Twas the Night before Christmas in Mongolia too!

Paul, Laura and I had four of our friends over for Christmas Eve. It just so happens that they are from Mongolia. There names are: Munkhjin, Munkhtsetseg, Tungalag and Ariuntsetseg.

This was their first time in a home that celebrates Christmas--with all of the Christmas traditions that go with it. It was so fun for us to hear about what they had thought of Christmas and Santa Claus. Most of their knowledge came from movies they saw when they were little. It made me hope that they didn't show National Lampoon's Christmas Vacation in Mongolia!
We had a nice Christmas Eve dinner, which they shared with us. After dinner We read Luke 2, about the birth of the Savior. Then we watched a Christmas concert special with the Mormon Tabernacle choir and David Archeleta. After that we told them about how we always read "The Night Before Christmas" to our children when they were little. So, I got out my book and they asked me to share it with them. I read a page and then Munkhjin would translate what I said into Mongolian. It was fun to see them react to all of the antics of Santa as he entered down the chimney. We have had many nights before Christmas, but being so far away from home, our Mongolian friends made this one never to forget!

The Swiss-Bowl...American style

Our daughter, Laura, is a HUGE American Football fanatic. This last Thanksgiving she suggested that the church youth group and their parents get together to play a Turkey Bowl. They started out plying the game in a dense fog and mud. They ended with the sun shining, the fog completely gone and mud all over them.

Strategy and Smiles

Laure before a long throw

Planning the play of the game

                                                               Paul on the move

On Christmas Eve, some of the people who played the first Bowl game wanted to do another one. So 18 people got together to squish through the mud, huddle-up, throw spirals and run their hearts out. They all made our 17 year old girl so happy!

Père Noël's Visit

We had our church Christmas party on Saturday. Our 'Santa' was late, so it was unanimous, Paul was the logical choice. When I mean logical choice I mean that he is in the bishopric, wears glasses and is a good sport. He had about 10 minutes to change, so I went with him. Paul used his street clothes to fold up and fashion into a belly. Next we worked to use a couple of the provided Santa outfits to make one that would work. He came out looking a little more like Pere Noel, ( Santa Claus in French) as one the outfits had a long red and white robe with a hood. The French children loved that. He got dressed in five minutes and we spent the other five joined in hysterical laughter. Then I hurried downstairs to take my place with the other ward (church) members in anticipation of Pere Noel's arrival.

He entered exclaiming "HO HO HO" and "Merry Christmas." The children squealed as Paul went up the stairs to take his seat on the stage. One by one the children went up to sit on Pere Noel's lap and share some of their Christmas wishes. He listened carefully and asked if they had been good to their friends or siblings. Only Pere Noel knows the answers, but he said they were treasures. One little girl asked for one of his reindeer, another spoke in French asking for many things, but Pere Noel could only nod and smile. Many of the children had no idea what they wanted for Christmas, but they did enjoy talking about things only Pere Noel could possibly know. One of the children who sat on his lap was a sweet little Mongolian baby. Her parents had her looking so cute and Pere Noel had fun taking pictures with her. She looked like a little angel all on white.

After about 20 minutes, Pere Noel was finished. He left the room wishing everyone a "Merry Christmas" with his voice trailing off into a  "HO HO HO" as he went down the hallway. I went out to help him undress and pack away the 'Santa Suit', when all of a sudden about 10 to 15 children started running toward Pere Noel (Paul). He walked as fast as he could to the stairs, but the children started to try to pull his beard and take off his robe. They were bound and determined to see who Pere Noel really was. I ran interference and tried to hold them back at the pass saying "Pere Noel est fatigué." (he is tired) Paul and I retreated to the Stake President's wing of the building and went to a room that we could lock. Soon children were knocking on the door calling out to Pere Noel. Paul was laughing so hard. I went back out of the room to lead the kids away from the discovery of Pere Paul Noel. After about 10 minutes I called out a window, "Goodbye Santa travel safely!" The children heard and screamed in delight as they bounded down the stairs and out back to see if Pere Noel was there. During this time Paul was able to exit. He went back to the Christmas party and the children were none the wiser. What a Christmas Adventure!

..This Little Piggy Went to Market... :(

Adventures in French/Swiss grocery shopping never fail to amaze me. I am forever trying to make my own breakfast sausage, with sage and spices more akin to an American breakfast type and less like Italian. In each store, I am in hopes of finding just what I want, but so far I have just purchased the plain ground pork and spiced it myself. Recently, while purusing the meat isle in France, I came across 'The Little Piggy That Went to Market.' :(  These were just the ones packaged...the faces hanging about did me in. As a result, I have sworn off sausage for the time being.....

On Top of the Alps!

Laura's last day of Fall Break was Monday, so checking the weather and seeing that it would be clear, we decided to take a trip to the French Alps. It is a good thing that we have a Garmin, because getting into Chamonix was a buffet of round-abouts. The good news is that as far away as Mont Blanc looks from our bedroom window, it only took 1 hour and 10 minutes.  Once there we took a gondola up to the Aiguille Du Midi. From there we could get  super close to the "White Mountain" or Mont Blanc which is the the tallest mountain in the Alps and Western Europe. The first picture here is taken from below in the town of Chamonix, France. This is where the first winter olympics was held. They were gearing up for ski season to begin. The town is quaint--full of Fondue restaurants and patisserie (pastry shops) where we treated ourselves to a little tarte aux pommes.

In these two pictures you can see Laura and I braving -10 C, plus robust wind with Switzerland behind us. In the Foreground is the ice cave that we just came through. BRRRRRR The second picture shows the top of the mountain and the cables from the Gondola, but you have to look really closely to see the cables. As we descended we could hear the ice falling on the gondola from the hook sliding down the cable. YIKES!

 Behind us is a huge glacier and France beyond that. The wind was really whipping up around us.

After going through another ice cave we came out into full sun and less wind. YAY!  Behind Laura and I is our beloved Mont Blanc. 

Along for the day was our good friend Kevin Cole from Saratoga, California. He was here for a stop over after attending a conference in Lisbon, Portugal. We were thrilled to show off our pretty Alps and from where we stood we could see, France, Italy and Switzerland.

Here is a picture of the valley below. As you can see we were way above the clouds.

Autumn in Genthod

Autumn is beautiful in our little village. Last week we went for a walk to capture some of the colors before they ended up the better part of an earth covering mosaic.

Here is our daughter, Laura, in our village park. I love how the trees are in rows leading your eye to look at the pretty blue shuttered villa at the end of the park.

It was a perfect day and the scenery was just what was needed before we begin our cold winter.

A Little Geneva...

About once a month we go into the city of Geneva for a little shopping and to visit Paul. Here is a picture of Laura and I on a recent trip there. You can see that the blooms were still out and showing their colors. A perfect 'Indian Summer' day. It is getting colder, so even some of these flowers might be gone by now. I am glad that I got a quick picture with Laura to remember our day of flowers, umbrellaed cafes and sun. Ok, Autumn bring it on now....

The Beatles in Annecy, France!

Last weekend we took some visitors to Annecy, France. It is one of our favorite places to go. Besides the quaint, old town area of the city, the lake is a great place to relax beside, watch sail boats, swans and have a picnic. This time, we added something new to our Annecy trip. We went above the city to The Basilica of the Visitation, which is a beautiful cathedral overlooking the the city and Lake Annecy. While there, the clock struck the hour and the cathedral bells started to chime. I was not prepared to hear a Beatle's song coming from the bell tower however. I would have preferred something more fitting the place, but I guess the Beatle's are everywhere, even in Annecy, France. Hmmmm :/ Do you recognize this tune?

Last of the "First Day of School Pictures"

It has been 20 years since I took the my first 'first day of school picture'. For the last 20 years I have taken these pictures of each of the children, dressed in their new school clothes, new backpacks--full of hope of a new year school. Last week, I took one for the last time. Laura, is a senior this year at College Du Leman International High School and so we had to have a picture on the first day. So smile, new shoes and full of hope, her picture was taken and cataloged along with the others....20 years worth of children going to school on their first day. I dropped her off at school and then went home to upload her picture. How can she be a senior already? Where has the time gone? I am already sad that it was the last of first day's of school, but I have a whole 9 months to relish with her until I have to take the last of last day of school pictures. I say, let the relishing begin!!!

Summer in 20 YAYS! and/or BOOS!

Summer 2012 went extremely fast. Here are the highlights in 20 YAYS! and/or BOOS!....give or take a YAY and/or BOO....

1. YAY! Paul and I left Switzerland to fly to the USA for summer vacation

2. YAY! We got to see our son, Austin, his wife, Jessica and meet our new granddaughter, Ava, for the first time! She is adorable and we enjoyed two weeks getting to snuggle and hold her.

3. YAY! We got to see Laura FINALLY, because she flew out before us to do some Colorado ranching for two weeks. She worked hard on the ranch and enjoyed the wide open spaces and spending time with the McDonald Family. We think they should name their ranch (farm) EIEIO as in Old MacDonald had a farm..... :) Now someone needs to come up with something clever for that acronym.

4. BOO! Paul had to fly back to Geneva to do some work. :(

5. YAY! Laura and I flew to Utah. She went to a fun week of EFY at the Provo Campus of BYU. I stayed at our little home in Orem visiting with Paul's parents, helping them out and going to the temple.

6. YAY! I got to spend time with my sister, Mary Lynne, because she was in Utah visiting too! I saw other relatives as well. I felt very loved!

7. YAY! Laura came home from EFY and we spent the next week going to every restaurant that we miss in Switzerland. That was good and bad......

8. YAY! We flew back to Colorado to spend time in our home and saw our wonderful friends. Our good friend Carol Dean also flew in from Chile! Talk about just what the Dr. ordered! I miss going for walks and visiting with her so much, but we were able to catch up a little. :)

9. YAY! Paul flew back to the USA to be in our Colorado home for 10 days.

10. BOO! There had been a Hail storm in the summer and we spent most of those ten days trying to work out things with our insurance company to put on a new roof and fix one side of the house.....still working on this. Double BOO!

11. YAY! Paul flew alone to Utah for two days to see his parents and help them out. We missed him horribly, so this receives a little boo!

12. YAY! Paul flew home Tuesday afternoon so we could pack and get ready to go back to Switzerland. Boo! --->The car window on the drivers side decided to go down and not go up. The airport is 1 hour on the freeway. My ears, hair and head will never be the same....this is a triple BOO, BOO, BOO.

13. YAY! Paul decided to rent a van to drive to the airport with windows up and plenty of room for pieces of luggage. He is our Hero!!! OXOX (not a YAY or BOO, but deserved)

14. BOO! We had to say goodbye to wonderful friends, neighbors and our dear friend Carol and fly back to Switzerland....YAY!

15. YAY! We arrived back in Switzerland and we forgot how much we love and missed it! We are super looking forward to seeing our friends here!

16. YAY! We unpacked to find all of the America food stuffs and sundries that we muled home with us.

17. Boo! Jet-lag is awful......

18. YAY! Two days home and the Jet-lag is already improving.

19. Boo! Summer is almost over!

20. Yay! We are so grateful for our home, car, job, family and all of the blessing that we have....afterall 44 days of traveling and we made it back all safe and sound! That is a Triple YAY, YAY, YAY, if anything ever deserved one.

Laura heads to the good ol' USA

Yesterday a piece of our heart left for the USA. This is just the second day and we will see her in a week and a half, but already we know that being empty nesters is going to be HARD!

Laura had to change planes in Washington DC, where her brother Austin surprised her with a visit and dinner at the airport. I guess being in the military let's you even surprise your sister behind the international customs area. Early this morning, on July 4th, Laura, arrived in Denver. Oh how we miss her!!!!

Today was Sunday

Today was Sunday, it is my favorite day of the week. Each Sunday, we go to church to partake of the sacrament, strive to learn more of the Savior and be with the other members of our ward family. Today, as I walked down the hall a little voice called out Suuu-i-Sunnn!!! I turned to see my little friend Divine. Divine's family comes from Nigeria and they are some of the wonderful people that we get to rub shoulders with here in Geneva. After Divine and I greeted each other with a hug, we decided that our clothes matched, so we took a picture together. See how we match? :)

After church we had a pot-luck luncheon to spend a little more time together and to say goodbye to the Mission President and his wife, President and Sister Murdock. They have served three years here in Switzerland and France having stewardship over 200 missionaries in that time. They soon will be released to go home to see family and get back to their lives serving in the church, being parents and grandparents. We will miss them so!! They have been great examples of love, service and sacrifice. Before the pot-luck ended, the Bishop presented them with a large book with beautiful pictures of Switzerland. As a ward, we have spent the last few weeks passing this book around so all ward members could write a message to President and Sister Murdock. After the presentation of the book, we stood around them and sang all three verses of, God Be With You Till We Meet Again. Yep, it was a teary moment and a GREAT day.

Pork and Snail

Going grocery shopping in France can

be an adventure. Escargot is EVERYWHERE and in MANY things.

I tried it once a long time ago. It was served in the shell and was chewy and garlicky, but I could not get over the fact that it was a snail. I spent many childhood days having to pick slimy snails out of our California garden to keep them from eating it up, so thinking of eating one of those snails is something that I would rather not do.

Recently, I had a run in with escargot again. I found out the hard way that you have to be careful that the sausage you are buying is not pork and

snail. I made that mistake recently, but never again. Paul, Laura and I ate the sausage not knowing that it was full of snail. The next time I went to buy sausage I looked

at the package closer and found that the cute little pig on the wrapper was being followed by a slimy little snail. I asked the Butcher what that meant this time and he said in French, "Escargot et porc tres-bien ensemble." I almost turned green on the spot. I don't dare tell my family.

My new French Phrase this week to use is, "Est-ce avec escargot?" (is this with snail?) ...because if it is...I pass.

At last SUN!!!

The last couple of days have been full of rain, but today the sun showed it's warming rays all upon our lil' part of Switzerland. The lake and mountains around were glorious. Paul and I have had some great walks lately, but the sun and the mountains made this walk among the grape fields overlooking Lake Leman a definite do-over!

She Was Just 17...you know what I mean.... Happy Birthday, Laura!

Another greeting card by Smilebox

A morning walk in France

Today I started my day with a walk in France with my friend. The woods were lovely and the red poppies were a welcome end to the morning exercise. I even found another heart in the path, which I left in place for someone else to find another day. I did some quick grocery shopping and then I was off to meet Paul. He joined me at our train station to go to our Mairie (town hall) to inquire about yearly train passes. The kind woman there did not speak English. I understood every third word, but we got the gist of what she was telling us. At least we think we did. One more reason to keep working on French.

Paying it Forward

Helping someone else when you have been getting so much help yourself, is a blessing and a huge boost to the spirit. I was down at the main train station (Gare Cornavin) in Geneva this week and had the opportunity to do just that.

A family from Australia was wielding their suitcases through the crowd and looked completely jet-lagged and confused. They were stopping people to ask directions, but no one seemed to speak English. Either that or people were in too much of a hurry. I was on my way to an appointment myself, but I had a flash from the past come into my head and heart. It was a year ago that we moved here. I had been them, so confused, tired and lost most of the time.

I had learned to say a sentence, "Ou est le/la ___?" Which is, "Where is the ___?"
A quick look at my watch helped me decide that I had time to catch the next bus, so I walked over to help them. As I approached they gave me their best French and I answered in English. The mom started to cry, right there on the spot. :(

We went to a map, so I could point out where they were going. I was able to walk them over to the tram that they should take to get them to their hotel. We discussed where they were to exit, what landmarks they would be looking for and what they would be hearing and watching for on the tram monitor, and speaker. On the way, I taught them to ask a couple of directional questions. The mom wrote them down and then repeated them several times. I gave them my cell phone number and then they were off on their tram. One year ago I was them and today I started paying it forward. Doing service, no matter how small is a gift!

Hedgehog Heaven

I am thankful for our hedge. I saw another hedgehog come out of it today! Our hedge is about seven feet tall and it completely surrounds our home and yard. It is about a 2 feet thick. So, recently the "hedge trimmers" showed up to groom our massive hedge. It was fascinating to watch the men measure and trim the top and sides. It is quite an art. It took two days to finish and clean up. The next day our gardeners came to take care of the side and back lawns and clean up anything that the "hedge trimmers" left behind. After they left, I went out into the backyard to find a hedgehog walking slowly from one portion of the yard to another. When he saw me he froze. He turned his little head to watch me. He was so cute. After about 10 minutes he walked to a shady portion of the hedge and disappeared. If that is why they call them hedgehogs, then I am glad that we have a hedge.

FREE Hearts, Hands & Feet

View all

Get your own

It is fair to say that I am fairly frugal when it comes to traveling. Souvenirs in a small village look authentic, but many times they have been made in China. What you see in Istanbul, as exotic souvenirage, <---(new word) can be found in London at some Kitchy store. :( About 15 years ago I started "Hands and Feet." When we travel somewhere my children always knew that I would call upon them for a "Hands or Feet" picture. Whether at our Nations Capitol in Washington DC, in the sacred grove of upper state New York or at the beach in California, I have pictures of my family's "Hands and Feet". I LOVE looking back at the pictures to see our shoe styles, my kids toes in the sand or their hands during different stages of their lives. I want to put all of these in a huge collage for our home one day. Included now is the improved "Hearts, Hands & Feet." My sister told me about the idea of looking for "Hearts" and I have made it my own. Whenever and where ever we travel, we looks for heart-shapes in nature. It costs nothing and is a great loving reminder of a day. I love when Laura has been scouting for a heart and shows it to me. I wish that I had done this when my kids were tiny. It really can keep kids happy and busy. For example, we find a heart shaped rock and put it in our pocket as a place keeper. If during the day we find another, then we compare. Majority wins and we keep the most heart-shaped piece. That way we bring only a small reminder home. Sometimes I collect the tiny heart-shaped rocks and write the name of the place where we picked it up. I have a jar of "Hearts" sitting in my living room. More often, I just take pictures of the "Hearts" that we find. Small stones in our path as we are walking up hiking trails, stones in a rock wall, a tree with a heart in it's bark or even a cloud overhead. They are all over the world. They are my secret little reminders that Heavenly Father Loves me. When Paul or one of my kids find one to point out to me...I just melt and feel more loved.

A Quick Get-Away

We had a fun get-away this last weekend to the German part of Switzerland. Our first stop was to Gruyere, which is about 1.5 hours from our home. We have visited here quite a few times and love the village and surroundings. We toured the castle once more and stopped at the chocolate factory. The weather was very cooperative and the green hills were perfect. It was easy to imagine Julie Andrews singing on any of the open fields.

Our next stop was to Interlaken. This is the Jungfrau region or top of the Alps. Last time we were there it was horribly rainy and we could not see the Jungfrau at all. This time the sun was out and the peaks looked magnificent against the sky. We visited the Ballenberg open air museum (Traditional Swiss villages and crafts) and enjoyed a hike in nature. Cows were in the hills with their bells on so spring is here and summer approaching. You can see a picture of Laura with the cows in the background.

We had a long day, but since we were fairly close to home we could end the day by sleeping in our own beds. After church on Sunday, we drove to Annecy, France, with friends. Annecy is about 40 mins away from our home. We took a picnic and ate by the lake. It was a relaxing weekend and good to be with family and friends.

May 1st and Lily of the Valley!

Today was May Day. In France and in French speaking Switzerland,(where we live) May Day is a celebration of labor and also love. It is a custom to give a sprig of Lily of the Valley, to someone you love. As I went out today, it seemed that many women and girls were carrying a small bouquet of flowers. It was so sweet to see. On the train several women got on grasping their bouquets, which gave off the most beautiful fragrance. I found out the flowers were Lily of the Valley. It is the traditional flower given out on May Day. The Lily of the Valley means the return of happiness, purity of heart, sweetness, humility, happiness and love's good fortune. The legend of the lily of the valley is that it sprang from Eve's tears when she was kicked out of the Garden of Eden. In Romanian, Lily of the Valley is the meaning of the name, "Lacramioara", which was our daughter Laura's given name. By coincidence, Laura's middle name is May. May, because it is the month where we first saw a picture of our future daughter. :)

Knowing all of this, Paul surprised Laura and I by buying us Lily of the Valley and presenting it to each of us at home tonight.

We women felt very loved and special. Happy May Day All!

32 YEARS AGO TODAY!!!

Thirty-two years ago today, Paul and I got engaged. We were the best of friends and now over three decades later, we are still the best of friends.

I have hunted for a few pictures of us over the years. We did not bring many to Switzerland with us, but I found these and have had them on the fridge. In looking them over we see we have become older, added wrinkles, grey hair and some extra pounds. Tonight, we will do as we always have. We will sit on our couch and he will ask me to marry him. How could I ever say no to my best friend?!

A Day of Reflection, In Memory of the 1994 Rwanda Genocide

Laura and I took part in the International Day Of Reflection On The 1994 Genocide In Rwanda. The event took place at the Palais Des Nations (U.N.) One of the outstanding speakers was a young genocide survivor Annick Kayitesi.

She told of being 11 years old and seeing her family murdered with machetes right in front of her. One other family member survived, a younger sister, who had taken many machete blows to her body. Annick worked to rescue her sister and hide until they could escape. Now Annick is a wife and mother of two. She has a college education and she works hard to insure education for the children of Rwanda.

London, England 2012

We had a beautiful, fun, wonderful time touring London. We can not wait to go back. Enjoy some of our pictures.

A slideshow by Smilebox