Vive le France!

We're here!!! We made it safely to our hotel around 1pm on Tuesday, and our family was exhausted. The girls slept the entire 40 minute drive from the airport, and I even had trouble keeping my eyes open. We're staying at the Marriott Vacation Village at Disneyland Paris (about a 30 minute train ride outside of Paris). Here's some pictures from our first couple of days...

Our cute little village at the Marriott

We have a bunch of ducks and swans that live outside our villa. Pretty isn't she.

This was dinner our first night in Paris. Not sure if it was because we were so hungry, but the pizza was AMAZING. The bread was soft and doughy and the cheese was sooo good.

Eva happy to be outside.

Mya and Livia paying our pet swan a visit.

The swan got a bit too used to the girls feeding her, so she came to our back porch looking for more.

Isn't she lovely!

This is the cute little town where the Marriott is. The name of it is Bailly-Romainvilliers. Very small and very quaint. Love it.

For how small this town is, there is no shortage of fun bakeries and restaurants. We picked one of our favorites and watched the chefs through the window make their masterpieces.

Check out these yummy pasteries. They just don't make them much like this in the States.

Beautiful Eva enjoying the flowers outside.

Don't think anyone told Eva that swans can actually snap and get aggressive if they think you have food.

Stressful but Successful

Well, after weeks of planning and light packing, and then two weeks of intense packing, we’re finished! I’ll spare you the gory details and just say that I’m not a huge fan of moving! The funny thing is I know I’m going to have to move a lot in the future, so I guess I better learn to embrace it. Let me give it a try…if there is a silver lining to moving it is that each time we can continue to purge our old items that never should have survived so many moves! Hmmm, not convincing myself either. Still don’t like moving.

Thank goodness I had a team of angels helping me! First and foremost, my Mom flew in from Utah to help me pack, which I am sooo grateful for because I knew I couldn't do it without her. She's just such a "get it done" type of person and has an amazing ability to stay focused and on task. I was a bit nervous when she called me days before she was supposed to come to Texas and told me she blew out her knee (severely torn meniscus) helping my brother move. I told her I would be fine and she should rest it and get ready for the surgery. Maybe she could sense the panic in my voice, because that didn't stop her. She was on that plane and helped me get everything ready and packed on one leg! I love you Linda-rella!!! I'm sorry for putting you to work, but I'm so thankful you are you! I hope I can do for my daughters one day what you continue to do for me!

We also had an amazing team help us move everything to our dear friend's the Yacktman's basement. When I say amazing, I mean it... Superman and Hercules (Randall and Ryan were in the MBA graduating classes of 2010 and 2009 respectively) came to our rescue and were able to pick up our piano, fridge, washer, dryer etc. like it was nothing. It was truly amazing to see these two guys move our piano by themselves! Add in the guys from the Singles Ward, our family ward and a couple other helpers from the MBA program and we were able to get all moved (thanks also to Mike Smith for the use of his 2 trailers that were a life saver!). The kindness didn't stop there. Kellie and Trevor Budge showed up at my house the night before our flight with dinner and stayed until 1:30am to help keep us going because they knew we would be pulling an all-nighter. Then, after a long night more help came to our rescue. The Allens helped with our last load, brought us breakfast, and took care of whatever else we forgot about. I haven't listed everyone, but you know who you are and I am so thankful for your service! I love you all so dearly!!

After moving ALL night we loaded up in Spencer Hoopes's SUV and he drove us to the Houston airport (this after helping for hours on Saturday -- thanks for being such a wonderful home teacher Spencer!). Did I mention that we had to drive to the Houston airport? 4 hrs. of car travel before we started the plane travel - great. We planned to leave around 9:00am so that we could get to the airport early and let the kids run around, but instead we didn't leave until 11:40am. Can I just say I was biting my nails until we arrived and they said we would make our flight okay. Whew! What a relief to finally be on the plane! I was sweaty, yucky, tired and stressed, but at least we all made it.

Here are some fun photos from the airport in Houston...

Celine checking out her passport

Celine sure looks like a world traveler, doesn't she?

Livia

What a cutie

Mommy's little helper

The girls checking out our newly acquired Euros

Paris, here we come

Everyone did fantastic on the flight to London. I was so happy that Eva didn't mind the flight and that she was happy and easy for most of it (Jeff did get a workout though doing laps around the plane with her).

Cool couch-thing in London Heathrow Airport

When we switched planes in London, the airport crew gave us a bit of a hard time about how big our carry-on bags were. They made us check them along with my stroller and car seat. The lady made sure that we knew that we were taking way too much stuff and that she has 3 kids and never packs this much stuff. I didn't see the point in trying to explain myself, so we just shrugged our shoulders. As we were walking away I heard her say "ugh, Americans always pack big." The funny thing is I would have packed more if Jeff would have let me and there is not one thing that I have wished I left home. NOT one (at least, not yet). I'll take a few crazy looks and semi-rude comments in order to have what I need. I guess they got the last laugh though, as our stroller and car seat didn’t make the flight and had to be delivered to our hotel room. The French immigration officers couldn't resist joining in on the fun either. As we were going through customs, they said in broken English and with some laughter... "Lots of kids. Are you Amish?" I'm sure that won't be the last of our crazy looks, but that's ok. France, here we come!

So, we’re safely in Paris!! More to follow in upcoming posts…

School's out for the summer

I went to Bush Elementary today to check the girls out of school for the rest of the year. I thought it may be an emotional day for me...it was! The main source of my emotions came from how blessed I felt this year for my daughters to have such wonderful teachers. Mrs. Degilio, Livia's Kindergarten teacher, was especially sweet and we shared tears as she described how much she would miss Liv in the classroom. Mrs. Degilio and Ms. Jones (Mya's 4th grade teacher) were so kind to Mya and Liv and gave them going away gifts to let them know that they would be missed. I am so grateful for the wonderful teachers at Laura Welch Bush Elementary!

I can't believe that when we return to Texas my girls will be in 5th, 3rd, and 1st grade respectively. Am I getting that old that I have a 5th grader that has braces! Wow! It's amazing how quickly time passes and how fast my girls are growing up. It really is true that we need to enjoy life and live for every single day and every single experience, because life passes SOO quickly.

Paris Preparation

In preparation for our family trip to Paris I had a ton of people email two blog sites about two sisters from the states that just moved to France. They moved with their families and were blogging about their experiences. I was super excited to follow everything that they were doing, and I got a bunch of tips from their blogs. For instance, I purchased the same luggage as they did, and I loved it! We also made luggage tags similar to theirs...

Super helpful to read their blogs!! Thanks everyone for passing on the info. If you haven’t already checked them out, their blogs are:

http://www.designmom.com

http://jordanferney.blogspot.com

University of Texas article

Check out the article that my husband wrote that was published in the US News and World Report feature about US Business Schools...

M.B.A. Student Profile: Why I Picked University of Texas—Austin

A second-year M.B.A. student explains why he chose the UT-Austin McCombs School of Business.

By U.S. News Staff

Posted: March 15, 2011

Jeffrey Harbach is a 32-year-old student at the University of Texas–Austin McCombs School of Business. Here, in his own words, he tells U.S. News why he chose to attend the school to pursue his M.B.A.:

In choosing a graduate business program, I assessed all the baseline metrics: ranking, size, post-graduate statistics. The strength of the local and state economies and the nature of the local business ecosystem were also important considerations for me and my family. I was fortunate to find a program that provided everything I was looking for in the McCombs School of Business at the University of Texas–Austin.

I found the culture within the business school to be even better than advertised. The students are extremely intelligent and passionate individuals who value collaboration as a means of learning. I'm certain that many of the relationships I've built during my two years at McCombs will contribute to fruitful business relationships in the future.

The culture here is a reflection of the entrepreneurial and collaborative nature of the city. The ecosystem is built on the research coming out of the university, a history of success in technology and energy start-ups, a beautiful climate and geography, and an abundance of social activities. People here have struck an amazing balance between ambition and collaboration.

McCombs also has a number of active groups targeting entrepreneurs. Venture Fellows, where I served as the director, provides an opportunity to intern at venture capital firms in Austin. I am also a cofounder of Texas Venture Labs (TVL), a cross-campus initiative that fosters collaboration among graduate business, engineering, law, and computer science students focused on entrepreneurship. TVL associates work with high-potential entrepreneurs to help them grow their start-ups.

Unquestionably, I've gained some of my greatest learning experiences through these UT opportunities. Hook 'em Horns!

Baggu Shopping Totes

This is a perfect space saving bag to take with me to France...

Fold-up Shopping Bag - Paris is a shopper's paradise. Wander around on a Paris market street and you'll inevitably pick up some cheese, fruit, wine, and chocolate. Be prepared like the Parisians and carry a fold up shopping bag in your purse. The BAGGU Shopping Totes come in multiple colors and hold 2-3 plastic shopping bags of groceries. For a budget bag, stop by your local Target and buy one of their fold-up bags for a buck at the checkout.

Earthquake and tsunami in Japan

What a devastating day for the people of Japan. Our prayers are with the good people of that country while they try to recover from this natural disaster.