Kaffe mit Leche und....

Say What!!!???

"Kaffee mit Leche" is what I said at the Cafe Bar in Granada - Spain. So I got the "Leche" right. It is very confusing - german with a sprinkling of Spanish. Best if I just used full on English maybe? Kendra ordered her dinner beautifully in German at dinner as well - and the Spanish waiter grinned and said it was very nice. Haha

That's what we get. It's a mish-mash. But funny and we have a good time laughing at ourselves. Although, when Rachel replied "gracias" to the waiter (after the 3 of us had already), he launched into a question for her in Spanish. To which she apparently replied appropriately.

She has an ear for accents and is in her 2nd Semester of Spanish (teacher from Spain). Obviously she's picked up the right tone - which the rest of us don't have. But I didn't try my West Sacramento Spanish accent on him - maybe next time. :)

It's October break, Herbstfereien, and we went back to the Costa del Sol, near Marbella, again for a few days before Bart had to get back for 3rd quarter reports. So the girls and I have a few days of down time, my dad will arrive on Friday for 2 weeks and we will see Bart again when he surfaces sometime Sunday afternoon/evening.

The weekend was nice with some expected weather. We had hoped to take the ferry over and tour Tangiers but based on weather forecasts, cancelled. That day it poured. We used the indoor pool & gym facilities and hit the Mall. Felt like we were in So. Cal minus the indoor pool/drenching rain. We did drive to Granada for a tour of the Alhambra and took a trip to the Rock - Gibraltar.

So - soon as the pic's are loaded, I'll share - we stood in the room Christopher Columbus was in when Isabella of Spain declared the financing for his America's expedition. On Columbus Day! I only knew it was Columbus day in the States since Mom had a day off - I think only the Fed's get it off at this point.

Our trip home was delayed due to the local Air Traffic Controller's (ATC) strike in France. Which affects anyone flying over French airspace. Tiresome! Our SwissAir flight was just sitting there out the window - ready to go. A crewmember was sitting on the back stairs of the exterior jetway just waiting in the late afternoon sun. We were lucky though - some airlines (esp. discount airline EasyJet) had to cancel flights. Fortunately, we were going to our final destination. I always feel for those who still have connections which might not be met. At least they get to overnight in Zurich as opposed to, well, we won't name names but a Portuguese city comes to mind and it wasn't enjoyable.

Many countries are pushing for a unified European ATC and while it may not solve union issues themselves, it would reduce the complexity of air travel in Europe. Many flights could be streamlined if there were not the individual country ATC restrictions and no-fly zone restrictions. Can you imagine if every State in the US had it's own ATC and air-space restrictions? Some restrictions/no-fly zones have to exist - that makes common sense. But the switch over from system to system and the air flight patterns - could be made more efficient in both time and fuel if they would unite. Although Switzerland is usually stand-offish on "uniting fronts", this is an issue they'd like resolved. Makes sense considering the size of the country and who they're surrounded by.

OK - enough with lectures today. Laundry to do, pictures to sort and, oh yeah, have to unbury the guest bed for Dad!

Our Happiest Place on Earth

Well - the girls might disagree and say that Disneyland is the happiest place on earth. We shall agree to disagree.

In spite of setting aside several weekends this season for hiking/weekend trips, the weather never agreed. We came to our last "free weekend" for a while and had really hoped to get going somewhere. Last Friday night, it appeared the weather might be in our favor and a quick look out the window on Saturday morning confirmed it.

So we made a quick call in the morning and obtained a "family room" for 80chf cheaper than the website had claimed the night before (we find that calling the small hotels directly can often result in cheaper fares vs booking on-line). Packed a few things and off we went.

This sign tells us we're headed in the right direction: And I had to take this pic of the GPS guiding us through the tunnel at the end/beginning of the Brunig Pass - what a corkscrew!

The hills are alive - with buses, tractors and Jaguars? Note - the tractor ahead has pulled over to let this bus go by. Basically, the downhill vehicle has the right of way unless the other vehicle has a more convenient pullout. But if a bus is coming at you on these narrow roads - it's just best to get out of the way.

See - doesn't Rachel look HAPPY! She's doing her "hills are alive" Julie Andrews impersonation. And we are - yes, Lauterbrunnen is a close enough guess. The background is the Grindelwald side of the Berner Oberland mountains we love. Left side is the Wetterhorn and right is the Schreckhorn. (the cool special fog effect in the pic is from the fog on the lens - created when camera lady put camera cover in her back pocket during walk then 'covered' her lens later - sure, did it on purpose........)

Almost looks fake doesn't it. It's a real cow that went real p...... Well, you can ask Kendra about that. :)

Our nice little find on the slopes near the Grindelwald/Maennlichen Bahn was the Hotel Aspen. The real tragedy was not taking the camera down to dinner. We didn't realized when we booked this place that the chef was known for his special menu's - beautifully presented and a menu that was hard to choose from because so much of it sounded good.

Our "family room" had a 'gallery' for the children's sleeping quarters - girls were very happy:

The mighty Eiger at the end of the day:

The next morning, we headed back toward Interlaken (although the car had a hard time not going the Lauterbrunnen direction) to a little town at the entrance of the two Valleys, called Wilderswil. This town exists to 1) keep traffic speed down between Interlaken & Grindelwald/Lauterbrunnen - tongue in cheek sort of and 2) it is the home of the historic Schynige Platte Bahn - a cog train that runs from about 600m to 1967m (not a hard # for me to remember) since the late 1800's.

Except the trains themselves aren't 100 yrs old. But sometimes it feels that way...... Here is the railstation at the top of Schynige Platte: Real quick: Schynige Platte is difficult for English speakers to figure out and after help from 2 Swiss friends, it's pronunciation is now firmly embedded in my brain cells. In English phonetics it's pronounced: sheen-eeg-eh plah-teh. I was determined Bart would have it down by days end. Carrying on now......

Cog trains run on a track (below) rather than a regular rail - no regular wheels on this - the cogs have some 'teeth.' This allows trains to climb a steep surface over a short distance without losing ground or - becoming a runaway train. These trains move veeerrrrrrryyyyyyy slowly but since the scenery is pretty spectacular, one doesn't mind.

What is special about Schynige Platte? From the top of the Platte, one can see Interlaken (transl. 'between the lakes) bordered by Lakes Thun and Lake Brienz on one side and from the other, the Grindewald and Lauterbrunnen Valleys with the Berner Oberland mountain range (Wetterhorn, Eiger, Moench, Jungfrau, Breiterhorn, etc....) We could sit and look at these mountains all day, every day - Magnificent!

This was mine and Rachel's first trip up. Rachel had been ill for a day several years before and Bart & Kendra had come up with Gma Elaine and J. I was excited to see my favorite mountains from a different point of view. I could handle a few more lunches up here - on the ridge - you can see Lauterbrunnen on the left and Lake Thun to the right:

We had a great 'spur of the moment' trip. A great end to the hiking season which for us wasn't filled with much hiking due to weather this summer. But we'll take every nice day we get!!! We'll be back - booked Ski Break in Wengen again!

Triplets again :)

A video of the distracting, little, black creatures next door. Complete with my annoying voice.

Does anyone like the sound of their own voice? I really tried not saying anything. Bart and I both decided it's hard to video and not talk. Guess "camera man" should not be a future job consideration.

I hope you enjoy anyway.

Had a great talk with sister Deb in HI this morning (and Mom last night). Good news from this week's appt. for Baby J. It was evident since the first failed hearing test that there was an issue but until he was old enough, the extensive tests couldn't be done. There is an issue but the main praise is that the low/mid-range hearing is all there - lot's of prayers answered. Dr's said that without extensive, early testing it probably wouldn't have been caught until he was 3 - 4 yrs old. Yeah - so much they can do and so much to be thankful for.

AND, sister Kris is in the "happiest place on earth", Anaheim style, with cousin J - Happy 40th!!! - and the family crowd. AND, that little person she is carrying is a HE. Whoo Hoo! So excited for all of them.

We are off to our 'happy place.' Spur of the moment.

Anyone care to guess where our 'happy place' is? I'll let you know when we get back tomorrow night - complete with pictures.

:)

My family cracks me up!

They are all lined up watching "Deal or No Deal." Not the Howie Mandel version from the US but the British version complete with Noel of the feathered hair and colorful shirts.

They have been howling, cheering and laughing. I love it.

We can understand most of the "English." Great way to spend our evening.

Best part is the lingo that they all yell out at the TV now - everything in p's (pence) and pounds.

Glad that Jim the Fireman took the deal - we have to get to our little "girls Bible Study."

We have the Proverbs bible study for young girls by Vicki Courtney that we are committed to doing on Wednesday and Sunday nights. Girls are enjoying it - great format for pre-teens - and I'm enjoying the enthusiastic conversations. I probably need it tonight as much as they need it for life.

Tschuss!

Finally! I've sort of figured it out

Adobe Photoshop Elements that it.



Having the internet/phone cable issues we've had really had me "off" the computer in one sense but "on" it in another. I've had Photoshop for about 1.5 years. I bought it 1) because the photo editing program on the 'new' computer which is now 2 years old was less than satisfactory and 2) I had visions of doing all sorts of wonderful things with the bazillion photo's I take.



In reality, I did use it. But the basic elements of it: cropping, minor level or contrast adjustments - and most of them with the Auto feature. Additionally - it's hard to manage a bazillion pictures and I'm woefully behind. Don't even ask about photobooks or scrapbooks. DON'T! I will ignore you.



So, considering I had just taken about 300+ pic's in Hawaii of my niece & nephews as well as some of my own girlies recently, I thought I'd drag out my Elements book again and see what I could see. Well, while answering basic questions, I find the accompanying tutorial 1) woefully inadequate as was the prior photo program I had and 2) it's in black & white. "Hello Adobe Photoshop People?" I need to see the changes, not imagine them in a black & white world.



Using a program like this requires new vocabulary as well: gradient map, render, burn, dodge, etc... I also use a PC so there's a little bit 'o work in trying to get to everything you want to get to. I've seen my bro-in-law in action with Photoshop on his Mac - much more intuitive (could be his artsy brain too? Considering I'm an accountant trying to be creative?)



So I had a lot of time to experiment and go to other websites (considering the tutorial was not as helpful as say, Pioneer Woman's helpful hints on Photography) and play, play, play. I also thoroughly cleaned the house. Except for the guest room.



I can now take this thoroughly nice pic of my nephew T:

And turn it into, what I think anyway, is an even nicer, more vibrant pic for his mom to cherish forever:

And sweet baby X looks fine here:

But doesn't this just put a bigger smile on your face?

I have oodles of pic's and even "painted" a few lightly and can't wait to hear how Deb thinks they turned out.

So that's what I've been doing - besides watching the triplets next door. Those baby lambs are so precious.

Speaking of baby lambs, my heart is heavy for a friend who is hurting over her own two lambs (children) right now for various reasons (health and safety). It's not my place to go into specifics here. Two passages come to mind today:

"For My thoughts are not your thoughts, Neither are your ways My ways, declares the Lord. For as the heavens are higher than the earth, So are My ways higher than your ways, and My thoughts higher than your thoughts." Isaiah 55:8-9 I think of this when trying to understand "Why?"

"The LORD is my shepherd, I shall not be in want. He makes me lie down in green pastures,
he leads me beside quiet waters, he restores my soul. He guides me in paths of righteousness
for his name's sake. Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil, for you are with me; your rod and your staff, they comfort me. You prepare a table before me in the presence of my enemies. You anoint my head with oil; my cup overflows. Surely goodness and love will follow me all the days of my life, and I will dwell in the house of the LORD forever. " Psalm 23

God is so many things - may He be their Protector and Healer this week.