Volcanic Ash =New Friends

So on Sunday a group of young girls walked in to sacrament meeting and Dan hardly noticed because his head was still swimming from his new calling;but my girls and the other American family sitting behind us noticed right away "THEY ARENT SPANISH" turns out they were some cute girls from the UK that we visiting Spain on "Holiday" and got stuck due to all the volcanic ash and planes being grounded. They were about to run out of money and had no idea how long before they would be able to make it home.
On Monday they came over with the Elders (We hosted P-day at our house) and helped cook up some USDA hamburgers and came back on Tuesday to stay with us. It was such a short stay but we enjoyed it. We did have rootbeer floats for a little American influance in thie Spanish vacation.They were so sweet and it was so fun to learn about the church in other places. I was also grateful for the example they showed my family of how when in need you can always find help in the church. It was a great blessing to have them and we would love to have them back any time!
Amber, Emma, and Louise; We hope you got home well and thank you for the blessings!

Bilbao ,Spain - Spring break stop #5

We chose a stoping spot mostly so we didnt have a full day of driving without seeing something interesting and stretching our legs at the same time.

We had a choice of a castel in Pamploma or a modern art museum in Bilbao. Everyone felt like they were about "casteled"out so we went to the museum...some things people call art!

We had fun and we stoped at a fun playground as well as there was a car show going on so Dan was pretty happy.

We had some good chinese food for lunch and then we were on the road again, headed home!

AHHH! Our beds felt good to get into!

Side note-

Often as Americans we have heard of the snooty french people. I want to go on the record as saying they were leaps and bounds nicer than the Spaniards! I am not just talking about Valencia, because when we were on the oposite side of Spain we knew imediatly we had crossed over into Spain!

Bordeaux, France-Spring break stop #4

So if you look at a map and see our travels at this point you will notice we drove up through the center of France (we did the othe corner last month...see entries for Carcasone & Arles) and now we are moving down the oposite side back towards Spain.

Bordeaux is famous for its wine and chocolate, but also for St. Catherine St. which is the longest shopping street in all of Europe!

We spent a little bit of time on this street, but needless to say while Logan, Tori and I loved it, Seth Paige and Dad were not having so much fun in and out of shoe shops and purse shops and clothes shops...oh well!

We headed for the beautiful river and there was a naval boat docked and Dad and seth had a great time checking that out while the girls and I enjoyed the sun!

This town had such beautiful architecture, I can not imagine living there and taking it for granted everyday!

DISNEY LAND PARIS- Spring break stop #3

Well, I guess these pictures speak for themselves...

Who doesnt love Disney, and in Paris its just as good except all the cartoons speak french!

PARIS -Spring break stop #2

So day two was Paris, it was windy but we loved it!

We did all the typical things and we did it by foot. We took the metro in from the hotel and then we walked all over the city seeing all the sights.

Eiffel Tower, Notre Dame, Arch De Triumph, Champes Aylese, and of course a little french cafe for crepes!

Dan and I had brought Logan and Tori here years ago and it was fun, but it was great to have the whole family and this time we went to the top of the eifel tower!

It was a lOOOOng line, but it was worth it!

Toulouse France-Spring break Stop #1

So we headed off for France (a pretty easy place to get to from Spain) Our plan was Paris with a few stops on the way there and a few on the way back. Our first stop was on a cold rainy day in a town called Toulouse. We walked around and saw the old architecture and an open market. We had some lunch and played at a park (the coolest ever acording to the kids) and then we hit the road on our way to Paris.

Easter

So we planned on being in France, but between me popping a tire, and Dan trying to catch up on his online class, we decided to hang out for a few days into the break. It seemed as though it would help lighten the load.So we enjoyed Easter at home. The kids were happy because we have such a great yard they realy wanted the bunny to hide eggs here.

So on Saturday we took the metro into Valencia and went to the Central Market to get vegetables for our dinner. We got big beautiful strawberries and big fat green tomatoes to put on the grill. That was also the only place to find white eggs. The stores just sell brown ones.

We also picked up this traditional spanish pastry. It is a sweet bread with a hard boiled egg baked into it . They make them many different shapes, but mostly with a large side (for the egg) and a small side (for a handle) to whack the egg over your friends head,crack it good for good luck! I think if you do this you should Hope you still have a friend!

We dyed our eggs and went to bed not sure if the bunny would come because the Spaniards do not have this tradition. Hope!

Luckily we discovered in the morning light that the bunnys hop is large, or his helpers take care of military kids stationed all over the world. So we had great things in our basket, and lots of eggs to hunt.

It would have been nice if the automatic sprinklers hadn't turned on while we were hunting, but you know...life!

Since it was conferance weekend (Do the math, how do you watch it when it hasnt started yet in the USA-The sun light has not yet dawned on Sunday!)) We decided to do a very typical Spanish/ Easter thing...Go to Mass. It was a cute little church near by and we went with some friends. My kids were like "Stand up again?"

Then we went home and had those yummy vegetables, some American ham, and cheesey potatoes with some friends. The kids played and a gentle breeze blew through the palms and it was a good day. AHH! Its a good life!

Thank God for a Savior that light, life, and hope springs eternal!