Happy Thanksgiving 2011

We feel so very blessed this year, even though we are far away from family and friends. Our Thanksgiving was a working and school day, which was a new experience for us. There are no parades to watch on TV and no Turkey Bowl to play in. I cooked during the day and Laura helped me finish preparing the meal when she got home from school. Paul came home early from work and we had a feast!

Going shopping for our Thanksgiving was an experience. Laura, and I searched for the necessary dinner supplies, potatoes, yams, cranberries, pumpkin and a turkey, but we didn't have much luck. We didn't think we would be able to find much, because our little Suisse and French grocery stores don't usually have "American" food items.
Today, we pulled together a yummy meal fit for our first Suisse Thanksgiving! We had a full chicken, which stood in for our Turkey. :) Our side dishes were fresh green beans, mashed potatoes, gravy, corn bread, lingonberry sauce (which is like cranberries for Switzerland) and I made pumpkin pies for dessert. The meal was not quite like we have back home, but close to it. Next year we are going to find fresh yams. It will be our quest!


Paul carved our chicken, we ate until we were full and then called family back in the states to wish Happy Thanksgiving to those we love. Our night was finished off with homemade pumpkin pie and whipped cream. What a wonderful, yummy Thanksgiving day!

Searching for AWE...

We have lived here in Switzerland (Suisse) for almost 6 months. When we first moved to Colorado from California, we were amazed at all of the things that were so different. Each day we were in awe at some new thing. The skies in Colorado were full of beautiful, puffy clouds most of the time. The skies seemed bluer and the night skies were glorious. The morning's sunrises were the most amazing thing that we had ever experienced, but after a few months, it all became normal and almost common place. We vowed that when we moved to Switzerland, we would try to hold onto that "awe" for as long as we could. We spent the first few days taking pictures in front of al the spectacular quaintness of the area, fountains, homes, fields, cobble-stoned narrow roads, and the like. Surely this things would never be common place to us. Well....

....Last week, we looked at some pictures that a friend had taken while on vacation. Paul and I kept wondering why pictures were taken with certain backgrounds. There was one cute picture by an ancient stone water feature and one near an old stone home. It hit us at the same time. We were looking at the pictures without the eyes of awe! Old stone water features are part of everyday life and stone homes are a dime a dozen and narrow cobblestone streets are bumpy roads that mean we need to put the mirrors in on our car. :(

How did this happen? How can things become so commonplace so quickly? Can we get the awe factor back? We are going to try to appreciate the history that is around us more and find the awe in the quaint stone walls, fountains, architecture and homes. The Holiday Season is coming upon us, so that should help. We'll let you know how it goes.

Gno Gnome home?

There is a house that we pass by every day. The house faces the farm fields. It is surrounding by a rod iron fence and is pretty, and well groomed. You see, it is the gnome home. They have over a hundred little statues of gnomes placed all over their yard. We are so familiar with seeing them hidden in the bushes and lazily resting on the lawn that we tend to know when one has been moved. In June, when we moved here, we noticed that the gnome playing the guitar, yes a gnome can be musical, was tipped over. Day after day we walked past the house on the way to the village train station, waiting for the owner to correct the little gnome face-first in the dirt. It took about 4 days for the gnome to be righted up, but voila it happened. Recently as I walked, I was stunned that all the gnomes were gone. I stood at the gate and took a good double take. As I stood there the owner came out of his front door. I said, "Bonjour monsieur, vous avez un beau jardin. Ou est gnomes ?" Which is actually incorrect, but at the time I didn't know that I was saying it wrong. I said it with my best french accent too. I awaited for the man to speak to me in french, but he came closer and in English said, "Thank you, they are put away for the winter." Ok, I was pleased that he understood me, but frustrated that he knew right away that I spoke English and was going to have a lot of trouble speaking french. RATS! I tried...... anyway, I am digressing from the story. The owner told me that in November he takes all of his gnomes inside to his workshop. They must stay there all winter to protect them from the cold weather. He touches them up and polishes them over the winter and then places them back outside in late March. He and his wife are Swiss and they lovingly gathered each gnome from all over Germany, Austria, Switzerland and the Scandinavian countries. I like the weird little gnomes greeting me each day and I look forward to seeing them in March, but for now there are gno gnomes. Who would have ever thought that I would miss gnomes.....but I do.

Greece

We loved Greece. We only got a little taste of this country, but we want to return.


In Athens the highlight was experiencing the Acropolis, with it's Parthenon, Propylaes and Athena Polias. At the foot of the Acropolis we walked upon Mars hill, where the Apostle Paul preached the gospel to the citizens. We took a picture of our own Paul, sitting upon the rock. :)


In Rhodes, we took a self-guided tour of the old city, which is surrounded by strong walls and is one of the best preserved and largest medieval settlements of Europe. Knights from the time of the crusades have left their mark upon Rhodes and this was seen in the carvings and architecture of the city. We also had fun frolicking in the Aegean Sea and collecting shells and rocks.

Je parle anglais et un peu francais.....well sort of

I have started my Berlitz language training. Yay! I spent one on one time with a woman that spoke no English with me. It was like spending 1.5 hours with a mental jigsaw puzzle. It has been 35 years since I formally took French. When I got home from class, my head was spinning. I spent that evening trying to do my homework. Laura, our daughter, who has taken a few years of French, helped me a little, but she reminded me that the teacher wanted to see what I could do, not what she could do. I believe she got those words from me. Karma, bites! I smiled at her reply and dug in to do my work.

I completed my homework and awoke the next morning to practice, when the doorbell rang and a repairman showed up at our door to work on the new kick-board for the kitchen. He spoke no English. I was able to greet him, invite him in and ask a few basic questions. I tried to recall other things that I learned, but every time he asked me something, my mind went blank.

I am leaving in a few minutes for my next lesson. I am bound and determined to get French into this fifty-four year old head!!!

Our Journeys in Israel

What an amazing time we had in Israel, with our daughter, Laura. We spent two days in Jerusalem and then one day down in Nazereth and Galilee. We could have definitely stayed longer, but in those few days we felt lucky that we got a glimpse of the places that the Savior walked and lived.
In Jerusalem we walked to the pools of Bethesda. These have recently been discovered under the old city. They still hold water. We got to go down the stairs to the pools and see where the Savior healed the bedridden man. It was amazing to be there and read in John, of the New Testament, to recount the healing miracle that took place there.

As always, we took one of our "family hands" pictures on a decorated wall of the pools. in the evening we visited the Shepherd's fields in Bethlehem. On our way out there, we saw several herds of sheep being led by a lone shepherd among the rocky hills.

One of our best experiences was going to Jerusalem at night. It seems that the city does not sleep. People were shopping, eating and striving to sell their wares. We spent about two hours almost lost in the narrow, winding lanes of the old city. We made some fantastic purchases (Yay, for shopping!!!) and felt that we got to see how the people of Jerusalem live.

One of the days in Jerusalem we were able to experience the wailing wall. It was a busy day for Bar Mitzvahs! Many young Jewish boys were being led, under canopy and surrounded by family to the wailing wall. Two or more young men led each group beating upon drums and blowing on sheep horns. We experienced a colorful and musical celebration of many, many boys that day becoming men. Out of respect, to approach the wall Paul needed to don a yarmulka. The wall cracks were FULL of small pieces of paper full of prayers. It was really something to see.

On our day in Galilee we took a boat on the sea, visited the Sermon Mount and saw Capernaum where the synagogue, in which the Savior preached, still exists.
Afterwards, we went to see the home of Peter's mother. Only the lower part of the walls remain, but it was wonderful to see. Later, we drove up to to the River Jordan and were able to wade into the cool waters of the river.

The Garden of Gethsemane is at the foot of the Mount of Olives. The peaceful garden is among a grove of ancient olive trees, that look back at the eastern wall of the City of Jerusalem. We were able to wander among the trees. Some of the trees in the garden have been there for over 2000 years.


Our last evening in Jerusalem was spent at the Garden Tomb. This was a favorite of our family's. Each of us got to enter the tomb for a few moments. Even with the amount of people visiting, it was fairly quiet. We stayed until it started to become evening.

This trip has been a dream for a long time and we are so grateful that we were able to share this with our daughter. We will not forget our wondrous days in Israel.