Skiing near Innsbruck

We left Salzburg and went to the Achensee Resort in Achenkirch, a town on the Achensee (lake). It was a Kinderhotel, and we had done lots of research beforehand to find the perfect hotel that had activities for all our kids' ages (and for us). The ski lift was located directly across from the the hotel, and it had a kids club with kids' activities as well as babycare. So, we all had a chance to go skiing / snowboarding. Elise, Nathan and Will all took lessons on Monday morning, then Nathan continued the lessons for the entire week, both morning and afternoon. He did a great job, and even competed in a ski race on Friday. He got second place in his group and got a medal! He was so proud. And the ski school did a great job - they had a professional announcer announcing the race - the 115th International Achensee Race, (when Nathan came, he was announced as being from the USA, backed by the new president Barack Obama, etc. etc.) - it was all so cute. Then they had a big medal ceremony before lunch, and it was all made into a video and shown on the hotel channel in all the rooms for the next couple of days! Nathan also took a couple of swim lessons while we were there. William went to the kids' club and of course charmed the teachers. And Elise skiied with either me or Dave, whoever wasn't taking a break that day! Elise has gotten to be a confident skier - she's passed me by (of course, my excuse is that this was my first time skiing this season, but I'm not sure that really mattered!). Dave snowboarded with Elise and they even went up the higher lift on the last day (and in Austria, that's pretty high!). It's great here, because the runs are really long - they have a lot of mountain to work with. Elise was also lucky enough to have 4 days of horse riding lessons in the afternoons as well. We had fun as a family at the hotel pool and also on a horse buggy ride through the town. And, I must say, the food was incredible! They had a kids' buffet and great menus for the adults... It was such a nice resort - fun for everyone - and even a good opportunity to practice our German where they don't have the Swiss dialect.

The Sound of Music

Before going on our trip to Salzburg, we watched The Sound of Music which was filmed in Salzburg (and prebooked our tickets for The Sound of Music tour on Saturday afternoon). The tour was four hours long and took us around the city of Salzburg as well as to several sites from the movie. It was really fun to see everything - including the town of Mondsee in the lakes district of Salzburgland which was home to the church where they filmed the wedding scene. We rode around on a giant bus painted with The Sound of Music characters, which was a little hokey, but seeing all the different beautiful areas made it worth it. The bus was completely full, and at one point the guide asked who had seen the movie more than 10 times, and a whole bunch of people raised their hands. I thought that was crazy, but, guess what - our family is well on our way to the 10 times mark! Since we've been home, the kids want to watch the movie all the time. And we all have those songs in our head. William charmed everyone on the bus by singing the songs (his favorite is "16 going on 17" which he sometimes changes to "16 going on 18" or whatever number pops into his head). Nathan's favorite song is "The Hills are Alive", and Elise's favorite is "My Favorite Things". We certainly won't forget Salzburg, or The Sound of Music, very soon!

Salzburg, Austria

For Spring Break last week, we went to Austria! We drove from Zurich through Munich to Salzburg, where we stayed for 2 days. Salzburg is Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart's birthplace, so we read a book about Mozart before we went. The city was absolutely beautiful! We took a horse carriage ride through the old town and learned a lot about the town itself. Then we went to Mozart's birthplace and saw where he grew up. We also saw some of his instruments (klavier and violin). Salzburg is a small city of only 150,000 people, but 2 million people come each summer to the Mozart music festival! We tasted Mozart kugeln (chocolates with hazelnut, pistachio and marzipan inside) - which none of us really liked. We took the funicular up to the top of the mountain and toured the Festung castle. And, we stayed in a castle hotel! It was a great old castle a bit outside of Salzburg - we stayed on the third floor in a big suite of rooms where everyone had their own "king bed". We had a great breakfast downstairs each morning, where the host and hostess, two lovely grandparents, told us about things to see and places to go in the area. They were so hospitable! On Sunday morning they showed us the chapel that is part of the castle, and when they found out that Elise plays the piano, they took her to the music room on the second floor of the castle where she played the grand piano. When it was time to go, the kids were running around playing on the big lawn outside and didn't want to leave! Salzburg is absolutely beautiful and so charming - our whole experience was wonderful. It is definitely on our list for a return visit!

Meredith is Blessed

Meredith looked like a little angel today for her blessing at church - and she acted like one too. She was wide awake, but didn't cry at all. Dave gave a beautiful blessing, and the Spirit was very strong. He held her up after the blessing for everyone to see, and she was just so beautiful, with her big bright eyes and full head of dark hair! Listening to the blessing, I had such an overwhelming feeling of gratitude for my children, and for Dave and the priesthood he holds which enabled him to give the blessing. I even decided to bear my testimony in church today (in German, no less!). We have truly been blessed with a wonderful family!

Happy Birthday, Dave!

We celebrated Dave's birthday in March, in between his trips to the US for work! We had a weekend of festivities, with a trip to Uetliberg - the highest mountain peak in Zurich. We drove, walked, then took a train up to the top. After lunch at the train station restaurant, we hiked the final 10 minutes (about 25 minutes for our family) to the top. There was a lot of snow still there, and a fun observation tower which Elise and Dave climbed. Now every time we drive anywhere around Zurich, we notice Uetliberg and recall our hike to the top!

We had our now traditional cake for Dave's birthday (these special cakes from the Japanese baker are beginning to feel like an entitlement), a birthday dinner, and gifts from the family.

Spoiled with Kindness

In the six weeks since Meredith was born, we have been overwhelmed with so much kindness from so many people here. We had more meals brought to us than we could have imagined (from families at Elise's school, church, and Dave's work), so many gifts and cards for Meredith (including a birthday cake), a baby shower, the boys' preschool generously keeping the boys longer while I was in the hospital, and countless other offers for help if we needed anything! We are so grateful for all the kindness.
And, we had a wonderful babysitter named Cristel who came over in the afternoons to stay with Meredith while I went to pick up the boys, and she played with the boys while I took Elise to various activities. The kids loved Cristel and had so much fun with her (and it was wonderful for me to be able to go to the grocery store without any kids - and even take the older kids sledding one day at our nearby sledding hill while Cristel took care of Meredith at home). Cristel was here studying German, but just returned to the US this week. She really made a difference for us when Meredith was so young - and we all miss her!

Meredith is growing well and is adored by the kids. Every morning when they wake up, Nathan and William's first words are, "Where's Meredith?" When I respond with an evasive, "She's sleeping," they immediately go looking for her - either in her room or in Mom and Dad's bed. They love being the big brothers. And, Elise is a huge help at home - she is so responsible. What great kids we have been blessed with!

Nancy's Birthday

I had my birthday on February 19th, and we celebrated with breakfast in bed for me (Elise and Dave's surprise idea), then cake and family presents at night. We have this amazing cake baker (who is apparently a pastry chef at a 5-star hotel). He's Japanese and speaks only a little English and German, but was referred to us by the mother of one of Elise's classmates. The cakes are so great - covered with fruit on top. We've now had 5 cakes from him (after living here just 6 months). In any case, my birthday cake was great - and the gifts, especially those that were hand-made by the kids (Elise has picked up knitting) were wonderful!

A Trip to Interlaken

Last week was "Sportferien", aka ski vacation week, at Elise's school. Since it was so soon after Meredith was due, we didn't plan a big trip, but we did spend two nights in Interlaken. Interlaken is about 2 hours south of Zürich, situated between two lakes, the Brienzersee and the Thunersee. We stayed at one of the nicest hotels in town, thanks to a great deal I found on the internet (it gets expensive when you have to book adjoining rooms to accommodate our family of 6)! What a beautiful area this is. It's called the Jungfrau region, because of the Jungfrau peak. There are tons of wintersports here.

We got our first taste of real Swiss sledding (sledging in British English, and schlittel in German). This is serious business - there are sledge runs just like there are ski runs. We went to Grindelwald, a popular ski area 15 minutes up the hill from Interlaken. We took a train (not a ski lift - you take a train up the mountain and get off where you want to start sledging), and had a great time. Dave and I took turns staying with Meredith at the lodge half-way up the mountain while the others went up higher and sledged down. Elise took Nathan, and Dave took Will on the first run - so much fun!

We also went to Thun and saw the Schloss Thun (Thun castle) and some of the Altstadt. The whole area is just beautiful with the two lakes on each side, and massive mountains shooting up on the other two sides. No wonder this is such an international tourist destination!

We ate at the Des Alpes restaurant while we were there, trying the cheese fondue appetizer one night, and the chocolate fondue dessert the second night (our family's favorite - hands down - was the chocolate). Now we're investigating the best chocolate fondue set to buy so we can enjoy chocolate fondue at home (you're dipping fruit in the chocolate, so it's somewhat healthy - right?).

Hergiswil Glassworks

We visited a real glass factory on our way down to Interlaken last weekend, and the kids even tried blowing glass! We have their glass balls hanging in our gameroom at home now. It was an excellent museum tour, which ended with a chance to actually observe the glass being blown. And, Elise got a lesson in "low cost vs. differentiation" (from her parents who both majored in Economics) as we explained to her that the factory survived because they switched from competing on cost to competing on differentiation. And, yes, we helped out by buying a few souvenirs from the glass shop - it's definitely worth a premium to see them actually making the glass item from molten glass right before your eyes!

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.