Sledding -- The Real Deal

For a little New Years Eve fun, we went sledding with friends in a place called Filisur, not far from Davos. This is not the hike-up-the-hill-and-sled-down kind of stuff that I did growing up. No, we rented special toboggans and took a 25-minute train ride to get to the top of the sled run. Then, the sled run itself was several kilometers. For a thrill-seeker like me, it was heaven (especially given that I haven't skiied this year and won't until the baby comes). I loved it! Of course, I'm so huge right now (at 8 1/2 mos) that I could barely fit into my ski pants -- and I couldn't zip them up at all, not even a centimeter. We did the run twice. The girls loved the first run, but, by the second time, Mariah was exhausted. She cried the entire way down, so Rob cruised down at lightening speeds to try to get her back to the car. As luck would have it, she crashed spread-eagle on the sled while Rob was pulling her on the flat part at the end of the run.
Exhilarating but exhausting!

The Princesses

It felt like Christmas again today when we received a package from Ken and Joy and family. It was full of fun toys and princess dresses! The girls were ecstatic. Anna donned a blue princess dress and decided to play Sleeping Beauty. I was the handsome prince who rescued her from her eternal sleep with true love's kiss.
Then Sleeping Beauty had to dance to the song "I Know You, I Danced With You Once Upon a Dream".

Mariah chose to kick back in her purple princess dress and read a book.

Playtime!

Today we took the girls to a playcenter not far from our house. There were balls everywhere -- a kids dream. There were hardly any kids around, due to the holidays, so we basically had the place to ourselves.

Anna snuggling with the balls.

Mariah wanted to do it too!

Daddy completely covered himself in balls. I didn't try this -- I don't think any amount of balls could possibly cover my belly.

Come on, Mariah, let's go down!

We Wish You a Merry Christmas!

Merry Christmas everyone!

Because we aren't with family this year, we thought this Christmas would be relaxing. Not so. After presents in the morning, we had the missionaries over for brunch. Then we spent the whole afternoon and evening skyping with family. It was almost as good as being there! However, I'm beginning to realize that I'll never have a relaxing Christmas until my kids grow up. Anna and Mariah awoke early, ready to see what this Christmas brought. Anna is really starting to get the whole concept of gifts. This year, we tried to put a lot more focus on Christ and her gift to Jesus. (She says her gift to Jesus this year is to share her toys with Mariah.) But still, every kid loves Christmas gifts!

Here Mariah, I'll open your stocking for you. Ooooh, lots of chocolate!

Opening presents by the tree. Ooooh, look at these new games and books!

One thing that Anna asked for was a princess crown for Mariah so that they could both have crowns. But then she also wanted pink Sleeping Beauty princess shoes herself. They both ended up with matching pink and blue princess shoe, crown and purse sets.

The big gift this year was a little wooden kitchenette set. Rob and I had quite the time putting it together. It came in one of those flat pack IKEA-type boxes, with just boards. Plus, we discovered we were missing a piece. Fortunately, I purchased it at a wooden toy factory outlet. All I had to do was go back to the factory, where they had loads of extra pieces. Fortuitously, the girls' cousins, the Allens, gave the girls aprons for Christmas, which fit perfectly with our little set. Here the girls are getting their first cooking lesson from Daddy, which included teaching them how to CLEAN UP.

Mariah with her new baby doll --- naptime after a busy Christmas morning.

It's Sledding Time. . .

Because I am so pregnant, we are staying in Zurich for Christmas this year. But there are loads of fun things to do around here. For Christmas Eve, we went sledding with some American friends of ours who live just 10 minutes from a ski resort. It was a bit icy, so our sleds just flew down the hill. Rob did some pretty crazy runs! I was a little more cautious out of fear of falling on my enormous belly. Both Anna and Mariah were fearless!!!

Our photos are not so great because my camera was running out of juice and I couldn't get a good action shot. But here are Daddy and Anna cruising down the hill.

They were followed by our friend Erin and her fearless daughter Rachel.

Cooperation works best: Anna and her friend Danny dragging the sled back up the hill.

Our Gingerbread House

For Family Home Evening this week, we made a gingerbread house. Anna and Mariah had a great time sticking candies everywhere. But most of the candy ended up in Mariah's mouth! Needless to say, by now the gingerbread house already has lots of missing candy pieces and a giant hole in it. I guess gingerbread houses are made to be eaten. . .
Daddy was sick when we made the gingerbread house so he didn't get to participate. But he quickly recovered so that he could read to his girls again. Here they are in Mariah's new "big girl" bedroom. We took the brave step of trying to transfer her from the crib. I'm fearful that she'll quickly take advantage of her newfound freedom.

Zurich at Christmastime

Today we made a trip into Zurich to check out the Christmas markets. Of course, there were all kinds of things to buy at the Christmas markets. But we managed to get through it all without actually buying anything. (Except lunch and hot chocolate at Starbucks. . .what a treat!)

Here are the girls getting ready to hop on the train. It's been a few months since we've taken a train, so they were thrilled.

Bouncing around on the train seats.

The giant Swarovski crystal Christmas tree in the Zurich train station. Apparently they fly a tree in from Finland(?) each year and a security guard is watching it at all times--loads of crystal.

Anna standing in front of a tiny part of the tree.

Coming back to Waedenswil. The girls were pretty good -- considering that they had to tromp around Zurich all morning. We're finally at the stage where we don't really need a stroller -- but not for long!

Samichlaus

Anna partipated in a really fun Swiss German tradition this weekend. She went to see Samichlaus (Santa Claus) in the forest. Here, Santa Claus does not come down the chimney on Christmas Eve to deliver presents. It's the Christkind that delivers presents on Christmas. Instead, Samichlaus meets the kids on December 6 and brings them bags of candies, chocolates and nuts. Anyhow, Mariah was sick, so I stayed home while Rob took Anna up into the forest to meet Samichlaus. Here she is in pink, listening intently to what Samichlaus has to say. The guy to Samichlaus' right is Schmutzli. He is sort of the bad cop in the routine. If the kids are not good, Schmutzli will carry them off in his bag. (A little more threatening than coal in the stocking!)

Hi Santa!

Anna at the big bonfire. They apparently had candles lighting the trail up to the bonfire gathering place.

Anna with her church friends.

Anna with her little buddy, Kelsey.

O Christmas Tree

We put up our Christmas tree and decorated the house for Family Home Evening tonight. Mariah was thrilled. She has been pointing out Christmas trees all over the town and was excited to have one at home.

Anna Claire figured out quickly how to hang the ornaments.

Anna, of course, made sure that Mariah knew how to correctly space the ornaments.

Let's Make Cookies

Today is Thanksgiving -- but we're not doing much for it this year. It's not a holiday here and, with my back problems, I just did not have the energy to make a huge Thanksgiving meal just for our family. Instead, we were thankful by thinking about Christ and Christmas. We made yummy gingerbread Christmas cookies. I'm afraid that most of the frosting wound up in the girls' mouths, rather than on the cookies.

A display of our masterpieces.

Let It Snow

It snowed again all last night and this morning. So the girls bundled up to go play in the snow. Daddy built a really great slide -- that lasted until he slid down and took all the snow with him.

Here are the girls messing around in the snow with our neighbors.

Little pink bundles.

Let's Play!

Anna Claire has been taking a dance class where she is learning lots of different dance moves. She comes home and does dance recitals for me.

Anna is even teaching Mariah some of her moves.

A favorite pastime for both girls is building forts. They get more elaborate each time.

Today we went to a really fun park in Halbinsel Au. Afterwards we had real American burgers at a 50's diner nearby.

Here is my dream treehouse -- over 5 trees!

The rickety bridge over to the slide was just that -- I feared it would not hold my weight. But the girls had no fear.

Wait for me, guys!

Inside the giant fish. Mariah kept calling it "Jonah".

Clever. These old ski gondolas from Davos now make a perfect "train".

How did Daddy get up that high?

Wheeeee!

We hiked down a little trail that leads to the Au harbor. Mariah skipped past the horses.

Hi! It's getting cold out here.

Happy Halloween!

Although Halloween is not really a big holiday here, we managed to get to two Halloween parties. One was a carnival with booths, put on by the expats of our stake. I helped with a booth where the kids made thumbprint cards. Meanwhile, Anna Claire and Mariah went around to all the booths and then got to do a little trick or treating. Unfortunately, I forgot my camera. But Anna Claire was a fairy and Mariah was a bumblebee (hand-me-down from last year). And, per Anna's request, I was a "nice" witch. We also attended another fun Halloween party right here in Horgen. Again, I didn't get any pictures except the one below. As you can see, Anna Claire had a blast.

On Halloween night, we finally carved our pumpkin. The girls helped to clean out the "gunk" while Daddy carved.

Anna Claire and Mariah with their little masterpiece.