Planning getaways for all of us is a balance of opposites in a way. I love adventure of travel and seeing and learning new things, while Matt would love to just rent a home and stay put for a whole week.

After our full day of skiing and night sledding in the Alps, we were exhausted. The following day was Sunday and I did a little digging to find out where The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints would be meeting in the area so that we could attend. I assumed there would be a small English-speaking Branch (congregation) right there in Garmisch where we were staying, but I was wrong. The closest English Branch was an hour away in Munich.

Me and my girls, Em and Nols, just had a girls’ trip to ski the Alps and we had the best time. Lots of black and blue bruises and things we will never forget.

The bruises? Well, it was Emme and Nola’s first time skiing and they both did amazingly well, picking it up so quickly.

When our Ryanair flight dropped below the clouds over northwestern Spain, I was shocked to see the greenest of green rolling hills and pastures, covered in patches of evergreen forests. It looked like Ireland for a moment and I wondered if we had boarded the right plane.