Suz

Happy Birthday Bailey

2012-01-06T22:14:00.000-08:00

On a cold January night, 13 years ago, I was packing our apartment to move. Nate had just finished his last semester of college and we were headed for Utah County for his first career job. I packed up the pictures, wrapping them with plastic bubbles and extra amounts of packing tape when Mr. Mecham finally talked me in to getting some sleep. I was 6 days overdue to deliver and it felt more like 6 months. Half way down the hall something happened and it nearly knocked me on my bootie! My big belly felt as hard as I imagined the 2 X 4 that seemed to be lodged between my ribs and hib bones. It didn't last long, but it was a first for me and I was hopeful. That night I never went to sleep... It was a frozen tundra outside... and I was inside in a hot shower trying to figure out what the heck was going on. Finally I told Mr. Mecham we were going to visit the hospital since the Doc. was willing to induce me sometime the within the next few days anyway. The nurses were certain that I wasn't in labor by the size of smile on my face and thought to send me home. But found that I could stay... and just hours later Miss Bailey joined our family. She wasn't very noisy at first. Her first look at the world was a pair of scissors cutting right at her neck where the umbilical cord was choking her tiney neck. And I am certain the first thing she must have heard was the Doc declare, "this one gets a discount for her beautiful red hair!". He had red hair and offered a $10.00 discount for every baby he delivered with red hair. Just enough to buy one hemroid pad at the hospital... bless him!
Bailey was quiet. I was freaked out. She wanted to sleep. I wanted her to wake up and eat. She wanted to be warm. I wanted to dress her and undress her in all the fun new clothes that I had. She wanted to be held and cuddled. I wanted everyone to keep their germs to themselves. She wanted to be a normal child and I wanted to be mother of the year... I had as much experience with motherhood as Barack Obama had going into office... and I was equally as clueless.
Needless to say, it has been 13 years of excitement, passion, determination, and nothing shy of all things extreme! Oh the fun we've had.

Bailey is:
funny
pretty
fun to shop with
has great taste in clothes
makes friends easily
oh so smart
helpful
beyond capable
gutsy
spiritual
clean freak
organized
lovable

On that cold January morning... what started as a contraction that nearly knocked my on my buns ended with a healthy pink and very sleepy baby, so tiney and sweet... and my life was forever changed.

Happy Birthday to she who made me a mother, my only daughter, a sweet friend. I love you Bailey.

I love these boys

2011-12-10T12:47:00.000-08:00

I get a HUGE MUNGO kick out of these boys!
I love that they are buddies.
I love that they are kind.
I love that they share their toys, their clothes and sometimes a bed.
I love that when I come down in the morning there is an entire table full of empty chairs and they are still sharing a the same space.
It makes me smile.

Funny comment of the night award goes to Cole... again...

Nate: "Cole, Come do the Neti pot. We have to get rid of your cold."
Cole: "I don't want to."
Nate: "Well come any way."
Cole: "Why do we have agency?"

And then he found out that sometimes in the Mecham house your agency gets robbed from you... and so he did the neti against his will...

Cole upon completion of the neti pot: "I feel like a new man!"

It snowed... It really finally snowed!

2011-12-08T12:14:00.001-08:00

It finally snowed! Finally! It was starting to feel like an overdue pregnancy! Infact, it was EXACTLY like that! Some of us couldn't wait to see the snow fall for the first time. To feel its coldness and roll it up together to form snowballs! We couldn't wait for the white washed night sky and ground to look the same only divided by the grey space that seperated it which would inevitably be speckaled with giant white snowflakes! It was all perfect in our minds!
We waited. We checked the weather station no less than 97 times a day to see what the weather man might prophesy... but NOTHING! Then... it happened. It was 10:00 p.m. and the sky was speckled beautifully... and wouldn't you know it, the little Mecham's were bundled up and out on the front lawn like it was noon. They watched the snow cover the ground and the very second they felt like it was covered enough,

A little snowman appeared...
and it took up all the snow in the whole yard.
But it sure was fun!
And tomorrow it has been predicted that snow will fly again. WE CAN't WAIT!

Święty Mikołaj Wigilia

2011-12-05T08:40:00.000-08:00

It is Santa Clause Eve here in Poland. Tonight St. Nicholas will make his way to all the good boys and girls and leave them a stocking of either treats or coal depending on how good they have been this year... and a gift in their shoe or under their pillow.

SHEESH! It all makes sense now! Santa Clause comes earlier in the month to Poland because we are really close to the North Pole... and Santa doesn't actually travel the world over in one night. HA~!
The kids think that means that if we go to Arizona for Christmas then they can cash in on Christmas twice this year!
Silly kids... Santa is smarter than that! We don't even have a tree or stockings here... So I he will either pass us up or he will stop because he feels sorry for us. :) We will see.

Happy St. Nicholas Eve

Happy Birthday to my dear old Pops!

2011-12-04T12:20:00.001-08:00

*Today is my dad's 65th birthday.
*Today I'm pretty sure that I woke him up... or atleast spoke to him while he was still in bed. :) That doesn't happen often.
*Today I am sad that I am not home to celebrate the way he loves the best: family.
*Today I have thought about a million reasons why I love that old man.
*Today I watched Mr. Mecham tear up when he talked to pops and tell him that "we wished we could be home to celebrate".
*Today I cried when I saw Mr. Mecham tear up. And we had a house full of guests... AWKWARD!

Making a list a mile long about the things I miss about my dad since I came to Poland would be absolutley PIECE OF CAKE! Here is the short version...
1)phone calls on his way home from work.
2)drop by visits on Saturday after he gets done with the temple.
3)drop by visits to take the kids for an ice cream.
4)Sunday dinners.
5)his big old smiley face staring at me.
6)Stopping by to pick up farm fresh eggs.

and the a few things I really really love about the old man...
1)He calls and tells my children ways that they can enjoy Poland.
2)He calls and tells us the score to games.
3)He is willing to do ANYTHING... and I MEAN ANyThing!... for us while we are here.
4)He is always doing something for somebody else. ALWAYS.
5)My children talk about how much they miss their Grandpa ALL THE TIME!

Happy Happy Birthday! Sure love you Dad. Enjoy that Choc. cake with cherries on top... since you are the only one who likes it! :) haha.. j/k.

School makes McKay sick... But Dr. Emilia makes us better.

2011-11-30T15:42:00.001-08:00

McKay is really sick. Like three weeks ago we found a private school who would teach our children even though they are not fluent in Polish. McKay went for one hour the first day, he went for four hours the 2nd day and then he got sick. He had a cold. The School won't let you in the doors if you are sick AT ALL! So he was home for the next few days. Then on MOnday of the next week he felt a little better. But Tuesday all the kids realized that they were sickly and couldn't go. They were home until Friday. That is when the other kids got better and Mr. McKay took a turn for the worse... but sadly I didn't believe him because I know how much McKay loves to go to school! NOT! So I sent them all Friday and I was home for one hour when the phone rang. It was McKay. He was too sick to be at school. He came home and went to bed. By Sunday he was laboring to breath. Sweet Emilia came over. She is our beloved neighbor who happens to be an Internal Medicine Doc. She came. She listened. She diagnosed. She prescripted. She ordered, "no school for atleast 3 days." She went home. Thorough as can be... and ever so kind. McKay smiled. He says the best part of being sick is that he can say, "I told you I was sick and you didn't believe me". And he reminds me every day.
INSERT GUILT HERE: I believe in the mum who sides with her cubs... and defends them to the end! I also believe in the mum who challenges her wee ones to do hard things and goes to great length to make certain of their success. I can't decide if I crossed the line... I should have been the mum who came home and smooched little McKay, put on the movies, and began making a pot of soup. But I wasn't. I thought he was faking. And so I tried to be stern. I am bad at that. Oh well. This time it bit me in the buttocks.
McKay got worse as the week went on. He couldn't breathe. Mr. Mecham blew up our nebulizer with the wrong size of transformer. Emilia came back over and listened again. She said, "we need to go the hospital now, okay?" And next thing you know, McKay and I were off to the hospital just barely passing Mr. Mecham and the other kidlets as they came home from Polish classes.

The hospital was like walking into a WARP ZONE... but atleast we were with somebody we trusted and who spoke the language well! Both dr. and Polish.

When we came to Poland it was required of us to have medical insurance to get a legal VISA. But when we got to the hospital they didn't believe us that our insurance was legit. They wouldn't have treated us if Emilia wasn't fighting for us. Doctors in this country get in BIG trouble from the government for treating patients without legit insurance... and they charge the Doctor for all the medical costs of the patient that they treated if they don't check insurance first. CRAZY! needless to say, registering at the front desk was interesting.
The concrete walls, the steel doors and the old style beds on antique training wheels gave us the creeps... McKay said the Elder Plumb told him there were "zombies" working in the hospital! I assured him that wasn't the case but that it just looked scary... like the Gas chamber we visited at the Majdanek death camp! Then Dr. Africa called us in.
ZOMBIE!

and he listened to McKay's chest and agreed that he was very sick and needed a lung x-ray to rule out pneumonia. Indeed the long scary halls made us afraid. I was worried about the zombies behind the metal doors. It was like a bomb shelter. And then behind the 3 foot thick concrete wall I saw the x-ray machine... and I felt so much better. UP TO DATE! And sweet Emilia was right there with us.
Back to Zombie Africa Dr... And wouldn't you know he said an "injection of steroids" was needed. And he had Zombie Polish nurse preparing the meds...
She was so nasty that sweet Emilia had to get after her. Dr. Emilia told zombie polish nurse that perhaps she needed to "get a new job. Perhaps one she won't be working with children and where she could grump around all day and it wouldn't matter". Then that zombie nurse put in the injection side ways into McKay's buttocks and took her time shooting in that medication. Too bad McKay is so tuff and it didn't matter that she sucked at giving shots. And when the fear finally hit McKay and tears began to come, sweet Emilia petitioned the zombie Africa Doc to give a new nebulizer rather than 10 more shots like this! And a quiet tear rolled off her cheeks as she saw how upset McKay was. But she got us out of 10 days of steroid shots. She became McKay's favorite person right then and there!
We made friends with that zombie Africa Doc. He liked McKay. He even shook his hand and then said, "Now you can tell all your friends you shook hands with a black man." To that I replied, "yea... well there are tonz of black folk where we come from and so it just makes us feel at home". Dr. Africa turned out to not be a zombie even though he looks like one.
Then a trip to the APTEKA...at mid-night... where we picked up one nebulizer, two antibiotics which we mix ourselves (and is awesome since the directions are in Polish), probiotics, 2 different vitamins, more cough stuff, one inhalor steroid, one resuce inhalor and a partirge in a pear tree. And Emilia was with us the whole time.

Did I say that her name is sacred in our home yet? Emilia... sweetest doctor of all time. we love her.

looks like McKay will get to miss school all week! :) Lucky dog.
Mckay slept like a baby.

p.s. Just because the medication and care is cheaper here in Poland because they have socialized medicine, it doesn't mean that it is better. And so today I am thankful that the U.S of A. is still not practicing socialized medicine... and I will fight to my death to keep it that way.

On another note:
happy birthday on Nov. 28 to Kaden and Kams. Sure love you.

Coley watched "the village" today. He is upstairs singing "I AM A CHILD OF GOD" in an effort to get that scary movie out of his head... and It is really super cute. I'm going to smooch his face off right now and lay by him since he is obviously scared to death.

Today, I could not be more thankful

2011-11-24T06:38:00.000-08:00

Happy Thanksgiving

Today I could not be more thankful. Really... because I have much to be thankful for. Here are 5 of them.
(5) A loving Father in Heaven who answers prayers:
During the summer of 2010 the Mecham's were the guests at the cabin retreat of the Lindley's. They were serving as mission presidents in Australia while we vacationed with their family at the lovely Bear Lake! We learned about the blessing that service was to the family. It made Mr. Mecham and I want to serve in far off lands. We came home with a new goal. We decided we would do whatever it took to put our finances and lives in order to serve missions for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints, and in small ways return a portion of the love that Heavenly Father has shown to us. We searched out and found a side business to build while Mr. Mecham continued with his career. We prayerfully explained our goal Heavenward and we feel like we worked hard. Great things happened for the rest of that year. Then January 12, 2011 came. I was driving home when I listened to a message from Mr. Mecham explaining that he needed me to come pick him up because he had just been laid off from his work and was walking home. My heart lept followed by a comfort which set in deep. We believed that Heavenly Father was in control. We had been well prepared for that to happen. However, our goal began to look far off. For the next 6 months miracles happened. The sweetest people touched our lives in the most profound ways. We saw the love of heaven pour out upon us. We look back on those 6 months with fondness. It was undoubtedly the best thing that ever happened to us. It lead us to Poland... and an opportunity to live in the mission field with our childrne, tremendous opportunity to serve Heavenly Father and to teach our children exactly as we dreamed of.
Prayers are answered. Always! Sometimes in time. Sometimes mysteriously. Prayers are answered and I am thankful for that.
(4) Missionaries:
Missionaries are amazing! Elders Plumb and Basha were the only reason I could have stayed here. Those first few months kicked our buns... and those kind elders helped out more than I could ever adequately verbalize. We love them like they were our very own. Then Elder Marsing came. We fell in love with him the very same way. We are certain that these little men are tender mercies from heaven. They have blessed our lives with their courage, their obedience, their humor, their love for these people whom they serve and with their inspiring example to us an our children. We will FOREVER love and appreciate missionaries and missionary work throughout the world. They are a huge blessing in our lives.
(3) The prophet Joseph Smith:
The prophet of the restored gospel in the last dispensation of the fullness of times. What more can be said? I am most thankful for the sacrifices he made to bring forth the restoration of the gospel of Jesus Christ in its fullness... and for the Book of Mormon which blesses my life.
(2) Friends:
I've always known how much friends meant to me. I have the best friends out there. They are treasured in memory, in conversation and in my heart. Their kind acts, humorous memories, huge impact on the lives of me and my children and the efforts that so many still put in to keeping track touch and bless my life EVERY. SINGLE. DAY! And I am also thankful for technology which makes it so easy to keep tabs on each other! BLESS them both!
(1) Family:
Heaven knew how to make life bearable. It starts and ends with family. Our sweet parents who constantly call as if we were neighbors, often just to tell a joke or keep us in "the loop", and who are so willing to travel the world over to come see us. Our siblings who do the same and take a special interest and thought for us clear across the globe. Our dear children who have made monumental sacrifice, shown tremendous trust and believed in us with all their hearts. They deserve a life of happiness and children as wonderful as they are. And a special gratitude for the sweetest husband a woman could ask for. Mr. Mecham is a dream. I love him more than I ever imagined I could.

Happy Thanksgiving!
And To Mr. Loyd... Happy Birthday buddy! Hope it is the best one yet! Love and miss you.

Finishing off Wroclaw

2011-11-23T13:51:00.000-08:00

This trip really wasn't forever long... I just did a killer job taking pictures to document it! We arrived Friday, toured it on Saturday and went home Sunday.

Here is the little story of Bailey and me...

On Saturday night after we had walked all day and well into the evening we stopped by the shopping plaza on the way home for pizza. Bailey was still looking for gnome charms for her charm bracelet so she wanted to check out the stores in the plaza but Nate and the boys were SOOOOO DONE! They opted out of shopping and took off for the apartment which was across the street. Actually, there was an alley leading to the apartment but the complex was easily viewed from the street.

We shopped for another 45 min. and then headed for home. We walked down the patio, crossed the street and as we passed the alley I had this great idea to tell Bailey to look up. She is never to look down while walking because she must be alert to what is going on around her. I was telling her to take note of everything going on around her. We noticed the curious group of young adult men gathered mysteriously next to the side walk, and another across the street in the alley entrance talking on his cell phone. I instructed Miss Bailey that alley's were not a good idea and so we opted for the sidewalk next to it which was lit much brighter. Unfortunately, it led us into a parking lot that was gated and our apartment was on the other side of the fence. So we turned to walk back out. We were briskly walking with intentions of getting home quickly. As we exited the parking lot and took a step into the alley I was a car coming up the street which a slowed down as if to turn. The driver looked at the man crossing the street who motioned towards Bailey and me. Then the man turned into the alley. We stopped. He looked directly into my face. We took one more step and then that ever so familiar voice of caution seemed to screem at Bailey and myself, "TURN BACK". The car pulled ahead of us into the alley and I before I could even direct Bay back to the shopping center she knew where to go. I said, "Bailey, I think we need to go back and call dad for a ride." Briskly we walked back to the shopping plaza. But before we could get inside we noticed one of the mysterious men who were gathered across from the alley was following us. We I called nate who picked up on the first ring. I told him to come get us and explained that I thought we were being followed. He assured me that I was and told me to sit tight inside the mall. Only minutes earlier Nate and the boys were laying on the couch telling stories when in the very middle of the story Nate had an impression to call me. He explained it to have been one that he rarely has but definately notices. He went out to the deck (which was facing the alley and could easily see everything that was going on in it) to make the phone call. While we waited for him to come, mysterious man walked around close to us. He walked in and out of the mall several times. His buddy in the car drove past and looked at us from the street while still sitting in his car. But we were safe inside.
While Bailey was having a panick attack, I felt completely safe. I was most thankful for the prompting voice which told me to "go back"... and for life lessons which had taught me to never question that ever so still small voice.
Even though I felt completely safe during that entire experience, when I think back upon it I get the chills. The thoughts that flood my head (after the fact) give me nightmares. Afterall, I was with my 12 year old daughter in an Easternblock European country... and I've heard that body organs are sold on the black market here! YIPES!

Anyway... One to remember... but the trip was not ruined... And the scare of that alley, the mysterious group of young adult men, and one very black staionwagon car whose driver I met eyes with were overpowered the very next day when our travels home took us through some fairytale lands:

Could this be any more picturesque? Driving out in the country in Poland is pretty cool. But driving out in the country on a freeway beats it! A real freeway, with farms and country homes lining its shoulder... Ahhhhhh.....

We still find the churches everywhere. Love them.

And who wouldn't hang this ditty right in their house? I loved this scene. I took it while traveling 150 kph down the road. That is skill!

And to top it off, McDonalds on both sides of the freeway. What could be better than that?!

And since our memories of Wroclaw are now two weeks old...

Today the children were home sick again. Bailey and Cole are better tonight while McKay has coughing, soar throat, sniffling, sneezing, aching and fevers. We are loving new bugs...

And tomorrow while America celebrates a day of Thanksgiving, we will not be preparing turkey and pies here. I do love my family but I don't have (1) enough pans to cook such a feast (2) enough room in my pants to accept the additional 5 lbs (3) the fridge space, though I could just put it out on the deck to keep cold (4) the desire to locate all the fixins in another language.
Call it what you want... the Mecham's are going out to dinner with the missionaries. I think I will make louisa's pumpkin bars though.

I am thankful... for my sweet family. All of them! In Poland, in Arizona, in Utah and in Washington state. I love them so much.

Wroclaw continuted

2011-11-22T01:51:00.001-08:00

Just beyond "Hansel and Grettel" was a church. An old church! There were a bunch of churches in this rynek. And since we are religious people, we went inside them!

This church is trying to gather donations to build a new oregon. Theirs was destroyed by fire. It had an oregon tower to house such an instrument which stood lonely and bare... I thought for 2 secondes about making a donation and then walked away... Does the thought count?

and another church... this time it was a Gothic cathedral... from the Baroque period. What a treat!

outside of the Goth church...

Inside that same Goth church...

One of my very favorite things about Poland is the ornate architecture. It is often breath taking! Really... set against the landscape makes for moments of wonder and awe...
Even the doors have particular attention given to them. Their colors and decor, fine materials and aged spots speak volumes of their lives on hinges.

Bailey by a cool old metal door near the University.

Who knew that blue doors could be so wonderful?

McKay and Cole by another cool old door.

The University in the Rynek was unreal! The artifacts inside made me want to go back to school... there! AMAZING!

Just inside was a stair case with painted ceilings... leading up to the 17th maridian.

One of the Professors here made a cyclindar shaped tool which allowed light to come in through the window and marked the 17th meridian right through the center of the university. McKay is sitting by it's masterful display!

The room used for orientation of students, etc was an old Gothic, Baroque style master piece! It was one the very first room we went into. It was so palacial in art with antique furniture. Even the way the wood floors creeked made it seem ancient!

mcKay at the front of the Gothic style room.

At the top of the university was a platform to look out over Wroclaw.

family shot taken from University platform... overlooking Wroclaw away from the rynek.

We were ready for lunch by this point... But rather than stop to eat, we tied ourselves over with a cupcake from the muffin store. I wished I had a business card in my purse to "Sugar Mama Sweets". They could use the phone number and call Michell for some advise on how to make a real cupcake! But I didn't... and so we just enjoyed the cake and then continued with our tour.

Right into the garden at the library...

Since when is their this kind of detail for the library garden? park benches! fountains! pebble stone walk ways! Designer manicured vegitation... so dreamy!

And our next stop was "slaughter alley". haha... from fantasy to nightmare!

This little alley isn't really a nightmare... it has been transformed from a slaughter alley where a bunch of stores once stood as a processing center to butcher livestock to a tourist's shopping dream. And on the patio out front is a memorial to all the animals who's lives were taken to feed the hungry mouths of men. Bless them. Bless them for carrying out the measure of their creation!

From there we took a walk toward the Catholic center. This is where the Catholic church owns all the buildings with an enormous cathedreal in it's center. The surrounding structures are used to house nuns and priests, school them, and I understand some buildings are rented out for other uses... other than church work. It probably compares a little bit to temple square.

The walk over was obviously exquisit. The river gave a nice touch... hence the nik-name "the Venice of Poland".

Could these boys be any cuter? yummy! And they had a blast sight seeing all of it!

We had to cross the water to get to the Catholic center: But it isn't just any bridge... it was the "lock bridge".

People hand a lock on the bridge representing their union... some in matramony and others not... and then they toss the keys in the river. I wished I had a lock to secure representing Mr. Mecham and Myself... and to leave our mark on beautiful Wroclaw. You can guarentee that I will before I leave this country! :)

there were literally thousands upon thousands of locks. Quite a sight!

So appearantly before Russia took over Wroclaw it belonged to Germany. But when the Russians were battling for Wroclaw they didn't quite obliterate it like they did in Warszawa, but they bombed the holy moly out of it... and so much of this little center was partially destroyed... and then rebuilt.

Right outside the cathedral is this little statue... I'm sure it has significance. I couldn't find it... and I forgot to ask Agnieska what is was. AWESOME!

This Cathedral was among the partially destructed buildings! The towers going up were blown off. It has since been rebuilt.

Bailey entering its jaws.

the stained glass is fabulous!

the oregon looked powerful!

Coley looked AMAZING! :) haha.. Many of these old churches remind me of the movies... Like robin Hood... with the concrete floors, old wooden benches, musty smells and long winding brick stair cases and secret rooms.

We went to the top of the church. First we walked the stairs... but only a fraction of the way to the top... Then we waited for the elevator to take us the rest of the way.

The man who ran the elevator was one to remember. He had one googly eye, probably fake, that looked like it might pop out if he held his breath too long. He had a cureous laugh and created a creepy feeling when we spoke directly at us. But once in the elevator that was not big enough to pull a bike into (we fit 12 people in it), he pulled the door closed, it dropped maybe 3 feet before it started going up and I was worried... That old scary elevator man cracked a few jokes and somewhat redeemed himself.

Once on top there was another platform divulging the beauty of what seemed beyond the horizon... I am drawn to platform look outs. They show another side of wherever we seem to find ourselves.

Nate heading down that mystical stairwell... on our way out.

Then we went to lunch at a Polish Milk bar. The fresh apple juice here is every bit as wonderful as the fresh orange juice back home. It quenches thirst and has amazing flavor. The dill potatoes, perfectly shaped into balls, the breaded chicken stuffed with ham and cheese and the cream spinach made us full, fat and happy! WoWzers... these Polish folk know how to use their dill... and it is ohhhh sooo yummy! Agata and Agnieska joined us for late lunch before they headed out. What fun to share an entire day with such kind strangers who quickly became friends.

They told us they are moving to the Lakes region up north in a few years. I didn't know there was a lakes region... and so it is that we uncovered yet another part of Poland to still explore! I think spring or summer might be a better time though... The lake's region is COLD... toward the Russian boarder... close to the enormous Baltic. I can't wait!

We finished off the day by hunting gnomes and purchasing souveneirs. I even found a Polish pottery shop... which I have been looking for since Sister Nielson clued me in on its power to bake impossibly wonderful foods in them. I was simply delighted.

nate and kids with Mr. Fat and Nakey gnome... on the top to of the bridge that heads under ground back to our hotel...

To finish off the night Bailey and I had a little bit of a sureal experience. I will share tomorrow.

On another note:
The kids have been sick. Sniffling. Sneezing. Coughing. Aching. feverish...
Dear Nyquil... where art thou?

Touring Wroclaw with a tour guide!

2011-11-11T06:25:00.000-08:00

Touring Poland is pretty cool... I have to admit. But visiting its breath taking beauty, drooling over its lush landscape and flirting with its tasty foods don't make you a pro on Poland. There is a history seeded deep here... it is a treat to learn of its richness. We read things here and there... and typically try to get some info before we skip off to a new place, but we've never known how to get a tour guide. Well, Andrzej knows people... he has friends with friends that have friends... and so it is that he made a few phone calls and next thing you know we had an English speaking tour guide who wore us out in Wroclaw! It was AWESOME!!! to have little trivial facts as well as those with historical significance. Agnieska is her name. She brought her daughter Agata. They were delightful to be with... We are loving our new friends!

They took us on a walking tour of the rynek and then to a great Polish restaraunt for lunch!

This is an old opera house!
It is still is use today. Wroclaw is the cultural head quarters for Poland! I think we've run in to several Opera houses... but we typically don't know what they are and we certainly didn't understand their significance until we did a little research... The Mecham's aren't huge fans of Opera... even though we love musicals... we don't care so much for the drama in the opera... or the high voices.

This hotel is right across from the opera house. During the time when Adolf Hitler would come to Poland he had two favorite places to stay: (1) Krakow (2) Wroclaw. Now I am Hitler's least favorite fan... I assure you... but I love trivia... so here it is: This hotel was where Hitler stayed while in Wroclaw. And it stands pretty today! I understand it is ridiculously expensive to stay in... even in U.S. dollars.

We started noticing little gnomes all over. Agnieska made up a game. She explained that there were dozens of these gnomes all over the rynek. They are symbolic of an anti-communist movement from years past. The Polish citizens were not allowed to assault the Russian Police, obviously, or even be rude to them. However, they could give them flowers or something like that and they did it in a mocking way. This kept them from trouble. The gnomes are representative of this movement. The game was to see who could find the most gnomes in the rynek. We hunted nomes until long past sun set... what fun!

Nate with the professor gnome outside the University

McKay with the worker gnome

Cole with the sleepy gnome... he was very sleepy from walking all day and found it most appropriate to be photographed with this one! Cole also bought a gnome hunting map... we found almost 70 gnomes! There were still more to be hunted!

Bailey with the Piarogi gnome outside a restaraunt. This was her favorite... a gnome to represent Wroclaw and a piarodgi (polish dumplings) to represent Poland.

It sure made souveneir shopping a breeze... anything gnome. :)

The rynek is the town center. Each town has a center where you can find not only housing, but also a church, stores of every kind, a pharmacy and entertainment. In my humble opinion, Wroclaw has the best rynek so far... and I thought nothing could beat G'dansk! The German influence here is quite obvious.

Most of the pics I have in the rynek were of Bailey for two reasons: (1) she looks good. (2) The rest of the fam was far ahead while she and I were relishing every step of the way!

The rynek in Wroclaw is HUGE and the buildings are painted so beatifully! Appearantly, when the country was divided up Wroclaw became a part of Poland while the Ukraine was it's own country... and so all the Poll's who lived in the Ukraine were transported to Wroclaw and given an ugly old flat in the rynek. Today those same flats sell for top dollar and are definately not ugly. I guess there is silver lining in everything after all!

The rynek in Wroclaw is quite big compared to many of the other town centers that we have seen. This part is the "little rynek" which is a side of the rynek. And the colors and attention to detail is exquisit!

Bailey in artistic alley.

Bailey and McKay in the main part of the rynek.

Cole in rynek (old town)

This old cellar is in operation today and has been open since the 15th century! It was once a place mostly for people to come and drink Polish Vodka (the strong stuff!) but has been turned in to a restaraunt today.

The ornimentation on the side of the building was fabulous!

I don't know if I can ever love the southwest adobe homes again! This architecture has truely spoiled us!

This was my favorite building in the whole town square! It is nik-named "Hansel and Grettel." What could be cuter than that? The arch way leads to the cathedral.

Isn't that just story bookish?
Wroclaw will be continued...

On a seperate note:
It is getting dark early.

The moon out my kitchen window at 4:15 p.m. on 11 11 11...

Happy Veteran's Day to America!
Happy Independance day to Poland!

Wroclaw

2011-11-10T01:31:00.001-08:00

5 highlights about our drive into Wroclaw and our first day there:

5) The fall colors are still here.

We keep thinking that Autumn has ended. BOY HOWDY it has been a long time since we experienced Autumn... because it is still here even though we thought that surely it was on its way out! The colors are still there... mostly browns now... but the leaves haven't all fallen. And we don't have any snow yet! With as cold as it is getting I am certain that we are in for an eye opener when winter actually comes to stay.

4)The roads! Oh Bless them!

Wide open free way systems are unheard of here in Poland... except for the space between Krakow and Wroclaw. We were so excited to see a real freeway! And even more delighted that we could drive fast enough for bugs to actually splat on our windshield rather than just land and take a free ride to the next town. Two of the free way roads are toll roads... for 7zt. Which Mr. Mecham openly admitted he would have paid 70 zt to travel on that road! He was like a kid in a candy store!

3)Papa Nate was the happiest he's been in years when he put the medal to the floor and navigated us on open roads! He is still talking about it and we've been home for nearly a week.

He may or may not have broken the speed limit a little... but perhaps he couldn't help express the feelings of liberation he felt on such an open road!

2) The Dr. Seuss trees... I finally got a picture of them.

While Mr. Mecham was making record times, I was trying to photograph the trees which inevitably inspired Dr. Seuss... Every time I see this tree I wish I was standing still enough to photograph it. They are out in the country mostly... and I think they are trippy!

If the balls were colored red, yellow, pink, blue and green then they would fit right in to the Dr. Seusse's beloved story, "Oh The Places You'll Go"! I am quite confident that Dr. Seuss traveled to Poland... atleast whomever it was that illustrated for him did!

1) Taking the Elders to dinner. We ate at the Sphinx... it was yummy!

We have a little tradition that we take the elders to dinner when we visit each of the parts of Poland. We have grown fond of each of them and love how friendly they are and how beautifully they speak English. With each of them we find some association to home sweet home and often know some of the same people. Elder Ball is from Nate's old stomping grounds in Utah. And though he was a baby when Nate was leaving home, they had much to talk about. Elder Gladun is serving in Poland and his parents are in our branch! He is the only Polish missionary currently serving in the entire world! :) We had packages to deliver from home and found out that we love Elder Gladun as much as we love his awesome mother, father and younger brother. What a great family!

On another note:

last night we bid farewell to Elder Basha who was transferred this morning to Lodz. It is selfishly a very sombering day for us. Elder Basha has been among the most significant of the tender mercies we've had since coming to Poland. Perhaps the greatest. And though we have tried so hard to be excited for his work to continue here, we let him go with heavy hearts. The Mechams will forever be thankful to a loving Heavenly Father who allowed us an association with such a profound individual!

Favorite things about Elder Basha:

*love. love. love. his sense of humor! It will take him far in this life!

*his willingness to leave his comfy home and serve Heavenly Father

*He gets an A+ for effort in the Polish Language! He is GOOD! When you talk about gift of tongues, he has it... and even better, he is willing to share anything/everything he knows with others.

*He has guts! I have sat back in amazment on multiple occasions while watching Elder Bash-ski converse with preachers of other faiths, laughed about his willingness to take time for the endless transients who approach him and courageously and shamelessly state the facts of our belief and then defend its teachings.

*He will eat anything and smile and tell you its good! I know he hates it... but he will eat it and then eat more and then thank you for it. An angel, really.

*The laugh! Oh that laugh! It is not only contageous, but also so very welcomed!

*friendships. Elder Basha must have a trillion friends. I can't imagine a single person not loving him.

*his humility is honorable.

*he is passionate about everything he does.

*He might have the biggest heart of any person I've ever met.

*He puts others before himself. He is 100% selfless.

*Love that his face turns every color of red when he is embarassed.

*when I can see tired in his face, it is never visible in his effort.

*his knowledge and understanding of this great work.

We have adopted a little saying to get us through. It goes like this: "don't cry because he's gone, smile because he happened>"

I have said it before, I hope my boys are as well prepared as Elder Bash-ski when the time comes for them to serve Heavenly Father.

Wroclaw, the Venice of Poland, was marvelous

2011-11-08T05:55:00.000-08:00

Our ACN team back home gave us this GPS that has SAVED OUR BACON!!! It is the greatest navigator of all time... and helped keep us from safe from countless accidents! This past weekend it took us to the ACN Wroclaw offices... where we were past due on a trip to figure it out! I am more excited about it now than I ever was before! In Poland ACN partnered with the BIGGEST phone companies and internet companies... YIPPEE!

We took care of business first...

and then we played our brains out!

I took so many pictures that I will have to post in segments all week. We planned to head over to Prague, which is only a few hours from Wroclaw (VROTSWAV) but when we figured out how much there was to see in the rynek we planted ourselves and had a fabulous weekend. Prague will wait... maybe in the spring... or when Mr. Holt comes over... whichever comes first! ;)

P.S.
A Happy Birthday on Sunday past to 3 of my favorited sisters... Lesa Mecham, T. bird and weezers. We thought of you. We tried to call. We love and miss you. Hope your day was delightful! I know ours was! If yours wasn't, just feel good knowing that we celebrated it beautifully for you!

Dzień Wszystkich Świętych

2011-11-03T06:10:00.000-07:00

All Saints Day in Poland is a National Holiday! That means the Mr. Mecham got off work! But really he just worked from home. We were told that this holiday was as big as Christmas... almost... and I think it was! The stores were cluttered with candles for sale since the back to school supplies cleared the isles... Nearly 1 1/2 months! People came out of the woodworks to purchase candles and lovely flower arrangements. When talking about Polish classes and music lessons for the kids everyone put us off until "after the holidays". I was thinking Christmas while they were thinking about "Day of the Dead". It was a sight to behold! I can't give the most accurate explaination of this holiday. I have read a few things and I had it explained to me by several different people... As near as I can tell it is a holiday much like Memorial day (but bigger) that was adopted by the Catholics. It is to mock death and honor their ancestors. All of the cemetaries are amazing!

We met the missionaries, Andrew and Blanca and took Jasmine and Cody and we went to see this sight... and a sight to behold it was! It felt like Christmas lights! Except everyone was walking around somber like. It was quiet and PACKED house!

Elder Basha wished he had his scariest mask ever to hide and scare people while Blanca knew exactly what to do because she has celebrated this holiday her whole life.

It was a treat to see and we even purchased candles to put on the graves.... the kids looked for the onesie twosies in the cemetary who looked like they had no candles at all... and decorated their grave with a single candle... they were few and far between.

Sending a Happy Birthday to Uncle Loran! We sure love you! Next year at this time you will be a dad! WOOT WOOT! Have a great day!

Party was a HUGMUNGO Success

2011-11-02T03:44:00.000-07:00

(the camera couldn't fit everyone in... but this is a good start!)

I couldn't be more excited to say that the Halloween party was awesome! Andje came through with FLYING colors! We all crammed into a 3 room apartment (that is our church house) and ate sloppy joes, chips, drinks and sugar cookies. The Gladun's brought homemade donuts. Ewa brought salad. Ella brought salad. Somebody else ordered pizza and several people brought desserts. And then for kind gifts I was given a chocolate liquor rose and a bottle of Argentine wine! :) We had about 50ish people there. It was awesome!

(The Gladun's pumpkin! The Gladun's helped us set up for the party! They are the most solid members of the church I have ever met!)

We carved pumpkins.

This was Jasmine's jack-0-lantern. She has carved before, but many of the guests carved a jack-o-lantern for their first time!
It was a new experience to see carving pumpkins such a joy on a whole new level!!

Sister Gladun has an apple tree. She brought tons of apples and we bobbed for them! Elder Marsing was showing us how it was done... and there was water EVERYWHERE! He was soaked! And if bobbing for apples was ever going to be fun then Elder Marsing must be at the party!

We played pass the orange (they youth were loving this one!), toss up, "don't eat Pete", catch the Ghost (Thank you grandma Chrissy for the Ghosts!), Dr. and Jenny Davis' famous animal game (Was played over and over), Toss the sticky eye on the spider! (again... thanks mom and dad for the package with all the fun Halloween games and goodies! They were a HIT!)
As our new friends were leaving they made comments like: "My children have never had s o much fun at a party!" "We envy you for this holiday!" and so forth.

Cody and Jasmine brought some of their friends who are in Medical School with them. Cody and Jasmine are some of my very favorite people ever! When we talk about debth to a person Mr. Cody definately comes to mind! Jamine is an absolute angel! I am in love with her optimism on every angle. These two are going somewhere big! I sure love them.

(the Simons and Mikoaj... Mikoaj is the only ym in Lublin and has been his entire life! He is one of 4 in Poland. Right now he serves as the branch translater. I love this kid!)

The Simons came from Warsaw to our party! They are serving a mission here to build the YSA and institute in Poland. I had 3 mothers growing up: Mum (who gave me life), Claudia Hawkins and Dixie Wilson. I lived at Dixie's from the time I was 2 until I moved from Logan when I was 12. Dixie and Sister Simons are cousins... favorite cousins! So I consider the Simons family... I am so happy they are here! They make Poland a great place!

And last but certainly not least, we thank those awesome Elders! They met Andje one day when they were down town working... and then they introduced us to Andje and Ewa and their 3wonderful children. And from there Andje invited some of his friends. And then the missionaries also brought 2 more Americans; Blanca and Andrew from New Mexico. They are here going to medical school in Lublin. Those boys are something else!!!... their mums would be so proud! Look at all the success from them existing in the right place at the right time! :) Thank you Elders Marsing and Basha!!! I hope my boys are missionaries just like you: thick skinned, diligent, faithful, happy, positive and the hardest working men I've ever met! You are most beloved by our family.

happy halloween!

2011-10-31T03:13:00.001-07:00

HAPPY HALLOWEEN!

Halloween is definately one of my very favorite holidays! I get so excited to see all the cute little costumes. I love to plaster my house with Halloween decor! I look forward to all the parties and soups... and JoDee's cinnimon rolls... and mom's witch finger rolls. I get excited about the chili cook off and trunk or treat! I think its fun to drive around and see the pumpkins aglow... and I love the carving pumpkin party! I just LOVE Halloween!
This year it is different for the Mechams. Halloween is not a celebrated holiday in Poland. The Day of the Dead is a national holiday tomorrow and so the Catholics here believe that Halloween is taboo... and the frown on it! And Catholisism is really what governs all the holidays here. Even though it isn't mandatory and religious freedom exists... The Roman Catholic church is the strong arm here. They honor this day of the dead with a sad celebration of their anscestory on Nov 1, how could one joyfully make fun of ghosts the night before? It is similar to Memorial but on steroids... and sadness. And so we will not delight in costumes this year. But we are Americans. And proud to be we are! And so we are having a fall party! haha... and carving pumpkins and playing throw the sticky eyeball on the spider and eating real fatty sloppy joes! And we invited peeps to that little fall party... And the missionaries they invited peeps. And there are just enough intreged people to confirm no less than 60 people. And we will all cram into our little church house... and you never know what will come of it! we are excited! Very! And lots of prayer has come over this party... because we hope we made enough food. And we hope we have enough space. And so we hope the halloween angels will bless our party tonight. There are halloween angels... right?

A sweet hook up

2011-10-27T13:56:00.000-07:00

One day while Mr. Mecham and I were going to get the Elders for dinner we came upon them in the scenerio below. It made me laugh! I said to Mr. Mecham... "these boys aren't afraid of anyone! Take a picture for their mothers!" and so we did! And then we happily waited for almost 30 minutes for them to finish their conversations with these Catholic munks. Yes... Munks.

These guys work their fannies off! They will talk to anyone and everyone... that is why they are so tired... We love them! Yesterday I mentioned that they hooked us up... but today we found out how much they really did HOOK US UP! The Mechams thank them for keeping us in mind... and making our little home town an easier place to live!
The missionaries met Andzej. He is well connected and made a few phone calls. Next thing I know I am the most popular American in Poland! He invited a ton of families to our Halloween party so we could meet them all! He introduced me to headmasters at schools! He got my children in to a private school that was completely full... But I have to go look at their curriculum next week! He has info on music teachers and good deals on musical instruments! He showed me the farmers Market where to purchase large amounts of produce completely fresh for pennies! He explained customs, teenage life here, religion, holidays and he has many friends to teach us more Polish! On Saturday he and Nate will take the children to a new pool... one that is less crowded than the spa. And then they will go over to Andzej and Eva's. While they are swimming Eva and I will be baking cookies and preparing food for the Halloween party... Now that we have people coming we must make some food! :)

Missionaries are cool!

2011-10-26T03:27:00.000-07:00

The missionaries have been working over time out here. They found a friend who has children, they speak English and they are the most connected and well educated people we have met here. We went to dinner with them last night. It was so fun to talk to them and hear about growing up in communism, how even just 15 years ago they had to go to the store to use the one phone in their village, and how their children live a completely different life! We asked them about the customs we have been taught. They assured us that there are some that think that way, but there are many who are forward thinking and want something else! We were delighted to meet people like us. Just when we were certain that we couldn't stand one. more. day... those missionary angels saved us again! They lead us to friends!
We are beyond grateful.

This morning school was a HUGE Success! Cole was writing poems and I couldn't have been more proud of his venacular. It went like this:

Animals, Animals Everywhere
by Cole Mecham
When I grow up and have room to spare,
I'll have animals everywehre.
I'll have a pig on the floor.
And a pigeon near the door,
A jackass on the chair.
And I'll take good are of them jackass.

such a proud moment.

Cultural obsenitites

2011-10-25T04:20:00.000-07:00

Culturally we have disgusted this country. We have successfully violated all of the customs in Poland. Its a good time.

1) We wanted to meet our neighbors. So we thought...make American cookies and write a note. For Family Night we would walk around and deliver them to the homes that didnt have a man eating dogs sitting out by the front gate and say HELLO! But we found out from the Nate's secretary that that is a violation of customs. The people will not like us but rather think we are strange. They will not eat our cookies because why would we make and give cookies to a stranger unless we had evil intentions? It just isn't done. Period. How were we to know? The gardener neighbor dropped off zuccini and tomatoes. We ate them! Maybe he was made we moved in and they were poisoned? Lucky we didn't die! sheesh! He must have been trying to mislead us.

2) Striking up a conversation with somebody we don't know. strange. What could be more strange than looking at your shoes all day? I'll tell you... talking to somebody you don't know. Or worse.... saying hi to a complete stranger with a smile. That is a NO NO! Just put your head down, look straight ahead at your stylish shoes and walk quickly. Thats all.

3) Gifting. Keep your gifts to i tunes cards and lotion. They are sacred and should only be passed out to people you really really know and love. It is not okay to say thank you with a gift and it is very strange to write a thank you note.

4) Don't say hello... but you better not forget to say goodbye! Don't talk to a single soul but when you leave an elevator, the grocery store line or any public venue if you don't give a shout out, "goodbye" then you are rude. And the better part... you say goodbye and everyone... EVERYONE... shouts a goodbye back. YEP, That makes sence!

5) Parties. Gathering of people in your home is not okay unless you know them well. I mean friends... which how do you make friends?... parties/gatherings are taboo in your home unless you are family. How do families even form here?

6) Sharing religion. Unless you are a Roman Catholic, you belong to a cult or you don't believe in the Almighty at all. It is terrifying for one to receive a Book of Mormon which is an official invite to join my cult, be a sister wife and move to my compound or I will make you loose your job, destroy your family and eat your dog for breakfast right before your eyes. This is my personal favorite! It is so ironic that Poland was the first country behind the United States to adopt religious freedom into their constitution... and they even proclaim their religious freedoms today... but they don't live them.

Needless to say, the Mecham's have violated all of these rules. We have come to an understanding that making friends is not as easy as it used to be.
We are thankful for the "out on the limb" Polskis who joined our cult... because somehow they also adopted a forward thinking culture into their lives where they will say hello, talk to you and even invite you over for a biscut...

It's Frosty

2011-10-24T04:13:00.000-07:00

I have been sick. It was YUK O LA! Strep is my least favorite sickeness. I only remember having it one other time and I swore it off. Then I moved to Po land and I think the strep bugs are bigger here and I found one. It brought its companion bug, a cold in the lungs. The lungs are still gurgley but the strep is def. gone...

Dear Neighbor who is DR. Ernest,
Thank you for calling me in an antibiotic. It is still wreaking havoc on my guts but my bones dont hurt, my headache is gone and my skin can be touched again. Oh yes... and I am certain that it helped the infection in my lungs as well.
Dzanky.

On another note, The gardens were all tilled last week. Every garden was harvested, the extra was burned off, they were tilled and fertilized. They are prepped for winter.

And just in time... for frost.
Hello October frost! It's been a while.

I didn't tell Uncle Gordon Happy Birfday. But I do know it was on the 21st. Happy Birthday buddy! Hope it was great! :)

no more counting... District Conf

2011-10-19T09:26:00.000-07:00

I can't count any higher. It wasn't intended for a count up or down anyway... It just ended up being that way but the counting fun is over.

We went to District conference in Warsaw last weekend. Cody and Jasmine went too, but they met us there on Sunday because we had meetings on Saturday so we were there for the whole weekend. Cody and Jasmine are medical students in Lublin at one of the universities. They are in their 3rd year and then they will head back home to Thaiwan. I can not say enought about these two. Cody has been a member his entire life while Jasmine is a convert of 2 years. They are the most dedicated, wonderful people I have ever met. I love them. Eveyone loves them! I mean everyone! They have 10 trillion friends who have the upmost respect for them and they make friends with every. single. age group! They are a blast! One day, in the not so distant future, they will get married. I hope I can go.

This is a picture of all the branch president's here in Poland. They are a worken' bunch of men! Brother Staples, standing next to Nate, moved here about the same time as us and he works for the Embassy in Warsaw. They have a daughter Bailey's age and we love their family. Too bad they aren't next door neighbors.

Bailey finally got to go to Young Womens. It was acutally a youth meeting so all the young men were invited too.. but she couldn't wait! It was awesome! She made a friend, Grace, who she instantly fell in love with and they traded numbers and made some future plans! We are so thankful for friends! Grace's dad works for the Embassy. He was put in the District Presidency on Sunday and he gave a talk in Polish. Which is amazing to me since he doesn't know Polish. But he did an amazing job!

At conference all the speakers spoke in Polish except Pres. Nielson. So we all wore an ear piece that had a translator speaking into so that we could understand what was going on. It was pretty cool.

Monday was a hard day for school... But Tuesday we totally turned a corner. We figured it out! Not only was it pleasant, it was fun! Then last night I got sick... strep sick.
Today Dr. Ernest (next door) called me in a Rx for antibiotic and probiotic. Bless his little heart.

Happy Birthday Keetchy boy! I love you!

And the best news of the entire year.... drum roll... Aunt Merilee and Uncle Loran are having a baby! Congrats to them! We can not wait to see the wee one... We are already in love.

Day 58 School has arrived!

2011-10-13T14:08:00.000-07:00

Going to admit something here. In days past, I took for granted the great opportunity of public school. I considered it a right... Shameful, I know. I am not a parent, nor will I ever be, that is naieve enough to think that it is somebody elses responsibility to teach my children. However, it was such a nice luxury to have a trained professional who loved to teach work my children ever. single. day. They did such an amazing job!
When we got to Poland we tried to find a public school that our children could attend. But because they don't speak Polish fluently, they are not permitted to attend the public schools here. It holds back the other students to have to stop teaching to caiter to the one child who didn't learn the language of the country for which they are studying in. I understand this concept well. So we congratulated the school district and the country on their firm and logical views and called good old Grandpa Mecham... who we knew we could trust to help us with our dilema. He joined us in our immediate search for a home school program that would sufficiantly sophoncify our needs. If we didn't thank you Gramps... then Thank you... from the debth of our souls for caring. You are AWeSOME and we love and miss you dearly.
We officially began the online courses a few weeks ago. But it wasn't until Mr. Mecham came home with all the books today that we got excited about the whole thing! OH WOW! This might even be fun!

Today I am thankful that Mr. Mecham made it safe and sound from Louisian, to Georgia, to Amsterdam to Warsaw to Home Sweet Home... and ALL his bags came too!

Dear papa Nate,
Thank you for bringing home to us some traditional baking supplies, the Halloween cookie cutters and treats from Grandma Chrissy and Aunt Lisers and Marci, the ziploc baggies, the cheese powder so the children can again enjoy their mac and cheese love and canned pumpkin. The missionaries will thank you tomorrow for the Cream of Chicken soup and green chilis when I make them chicken enchaladas. And the children thank you for the Halloween goodies you brought them since they won't be celebrating that holiday traditionally this year. And Cole is delighted that you brought back wart remover medicine for the wart that has taken up housing on his toe and is bothering him when he wears shoes. He really didn't want to give the dermatologist a whirl here...
Bless your heart for traveling with 5 suit cases all by yourself. You are such a stud!
Sure love you.

Day 57... Burrrr Baby its Cold out there!

2011-10-13T13:51:00.000-07:00

Today was extra chilly outside. It isn't actually "FREEZING", as in below 32 degrees... But I was colder today than I've ever been in zero degree temperature. It is a different kind of cold over here. Something I've never personally experienced. For the record, I experienced some cold days durning my USU college carrier. I recall one day in Logan when the high was below zero. That was cold. AND... there was a cold canyon wind blowing from Logan canyon. Some of the buses froze. I simply layered and suited up and went my merry way. But this cold here.... OH dear... it is soooooo cold. The air isn't dry and so when you go outside it bites clear through your clothes and chills your bones. It actually doesn't even matter how many clothes you have on... I am thinking that a snow storm would be nice. In my experience it warms up before a snow storm... but then again, I've never experienced Poland snow. Wish me luck!

**Today I am grateful for Jo Dee Dillard's hot chocolate family recipe. Thank you Lindblom seesters for teaching me how to make such a treat.

AND... I am thankful for good old movies. Today it was "Cant Buy me LOVE". Patrick was a hotty back then too.

Today the duo saved my life.

days 48-56... not a total black hole

2011-10-11T05:47:00.000-07:00

when the kids get bored because their mother is glued to the computer virtual learning site they come up with some pretty creative activities and ideas.
Cole's favorite it wrapping every toy he has in colored tape. Every day he asks me to take him to OBI (Poland's version of Home Depot) to get colored duct tape/electical tape. Then he comes home and successfully pulls all his toys apart and then tapes them back together. It is not an uncommon thing to find a wod of tape that is not garbage in our house, but rather a Cole creation! In the very center, under layers of wrap, there is a toy. And let us not toss out the empty tape ring... it also becomes a Cole creation. I know what Cole is getting in his stocking for Christmas!

we went to climb the obstical course in the trees again... it will close soon for winter and we wanted to get our fair share of climbs in before it snows in!

Cole finished his course about half way through McKay's second round and to pass time took the phone and some killer shots!
They went like this:
"mom, pull funny faces, k?"

and so I did. But why didn't he?
"mom, now kiss my face".

The joys of cell phone photographs! Cole has successfully take 3452839850928374 of them of himself, his shoes, the street, the neighbors dog and the counter tops this week. Bless him.

We have really enjoyed the beautiful colors of Autumn! Can't say enough how awesome it is! The weather was chilly... but in the last few days took a turn for the cold and we understand won't be getting warmer again until spring. YIKES! I wasn't ready for that yet! We were loving chilly!

this lovely fence is at the park... covered in crimson! Love it!

We wish we had a big pile to jump into... but walking through them and hearing the leaves crunch is pretty cool too.

Dear Autumn,
why couldn't you have stayed longer? Two weeks just wasn't enough! We give permission for you to stay until the last golden leaf has fallen... our jackets for crisp mornings haven't had adequate wear and tear yet. And to be quite frank... we were falling in love with you.
Please note, we look forward to your grande return!
Bless you.

We woke up one morning last week to the delivery of our wood. We anticipate many days of romantic fires... the kids and I! Mr. Mecham is never home. He will be missing out.

dumped on the front lawn in the rain! It was awesome!

So I requested Mr. Mecham bring home some work gloves which he did. And the kids and I went to work. We had to take it from the front of the house and stack it under the deck cover in the back. Happy to report that this was definately dead and bug covered wood and that mushrooms were growing. We are excited to smoke them later.

The kids had a blast stacking it! It only took us about 2 hours of wood lifting and transport to complete the winter stash. This happened just in time for the cold.
Now... I will have to learn to build and light a fire in my fireplace...since I have NEVER in my life done such a thing. This should be fun. McKay assures me that he is really good at it though and he knows everything about fireplace fires, starting them and how to apply firestarter. I am nervous.

In celebration of the cold we picked up a few provisions to get us through the winter. Coats and hats. While Bailey went for the stylish mid length coats and vintage style hats, the boys fell in love with these beauties! They wear them all over the place!

By "all over" I mean even to bed. Cole has slept in his cozy hat for two nights. It is chilly in the house since I don't know how to keep the heat on... and Mr. Mecham is away on business.

Last week Mr. Mecham had some business duties in Louisiana. We anticipate his return later this week. That is when I will learn about inside fires and then we will be off to Warsaw for district conference on Saturday and Sunday. Bailey is delighted to get to go to Young Womens for the first time since we got here! Can't wait for the weekend... but since its only Tuesday, we planned an outing at Chata (Polish milk bar) for tonight's dinner. And then school and school and school for the rest of the week.

day 47 Sebatical

2011-10-03T15:04:00.002-07:00

My friend, Lisa Skousen, moved to Europe when she was a little girl. I think it was like the 5th or 6th grade... Her dad worked for the Utah state University and he took a sebatical. I always thought that was cool. So... I am going on a blog sebatical until I figure out this home-school business. There are tons of things for me to learn and read to help my children so that they aren't totally behind when we get back... thus, I am done blogging until I figure it out.

day 46

2011-10-03T15:04:00.001-07:00

Thankful for general conferance. Thats all. Totally thankful!

day 45 A total boost

2011-10-02T12:53:00.000-07:00

Last night Papa Nate took us to our favorite restaraunt, Dolce Vita. It is the yummiest Italian food and every time I eat there I think of Debbie Brenner and how pleased she would be with the nutrition they serve! I haven't eaten a bad meal there yet! Then we went to Polish class discussed "Polish phrases" taught by Elder Basha. He is really quite impressive with his language skills. He won't admit it, but it is completely impressive that he speaks as beautifully as he does.
Going out and enjoying old Papa bears company is so refreshing. Nate is gone a lot during the week and so we look forward to weekends like never before...
We vowed to adopt uncle Curtis's wise theory... That is that from now on and forever we will get all our work done during the week so we can enjoy the weekends. As in, Saturday is not going to be a day of work our heads off since we do that Mon-Fri and even in a different way on Sunday. But today we had to get a few things done and so we set a time at which we would stop working and go make some memories! 1:00. That was the time we set. Kabob Saturday started at 1:00. By 3:00 Papa and the kids were at the climbing park in the trees for the 2nd time this week. They had a blast. I was finishing up preparations for dinner and guests coming to watch conference... which started live for us at 6:00 p.m. via the internet.

Elder Marsing's birthday was yesterday so we let him choose the dinner that I made tonight. Taco soup and Chocolate cake. We ate and watched conference. I was inspired by L. Whitney Clayton's message about missionary work. I can relate to his message about there being few members and he gave me hope that one day this country will also enjoy the blessing of many members. I thought that Elder Paker's talk to the youth was a message of love and great concern and a warning that clearly was prophetic and from Heaven itself. We have to much hope in our youth. But my favorite must have been Elder Uchtdorf... "YOU MATTER TO HIM". He is so good at reminding us who we are and where we come from... And I really enjoyed Carl B. Cook's talk, "It's better to look up." But I was especially touched by the closing prayer when it was said something about member all over the world... And surely because I am in a far off place which in the past week has often felt forgotten, it touched me that the sainst everywhere are still thought about.

I Can't wait for tomorrow's conference. I will not only get to finish the 2nd session from today and watch the priesthood session which played for us at 3:00 a.m., but I will also get to indulge in the Sunday morning session. I look forward to it.

days 43 and 44 The REAL DEAL... RUTS

2011-09-30T08:22:00.001-07:00

Here is the real deal... We are stuck in a little rut. Sometimes it feels really BIG! We don't have anything we HAVE to do... We have many things we'd LIKE to do... and we don't know how to accomplish any of them. God gave us a brain to be usefully accessed... and I am certain that I used to know how to do that. For some reason when you get into a rut your brain doesn't fire on all cylendars. I feel like I have taken 37 years off my life of learning and wisdom, lit in on fire and watched it burn and then started completely over... It is frusterating...
Here is a list of new beginnings for us:
1) home school. Not in love with it yet... but I know I can be.
2) foreign language. I am ever so slowly learning it... Most days I feel like I am in a deep dark hole.
3) driving with a new set of rules... or perhaps the lack of any rules at all?... Please pray for our safety every day and night and 3 time at all your meals. This place makes 5:00 rush hour on the 101 look good.
4) grocery shopping with all new foods, some missing foods, completley different labels and the inablility to ask questions about any of it: an experience that goes hand in hand with #2, foreign language, and I have become one with my i phone translater... grocery shopping is NEVEr a 10 minute experience but rather a 2 hour ordeal.
5) Church in a little apartment room up stairs... off the main drag...
6)green foilage that doesn't require an added amount of irrigation or watering. Bless this country!
7) no ice in my drink. people who look at me strange when I ask for extra ice and become so dazed and confused by such a request that they think I said "NO ICE AT ALL PLEASE." And if I really want to trip them out then I ask for a cup with only ice in it. That is how you confuse the McDonalds man!
8) Old ladies with knock out legs and nice bodies! (thats what you get for walking everywhere your entire life.)
9) dressing up to go to the grocery store. (I love love that everyone here takes pride in how they look. It really is like taking a step back in time... before the time of my children... and perhaps more like when mum was a wee one.)
10)a baguette of bread is a meal. nothing more needed. It is also a snack for your young children in the grocery store rather than junk food. And no need to cut it, just bite it off and eat the entire thing.
11) The only time I ever felt like I didn't have a friend close by was when I lived in Florida... Then I found the ever fabulous and most beautiful Jackie Roettiger... Who in my humble opinion is an ANGEL... so my friendlessness lasted mere weeks. But BOY HOWDY... I am without socialization out here... My vocabulary is digressing. My ability to think is moving backwards... and to be real honest, It is a first for me to not have a friend and to be not know how to make one considering I can't speak the language. Weird!

The boss called. Like... the real live Boss for DOme. He wanted to chat with me about how its going and what he can do for me. My response: "is this a loaded question? are we taking the gloves off?" and he said "not loaded. Gloves off."
Then I told him how it was hard. And after I told him all that hard bidness I told him I love it here. Because even though it is hard, I know that I am supposed to be here. I know that it will get easier with sustained effort on my part. I am in a beautiful place and there are lots of reasons to be happy... even if its hard. And even if we've been in a rut. I'll be darned if that sweet Mr. Dan Dome finished up with a sincere question, "what can I do for you?" and I choked back a tear and said, "just send us our school books." and without hesitation he had already worked out the logistics for that to be done.
I think I will take one step out of my rut now.
This weekend I will watch conference with a few things in mind... I am sure that will pull me the rest of the way out.

Day 42

2011-09-28T13:56:00.000-07:00

Today we kicked it around the house trying to figure out homeschool. And I found myself daydreaming of years past...

As a young child I dreamed of being an anesthesiologist, never marrying and owning a pack of sled dogs that I could take out. My mother was very concerned that I loved my jeans and cleats. I loved school and babysitting but didn't so much want my own children.

As I got older I changed that silly old dream... I dreamed of being a doctor still... but ditching the dogs for a man a few children to mug on. However the two carreers didn't match up in my mind. I am sure that my mum spent much time on her knees trying to convince the Lord that I needed some direction!

Finally, when it was time to go to college I didn't want to be a doctor any more since I couldn't see how being a good doctor and being a devoted mother would go hand in hand... atleast for me... perhaps the medical field... nursing. And that is where it went... I found a man. I worked in the orthopedic surgery center. I had some kids.

The theme to this story is that I never wanted to be a school teacher. So how I found myself here is beyond me... I guess it goes along with the part about having a few kids and finding a man who knew exactly what his dreams were... and he found himself SMACk Dab on his dream.

Don't worry about us... we are liven' the dream.

Day 41 warszawa

2011-09-28T13:02:00.000-07:00

Today Mr. Mecham had some business in Warszawa (Warsaw... pronounced Varshava)... and so we decided to tag along and see some signts!
1) Traffic in Warsaw... HEAVEN HELP ME! Once we got into Warsaw it took us nearly an hour just to get onto the street where he would be going to a meeting. On our way to that building Mr. Mecham almost pulled in front of a train and got us killed. It was very exciting! Once we finally dropped him off I took the wheel. We were headed for the King's Royal Palace! And I drove right there... but there wasn't one parking space in the entire place and then I took a turn and couldn't figure out how to get back to the King's palace or town center and I got us so lost that we decided to go to IKEA instead and wait for Mr. Mecham to get out of his meetings. But I got lost on the way to IKEA and so stuck in traffic that there was only 1/2 hour until Mr. Mecham was scheduled to be done. And so I thought we better try to find his office... with my track record of the day it was a sure thing that I would get lost. But I didn't... however, I almost got in a head on collision with a bus. That was exciting... and the bus driver yelled at me in Polish and shooed me out of his way with his hand.

(I thought this little lady was a kick! She must have had a death wish riding her bicycle in that traffic... chewing her hubba bubba and listening to her head set... CRAXY!)
I was even early to pick up Mr. Mecham... and I parked in a great place which I later found out wasn't a parking spot at all but rather a place for the people to wait for the bus. No freaken' wonder they all stared at me and no less than 15 buses pulled up behind me. Basically, we drove around for 2 hours.

2)King's palace and old town Warsaw... Once we had Mr. Mecham with us we found it... and it was, as expected, marvelous! Warsaw was completely obliterated during WWII by the Germans. And then it was rebuilt to look identical from looking at old pictures.

Front view of Palace from the road.

Cole at the backside of the castle. This is where the tourists go in.

Nate in palace courtyard looking towards Prince's apartment in the palace.

Kids in the courtyard of the Palace looking towards the entrance to the King's chambers.

Once inside you head up the stairs... They were marbel and very big!

And at the top of the stairs we were dumped into this lovely Blue room full of gold and paintings. Even the ceiling had art on it.. of a naked lady and her cherub children.

The room next to that was the grande Ball room. It was pretty much golden. McKay wanted to know why every room has to have either naked lady paintings or nakey man statues. I didn't know the answer.

Next we came upon the throne room. It was red.

This was the King's bed chamber... I was disappointed with the size of the bed... I think it should've been bigger!

Down.down.down.down. in the bassement was the cloak room... and in it was a bathtub... The cloak room was a HUGEMUNGO closet... like bigger than my entire house closet! which is currently being used as an office for the palace! Out side that was a gift shop.

There were quite a few other rooms... obviously... and all the rooms were fit for a KING!

3)Old Town Warsaw... BEAUTIFUL!

I love that all the buildings have rooms underneith them. And they have mini doors going down into them. This one was really pretty... it lead into the watercloset... which is indefinately a trick since this door is so pretty and the waterclosets here stink to high heavens!

this little church was sitting on the side of the road...

4)Ikea: We expected lots of goodness in IKEA... We couldn't find a cookie sheet there or a crock pot. NO WHERE in Po land can we find these items... SUCH A BUMMER!
Great day! So fun to see the sights. There is still so much to see.

Day 40 Rotton Eggs

2011-09-26T16:24:00.000-07:00

So Poland joined the European Union. I don't know what exactly that means in its greatness... but I do know that it means there are laws that must be complied with... things like, food handling and sales... to keep the people healthy you know. And I have to put a plug in here... Europe is a great place to live! Really... it is!
But since I got here I have wondered about a thing or two:
1) the meat. I was dang near gagging down meat before I got here. My McKay thinks meat belongs on his plate at every meal. His father is the same way. But the smell of meats is more than I could handle and the sight has nearly done me in for years. And then we have to talk about Pork... not the biggest fan... haven't been since I barfed up a hot dog the day we said farewell to my cousin Chad who was leaving to Spain on his mission. I think I was 10 ish? You can eat your meat. I cook it for my family. And I even have eaten my share... a lot of it! It just grosses me out. No offense. I have to have a motherload coke to push it down most of the time. Coke dissolves it like battery acid before it ever hits your guts. Don't judge.
2) eggs. I have been an egg consumer for years. I even owned and opperated a successful egg producing project in my back yard with 15 beautiful hens. We gathered and ate farm fresh eggs daily for 3 years. Mum makes the best scrambled eggs you ever put on your fork and Papa Nate can make a fried egg that would make egg haters into egg lovers after just one bite. No kidding! Before coming here we went through dozens of eggs in a week: Hard boiled, scrambled, fried, sandwiches and burritos. We put extra egg in baked goods to make them fluffier! We like eggs. But since moving here... oh wow... can't touch them! I know that eggs don't have to be refigerated... but I think they should be in the store! In Poland they are on the store shelf... and it grosses me out! It didn't help that I watched a lady shake her eggs one day. You know how you open the carton to see if any cracked? She shook hers. WHAT THE??? What does that mean? Then one day I cracked an egg and the yolk looked hard boiled even though the whites were still normal. That was the day I stopped eating eggs.

IF YOU ARE PREGNANT OR HAVE A WEAK STOMACH DO NOT READ THIS NEXT PART!!!

But then tonight I was making Martta's banana waffles for dinner. (bless you dear Martta for that recipe!) And I got out the eggs... and I cracked that first one and then the second... and I'll be darned if the very moment I touched that 2nd egg shell to the counter it popped and the most foul looking green watery liquid shot from it... and a putrid smell instantly permiated the room... and right off I gagged up my uvula! HOLY Gag of all GAGNESS! And I set that egg down in a bowl and handed the bowl to Mi Amore with specific instructions, "GET THIS OUT OF HERE, I AM GOING TO BARF!" And he knew I was as serious as I had ever been about vomit. And then through my tears (gagging makes me teary) I wiped down the green juices off of my counter top, quickly disposed of the paper towell on my way to the bathroom and then you can imagine what happened. As I burried my head in the sink I began singing primary songs to try to get that aweful sight out of mind... and it didnt work! I was humming Follow the prophet as loud as I could through the gags... but No dice!
And the second I heard Mr. Mecham walk back into the house I dumped half a bottle of Melaluca Eucaliptus oil under each of my shnoz holes (burned the sences out of my smeller), grabbed a towel and wrapped my face tight and then announced that we would be going out to dinner if we were going to eat at all! It was the fastest I've ever seen my family get out of the house to go anywhere. Pizza HUT.
I am still gagging just thinking about it. I will never, not ever, eat another egg...so help me.

Dear European Union,
Poland needs you to send a health inspector to their grocery stores in Lublin to check out the smell in the meat section and ESPECIALLY the egg situation. You will be ashamed. I have a stink bomb proof in the field out back that compliances are not being met.
Sincerely,
Still gagging.
p.s. Please call the FDA for some guidlines.

Day 39 The Tale of two Catholics

2011-09-26T15:49:00.000-07:00

Lukus hasn't been back to church since the week after his baptism. The missionaries have tried and tried to call. President Mecham even gave it a shot. Then a friend of Lukus' called the missionaries wondering where he is? So President and the Missionaries went looking. They drove 45 minutes to his house and his mother answered the door mad! Like SUPER MAD! She did not want Lukus to get baptized. She told them that he won't be calling them and they can just leave Lukus alone. Did I say Mad? I meant SHE. WAS. MAD!!

I gave this little situation some thought. I have a sickness where I analize these kinds of ordeals... Afterall, WHY? Why would a mother be so angry at her adult son? How could she think so little of his decision to worship without even checking out what or who he is worshiping? Especially if it meant so much to him. Then I thought of all the members of the church where I worship. I know that my own mother feels sad over her own children when they choose something that she doesn't see in accordance with gospel teachings. I thought of my children... I feel sad when they make sad choices. And so I began to have a little sympathy for this little lady... but it still made me sad. Perhaps she feels like her son has made a choice which will end in hell, fire and brimstone.

Here is the deal in Poland. Poland was one of the first countries to have a constitution with religious freedom... Thus the Jews moved here and we know the rest of that story. Today there are many religions here again, but the predominant faith is Catholisism. Roman Catholic. I preface this next part with a statement: While I have beliefs that make me a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints, and I believe it so much that I want to shout it out to the world, I do not dislike people of other faiths. Infact, I marvel in those that make religion a priority in their life. I am in awe at the majestic buildings that these people have errected for worship. I have people very close to me that have beliefs within the Jewish faith, the catholic faith, Lutherans, and even Jehovas Witness. I have found religion a topic of huge interest my entire life. I have studied and prayed to find my own. I have long had a desire to share the happy message of the Gospel of Jesus Christ with others. And I have often wondered why so many reject this glad message. Here in Poland it was explained plain and clear:

(this is my fav picture of the late Pope)

Pope John Paul II was Polish. He was an amazing leader, inspired many and especially the Polish people during communism. He gave hope to their circumstance and fought for their freedom! He did so much for his beloved country, while in a position of leadership, and he is not only respected by the world, but most beloved by the Polish people. He is a savior type for them. I can see why. I can see how. And I, a little Mormon girl, have a new love and respect for such a great man. I will not be changing my religion though. The Polish people are dedicated to Pope John Paul II. They feel that if they change their religion then they are betraying the very man who gave them their freedom. Many of them are Catholic because of him rather than their belief of the religion which he lead. And so it is, that even if Catholisim doesn't answer their religious questions (where did they come from? where are we going? why are we here? Am I happy with this faith?) they won't betray the late Pope. I wonder if Pope John Paul ever thought that his message of Jesus Christ would cause such heart ache? In Lukus's situation, he was nearly disowned by his own mother and is now in hiding from the missionaries. It made us sad. All I can think about is his words the day he was baptized, "I am so full of happy!"

Before I came here I was told of another story about a man who's son I know well. This man was also raised Catholic in his very wonderful and religious family. But he decided to investigate the LDS faith and ended up being baptized a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints. His father, still a devout Catholic, told him that if he was going to be a Mormon then he should be the best Mormon there was. EVEN today, his father goes to Catholic church nearly every morning and his fine son magnifies his callings in the Mormon church, raised his family there and sent his son to Poland on a mission. And grandpa just supports and loves his son who has lived a life of successes. I can't help but think of how happy it must make our Heavenly Father.

In this Tale of two Catholics, how do you have both worshiping in a faith that teaches the same lessons and come out with such different results? Christ is the center of Christianity, I would expect that if one is following their religion then they would strive to behave like the very Son of God whose name they claim.

This caused great thought... I have seen my own Mother and Father stand beside their children, whether they chose to be LDS or not... and love them without bounds even when it was painful and against their wishes. And I know they have done that because each week they go to church and they not only believe what they hear but they know who the Savior of the world is. They know that his life and mission was full of love.

Day 38 Bailey's guest post

2011-09-26T15:47:00.000-07:00

I didn't feel so good. So Papa dear took the kids back to Kaszmierz Dolny to see the autumn colors and one of our favorite towns... And so Bailey will document the details:

The drive there was really pretty. We even saw purple leaves! When we got there cole and mckay saw a little gun that they thought lookeed super cool!!! So we decided to go check it out. When cole pulled the trigger he said he got a little shock. He started to laugh and told mckay to try it! So mckay thinking "oh cool a gun", took it and tried too! he got shocked as well and we all laghed! When we all got done looking and laughing at the shock supplies, we went and looked at all the other stands people put out.

There was this little statue that I thought was adorable. The other vendors had lots of sourveneirs out. We found swords, knives, hand carved faces, and an interesting chicken carzed out of glass. We then went and had our favorite pizza! Which kinds? Hummm! Well, we got Americanski and pepporoni! YUMMY YUMMY! We also went and walked around by the river and saw some big fish jumping.

When we were on our way out we saw the bike rally that was in process and all the riders were there, with there ladies, partying!

We then took the hour drive home, So we had a super day!

Day 37 A day in the park... tender mercies still coming our way.

2011-09-23T15:04:00.000-07:00

The trees... they did it! They are changing colors! Glorious golds, reds and even browns... It is Autumn! And so we strolled through our favorite park checking out the leaves and watching the red squirrels chase each other around while getting ready for a loooooong winters nap! And it reminded us that we are blessed to be here and that though we have had a very difficult week full of wishes to be with friends and family, we are where we need to be and Heavenly Father is watching over us.

Merilee sent me a surprise for my birthday: Jelly Bellies... Bean Boozled! The kind where they look a like but really it is a surprise if you are eating barf or banana, canned dog food or chocoate pudding, moldy cheese or peach, rotton egg or popcorn, green goober or pear, stinky skunk or licorice, centipede or berry. So at the park I played a little trick on the children... it went down like this: Bailey took a berry jelly bean and popped it in while McKay went for the pear. Bailey quickly gagged and spit... stating with surety that she just ate a dirty leaf while McKay started hacking up goober. I just started gaggin. The thought had done me in. Cole didn't quite catch on yet and so he popped in barf... and that is when the children figured out that something was definately wrong with the jelly beans!

We decided to play the trick on old Papa Nate who was meeting us at home. He left work early to hang with us. It was planned out perfectly!
Me: "oh look! Merilee sent a pkg! She sent jelly bellies! I love these!"
Nate: "Those are good! I'm fired up! Lets party!"
Kids: "what are jelly bellies?"
Nate: "You've never tried jelly bellies?"
Me: "do you guys want some?"
everyone did... imagine that!
I let them each choose... nate took his favorite... yellow popocorn...
or was is rotton egg?
so we felt bad and gave him a strong black licorice bean to get rid of that aweful taste and so he didn't vomit! or was it stinky skunk? And then we all layed around laughing while he ran to the kitchen sink, burried his toungue under the faucet and begged for coke...
And so, feeling horrible, I gave him chocolate pudding... and he liked it and took a second choc pudding... or was it canned dog food? THREE STRIKES, Mr. Mecham... YOU ARE OUT!
Now we are going to play the trick on the missionaries. I can't wait to see their faces!

Today I closed my eyes and wished... but it didn't happen...
for double date night with the Dillards at our favorite eating establishments and then laughing off every calorie we ate by Andrew's sarcasim and JoDee's awesome combacks! Man... I wished hard! And it didn't come true... so I know I must be here for a reason. But if wishes were true I would've had a belly full of Thai and gelato that ached from laughing. I miss you!

Dad sold the van today. He, for many reasons, is still my hero! Thanks for all your efforts on our behalf and for always taking such good care of us no matter where we are. I love you.

Day 36 Chelm re-visit

2011-09-22T11:53:00.001-07:00

we were needing a shot of Papa Nate today... and so we went to Chelm for lunch with him. Then we walked around the town square without him. We went into one of the churches and the sweetest lady gave us a big old smile! Those aren't passed out very often in these parts of the world... Everyone puts their head down and walks quickly... so a smile and a friend is beyond welcomed. Bless that lady! She was manning the souvenier shop in the church and she stepped out just to say hi. I think that lady is going to heaven! I am putting in a good word for her tonight in my prayers.

day 35 hard day... looking for the silver lining...

2011-09-22T11:46:00.001-07:00

Today was a hard day. Super homesick... feeling a little bi-polar.

this picture makes me laugh though...it is outside the King's court at Neptune's Fountain in Gdansk... McKay is disgusted by it.

Good conversation that brought smiles:
Me: "Coley, will you please take out the kitchen garbage?"
Cole: "yes, but first I need some hairspray and a lighter to kill the bugs."

.... right... sure...

Happy Birthday Brogie Boy! We love you!
Happy Birthday Preston! We love you!

Day 34 A Happy Happy Birthday

2011-09-20T14:27:00.000-07:00

Today my dear mother graced me with life just 37 years ago... I think... I always get my age wrong and have to count it out on my fingers! It gets hard after 10.
Before I left to come to this far off place my mother threw me a family birthday party complete with cake and ice cream of my choice... just like she and dad have done for all the other 37 birthdays... So I consider today an extension! I have officially been celebrating this event for well over 4 weeks! haha...

Today I, mother of the year, bagged Polish and we went to party at the lake obsitcal course in the trees! Of course I tried to make a cake for myself with my new bottle of Vanilla that MR. Mecham had brought over from the states! But that little cake didn't work so well... It turns out that sometimes you have to have a jelly roll pan to make it work right... Oh well!

Aunt Marsha, Aunt Sherry and Mum/Dad sent cards. Bailey (and the boys under her direction) made a lovely card complete with "hug" coupons for all the days that I need a hug! Elders Basha and Marsing gave me a puzzle of Gdansk. And I got like a gajillion messages on facebook that were a complete delight to read! They made me smile all day! Of course, Mr. Mecham took us to the Baltic sea last weekend and then to dinner with the missionaries tonight at Dulce Vita. The missionaries are our little family here. We love them! That sums up a pretty grand birthday! I never dreamed the part about the Baltic sea would come to pass... And I guarentee it wouldn't have it I didn't live so close. But I will take it however I can get it!
hint: somebody who wants to make a lot of money should make these obstical courses in the states! THey are incredible! :)

and Merilee... I received a delightful pkg from you today... complete with jelly bellies (I will blog about this later... funny!) toilet seat covers (u.r.an. angel! My hind parts thank you! So do Bailey's!) rehydrating drinks, vanilla(you just cant store enough around here!) and a fabulous card! My gratitude. You are awesome.

Thanks for all the wishes! They made the difference... you have no idea.

day 30- 33 My Beloved Gdansk -

2011-09-19T13:55:00.000-07:00

Here is my confession: Before I came to Poland I thought that Poland was a place in Europe that was home of one of the most horrifying masacres in history: the holocaust. Thus, I thought of Poland as concentration camps and war torn, beaten down, supressed people who were in recovery mode from years of communism. Boy did I have that wrong! While the Holocaust did take place here (and there are camps still here to remind us of the autocity and to honor those whos lives were lost) and communism ended just 22 years ago, the Polish people are so amazing and hard working and this country is BEAUTIFUL! I am telling you... I am totally impressed! I thought I would be buying up passes to travel Europe every month... but I have no desire to leave Poland until I have discovered every nook and crany of this beloved and blessed country! I can't imagine that any other European country has anything over Poland. And so it is that our travels in Poland did continue this past weekend. We really wanted to visit the Baltic Sea before the weather grew cold! We had plans to maybe even tour a corner of Russia or Finland... then we got to Gdansk and we never wanted to leave! OF all the ocean fronts I've seen (only three... if the Gulf of Mexico counts, Atlantic and Pacific) I have to say that I loved the Baltic Sea the most! IT IS AMAZING!
The drive to Gdansk from Lublin is the least of my favorite drives though: Good Grief! The traffic is terrible! Gdansk 271 miles (which should take you approx 4.5 hours...) but due to traffic it takes 8 hours! 8 hours of traffic and road repairs. Poland joined the European union and they are preparing for the Euro cup next summer. The European union gave them money for road repairs in preparation for that blessed event! Everyone knows road repairs don't happen after the snow flies... and so every road from tip to toe is torn up and being loved on... It is beyond frusterating! I better be here to see the end of that! :) It is said that Warsaw has the worst traffic in Europe... and we had to go through Warsaw to get to Gdansk... and then from there the country is wide open. mostly farm fields. Though it isn't horrible, it was my least favorite drive of all the places we've visited in Poland thus far. I was completely entertained when Mr. Mecham pointed out a new bridge structure which was being made and my eyes went directly to the construction worker who was picking a snuggie right there for everyone on the busy road to view. But I was most entertained only 30 yrds later when a full grown man stood on the side of the road and relieved himself... not trying to shelter himself at all and was close enough to high five! I am talking so close and so obvious that we could tell he had taken his B vitamins that day. I was laughing my head off! So hard that I didn't have time to snap a photo which I would have done if I had my camera out!
Of course all the great little churches are awesome though!

And we found a cool little town to tour that was only 20 minutes outside Gdansk.

Once in Gdansk we unloaded the car and went straight to the town center. It was getting late and we were hungry. We didn't have time to figure out where good Polish food was so we ate Subway. And then we headed back to the apartment so that we would be fresh for the next day. Town center at night was like candles on a birthday cake... It was so fun to see.

My camera didn't take good night time pictures though.

Saturday morning we ate breakfast and then went back to town center. We were specifically told to do 4 things:
1) climb the St. Mary's Cathedral

We were promised that the view was worth the burn... And it was!

(2) go to Westerplatt (where WWII started)

(3) walk down Amber Alley to shop

(4) Check out the ship yards where communism fell.

(This is a little memorial to them, though it isn't in the ship channel, obviously, but rather on the side of the road.)

However, on our map we could see that we wanted to do more than 70 things! NOT ENOUGH TIME! We will be back in Gdansk though. I started a wicked trend by requesting a vacation of that kind for my birthday... and so the boys both requested that same trip for their April Birthdays! :) Surely when Grandparents get here we will go back.

1) St. Mary's Cathedral: This place is amazing!

Home of the oldest Brick church in the world... built in the 1300's.

We climbed 416 stairs to the top of this building... thighs burned... and we could see clear over Gdansk and the Baltic Sea! OH WOW! We were high!

Second to that view were the artifacts inside. The paintings were breathtaking!

This clock is a dream come true!

2) Westerplatt. The Polish army held off the Germans for 7 days here... this is where WWII began! It is an incredible story of their bravery and hard fight! I can see why everyone wanted to own Poland. The German's wanted their sea port.

This little skipper sang to us while we took the 40 minute boat ride out to Westerplatt. Bless his heart. The sign advertising the boat ride said, "only tour in English, German and Polish" and we thought that sounded great! However, the entire tour was in Polish and the skipper sang in Polish. But I understand if you drink polish Vodka then you could order it in the bar in any of the 3 languages. AWESOME!

old fortifications on the side of the port going into old town Gdansk. Clearly these people were battling for their rights to this ship channel for a loooong time!

Bailey by a blood stained fort at Westerplatt.

Nate and Coley in his new WWII soldier hat at a Westerplatt fort.

The boys were in HEAVEN at this spot! McKay could hardly take it all in... the very grounds where WWII started! He found a helmet of a soldier that was being sold for pennies. Crazy that we were there.

3) Walk down Amber alley: This was for Bailey. Shopping! Amber is prevalent in these parts... and so it is quite inexpensive also. Bailey found some cute Amber charms and we adored all the amber jewelry and souveneirs. What a place! I was shopping not taking pictures... bummer.

4) The ship yards where communism fell:

There is a story! The Russian's were going to raise the price of meat. The Polish workers said they would strike if they did! Then they did it! It was unheard of for people to strike in communism but they had had enough! Then the Polish people started calling the shots! And that is where it all happened... And I think it is so cool that they had the guts to stand up for their freedom!

Looking back at Gdansk from the shipyards

ship repairs are quite amazing to see. They cranes that lift them out of the water are monsterous and the ships are enormous!

We spent a lot of time down by the King's court shopping and eating... and we even ran in to some American's who were passing through that port on their cruise! It was so nice to talk to friendly American's in our native tongue. Then we met up with the missionaries and took them to dinner at the only Mexican restaraunt in Poland! We are always impressed with the missionaries here. We could have spent a month just down town. We barely skimmed the surface!

Took this picture for the Dillards! We thought of you a hundred times this trip! Wished you were here to go out with us at night! The town looked like Downtown Disney to us. I think Mr. Walt might have come here before Disneyland was built. You guys would LOVE IT!

Mckay

Neptune's fountain outside the King's court.

arch way going out of town.

The shopping was awesome! The mid-evil swords were pretty shweet. souveneirs in these parts were spectacular!

I had a cartoon of the kids drawn up. It took this artist 20 min. Then I thought about how Dan the man Speakman needs to move to Gdansk and draw pictures of all the tourists! :)

we stayed true to Kabob Saturday tradition... these ones were really good.

we love tipping the statues in the town square. They always do a funny pose with you after you tip them. Nate kissed her hand and then she suductively waved goodbye to him! Sooo funny!

Coley took his turn with a statue... not as gutsy as his father.

King's court. I loved this spot in town center.

clock tower

Gdansk post office.

Sunday morning we got up really earlly and went to Sopot to walk along the beach and rub our feet in that soft lucious Baltic sand. It was down right COLD sand! We saw tons of Jelly fish and tried not to step on them and wowed over the majesty of the swans flying in to the beach.

Nate and kids on the pier overlooking the Baltic. As a child I dreamed to visit this place.

while walking out on Europe's longest peir, two of these beauties flew right over our heads and landed on the water.

The lighthouse made me think of mum. I miss her.

Nate didnt have the time to take off his shoes and rub his feet in the sand like the rest of us... He is was way ahead of us with our shoes when we hit the jelly fish swarm on the beach and had to tip toe through all of them so that we didnt get stung. I guess we will learn to stay with old papa some day.

weird looking jelly fish...

the sand was so cold it made our legs ache at first! But that wasn't going to stop us! We can't wait to see what its like in the mid summer!
On the ride from Sopot (where the beach was) back to our apartment to get ready for church, Mr. Mecham was pulled over by the policja and given a breathelizer test. Thank heaven that at 8:30 in the morning he was sobered up for church! He claims it was his first breathalizer ever and we swear it is just because we have no clue how to get around this crazy town!

We hit sacrament mtg where Elder Garrett translated beautifully just for us... and then headed out for our 8 hour drive home.

Favorite comment of Sunday award goes to Bailey:
"It felt like real church except the part where I couldn't understand anything and I was really bored."

Then we took a little jog to Malbork to see the mid-evil Teutonic Knight castle. It was... pretty much... crazY HUGE! We laughed at the thought that our children were romping on the castle grounds on Sunday afternoon.

We didn't see that one coming!
Then Nate paid off a bum (they are begging all over) to leave us alone only after he told him that "as you can see I have 5 of my own mouths to feed." Then he gave him 2zt which is equivalent to less than $1 and we left. Bless his generosity!

Remind me, if I ever try to do it again, that I HATE driving at night in Poland. 2 lane, narrow roads isn't fun! The people have a little shoulder on their road, like back home, but they use it for walking on, and pulling over and also if somebody wants to pass then they flash you and you drive along the side while they pass going up the middle of the two lanes of traffice. Which means that you not only have to be looking for the guy behind you who is passing you, but also if there is somebody driving head on into you and if you need to drive down the side then you better be sure you don't hit the pedestrian all in the dark while driving 100 kmph. It is death grip on the steering wheel... and you better take your anxiety medications atleast 1 hour prior to departure. HOLY MOLY!
We ate McDonalds on the way home. Public notice: McDonald's here is better than in America. Sorry. But it is still McDonalds and I think all McDonald's food makes you feel bloated and gassy and should be served with a double dose of Pepto. I don't want to eat that again...

Dear Gdansk,
I am in love with you. You are beautiful, full of history and romance that would touch any heart. I have dreamed about your architeture, fountains and churches, that Baltic sand and the diving swans, those beautiful colors and cobble stone paths every day since I left your side. Your wisdom from the history you lived is breath taking! I love that you named a park after President Ronald Reagan! You are daring with the bravery displayed in the shipyards and vicious with the stand off at Westerplatt. It is an understatement to say I am impressed. Italy has nothing over your majesty. I will be back.
Ever in Love,
Becky

Day 29 In preparation

2011-09-15T06:29:00.000-07:00

We are in preparation for a little road trip... I will take good notes and post again next week. Emilia and Ernest will be here to watch the homestead. Bless them! Until then, I can be found sitting in front of the washer trying to get 17 back loads of laundry done and hoping for a miracle so we have clothing to wear... Never mind that we might all be color coordinated since only certain colors will make it all the way through.

Day 28 Injury

2011-09-14T12:05:00.001-07:00

Yesterday while we were at the Galeria Olimp we found a sports store... and you wouldn't believe it that we found a real American Football inside! We have wished a hundred times that we brought ours... you cant really find them in Po land... But we found 1. The only one we've seen since we got here! And we bought that bad boy... and Mr. Mecham was so excited about it when he got home that he and the boys went to the park to toss it around! That is where McKay pulled a muscle in his ankle... the same ankle he babied for 4 months in physical therapy. He could hardly walk. He iced and iced... stretched and iced...but he just couldn't walk.
This morning was a little better, but we planned on taking a day to recover... that is when movie marathon came in handy!
But then Cole decided to take his turn with injury.

I am not fond of these little stairs. I lay awake at night thinking about tripping and falling down them before we ever moved here. Once I saw those pictures of marbel stairs I worked myself into an ulcer thinking about injury that awaited and most nights I would have to sing primary songs to get those aweful thoughts out of my head. Who puts marbel stairs with or without a banister in their house? Marbel is for counter tops or flooring in the Trump home. Needless to say, I've never been fond of them. And today it happened...
Coley tripped on stair two and face planted down the rest of them and almost fell off the edge on to the next set of stairs going down. We were just 10 feet away and couldn't get there fast enough to stop it. It was aweful!

And it scared him to death...

It left Mr. coley with a puffy and skidded up eye and two claw marks on his chest from the sharp edges.
And we were so thankful that he was okay... and is ever so tough.
And then he joined Mckay on the couch with a bag of ice on his eye while Mckay iced his ankles.
FYI: Ice comes in bags the size of a gallon zip loc around here. So we cant store enough of it! The freezing snow will cut down on the ice bill around here... The boys can take their injury outside in a few months! I am sure we will need it once the ice skating, sleds and skis come out.

Day 27 Conversation with Cole-ski

2011-09-13T15:14:00.000-07:00

Today we didn't do anything worth remembering... haha... just went to the store to discover what else is around here. I never like window shopping until I moved here... Now it is a load of fun just to see what is available. In the mall (different one than we have already been to) we found 2 grocery stores. I suppose that is a normal thing in these parts...

This morning:
Cole: "mom do I eat like a cow?"
Me: "no. Cows eat grass"
Cole: "well then are you a cow cuz you drink that green grass drink... and... (hesitantly...) you have utters."

Tonight at way past bed time:

Cole: "mom can I sleep with you cuz Bailey said I can't sleep with her because I have a wart on my toe and she will get it. Is my wart contageous?"
me: "no. Just lay by me until dad gets done talking to grandpa."
Cole: "It's just a small mountain... actually a volcano! waiting to explode".
me: trying to hold in a laugh...
Dead silence
Cole: "mom, do I have a unibrow?"
me: start laughing under the breath.
more silence
Cole: "mom? I know who Heavenly Father's father is... THE PLANET MARS!"
Me: "sorry dude... you totaly have that one wrong... go to sleep buddy."
silence
Cole: "mom... Do you remember Brittan Budge? She is hot! Asher overheard her at recess one day telling her friend that I liked her and she likes me. I am going to give that girl a ring before I go on my mission so she wont kiss anyone till I get back."
Me: "cole... we can revisit this conversation in 13 years."

Day 26

2011-09-13T14:21:00.000-07:00

While Mr. Mecham went to work today we decided to go to the lake and play. It is close to the house. We had no idea how fun the lake was going to be!
When we parked and got out of the car some psycho dude came up to us and mattered in Polish before he blew a huge puff of smoke right in my face. "I'm sorry, I do not understand" I stated... "taxi!" he said. "you need money for a taxi?" I questioned. "money! Money. Money." he gleefully sang as he danced with his burning cigarette in a ballet fashion over to his car.
I did not know what to do... To be real honest, I was a little scared but had to keep calm in front of the wee ones who looked terrified! I had instructed them to move to the other side of the car out of scary mans reach... He then came back and tried to hand me 10zt. I told him I didn't want his money but rather I was wondering if that was what he needed and since it wasn't he could have a nice day. He began pleading!!! I mean begging and pleading! He needed a ride into town. I told him I was just coming, not leaving, as he knew, and that I was sorry. "Nie" I said. "Nie" which means NO! Then I ordered the children to look the other way and begin to walk quickly towards people.
OH WOW! Then that WACKO man went bolistic! He was yelling and stomping and hand gesturing like I've never seen before. We could feel the anger and hate coming from his words even though we thankfully couldn't understand any of them. His car was still there when we got back, but he was gone. I guess he talked somebody else into "taxi" his sorry buns into town. SCARY!

We paid to use the potties and began our search for the bike rental shop. (Side note: potties are uni-sex. They cost 1zt at the lake for the whole family! Gotta love Poland. But the pay potties are much cleaner than the free potties!) While searching we came to realize that we were in a lake WONDERLAND! Seriously!

Off to the right was a kids playground which the kids had a ball playing on...

with adult work out equipment overlooking the lake which I vowed to wear better shoes and put to use later this week...

and even more to the right was a waterslide just incase the lake wasn't already fun enough! It was closed on Monday morning... but we will be back to ride that thang!!! MARK. MY. WORDS!

We still hadn't found the bikes but we knew they existed because we saw a bunch of people riding them!
We found a boat rental shop. Cole was in HEAVEN and promised he'd never ask for another thing if I would just rent him the goose paddle boat... but thankfully that boat rental shop was also closed down. I think they don't get a lot of renters on Monday mornings in September... hmmmm?

Just beyond the boats we came upon a serious climbers, zipline paradise! Anyone who knows McKay knows he is most often found high in a tree! He was drooling! We got all the info on this haven... but since we didn't plan on such delight we were wearing the wrong shoes so we will have to go back! To climb up these obstical courses in the trees one must wear a helmet and tie off! It was a little city in the trees that put the Robinson's tree house to shame! Nearly the size of a football field, and probably no less than 100 yrds to the top, there were 3 courses of net and climbing and ziplines that took you from one destination to the next... and I only thought these places existed in my wildest dreams!

After our awesome discoveries we hit the water... And found out that in Poland if you want to go to the lake, but you don't have on your swim suits like we did, then it is okay just to strip down to your whitey tighties and swim in those. YIKES OLD MAN! I tried to take a picture so everyone would believe me but the man kept sitting down... I think he knew he was on candid camera. I laughed at one moment when I thought of Dave... Nate's beloved older and oh so wise brother... and how he would have loathed me trying to take this photo of undie man. (Dave and his hottie wife came to see us when we lived in Florida with their cutie kids. They are party animals! They play as hard as they work... and BOY HOWDY... that is HUGE! Wished they were here at the lake with us today... just like in Florida!)

The kids had a blast for a good hour in the lake.

Then we went home to beat Mr. Mecham... Good discovery today.

Day 25

2011-09-11T14:22:00.000-07:00

The Chapel doors seem to say to me...
This is the front door of our church house. I am still shocked each week as I go to church. EVERY. SINGLE. WEEK. I am humbled again and again over this little branch...

We ring this bell (2nd one down) and the missionaries let us in.

We then walk into this concrete entry and up these stairs to worship.

Today President and Sister Nielson visited Lublin. They are one of our great connections to home. So when we get to see them all our troubles seem to disappear! We absolutely love them!

When we got home there was sad news on our answering machine from the homeland... Elder Basha's sweet aunt passed away this morning. By the look on his face when he entered my house for dinner tonight, I could tell that she will not only be missed but is terribly loved by one very devoted and hard working elder... And to be real honest I broke a mission rule and hugged that Elder Basha... because my heart hurt for him. And he said its okay because I'm like his other mother. So I am happy to report that I have a missionary son! Whom I love and who did an amazing job translating today in church.
Our deepest condulances to the Basha and Huish families today.

In remebrance of that September morning... a decade ago...
I have thought a hundred times today about America. Perhaps I feel more patriotic right now after being given the opportunity to know just how great it really is.
I am chilled when I remember that morning: There I sat, in the same bedroom of my youth, feeding Mckay and my mother came charging in wearing her nightgown. Drawing me to follow her with her pointer finger she said, "hurry, you have to see this." Nate had called and he told her to turn on the news. We watched in disbelief... not having a clue yet that America was actually under attack! And then, as if we were viewing a horror film, we watched the 2nd plane hit the building... we heard the horror of the filming, and shortly thereafter watched as those towers crashed with a thunder that we seemed to feel thousands of miles from where it actually happenend. The remainder of the day was a sick feeling for those families who clearly lost loved ones, the fear of America under attack and the errie silence that filled the outside... Not a plane in site... And then... One Nation, Under God, who united together in prayer and mourning and in complete determination to fight to keep our liberties...
Needless to say, I will never forget. I am proud to be an American! Anyone who isn't may take the time outside of that beloved country to find out how promised it really is.
God Bless America!

Day 24 Cont... Kazemierz Dolny

2011-09-11T13:06:00.000-07:00

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These are some of the scenes from our 1 hour 15 min drive to Kazimierz Dolny. Right after the church my camera ran out of batteries and I had to miss an entire dream town of photo ops. Infact, I could live there in that little town my entire life and be just fine... And we weren't even to Kazemierz yet.

We saw this little church through the trees... I am in love with all the huge and very old churches that I see... and so we pulled over to view its loveliness!

But before we could go inside we found a much needed watercloset. At the front door was this little sign. When we entered it in "i translate" we found out that it cost 1zt for adults and .50gr for children to use this restroom. And I'll be darned if there wasn't a hired woman sitting in a little room with window right as we walked in making sure we paid it. Cole was super concerned that there was a woman in the mens restroom... for sure she was going to check him out!

This time we beat mass... And nobody was in the building so I figured I could take some pictures. It was amazing inside! Next time I will get pics of the ceilings! Everything resembles the cross in these buildings. They are long and then cross wide. The ceilings all point upwards. They are quite interesting. There was also a huge field with statues down below this building and when we went down there we couldn't read any of them. Again, we put them in 'i translate' and they had meanings we were unfamiliar with. I think the church had homes for the priests and nuns next to it. The building was being renivated. I am sure it is hundreds of years old.
We were leaving as a wedding party was arriving!

The guests arrived first. All of them in their nicest duds! They all stood out front cheering as the Bride and Groom rode up the road in this little enchanted carriage! It was soooo cute! Behind the carriage was an entire procession of cars and... get this... a BUS! A bus load of guests! All going to the wedding event! It was pretty cute.
Then the camera died. Then we drove through the rest of this city and it was completely UNREAL! Then we got batteries and drove in to Kazemierz.

These are some of the scenes we saw as we drove in. I WAS IN LOVE!
On the weekends people come and set up little shops and sell their stuff. It is a blast to walk around and see things from bread formed into chickens to antiques to blown glass, to crocheted shawls and table cloths to jewelry to farm fresh foods. (oh yes... huge raspberry crops and they are in season!) The kids were instructed to choose suveniers that they couldn't get somewhere else... and this little town delivered! It was so fun!

It was your typical Polish town center: A church, shops and restaraunts. We LOVE!

If you tipped the statue people they would move... but ONLY if you tipped them! The kids were afraid to tip our favorite statue man so I did it! This is what I got for it! He was there all day long! just standing!

If you walk through town center you come upon a lovely little river! These are all shots from the boardwalk along the river. Looking up through the trees are the remains of an OLD castle. It is being renovated.

The waterfront was romantic! Dinner boats, fishing boats and little river cruisers... And off to the other side were places to eat and a little town that is beloved by its people. It is obvious that these people really love where they live and they take great pride in Kazemierz Dolny.
If you come see me here in this far off place, I will be taking you to this fairytale land.

And not kidding... there was even a real life, very old wishing well.

Day 24

2011-09-10T14:58:00.000-07:00

Today we planned a trip to Worclaw and then to Prague... But after Mr. Mecham announced that he was in serious need of a hair cut and we got a late start and we decided that neither Worclaw nor the Czech republic were to be seen in one afternoon, we opted to save that trip and go somewhere else.
So... we slept in a little. Then I sent Mr. Mecham and McKay to the barber where Monica SERIOUSLY gave a hair cut to the Mr. and I stayed at home to do a little Insanity workout and then get ready for the day. Their instructions to me as they were leaving: "do your workout and then get ready for the day so we can leave as soon as we get back". And so I turned on the Insanity video and I knew I could burn atleast 1000 cal... and I stared at that screen... then I went and grabbed the advil, a bowl of peach yoghurt, 1 piece of multigrain toast, a sour apple and a huge glass of water... and I went right back to the couch where I proceeded to watch that insane workout while eating my breakfast and popping motrin... and when it was over I felt exhausted and so I went upstairs and drew a hot bath and stretched my weary legs.
We were all ready to leave when the hair cutted men got home... and we went to Kazimierz Dolny. THE MOST BEAUTIFUL PLACE ON EARTH! OH BOY! Elder Plumb promised we would love it... and I can't wait to thank him because it was my favorite place that I've ever been thus far! I will post pics and stories tomorrow.

Tonight Mr. Mecham and I went for our date to the sklep. We had some preps for tomorrow to do so it was a short one. We found mini magnums while there. The beautiful and most beloved Suzi Everton told us that we would like these... She found them when she was in the Czech Republic years ago... and I am proud to report that they are still as tastey today as they must have been when she first layed her lips on them. Bless you dear Suzi... for sharing that little treat with us!

Day 23

2011-09-10T02:11:00.000-07:00

Today we:
1) did laundry... always doing laundry though.
2) took our Polish Vocab test... Only Bailey passed. 90% missed 1
3) went to Park. Cole got injured doing stunts down the big hill on his scooter.
4) got lost driving... AGAIN!
5) ate out for lunch and dinner! I LOVE!
6) watched good movies
7) went back to the park for play time with papa... Soccer (football) with the Polish neighborhood kids. THEY ARE GOOD! They KICKED the Mecham family's TRASH! 2 against 4.
8) froze a little and wore long sleeves and sweaters... considered hat and gloves.
However the weather man promised back in the high 60 and 70's next week.
9) went to polish class with the missionaries.
10)shopped and drooled over all the cutest fall and winter clothes, scarves, hats, coats and boots that fill the store shelves.

Tomorrow we thought about going to Warclaw. Then to Prague, since it is just up the road from Warclaw...But then we decided we want to spend atleast 4 days in Prague... and so we will go somewhere else tomorrow. don't know where yet.

Best news of the day! Kody LaRue has arrived! I wish I were there to see the little Prince baby... I can only imagine that she is as beautiful as the rest of them! Congratulations Princes!

Day 23

2011-09-08T13:07:00.000-07:00

Hello Elder Marsing! We welcome you to Lublin! Today transfers were officially done! Elder Plumb left. Elder Marsing arrived. Elder Basha stayed! :) Yippee!

Also today: I tried the Insanity workout. It was.... well... insane! I am now just rolling all over the house instead of walking.

Kids are well. Happy to report that Bailey still wishes for her friends every day though now she is atleast admiting that she might like Poland. I think it had something to do with a little conversation I overheard:
Mckay to Cole: Are we still best buddies?
cole: yes.
McKay : Do you think we should ask Bailey to be one of our best buddies?
Cole: yes.
Boys to Bailey: Do you want to be one of our best buddies?
Bailey: Are you guys serious? Have you been drinking beer?
Boys: NO! We really want you to be our best buddy!
Bailey: hesitantly... Okay! Now get out of my room.

Temperature today was nippy! Down right nippy! I wore a sweater with no other choice and considered purchasing our winter parkas. But Elder Basha talked me out of buying coats just yet. He is stylish and said that better coats are still to come! I love him for that! Keeping style in mind... Good kid! It rained and clouded over and I don't think we even left the 50's all day.

We went for a little drive in the country to explore and found that the tree canopy over the road about 16 miles out of Lublin is begining to change color! I nearly wet myself with excitement... I can't wait for a realy autumn! :)

We LOVE Poland!

day 22 I don't feel like blogging today

2011-09-07T17:09:00.001-07:00

I am sorry... I don't feel like blogging today. But for the sake of remembering:

1) went for a run... 3rd day in a row... I can no longer walk up and especially down stairs. Getting up from sitting position is completely out of the question and I LOATH the thought of hiking the 20 stairs upward to my bed or the 20 stairs down to my laundry room. Not much is going to get done around here. If my mind serves me right, this will last another 2-3 days. If I could convince my children to undress my bod and lower me into a hot tub for that time I think I might be okay... however damaging that might be to them...

2) I spent 2 1/2 hours with the kids on Polish classes today. It is amazing how their brains work. SPONGEY little organs... I am excited to report that it is a complete delight to see their faces light up when they get something right! Cole is the only one who used his Polish post classes today. The rest of us looked at each other trying to think of where we had heard those words before!

3) I don't know if it is a European thing, a position only Poland is taking, or if I choose every stinky watercloset on this side of the world... but I am yet to walk in to a clean public restroom. All the years of purse sized toilet seat covers that ever went in to my stocking would come in soooo handy around these parts. EVEN the church restrooms. So today I took the family to the church to clean. And I think the toilet whisteled at me when I was finished with it! Nevermind that I have burned my nostrils from cleaning fumes and can no longer smell the putrid aroma of those filthy loos! That bathroom sparkled like new bling! And I have only washed my hands 639 times since I got home in hopes that I didn't contract a fatal viral infection from not wearing gloves...

4)If you collect snails and put them in a jar and then put the jar on the kitchen counter you will loose your appetite and not eat the entire day. It works! Try it!

5) I don't know if I've accurately complained about my laundry position here yet... As you know, I have every right to complaine because not only do I have a super HOT front loader washer, but also a very lovely de-humidifer dryer... which very few Europeans have... And so I am completely in line with the next part of this #5...
It takes 2 hours to do one load of wash... which is really a 1/2 load of wash due to the size of my washer. I tell you what... it is annoying! But my clothing has never looked nicer! Sometimes I sit down on the couch in the laundry room and watch that thing work its magic on my clothing! And then it takes 2 hours to dehumidify my clothing which doesn't totally dry it... but it makes the fabric feel like perfectly fluffed chicky down. It is soft and lucious and smells so clean!
So it would seem that in 6 hours I could do 2 complete loads of laundry... but WRONG!!! Because the electric trips if I put the washer and dryer on at the same time.. therefore it takes 4 hours to do each load of laundry which means that in 1 good day I get 2 1/2 loads of laundry completed... WHICH REALLY MEANS that at this rate I will never catch up on laundry during my 18 month stay in Po land which means that I will be taking dirty suitcases of laundry home to wash JUST LIKE I DID IN COLLEGE! Good grief! I really don't have a complaint... I just find this humerous in about 15 different ways. Like take today for example: McKay wore one of Cole's shirts since his are all dirty... and when he lifted his arms at all it appeared as though he was wearing a half shirt... and I got a pretty good laugh out of that! He did not however.

Please excuse me now whilest I lean over and fall off this chair, roll to my side and then begin to crawl up the stairs to my bed. It is much easier to fall than make any motion with the legs.

A Happy Birthday to our little buddy... Ikey! We sure love you! Hope your day was great!

Day 21 farewell to Elder Plumb. 7 degrees from somebody!

2011-09-07T05:45:00.000-07:00

This little experience has surprises for us every day! Tonight President Mecham had to meet with the senior missionary couple over the institute program here in Poland... He was givevn the assignment to call a member in the branch to teach that class. I love institute so I can't wait for that to start up! The Sims came from Warsaw bringing greetings from home! WHAT? We love greetings from home! Sister Sims is the cousin to one of our favoritest people... Dixie Wilson. Dixie is more like my 2nd mother. Her son, Mike and I are the same age. We are good friends but he is more like a brother! I loved playing at Mike's growing up... his mom always took us to Taco Time for yummy drinks and gave us the entire RITZ cracker pkg to eat out of. Dixie co-raised me until I was 12 when my parents moved us to AZ. But she visits annually in AZ and she hosted us at her Bear Lake retreat last summer. Her COUSIN is serving in Poland! WOW! A close Cousin! So I called Dixie and talked to her until 1 a.m. It was so fun! And I am certain that she is convinced to visit us here... atleast I am convinced she should come! Everywhere we go we know somebody who knows somebody we know. It is my FAVORITE part of this adventure! It makes me smile for days!

We took a run in the park again. Boy I must have amnesia every time I decide to take a running sebaticle... Why do I do that? I know that it is going to be painful to start up again so why why why do I do it? Painful... it was! Quads are crying. Lacey gave me a great work out program and when I can lift my leg to walk again without assistance I might try it out. For now, please send vanilla and a wheel chair. I can't freaken' walk! While I run, the kids play at the park.

Tonight Elder Plumb ate dinner with us for his last time. We will really miss him. He is being transfered on Thursday. When we go to Germany in October we can stop by in Poznan and see him before he heads back to the United States. Elder Plumb opened his birthday box from home at our house... and his beloved mother sent some AWESOME treats that he shared with us. Bless him!

Today I learned that the snails here live in trees. They have yellow and pink shells and I think they are pretty but I don't want to do anything but look at them... they feel so chewey and slimey. YUK!

Day 20 makro

2011-09-05T13:49:00.000-07:00

On Saturday Mr. Mecham got us a membership at Makro. We heard that we might find American ingredients there. Today we went shopping there with HIGH hopes for brown sugar and real tasting vanilla. No luck. Bummer! We did find jogobella drinkable yogurt though. And we bought a whole case which literally fills the bottom shelf of our fridge! We also found soft toilet paper in bulk. Nothing at the store here is in bulk. We also found where we will be buying our chocolate to bring home at Christmas! But NO American ingredients. Makro has the shopping cart situation just about solved... nobody is steeling carts from Makro! The carts are all chained together and to unchain and borrow a cart you must put in 5zt. When you return the cart and rechain it you get your money back.
We also went to the mall. We heard the movies were in English with Polish subtitles and Lion King 3d is here in Lublin! We missed the showing though. So we window shopped mostly. Bailey had something on that tripped the theif alarm every time we went in and out of a store. So we got searched about 25 times. It was awesome! Just before we were going to leave we saw a grocery store in the mall... it seemed strange to us to have a grocery store on the 3rd level of a mall... so we went inside! YIPPEE... American Food! Still no vanilla or brown sugar... but I'll be darned if we didn't find Nesquick choc. milk mix and you would've thought McKay just hit his first homerun! He was beyond delighted! Never mind the expence. We also found an entire Mexican food section with black beans! 1 can (which is 1/2 the size of the cans at home) was only 6zt... which interprets to be about $2.14. YIPES! We also found tortillas... but Mr. Mecham is now our tortilla maker and so we don't need to purchase those. AND... drum roll... CELANTRO! Still in plant form... but Celantro. I just have to get used to going to the garden center by the flowers to get my celantro all planted with the dirt rather than the produce section all washed and cut!

I went for a run this morning. Thankful to be alive tonight. I feel remorse for my lack of running over the past year. My body was yelling at me all day for it.

Things I learned today:
* The tooth fairy is international. It dropped of money for McKay's molar in zt rather than $.
* it's official: Elder Plumb-ski will be transfered this week. Heart hurts. But we keep Elder Basha! We will really really really miss Elder Plumb... Tomorrow he wants orange chicken for his going away dinner. I didn't have the heart to tell him I've never in my life made orange chicken... And I couldn't find it in the 3 stores I went to... but I did find sweet and sour chicken mix. He will be delighted.
* Benedryl doesn't exist in Poland?

Day 19 Fast Sunday

2011-09-05T01:18:00.000-07:00

I have a habit of leaving my cell phone and camera at home when I go to church... a habit I need to change while living in beautiful Poland! Every time I get to church I want to take a picture of my friends, the building and the elders! Mr. Mecham took the camera to church a few months back for documentation purposes and to give us a good idea of what we were in for... the pictures documented well, but gave us no clue about the church in the mission field! I will try to remember to take my camera to church. But for now, these will do. They are acurate. And I will NEVER forget my phone or gps again... since I had to take Basia home from church today and since I didn't have my phone I was terribly lost on the way back.

This is what we see when we walk into the door at church. It is the guts of our entire builiding in view!

If I turn immediately to my right I get to visit the branch bulletin board. It has Elder gludun's missionary plaque proudly hanging! He is the first Polish missionary to serve for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints! He is serving in Poland but never gets transfered to Lublin. We couldn't be more proud! There is also a table sitting below it with a Book of Mormon and The Living Christ and a few pamphlets.

If I walk in 5 steps and turn to my left I am looking at our humble kitchen. I am certain that parties happen here. Can't wait for one! A few weeks ago, when the Taiwanese students returned for school, they brought Tai candy and we partook in this lovely kitchen. I don't like Thai candy. I understand why the Thai peeps are so very tiney though... their candy isn't loaded with sugar and high fructose corn syrup or cocoa of any kind. I don't quite know what to compare it to. Maybe peanut butter and jelly in a glob after sitting in the sun for about 1 week?

This is where we have sacrament meeting. That would be the notorius Elder Basha at the pulpit. Notice, no microphone... not necessary... even for the deaf people on the back row! Oh wait... we don't have any deaf people in our branch... they are all Catholic! I will tell you about that in a different post. Missionary work here is difficult!

The room next to where we have Sacrament mtg is the water closet (bathroom). It is the door you see directly in front of you when you enter the church. It is quite big! It has a shower, toilet, sink and.. oh... a washing machine in it. It stinks. I will be cleaning it this week and loading t.p. into it so that I enjoy my potty time in the church again.

Next to the restroom is a classroom. Though I havn't yet seen this one used for anything other than private conversations. We are all joined for sacrament mtg and then we are all joined for sunday school. But I heard, from the grapevine, that primary is going to be established in Lublin and that room will be in use!

Next to the classroom is the President's office. I was brought to repentance for disrespectrully calling the President "prez" (not by the prez). So I won't do that any more. It is respect for the office for which is held. Please forgive me.

That is a tour of our little branch building. We are thankful to have it.

Today was fast Sunday. I have wondered about fast Sunday since I got to Poland. I could only imagine that the same people would get up every time... since that is the only option! haha... I am taken back to pioneer times... or maybe even earlier... like the establishment of the church. Very few, very strong members exhist. They are faithful. And I wanted to promise them that the church is BIG! There are hundreds of memebers where I come from! Callings actually are fulfilled! I wanted to promise them that Heavenly Father is going to flood Poland with members. Sister Gludun then stood up and shared a story and her testimony. She has been a member for 10 years. She has seen the church grow and shrink in Lublin. Appearantly there was a time when there were baptisms every 2 weeks here. The branch was large! They were meeting in a large, stand alone, building. The members were going to get their own building to love! Then the members started moving away where the church was stronger. They left to Germany and England. They went to America. And the Gladun's were alone with the elders. Sister Gladun prayed for somebody else to come to church. She thanked Heavenly Father for people who come to church and an American president. It made me realize again the blessing of strong stakes and wards. Sister Gladun's wish in life is to go to Utah and see with her own eyes the masses of membership. Insert tear up here....
Today our family made up 1/2 of the branch in attendance. The missionaries were 1/5 of the attendance. There were testimonies by 5 people. Elder Basha gave a killer lesson on repentance... He even took President Mecham of guard and asked him to answer the question, "what is fornication?" to everyone in attendace including our chidren. I actully have never seen President fumble with this question so much. Oh President!

Things I learned:
1) don't forget the gps when going to church.
2) prosto means straight. Which is a funny direction here considering I haven't seen a straight road in town yet. Where was Brother Brigham when this place was designed?
3) I can have a conversation with somebody in a different language and I know when to smile and shake my head yes and no without having a clue what is being said. I am sure Basia was saying something like, "you don't understand me because you are a stupid mule" and then I would laugh and say "tak" which means "yes"! And then she would laugh... Just kidding... Basia is kind. She probably didn't call me a stupid mule... just stupid!
So help me... I will learn to say a complete sentance in Polish this week! I am having a hard time deciding which one is the most important to learn first though...
4) Missionaries like garlic mashed potatoes. They also eat anything you give them. For the sake of LeAnn Basha... your son eats everything he is given... and he is always gracious.

Day 18 Zamosc

2011-09-04T05:28:00.000-07:00

We took a little day trip to Zamosc (pronounced Za mosh) Zamosc is listed famously as a center of culture learning and tourism significance. Its a pretty cool little fort town! The drive from Lublin to Zanosc met our expectations of Polish beauty! It was amazing!

Right now in Poland the people are getting ready for winter. They are harvesting their farms and burning off the extras. There are little smoke stacks everywhere!

We drove with our windows down nearly the entire way! Cole and Bailey had their heads out the window. A phenominon we aren't used to!

This old style farmer is getting his crop. They were driving along the road. There were many families out in the fields with pitch forks and shovels harvesting acrage of crops! It looked like an overwhelming job! A few of them had tractors or combines, but for the majority, it was good old fashioned hard work!

There are fields of these Hops... I am learning about alcoholic beverages! haha... Appearantly these go into beer? I don't know... but thats what I heard! There are lots of hops crops here!

The church was at the entry of Old Town Zamosc. All of these old towns have a center where you can find a shop for anything, restaraunts and a church. They are really cool.

This is a picture of a picture to give idea to what this building looks like from above. Zamosc has been besieged many times over the centuries since its founding in the 1500s. However, its fortress withstood attacks many times. Zamosc now has some 70,000 citizens.

The battlefield still remains at the front of old town but is not armed.

I love that at the top of the fortress there are still cannons. There is also an underground tunnell to get the citizens to safety. The building inside that was once the fortress now has shops; shoe stores, clothing stores, grocery stores, etc. The people in Zamosc still keep old town beautiful and clean and is still in use with all the stores you could ever need right there!

walking back down the cobblestone road to old town. This is a just across the street from the fortress.

The town hall building is in the center of Old Town. It is HUGE mung o!

nate and the kids on the steps leading up to the town hall building.

outside the town hall building on either side are plaques stating that Zamosc is listed in all handbooks devoted to the history of urban studies and has been presented as one of the most outstanding urban complexes in the world. And the other stating its foundation in the 1500's. And, of course, in the center is the eagle of Poland.

After lunch we stopped for Lody (ice cream). Our new Saturday tradition is to eat Kebobs. They are amazing! They remind me of Gyros... but a gajillion times better! The kids LOVE them! Afterwards we try the lody. Nate and Coley are sitting in the center of old town.

These little carriages were all over giving rides. So fairytalish!

Bay and Mckay in old town after lunch. I love the architecture of these buildings.

My favorite buildings down town were these super colorful and ornate ones! Many of the buildings looked like these though! When we got here there was a band performing outside these buildings. By the time we left, the town was starting to come alive. Interesting enough, it was mostly men coming into the town. infact, I didn't see any women walking into town... only out of town.

On the way home we stopped at this old cathedral. We saw it from the street coming in and really wanted to look inside. The ceilings vaulted to a point! There were amazing pictures inside and we stopped just in time for the 6:00 P.M. BELL tower to chime and at the start of mass in Polish. Good times! We stood for the priests to come in and then slipped out the back door. I didn't feel like it would be very repectful to start flashing pictures of Catholic mass but I wish I would've been able to get more pics of the building inside. It was AWESOME!

When we got home, the kids went in for their dinner while Mr. Mecham and I went on a little date. We went to media market to find a push to tv device to replace the one Mr. mecham blew up in the mission home. We also stopped at KFC which is really good here! I swore off KFC about 20 years ago... but picked it up once I realized that I could fill my own cup of ice clear to the top at KFC! (nobody puts ice in your drink for you here.... nobody... ever! and I miss ice.) When we returned to the Polish home we found Bailey trying to go to the park in the dark by herself, some nice sibling rivelry and children who fed themselves snickers ice cream bars and a spoonful of peanut butter for supper. All is well. All is well.

day 17 A Happy Birthday

2011-09-04T05:13:00.001-07:00

Today was Elder Plumb's birthday! His 21st birthday! In celebration of this lovely day, the Potters and our family took the missionaries to dinner at Elder Plumb's favorite spot; Dulce Vita. It is Italian delight! Then we had chocolate cake and ice cream back at our house with Jasmine and Cody. It was fun! Not your typical birthday, but nothing is real typical when you are on a mission! Plumb worked his buns off all day!
I can't say enough about Elder Plumb. When we got to Lublin he was our branch President... and a fine President he was! Every member of our church knows that most young men serve their missions from age 19-21. For Plumb this is true... and so he is nearing the end of his mission. I can imagine how excited his family is to have him almost home. Here in Lublin, we are sad to let him go but we know that good things await him anywhere he goes.
In the few short weeks that we've been here (and the time Mr. mecham has been in Poland) Elder Plumb has not only served the people of lublin, Poland, it's members and non-members alike, but he has taught English to the Polish speakers and Polski to the Angleski speakers. He is ALWAYS willing to translate for us and he spends Sacrament meeting on his feet translating back and forth for all of us. He is a luxury for all of us! We nearly tear up when we think of his absence.
Elder Plumb will be transfered out of Lublin to finish up his mission in another city on Tuesday. So we felt honored that we could celebrate his birthday with him before he goes. We look forward to hunting him down in the future back in St. George! It has been a complete delight and pleasure to rub shoulders with one of our all time favorite missionaries!
We love you Elder Plumb! Happy Birthday! We wish you a life time of happiness and a seriously HOT woman when you get home in November! :)

day 16 a little ride in the park

2011-09-01T17:17:00.001-07:00

Today we waited for the water man to come until noon. That is the drop dead latest time he said he'd be here. NO WATER MAN! He didn't show again! The landlord, Emilia, said that companies in Poland have a "monopoly" and they don't have to take care of their customer. What? seriously?! I am opening a water company! Anyway, by noon we were totally done sitting around for the umpteenth day in a row... and so we took the scooters for a ride in a park that we've driven past a hundred times and wanted to see since our first day in Lublin. It was AWESOME! The park was so big that in the hour and a half that we were there we barely made it through half the park! It had huge trees, an occasional red squirrel running around, cool paths and hills to ride scooters on, an ampatheater, a fountain, a pink flower patch, an underground disgusting bathroom, a kids playground and a gajillion park benches... Oh... and teenagers making out with each other all over the place. Why were they not in school? Today was the first day, you know.

Kids scooter feet... These scooters were cheap. But they worked great! On the hills McKay successfully burned out the break on the back tire and actually melted his tire flat. We decided that if we couldn't find a replacement wheel than his low riding in the back will be very cool and very bouncy while the other kids ride smooth! Appearantly the wheels are rubber.

This is just one of the many looooong paths in the park. I didn't keep up with the kids too well since they were on scooters and I was in flip flops! Yep! The only woman in flip flops not on the beach in all of Lublin! :) I'm trying to set a new trend.

We didn't know the park was going to be so fun on these scoots. But when it was time to go we already had plans to return another day! We can't wait until the leaves change color in this park! WOW! And then when there is snow all over it is going to be a wonderland! :)

Cutie Bailey, my little side kick... She is trying hard to enjoy hanging out with 2 very wild boys who love everything she loathes! She is doing a good job!

After walking around this park for 45 minutes we found this ampatheater. I can't wait for a concert in the park! I wonder how I find out that info? There was a lady mopping the stage! I'm going back on Friday night to see if something is happening!

There were tons of benches and cute little old peeps, and young peeps, sitting around just loving the impeccable weather! I had to pinch myself to see if it was real! It was almost too beautiful and movie like for me to be walking around in! This is definately my FAVORITE park so far!

This wall lines one of the staircases leading from the sidewalk to the park entrance. Everything was amazing!

Today I learned that there are worse bathrooms in this world than the Happy valley mcDonald's bathroom. Yep! Good old Lublin park has the worst underground bathrooms ever! I think we were supposed to pay... there was a pay station but the doors were open and nobody was there. We couldn't read the sign... So we didn't pay. It was to make up for the 3 scoop ice cream cone rip off yesterday... :) haha.. I taught Bailey the art of squat, wipe with your own kleenex (which I always have on hand) and flush with your foot. Flushing gets a little tricky when the flush buttons are half way up the wall. We were trying not to touch anything while standing on one leg and lifting the other to the button. Good times! And then another kleenex to open the stall door lift the faucet (which they call a battery). When we got out of the jons the boys were thinking they would go down into one... We told them just to pee on the trees.

Day 15 Hanging around the house AGAIN!

2011-08-31T13:49:00.001-07:00

we have a problem sleeping in. It should only have taken us about 2 weeks to get over our jet lag... but we werent disciplined enough to go to bed and then wake up early and fight the sleepiness... and so we are still sleeping in late and going to bed later. Tonight we are shooting to be in bed a hour earlier.

We have had many O days sitting around the house lately waiting for the bed frame to be delivered, waiting for the t.v. hanger man to come, waiting for the water delivery man, waiting for the internet folks to fix the internet, waiting for the electrician (where is Chris Prince when you need him?) Waiting for cleaning lady, waiting and waiting and waiting...
Today was a day of waiting... The bed frame for Bailey's bed came before noon but the water delivery man, who was supposed to also be here before noon, didn't ever come. At 4:00 we finally went to the store. I understand the water delivery man will be coming tomorrow before noon. Pray for him to be on time so we don't have to wait all day again! We have places to go and people to see. Well... place to go...

I got ripped off at the ice cream store today. They charged me for 4 ice cream cones with the 4th one with 3 scoops. I only got 3 ice cream cones and none of them had 3 scoops. I may not know Polish but I am not stupid! I didn't know how to tell her that I knew what was wrong... They knew it. I knew it. But I just shook my head and decided never to go back. Oh well... I hope somebody cool got an ice cream on me. Maybe they were hungry. They looked hungry! Everyone looks hungry for that matter. I don't think a single person is over a size 4 in this entire country!

The international school called us back. They said that they can help us out! For 1400.00 zt a month they will teach all 4 of us "intense Polish". I Love that they call it "intense Polish". And if we all 4 take intense Polish (which is 2 x 45 min classes per day x 5 days per week) then they would also teach the children school for only 1500.00 zt per month. WHAT THE?! What happened to free education?! Not here! Unless you know Polish! The children and I would all be required to learn Polish so that I could understand while talking to the teachers. And next year they would place my children in the school. I said, next year I don't know if I will be in POland. They said "same offer". Please don't get me wrong... I love that in Poland I have to speak their native tongue in order to go to school... it really does make sense. And I love that they are going to charge me for private lessons... because that makes sense. It sure isn't convinient though... and a toooooooooon of money. I said, Perhaps I could talk to my husband and get back with you? That is code for, NOT EVER! :) haha...

I worked on laundry. The washer takes 2 hours to do one load. The dryer is a dehumidifyer and doesnt take as long as the wash, however it doesn't totally dry the clothes either. So a completely dry item takes 1 day! But the dryer cycle is somewhere between 1 and 2 hours. The washer and dryer cant run at the same time. So basically I can get a total of 2 loads completely finished in one work day. At this rate I will be doing wash every day for my entire stay and I will always be behind on the washing. Good thing my kids don't need clothes to wear to school!

The missionaries made it back safely from their legal trip. There is a little rule here that every so often the missionaries have to return to the area they first served in to do legal paperwork. Elder Basha was up for legal work and so he and Plumb were gone for 2 days. We missed them terribly! What will we do when they get transfered next week and we have to get used to new elders?

something I learned today:

Education isn't free. How much would you pay per month to educate your 2nd grader, 5th grader and 7th grader?
Parents must be able to communicate with the teachers in their language so that they are not dependant upon their child to get all the information across. I am liking this rule... I just with it benefited me! haha...

I have one more homeschool cariculum to look at before I make a decision on what I will be doing. Bailey is jonesen' for some order around here! I better hurry.

Day 14 marks two weeks

2011-08-30T15:28:00.000-07:00

Two weeks ago we embarked on our little journey to Poland. We had no idea what to expect. We were excited! We were sad. We were CLUELESS! We felt adventurous! And two weeks later we have a glimpse of what we are in for... and we are excited and sad and we feel so adventurous and sometimes CRAZY! Lots of laughing and sometimes homesick tears... but we know we are where we are supposed to be right now.
The Mecham's officially declare that we feel like we are on a mission in Poland. Everything is totally and most literally FOREIGN! The food, the amenities in our home, the roads, the language including the alphabet, the rules and laws, the smells (not to gross you out, but even our B.O.), the foilage, the toilet paper, the products we can purchase at the store, the customer service, the money, the weather, the history, the church buildings and so on. Things I didn't even think about are different. I recall my father (wise old owl) telling me that upon his return from his mission in Australia that he kissed the American soil. I always thought that was strange. Afterall, who wouldn't want to go to Australia? It is the place of my vacation dreams! I totally get it. Good old promised land... but until it isn't yours, you dont realize how good it is. The land of plenty. The land of opportunity. God Bless America. Take care of what you have!
Today we chilled around the house waiting for the tv man to come. Not to hook up television services but rather to hang our television on the wall. The landlords didn't want us to hang our pictures/ t.v. ourselves because they wanted the least amount of holes in their walls. Understandable... I am about ready to purchase a home here so that I don't have to have a landlord! I do love our Landlords, Emilia and Ernest. And I must admit that I enjoy not having to take care of my yard or any of the duties that come with being a home owner... One day I will miss that though. And hopefully before I get home and purchase another house.
The kids played with legos, wrestled until they nearly killed each other and played computer games before their scooter rides in the park. Summer Holiday officially ends on September 1 for the Polskis. And so we are enjoying another day of summer before we get into the groove!
A HUGE THANKS to all the peeps that called, fb and e-mailed yesterday and today. Whether you did so cuz you knew we were homesick or because you just wanted to, we thank you! Our spirits were lifted and we are ready to keep on going!

p.s. do I look Dutch? Somebody asked me again today if I was Dutch.

Day 13

2011-08-29T12:29:00.000-07:00

Today was a hard day for us. No Pictures either... We woke up and ALL of us but Coley felt homesick. Wherever McKay is Cole is home... but ALL the rest of us were done! We knew we had to do something! We were going to go to Chelm to visit the Prez but we drug our feet far too long for a lunch time date and so we just drove around and got lost and discovered a new part of our little area! Have I noted yet that Poland is BEAUTIFUL? BOY HOWDY!!! Poland is Beautiful! The weather was chilly today... adding to its lovliness!
We also went to check out the school that we heard about! I was so excited to hear that there was an English speaking international school in Lublin! The only problem is that it is only for kids in high school. Bummer. I asked if there was any school for the kids to attend? They informed me that they wouldn't even be placed in a class until they were fluent in Polish. OUCH!! And so we signed up for some "intense Polish" classes and went back to our origional plan to home school. WE really (emfasis on the really) wanted to go to public shchool and make friends! Oh well.
I find myself shopping when I'm sad... I think I've passed it along to the children: We went shopping! More legos and scooters. It is a terrible habit!
The Prez took us to dinner. Pizza. It was amazing! I think that is the other thing I do when I am sad... Heaven help me if I pass that along to the kids. I used to run... why don't I do that any more?

Things I learned today:
1) Aunt cindy told me it would take 2 weeks to get home sick. Tomorrow marks 2 weeks for us. I learned that she is right about EVERYTHING! I already knew I loved her, but I love her more today!
2) Elder Basha told us that the 1st thing that people miss about home is the food. I can't even tell you how true that is! Aunt Cindy had advised me to bring foods from home to help with homesickness... Right again!
3) McKay gets homesick. He is so adventurous and happy that I didn't even realize he gets homesick... but he said he would do anything to hang with Grandpa, Ikey and Preston today. Poo!
4) If you have 3 scooters in your grocery cart EVERYONE at the store stares at you. It is like wearing a sign that says, "I AM A FOREIGNER. PLEASE STARE!"
5) You can't go to school if you don't speak the language? Why the $%*@ don't we have this policy in the United States? SERIOUSLY FOLKS... it blows for the man who doesn't speak... but this is a good thing!

*** Disclaimer... I type fast and i don't always spell my words right because I use spell checker... Spell checker hasn't worked on my blog for a while... so I realize that I have major errors in spelling... Sometimes I even go back and correct them because they bug me so bad... Please forgive.

Day 12

2011-08-28T15:43:00.001-07:00

We went for a little walk to explore the surrounding of our house and down this little path we found a park! A HUGE park!
With a cool hill for sleigh riding after the snow flies

and fun playground equipment, a ping pong table, soccer goals and basketball courts... and lots of room to run and ride bikes or scooters. It is landlocked by apartment buildings all around it which is why I don't think we had ever driven past it.
Sophie and Julie, two of the cutest 10 year old girls, rode up on their scooters to introduce themselves to Bailey and asked her to play with them. They tried so hard to talk English and did an amazing job!

This morning at 10 Brother Mecham met with President Robert Zelewski (who was baptized in Mesa, AZ 21 years ago by Brother Finnlinson of the Mesa Central stake) who extended a call to be the branch President of our little Lublin branch. He set him apart after sacrament mtg. Talk about efficiency! Elder Plumb was delighted that he was released! The Elders downloaded Prez for several hours tongiht... then to thank them I fed them burned on the outside and goo in the middle skookies with vanilla ice cream that didn't taste quite right.

Things I was again reminded of today:

The tender mercies shown to our family on every level have been magnificant. Having two little girls come find Bailey at the park nearly brought me to tears. I know parents and grandparent, alike, have spent much time praying for her friends to appear.

Something I learned today:

Sister Gladun has 7 callings in our branch. They aren't light callings. Next time I feel like complaining about my one calling I will think of faithful Sister Gladun and put my head down and get to work.

Days 10 and 11

2011-08-27T12:48:00.000-07:00

Baptism day is a big day for anyone, anywhere in the world... But we are used to baptism day being in a church in a font. Here in Lublin, we went to a baptism and it wasn't in a font. It was a big deal for many reasons but for the hard working missionaries in Lublin, it was special since there have only been 2 baptisms in this branch in 3 years. I have to say, it was cool! And I was grateful my children were able to see and be a part of it. We are thankful for strong stakes and wards and for Sundays where sacrament mtg is so full and benches are crowded!

Picture of missionaries, elder Plumb from St. George, UT and elder Basha from Arizona, nate and Lukus.

Nate and Lukus coming out of the lake after baptism. Nate baptized Lukus in Polish. He was so nervous to do it but he did a great job! Lukus said he was "so full of happy!" This is the official spot where Cole can look forward to baptism in April. BRRR!

Elder Plumb, Mecham boys and Lukus (which his name in Polish sounds like Wookash Piotr Skorkievich... that isn't the spelling though.)

Elder Bashs and Lukus

Friends from the branch who were also at the baptism. The Guadun's (x3), Arthur (had a sweet Harley!) Basia, and the 3 Taiwanese students who just got back for school. The elders bought cookies and juice for a little treat afterwards.

At the lake there was a whole lot of fishen going on! Two girls rode up on gray horses in full riding gear: boots and hats, riding pants... and they looked so cute!

Things I learned today:
1) the washing machine finally arrived and I can't read anything on it because it's in Polish... but I learned that it takes 2 hours to wash one load and I can't run the washer and dryer at the same time because it trips the fuse.
2) the dryer is actually a dehumidifyer. I am grateful for it anyway since not many Europeans have a dryer. Because it is a dehumidifyer, I not only clean the lint screen but I also dump the water collected out of the clothing.
3) Nate makes amazing tortillas. The Mexican's on his job crew taught him... bless them!
Day 10
Sleep deprivation has officially kicked our trash! Today we were home bound... fighting off naps and wishing for bed times! All of us! McKay did find some time to play his favorite; army guys. He and Cole are loving putting together their new U.S. army legos that we found at the Real store. Real loves us... or atleast they should... we show up every day, buy their groceries, check out their toys since we left all of ours in AZ and then leave with Lody on a cone. I have no clue how much money I am spending in their store yet... I just know I go there every day!

Tonight we had Polish class... insert my gratitude for my 3 years of Russian in high school here... Polish is HARD! But so was Russian! And so tonight I found myself digging deep into the holes of my brain and pulling out some recollection of the foreign language of my choice back in high school. Conjegations, plurals, masculine, femanine, neuter... etc... I am in no way good at Polish: NOT EVEN CLOSE! but it was sure fun to learn language again! The kids were in one class with Elder Basha and the adults were in another class with Elder Plumb! It was awesome! I was surprised at how close a few of the words are to Russian. They are probably the only ones I will ever remember.

Things I learned today:
1) there is an app for my phone that can translate what I am saying from English to Polish and speak it to the person I am talking to. (this is not good for learning Polish.)
2) If you pay for "transport" when you purchase furniture in Poland that literally only means transport. It does not mean that your furniture will be brought up to your house... just to the front yard. If you want it inside then its more $. And that still doesn't mean it will be put together for you... that would, of course, cost more money. Another reason I love the Promised land.
3) Garbage day is Friday. Its a new thing for our street. thank heaven! Before now Nate had to take it to work with him and dispose of it. bless the garbage man. I forgot today was garbage day though:(

Day 9 Return to Majdanek

2011-08-25T17:38:00.001-07:00

This post might be a little graphic... but I took my kids so I figured it was pretty much ok to post. I did take a few pics with the kids in them and I hated how that sounded... "stand there and smile for the picture!" Almost like I was mocking... So I stopped that and now you have pictures of Majdanek just as I saw them. I have read the history and the holocaust books... but nothing compares to seeing it first hand. The pics won't do it justice... the smell of the barraks was aweful... I could taste it for hours. There was even a shrine room that was too disturbing for our liking... and so we skipped that one.
Majdanek was a death camp.

It is HUGE! Yesterday I posted with a picture of the memorial at the front. It was big! I stood on the road about 1/4 of the way and took a picture looking toward that big memorial and to the end where the dome is. It took us over 3 hours to walk around it.

The outer parimeter is single lined barbed wire fencing. However, the barraks were double barbed fencing to ensure that the prisoners wouldn't escape at night. Lights out @ 9 up for work at 5... Guards on watch 24 hours.

Artifacts taken from the prisoners were mostly books, especially religious books, jewelry, mirrors, brushes and anything they really had. The children's dolls and toys were also taken. One of the dolls had its eyes removed because they were valuable.

Some of those who were murdered at Majdanek.

Paperwork on every adult was documented. None of the kids were ever documented. They mostly exterminated them right away since they couldn't work much.

Road going to the women's barraks. The women and men were seperated by double barbed wire fencing

Mens barraks with signage.
The beds were huge! They were built like 3 story bunkbeds... as long as my back yard in Arizona. They lined the outer walls and one running down the middle of the row. They were designed for 250 people but at some times housed as many as 500... People sleeping on top of, next to and crowded by each other... and even some on the floors.
The children's barraks weren't as big. Again, the kids weren't there long.

The signage at Majdanek was all over. They did a good job giving information and sometimes even telling stories of some of the prisoners.

These huge concrete tubs were filled with disinfectant solution. The prisoners were required to bath here before they showered. Their clothing was then taken from them. Their new clothes were worn for 2-3 weeks, no showers and then they were able to change.

showers came after the tubs but they were all in the same room. The prisoner's heads were shaved here and the hair was sold for making felt. The shower room was about as big as my family room in Mesa.

Just beyond the showers was the gas chamber. A big concrete room with a metal door and a viewing room for the soldiers to watch the prisoners from. The "ss officers" would feed gas in until the job was done.

These autopsy tables were in the crematorium and the gas houses. Before the prisoners were put in the ovens they were serched for valuable items including gold fillings, etc. They were removed and put in a "loot" room and sometimes sold.

The crematorium was mostly how the people's bodies were disposed of in this camp. It allowed for more space in the camp.

This dome is a gigantic Urn full of ash and bone fragment easily viewed by people touring Majdanek. It is placed on the execution spot of 17,000 Jews... all murded the same day.

This casket like urn is in the crematorium

These are like the urns that the Nazi's would send back to families... offering their loved ones ashes for a hefty price. As if they hadn't already taken everything from them... It was horrifying to think of.

I know that is long... it was intense. There were no less than 15 bus loads of Jewish youth and leaders from Israel visiting with us. The camp was so massive that most of the time we were still alone. We toured most buildings all by ourselves. Perhaps that gives some tangible insight on really how big Majdanek is.

I didn't realize how many consentation and death camps there were. Literally... dozens! They were mostly here in Poland, however, many in Germany and Russia. Majdanek is on the main road to Russia. It is very visible from the road and has (and had) housing butting up next to it. It makes me want to research why the heck this went on while in such visible view.

Thoughts during my visit:
1) Would I have died trying to get out? I think I would have... but surely many of these people were trying.
2) How could anyone ever say this didn't happen?
3) What can I tell my children tonight?

I am more thankful for a complete understanding of life after death. I am grateful for a merciful Heavenly Father. I am grateful that I don't have to sort through that mess upon judgement day.

On a more upbeat note... Something I learned frome Poland today:
vanilla here is not real or extract... rather it is flavoring. It made our buttermilk syrup not taste totally yummy.

I'm calling in a favor for friends back home...
Elder Basha was here for dinner tonight (we have an "open door" policy for the missionaries and they hardly ever have dinner invites so we eat with them quite often! If you want to be a well fed missionary you better hope for a call to Poland, Lublin!) and we chatted about him pulling some strings with grandpa Basha to get all our friends in AZ some jogobella yogurt. This stuff is amazing... I will cry when I leave Poland because I can't take it home. You would cry too. It's worth the tears. Bless jogobella yogurt...

Day 8

2011-08-24T16:38:00.001-07:00

Today I paid for the lack of sleep last night. Mckay woke me up at 10! CRAZY! haven't done that in forever... I got up, cleaned the house (which isn't very dirty since we only have clothes to mess it up with!) and got ready for the day. Then 2 hours later Bailey got up. Yep... NOON! That is unlike her in every way! This sleep modification process is strange.
We had planned to finish our tour of the Majdanek... but the kids were ready for a break. They actually wanted to sit around and do not much of anything... and play with friends. Problem #1... They don't have friends yet... And so they played with each other and that was good enough for a lazy day around the Polish house.
I did go to the grocery store... It's a daily ritual! I planned to spend a lot of time there... and i did. I was able to see what is really there and pretend to read labels in Polish and decifer what the picture was! I left with a hefty cart full of goods to include a straightener with European plugs and a waffle iron. Breakfast for dinner tomorrow night.
Everyone stares at me. Not with a lustful look... but rather a disgusted look as to say, "why is she buying so much?" Nobody around here shops with food storage or emergency preparedness in mind at all! They even point! All I can say is that it is a good thing that I have a great self esteem... I would be in a world of hurt if I didn't. Seriously!
The missionaries joined us for dinner again tonight. We ate stirfry surprise... pleasantly surprised considering I grabbed stir fry packets with nice pictures on them and then had the missionaries tell me what they said and how to prepare. They came over to teach Mr. Mecham the baptismal prayer in Polish. Nate is baptizing Lukus in Polish on Saturday... in a lake. Pretty Cool!
Today I learned:
1) europeans don't fill their grocery carts... Most of them only need a carry basket for all their goods.
2) Kids need a break from the running a sight seeing... I didn't think that would ever happen.
3) My internet connection here stinks. They promised to come out tomorrow and get us a new modem. Hopefully!

Day 7... One week already

2011-08-23T14:19:00.000-07:00

I can hardly believe we left good old Phoenix sky Harbor a whole week ago. It feels like yesterday...
Today was beautiful agian! It was nice and warm... but definately not too hot! We opted to chill around the house this morning. The kids wanted to talk to grandparents and friends. Then we ate lunch on the deck in celebration of summer! It was pretty much a short order house around here today. The bees ruined lunch. As soon as they smelt McKay's strawberry water they decided to join us... I tried to convince the kids that Polish bees don't sting, but they aren't stupid and therefore didn't believe me.
After lunch we took off to go to the Majdanek death camp which is located only 20 minutes from the house... if you know where you are going. But if you don't know where you are going then it may or may not be more like 1 hour away. So I just took pictures on the way. I can't decide if I love that people have their home on top of stores or not... but they do. And I think I kinda think its cool. So I took a picture to give an idea. Stores along the sidewalk downstairs, and apartments upstairs. Most buildings are like this. Its kinda weird when you walk downtown to go shopping and when you look up you see a man in his unders standing on the balcony. Just saying... its not like back home. I think it might take some getting used to.

This is a far view of the Majdanek memorial. It is HUGE! The camp is massive! You are driving along down this beautiful tree lined road and then out of no where there is a huge open field and a massive memorial! It is obvious what it is as you look out over the open field.

You pull in through a narrow barbed wire gate to park... or you may drive through it. The camp is definately that big! Majdanek was a death camp, which was different from the concentration camps, and is one of the most intact camps today. The German's didn't have quite enough time to dispose of it like they would've like to. It really is quite depressing.

The guard towers line the road way. The fences are still up. We got there later than we had hoped and so we didn't get to see very much before it closed. Bummer. We will be finishing our tour tomorrow. I will take more pics then. We literally barely got to the surface before we had to leave. I can't even describe how massive this place is.

Picture of the kids in front of the memorial gives and idea of how big the memorial really is.

After spending much of the day getting lost and then later in the afternoon at the Majdanek, I didn't want to make dinner and eat at 8:00 p.m. again. That gets old quick! So we went to dinner at Dulce Vita. It is the yummiest Italian food ever! Elders Plumb and Basha joined us. They were in Warsaw all day and so they hadn't eaten yet either. Plumb said he had eaten all the kabobs he wanted so he chose Italian and I was so happy he did. My spinach lasagna was amazing! Those guys are so fun to hang out with. Elder Basha reminds me of one of my fav people, Scott Holt. I get a huge kick out of him. I think he probably thinks I'm nuts because when he is talking I stare at him... it trips me out how much he talks like Scott. His manerisms are the same. It feels like Home sweet home! Plus I love his mother... she is a hoot!

Things I learned today:
1) Polish bees sting too
2) Death camps are very sombering
3) Today, the Polish people hate the Russians more than the Germans
4) Many of the Polish people were murdered along with the Jews. The Pols did not like what was going on and because of it, when they stood up for themselves they were taken out also.

day 6

2011-08-22T14:35:00.001-07:00

Today Mr. Mecham was back at work. As soon as I got my cell phone registered so that I had phone numbers to call when I got lost, the kids and I went to lunch. We decided to get lost in Lublin! We found our way down town... luckily the kids reminded me that they are much smarter than I am and navigated us perfectly! Once down town we found parking... but it isn't free on weekdays. I was quickly reminded that I do not speak Polish. The nice man who was taking money for parking didn't speak English. He thought I was dutch... so he found somebody to translate for me in dutch. I don't speak Dutch... but appearantly I look Dutch. Luckily a man on the sidewalk translated in English to tell me that he would be willing to allow me to pay when I got back. So off we went. I immediately got on the phone with mr. Mecham who was hard at work. I reminded him I had no money and inquired where to go... which he started to tell me... we laughed pretty hard at how confused i must have looked! Not even 30 seconds after I hung up the phone, I turned around to see Elders Basha and Plumb walking toward me. I have NEVER enjoyed a familiar face so much in my life! What are the chances that I would run into somebody I know in downtown Lublin, right when I needed somebody most?! I call that tender mercys. It reminded me that we have a kind Heavenly Father who is mindful of EVERYTHING that is going on. The missionaries said they saw me from the McDonald's window and they thought I might need help. They took me to get money, then back to my car to pay for parking. I would have been in a world of hurt, probably terribly ripped off, and could've even had my car towed if they had not been there to translate and help me. Honestly... they were guardian angels today and I will forever be thankful for their goodness.
I asked the kids if they wanted something Polish to try for lunch... Cole said, "we havn't tried Subway!" Bailey reminded him that we eat Subway all the time at home. His reply, "we haven't had Polish Subway!" Funny kid. So Subway it was. And we actually found out that the spicey Italian meat tastes different here than it does in good old America.
After lunch we headed through down town on foot. We wanted to take it all in... and we had paid for 3 hours of parking! Plenty of time. It was warm outside. 81 degrees today. HEAT WAVE! At the end of down town is the Lublin castle. We had to see it!

The castle bridge looking back at downtown Lublin

Front of the Lublin castle

Side of the Lublin Castle taken from the park. It is huge!

Castle park arch entrance. The park was wide open with big huge trees everywhere! It was beautiful! And everything is soooo green.

The park toys were so old school. It was like taking a step back in time! The kids thought it was great because they haven't really seen those kind of park toys before! But I remember them from River Heights elementry school! An old metal merry go round. A teeter totter and a old swings. They did have a more modern climbing toy. But the kids were drawn to the old stuff! I laughed when mcKay quickly figured out that if he hopped off the teeter totter the other end would go down with a boom! And so he joyfully played with Bailey until he was at the bottom and then he bailed... leaving her to fall... and then he laughed and laughed. Gotta love brothers! The kids met some little boys from England and they were so happy to talk to somebody in English! I loved their little British accents. They were so blasted cute!

over looking downtown from the park. It is so pretty!

we got lost on the way home. Bailey and Mckay figured out how to work the navigation on my phone. I am having a hard time figuring out my gps so I used my phone navigation. We got home and in the house right before a black cloud moved in and it poured rain! Lightening would strike with immediate thunder! I thought it would come in my kitchen window! But it didn't last long. And then a big old rainbow appeared right out the front door. Again, a reminder of Heavenly Father's love for us. We were happy to be home.

Things I learned today:
1) water costs 1,50 unless you don't speak Polish and then its 2, 50.
2) my children are better at finding our way around than I am
3) I am going to love hauling my kids around and getting lost
4) I love the missionaries more than I realized... and to show my gratitude offered them an open invite to dinner. Which reminds me that I need to send them the menue for the week.
5) I got ripped off again... and I learned that I want to know Polish more today than yesterday and so Rosetta and I are getting ooober comfy starting tomorrow morning!

my internet connection was fixed today. My video phone is working beautifully if you would like to make a local call from the united states you may now do so. we have had to use Skype for a few days... and I couldn't be more thankful to have my phone back... It reminds me how bad I think Skype blows!

Day 5

2011-08-21T16:21:00.001-07:00

This morning we went to church for the first time in Lublin. Wow! Coming from Mesa central stake... it is fair to say that even though I was expecting different, that would be an understatement. The blessing of strong stakes is far beyond what I ever comprehended. The church is in an old building like an office space. At the front door you ding a bell and the door opens to a concrete entry with office doors on either side. It smells like smoke. (Who was it that said, "the best smell at church is that of cigarette smoke?) You walk up a concrete set of stairs to more office doors and enter the little open one with a white piece of laminated paper saying "the church of Jesus Christ of Latter day Saints" in Polish. Once inside there was a kitchen off to the left about half the size of my house kitchen in Mesa. The Sacrament mtg room was about as big as Bailey's bedroom in Mesa with a podium, table that had one bread and on water tray, about 15 chairs and a keyboard. Elder Plumb, the senior missionary, is the branch President who presides over and conducts every mtg. There was also a bathroom and one other classroom and the elder's office. The kids were all given a Book of Mormon in Polish and we sang our hymns in Polish... funny. Today was a busy day at church. There were 2 missionaries, our family of 5, a visiting couple with 2 kids, Marline and Sabastian, Lukus (the investigator who will be baptized on saturday in a lake. Nate gets to do the honors since he was there when Lukus accepted the invitation to be baptized) lacey and Troy Potter, and a Ukrainian lady that I didn't know and brother and Sister Guadoon and Mikial. 20 people! And that is double what it normally is. Yeah! We had sacrament mtg and sunday school and everyone was joined together. Yep... even the kids.
Things I learned at church:
1) even if you are a visitor you might be asked to speak. That's right... Elona was visiting from Canada (Native Polish) and she was the speaker in Sacrament mtg.
2) I think it will be hard to give a talk that has to be translated in to Polish by Elder Plumb. LOST train of thought.
3) The Polish members in Lublin are pioneering the church in Poland and they are very strong and faithful people.
4) My children could answer all the questions in Sunday school. this gives you and idea of the basic level we teach on out here. No Michelle Ayalla deep doctorine like I love... back to basics. It is very strange.
5) Appearantly I can now wear tank tops and slacks to church so long as I have on high heel pumps, but I can no longer drink coke because its against the word of wisdome! We were waaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaay overdressed in our Sunday duds.

After church we drove to Chelm (pronounced HELM) to see nate's office. He is back to work tomorrow. It is about a 45 min drive to the Ukrain boarder where he works.

He works in a place where the Polish people worked on a cement plant during communism. It was still there but old and run down. we also saw Ancient rail cars that were used at that time! The plant isn't currently in use so it is very run down... but they've built a new one. It is just around the bend from the old one and doesn't look much cleaner... just not as run down!

nate's office is small. Portable... since this job is a temporary site for Dome.

We also did a little drive through Chelm to see some of the many Cathedrals that stand majestically over the tree line. They are beautiful buildings and were hopping today with all the worshiping Catholics. It is nice to see a religiou people. The Pols are very religious and steeped in their traditions. So much so that they are very difficult to share the gospel with.

In Chelm we stopped so I could meet Joanna (the secretary at Dome who helps all the Americans! She speaks beautiful English... Bless her!) I loved Joanna. She was at the park with her 2 year old son. The park was down a one lane pitted dirt road. It had a fish restaraunt with a lake next to it. Quite nice! On the way out we pulled to the side to let somebody go by and landed in a pit and gave the car a little damage. Mr. Mecham remembered the Sabbath and chose nice words to say but there was steam shooting from his ears. Good times.
the drive was fun. we got home late and ate dinner at 10:00. Lame! We had spaghetti... remember the story about the grocery store? Yeah... the sauce we bought wasn't good. It was sweet. And we were starving so we ate it anyway... I need to find spices and tomatoes quick if we want that meal again!
Things I learned on my drive to chelm:
1)The country out here is amazing! Rolling green hills with beautiful homes and churches placed throughout.
2) Many of the famers were harvesting hay with a rake, pitchfork and horse drawn wagon. It felt like a step back in time.
3) Storks aren't as big as I pictured them. And they are just about to make their big winter migration back to Africa until next spring.
4) Communism wasn't long ago. There are traces of it everywhere. Kinda crazy.

I can now say Hello, Goodbye, Thankyou, and ice cream in Polish. I think its time to pull out Rosetta.

Nearly A week in Poland

2011-08-20T12:59:00.000-07:00

I promised to blog every day when I got here for two reasons: 1. to keep family and friends posted 2. to never forget this once in a life time adventure. And though I didn't get it up on the blog, I have been taking notes so that I could get it on here asap! I still don't have pics up and going... but I will add them later.
Day 4: Today was the Ultra adventure... Grocery shopping! We had 2 hours before we had to be as Bieta Guadoon's for dinner. Surely that is enough time to get some provisions to fill our very large European 2ft by 4ft fridge and one small cupboard for dry goods! Except if you don't know the language and the food isn't all the same then you quickly realize that 2 hours isn't enough time to find the picture of what you think you want and hope to high heck that you got the right thing! We know we bought the right yogurt and granola because we tried it in the mission home. we know we bought the right produce because Polish bananas look the same as American bananas! haha... and we know bought spaghetti noodles but we arent so sure about the sauce, the nail polish remover (which looks like a small bottle vodka) or the meat. Was it pork or beef? Don't know. I guess we will figure it out! Oh well... in two days we will be back at the store for more food since the fridge will be empty then! The grocery story was different to say the least! we weigh our own food and then the tag is printed out with a bar code. The candy has alcohol in it. We couldn't find most of the stuff we eat. But that is not a complaint! We actually found it quite comical and can't wait to figure all of this out!
We took Elder Plum and Elder Basha to lunch after Nate went with them to find a baptismal spot at the lake for Lukus. He is being baptized next Saturday. Very exciting! We ate at a milk bar called Chata. It was authentic Polish food and it was AWESOME! I ate something like a dumpling and coleslaw... the kids ate chicken, potatoes and coleslaw. We were soooo full! Next time I am getting what Plum had: buckwheat with gravey sauce. Basha ate a potatoe pancake with red sauce... I wasn't in love with that!
We ate bbq dinner at the Guadoon's. Biata is so very nice! I love her! She doesn't speak English, but you could tell she is genuine and could be a very good friend so long as she doesnt want to talk! haha.... She has been a member for 10 years. She has 2 sons. One is 17 and the other is on a mission. Her son in the first Polish member to serve a mission. At the BBQ were other people too: The missionaries, Lukus, Tim and Elona (from Canada) and the Potters. oh... and Biata who is Biata's friend! Sister Nielson told me there were 10 Polish names and I would learn them quickly. Appearantly Biata is one of them! It really was pretty fun.
Today I learned:
1) the grocery store is going to take a while to get used to for now.
2) 57 degrees in August is nice until you consider that it is a heat wave and begin to wonder what December will be like.
3) I can drive to the grocery store and home without getting lost.
4) dziekuje means thank you... don't try to read it cuz it doesn't sound like it looks: gen coo yeh is more like the sound.
5) One can purchase American candy in Poland, but it doesn't taste the same. Chocolate doesn't have wax in it here.
6) I am sooooo confused on the money exchange. I can't wrap my head around the fact that 500 zlote is not 500 dollars.
7) Mckay has the most amazing sense of humor.
8) You must take your own bags shopping or you get charged for every single bag.

Day 3
today our lost bag was found! In fact, The courier from Warsaw delivered it to our house in Lublin. That is service! And everything was in side just like I left it! We got most of our house put together but still didn't make it to the grocery store. I have major jet lag. It is getting ridiculous! Falling asleep all day is so rude! We ate lunch in downtown Lublin. The architecture is unreal! The cobblestone streets are so fairy tale like. The lamp posts are decorative, black iron with flowers hanging from them. It is so fun! People are out everywhere! The economy her must be booming! We ate kabobs at a little shop downtown. They were delicious and soooo messy! There was a little girl playing her acordian with a money basket sitting in the middle of the sidewalk. It was sweet. We purchased the biggest raspberries I have ever seen from a little girl on the sidewalk. They tasted like candy. I will eat them for breakfast in the morning. It rained like I've never seen it rain. For dinner we ate Pizza from pizza hut. I don't even like Pizza hut but this pizza was delicious! It wasn't even greasy! Go figure that one!
things I learned today:
1) jet lag isn't a funny situation. the kids want to know what is wrong with me!
2) People dress up here to walk outside. They go to the store in dresses and slacks. The women all wear high heal sandals. My jeans don't look very nice. I must invest in some dressy clothing soon.
3) Everyone walks. I can only imagine that is part of the reason that there are no fat people other than myself in this town! YIKES!
4) Kabobs are not meat and veggies on a stick. They are more like pitas full of grilled veggies and meat done to perfection dripping with yummy sauce that I don't know what it is called or how on earth to make.
5) If you tell the kids that the little girl playing the accorian is working for her dinner they seem to love her more and start begging to give her money rather than buy themselves anything else.
6) Bailey will never be happy in Poland.

Day 2
Warsaw is a beautiful place! We left President and Sister Nielson's huge mission home after enjoying a quick breakfast of yogurt, granola, cereal and blueberry muffin cake, a quick picture, and some good advice to get us on our way and we went to Stalin's tower. It was a gift to the Polish people from Russia. (FYI: The Polish people aren't loving the Russians after many years of supression and comunisim. They don't find it even cool that I took 3 years of Russian in school and can say things like "slowly but surely" and count to 5 still) We purchased tickets so we could go to the top and found out that we actually bought tickets to go into an exhibit with lizards... the kind we are used to seeing on our curb in AZ. It wasn't too impressive... but our elevator ride did go to the top any way! And we could see all over Warsaw. We ate lunch at McDonalds. We ordered by pointing out pictures off the menue. McDonald's here isnt a playplace and a cheap lunch where all the white trash people spend their afternoons. It is a restaraunt. Go figure! I have no less than 68 misquito bites from my ankles to my knees and they itch something fierce. Our house in Lublin is beautiful in an nice neighborhood. It is very European with iron and arch ways. Everytime I come home I think of Lindsay and Spencer Jones and their European home in Mesa! The yard is green and the topiary trees on the stairs leading to the front door make me happy. Inside we have no carpet. Just wood and marble floors. The stairs are marble. They make me very nervice. The kitchen is the small. EVerything is miniture: the fridge, the dishwasher, the sink. The furniture is ikea like and the walls are very bare! We have a nice deck looking into the fur trees that thickly line our yard with the neighbors about 20 feet from the deck! Upstairs we have 3 bedrooms with no closets, one bathroom with a lovely tub and one big closet in the hall way. It is different. Main floor is the kitchen, living room, bathroom with big shower and dining room where we put the desk. Downstairs is a bathroom, laundry room/ family room, and bedroom and the garage. So the house is pretty spacious and very nice. We can live here for a while! :) The landlords have a black lab named Negra. Cole calls her Nigra. It's pretty cute. She is a friendly dog and the boys have been entertained for hours by her. For dinner Nate took us to his favorite Italian food, Dulce Vita. It was pretty authentic and most delicious. I was told everyone here speaks English. I have not found that to be the case. In most cases, everyone here understands English and speaks enough to say that they don't speak English.
Today I learned:
1) Pres. and Sister Nielson have mesa ties. Pres grew up on 3rd st. in our beloved Lazona ward. He has many friends from that area. Later he lived behind one of my best friends in Friendly Cove. They know all of my high school buddies families and even vacationed with some of them.
2) Sister Nielson is so hospitable that she reminded me of Suzy Everton... and I began to wonder if that is a requirement for Friendly Cove/ Dynasty Estates residents. She has made the mission home in Warsaw an amazing place and I actually thought I would love to be the wife of a mission president after hanging with her for a day.
3) The mission home in Warsaw is owned by the church. It has a sauna in the downstairs bathroom. LUCIOUS!
4) It is obvious that Americans pay more than the Polish people for everything. And when we turn our backs they laugh... and though we suck at speaking Polish, we still understand what is going on... and sometimes it is lame to know that you are being taken advantage of and still can't do anything about it.
5)rich people eat at McDonalds here. And yes, they dress up to go.
6) Polish misquitos are the same as American misquitos... and they itch just as bad
7) swollen ankles from travel don't go away after 24 hours. I am wondering if they ever will go down if the misquitos keep biting me.
8)We have been given much in America. I am beginning to see the abundance of the Promised land.
9) Strictly from appearance sake, I have seen more people that I look like here than I do walking down the street in AZ. In fact, I would dare say I fit in more here than I do there!
10) The weather, the vegitation, the food is wonderful.

Day 1
We arrived in Warsaw. The flight was better than I thought... Once we got through the airport with our bags the rest was gravey! Going through security in the international terminal was a treat. It was the first time I have ever been patted down/felt up in an airport. Only one bag was lost. Unfortunately it was the boys clothing. Fortunatley they don't care. The airport said they would locate it and send it on to Lublin. Nate and Lacey Potter picked us up and it was fun to see them! I debated on hugging Nate or kicking him in the crotch! We settled on hugs. We went to the Mission home where we were warmly welcomed by President Stan and Sister Judi Nielson. Sis Nielson gave us a tour of the mission home mansion and I found myself thinking I could live there forever. I was blitzed from zero sleep in over 24 hours and thought that anything that resembled a home with pictures of family and beds in it with running water and toilets/showers and kitches sounded about perfect! I laid down on the most comfy bed of my life and fell asleep until the welcoming crew showed up! The boys took off running under Nate's watchful care and Bailey joined me for slumber. Sister Nielson invited over a few other American families for a bbq: The Wood family and The Staples. They both live in Warsaw. They had kids the same ages as ours and they became instant friends. So sad they live 3 hours from our house. Dinner was fabulous. The misquitos enjoyed me.
Things I learned today:
1) European Architecture is awesome!
2) Sister Nielson is one of my all time fav people.
3) I like meeting up with Americans in Poland. We have language in common.
4) when you've been on an airplane for as long as we had, it doesn't even matter that your luggage is lost.
5) reporting lost luggage in a foreign language is done best by drawing pictures with colored crayons.
6) I think I'm going to love this adventure.

Saying goodbye is hard for me

2011-08-20T02:04:00.000-07:00

Saying goodbye has always been one of my least favorite things! I always cry. ALWAYS! I cry at funerals... they are a goodbye. I cry when I move. I have never figured out why it is so difficult for me, it just seems to be. Oh well.
3 months ago, Mr. Mecham took a job with the ever amazing Dome Technologies. It really is his dream job! Dome's home office is in Idaho Falls. They tried to hire him years ago but I was not interested in a permanent relocation to Idaho and so we didn't go. 3 months ago Mr. Mecham was also offered 3 other jobs, all of which were equal paying. However, Dome offered him an opportunity to work abroad! It was an opportunity that, not only did we want, but also we knew we should take.
Over the years since Mr. Mecham and I were married we have lived in 3 different states and now 2 different countries. We have always associated with the kindest people and enjoyed every minute of our stay no matter where we were. But everyone knows that as soon as you move the relationship changes. And for me, that is sometimes hard when you are completely happy with how the relaionships currently are!
Somehow this does all go together! Last Monday night some Ms. Dillard and Co. threw a very lovely party to say goodbye to me... and i cried the whole time. So I didn't get to tell everyone that I was excited to move. I didn't get to tell everyone that I would miss them! I didn't get to tell everyone the story behind us moving! Because I was crying! And besides, I ruined every picture! haha...
We wanted to move. We love the adventure. The problem is that we wanted everyone to come with us! There will always and forever be a lovely place in our hearts for the friendships and relationships we have with dear friends and family all over the world. And we so look forward to reunions which we know will come!
For now,
do widzenia

We Had to get our Vizas and some trivia...

2011-07-16T00:34:00.000-07:00

So when I figure out how to post pictures from my camera without having the cord which connects my camera to the computer I will add photos. For now, Mr. Mecham has the cord in Europe and I have the camera in Sonoran Desert.

We had to go to L.A. to get our Visas... And so we made a little trip out of it! And it was such a relief to a looooooooong vacation less few months! Lucky for us the timing couldn't have been better! We were awaiting the arrival of Mr. Mecham's work permits and one of our passports which came in just before the the 4th of July! And so we bolted for the Ocean! Two luscious days on the beach with 10 bajillion of our (not so) closest friends, 400 million sand flea crabs, the ever fabulous Princes and Aunt Peebs and a whole lot of sunshine! It was spectacular! Especially the Dolphin show right in front of us! They were soooo sooo cute playing in the waves! And the stray whale that mysteriously parked out a ways from us and just kept blowing water was so very cool!
Huntington Beach Trivia:
1) the 4th of July crowd at Huntington beach trashes the public restroom and makes them so stinky that you are forced to wear swim plugs around your nose to urinate. Take a toothbrush because you will want to brush your teeth when done since you were forced to do all breathing in the jon through your mouth. Take 2 extra rolls of t.p... paper towells would be better... and rubber dish gloves: these items will aid in your ability to plaster the toilet seat before you squat down to use it.
Wear flip flops to the restroom. No. bare. feet. Irrigation boots are a better choice. Headlamps and goggles would also be helpful.
2) for the lack of swimsuits! Hello skimp bikinis! Body size and shape Do NOT matter! Feel free to romp and run in your nothings! (good choice:) skimpy bikini. (better choice:) string or thong bikini nude colored (best choice:) one piece tie on suit laced up the front with parts less covered than the string/thong variety. Why don't we just follow suit with the Europeans and go nude? It would undoubtedly be less shocking!
3) Seriously public display of beyond affection which took some explaining for the older kids... and was offensive to the young men of our group! Ok... but we had a truck load of fun and even found the pda hilarious! Really? How could one be so passionately in the mode completely oblivious to that fact that sand flea crabs are ducking under their feet, 734,000 kids have dropped their sand shovels and are staring at them, the dolphins stopped jumping because they were so embarrassed, and I was taking notes? haha.. just kidding... I wasn't taking notes! I was laughing though... and bribing my children with candy to look at me while I laughed at the nuisance!
4) Did you know that 1 out of 5 people at Huntington beach do NOT have a tattoo? 3 of those that do have sleeves? Tattoos and body piercings are like Pb and j. If you are properly tatted then you also have body piercings. It goes like this. women: if you have a tat on your back you have a piercing in your belly button. If you have a tat on your leg then you might only have 16 ear piercings. If you have leg, back and chest tats then you also have belly, nose, lip and multiple ear piercings and you might even have your ear lobes tatted. Did I mention that the lobe piercing is big enough to put a spoon through? Enough about that!
5) Did you know that when you look out on the water and see a large flock of birds swarming and landing they are most likely landing on a whale? No kidding! And that is how whale watchers find their show!
6) if you find a clam and you don't get the meaty part out before you go home just know that the clam rots and makes your bag smell like a very old yucky diaper... and you might have to through everything away.
7) you may or may not come home with more sand in the family sized chip bag than chips. individual sized chip bags might be a better choice!
We stuck out like a sore thumb... Imagine this: 3 men literally WORKING THEIR BUNS OFF (everyone else on the beach working was of the female gender while the men played). 4 women. No big tattoos on the adults. No bizarre body piercings. 11 children under the age of 12... over 3/4 of them under the age of 7. No smoking or alcoholic beverages and NO pda even though we obviously enjoy affection since we hauled in with 11 kids and a bun in the oven. It was a sight!
We live in a bubble! I like my bubble. So after 10 minutes of me digging my jaw out of the sand, I got over it and we had a BLAST!
Favorite moment on the beach: Bailey and Talor wanted to be buried in the sand for a picture. Taylor went first even though we suggested that not to be a super good idea... since sand in the suit is only sometimes super comfy... the rest of the time it is totally lame. What. ev. er! And so the hole was dug. And Taylor was buried up to her neck. The last bucket of sand was to be dumped on before the grand picture was to be taken. And so Taylor suggested the purple bucket because it was already full of sand thanks to the digging done earlier that day. Little did the girls know that the purple bucket was the boys bucket which was being used to house the 87 sand flea crabs they had been diligently catching for hours! But who knew? Sand crabs dig down in the sand instantly and so they couldn't be seen! But BOY HOWDY! When Bailey dumped that last purple bucket on top... right by the neck line of Ms. Taylor, She bolted out of that sand grave like I have never seen anybody move! And I was laughing pretty hard!

On July 5th the consulate opened. The paperwork and passports were submitted and we were off to Disney while awaiting them to process! OH WOW! Who knew Disney could be so fun? Cole's first experience in Disneyland... and i have never enjoyed a "first" so much! It was incredible!
Disney Trivia:
1) Did you know that there is a mini hospital just off main street Disney? Yep! sure is... Bailey found it! Po Bailey... She gets motion sick. All day she did awesome but 1 trip on Tower of Terror + 2 back to back rides on California Screaming did her in! We were all enjoying an ice cream from that (to die for) parlor when Bailey sat over in the corner a barfed her brains out, thought for sure she was going to hyperventilate and pass out and even turned some awesome shades of grey and pasty white. The Disney nurse came a running with the Disney paramedics while the ice cream parlor men in their striped uniforms made a half circle around the corner where she was to ensure that nobody else was grossed out by her puke and to ensure Bailey's complete barfing pleasure in privacy. If you had to be sick anywhere outside home, I am voting for main street Disney in the corner of the ice cream parlor. I bonded with those men... They didn't even look suspicious until the paramedics showed up. By that time Aunt Lisa was holding the grocery bag of vomit while finishing her ice cream waffle cone. I was securing the pony tails in Bay's hair and giving evil eyes to anyone who might be trying to stare. Cole was gathering his treats and bolting for Nate and McKay who had fled as soon as humanly possible to the outside to watch fireworks explode over Cinderella's castle! And then Lisa and I joined Bailey in the infirmary while the boys headed over to cash in on the fast passes at splash mountain followed by a little shopping before they came to drop off on their way to space mountain and autotopia.
2) Did you know that if Disney inconveniences you with one of their rides needing serviced while you were on it that they make it up to you by giving you a pass which allows 6 people to skip on to the front of any line for the ride of your choice? They sure do! So while we were on the go carts one of them died somewhere ahead of us. It wasn't a big deal since we were almost done with the ride anyway! In very routine fashion the rides were all shut off, the roads secured, everyone escorted off the ride and then orderly given passes to any ride they wanted which accommodated up to 6 people. So we took an extra ride with only 10 minutes to park closing on space mountain! I LOVE DISNEYLAND!
3) FYI: new puppets in small world. Loved them! Loved the A.C. on that ride!
4) FYI: the park shops stay open for an hour after the rides close.
5) If you eat a huge turkey leg at 3:00 p.m. you only have to eat one meal for the rest of the entire trip. But take lots of water! And don't forget a churro and an ice cream.

coming home!

2011-06-22T10:46:00.001-07:00

This little hotty will be home today! I can't wait to kiss his face off! Welcome back Mr. Mecham!!! You have been missed terribly!