Yvoire France

Yvoire France is a small medieval town on Lake Geneva.  It is on the opposite side of the lake from us and takes about 1 hour to get there from our house.  It is one of Mary's favorite places to go around here because of all of the cute shops.  It makes for a great day trip.  We took Rob and Aubrey there after church and before they had to fly out that evening.

Me and the Girls on the streets of Yvoire

Rob and Aubrey at the castle at Yvoire

The family in front of the castle

The girls dancing when the clock tower made music

Gruyeres, Switzerland

We’re catching up on our Summer trips this year. On June 6th we headed out to Gruyeres, Switzerland, a quaint little town famous for it’s cheese and fondue. Our first stop was the cheese factory and museum. The cheese is nutty and sweet and it’s become our favorite cheese at home. This is the cheese used in Fondue, and we may go as far as saying we’ve perfected the fondue recipe since we leave out the wine.

Gruyeres Castle

The town of Gruyeres is perched up on a hill

The town has several cheese factories, this cheese factory has tours and a museum

Monica was fascinated with the cheese making

The cheese cellar. The cheese can be aged from 5 months up to 18 months

These girls love to pose!

The town of Gruyeres

The cow bells

Gruyeres’ Castle

Amazing views from the town

Zermatt (Matterhorn) Switzerland

My mission friend Rob Gardner and his wife Aubrey came to visit us for a few days back in June.  They were our first visitors so we were excited to have someone come.  For one of the days we went over to see the Matterhorn.  The drive is about 3 hours from our house through the alps.  The drive is almost as amazing as the Matterhorn itself.

 A castle on the drive over the Zermatt

 It is hard to appreciate but the houses in the Alps are built on the sides of sheer cliffs.  Some people look over their balcony down 1000 feet.

 To get to Zermatt you must take a train the last 8 miles.  Zermatt is a no car zone (except for Tuk Tuk Taxis)

 A little tough to see but the Matterhorn over the Chalet

 Me, the girls, Rob and Aubrey walking down the streets of Zermatt

 The town Center

 Bella posing infront of the Chalet's

The girls really missed Rob and his singing after he left. 

 Mary in front of the Matterhorn

Mary's favorite part of Zermatt (the chocolates)

There are many trams that go up to different peaks (not the Matterhorn itself) however it is very expensive at a minimum of $60 per person so we decided to pass and just walk around the town itself.

Monica’s Birthday

It’s been over three months since Monica’s birthday, but I want to catch up on our adventures during this summer. We invited friends from Church and school, and she had a blast.

Piñata Fun

We spent about three days making this piñata, and it was sure hard to break

Cute Bella trying to hit the Piñata

We played water balloons, water races, slip and slide, marble pool toes, and trampoline dodge ball. Too bad I was too busy manning games to take pictures. But at least I have a picture of the pre-games.

Food and Cake

Pasta bar and hot dogs

Delicious French chocolate cake made not only kids happy but also adults

Birthday favors

 

Monica was a happy girl, and cannot wait to be 7 for another fun birthday party. We’ll hold off for a few more months to break the bad news that she’s not getting another one for at least a few more years.