Boys day out

A couple Saturdays ago Janet had to go to Geneva for most of the day so I decided to take the kids to next village over, Rolle. There is a castle with a big playground and paths for walking or biking along the shore. Jonas loved that I let him sit on the wall for a moment while I took this picture.

It seems like yesterday that little Jaxon was throwing rocks for hours into the water. Jonas nearly cleared the beach of all rocks.

Jonas was chasing the birds on his bike. I sat on a bench and enjoyed the warm sun and the nice view.

Jonas is very fast on his "bike".

Jaxon was showing off on his bike for the camera and nearly crashed into these girls as he was no watching were he was going.

There were hundreds of birds, ducks and swans chilling all over. Jonas was pointing them out to me to make sure I did not miss it.

Brothers...

At the end of the afternoon, the kids enjoyed some on the playground.

We picked Janet up from the train station and decided to drive up on the mountain to watch the sunset over the Alpes. Our village is right down near the lake (the white buildings to the left of the pine tree) The sky mountains turned bright pink as the sun reflected of the snow capped peaks.

There was a nice bench from which we were able to watch this scene, have a little snack and talk.

Here is a picture of our new Honda Jazz. Janet and LOVE it and are excited every time it starts. After having two cars die on us in two years we decided to go for a Honda which have worked well for us in the past. And you don't risk getting a speeding ticket!

From beach bums to ski bums

(Posted by Daniel)



So I think it is official, the boys who only months ago were tanned beach bums with sun bleached hair in Southern France have become ski bums in the Swiss Alps...Note the proud father looking down at his future olympians.

Jonas who watched Jaxon ski during the past two trips started to say "Gonas wanna gee" which means I want to ski!!! So last week I bought him a pair of used skis and a Swiss made thing that holds the skis together so he does not cross them.

Here he is sporting his new skis and ready to go up the lift. Notice his lift ticket which he was pretty excited about.
The weather has been really nice the past month. No rain, no snow and come to think of it no cold. As a result, there is no snow anywhere and they just use these cool snow trucks to put fake snow all over the runs. It was sunny and 50 degrees all day and by the end of the day there was a big lake of slush that we would water ski across at the bottom of the hill.
Jaxon is insane! He skied non stop from 11 am to 5:30 pm when they closed the lift without crying or complaining once. I did make him eat a piece of bread and go to the bathroom once. He cruises down the hill and waits patiently for Janet or I to make it down. Notice Janet in the background.
Jaxon in action...He had smile on his face the whole day.


Anyone up for some fondue? What better meal after a day on the slopes?

Jonas was a machine. Weighing in as a 2 year-old he was among the youngest on the slopes. I did not need to encourage him as he insisted after each run "Gonas wanna gee". Towards the end of the day he was more comfortable and I decided to pull out the big guns. I bought a child ski harnass for Jonas and here is a short video of us at the end of the day. Jaxon laughed and said I looked like Santa Clause with Jonas as the reindeer.

The best birthday ever!

So I wasn't sure how the big 3-0 was going to feel, but thanks to a great husband and great friends, my entry into my fourth decade was delightful. We decided to celebrate my birthday a day early, since Daniel thought he might have a work commitment the evening of my real birthday. We had a nice celebration with our little family, and Jaxon and Jonas were more than happy to open my presents for me, including lots of fun treats and the soundtrack to Wicked (finally:))! Daniel was very thoughtful in picking out gifts for me. Then, on my real birthday, Daniel didn't have to work and surprised me with flowers and more gifts.
Before my birthday, a friend of mine, Harmony, suggested that we celebrate our birthdays together, since hers is Feb. 1, and I was definitely on board. I am of the opinion that no birthday is complete without some kind of exciting excursion, so our families ended up going to Ovronnaz, where another friend, Alma, is lucky enough to have parents who built a chalet up there. We spent an absolutely perfect, beautiful day skiing the bunny hill and sledding. It was my first time on skis, and before this experience I had been kicking myself for not buying a snowboard instead of skis since I know how to snowboard and wasn't sure how motivated I was to learn how to ski, but being up there and figuring out the basics converted me.

The kids (and adults alike) had a great time sledding
And then...when it started to get cold we headed over to the thermal baths. It was nothing short of fabulous. It was such an amazing sensation to be in the hot pools with the cold air and a gorgeous view of the Alps on all sides. We stayed through the afternoon until it got dark, so we could also have the experience of seeing the stars and the christmas lights. We all had a blast. Although I must say that I didn't appreciate Jonas' tantrum when it was time to go.
Finally, famished, we headed over to Alma's chalet (okay, her mom's, but close enough) for an amazing dinner of raclette with smoked ham and beef followed by a delicious cake that Alma had made for us.
We didn't get home until 1:00 in the morning and then we had to wake up early for church. When I woke up I was tired, but all I could think was, "Wow, that really was the perfect day." Skiing, thermal baths, raclette, cake, great weather, spent with family and great friends? Perfect. It was a great birthday week.

New Year's in Germany

It seems like this is from a really long time ago now, but I wanted to remember it. We got back to Germany from Prague in time to celebrate New Year's Eve German style. New Year's Eve we hung out with my parents until 11:30 and then Daniel, Jaxon and I went out to hit the town. I certainly didn't succeed in taking any pictures that really captured the experience, but it was unlike anything I've seen, and I have seen some impressive fireworks in my day. All during that day, and the several that preceded it, fireworks were on sale everywhere including grocery stores and clothing retailers. We had decided to go up to the castle to watch the "official" fireworks display, but to get up there we had to make our way through thousands of wasted Germans armed with endless explosives. It was really amazing, firework going off everywhere, in every direction. Honestly, I've never had a greater sense of being in a war zone. It was fun, though, and we made it to the castle. However, I think we missed the moment the New Year actually turned, since it was impossible to distinguish the official firework display from all the unofficial ones going off around it. In any case it was awesome and fun, although Jaxon admitted that he was a little scared. We made it back home later that night with all of our body parts, and that is what really counts, right?
Daniel holding Jaxon, trying to protect him.
We ate marzipan pigs on New Year's morning. They are supposed to bring good luck in these parts.
Jonas was really excited about his. We also had bought a big block of marzipan to make some little desserts, but after the pig, Jonas would say "I want pig" and expect us to roll a ball of marzipan up for him to eat. He went through that block pretty fast, and it never was able to live out it's destiny as little desserts.
Hanging out with Grandma and Grandpa was of course the highlight for these guys.

At the transportation museum. It was really great. This really should have been a Nuremberg staple from the beginning.



And then it was time to head back home on the train to real life...