Oh what a NIGHT/FIGHT! ~

This is an email that I sent to B the other day right after I talked to him. He was at work:

Hi babe,

So much for a great night...

I go upstairs to check on Maleia and she had wet the bed.... soaked EVERYTHING. She said that she wanted YOU to come and fix everything. After I get her all situated/calmed down and asleep, I go downstairs to the laundry room to wash her bedding, and the alarm goes off.
STUPID ALARM!!!

All three kids are berserk. They are waken by mind numbing wailing and I am two stories down from them, so I am huffing it up one flight to try and turn off the bloomin thing, then one more to try and console the kiddos.

Then the alarm company calls, as if the alarm didn't wake the kids up already, and I don't know the STUPID/important codeword for the alarm people/security/marines to not come out.
sigh. What a night!

So much for setting the blasted alarm.
I am now waiting for them to come and check everything out... fun. It's already taken 5 min.
I could have been dead by now.

And I'm tired. And I smell like pee.

We are currently fighting because this is OBVIOUSLY all your fault. ;)

Love/Hate you,
(okay, more love than hate)

XO punch kick elbow side-jab drop-kick pinch XO
(and I didn't kick or punch too hard)

Monique

P.S. The code is not 'I forgot my code' or 'This is rediculous' or 'Can you please just not come?' or 'Ok. I'll see you in a little bit.'
P.P.S. sigh. Okay so it's not TOTALLY your fault.

Poor Tree

R.I.P.

This tree had a good life. Reaching the fourth story of the building in 80 good long years. It lasted the Nazis and the Communists. Though it got better care under the Communist regime since someone had the job of tree caretaker since everyone had a job during that era. During the Nazi regime, people just pointed fingers and had no idea who was supposed to do what all the time yelling at the Hungarians in German who didn't speak their language. But the last the last few years was great for the tree especiialy with the taxes increasing from 20% to 25%. It finally got watered weekly and there was enough money to even be sprayed twice a year. Then alas, two weeks ago today, the wind howled, the rain poured down, and lightning struck. And the lightning had to be grounded somehow. Unfortunately the communist apartment building next door with the lightning rod was torn down just a year before, so sadly, this tree took the brunt.

I would just say Rest In Peace, but then look at this -->

Rest In Pieces!

The tree EXPLODED!! Crazy!

Kane Crazy!

Brandon's sister (Brooke) and brother-in-law (Kerry) came to visit us. They got a free trip to Vienna and were able to visit three countries. Austria, Chech Republic, and Hungary. We felt loved that they were able to stay with us for a few days. There is just something special about having family come.

The whole clan. It's always interesting when you get other people to take the shot for you. You never know what you are going to get.

Why does it look like I have a huge head? Probably because I have a big brain. ;)

My three rugrats. They call this "the view." Whenever we see a view of any city they call out, "Look! I see the view!"

There is nothing hotter than a man with a bow and arrow. Hiyah!

We all took turns. Look at us playing nice.
What form. What preciceness. There was a benefit of tagging along on all those Boys Scout Camps with my dad... I only hit the wall once.

When you chance to meet a fuzzy picture, change it black and white.
Then you get an artsy picture and pretend you meant to do it.

The gate to the castle. Is it wrong that black steel and the white stone get me excited? I just want to shoot shoot shoot. I think I took 6 pictures of this gate.

When was this picture taken. We all look so goofy.

We got a babysitter and took them out on the town. This is at Hero's square where all of a sudden a huge storm rolled in. The winds picked up wildly and blew us over quite literally. We had to run with our hands over our eyes so that we wouldn't get sand blown in our eyes. And yes, some of us have super powers and can still see and run across a busy road to safety while our hands are over our eyes.

Geez I look pregnant in that shirt. Remind me not to wear it anymore.

That's better. Just take me out of the shot.
The clan at the Chain Bridge Fetival. We had Kurtoskolacs (a delicious chimney cake) and bought lots of junk... I mean souveniers.

Budapest by night at Gellert Hill.

Leaf Lady at Gellert Hill.
For freedom and liberty I hold this leaf/feather... there is still debate which one it really is.

We miss you guys already!

We love our visitors! Not only do we love having them come to see the beautiful city, but we love to show people how we live and that we are AOK. It's a comfort to many people who come to see us and think we are crazy nuts to be living here. But all in all, it's not a bad deal. The two BIG drawbacks are: 1. Being away from family and 2. Being away from friends. But the good thing is we make friends here that are like family.

So basically, yes, we are a little wacko, but it's the latest craze and so why not?

Liz Biz

My friend Liz came to visit me!! It was a short few days (sniff) but we packed it all in and had a great time!
This was taken at Fisherman's Bastion overlooking Parliament and the Danube.

Liz on the steps of the Castle District. She is such a cutie patootie!

One cool section of the Fisherman's Bastion

Parliament.

INSIDE Parliament! This was the first time that we have been inside the Parliament building. It is the second largest in Europe and rather beautiful inside. Since they were not in session, we were able to peruse the meeting rooms as well. What a place to have to work.

Hero's square at dusk!

She is still the same fun-loving, crazy, awesome friend I remembered!
From snowboarding in 2000 to Budapest in 2009, we have stayed friends.
Now she's an educated lawyer and all grown up!

Isn't she purrrdy?

The classic Budapest Lancid Bridge pic. . . yet again. :)

What a beautiful night!

I am so grateful that I have made such good friends throughout my life . . . and even more grateful that they are still as cool as I once thought! My friend, Liz Jackson, from Crestwood Apartments came to visit me for a couple of days after spending some time in Paris. Fun huh? We had a blast! We traveled all around Utah and Colorado together, why not Budapest?? ;)

Buds Together

The Fathers bathing in the sun together.

Their sons bathing in the tub together.


Can you see the resemblances??

Let Freedom Ring

The Men.

The Moms

(Holly, Sandi, Melanie, Keesha, Kelli, Heather, Me, Kelly, Merideth)

The Friends

The girls

The Park

The Kids

The Boy

The craziness!

The Food.
(And the roof of our house...)

The Picture of the Day.

Heather and I were laughing so hard trying to get these three kiddos to look at the camera. I mean, we tried EVERYTHING. It was a lost cause.

"Meow-meow! Woof-Woof! Can you see an airplane? Cheeeese? Look here guys! Hello?? Hi! Oh, please look up here. Look up here! Look up here! Caw-caw! Caw-caw! (<---Three Amigos style) Dylan! Ryan! Reece! CHEEESE! Look here! moo-moo! (more animal sounds) Where's mama? What's on my nose? CHEEEEEEESE!" By the time we were done, we were laughing way too hard to hold a camera steady anyway.

I sorta wish someone took a picture of us trying to take a picture of them...sorta. :)

We were supposed to have the embassy 4th of July on the actual date, but it ended up that the marines (the host) wouldn't be able to be there since they would have to work at some protests around the embassy, so they moved it the the 3rd and it rained. Bummer. No pics from me.

And since I believe you can't have the 4th of July without a BBQ, I organized a BBQ. And it was REALLY fun, if I do say so myself. Not a drop of rain and beautiful weather all day and all night long. People brought the yummiest food and we, of course, had American hot dogs, hamburgers, and s'mores. Doeum was the 'Grill Sargent' as I just coined the phrase, and we really enjoyed everyone's company. What a proud day.

It was our first fourth of July being outside the United States and it was bitter sweet thinking back on previous 4ths of July. This year no one ended up with a broken bone, we didn't play any sort of sport, it didn't rain, no county fair/national monuments, we had great friends, but no fireworks. All in all, we had a stupendous time.

Straight Monkeys

B asked Maleia: What is your favorite animal at the zoo?
Maleia: The monkeys
B: What kind of monkeys?
Maleia: Straight monkeys.
B: (laughing) Me too!!

B asked Maleia: What animal do you not like?
Maleia: Sharks. ooooooo! (shudders)
B: Really?
Maleia: um, but only the bad ones.
B: Yeah because there are whale sharks that are nice because they don't have teeth.
Maleia: awwww. Poor whale sharks.

B asked Haley: What animal do you like that lives in the forest?
Haley: Panda Bears
B: Why?
Haley: Because they know Kung Fu!

Oops... or not.

I get this email from B today:
(not the pic. See below. Our order is in red.)

_________________________________________________________

B:

Crap...

-----Original Message-----
From:
Sent: Tuesday, July 14, 2009 10:48 AM
To:
Subject: The below items have been rejected by DPM

Report Date: 13-Jul-2009 DPM Rejected Items Report Page: 3
Unit: DPMUN
Date Range:
From: 19-JUN-2009 To: 12-JUL-2009
Destination Addressee From City, State Reason Tracking #
Budapest E....... AMAZON.COM LLC Hebron, KY Liquids
Budapest E...... AMAZON.COM LLC Hebron, KY Liquids
Budapest BC..... AMAZON.COM Campbellsville, KY Liquids
Budapest BC...... AMAZON.COM Campbellsville, KY Liquids
Budapest H....... USA FULFILLMENT Chestertown, MD Glass

_______________________________________________

It totally looks like we ordered KY Liquids that got rejected. Not only that, but it looks like we ordered TWO orders of it. nice. B didn't know either way if we had or not and we both just thought that the other one ordered it. Then after reading this a few more times, I realize that it's the state abbreviation. Oh, duh. Kentucky. KY = Kentucky! I emailed B about it and he sighed a sigh of relief. I could probably handle the playful harassing a little better than he would. Rather, I would not get BEAT RED if someone even alluded to the email. So we figured it out, but will ALL the rest of the embassy employees make the same mistake as we did?

Apparently so.

A friend on the compound told ME to tell B sorry that the package didn't pass customs. And she said it with a embarrassed chuckle. Great. :) And what are the odds that another family got liquids from KY as well??

*** That is NOT a real ad for KY above...

Things I don't want to admit......

But I will....

So here are some funny things that I did in Paris that maybe I shouldn't admit, but for some reason the blog is a comfortable place to spill the guts and divulge those embarrassing moments.

French Onion Soup
We were walking from cafe to cafe looking at menus to see where we would like to eat and all I wanted was some French Onion soup. Because I figured, hey, the best French Onion soup would have to be here. um, in France. But all I could find was Onion Soup on the menus. And then it hit me... I am IN France. They don't call it French Onion soup IN France. sigh.

At least I figured it out on my own.

When I told Brandon my discovery he said, "Monique, somethings like that just shouldn't be verbalized." We had a good hearty laugh, and yes, the Onion soup in France is amazing.



Parisian Outfit
There were only a few things that I wanted to buy in Paris and one of them was an outfit. Chic, hip and totally screams "Paris!" I finally found a cute store where I liked the clothes and it didn't break the bank. (Hard to find by the way.) Brandon even helped me shop. I got the outfit and wore it a few days later.

Friend: Hey, I have that shirt!
Me: Really? Did you get it in Paris?
Friend: No, I got it in Mom Park (the local mall) down the Street at Promod.

Aw man! And I thought I was getting a uniquly Parisian outfit. Dang. Come to find out that there is the same store all over Europe and NYC. oh well. Promod. They even have a website. To my defense, they do advertise that they are "French Fashion."

(I got the skirt above in white and black and then this is close to what the shirt looks like style/wise except it is silver. I may just go shopping there later today.) ***and I did! :)

What a whirl/girl!

My baby is 6.

My two girls in their rainbow attire.

The rainbow cake that took quite a few hours to make.

Good thing she's cute.
Okay, so it was worth the time.

Her Birthday Clan.
Front: Jenny, Mimi, Madeleine, Haley, Maleia, Remi, Sophia, Ashley, Carlos, Brianne
Back: Nicolas, Andrew, Adam, Jayden, Brandon

Tada! Fondant. Marshmellow Fondant from scratch that is.
Thanks Amanda!

Two happy boys now that the birthday party is over.

Lots of kids. Lots of noise. Lots of fun! I'm just glad that there was not lots of rain! Though there was lots of wind, but it was the perfect temp.

Haley is 6. I have come to terms that she is not going to stay little anymore and she loves being big.

She is so great with her silly personality. My goal in life is to make her laugh every day.

Oh my Haley.

My sweet baby girl.
Has grown up in such a whirl!