and a little more...

spending a little time in Utah

Hula video

Here is a little video of Abby at our class chasing one of the teacher around the street!

Hula Hoop!!

We celebrated Abby's birthday last week with a Hula Hoop party. We have been taking lessons for the past few weeks. It is a bit harder than it looks. My mom came in town for the week and she was hooked. She is now the proud owner of a custom Hula Hoop. I am glad that she was able to take it on the plane with her, just a little disappointed that she did not show off her skills.

Ryan and Tanner have picked up a few tricks of their own as well. We finally have a family talent for the Watts Christmas party. Yeah!!

Grand Slam

Spring break 09'  in Palm Springs was great!!!! A big thanks to the Godfrey's for  allowing us to use their condo for the week.  We played a lot of tennis, swam,  skate boarded, roller bladed, hit Legoland, and got wet at soak city with the Halpins. 

We were able to play tennis on grass, clay and the hard court. The grass is hard work, and the clay was just right. Tanner loved the grass because he could dive... I love grass stains on white tennis clothes!!!! It was great to be  able to play with the fam all week (even though Ry had to come work for a few days.)

Vacations would not be complete with out the Anderson/Marvel clan, so we were glad that they could come with us!!!! It is always fun to be entertained my Tim's craziness and Mitzi's interesting conversations. Tim congrats on your Settler's win!!!!!! Yeahhhh

Switzerland!

First I want to say a big "THANKS" to my parents and Ryan's parents for coming out to CA to watch the kids so Ryan and I could take our first trip in 9 YEARS  alone. (yes 9 years, sad huh!) The kids had a great time. I think they are a little sad to have us back.

We started our trip in Lausanne and had 2 days alone before we met up with the Genentech/AC Immune group. We spent our time eating waffles, panni's, exploring the metro, having dinner with Andreas and his family, visiting the Olympic head quarters and museum, and doing a little shopping. Ryan of course found plenty of time to work, and found himself quite productive since, he could work with his Swiss colleagues during the day, and the Genentech ones at night.  I have given up on the idea that he will ever be able to even go one hour with out responding to emails!!

From Lausanne we headed up to Saas Fee, which is the highest ski resort in the alps to meet up with the the group for their meeting.  Ryan and I skied the first day, and it was very icy. I was a little  disappointed and missed the snow in Utah!!! The ice did not last long. That night it started snowing and did not stop for 4 days!!! They closed the ski resort, and all of the roads coming up to the village(first time in 22 years). We were snowed in!!!! The people we were traveling with were a lot of fun! We spent our time sledging, snow shoeing, ice climbing, eating fondue and just playing around in the snow. I have never experienced so much snow. It was so fun!!!

The last day the ski resort finally opened and we were able to ski!! It was a lot of fun, but very hard. The slope had to be pretty steep or you would just get stuck! 

After we skied, Andrea and her husband John took us over to Zermatt to see the Matterhorn. It was incredible. These pictures do not do it justice it. My camera had run out of batteries by this time and I had to take them with my iphone. I was so sad. It was beautiful!!  

Another big thanks to Ry for taking me on such a great trip. We had a lot of fun, even though I did get a little homesick. Ryan is very fortunate to work with the people he does. They are all very intelligent, interesting people. I was glad for the chance to get to know them. I am especially glad to have had the opportunity to get to know Andrea a little better. She is the CEO of AC Immune and someone who has made a profound impact on my life. She taught me many things, most importantly how to be a very gracious thoughtful host! She made this trip incredible!!! I can't wait to take the kids back some day (maybe in another 10 years!) 

Ski WeekS!

We have have been very busy enjoying all of the snow that mother nature has been dumping on the mountains around the world. We spent a week at Deer Valley with the Anderson/Marvel family and had some of the best skiing we have ever had. The kids skied great!  Tanner and Georgia had their first taste of powder, and how awesome it is to take little cliffs and land in the "pow!"  Abby wanted to make sure that she took the last chair of the day. She did not want to miss one run. She can ski longer than me! We were so sad to have the trip end, but also looked forward to heading to the Alps the next week.