Coop Beach Volleyball Tournament

Unfortunately none of our pictures turned about spectacular from the beach volleyball tournament over the weekend.  Here are a few shots of our favorite teams.

Team in the orange - Canadian - We cheered for them the most, they placed 2nd overall

Swiss team

I don't know what country she was from...

One of the Brazilian women's teams - we watched three different women's teams from Brazil, all were very good

Bike Ride to Geneva on Sunday

All of the crops are in full bloom here in Geneva.  The grape vines are growing so fast!  We also have fields of wheat, barley, oats, corn, potatoes, mustard and sunflowers!  We passed by all of them on our bike ride to Geneva today (approximately 8 miles).  There was a beach volleyball tournament going on downtown on the lake that we enjoyed for several hours before returning home.  I (Heather) became very grumpy and tired during the long ride home.  After getting a little sun burned at the tournament, I was not excited to bike uphill home.  Somehow we made it back and I am now in recovery.  Thank you Scott for being so patient with me and cheering me on.  I love you.

Lac Brenet

This weekend I wanted to camp and Heather wanted a relaxing weekend.  The compromise?  An unknown lake with the idea of walking, fishing, and fasting.  Okay the fasting wasn't really part of the plan, but we seem to skip lunch occasionally when we eat a late breakfast. 

I noticed on the map of Switzerland that there is a nice large lake called Lac de Joux in the Jura mountains about an hour from Soral.  This looked like a nice place to satisfy our ambitions of the day so we jumped in the car for a quick drive.  After some curvy roads we reached Switzerland's "Watch Valley," and headed Northeast towards the lakes.  Originally, we planned on trying to walk along the larger Lac de Joux, but then we came across the stepchild called Lac Brenet.

As you can see in the photos below the lake is actually quite large!  To make the loop is about a 1 hour endeavor.  We stopped every 10 minuets to try and catch something, which actually proved worthwhile! We caught one small perch and a small pike.  We really enjoyed the spot and would like to go back in the winter to try and snowshoe around the area. 

Great view of the lake and Scott fishing

Catch #1 - Perch

Heather giving it a shot - you can see how clear the water was in some parts of the lake

Looking back at the lake

Helsinki, Finland

I had a splendid weekend visiting Inkeri, Joonas and Santeri in Helsinki and for the record, Inkeri is an amazing Mom to her two sons.  Wow!  They take up a lot of energy!  I learned a few things about Finland:  (1) they like to flavor cider with fruit; (2) the terrain is flat; (3) there are lots of little islands around Helsinki; (4) ice cream stands are everywhere; (5) their signs are in Finnish and Swedish; and (6) and they have cool shopping.

Yummy cider - I tried pear, pineapple and blueberry

Joonas with an ice cream cone - he only likes green ice cream

Santeri - happy little guy that just sits in his stroller and sings away

Finnish cottage - love the red and white

Lutheran Cathedral

Ship in the main port

Train Station

My gracious hostess and her boys

This is how I felt both nights, but I am too old and big to be able to sleep like this

Looking out over Helsinki one last time

Thank you Inkeri!

Chamonix - Canyoning

Last weekend I went to Chamonix, France with a colleague to try canyoning. Heather was out of town visiting her friend in Finland so it was a perfect weekend to try something out of the ordinary. After a pretty rough night with some local Chamonix characters we woke up around 8:00 am and departed to the canyoning spot. Although I didn't bring my camera this video is an accurate depiction of  the event. 

I'd love to give it another shot, but next time I'll save the party until after the event! You can find more information at http://www.cham-aventure.com/

Happy Father's Day

Dad ~ Thank you for being a loving and supportive Father to me, I could not have made it this far with out you!  Lots of love ~ Heather

Hey Dad! Your the best... looking forward to seeing you soon.  Scott

Benjamin James Drinkward

Benjamin James Drinkward was born June 19, 2009 at 12:24PM. He's 8lbs.9oz., 20-3/4in. long, and has a 15" head. Mom and Ben are doing great!  One more addition to my group of friends and the third baby we get to meet in July!  Congratulations Dave and Erin.

Happy Birthday to all of you

Happy Birthday to my brothers and sister, Walker, Colin and Hilary.  It looks like I wasn't so happy when you came into my world of being an only child, but now I don't know what I would do with out all of you.  I hope you each have a wonderful day.  Love ~ Your Big Sister

Then - June 1982

Now - January 2009

Hiking around The Matterhorn - Day 2

Although definitely feeling the burn from day one, Heather and I set out for hiking on the other side of Zermatt on Sunday. Now most people take a gondola or train up to the ridges to begin their hikes, but Heather and I like to earn our lunch by hiking the whole thing! Instead of being a wide open trail with wildflowers and panning views of the Matterhorn, this time we went mostly through forest. We still got awesome views and the flora was amazingly similar to alpine areas of Oregon. By the end of the experience Heather was not so happy with my decision to push her to do another steep hike, but I think we've now recovered and are proud of our accomplishment!

The traditional hiking signs

Heather stole this look from a Austrian trekker!

Don't let the smile fool you... (she is in pain)

Putting the flexible tri-pod to use...

The view from Riffelalp

Congrats Colin

A shout out of congrats to my brother Colin, he graduated college this weekend!  I am very proud of you and I know all of your hard work will pay off.  Lots of love.

Note:  Yes, the family dog (Zezo) attended the ceremonies as well.

Hiking Around The Matterhorn - Day 1

Heather and I spent a nice weekend in Zermatt. It was by far my favorite Swiss experience to date. We totally lucked out with the weather as it was completely clear and about 75 degrees. The experience of hiking and sight seeing made us sore from our eyes to our calves.

Boarding the train from Tasch to Zermatt... (no cars are allowed in Zermatt)

Heather trekking through wildflowers

Our first clear view of the Matt!

Remind us to remove all headwear next time!

Sheep... not so wild, but mean little guys

Cooling off in the small glacial creek

Nice views

Small alpine village (we stopped for some cold water)

It seems wherever you go in Zermatt you can take in a view like this!

Heather and Scott go to Zermatt

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MUxyVzvI6lM

Here is a short video teaser of our weekend in Zermatt! We mostly hiked so this video is approperiate.

More pictures and comments to come!

The Matternhorn

We are on our way to Zermatt, Switzerland today to spend the weekend hiking around the Matterhorn.  It is suppose to be nice today, so we hope to take some clear photos of the mountain.

More of Ashton

Congratulations again to you both, I can't wait to meet him in July. He looks perfect!

Movenpick Ice Cream

If you visit Switzerland, you must try Movenpick ice cream, it is delicious!

A day of gifts

First Gift of the Day: I have never been able to find red onions at the local COOP and must of mentioned it one too many times because today I was given red onions not once but TWICE! First, one of my coworkers brought me a package of four and then the lady that I buy my lunch sandwiches from gave me a bag of about ten. How kind of them! We will be eating red onion for weeks.


Second Gift of the Day: The ever-so-thoughtful Thea Christler sent us a care package of magazines (for men and women), a French CD, stationary and peanut butter! It was so unexpected. THANK YOU Thea!


Third Gift: Tyler Travis gave us 1,001 Movies You Must See Before You Die as a wedding gift. We are now never without a movie suggestion. Another thank you Tyler!



Finally, the gift of a rainbow after an evening rain storm.