his Dutch accent, "Okay we are going to take the next train back down, so you have 15 minutes." That was fine with us, we live in the snow, it's way over rated!!!

We got back around lunch time. Scott and I went straight to the room and took a nap, while I think everyone else went shopping. A bunch of us from the group met later in the lobby to go to dinner at this Italian restaurant. The food was so good. After dinner, we did a little more shopping. Scott found a Rolex watch for $103,000 franks (which equates to $206,000 US dollars). Every country and city we have gone to, I have tasted the best croissants. One of the streets we were walking down had a huge croissant outside of the bakery, couldn't resist taking my picture.

Tonight is our last night in Switzerland, so Ken one of the guys on our tour, he is our city guide in every town we arrive in. Ken goes out and finds the hot spots, the good restaurants, and the cheap booze, then he tells the group what we are doing that night. So tonight, we are going to the disco!!! Switzerland has been the only country where smoking is allowed anywhere and everywhere. So the disco we went to tonight was filled with smoke. Our group (the dumb Americans), were the only ones out on the dance floor dancing. We didn't care. The DJ played Michael Jackson, and quite a bit of 70's and 80's. We had a lot of fun! We didn't care how late we stayed out tonight because tomorrow we are going to be on the bus a long time. Apparently it is quite a drive from Switzerland to Paris France. That's okay, I get to sleep (catch up on the lack of sleep for the past 15 months). I am excited to go to Paris tomorrow.

Day 6: Heidleberg to Lucerne, Switzerland

From Cindi:

This morning we woke up to a rainy day. The sun was trying to peek through the clouds. We had our breakfast at the hotel and then loaded onto the coach, off to Switzerland today.

Two hours into our drive we arrived at the Black Forest in Germany. We were up in the mountains, surrounded by beautiful trees. So the rain we had earlier today has now changed to snow. We were able to get off the bus at the Black Forest to take pictures and do a little shopping. The Black Forest is known for it's wood craftsmanship, especially cuckoo clocks. Apparently in this town most of the people are farmers and since they can't farm in the winter months, they carve wood into clocks and other gadgets. There were some beautiful clocks.

Back on the bus and head for Switzerland. Our next stop around noon was at Rhine Falls, Switzerland. It was snowing at Rhine Falls when we first got off the bus, but then the sun came out. The falls were beautiful.

After the falls, we were back on the bus to Lucerne, Switzerland. We will stay two nights in Lucerne. When we arrived, Elzo took us into town right away to get us familiar with the area.

We saw a cool Lion carved in the side of a stone mountain. We then walked across a bridge on the way to our hotel. There was a stone tower next to the bridge, the lower half of the tower was in the water. Apparently, the tower used to be a prison and they would put prisoners in the bottom of the tower who were "bad". We finished our walk and ended at the hotel. Checked in and had dinner as a group tonight at the hotel. Did a little shopping and then turned in for the evening.