I Hope They Call Me On A Mission

 Grandpa and Grandma Schwitzer spoke at the MTC and we all got to go and hear them speak there.  Lucy was still a little to young so, she stayed home with the Olson's and the rest of us went.  The kids were really excited to see what the MTC was like.  We were met by the MTC President and, his wife, and they were so wonderful to all of us.  They got to know our kids and made us feel welcome.

 We went to the famous map and pointed to our missions and where the kids wanted to go on their missions.  I am covering Anne but, she wanted to go somewhere in South America.  I hope all my kids have the chance to go on a mission if that is what they choose.  I know for me it was such a wonderful experience and one I have never regretted doing!

 We ate dinner in the MTC with all the missionaries.  The kids thought the all you can eat desserts, cereal, ice-cream was a dream come true!

Here is the whole group of the Schwitzer family that went to the MTC.  I looked at this picture, and see a future army of missionaries.  All these kids are amazing people, and will do so much good in this world.  I can't wait to see most of these kids enter the MTC.  Also, all of us couples I know would love to serve missions together!  We truly are Schwitzer Strong!  Jason loved it, and said going to the MTC helped him to see that going on Mission would not be so scary.  He said he liked the MTC, and when he goes on his mission he will now know what to expect.

Grandma and Grandpa Schwitzer both gave wonderful talks.  Grandma talked about her mission to Russia, and how she had some hard times.  She said that she felt angels bear her up, and help her on her mission.  Grandpa Schwitzer talked about teaching your investigator's about the 10 ten commandments, and how important the ten commandments are in our lives.  We learned so much from both of them!

Happy 7th Birthday Eliza!

 We love this girl so much and were so excited to celebrate her.  Eliza brings so much joy and laughter into our family.  She has such a fun sense of humor and is a funny story teller.  She loves school and is doing great in 1st grade.  She has lots of friends and she can get along with any type of personality.  She loves to sit and cuddle with Mike or I each day.  She needs the daily hugs and kisses.  She loves anything soft and when she goes to bed she has tons of fluffy blankets in her bed.  We love you Eliza May and loved celebrating 7 years with you!

 She got a new desk for her room.

 During the day she had Sydney come and hang out.  We took them swimming and had lunch together.  I didn't get any pictures but, we sure do love having our fun cousin Sydney over.

 Here is Eliza with her presents after opening them.

 That evening we had the Both set of Grand-parents over for a Birthday dinner.

 Eliza with her main squeeze...Dad!

 We sang Happy Birthday and she was very serious about her wish.  Not sure what she wished for but, I am sure it will come true!  We love you Eliza!!

Tenderfoot

 So proud of the hard work Jason has put into Scouts.  At the last court of honor we received his Tenderfoot ranking.  He is making his way up the ranks and loves everything about scouting!

September Small Moments

 I had to go to Cub-O-Ree this year and ran into cute Will!

 Mike and Greg spent days working on getting these lights put up.  It was no easy task but, it has been so much fun to light up our whole back yard!  So proud of Mike and the hard work he puts into our home!

 Daddy/ Daughter dates!

 Lots of fishing and this trip Jason caught some big ones!

 Lots of canning.  I did peaches, apples, applesauce, and apple pie filling.  We are ready for Winter!

 Lots of yummy food from our garden this year.  We even grew watermelons this year!

 Lots of rain makes for awesome rainbows.  This rainbow ran right over the Temple.

Paris on a Monday

 Monday was our last day in Paris so, we wanted to hit everything we wanted to.  We headed to the area of Montmartre.  This area is the artist mecca of Paris.  I loved this area and thought it had a village feel to it and it was away from the main busy areas of Paris.

 So, artist were everywhere painting and trying to sell their work.

 They were all really good and it was fun to walk around and look at their art work.

 We walked through Sacre- Coeur.  This cathedral is dedicated to the heart of Christ.  I loved it and no pictures were allowed inside.  But, it seems lots of cathedral are dedicated to Mary or Peter and I loved that this one was dedicated to Christ.  Sacre- Coeur is the second highest point in Paris behind the Eiffel Tower.  We climbed so many stairs to get to this place!

 A pretty home in Montmartre.

 The famous Arc de Triomphe.  This was Napoleon idea again and he wanted to his fighting men to come home under an arch of triumph.  This is the center of Paris and all streets kind of wagon wheel off the arch.  This is the starting point of any big parade or victory celebrations in Paris.

 Yummy macaroons in cute packaging.  This was a really cute macaroon shop.

 This is looking down Champs-Elysees.  This area felt a lot like New York City.  Tons of shopping and rich people everywhere.  The tree lined streets were designed by Napoleon and they were so pretty.  I can only imagine what it looks like in the fall!

 It was hard to imagine that during World War II  Paris was a battle ground.  So, walking around Paris you might see bullet holes from allied fighters trying to get Germans out of some of these buildings.

 Concord Square.  This is where all the beheading took place in Paris.  This is where King Louis and Marie Antoinette where beheaded.

 We always loved how Euros think that asking for water is weird.  But, water was always in super small glasses and our our Cokes were brought out in huge glasses.  They called Coke American Champagne.

 The Sun started to set on our vacation to Paris.

 We ended our trip trying to get some cool night pictures.  Mike took these and I think he did a fan static job!

 Looking down Champs-Elysees at night.

We love this picture with the Louvre, the moon, and the France flag flying.  We had such a great time in Paris and enjoyed being together in this beautiful city of light!

Paris on a Sunday

 After being at Versailles all day we took a break and then headed back out to explore the city of Paris.  We found this amazing eclair bakery.  They were so yummy and it was hard to choose what flavor.  We got a Carmel and a passion fruit eclair.  Passion fruit was our favorite!

 We just walked and enjoyed the streets and people.

 We found a park and sat and rested.  We were so tired and we must have already walked 10 miles just around Versailles.  So, we sat at this park and took this blurry selfie! :)

 We then decided to have dinner.  The food in Paris was sooo good.  We loved when it was time to eat!

 Of course, it's not Europe unless you have the street performers.  This guy was amazing and did cool tricks on roller blades.

 Sunset on the Seine.

 We walked all the way back to Hotel and hung out in the court yard of the Louvre before calling it a day.   We could never get over how big the Louvre is.  I can't imagine living in such a big thing and think of the things those walls have seen and heard.    We are pretty sure that place is haunted at night!