A Healthy Home?......NO PLEASE!

It seems to be a belief, here in Europe, that spiders and flying bugs in a home mean that the home is "Healthy." You could go months without seeing a screen on any window in the homes, leaving flies, mosquitoes and the dreaded spider to enter at their pleasure. In our pursuit for window screens, we got all sorts of stares and comments like: " If you have screens, how will the insects get back out?" to "..but the spider is good, it will eat all of the other bugs that come into your home and their web means your home is healthy." Is it so bad to want an unhealthy house then? I need to be able to open my windows at morning or night and not have company enter in through them. It was causing a little contention in the home anyway, as Paul would open a window to let the cool air in, and I would follow behind him closing it. I shouldn't have to carry a fly swatter as I travel from room to room nor be freaked by the over-sized spider that likes a certain corner of my living room. A kind friend heard our frustration over the lack of screens and got us hooked up. She helped us order them offline.

The screens are more like netting from the skirt of a ballet tutu, but they will do. We first have to put up Velcro strips and then stretch, attach and cut away the excess of the screening material. We have completed a few windows now and the cool air at night is delightful. So, to all of you who have a healthy house, enjoy! It makes me happy and proud to say...I live in an unhealthy home and I am loving it more!

Chocolate Tasting

This past week, we had our friends Curt and Allison over to play games and they offered to do a chocolate tasting test for us. It was so much fun!!! Curt, or as we call him, The Connoissuer of Chocolate, because he has tried all kinds of Suisse chocolate, brought various types of chocolate with him.

The test was done with our eyes closed. We smelled and tasted each type of chocolate, comparing pricey to cheap, milky to dark,(which we didn't know ahead of time) and then voted anonymously.Surprisingly enough, the men were 100% choosing the most expensive chocolate, while us women actually preferred a little of the better value chocolate.

Can we just say, we have a new goal to become chocolate connoissuers ourselves. :) We know it will take a lot of dedication of eating chocolate, but we are willing to try.

Noodle Olympics

We have started a new tradition here in Geneve. They are the Noodle Olympics. The entrants were, Paul, Laura and Susan (me). We have found several balancing, shooting and floating events to challenge even us Johnson's. Our first Noodle Olympics was celebrated this last Saturday afternoon. Though Paul and Laura competed with strong scores and courage; the winner was superior in balancing, which brought her scores up. :) Yep, I won.

Note: I also did the scoring :)

Fireworks Suisse Style at the Fete De Geneve

The last two weeks here have been the Geneva Festival or as it is called here, the Fete De Geneve. Merry-go-rounds were set up in the city and a ferriswheel by the lake. There were also international food vendors offering delicacies from their countries and all sorts of things to buy and see.

The last night of Fete, there was a huge fireworks show. People start lining the lake and sitting in bleacher seats hours before the Fireworks even begin. We enjoyed an excellent homemade mexican fiesta meal with friends and then headed to Paul's office, about 20 minutes before the fireworks began. Paul's office opens to the Mount Blanc Bridge and the mouth of Lake Leman,(Geneva) where they set off the fireworks. Making it a magnificent place to catch the show. We brought treats and went out on one of the balconies to see and hear the show. The fireworks were set to beautiful music and some of the colors and types of fireworks were something I had never seen before.

On a side note, my dear, sweet husband vacuumed every spider and web he could see in the dark on that balcony. This made it possible for me, a woman who is SOOOO afraid of spiders to view the show from the wonderful balcony. Is that not the best husband in the world?

After the hour show, we walked to the train station with the crowds still in a festival mood and took the train home to our village. It was a fun night and a great ending to the Fete De Geneve!

A Day at Chateau de Chillon

On Saturday, we drove about 45 minutes East to Chateau de Chillon. This Chateau (Castle) is absolutely my favorite so far. We donned Ipods that took us on an audio tour and we loved every minute of it. Viewing the chatueax brought back memories of reading Lord Byron's, The Prisoner of Chillon, back in college. We even got to see where Byron carved his name in one of the chateau's pillars. We ended the tour by enjoying a picnic with our friends and enjoying the views on the lake.

Hiking, Cows, the echos of Yodeling and Fireworks!

Yesterday, was August 1. If you live in Switzerland, that means it is Swiss National Day! This day celebrates the foundation of the Swiss Confederacy, in around 1889. In Geneve, it is the beginning of Fetes de Geneve, (Festival of Geneva). This means, nights of fireworks over the lake, bands playing in the streets and overall celebrating. As a family, we decided to celebrate the day in a very "SWISS" way.....

....Paul, Laura and I, along with friends, Kelsy, and Jordan Perry (Grad Students from BYU) hiked in the Jura Mountains. We took off from St. Cergue and hiked through lush mountain meadows. The meadows were full of cows ringing their bells as they ate their afternoon meals from the fields. It was quite the hike, but after what seemed to be unending switchbacks we arrived to the most splendid view of the whole lake, and valley! Might I say we all hiked, but Jordan ran up the whole thing and back to us and then ran part of the way down!! On our descent through the forest we heard an actual yodeler. His voice could be heard echoing through the forest, which gave us chills and was quite surreal. Laura and Jordan, who ran ahead got the chance to see the man yodeling!

In the evening, we all came home to eat a hearty dinner and then went down to the Lake to view the various cities firework displays, opting to do it from our own village of Genthod. It was heavenly down at the quiet little harbor, and it offered us fantastic views.

Could there be a better way to spend the National Swiss day? We think not! Bonne Fete Nationals a la Suisse!!!