Birthday bash

This year, for the first time ever, we decided to throw Jaxon a big birthday party. It is something we have successfully avoided up to now, as we aren't really the "party-throwing" type, but I figured we could do it once every seven years.We rented a cabin in the mountains about 10 minutes away from our place a couple of months ago and since then had been praying like crazy that they weather would be nice enough to have an outdoor party. I was starting to lose hope in April when the weather had suddenly turned on us and it started snowing in the mountains again and pouring cold rain on us daily in the valley. As soon as we could see the 10-day weather forecast for the day of the party we checked it multiple times daily and it only ever said one thing: showers. We had invited Jaxon's entire class as well as his primary class at church and some others, which I started to regret as the RSVPs started pouring in and I dreaded the idea of handling 20+ kids in a little cabin. Even the morning of the party the weather forecast reported showers. Miraculously, though, we had sun the entire time. It was even raining in our village when Daniel came to pick some people up, but the had sun for all three hours! When the bouncy castle guy came back to pick it up he was shocked to find out that it hadn't rained for us since it was apparently raining everywhere else nearby. A little birthday miracle for Jaxon! 

We had a great time. We played relay games...

Jumped on the bouncy castle (it was nearly impossible to get them off of the bouncy castle)...

Did a pinata...

Had birthday cake...

Decorated cupcakes...

Opened birthday presents...

My sister had freaked me out about a three-hour party being too long, but by then end I felt like it wasn't long enough! We hadn't had time to get through half of the things we had planned

It is still not something we are going to be doing every birthday, but it was a lot of fun and Jaxon definitely deserves it. He is such a great kid and was so grateful for everything. Jonas held up really well and played like a natural with the big kids. He only seemed bothered when the present opening began. "Hey, where are my presents?" he asked.

A visit from Grandma and Grandpa

After Bangladesh I was able to come back not only to my three boys, but also to my parents! Unfortunately, the beautiful spring weather that we thought had come to stay abandoned us. We had lots of rain and even new snow in the mountains many of the mornings. Oh well, we made the most out of what we had.We spent a day in Murten, a medieval walled city.







Enjoying Nyon on one of our few beautiful sunny days.



















The Lake Geneva museum.
















Visiting the salt mines in Bex.






























Chateau d'Aigle




















Visiting Bern






































































St. Bernard museum in Martigny

















































The bears in Bern









This is obviously the truncated version, but it is better than nothing. We sure missed them when they left.

Quick trip to Asia

 At the beginning of April I was sent to Bangladesh for 10 days for work. The timing ended up working fairly well, as it so happened that I ended up leaving the day that my parents came in to visit us for a month, so they we able to take care of the kids (except that my dad ended up in the hospital with kidney stones for part of it...). It was a great experience for me, and I am especially glad I was able to do it now as pretty soon I will have less flexibility. Leaving a couple reasonably independent boys is one thing, leaving a breastfeeding baby is another.

 Our office in Bangladesh and the field coordinator, Muzahid.

 

This is what my feet looked like from the moment I stepped off the airplane in Dhaka until I was back in Geneva. I have not idea why I was so swollen, but I had never seen my body look like that before. Honestly, from the knees down I looked like elephant man. In the morning I was a little bit better, but I was back to elephant man every night.

 

 I loved getting picture of all the modes of transportation for Jaxon and Jonas. And it was certainly appreciated.    

 Many of the articles of clothing in my home were birthed here.

 The one touristy thing that we did (we squeezed it in early one morning before starting the workshop) was go for a boat trip down Jamuna river.

 A man setting up his net to catch the flying fish.

 Me and my supervisor at the resort where we facilitated the workshop.

 Dinner at Muzahid's house. I had never really thought of myself as a giant before going to Bangladesh, but here I certainly was. It was kind of depressing when I couldn't fit into any of their beautiful shoes with my enormous size 7 (EU-38) feet. I would like to blame it all on the swelling, but that would probably be a little disingenuous.

We headed back to Geneva after a week and a half, satisfied and exhausted. It was literally 10 days of non stop work, but it was great. It was especially good to meet all of the people in person that I have been working with virtually for so long.  Of course I was happy to get back to the family and to eat something other than the curry that I was so enthusiastic about at the beginning of the trip...

Arrival of spring

As soon as March hit us we had absolutely gorgeous weather.We declared winter officially over and though I love spring skiing and couldn't be bothered by the snow quality, Daniel has gotten pickier with his snow. So we traded in our skis for bikes and started opting for spring activities. We spent one day biking around Lake Annecy. Jaxon was a champ, biking the 40 kilometers like a pro. The scenery was nothing short of magnificent.






 Jaxon fighting for the lead in the Tour de France.

We also took some time out for a dip in the lake and a picnic. In their underwear. At one point the bells of the local church started peeling out in song for about 15 minutes. We suddenly had the impression that we were in heaven...
We also hit up a local zoo around the same time. It was pleasant, but after some of the zoos we've been to, especially in Germany, the animals' conditions seemed pretty depressing.