Recent Snowfall

We had a nice snowfall last Saturday. It was the first time for us to see snow in downtown. It was snowing really good! I don't think I have ever seen such big flakes. It was beautiful. The kids enjoyed playing in the snow.

Jason had to take some pictures at his usual spot. Try and click on them to get a bigger view if you want.

He just kept zooming in.

We never get tired at looking at the Alps.

I know I am posting quite a few in one day but if I don't do it, I'll get further behind!!!!! I think I am finally caught up. Enjoy!

Moving in....

The day had finally arrived. Our sea shipment was in town. It sure was funny to see that huge truck coming down the street. We could hear it which gave us some time to snap a picture. The police had posted signs out front telling people that they weren't allowed to park in front of our place or else they would be towed. People don't care and will take the chance. I never saw the tow car! It was drizzling rain and they ended up parking on the opposite side of the street. There were four men and they weren't big guys. They had arrived at 9:30 and they were done unloading by 3:00 which included an hour lunch. They did really well thanks to Jason. He was in the back of the truck moving everything up while 1 guy carried it across the street. Another guy carried it up the 5 steps to the elevator. The third one took the boxes and whatever would fit in the 3 person elevator up to the flat. The fourth guy helped me place the boxes in the rooms.

The couches and the king size bed had to go up 3 flights of stairs. Also 2 big heavy desks and 2 dressers. I felt sorry for them. I heard the men joke that the king size bed was for "Zeus" (big guy in the back of the truck!)

It was a nice sight for me to look out the window and see the truck empty. I didn't want to see another thing come up that elevator.

We only have 1 box to deal with as of right now. I haven't hung any pictures but it is on the agenda for the weekend. It looks great and feels like home!

Weekend Pictures

I just wanted to show some of the pictures we have taken in the last couple of weeks to get caught up. Last weekend, we went for a walk down at the lake and there were quite a few sailboats on the lake. It might have been a club or a training class because they kept going back and forth between the buoys. We had gone to Gumligen 2 Fridays ago for the boys 3 way conferences. Everything went well.
Lucas wasn't thrilled about taking that picture.

The building on the right is where the main offices are located plus a couple of Devin's classes. The building on the left is for secondary education as well.

This picture is for all my friends at Polk. Those 4 spaces make up the school's parking lot. I was surprised to see them empty. We took the train because we worried about parking. I have to note that when we left, the parking lot was full!

That evening after conferences there was an ice skating party for the 6th graders in Bern. We had a nice time. That girl beside Devin followed him around all night. Her father is a US diplomat at the embassy. There was quite a few diplomats there. The boys had a good time but they were sore from falling quite a bit. Devin's poor knees were solid black and blue.

There is only 18 students in Devin's class. I believe there is 10 girls and 8 boys. That night there were only 2 boys and almost all the girls.

Kate and I kept going inside to warm up. The boys kept taking off clothes because they were so hot.

Jason & Kate's toboggan ride

I am trying something new. I think everyone will enjoy Kate's expressions.

Happy Thanksgiving!

Hello everyone! I finally have sat down to update the blog. We are pretty much settled in and I have a computer at the moment that is working. Mine had a little incident with kids and spilled wine. It's not looking too good at the moment but I have faith in Jason. He pretty much fixes everything!

We went up to a toboggan hill not far from town called the Vue des Alps We had a great time. We went with the Taylors and the kids had a great time! The parents did too. It was a beautiful day. You can see the fog over the lake. As soon as we got a couple of miles out of town, the sun was shining.
Payton Taylor is 4 years old and the kids really enjoy playing with him.

I believe it is a chain drive that pulls you all the way up the hill and then at the top it releases you. You have a lever that controls the speed. Needless to say the men went flying down the hill with the kids.

Devin was pretending to be a cowboy!

Lucas was going fast but he wasn't about to let go of the brake.

Dad thought it would be cool to video tape the ride down. Kate's look is priceless!
Of course, Kate and I took our time. We didn't go very fast the first run. I thought we were going to have to push ourselves. I let Kate do the driving since she was the expert.
The man that owns the toboggan business was very nice. Jason enjoyed talking to him. I guess he just sold some of his designs to a group that was putting some in Colorado. He let Kate and the boys go down one more time on him. Kate loved the fact that she got to go by herself.
Once last look at the Alps. I'll be updating some more later today. I bet everyone is full of the good Thanksgiving fixings. Try not to spend too much money at all the sales.

New Car

We finally bought a car. We did a lot of debating on what kind of car to get - Used or New, small or medium and the Ford Fiesta was the winner. It is a 2008 model but the old style for this year. They just came out with a newer model for this year and it is much sportier looking. However, they were having some good "Action" (Sale) on this car. Michel is the agent that sold us the car. He was very nice and spoke very good english. It was amazing. We only had to sign one piece of paper and we were done in about 30 minutes at the most. It was ready for us to pick up the next day. They cleaned it again and put the snow tires on and store your summer tires for a small fee. It's worth the fee for me because they take up the whole backseat and trunk. Michel was thrilled to get his picture taken. Kate was ready to go!

I thought it would be fun to show you the parking garage. We park in the lower level. So right before the green doors, we take a right.
This is the ramp down and it fits only 1 car. I always hope that someone isn't coming out. I don't want to have to drive in reverse back up.

We finished the afternoon with enjoying the Christmas lights in the front of the hotel and Kate feeding the birds some old bread.

Weekend events

Hello everyone. We had a cloudy weekend. The boys had a sleepover already. They played video games, ran in the woods and ate home made choc. chip cookies. Jason, Kate and I joined them for dinner and ate Domino's pizza. It was delicious! We had a good time getting to know the Larson Family. They moved here from Indianapolis in March of 2008. Their boys, Zach and Johnathan, go on the same train as ours to the International School in Bern.

Jason and I went to the IKEA store to buy light fixtures. What an experience that was. We had never been in that store before. It's huge and is very busy on Saturdays!!!! In Switzerland, when you rent a place, you have to furnish your own ceiling lights. I don't know if you noticed the single light bulbs hanging down in the pictures on the previous post.

Jason took some pictures of the view from the bedrooms. The third picture shows what Devin and I were looking at. We will have a really good view of the lake when they take that white building down. They are suppose to in December after the Christmas Fair. They were putting it up the day we arrived in Neuchatel. It's like a tent but much sturdier and looks permanent. I hope they don't decide to leave it up.

This picture is what it looks like being towed in Switzerland. We'll have to tell you about that some time. It will give you a good laugh!

Our Flat

Hello everyone! We have been having connection issues at the hotel. I just wanted to show some pictures of the flat before it gets full of all of our stuff!

This is the view from the yard area. To me it should be called the front of the building but they say it is the back. Our floor is the 3rd one up. On the first floor is an investment business and on the second is the aunt of the owners of the building. This building has been in their family for over 100 years!

This of course is the kitchen. They really wanted to modernize it. It's very nice but very black/white with cream cabinets. Not my favorite color choice. I asked if I could paint and they said no, "only professionals". I tried to say that I have done lots of painting in the last 6 years but they said to wait to live in it awhile. I agreed.

This is right off the kitchen. There is a shower room and sink to the right of the washer and dryer. The room behind is the guest room/game room. It is a very nice size for any of you that want to visit!!!!

I love the fireplace and the detail of the wood in the master bedroom.

The master bath - we are still debating on if we will hang a curtain. The other option is to take a shower in one of the other bathrooms.

Black and white is so blah!

Lucas's bedroom.
The hallway I love, nice and cheerful!
The bathroom is at the end of the hall. One room has a toilet and sink and the other has toilet, sink and shower. This is a good picture of the heating towel rack. It is very popular here. I can't wait to try it out.

This is looking at the front door from the bathroom at the end of the hall.

The kitchen is on the right and the office will be on the left.

This is the closet in the room where we will have the tv. There are tons of cabinets in this room. It was the homeowners dining room. The room that we will use as the office is where the meals were prepared to be served. There is a door that is sealed but has a little door that still opens where the cook could hand the food thru.

This is the view out of the kitchen window - the front of the building. I didn't like sticking my arm out the window to take the picture.

This is our front door with my little cart that I can't forget when I go grocery shopping!
The door into the building with our mailboxes on the side.

As you walk in from the street there is an area for parking but it has to be quick. We are renting 2 parking spaces in a parking garage that is about 2 blocks away. Those big doors lead to the yard area.

I had intended to have some other pictures but I just wanted to get this posted. Hope you enjoyed our tour.