Chateau D'Oex Balloon Festival

Recently (about 4 Saturdays ago) we went with some friends to the International Hot Air Balloon Festival at Chateau D'Oex (pronounced "day"). It was about a 2 hour drive up from rainy, gray Geneva into the mountains of Switzerland and it was a most beautiful and freezing day up there! As soon as we got out of the car James noticed the balloons all over the sky and started babbling very excitedly while pointing so that we would be sure to see.As if we could have missed them. He also refused to keep his gloves on his little fingers. Brian got all excited when he saw the Lukoil balloon. That is one of the clients he has been working on lots lately. He just had to take a picture.
James was very excited about the balloons and couldn't take his eyes off them (except when he started feeling the cold). Notice the charater balloons in the background. They had parachuters coming down from above as well.Despite the cold, it was a fun day and we had a great time getting out of the house. See what y'all are missing? Notice the amazingly beautiful sky? It was absolutely the most beautiful color of blue with no clouds at all. Perfect for the festival. We wish you could have joined us!

The Way to Happiness

So, I just got an e-mail from my brother, Boy. He wanted to share a recent article he had read on CNNhealth.com. The title of the article is, Study: Experiences make us happier than possessions. Click here for the entire story. Bascially, it states that if you have some extra money to spend then generally you are happier in the long run if you spend the money on an experience rather than a material possession. Why? Because, you can keep getting satisfaction over and over again as you remember the experience but the actual item looses its excitement fast.
All I can say to this is, What are you waiting for? Come on over and lets make some memories. It is scientifically proven to make you happier than buying something material. There are lots of things to do and see here. Just putting it out there. After all, I just want you to be happy!

Looks like we made it...

...to the end of our marriage.
Today is our 7th Anniversary. We are still having fun! Marriage rocks!
Unfortunately, our marriage is apparently over. About 3.5 years ago, when we had been married for 3.5 years, Brian started a conversation with these words...,"Now that we are in the middle of our marriage,..." I can't remember what else he said but I asked him if he didn't expect us to last longer than 7 years and I have been counting down the time ever since. Now that it is here...well, I think we will keep it going for at least an eternity. So, if we have decided on an eternity is there really a "middle" part of marriage? I say no. One thing is for sure, we love each other more than we did back in the beginning of our marriage.
This picture was taken in June of 1996 in front of my parent's house in Bountiful, Utah. We were just 17. This is the most recent picture that we took a couple of weeks ago when we went to the Balloon Festival at the Chateau D'Oex in Switzerland. 7 random facts about Brian and me.
1. We met in 1995 while working at ShopKo. Brian was my supervisor at that job.
2. I'm older than Brian...by a few months.
3. We have now, finally, been married longer than we dated.
4. We love to travel and have been to many places together with many more places on our list.
5. Our first date was Feb. 13, 1996. We went to a Jazz game where Brian had nachos dumped down his back by a drunk Asian woman. It was hilarious to me but not to him. Especially when the lady started smearing it all over his back in an effort to wipe it off.
6. We have our own language. We are often asked what the heck we are talking about.
7. We have lots and lots and lots of nicknames for each other. Don't worry, none of them are too sugary.
...and one to grow on...
8. We have the cutest, happiest, snuggliest Bimmy in the whole wide world!! And we love him so much!