Where I went this weekend.

I was in Utah this weekend. Don't be offended if you live there and I didn't tell you - I spent most of my time hanging with my new best friend, Hannah. She just might be 2 years old and also be my niece. This is the beginning of a beautiful relationship.

More to come.

Monday Morning Smile

Sad news. "Someone" forgot to grab her i-pod out of her rental car at DCA the other day. With so many other worries in the world today, I've decided that although it stinks, I can't worry about it and be upset. It just stinks. This morning, this picture was in my email inbox from my sister. Happy Monday!

Only two more weeks until I get to see my 5 babies! If you live in Utah, I will be there the weekend of October 11th and in celebration of Riley being baptized and Daniel being blessed, my family is having a hoopla during the day. Please email me if you'd like more information. stephzundel at gmail dot com.

PS - if you are related to me, I'd better get an email from you.

Baby Alert!

Well, here he is. Daniel James Grigg. He seems to be a lot more content than his sister was at his age. And really, he doesn't seem to look at all like any of his siblings or parents. Check out those lips! I can't wait to get more pictures and meet him!

Bundle of Zundels

So as I already told you yesterday, I spent some time with my long lost cousins last week. Dad, this picture is for you - here I am hanging out with your cousin Wynn Zundel - aka "Bear's Butt" and his wife Sherry Zundel - aka "Wine Maker."

In their family, they all have "Mountain Man" names and those are theirs. In my family, maybe we should have "City People" names. (We're not exactly country people - right, Mom?) We met up for lunch at Boudins after convincing them that coming all the way to Marin without even going into San Francisco would be a crying shame.

Wynn and Sherry are some of the only people I know in the world with my same last name. I once dated a guy who thought it was weird that I knew my 2nd cousins. It's true that I know most of my 2nd cousins and I grew up thinking that this was totally normal. Turns out, it isn't. I guess you just have to be from a really cool family to grow up being friends with your first AND second cousins.

Speaking of second cousins, here is Marlin and Helen, my dad's cousins who I grew up with. I don't even necessarily think of them as cousins. They are more like aunts. Seriously, they are great. I love them mucho.

And speaking of family that I really love - here is a picture of me and my Auntie Ilene. Well, I don't call her Auntie Ilene so much anymore, but she's great. On Wednesday, my family is going to have a new edition - yep, my sister is going to have another baby. Stay tuned for more details and pictures. Yippee!

And You Think You Know Someone

Last week I spent some time with my family who lives in the area since we had some out-of-town relatives visiting for a few days. It was great as usual to spend time with them and especially my grandmother. For those of you who know me personally, you probably either know my grandma and have laughed with her before, or you've heard me talk about how amazing she is. Seriously - what is not to love about this woman? Doesn't she look like the sweetest thing ever?

Well, that's what I thought too; and then I got the following picture from my aunt - this was taken Saturday I believe. This is my 94 year old Mormon grandmother whose picture is in the dictionary next to the word "decorum". I have no words for this picture. If you have words for it, I'd like to hear them in the comments.

And with that, I bid you a Happy Monday.

Check Me Out

I have no particular reason for posting this except that I know that some of you will love it. When I was about 4, some friends from across the pond came to stay with us for a few weeks here in San Francisco. It's always weird for me to see pictures like this, knowing that I used to live here but don't really remember it.

I'm the one down in front with the curly blonde hair. My sister is next to me on the right and then my Mom is behind her. Oh how times have changed!

In Which I Tell You Where I'm From

Heidi had a great post yesterday where she told us how she is a bona fide European mutt. Well, that got me thinking since I am also a bona fide European mutt. Even though I was an English major and don't really have a great relationship with numbers, I thought I'd gather a little statistical data to see if I could pinpoint my true ancestry. ha.

Well, that is obviously a complicated problem. Since I believe we all came from two individuals, namely Adam and Eve, I could just stop there and say "Hey. I came from the Garden of Eden and my ancestors camped out a few places along the way." Easy, right? Being a little more realistic, I thought I'd take a smaller portion and crunch some numbers. I could obviously keep this going for a few days, but I stopped at 6 generations. Thank you, www.familysearch.com!

So after a little spreadsheet making and color coding, I arrived at the following results:
**If someone was born in America, they are American, regardless of where their parents are from, according to me.

I am....

41% American
20% English
11% Norwegian
9% Swedish
6% Danish
5% Scottish
4% German
2% Canadian
2% Finnish

Odd that the Iberians all thought I was a native, right? Hello Nothern Europe!

So tell me. Where are YOU from??

Come Come, Ye Saints

I'm off to Utah tonight for the weekend. This is just one of the MANY reasons that I'm excited to go home for a few days.

I hope that I get to see everyone who is around...conference kinda throws a wrench in to conference weekend, doesn't it? Really though, I can't wait. This is kind of a landmark event, my friends. Hope you're watching!

My bump my bump my bump

I was checking out one of my favorite websites the other day when I saw this picture. This is no shocking news considering that this story was published a while ago on many celebrity gossip sites. (Not that I ever read them........)

And realizing that this child will be #5 for my favorite celebrity couple reminded me that I probably haven't told you about my sister and her husband expecting #5 this July. And just as there isn't a whole lot of fuss about Angelina's baby bump, there hasn't been a huge fuss over my sister with this pregnancy. Not that we aren't excited to have another family member, but it is becoming commonplace for my sister to be with child. I mean...she's been pregnant for 40 of the past 103 months that she has been married. That's about 38% of the time! Wowza. We'll be finding out soon what the gender will be, so I'll keep you updated...since I'm going to go ahead and assume that you want to know.

Runs In the Family

While I was in Utah over the Christmas break, my dad bought a scanner and started scanning slides that my parents have had for 30-40 years so that our entire family can all have digital copies of them. What a treasure! I was looking through a set of them tonight and I had to laugh when I saw this picture of my grandfather. It was taken in about 1975 if I'm guessing correctly.

This picture was taken of me in 2006. He'd be so proud.

And now, with pictures

I really thought that I left my camera in Utah, but tonight when I was cleaning casually looking through some stuff in my room, I found it. Which means that you get the pleasure of looking at some of the pictures from the last week of my life. You lucky dog!

My coworker just emailed this to me the other day; its a pic of me at my holiday party at work. I wish you could see my tights instead of my dinner. Tiffany was my fashion consultant and I think I looked pretty darn cute if I do say so myself, so thanks Tiff!


I was in Atlanta for 3 days, which was previously mentioned, and while there, I looked at hotel ballrooms. And I got paid for it, thankyouverymuch.

This is no small model of a Christmas tree, people. This was HUGE and if you want to see it for yourself, go to the Ritz in downtown Atlanta. Beautiful and aMAZing.

So, enough about work-related stuff.

On Friday, all of my appointments ended earlier than expected, and I didn't have to fly out until later that evening, so I went to the Georgia Aquarium. Since it is the largest aquarium in the world, I figured that I should check it out and boy was I ever glad that I did! Seriously cool. I'd heard a lot about the beluga whale exhibit, so it was my first stop. I only got 1 of the 3 whales in this shot, but pretty neat, huh?

I took this next picture in the "Deep Sea" exhibit and though it appears as though this whale shark is swimming close to the glass, its farther away than you think. The whale shark is the largest fish in the ocean, and "Alice" was shipped UPS all the way from Taiwan. You think I'm kidding, but I'm not.

This picture is specifically for anyone who loves the "Fresh Water" chapter in the Planet Earth series. Or maybe its for Tommy. You choose. I thought that the cichlids would be bigger, but they're still pretty cool fish. Anything that protects its young by hiding them in their mouth is OK by me.

I was actually hoping to get a pic of this little guy's razor sharp teeth, but he just wouldn't smile for the camera.

On Friday evening, I flew to Utah for my dad's 60th birthday party. A lot of people were there that I hadn't seen in years, so it was nice to see them and laugh with people who have known me most of my life. My favorite niece Hannah was loving the party. So much actually, that she let me hold her for a while during it. She's getting so big!

I wasn't sure that I'd ever really get a picture like the one below. Growing up I had some women in my life that though they weren't really my mother, they influenced me in profound ways and always treated me as if I was their own. Marla is on the left and her three sons taught me everything I know when it comes to playing hide-and-seek in the dark, break dancing, playing football, and boxing. Blythe is behind me and if you know me well, I'm sure I've talked about her. She frequently refers to me as her oldest daughter and she always makes me feel loved. And then there's my cute and ever-stylish mother. I love this picture. I'm going to frame it.

Pretty classic eh? Arnold Friberg hanging out with my Dad on the couch and his wife giving my Dad gifts that she bought for him in Jerusalem. Oh wait. That isn't so classic. My favorite part of the night was when Arnold's German wife walked in wearing about 10 stars of David around her neck proclaiming that she no longer wanted to be Catholic. Pretty sure she was kidding, but it was funny nonetheless.

Then I came home and I've been at home for the past two days maxin' and relaxin'. Hopefully I'll be able to get back to work by Thursday. Until then, have a continued happy holiday season.

Highlights from being Home for the Holidays

As I've already told you, I didn't "do" a whole lot while I was in Utah. My nephews were over at my parents' house quite a bit, so we had some bonding time. One of the first nights that I was home, my nephews found the costume box in the basement. Keep in mind that I have one sister and she has three boys. The costumes that we have are...shall I say, "girly." For the record, in about 15 years when my nephews are bringing girls over to my parents' home, I will be breaking out these pictures for all to see.

Riley, whose costume would be much more effective without the white shirt and tie.

Sam, who I want to call "Maria" for some reason when he's wearing this costume.

And here he looks like some type of wacked out Nun.

It took me a while, but I was finally able to talk Will into putting on my old Spanish dancer costume. On the other hand, Sam jumped right into his mom's old tap dancing costume.

I'm beginning to think that trying on funny hats and costumes runs in the family.
Here I am modeling a wolf cap in Park City the following morning.

And just because she's so stinking cute, here's Hannah who hates my guts right now. Awesome.

Stephanie "The Laugher" Zundel

I love family history. Seriously, I could sit on the computer all day long and just look at my pedigree chart. I'm not sure why it fascinates me so much, but I think that I could really be a full time genealogist. This article today in People made me laugh. Really.

In just looking through my pedigree chart, here are some cool people that I am a descendant of:

Eochaidh "the Poisonous", King of Dalriada
Gabran "the Treacherous", King of Dalriada
Ugaine Mor the Great, King of Ireland
Ethelred II "The Unready" King Of ENGLAND
Edward I "The Elder" King Of ENGLAND
Robert "The King's Son" De CAEN
Sveidi (Sveithi) "the Sea King" SVIDRASSON
Eystein "Haardaade"(The Severe) THRONDSSON KING OF HEDMARK
Olaf "The Wood Cutter" INGJALDSSON
Ingjald "Braut" "The Wicked" ONUNDSSON KING IN SWEDEN
Onund "the Land Clearer" Yngvarsson, King of Upsal
Berenger II King Of ITALY - through this one I found out that I am related to David Bowie. NO LIE!

Ok...I could only get back to 1900 B.C. on the Zundel side. (sorry Claytons) Seriously...I love that I have so many "Great"Grandfathers that died because someone murdered them at the throne. No wonder the mortality rate was so stinkin' low. They were killing each other all the time!

So after seeing that so many of my ancestors have awesome names, I have a few questions for you.
1. Who else out there am I related to? Keep in mind that finding out that I'm distantly related to David Bowie is going to be hard to beat.
2. If you had to have a name like this, what would yours be?

Family Time

On Saturday I had the great opportunity of babysitting for my cousin. I watched her two cute kids at my grandmother's house in Vallejo and we had a blast if I do say so myself. We had a dance party, I taught them some card games at the same table that my Grandpa taught all of his grandchildren how to play cards, we made pizza, and read stories in bed. Taylor thoroughly enjoyed taking pictures with my camera while I read Ryan a story. Here are some of my favorites:

Pretty good for a 7 year old, eh?

Family Tree

I've always thought that I looked pretty evenly like both my parents.
Here's my proof:

And it's not even Mothers Day!

My mother is an inspiration to me for various reasons that I could list for days. Seriously; she's so cute and fun to be with. She'd go out to lunch with me when I'd skip class in high school at our favorite Mexican restaurant, she's involved in local government in the town she lives in, and I often saw her reading her worn out scriptures while I was growing up.

One of the biggest things that I admire her for though is for her ability to never complain. Yeah, she complains about traffic and people who annoy her like everyone else; however, she never complains about things that really matter. When she was a freshman in college, she was diagnosed with Diabetes. This horrible disease obviously put a huge strain on her life. Fortunately, it didn't slow her down too much. She continued to travel and do the things she loved, although it made it hard at times.

In 1985 she had a kidney transplant with a kidney given to her by her younger sister. I have always been extremely moved whenever I think about this act of love that my aunt performed so that my mother could live. I can't imagine how hard it is to live with diabetes every day, and I've seen first hand how much work it takes to just survive. My mom had a small cooler of medicine that she toted everywhere, she took 3 shots of insulin every day as well as poking her finger to test her blood sugar, amongst other things she had to worry about. Not fun. She was in and out of the hospital with random problems for most of my life. My junior year of high school I got home from a football game to learn that she had gone through a diabetic reaction and ended up in a ditch somewhere in South Carolina. True story.

In 2003, she learned that her body was slowly rejecting the kidney that my aunt had given her 18 years earlier. She was put on the transplant list and decided this time to get a new kidney AND pancreas if possible, which meant that she'd be cured of diabetes completely if her body accepted the new pancreas. All she had to do was wait for a donor. This is obviously something that I could write a whole post about, but it was a difficult time for my whole family. Waiting for someone to die in hopes that my mother could live.

The call came in December of that year. A kidney and pancreas were available and she had to get to Salt Lake STAT. I drove her up and after a few long months of recovery, she had a functioning kidney and a pancreas that actually works!! Her quality of life has improved 100% (according to her) and this has been a HUGE blessing in all of our lives.

Why am I tell you all this, you ask? Get to the point already! I got an email this morning from a friend who is still living with diabetes. In September of this year she is riding in a race and is collecting donations to help find a cure. I can't endorse this enough. You can read her blog and learn how to donate if you click here. If you're an athlete in any way, reading about her experiences will motivate you to get off your lazy rear end in a second. Don't get me wrong. I'm not asking you to donate a kidney. I'm asking you to donate a few dollars so that together we can help find a cure for diabetes. Awesome.

My Smart Mother

This is a picture of the car that my mom drives in Utah. My mom isn't big into 4-wheeling, so no, this picture wasn't taken on some expedition that she recently went on.
However, this is the car my mom has been driving all over Mallorca...I just got this picture a few minutes ago from my dad. Just a little different, eh?

Ties That Bind

A few months ago I was doing a search on blogger and out of curiosity I typed in "Zundel". I found the blog of this guy who lives in Milwaukee and is going to medical school. I think I commented on his blog and said that we're probably related, but then it felt out of my memory bank and didn't contact him again. A few months later when this was posted on my blog, I got a comment from someone named Tracy (as seen if you clicked on the link) who said that he was pretty sure we're related after watching that video. Who wouldn't want to be related to any one of the girls in that video? duh. Well, today we finally figured out how we're connected and as it turns out, it's not only through genetics.
Here are the ways:
1. I randomly found his blog and commented on it...and in return, he checks my blog.
2. His old roommate is dating my old roommate's sister.
3. He met one of my best friend's dad's the other day and soon after their introduction, Dad Wilson said "Are you related to Stephanie Zundel?"
4. I click on his blog today and learn that a good friend of mine has been a frequent commenter on his blog for a while. Why she never asked if we are related, I'll never know. Busted!
5. We're third cousins once removed. I won't bother you with those details unless you really want to know.

Ladies and Gents, let me introduce you to my wonderful cousin Tracy.
For those of you who think this is weird and that third cousins is a stretch, keep in mind that I know most of my second cousins (on both sides of my family) and I actually spent the better part of my weekend with a bunch of second cousins(and their parents and/or children). Most importantly, don't forget that I live with my fifth cousin...and that, my friends, is no accident.

Granddaughter's Weekend

I've been waiting to post about Granddaughter's Weekend until I got some pictures back and wha-la, my cousin Theres sent them just a minute ago. Here are all of my Grandma's granddaughters at her house in Vallejo. Our parents all grew up sitting on that porch and the first thing I did when I woke up Saturday morning was take Hannah out on the porch for her breakfast. There's something special about that little spot in the world. In fact, its probably my favorite place to be. ever. I played on it as a child when I lived across the street and it makes me sad to know that my children will never get the chance.This picture is of all of the granddaughters and great-granddaughters in our little Zundel fam. From left to right there's Allison, me, Hannah, Gram, Cameron, Theresa, Taylor, & Megan. It was just so awesome to be together. Hopefully this won't be the last time.

Awwww

I realize that I've been posting a lot about my little niece, but this is my blog and I'll post what I want to. So there. I couldn't get enough of her this weekend. I was all ready to paint nails and go shopping with her, but turns out, all she really wanted to do was sleep. Drat! Here are some of my favorite pics from my trip.


From left to right: Riley, age 6; Sam, age 2; Stephanie, age 25; Hannah, age 10 days; Will, age 4.