McAlister Matters

  We're so proud of Paul for deciding to be baptized last week. It was a great event. All the Utah cousins came and Grandpa Bob and Mormor were there. Ingrid gave the talk on baptism and my dad gave the talk on the gift of the Holy Ghost. Paul was excited and we had a little get together afterwards and celebrated Paul's birthday too. After the baptism we went to the Desert Star Theater with my Dad and Ingrid. The play was called the Princess Bride but was actually a sequel, super silly and fun. We all loved it. The school year is winding down for the kids. This weekend we did a little birding. On Saturday we took the kids to the Salt Lake wildlife preserve in Layton. We spotted several new birds! Click for pics!

  My dad turned 80 last weekend! There was a family party for him and Ingrid flew me out on Saturday as a surprise. I thought it would be fun to show up in a disguise.  It would have worked perfectly but my mustache kept falling off! Ingrid drove my dad to the BART station and I walked up to their car in disguise. The party was nice. Erik made smash burgers on the new skillet grill. It was great to see a lot of family including my aunt Barbara.   We love you, Grandpa Bob. Thank you for your constant love, support, and generosity—and for the example you’ve set of faith, service, and kindness. click for pics   

TL;DR (this is a long post) We arrived back Wednesday night from our 14 day trip to France and Spain. It was an all around fantastic trip. We traveled by plane, train, automobile, boat, metro, bus, tram and foot. Lots of foot! I think every day had its challenges but it was all good family time and we came out stronger with many great memories to share. The Plan It took some extra work and saving to make it happen. We are just grateful it worked out. I had a few ideas for what to do in France from my mission areas. Sarah was great at putting together a detailed itinerary for each day, getting the passports and airbnb's lined up, train tickets and reservations all printed out. Grandma and Grandpa Musser took care of our Spain navigation which was awesome. We expected some things to fall thru but only had a couple disappointments.  Paris When we landed in Paris we found out our Airbnb for Paris had been cancelled. So we had to quickly rebook somewhere to stay while at the airport. Lu...

  We leave for Paris tomorrow! We're looking forward to a grand adventure. We leave at noon and arrive in Paris 14 hours later + 8 hours in the future. The kids are very excited. I've been brushing up on French since the beginning of the year with Duo Lingo. My 75 day streak will definitely pay off. After Paris, we head to Nantes, then Brive, then Lourdes, then Carcassonne, then Barcelona. We get back on the 7th of April. Paul lost his two front teeth last month. Both on the same day! He matches some of his friends in the same grade. Paul has been attending Primary Activity days this year and enjoys it. Juniper was a newsie in her schools production of Newsies Junior. She did a great job and had fun. She was the best in the cast! Kahlan had another round of concerts for orchestra and choir. She did great and was 1st chair again! Penny is turning 6 this week. We had a party for her last weekend at our house. She wanted a remote control car. We'll celebrate again in Paris! Au...