Wilke trip to California

We left the desolate Minnesota arctic winter for a week of warmer weather. Here are the girls enjoying nature with Jen. A non-frozen stream in February..... crazy.














Here we are at the waterfall..... Linda (with picnic blanket), Todd, Hana, Rock Star Gibby, Jen Jen (Nature Mom) and Georgia.

It was a wonderful hike up the stream with 27,345 crossings over and back, hopping on the rocks and logs.
Only Nature Mom's (Jen) shoes stayed dry.












See, we really were in LA. They won't let you board a flight out of town without proof of Disney-ification. We enjoyed meeting princesses as well as the terrifying experiences like "Mr. Toad's Wild Ride." Pirates of the Caribbean was way better before that stoopit Johnny Depp.

pictures to go with the last post

Visiting with Linda/Todd and George/Amber

We had such a wonderful visit with Linda, Todd, Hana, Georgia, Georgie, and Amber,
and Todd's friends from Germany. We first went to the "local" famous Mike's corn maze where
not only did we have to figure out how to navigate the maze but there were locations of checkpoints where we had to play chimes and either name that tune or name the composer.
We did well, thanks to Todd and Linda, who seem to have a talent for this. Who could have guessed. We also took the kids to Sugarloaf mountain nearby for terrific views of the foliage.
The pictures don't do it justice. Beautiful!!! The girls loved playing in the leaves and climbing on the rocks. We also got to see a lot of ladybugs, thousands!!!!
We came back to our house just in time for Todd and Linda's friends Florian and Barbara from
Germany. The girls, as well as all of us, oogled over their son, Benny. He had such an adorable smile. Georgie and Amber arrived just in time for dinner and great conversation. And WE TIRED Georgia out.... what time did she fall asleep?
Linda and Todd HOW did you get up the next am after our awesome conversation until the wee hours in the am?
Georgie and Amber... Where are the pictures of you? I think they are in your camera. Send them to our blog. I had a wonderful time walking back to our house with you both from the
state park D.A.R. The apple picking was late season, but talking to the 90 year old orchard owner was memorable.
Love to all,
Valerie

Pictures from Freiberg

Here are some photos from the seizure prediction workshop in Freiberg, Germany. What a great place to hold a conference! I took a couple of extra days to do some exploring.









The old town is pretty much unchanged since the 1300's, except that some buildings were reconstructed after WWII. The streets are cobblestoned and closed to traffic except for streetcars. My favorite part was the farmer's market 6 days a week around the church, and the hiking trails into the Black Forest that started at the edge of the old town.

George I bet this brings back some memories!!

monica on the piano

Monica is learning Christmas songs on her own, because she enjoys the piano so much. Natalie and Tori still enjoy wrestling each other more than the piano.

Mark

weekend of October 20th

Hello Schevons!!
It seems , after talking with Georgie, Linda and Cathy in the past few days that we all have
ideas about what to do, or places to visit during October 18-21st. I thought that this would be
a great way to state our ideas and come up with a plan so that we can spend the maximum amount of time together! I know my girls are so excited to see their Minnesota cousins, Hana
and Georgia. We miss you all so much.

Here is Mark's and my schedule for the few days before and on the above dates so you can work with us. Our girls have a half day of school on 10/17 and full day 10/18 and 10/19. Mark or I
will be working a 4-1am shift on the 10/18, and one of us will be working 10am-8pm on 10/20 and 10/21. (we are hoping to get out of our 2oth shift.

Since one of us is working those days, it still would be possible for us to welcome guests to our house (as we talked about-Linda and Georgie) and also to travel and meet somewhere for part of the time (the girls can miss a day of school). Friday
night we are trying to get out of our shift because our good friend Nicholas is having a 40th birthday party that we don't want to miss. We are also trying to get out of our shift on Saturday.

Georgie , can you let us know your schedule? When will you be in the Catskills?
Cathy said she had been planning (for several months) a visit to a sheep/wool festival in NY state and was planning to be in the Catskills the weekend of Oct. 20,21st.

Linda and Todd, what do you think about our schedules? Could your German friends meet
us in the Catskills on Sunday? If not, our house is still available for you to meet them on Saturday.

Any chance Cathy or Georgie wants to take one, two or three of our kids to the Sheep and Wool festival Friday? I could meet you half way. And then drive out later Friday night after
our friends party.

Any thoughts?
Love, Val

Lake Caribou

Hey yall!

This is such a great idea! Its so nice to see pictures of what everyone is up to. I thought I would add some pictures of my recent birthday "week" trip. It was so nice to get away...again. ; ) These are some photos of my girlfriend Amber and I hiking in the Trinity Alps. Of course, we were traveling in Linda and Todd's footsteps. When I told her where we were planning to go, she immediately said "oh yeah! Todd and I went to that lake a few years back. Its beautiful!" Its hard to find a place on the planet they haven't been too.... And indeed, it was a stunning place to be.

Amber on Sawtooth ridgeKeeping our camp clean!