Kerzen Ziehen (Candle Dipping)

Earlier in December we participated in a very fun Weihnachten (Christmas) tradition - candle dipping! We went to the local town center where they had set up a full candle manufacturing process! You just purchase the desired length of string (for a couple of francs), then start dipping in the many buckets of different colored wax. After a while (and with a few tips from fellow candle dippers), we got the process down - one quick dip in a wax, then immediately into the vat of cold water. Repeat this process about a hundred times, and you're done!

The kids had a great time - with William only dropping one string in the bottom of a vat of wax and having to start over. Once the kids were done dipping and their candles were pretty big, they took them over to some women who put on the finishing touches. They made designs and cuts in the candle to show all of the different colors. Elise was so excited about it that she made a second candle that was "twisted" at the end to expose all of the different colors. They were all so beautiful, and fun that they were done by hand by the kids. This is definitely a tradition that we don't want to miss next year.

Our Little Gymnast

Our due date is just over 2 weeks away, and right now (hopefully), the baby is in the correct position.
At my 28-week appointment, my doctor said the baby was in a head-up / breech position, but she still had time to turn. If she didn't turn, we would need to do a C-section. So, I received lots of suggestions from friends and acquaintances as to how I could get the baby to turn (some of which I tried, many of which I did not!). And, at my 32-week appointment, the baby had turned! That was great news, and we were happy to plan on a normal delivery.
Then, at my 35-week appointment, the baby had turned back. So, now it was very late, and the doctor said it was unlikely the baby would turn because there wasn't much space to move around in there any more! The doctor suggested we schedule a C-section for the week of Jan. 5th - but we'd give it two more weeks to see if anything changed. Well, I tried some of the friend-suggested methods (specifically putting headphones with classical music low on my stomach where I wanted the head to be). I was pretty sure the baby hadn't turned, so Dave and I decided on Jan. 6th, planned everything out, and went to the 37-week appointment. She turned!
What a little gymnast she is. So, now (unless she has turned back again), we're not scheduling a C-section, but we'll just see when she wants to come! If she's like my other kids who have come naturally, she'll be late...we'll see how long these maternity clothes still fit!

Samichlaus and Schmützli!

The Swiss really celebrate Christmas - there are Christmas parades, Christmas markets, and festivities all throughout December. It's a really lovely time, and I especially like the fact that the part of the celebration which includes Santa is separate from the actual Christmas.

Samichlaus (Santa Claus) and his assistant Schmützli (the dirty one) arrive on December 6th. They make the rounds in towns and villages distributing sweets, oranges and peanuts to virtuous children. Samichlaus wears a long red robe and carries a big book in which good and bad deeds of children are logged. Schmützli wears a long brown robe and carries a broomstick and a bag into which naughty children would be deposited!

We went to the Zurich parade the weekend before the big day of Dec. 6th and saw more Samichlaus and Schmützli than you could imagine! Each of the Schmützli gave the kids a gingerbread cookie - after saying (in German) to the first several Schmützli that we had already received the cookies, we finally just started taking them (we were at the end of the parade, and they obviously had lots of cookies left!). So, our bags and pockets were bulging with gingerbread. On December 6th, the kids left their shoes outside and in the morning they found bags of nuts, candies and oranges, as well as a small gift for each of them.

During the day on Dec. 6th, Elise went to a church activity where they learned about Swiss Christmas traditions and baked "Grittibenz", a traditional Swiss Christmas bread shaped like a little man. We took the boys to a reading of Christmas stories (in English) at the big English bookstore on Bahnhofstrasse in Zurich. This was a traditional Santa - except that he spoke with a British accent and when he passed out cookies, of course he said, "Biscuits for everyone!". We joke that our family is learning High German, Swiss German, British and Australian (as many of the expats and the kids' teachers at school are British or Australian).

The Black Forest in Germany

Elise's school had a 3-day weekend in late November, so we went to the Black Forest in Germany. We stayed at a "Familotel", which is a resort geared for families. It ended up snowing the entire weekend (starting about 10 minutes before we arrived), so we were in the hotel all weekend - but everyone had a great time! They had a kids' club where the kids went a few times - even taking a walk outside into the snow to the petting zoo. All the meals were served buffet-style in the hotel restaurant. And, the highlight each evening was the "Kinderdisco" after dinner in the hotel lobby. It was led by the head of the kids' club - a young, heavyset guy in a bright orange shirt. He was surrounded by a group of 2-5 year olds singing and dancing to songs like "Gorilla mit der Sonnenbrille (ooh, la, la)". It was hilarious - and Nathan and William loved it. They had a big play area for the kids, and an amazing indoor pool with a waterslide (tube) that went outside and then came back inside. Elise loved it - and Will squealed in delight every time he went down with Dave. Nathan preferred squirting water from the seal in the kiddie pool! The hotel even had a spa which we also took advantage of. After 2 days of nonstop snow, it cleared up and got sunny on Sunday afternoon for our drive home - so it was beautiful! It's less than two hours away - so I'm sure we'll go back again (for skiing during the season, and horseback riding in the summer).

A Weekend in London!

In mid-November I went to London with 7 other women from our church congregation! They had planned this "girls' weekend" before I moved here, and were so nice to invite me to come along. It was a short, but jam-packed, weekend! Saturday we went to a big outdoor market then split up to go sightseeing around the city (we saw the Tower of London, the London Bridge, Big Ben, Kensington Palace and St. Paul's cathedral). We did some shopping (it was fun to have English books so readily available) and then met up again for a nice lunch. After a bit more sightseeing and shopping in the afternoon (including my stop at the Molton Brown store - now a favorite since Sabrina Fabris introduced me to it), we went to see the show "Wicked". It was an amazing show. On Sunday we had a chance to visit the Courtauld Gallery (a small museum with some great Impressionist paintings and amazing descriptions), and also the National Gallery at Trafalgar Square (it's amazing how peaceful a museum is when you don't have any kids with you!). before flying back to Zurich Sunday afternoon. As I said, a very short trip, but a lot of fun!
While I was gone, Dave and the kids had a fun weekend - going to the Zurich zoo! And, somehow everyone was happy and the house was all neat and tidy when I got home - how does he manage that?

Happy Birthday Elise!!! : )

Elise turned 9 years old on November 7th! Can you believe she's that old already? On Thursday night we made pumpkin chocolate chip cookies (with the recipe from my good friend and Boston roommate Heidi Nelson), and took them to school for Elise's class during the day on Friday. She had a birthday party with friends from school on Friday afternoon at Füürwürch, a pottery painting shop. It was a joint party with her friend Nici (Nicol) who was also turning 9 on the very same day (and is also in her class at school). There were 13 girls there, plus Nathan, Will and Nici's older sister, Lena. The kids had a great time, and it was great for me to be able to host the party with another mom who has lived here for 12 years already! Elise had an incredible birthday cake - we ordered it from a caterer recommended by the mom of one of Elise's other friends. It was amazing, with whipped cream frosting and fresh fruit (mostly strawberries) between the layers and covering the top of the cake. There was also a horse on top, as Elise has requested! That night after taking home some of the girls from the party, we went to dinner as a family at a little Italian restaurant in our town, then came home for Elise to open presents!

The next day, Elise's birthday festivities continued with a day-trip to Liechtenstein and Maienfeld, the home of Heidi. Liechtenstein is about an hour and 15 minutes drive from us. We saw the small downtown area of the capital city, Vaduz, then went to the tourist office to have our passports stamped. It's a seamless border between Switzerland and Liechtenstein - you hardly know you've entered another country. They use the Swiss Franc and speak (Swiss) German too. It was supposed to be a 20 minute hike up to the castle where Prince Hans-Peter and Princess Marie live with their two children. However, for our family, it took almost an hour! It was a steep hike, and we don't make much forward progress without at least one kid being carried. When we were nearly at the castle, we think we saw the prince and his daughter driving by (they say you run into the royal family often - there are only 35,000 people in the entire country!). In any case, we made, it, and got a great view of the city.

After lunch in Vaduz, we were off to "Heidiland", about 20 minutes away back in Switzerland. We followed the signs (and our invaluable GPS), to Maienfeld, the site of the house that inspired Johanna Spyri to write the popular story, Heidi. We drove through the tiny, curvy streets of the town, up the hill. We then had a short walk to the house. This was the house where Heidi lived with her Grandfather. Elise knows the story well, and even brought along her book of Heidi that she had received quite a while ago from Grandma Francis. Even the boys had fun seeing some of the tools that were used at that time. The drive back home along the Walensee was beautiful - the mountains that separate Switzerland from Liechtenstein are so majestic. The leaves on the trees still have a lot of color (despite our earlier snow), and this was a clear, blue-sky day. Definitely a nice day and a fun birthday gift for Elise.

Halloween

Halloween is not really celebrated in Switzerland, but we did manage to find several opportunities to celebrate within our different communities. The kids were great about using costumes from our "costume bag" that we already had, even dressing in different costumes for the different events (Dave also got into the action with his crazy wig).

We went to a Halloween carnival on Saturday, October 25th at church. It was a big event with about 20 game booths (our family hosted a "pin the face on the pumpkin" game), followed by trick-or-treating.

Nathan and William then had 2 parties during the week at their preschool,

where they dressed up,

had their faces painted, and played Halloween games.

And, it all culminated in a great Halloween carnival at Elise's school on Halloween night. They had "trunk-or-treating" with about 30 cars all in 2 neat rows and fully decorated! It was great (and very efficient). Then there was food, a haunted house, crafts, and a movie inside. Elise enjoyed going off with her friends, and the boys loved trick-or-treating with us - even though some of the costumes of the people passing out candy were a bit scary!

Our First Snow...

It snowed here in Switzerland on Wednesday, October 29th...and just kept snowing. Elise went to her horseback riding class on Wednesday afternoon and rode through the forest in the snow. She loved it! By Thursday morning, we had about 20cm (8 inches) of snow covering everything. I must say that it was absolutely beautiful, but a little treacherous driving to school and work. We did not yet have our winter tires on either car (you must have 2 sets of tires - summer and winter), so we were a little concerned. But, it all worked out okay.

On Saturday we went to a restaurant called Hochwacht in Pfannenstil, which is at the top of the mountain above the village of Egg (just about 15 minutes away). The view of the Alps and the Zurichsee is supposed to be beautiful. We had a unique view the day we went - we were completely fogged in when we first arrived. But as we at lunch, the fog shifted and we could see the Alps above the fog! From time to time we could see a lot more, and it was incredible. There was lots of snow and people building snowmen and sledding (it's called sledging in England, so that's the English translation here). All the kids are excited to have snow! It has all melted now, but we're supposed to have another storm this week...

Our Week in Paris!

Elise's school had a week off for autumn vacation, so we went to Paris!

Actually, we rented a house 30 minutes outside of Paris (near Disneyland Paris) in Saint-Germain-sur-Morin. It was a great house in a cute little village with an excellent boulangerie (bakery) and creperie. Elise's goal was to eat as many crepes during the week as possible, and she ended the week at 15! Nathan and Will liked the crepes, but loved the ice cream (and Dave and I ate our fair share of crepes too).

It was a great trip, but busy - and we all came home very tired! We went into Paris 4 days, to Disneyland 1 day, and to some other castles and attractions outside of Paris the other 2 days. Here are the highlights:

Notre Dame was beautiful and fun to see again (Dave and I had each been to Paris separately before we were married, but this was our first trip there as a family). The funny thing was, we came out of the train station and saw a big church and assumed it was Notre Dame. We took a tour, took some pictures, and kept saying, "This isn't how I remember it". Then we realized that it wasn't Notre Dame! It was Saint Eustache. So, we toured one more church - but fitting since it was Sunday. As a quick note, we observed first hand the difference in cultures between France and Switzerland when we attended sacrament meeting earlier that morning. We were late because we couldn't find the LDS church on our navigation system. So, when we arrived 20 minutes late, they were just starting! It was a small branch, but very noisy...just a bit different from the punctual, very reverent sacrament meeting we attend in Zurich!

During the week we went to Musee D'Orsay (my favorite museum in Paris because of the impressionist paintings there) and Elise saw lots of paintings she recognized. We also went to the Louvre - so big and beautiful. We saw the Mona Lisa and Venus de Milo, and the kids also found the Egyptian exhibits to be pretty interesting! We went to the Musee de l'Orangerie which is near the Louvre on the edge of the Tuileries Gardens. It has some of the massive water lily paintings by Monet. Again, it's amazing to see them in person. The other museum we went to was Musee de la Monnaie (money). I thought it would be like the mint in DC, but it really was a museum about the history of money in France and the preceding empires. There was an interesting display about the Euro and all the different countries that have it.

We went on the Bateaux Mouches (mosquito boats) down the Seine and got a good view of the many buildings and monuments. We went up the Arc de Triomphe and saw great views of the city and the Eiffel Tower. We walked down the Champs-Elysees (and bought crepes on the way). And, of course, we went to the top of the Eiffel Tower. This was a highlight for Elise, as she had been wanting to go to the top. I must say, it is pretty high! Dave and I both thought, as we rode the little elevator to the top, "What are we doing here!".

Of the days we didn't go into the city, we spent one day at Disneyland Paris. Some friends of ours from church in Zurich were also traveling through Paris that week, so they stayed with us for a few days and we went to Disneyland together. They have two kids, so our kids had friends to play with. It was fun to be together with friends, and we all had a great time!

We also went to the Sea Life aquarium and toured the chateaus at Fountainebleau and Versailles. The castles were so ornate and the gardens huge!

Then we went to the small town of Givery and saw Monet's house and garden. That was amazing! As we were recounting all of the things we saw and did, that was the favorite for both Dave and me. It was so inspiring to see the ponds and water lilies that Monet painted, his beautiful rows of flowers, and the simple house in which he lived for the last half of his life. We also ate dinner that night at the cutest little traditional French restaurant. That was the last night of our trip, and it was a perfect ending!

The kids did a great job on the trip - riding the trains and walking a lot! Dave flew to Germany for two days for work, so I took the kids to some of the places on my own. It wasn't easy with 3 kids going through the train stations of Paris, but it was definitely worth it!

We drove there and back - about 6.5 hours each way. Pretty amazing that it's so close! And, on the way back, we went through Nancy, France.

One of our family goals in coming here was to visit a lot of places in Europe, and this was a great start! We're off to Germany later this month, and I'm going on a girls' weekend to London. Elise is thinking about a weekend trip for her birthday - maybe Liechtenstein, we'll see...