Such Great Kids!

Today was the primary program at church, and Nathan and Elise did such a great job! First, we walked into the chapel and on every other seat was the primary program, with the cover picture drawn by Elise.

Nathan is in Sunbeams, the youngest class in primary, and he was so cute sitting up in front. He held up signs, pictures, and shook musical instruments for the various songs. At one point in the program, each member of his class was supposed to step up the microphone and say their part. They're small, and some of the kids needed a lot of help from the teacher. But, Nathan stepped right up, his teacher whispered a question to him and I heard him answer "German", then he said so clearly into the microphone, "Ich bin ein Kind von Gott!" Wow! He was so proud... And I can't tell you how many compliments I received about what a great job he did (and what a handsome little boy he is)!

Then when it was time for Elise's class, Elise stepped up to the microphone and gave her talk about Noah - in German with perfect pronunciation. I was so impressed. She had written the talk herself a few weeks before, and had done a great job. And the German was amazing - people were telling us later how they couldn't believe she didn't go to a German-speaking school (she does have German class every day in school, but the rest of the day is in English). Then, to our surprise, Elise also played the piano in the program. I noticed that she was sitting at the piano, and she accompanied the entire primary for one of the songs! It was so great. She got so many compliments afterwards - one of our friends told us what a great pianist she is, and how he looked over expecting to see a lady in our ward playing the piano, and it was Elise!

It was so fun to see the kids doing their parts in the program, so confident and happy. William is in kindergarten (nursery) now, but next year he'll be in the program too. I'm so grateful for the gospel of Jesus Christ and for the church organization that gives us all an opportunity to learn from and teach one another. And I'm especially thankful today for the primary that help these kids to know they are children of Heavenly Father and that by following Jesus Christ we can all be happy in this life and be with our families for eternity.

Connyland!

We were just wondering what to do one Saturday (there are so many choices here in Switzerland), and I remembered hearing good things about a small amusement park about 45 minutes away, near the border of Germany. So, we set out in the morning and got there shortly after 10:00 when they opened...we stayed all day until they closed at 18:00 - it was so much fun! They had pony rides, a giant slide, bumper cars, a very fun water ride, and even a couple of scary rides (we have to remember next time that the big boat that swings back and forth is a little too scary for Will and Nathan - but that's where we learned the phrase, "Hände hoch!", "hands high!")! They also had dolphin, sea lion and bird shows, as well as some circus-type performances. What an incredible place - yet small enough that we were able to do just about everything! We're definitely going back…

Visit to the US

We flew to the US for 2 1/2 weeks in July and had a wonderful time visiting family and friends. As it was our first time back in the US for nearly a year (except for Dave, who had been back for work a few times), we definitely noticed a lot of differences. Some nice things, and some things that made us appreciate Switzerland! I must say that the freeways in Los Angeles, 6 or 8 lanes wide in one direction and always packed with cars, was quite a shock compared to many of the streets in Switzerland which I would call 1 1/2 lanes wide for 2 directions (in the neighborhoods, you have to move way over to the side if someone is coming in the other direction).

We went shopping, which is so easy, plentiful and cheap in the US compared to Switzerland (I also did some online shopping before the trip and had everything shipped to my parents' house - more boxes than I care to mention...thanks, Mom, for keeping all of them for me until we got there!). And, most importantly, we spent time visiting and relaxing with family (including fireworks on the 4th of July, swimming and fishing in LA, and riding the 4-wheeler, playing ping pong, and visiting friends in Utah). This was the first time our parents and families had met Meredith. And Meredith even got to meet her new little cousin Natalie Michels.

Our stop in the Bay Area was too short, but we were able to stay with our wonderful friends the Hiltons, who are the best hosts anyone could every imagine, and see friends from MVP, LP, and church. It really was gratifying to see our friends - you are all so kind and we miss you! We stopped by our house to see our renters, and they are very happy there (of course, it's a little strange to see someone else living in our house). Elise had 2 sleepovers in 3 nights, and was so sad to leave her friends in Moraga again. But, she's happy here too, and I think she really does understand and appreciate the fact that she can have a lot of friends everywhere! Even with the jetlag when we got back home, the trip was well worth it. What a blessing our families and friends are!