Aaron Baillio’s Blog

Well, what can I say…another year another opportunity to fall way behind on my blog posts.  January has been fairly uneventful…except for all the freaking snow!  Plus these crazy Germans have a law that says you gotta shovel your walkways.  So, that’s been fun.  It actually got so bad one day that they closed down the base for about 3 hours.  Of course, I was on it at the time so they wouldn’t let us leave either.  All I can say is that groundhog better not see his shadow…or else he is gonna be in a world of hurt!   I’ll be hunting ground hogs…he he he he! (Think of your best Elmer Fudd impression).

Anyway, every is doing well.  We’ve all had runny noses…everyone else had some 24 hour virus that induced vomiting.  That was fun…the boys threw up so much I’m surprised they didn’t wither away!  Poor guys.  Somehow I managed to evade the virus.  2 more months of winter…that better be it!!  I ready for some sunshine and warm weather.

Speaking of, I am looking forward to going to LA for Austin and Sarah’s blessing of Luke.  Unfortunately I’ll be going alone.  It was just too much to pay for the whole family to come but it was important enough for me to go at least.  So, while it will be fun, I will miss my family terribly.  It won’t be the same without them.  However, we are taking a month off in May-June to come visit.  Looks like it will be May 10 through June 8.  We’ll divide it up between San Antonio and Oklahoma City.  So, if you want to come hang out with us, you can meet as at one of those two locations.  The travel is out “mid-tour” return travel.  So, we have until June 9, 2011 before we come home.  Seems like so long but it’ll fly by.

To close, here are some funny pics that people have posted on facebook.  I thought they were great!

In the band hall...caught unaware!

Seminary...my junior year I think?

Nauvoo trip before my senior year.

I have no idea when this was taken.

So, that’s it for my retro flashback thingy.  If you have old pics like this…send them my way!

Well, it has been ages and ages, a long, long time since I posted anything to my blog.  Kind of defeats the purpose of having a blog!  Well, here is my update…it won’t be a mega update like normal, just a small one.

recently we took the family out to Strasburg to see the Christmas market there.  It was 25 degrees out so we really had to bundle up!  When we go there we took a metro train into town from a park and ride and the boys thought that was the most awesome thing ever!  Once we got into town we started to wander around and look at the Christmas lights and the various booths.  The boys were getting restless so we got some awesome shortbread cookies and some hot chocolate.  That held them over until we could find a place to eat.  Ellie-Jayne was really melting down so we found a little sandwich place where we could warm up. It was really good!  After we ate everyone was much happier!

Asher was acting like a little goof ball.

Enjoying some warmth!

When we set out again we found a plaza that had a spinny ride – of course the boys didn’t think it was too cold to do that!  So, they got to go around several times.  The last time around Asher was on a motorcycle…I thought he looked hilarious!

Asher in his car.

William in his car.

Asher on his motorcycle!

This particular square was hosting a Russian exhibit and the booths and the products were beautiful.  But, not as beautiful as my two ladies!  Here’s a pic with them and Santa.

My two beautiful ladies bundled up.

It was a fun trip but it was just too cold.  The kids were rebelling against everything.  Oh well, what can you do right?  No matter how much I try to force them to have fun, it never works!

This weekend was our anniversary as well!  We got the neighbors (LDS) to watch the kids while we went up to the temple together.  We rarely get to go together since it is so hard to get someone to watch the kids and be away from the baby for so long.  But, we did Saturday and we did some sealings.  It was cool because all the other workers were German and so when they were  up there they did it in German but when it was our turn they did it in English.  It was fun to be back in there.  The session ended a little early so we went and sat in the celestial room for a while and prayed and just enjoyed being together – with no kids!   That night we also got a baby sitter and went out to eat at really nice restaurant/hotel.  It was a fun night and I am glad that we were able to spend some time away from the kids.

This week it has snowed and rained and the kids are going bonkers waiting for Santa to come.  Will had been waking  up in the middle of the night and then sleeping on the couch to see Santa.  We had to tell him that Santa wouldn’t come if he was down there.  Asher keeps waking up at 4am!  I’m ready for Christmas just so we can sleep normally again!

Here is a close out shot…Ellie-Jayne in her Christmas dress!

Ellie-Jayne in her Christmas dress. What a cutie!

So, Wednesday was not quite as windy so we went into Bayonne to wander the streets.  It’s such a beautiful city.  I love it.  We got a great parking spot and just started wandering and taking it in and looking at the cool shops and we stopped at the cathedral but there was some kind of sacrament or something going on so we couldn’t wander around too much.  We stopped at a little sandwich place and got some sandwiches then we walked over to the town square, found some benches and ate lunch.  It was a gorgeous day and it was really fun.

A view of one of the streets of Bayonne.

A view of the cathedral.

Just enjoying lunch!

Mmmmmm.....lunch.....

Isn't it a beautiful day?

After our lunch and tour of Bayonne, we drove up through the Basque country side and into the foot hills of the Pyrenees mountains to a famous Basque cave.  There were actually 3 caves joined together.  The guide spoke in French and I even I couldn’t keep up, but it was pretty cool and the country side was absolutely gorgeous.  That was one of our favorite moments just driving around in this area. 

Walking up to the cave entrance.

Me and the country side.

Our climb out of the caves.

Posing by the entrance to the caves.

Thursday morning we took it easy and then we drove up into Dax.  I served here for a few months on my mission and it was a great turning point for me and where I really came into my own.  First we stopped at the Roman Bathes.  The water was really hot.  The sign said that the water is 64 degrees Celsius year-round.  People from all over the world come here to sooth their ailments.  The story is that a centurion had a dog that was really hurt from entering battle so many times.  The centurion was to leave again and didn’t want his dog to follow so we threw him in the river.  After the campaign, the centurion came back and found his dog there completely healed of all its wounds.  Now people come from all over to bathe in the thermal waters of Dax. 
       After that, we went walking around town and bought some stuff.  Kristin bought a really cool hat and I got some Foie Gras.  After we had our fun, we decided to see if we could look up my good friends Annie.  I won’t go into a lot of detail about her, but needless to saw she meant a lot to me on my mission and she is just the sweetest woman ever.  So, I found her old salon where she used to work and found out that she had retired.  But, the lady gave me her contact information and so we drove over to her house and had a great time reconnecting!

The thermal bath. Notice the steam!

Watch out! It's hot!

The boys next to the Centurian and his dog.

Me and Annie

Us and Annie

That was the end of our stay in Biarritz.  Unfortunately we weren’t able to go back to the beach, but we sure had a great time.  On the way back we had time for one last adventure.  We stopped in a small town along the Loire river and stayed the night in an awesome Chateau!  It was so cool.  Plus, they made reservations for us at a fancy restaurant and so we went and it was great!  Not only was the food good, but the boys were on their best behaviour.  It was so much fun.  Plus, it was just cool to live like the nobles of centuries ago, if just in a little way.  Tell you what…I could get used to that!

The view of the Loire from our rooms.

The front of our Chateau.

The tree lined drive up to the chateau.

Aren't the leaves beautiful?

The queen and her princess at the castle.

A prince reluctant to leave.

On saturday morning, we had one more stop to make…to a chateau that could fit many of the ones we stayed in inside!  The chateau Chambord!  It was really cool with a moat and everything.  It was a lot of fun just to walk around and to dream of what it would be like in those days to live there.  After that we drove home.  All in all, an excellent trip and we the best part is that I think we all felt relaxed after we came home.  We sure miss having family out here but there are some perks.  

Fortunately they had prepared for her arrival.

So, we left on Friday morning around 1130 or 1200.  I never actually leave when I intend on leaving!  I wanted to leave by 1000 but I knew that wasn’t going to happen.  But, as it turned out, it only took us 6 hours to get to where we were going so we were right on time for a French dinner!  We checked into our hotel and then drove over to a member’s house who I taught and who got baptised.  Then, her daughter got baptised then her son and then her husband.  So, it was great to see them.  We had a very French dinner and though they didn’t speak much English, we still had a great time.  We saw this car on the way down!  Super cool

So, on Saturday we hit the road again and made it to Biarritz around 6pm.  We rented a cool apartment for the week which was 3 blocks from the beach.  (here is our apartment)

The apartment was really cute and had a balcony that faced the mountains with a small ocean view.  It had 2 bedrooms, a nice sized living room, a kitchen and a separate eating area that was like a sun room.  Anyway, so after we unloaded the car, what was the first thing we did?  We went to the beach!!  We walked down there in what we were wearing and the boys loved running in and out of the water, although it was a little too strong for Will and this is how he looked as we left…

Anyway, we slept well that night.  Sunday we actually made it to the church in Bayonne.  It was pretty cool.  I actually recognized some folks and there were several people who came and spoke with us afterward.  We just went to sacrament meeting but that was enough.  I got some information about the mission and the ward and some of the areas I served in.  Like, Dax for example was closed and I had served there!  Oh well, that’s how things are in France.

That afternoon we went into downtown Biarritz and walked around.  It was so beautiful and we walked along the beach and we went to the Virgin on the Rock monument which was really cool.  Here are some pics:

This was in Biarritz.

This was my magazine cover pose.

Kristin looking pretty stunning in front of the docks.

This is the cathedral in Biarritz. It's beautiful.

Ellie-Jayne enjoyed herself!

This is the monument we visited.

Then we played in the sand.

Hanging out at the aquarium.

The local area.

The cutest picture of Will hanging from the trees.

The girls

Too windy at the beach!

Riding the train up the mountain.

The other half riding the train.

Who's the cutest girl ever? Me!!

View from the top of La Rhune.

More new videos!  These are super cute!   Check them out…

http://aaron.bailliofamily.net/video

I posted some more vids on my video page.  Go check them out!

http://aaron.bailliofamily.net/video

Just got some new pics of the girl.  Enjoy!

And then this one is of Asher who fell asleep on the couch.  Totally crashed out…he never does this.  It was pretty funny.

Hey, just want to point you to my video page (See link on the right).  I posted some video of Will’s first day of school as well as some cute ones of Ellie-Jayne.  Enjoy!

Well, Will had his first day of school last week.  It was a lot of fun.  He had been preparing for it for a few days.  We found a lady in Ramstein village that hosts a pre-K out of her house and so we have been sending him there.  There are only 4 kids so they get a lot of individual attention and she has lesson plans and everything.  Already he has brought home a ton of pages they painted and where they practiced their letters and numbers.  So far so good.  PLus the price is right so we are looking forward to a fun school year.

Asher is a little confused on why brother isn’t around.  He feels a little left out too and feels little lost without brother but he and mom get to do some fun things as well. 

Things with Misty are going well too.  She is the perfect dog and so low key and low maintenance it’s been great.  Well, check out my picassa site for more pics of Will on his first day: http://picasaweb.google.com/aaron.baillio/September.

Well, I know I have left some cryptic hints about a new addition to the family.  Well, let me introduce you to Misty!  A full blooded chow-chow.  She is a beautiful dog and very sweet.  We had to drive 2 1/2 hours to a remote army base near Ansbach, Germany to pick her up but it was worth it.  We got home really late on Saturday night (10pm) and we didn’t know what to do with her!  But, we have started to get accustomed to her and she to us.  Of course, we have been learning by fire…she is having her period right now so there is a little bit of blood occaisionally and she is loosing her undercoat so she is really shedding.  So, that has been interesting but I love her and the boys love her and Kristin likes her so far.   I have had to work on her for 7 years to get this dog and she is really super.  She is good with the boys too and since she is already 3 she is house trained and out of that “puppy” stage.  So, good times for everyone!

That’s about it for now.  Things have been super busy around here and it just doesn’t seem to ever slow down.  Plus, we aren’t planning a long vacation until October!  Oh well…what can you do.  At least we can’t claim to be bored!