Christmas and New Years!

The run-up to Christmas this year was crazy, due to our move, but Christmas day and onwards was quite relaxing. (We just decided to go easy on the post-move-in organizing.) We did a little sight-seeing and a little skiing. (Rob and I hit the slopes for the first time with our new ski equipment.) It was so much fun to have CK with us to help out and hang out with us. She brought a little bit of "home" with her. Plus, the girls absolutely adored having Aunt CK around. (By the way, CK is my fashionista sister who designs her own fabulous line of dresses. You should check it out at http://www.shabbyapple.com/.)

We had some friends (Nathalie and Andreas and kids) over for Christmas brunch, which gave me incentive to at least clean up the place and make a decent meal. Actually, I made Rob's family's traditional Christmas casserole again. CK helped me prepare it, but it had everything in it that makes her sick -- eggs, cheese, sausage, croutons, cream, cream, cream. Yep, it was delicious! Unfortunately, instead of serving fizzy apple juice, I accidently bought and served fizzy apple cider (which is full of alcohol). I discovered this, to my horror, only halfway through the meal when Rob took a sip. Fortunately, none of my guests (nor their children) had been drinking it except one person, who drinks alcohol anyway.

Unfortunately, the weather here has been pretty dismal -- with the inversion effect over the lake (something I'm no stranger to as a Salt Lake City girl). So we drove up into the mountains above the cloudy soup to show CK the stunning view of Mont Blanc (just across Lake Geneva).

CK and I also did a whirlwind tour of Chateau Chillon, the picturesque castle near Montreux.

Braving the cold weather to hit the swings!

Sledding!

Exploring a snow cave. I know they look grumpy, but they really were pretty happy until their hands started freezing.

Daddy and Mariah after a fun run.

The two snow bunnies.

Wooh hoo!

Christmastime in Paris

BONJOUR PARIS!

Just two days after we officially moved, the whole family hopped on an early morning train for a few gleeful days in Paris. We met my sister CK there and had a fabulous time touring the place. I must say that most of my previous Paris experiences have been negative, but they've been getting better and better and this one was the best. I think it's because every time I've been to Paris before, I didn't speak any French, which doesn't help with the proud Parisiens. Although my French is not great, it was nice this time to at least be able to get around the place by speaking the Parisiens' language. Another smart thing we did, was to lower our expectations and limit our plans. Rob wanted to see only four things -- the Eiffel Tower, the Louvre, the Musee d'Orsay and Versailles. But, surprisingly, we also made quite a nice walking tour of the city by default -- we were forced to walk in order to get the girls to nap in the stroller. I must say, the lights of Paris at Christmastime are magical -- and classy. (Even the flashing lights of the Eiffel Tower somehow escape the tackiness associated with similar lights in Vegas.)

Our hotel was nicely located near the Hotel des Invalides and the Eiffel Tower -- so we headed off to the Eiffel Tower (Anna's favorite) first thing. Of course, we couldn't just take the traditional photo--and this was the best view of the Tower!

Anna Claire with her stylin' Aunt CK.

Here we are strolling around the Louvre. We went on a Friday evening, which was a perfect time to avoid the crowds. However, we didn't avoid the picture-taking tourists. Anna and Mariah became tourist attractions themselves, with at least a handful of people stopping to snap photos of them. Strange, because they won't even pose for us!

Anna Claire, pondering the grace of Winged Victory.
The Mona Lisa was nice, but this place is HUGE and I'm exhausted.

This is the way to tour a museum, being carted around by Daddy!

VERSAILLES!

I love it! Miles and miles of park and lots of gravel to get my hands into.

The gang in the Hall of Mirrors. Mariah is more interested in a piece of cheese than in all the glitz and gold.

Anna Claire got most of her historical information from the audioguide.

Sisters -- in front of Notredame.

Chillin' outside Notredame.

Moving Chaos

Believe it or not, we are in the middle of moving again. Yes, this will be the 7th time we have moved in our 4.5 years of marriage. I just wanted to tell the world (as I do each time) that I hate it! Moving isn't just the one or two days our stuff is actually getting moved, it includes all the packing, sorting, tossing and determining whether strange bits and bobs lying around the house are just junk or some absolutely essential camera part. And afterwards, it includes the unpacking, settling in, multiple trips to IKEA to purchase and assemble furniture pieces with incomprehensible directions and infinite trips to the garbage dump. Despite all my experience, I'm not good at it, and I certainly seem to collect a lot of junk. Just ask my husband!

Anyhow, we have to do it -- and the reward is that we'll be settled into our own sunny apartment surrounded by our cheery old furnishings (that have been languishing in storage the past year) and, most wonderfully, our own temperpedic bed. Aaaaah, it almost seems worth it. But I must tell you not to expect a Christmas card from us anytime soon, what with all this moving stuff!

Our trip to Santa's Village

Yesterday, we took a cogwheel train from Montreux to Rochers-de-Naye to see Père Noël (Santa Claus). It really looked like we were headed for the North Pole. As we headed up the mountain, the green grass quickly changed to white snow. At the top, we wandered through a grotto filled with Santa's elves and reindeer, before finally reaching Santa. We were happy to discover that Santa spoke four languages -- French, English, German and Italian. (Only in Switzerland.) Anna Claire was a little scared and refused to sit on his lap, but at least she posed for the picture (sort of). Mariah missed the whole thing. After screaming the whole train ride up, she finally crashed from exhaustion when we arrived.

Anna Claire with her friends Mason, Leo and Elin.

Check out the stunning views from halfway up.

Halloween!

When I found out that I was going to Utah, I quickly ordered some Gap costumes online for the girls. Anna Claire picked the bumblebee outfit but the only costume left in Mariah's size was the pig. So, Mariah got to be a pig this Halloween--which looked great with herchubby little face well! And, actually, someone taught her to snort like a pig too -- so this is what she now does every time she sees a pig. Anna Claire was thrilled by the whole event and quickly picked up on the getting candy part. She did a Trunk or Treat with her California cousins, then returned to Utah to do more trick or treating with Ken's and Joy's kids.

The Trick or Treat Gang - Anna Claire, Joshua, Eleanor, Mariah, Olivia, Noah, Gracie

Bees n' Pirates

Yeah! Anna Claire knows how to entertain the younger ones -- she gets lots of practice!

Candy overdose!

Mommy, I'm just so glad to get out of that pig costume!

October 2007 - Visit to Tiffs and Jareds

While in Utah, we made a little side trip to California to visit Rob's sister Tiff and her family. (Anyhow, the girls got to play with their cousins Sam and Jacob. Jake is just 6 months older than Anna and she adores him -- as well as her older cousin Sam.

The trip was more than a side trip -- I had to go back to Sacramento to pack up all our furniture in storage and get it shipped to Switzerland. (If you didn't already know, we're staying in Switzerland another 3 years!) Everyone in Rob's family rallied to help. Grandma Judie flew out to help watch the girls and Jared spent a very long day helping me pack up and transport boxes. We couldn't have done it without them! Rob did a quick one day fly-in to help out too.

Anna and Jake with their matching LeapPads.

The three cousins (Anna is protesting the camera -- her new thing).

Mariah just loved looking at the "doggie" outside.

October 2007 - Back to Utah -- again!

About 6 weeks after returning to Switzerland, we made another unexpected trip to Utah. My Grandma Yancey (my father's mother) passed away. She was a wonderful grandma and an amazing, kind person. We will truly miss her. Anyhow, I packed up the girls and we made another long trip halfway across the globe without Rob. Grandma's funeral was beautiful -- such a celebration of her joyful life. All of her grandkids but one made it back -- how great is that! Afterwards, we all gathered at her home -- which is in the hills above Provo to eat and listen to great piano music -- just as we often did at my grandmother's home. Unfortunately, I forgot my camera, so I've got no pictures of the event. But the girls had a great time seeing their aunts and uncles, cousins and grandma and grandpa.

I was also fortunate to get to visit my sister-in-law, Joy, in the hospital. She was finishing her second round of chemotherapy treatments and has a surprisingly chipper attitude, especially given that she's been in a lot of pain.

The girls, of course, had a great time with Grandma Tia and Grandpa Ken while in Utah.

My brother Ken, Eleanor (one of their twins), Gracie and a very jetlagged Anna Claire.

Of course, nothing beats riding around in Grandma's and Grandpa's driveway! Yes, that is Mariah, only 9 1/2 months old, but big enough to scoot around on a car.

And the race is on. . . zoom. . .zoom. . .!

Hmmm. . .I think I'll just help myself to some of this delicious stuff in Grandma's refrigerator!

Anna Claire loved hanging out with Aunt CK. Every time I mention her name Anna Claire starts to do a little dance. She loves dancing with Aunt CK.

Pumpkin Carving!

For family home evening today, we carved a pumpkin. Anna Claire has been reading a book about pumpkins so she was excited to make a jack o' lantern. She helped Daddy gut the pumpkin and picked out all the seeds so that we could broil them. Mariah got a kick out of watching from her high chair.

Doing the pumpkin boku squat pose.

Here's Mr. Jack O'Lantern.

The great pumpkin crawl.

Soccer and Lions

We stopped by a soccer tournament today sponsored by Rob's Medtronic Diabetes team. Anna Claire brought her little stuffed soccer ball and had a "ball" kicking it around with her friend Nathan.

She also got her face painted like a pink lion -- and enjoyed roaring at everyone. We are so lucky to have had lots of fun family Saturdays lately!

Desalpes in Semsales

Today we made a little trip to the "Desalpes" celebration in Semsales. Lots of the mountain towns in Switzerland have big celebrations each year to mark the coming down of the cows from the mountains. They dress the cows up with giant bells and flowers and parade them through the town, along with loads of musicians, etc. The girls loved seeing the cows, but I didn't really enjoy all the manure that collected on our feet!

Here come the bell ringers!

Hanging out in the crowd near the music!
And, finally, the stars of the show!

Wow, Mommy, I can't take my eyes off these cows!

Sad news

Many of you might know that my fabulous sister-in-law (really almost sister -- I've known her 22 years) Joy was diagnosed this week with Acute Myelogenous Leukemia (AML). She is in the hospital getting chemotherapy treatments and is amazingly brave. I'm both shocked and devastated by the news, but, with everyone, I'm hoping for the best. I've been bad at keeping up this blog, but I've set up a blog for Joy so that we can keep everyone informed of her treatments. It's at http://www.joywoolley.blogspot.com/.

Anyhow, we're keeping her and her family -- my brother, Ken, and their five beautiful children in our prayers. Here is a recent photo of their family from Johnny's wedding: