Ski Week 2013!

During mid-February we spent another great week in Serfaus Austria for the kids' Sportferien.  It's a really fun vacation filled with skiing.  The week we were there, there were also a lot of Dutch and German families on holiday.  So, Nate and Will took ski lessons the entire week, which included a ski race at the end.  And Meredith learned to ski this week!  She started in the Kinderschneealm (kids' area) and by Wednesday they were going on the lifts and the pistes!  Incredible!  Dave, Elise and I skied together and Dave and I took one afternoon of lessons (Elise says she's done with lessons now!).

We stayed at the Familienhotel Furgler for the second year in a row, and it was great!  Meredith and William would go to the kids' club after dinner to do a craft or some activity, and Nate and Elise could hang out in the hotel.  But we were usually all so tired after skiing...and eating...  The meals are so nice there, with breakfast, snacks and cakes in the afternoon, and a children's buffet and a 5-course served dinner every night for the adults.  Amazing!

We tried hard to speak German all the time at meals - since we were in Austria and they speak high German there.  Tuesday was Fasching (Carnival in Austria), so Meredith and William dressed up in costume at the kids club, complete with face painting, and Meredith won first place in the contest (the first 3 prizes all went to the smallest kids!).  They had a lot of fun.

As I mentioned, the kids did a ski race as part of their class.  William's teacher told me the day before that he was really fast - and he is!  He got 5th place in his race (he slowed down after the last flag and didn't realize he still had to go farther to officially finish), and was a good sport about it all.  Nathan got third place (he had gotten 2nd the last 2 years and he's very serious about the competition).  And Meredith got 4th place (her class started with 10 kids, and by Friday there were only 4 in the race...).  But Meredith definitely got first place for the cutest smile while racing.  Speed didn't seem to be so important to her.  But Nathan and William are speed demons!

I love the way Nathan ran out when they called his name!

We love this tradition and have already rebooked for next year!

Nathan's Baptism

Nathan turned 8 years old on January 11th, and was baptized on Sunday, January 27, 2013.  It was an amazing day!

When thinking about his baptism beforehand, Nathan had been a bit disappointed that his grandparents and extended family weren't able to come.  We decided it would be a great idea to invite some of his close friends from school and their families.  We sent out 9 invitations, and 8 families came (the ninth planned to come until two of their kids became ill the night before!).  The Gunvad, Curtin, Norris, Patel, Pagliara, Galkin, MacNaughton, and von Wittgenstein families came.  It was so cool!  The families were all anticipating the event and many of them said it was an honor to be invited!

The ward was incredibly kind as well - with so many people volunteering to help and bring food, and Lilly Mueller coordinating this huge apero with 31 different food items!

Nathan was well prepared, having read a book about baptism and talked with the bishop the week before.  Of course, he had actually been preparing for this all his life.

The baptism was really special - with Bishop Uchtdorf conducting.  Ana Da Rocha, the primary president, gave the opening prayer, and I (Mom) gave the talk on baptism.  Then there was a special musical number by William and Meredith, accompanied by Elise.  They sang "I Am a Child of God" in both English and German.  And there was applause from the audience!  It was so sweet.  Dave baptized Nathan with the missionaries as the witnesses, then we had a "Wunschkonzert" while we waited for them to get dressed and come back into the meeting.  Dave gave a talk on the Holy Ghost, then confirmed Nathan, along with Bishop Uchtdorf, Roni Eckart, Sandro Kreisch and Giovanni Lotito, our home teachers.  The bishop then gave a very nice welcome to Nathan and talked to the congregation about feeling the spirit and how we all feel it differently, and about the restored gospel of Jesus Christ.

The whole meeting was very special - because of the kindness and support of our ward family as well as our non-member friends.  During the wonderful apero afterwards, we had a chance to talk to many of our friends who were so nice to come.  It was really special for them to share the day with us and see firsthand an important part of our religious beliefs.

We're so proud of Nathan and the kind, smart, sensitive boy he is!