ALASTAIR + LALEINIA

When we decided to move to Michigan, Laleinia made me promise two things: that we'd have Emre's blessing in Utah, and that we'd go back again for Christmas. Lain and Emre went out a few days before me, and then I followed along. I worked for a few days from the Provo office, which was nice. Very small, and most people were out for their holiday breaks, so I had the office almost to myself on some days! It was great to spend time with both sides of our families, especially for Emre to get time with all of his grandparents. The other massive positive was that we got to go skiing/snowboarding a couple of times, and the snow was fantastic! When we travel, we love to explore new places, but it is always great to see family, and to go back to Utah. Another bonus was to meet Logan's girlfriend (who would soon become his wife), and for me and Logan to build our Christmas igloo. This year was the year of the BIGloo! It was nice to celebrat

I'm thinking back on this part of the trip, kind of amazed that we actually pulled this off. We passed through eight countries in three days, driving over 1,300 miles. Kind of wild, very rushed, very worth it! The goal was just to pass through as many countries as possible, seeing what we could from the car. We started in Milan and drive through Mt. Blanc. We stopped in Geneva, Switzerland for the night, before heading through Liechtenstein, Austria, Germany, Slovenia, and doing in Pula, Croatia for the night. We then went back to Milan to watch AC Milan vs. Sampdoria, surrounded by the ultras. The highlights of the trip were the following: Gorillas visit Connor We decided we would go and visit Connor on his mission in Geneva. I didn't want him to be the guy who's brother visited him, so we decided to go in disguise and not tell him we were going to be there. In the after Halloween sales we bought gorilla suits for $5 each. My dad got his address so

We arrived in Oslo by an overnight ferry; great value for money since you get travel and a bed for the night for one price. We would be flying out of Oslo later that afternoon, so we decided to walk around semi-aimlessly and get a feel for the city. Oslo was wet and slippery! There was a fine rain coming down the whole time we were there. To be fair, nothing really stood out in Oslo, but it was a really nice place. I'd consider living there one day. It's another place I'd like to take Lain. We stopped by the Google office for lunch, which was really good, before heading up to the airport for our flight to Tromsø. I think that Tromsø was the part of the trip that I was looking forward to the most. It is over 200 miles north of the Arctic Circle, would be experiencing Polar Night while we were there (sun doesn't rise the whole time we are there), and it also happens to be one of the best places on earth to see the Northern Lights!  We were there for two

Copenhagen was a pleasant surprise. I really loved what I saw. The only downer was that we had to carry our bags everywhere with us since we were heading over to the ferry and couldn't leave them anywhere. The first stop was the Copenhagen Cathedral, which is famous for having the original Christus statue. It was really cool to see, especially because all of the twelve apostles also had statues on either side of the church. It was a great experience. One I would go back and have again for sure.  Next up was Nyhavn. I loved all of the colors and the calm water. It was a really fun place just to walk around. I'm a big fan of colorful buildings, so this was great. It was at this point that I thought that I could live in Copenhagen! Next up was another church: Frederik's Church. This one looked older and more detailed than the one with the Christus, but it was also really cool to see. I didn't realize just how many churches we were visiting. The

To see as many places as possible on the trip, we chose a longer layover in Helsinki, Finland. We had no plans at all for the city, but we took the train in and walked around. Helsinki was pretty cold and when we arrived it looked like it was trying to snow. We went to a cathedral and a few other churches. My favorite was the Rock church, which was literally cut out of rock. It was really beautiful. As much as I enjoyed Helsinki, I can't see myself living there. But it is somewhere I'd love to take Lain and get a lot of pictures. 

The trip started with a night in NYC. I flew out after work. After a long wait for my bag at the airport, I headed into the city to meet up with Kip. He texted me a picture of some guy sitting at a pizza place and I could have sworn it was the exact same pizza place (and only pizza place) that I've eaten at in Manhattan, based on the color of the wall. Well, turns out it was. Random! On the way, while I was waiting for my train, a woman told me I was handsome. Thanks. We checked in to our hotel. We are trying to pay less so we can do more on this trip, but I didn't expect just how small our room would be. Seriously, the bed just about fit in there, and there was no bathroom, just a sink. After laughing about that for a while, we went out to explore. Our first stop was the Google New York building. It was a lot bigger than I thought it would be. We wandered around for quite a while, played pool, drank sodas and ate some snacks. We even found the roof which had a decent

While Alastair had plans to go on his excursion with Kip, I didn't want to be alone for Thanksgiving, so I peaced out and went to California with Emre. It had been years since I was home for Thanksgiving, 2010, to be exact. So I was excited to see my family and friends. Emre did so well on the flight to California. This was the first time that I had flown on my own with him, and he did so well! It was a red eye, and I'm so glad we took it. He pretty much slept the whole time. He stirred a bit and I just nursed him back to sleep. It was great! We arrived around 11, almost twelve at night, West coast time. My parents picked us up from the airport and stayed at my Grandma's house. It was the first time she had met Emre. A little before noon, we headed to Fort Bragg. I love that place and wanted to take Emre there. We went to all my favorite spots. We went to Sea Glass beach, ate chowder bowls and fish and chips, and walked around and looked at the pool