We miss you Wild Man

Ray V. Zobrist

September 27, 1927 - October 13, 2010

My grandfather, Ray "Wild Man" Zobrist, was one of a kind. The head of our Zobrist clan, he taught us nothing is more important than family. He was my example of how to live life, and do it well. As my uncle Mark said at the funeral, Ray Zobrist lived life large in 30 minute increments. We will miss him dearly, but nothing can be more reassuring than knowing he has been reunited with my grandmother after 12 years apart.

It seems odd she has been gone so long, but luckily they were sealed together forever so the rest of us can be too.

I thought in order to pay proper tribute, I would share some of my favorite memories.

Each and every time I saw my grandpa, he would say "You get prettier every time I see you. You look more and more like your mother every day." Even though I knew he said this to each of my female cousins (to the boys he said "You get uglier every time I see you. Get over here so I can paddle your canoe."), my grandpa made me feel pretty, even during those horrible teenage years.

Another of his favorite sayings was "It's tough to be poor and have to work for a living." Luckily, Tyson has decided to carry this one on in our family.

My grandpa loved food. Two of his favorite places, Weinerschnitzel and Wendy's. I think my love of hot dogs comes from him. When grandpa cooked chicken, he would check to see if it was done by taking a taste, meaning before it was fully cooked, he ate raw chicken. And, when you sat next to him, it was pretty certain he would be taking a bite of whatever you were eating. But, he also shared. I remember sitting next to him as a child, watching him pour his Pepsi over ice and giving me sips. Even when my mom said no.

Grandpa came with us to the Luxor Steakhouse one year for my mom's birthday, and ordered the prime rib, because he loved prime rib. The waitress brought out a bowl of horseradish and placed it in front of him, and warned him to be careful, it was especially spicy. About a minute later, grandpa looks over, sees the bowl, takes a big spoonful, and says "Is this cheese?" After eating a large spoonful, he was unfazed. This story is legendary in our family. Just ask my brother in law. He has heard us tell this story and laugh hysterically probably 100 times.

One of the things I admire the most about my grandpa was the fact that had the same best friend his entire life. Dr. Al Noorda and my grandpa have been best friends since the 2nd grade. They went to school together, they served in the army together, they went to college together, and even served missions to Holland together (I still maintain my grandpa rigged this somehow. I mean, what are the chances?). They raised their families together, retired together, and were best friends until the day my grandpa died. I think this says a lot about these two men. You don't have that kind of friendship without making an effort.

But, I know nothing in this world mattered more to my grandpa than family. My grandpa loved his wife, loved his 7 children, and loved his 34 grandchildren. Everything he did was for family. I am proud to be his granddaughter, proud to be a Zobrist, and hope I can lead a life that will make him proud.

My eyes are closed. I know.

And I'm Proud to be an American!!!

Europe. Awesome. Amazing. Incredibly frustrating. It was the kind of trip you would classify as the best of times, the worst of times.

Before I show you all the good, just a some of the bad:

• Hopelessly lost while driving around Basel, Switzerland, unable to read signs. The police officer who stops us for parking on train tracks trys to give us directions, and tells us "wow, that really is difficult to find. Good luck."


• How I spent my birthday: Try to fly to Madrid, but brother has lost passport. Luckily flight gets delayed 6 hours, so we have time for the mad dash to the US embassy in Bern to get him a new one. Get passport, drive like crazy to get back to airport, only to find our flight was delayed another 6 hours! Yay for striking in France! Only food source available in airport: coffee kiosk with 3 day old sandwiches.


• Our bank decides due to high fraud in Spain, they are shutting off all debit cards. However, they fail to inform us of this. Span is pretty much cash only. We had to take a cash advance on a credit card just so we would have food to eat. Thanks for all your excellent service Credit Union 1!

But, then there is the good. Switzerland, a magical, wonderful, beautiful country. Fairy tales come true in Switzerland, woodland creatures can talk, and elves live in trees making cookies and shoes. It so clean, we took a picture of the only trash in the street we found. A small sampling of pictures, if you want to see the 1,000's more I have, please just let me know. I'll come over with my slide show.

I mean, come on, it is beautiful! This picture was taken in Brienz, which is the town my Zobrist roots originate from. (That's right folks, I'm Swiss!) I am not quite sure why they left...

Of course, there was frolicking in fields. The only thing missing is our Lederhosen.

We stayed in Interlaken, which might be my new favorite place on earth. One day I plan to buy a cottage in Interlaken, and make room for my new horse friend, Steve.

One of my goals in Switzerland was to take a picture with a cow in a field. I didn't realize cows were so scary. But they are. They have the look of the devil in their eyes.

I love Swiss food. The chocolate, the breads, and oh my, the cheese. My new favorite food? Rosti, or Swiss Potatoes. Don't they just look so yummy sitting next to my wienershnitzel?

We made a trip to Bern, where we saw Bears. Bears in Bern. Who would of thought?

It only took being lost for an hour and driving by the same McDonald's three times (no exaggeration) before we found the Bern temple, which apparently was visible to us the entire time, if only we had looked. I am seeing an object lesson in there somewhere...

We also got to see the temple in Madrid, which is on the MTC grounds and we met funny missionaries, who were the excellent photographers for this shot.

My favorite food in Spain, churros con chocolate.

The obligatory jumping picture in front of the Palacio Real.

After having a somewhat relaxing time in Madrid, we headed to Barcelona, which is honestly one of the coolest cities I have ever been to. In Barcelona, we went to a bullfight. Before going, I did my research, and knew the bull would die. However, I didn't quite realize how traumatic this would be. Or that in actuality, 6 bulls would die. Horrific. This is Cropstar and I after seeing our first bull die.

Barcelona is a city big on bikes. They have a public bike system that works similar to Redbox. All we wanted to do was ride the bikes, but we never could quite figure it out. PORQUE!!!! PORQUE!!!!

We had a great time, but, as usual, traveling overseas gives me a great appreciation for the country we live in. I am proud to be American!

We might be the coolest people you know...

This is what I did on my summer vacation.



More details to follow, but as you can see, Europe was awesome.

Church of Switzerland

Remember that one time I went to Europe and it was AWESOME!

Yeah, I'm doing that again. Jealous?

You should be.

See you in 10 days!

Church of the Grand Canyon

March 14, 2010. A day that will live in infamy. The day I discovered my own animal spirit guide.

The day started out like so many others. Three girls, a box of donuts, and a car full of gas speeding down the freeway towards the Grand Canyon. But, somewhere deep down, I knew this day would be special. That is why I wore my Shaman guide t-shirt.

The internet taught me, "The spirit guide chooses the person. The person does not choose the spirit guide. A person cannot simply select an animal and begin communication - the results of which are often frustrating and unsuccessful. A spirit guide must be harmonious with the person." As soon as we got out of the car, my spirit guide selected me. This dark, bold raven almost flew into our car. I knew he was trying to communicate.

We have alot in common, my spirit guide and I. We both have black hair with purple highlights, we both are really good at flying. The internet also taught me that a raven spirit guide only comes to those to whom it may speak in private and share its secrets with the knowledge its mysteries will be well guarded by one who already possesses wisdom. This is me having a private discussion and understanding mysteries with my spirit guide.

After peering into my very soul with his eyes, he flew off. I think we both left a little wiser.

And then we jumped for joy.

Awesome jumping picture, right?

After our experience, we decided to put on our thinking mustaches and enjoy the majesty of the Grand Canyon.

Side note story: Man who took this for us was from Iowa or some other Midwest state and was fascinated by us and our mustaches. He took pictures of us with his own camera. I can only imagine him telling his family back home about the crazy girls he met from Las Vegas.

Beware of cougars crossing. And trust me, Jessie and I are cougars in EVERY sense of the word.

After her embarrassing defeat in the battle of Calico, Jessie wanted a rematch of our skills. Sadly, the snow and her finger guns got the best of me this time. You will live to rue this day, Glamazon. Rue the day!

Remember that one time...

Remember how I was going to post all these days of gratitude and stuff? Kind of didn't happen. I have learned my lesson, never commit to a blog timeline again. But trust me, it is still coming. Maybe.

Day 4: I FEEL ALIVE! (Backlog)

Let's pretend I posted this on the actual day and not 2 days later, ok?

Today I am grateful for this song:



This is Fun. That is their name, Fun., not a comment on my level of enjoyment. Check this band out, trust me, you will not regret it.

I am also grateful for friends who will go crazy, sing and dance and enjoy Fun. with me.