When Marko is gone ...

... we miss him a lot.

 ... sleeping arrangements are weird. 

 ... we try to be cool.

 ... cool as the winter that came back for a few days.

 ... we keep ourselves busy at the playground ...

 ... and in the zoo.

... we watch the snow melt within a day ...

... and help spring get rid of it.

 ... we (re)discover sand games.

... we make new friends in the neighborhood.

 ... and spend hours and hours and hours sliding and swinging and building sand castles.

We are so glad to have you back, Marko! Welcome home.

JOY!

We are so, so happy that spring is finally here. And although we might get some more snow later this week, most days are sunny and warm - and we enjoy it A LOT!

Jenna and Hanna's spontaneous celebration of spring.

Yaaaay!

 Weekend hike around Lake Como.

 Samu's favorite season is "Gatsch" (mud).

 Enjoying the sunshine.

 Shopping.

 Please admire Sofia in Marko's old pants and Hanna's old jacket. Thank you to both our moms for these precious pieces!

 Most of our weekend trips end like this. :-)

PORTLAND

Hanna spent the past weekend at a conference in Portland, Oregon. The trip could not have been any better. First of all, it was in Portland, a beautiful, diverse, interesting city with lots of stuff to do and things to see.

View from the airplane on Mt Saint Helens, a volcano that erupted in the 1980s.

Right outside the conference hotel in downtown Portland. Hello, spring!

The conference was great. Fantastic plenaries, critical thinkers - 

inspiring scholars and scholarship all around.

Hanna's presentation went really well too. 

And it was great to catch up with some old friends/new scholars.

Work hard, then play hard: The giant group of (former) SLC people. Our program was extremely well represented. Go SLC!

Old and new friends at the post-dinner-party party.

 More play time: Hike through the beautiful Forest Park. It's a rainforest right in the city.

Thank you friends, thank you Portland!