Baby Meredith Arrives!

Six days past her due date, baby Meredith arrived on Tuesday, January 20th.

We went to the hospital to be induced on Monday morning. The hours passed by, with only small contractions in response to the Synotocinon. I stayed overnight and they continued to try different methods (with each change in midwife shift, I thought, "We'll definitely have the baby during the next 8 hours!).

After they broke my water, I slowly started having real contractions, and labor began slowly. In fact, labor was right during the presidential inauguration broadcast, which we watched on CNN while Nancy had an epidural. Finally, Meredith was born at 10:33. The birth was miraculous. Dave cut the cord and they gave Meredith to me immediately. As with the birth of each of our children, Dave and I are in awe that this special spirit has been entrusted to us by our Heavenly Father. What an incredible blessing!

We are so thankful to all of our friends who offered help - and especially to our friend Susanne (the mom of Elise's friend Nici), who was there to pick up and take care of the kids with each change in plans, and to our friend and neighbor Krystal who came over to stay with the kids late Tuesday night until Dave got home after midnight! We thought we had everything all planned, but of course it happened differently than we imagined. It was so gratifying to have so much help and kindness shown to our family - and it just doesn't stop!

The kids were so excited to see Meredith. Elise was literally bouncing around on Monday and again on Tuesday, expecting her to come. So, when they finally got to see their new sister on Wednesday afternoon, they were ecstatic.

We chose the name "Meredith Grace" - "Meredith" because it is elegant and classic, and "Grace" after her great, great grandmother, Edith Grace Beckstead Holt.

Meredith and I stayed in the hospital until Sunday morning and had a wonderful stay - there was absolutely no reason to leave! As I had heard, the private Swiss hospitals are like hotels, and this particular one was amazing. The food was great (you ordered your meal each day and had additional options from their a la carte room service menu). The nurses were terrific - so kind and helpful. And, the nights were wonderful - they took care of the baby between feedings so I could sleep (and I got stretches of sleep as long as 5 1/2 hours! between feedings). The first night I woke up and buzzed the nurse because I thought I should be feeding the baby. She came in and said, "She's still sleeping. You can get some more sleep!" So, we both came home well-rested and in good health.

Dave was very busy at home with the kids' normal routine, in addition to hosting Nathan's pirate birthday party at our house (which we had postponed until what we thought would be well after the baby arrived - unfortunately I had to miss it!).

We're home now and enjoying our time together as a family, as well as all the kindness shown to us by friends and neighbors.

Nathan's Birthday

After being king on Dreikönigstag, Nathan was all ready to be the birthday boy a few days later! He turned 4 on January 11th! He, along with Elise and Will, decorated cupcakes for preschool the week before his birthday, then had cake and a special birthday dinner on the weekend. His birthday was on a Sunday and he got lots of attention at church. Elise wrote a special birthday poem for Nathan (which was really sweet), and Nathan's big present was a new bike. He's excited to ride it (he's ridden around in the playroom, but we'll have to take it outside when it gets a bit warmer). Nathan is still awaiting his birthday party with friends from preschool and church - we've scheduled it for Jan. 23rd, hopefully the baby will be born and I'll be home from the hospital by then!

Dreikönigstag (Three Kings Day) - King for a Day!

We celebrated a fun holiday earlier this month! In the Christian calendar, January 6th is when the three kings visited the stable where Christ was born. On that day each year, people in Switzerland and Southern Germany buy Dreikönigskuchen, a ring of bread rolls, one of which contains a small plastic king. Whoever ends up with the king in their piece of bread gets a crown and can tell everyone else in the family what to do for the day.
We had our Dreikönigskuchen in the evening on the 6th, so we decided whoever got the king could be "King" for the rest of the evening and the entire next day. We all took our rolls from the ring of bread, searching for the king. Then, Nathan said, "Hey, what's this?" as he pulled out a small plastic king from his bread. He got the crown, and with lots of advice from Elise, gladly ruled over everyone for the next day.

The Holidays In and Around Switzerland

During the Christmas holidays, we had a chance to go on lots of fun outings in the area.
Einsiedeln
We went to Einsiedeln, a traditional Swiss town just an hour away, to see the town and go sledding. We went to an old traditional gingerbread bakery and to see a large nativity scene in the town. This was also the first chance we had for the kids to use their new sled (as we didn't have snow at our house during the week after Christmas). The kids had a great time sledding at the big hill behind the monastery in Einsiedeln.

Bern
We went to the city of Bern, Switzerland, to the LDS temple. It was the first LDS temple in Europe and it was wonderful to be able to visit it (there is translation into all different languages, of course). The kids were taken care of by some friends from our ward while Dave and I went to the temple. Then, we all went into the city of Bern for lunch and a visit to the Bear Pit - Bern was named after Bären, or "bears", and there are some brown bears on display in a habitat in the center of the city. Einstein's apartment is also in Bern, but was closed the day we were there - so of course we'll be back!

Circus Connelli

We went to a Christmas circus in Zurich that was incredible! It was in a big tent right on the bank of the river and included acts from all over the world (the group from the US was a gospel choir from the South). It was a very fun event, with amazing acts of juggling and acrobatics. We were sitting on the front row, so Nathan and Elise were each handed a sparkler as part of the finale (very exciting!).

Wintersports
We went skiing, sledding, and ice skating several times during the holidays. There is a sledding hill very close to our house, which is great! Our favorite day for skiing was at Flumserberg, a resort about an hour away from our house. It was so majestic - while the valley was in the fog, we passed through the fog layer on our way up to the mountain and it was clear, sunny and beautiful at the resort. The Alps seemed to circle the place! Elise skied on her own (sometimes with Dave) and did a great job. And, Nathan went on the kids' magic carpet and came down with help from Mom or Dad. And, it clicked! Nathan kept working at it, and by the afternoon, he was saying, "Ready, Setty, Go" and squealing as he went down the hill. He learned how to slow down and turn, and then he felt really confident. It was so fun to see him learn this! And, while William really wanted to ski too, he was fairly patient being pulled around on the sled. Elise, Nathan and Dave went ice skating twice, and Elise went two more times during her last week of vacation. Each of these two times, there were kids there that she knew from school, and she ended up having a great time with them. I am so impressed with her for being so flexible and open to new friends and experiences!
New Year's
We celebrated the New Year at a very fun party at the house of a family from our church congregation. While the kids came in pajamas and had videos, games, dinner and snacks galore upstairs, the adults had a beautiful dinner downstairs. That was followed by a white elephant exchange for the adults, fireworks outside for the kids, and an incredible local fireworks show in the little town. These friends live on the other side of the lake from us, and at midnight there was a fireworks display that could rival many we've seen - and it was done by an individual, not the town! It went on for such a long time, we joked that next year they would have it synchronized to music. While it hadn't snowed since before Christmas, there was a big snowstorm the evening of Dec. 31st (called Silvester in German). So, the drive to the party wasn't so easy, but it was really, really beautiful! The kids all stayed up until midnight to ring in the New Year! This will be a hard tradition to beat!
Shopping in Germany
Switzerland is expensive! We heard this before we came, and it's very true. Many people go shopping in Germany, France and Austria to get better prices. We're 45 minutes from the German border, so we decided to go to Konstanz on a shopping trip (Dave and the boys went to an aquarium for part of the time - as shopping is not their favorite activity!). It was fun, but we didn't really end up buying too much (although groceries, especially beef, were much less expensive). Given the high prices here, it seems that the Swiss just don't focus quite so much on shopping. The Swiss have very nice quality things, but don't seem to amass as much as is typical in the United States. That is evident in things like the smaller size of houses / apartments, people always out walking and enjoying nature, and a real focus on recycling. It's more about experiences than things! That's a lesson we hope to make an integral part of our lives!

A Merry Christmas in Switzerland

We had a very nice Christmas here in Switzerland - going ice skating at the local rink on Christmas Eve (Will and I enjoyed drinking hot chocolate and watching from the restaurant), then having dinner at home followed by some of our other family traditions. This included reading the story of Christ's birth, each of us deciding on something we can do during the coming year as a gift to Christ, and the kids' opening one present each - new pajamas.

We had a special treat when we woke up on Christmas morning, as it has snowed! We had a big snowstorm the week before Christmas, but rain and warmer weather had melted virtually all of the snow a few days before Christmas. But, in time or Christmas, we received just enough to make it a beautiful morning. Santa Claus found us here at our new address, with all of us getting some treats in our stockings, and the kids getting a sled (schlitten in German). We spent the morning opening presents. Elise's big present was a new ski outfit, Nathan received a racetrack, and Will got a bowling game. Even though we are far from our extended family and many of our friends, we seemed to have no shortage of presents! And, we have received many Christmas cards from friends in the US and around the world - keeping in touch through these cards is one of my favorite parts of the holiday season.

In the afternoon of Christmas day, we went to the forest with some friends for a cookout. These friends are a family from western Canada with a son who is almost 2. They live on our street, just a couple of houses down. On the path in the forest, there is a cookout area complete with a grill and a covered table. So, we roasted sausages and had salad, hot chocolate, and S'mores. It was very fun - but very cold!!! So, we didn't linger too long, but quickly came back home to our warm house. But, it was a nice, traditional Swiss activity on the holiday, with some great friends.

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.