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.