Spring is Coming

We have been getting a little bit warmer this past week. They are predicting a high of 59 for Saturday which we are all excited about. I thought I would change the picture at the top of the page. The blog was looking a bit too cold - it needed some blue sky and sunshine. The lake water is so low. I don't really understand why because we have had so much more moisture than what is considered normal here.

I think I have become attached to the swans. There is 3 of them that have stayed all winter. They will eat bread right out of your hand. They get a finger every now and then but it doesn't hurt. There is one that really likes to hiss. It's amazing how big they are.
I'm anxious to see how hopping this marina will be this summer.

In our yard, we have had these little bulbs coming up since November. I couldn't believe they were coming up so early. They have finally started blooming this past week. The yellow flowers only open when the sun is shining on them. They are not very big.

The white ones aren't much bigger but it's nice to see flowers in the yard. They are definately pretty hardy!

Weekend in Paris!

Bonjour Everyone! We headed to Paris this past weekend since the boys were on holiday last week and Kate's holiday is this week. We had a wonderful time! The weather was nice. It was warmer than Neuchatel (high 40's) and no rain or snow while we were there.

We got on the TGV (fast train) 9:00 Friday morning. We had a direct route and we arrived 4 hours later. We had to take the subway (Metro) from the main station to a stop close to the hotel. It was a bit hard due to the stairs and having Kate in the stroller. We survived and made it to the hotel with some extra walking.

We decided to head out and see the sights. We were tired of sitting. The hotel was in a perfect location. It is between the Arc de Triomphe and Tour Eiffel. (I am going to give you some French) We took lots of pictures and I narrowed them down to give you an idea of our 2 days in Paris.
The kids were dying for Jason to take their picture leaning on the Eiffel Tower. This one of Lucas turned out the best.

Of course Jason wanted to take a picture from underneath the tower. We weren't exactly sure what he wanted us to be doing.

I had to get a picture of the photographer in front of the Tower.

We then headed to the Hotel des Invalides.

Then we headed back across the river. The Seine runs below where the 4 pillars are. The statues are on the 4 corners of the bridge and very big.

I thought this was a good picture.

On the other side of the river was the Grand Palais and had this sculpture. This picture is just a sample of what you see everywhere. The kids should definately know some anatomy after this trip.

We walked back to the hotel along the river. It definately was a beautiful walk. After dinner Jason got a great picture of us in front of our hotel.

We decided to walk up to the Arc de Triomphe and it was busy. The circle didn't seem to have as many cars as you sometimes can see on tv or such. I would never drive in Paris. I don't know how they do it.

On Saturday morning we headed to Musee Rodin. We wanted to see "The Thinker" since I'm always telling Jason that he reminds me of him. When Jason is deep in thought, his hand is at his face but he is wearing some clothes!

We decided to catch the Metro and head over the see Notre Dame. We'll have to go inside on the next visit. The kids were anxious to get to the Louvre and see "Mona Lisa".

There she is.

We did a quick tour of one wing of the Louvre. It's amazing how huge that place is. One nice thing was that we only had to pay for Jason to get in. If you are under 18 - Free. Since Kate is considered physically disabled, one adult gets in free with her. At the other museum, we all were allowed in for Free. However, we did pay a price. There are lots of stairs and the elevators weren't always accessible. Anyway, the ceiling in one room was just magnificent!!

There is lots to see inside the Louvre!

It is definately Big!!

This Arc de Triomphe is between the Louvre and the Jardins des Tuileries.

Then we walked towards the Place de La Concorde which has the Luxor obelisk. Just look at all those people! The Champs-Elysees was jammed.

It's hard to believe that it could be more crowded than this in the summer. It would be even more beautiful with the all the trees, flowers and fountains in full bloom. We'll just have to try it.

I hope you enjoyed our quick tour of Paris!

One of our favorite treats!

To us, this tastes exactly like Jason's grandmother's "Crystali". I'm not sure on the spelling. This is called "carnival" and sold only at this time of year. It is carnival season. We are planning to go to one the first weekend in March at a town not too far from here. People dress up in costumes and lots of music. It should be lots of fun and good photo opportunities.

This treat is like a fried flour tortilla but it is much thinner than that. It is sprinkled with powdered sugar and it crumbles very easily. It also melts in your mouth!!!!

Jason's Trip to Brussels

Last week Jason took his first business trip within Europe. He went to Brussels, Belgium and attended a training course provided by Johnson & Johnson. He was able to get a couple of photos while he was there.

They have quite a few bridges and it's made or lined with red bricks.

I believe this picture is from his hotel room. They have less sunshine than we do in Neuchatel.

Crazy Weather!

We have been having lots of rain lately. However, this morning we woke up to a snow storm. It started a little bit before 7:00 this morning and by 8:00 there was probably a good 2 inches on the ground. It made for a huge mess - slush turning into ice.

I decided to try my luck and see how the roads were to take Kate to school. I got half way up the hill and there was a big truck that slid across the road into a parked car. The car in front of me had stopped and couldn't get going again. Of course once I stopped, I couldn't get moving either. So I was able to back up, turn around and head back home. Luck was with me today.
The sun did come out around 10:00 and the streets looked better. I decided to take Kate to school. There were quite a few accidents that were still being cleaned up. I hope the roads stay ok till it's time to pick up Kate later this afternoon.

When I got back home I took Maggie for a walk along the Lake. She always has a good time running around. They are allowed to be off their leash on the grass. Occasionally she'll play with other dogs.

These 2 pictures I just decided to take to show you the weather. It started to really snow again.

I think they are predicting snow for the rest of the week into the weekend. We shall see.

Weekend get together - Mexican Style

We were finally able to set a date with our relocation agent and her family. Christine was a huge help and has been a very good friend. They said they liked spicy, so I decided to cook up some good Mexican food. Our local grocery store does have a nice selection of "Old El Paso" Products. The tortillas are pretty good and makes cooking a lot easier. Price - 4.80 Francs for a package of 8 tortillas.

I made green chili for burritos and a chicken enchilada casserole. We had nachos, beans and all the fixings. I think all the adults had 2 servings and they couldn't believe all the food. I have to say they really did like it. Of course, I had to make some triple chocolate brownies. They couldn't believe they were made from a box kit. We did a number on those too! I'm upset that I didn't take their picture. Next time!

They brought over a lovely flower arrangement. It was nice to have something bright in the kitchen. We had lots of fun and lots of laughs. It's always so much fun to hear people from Switzerland talk about Switzerland!

Kate gets new AFO's

Out with the old and in with the new "Switzerland Style". These AFO's just weren't doing a very good job. She got these in quite a rush right before we left the states. Her foot was still swollen from the surgery. However, her foot returned to normal size and of course the braces became too big.

The first day my parent's were here at Christmas is when we had our appointment with the orthotist. The man spoke some English and was very nice. I have to say that he was not impressed with the braces. We were hoping he could heat them up a little bit and have them form better to her legs. No, that wasn't going to happen. He took one look at them and huffed, shook his head. So, Jason asked him what he thought and he said, "those are #@!T" We asked.

Kate didn't say anything but when we got back home she made sure her grandparents knew what the man said. It was pretty funny.


We got the ok from the insurance company and ta da - here are the Swiss AFO's. I have to say they are pretty nice. Kate likes him again since he made those fancy cut outs on the back. She has never had those before.

She picked the pattern and of course I was a little worried. They are definately more bold in color than her old ones and they don't match very well with all her "pink" clothes but she seems to have gotten over that now - I hope!

We did have to go out and buy some new shoes. I was surprised, we found some that were quite reasonable and that we both agreed on which isn't always easy!

UNICEF dinner

This past Friday night, we attended the UNICEF dinner at Kate's school. The kids were very excited for the big celebration. This is a picture of Kate and her good friend Victoria. The evening did not begin until 7:30. Dinner is very late here. The kids helped set up the cafeteria that afternoon.

A nice picture of the girls with their fathers. Victoria's father is from the US and her mother is from Paris. They have been living here for the past 10 years. We enjoyed visiting with him and getting his perspective on Switzerland.

The children were getting instructions on their duties. They were responisible for getting the drinks for the tables- wine, champagne or juice. That definately would not happen in the US. It was cute to see the kids with their trays and trying to carry the glasses of champagne without dropping them.

There was a ventriloquist that performed and he got lots of laughs from the kids. Katelyn especially laughed when he decided to draw me. The picture had special effects that made my eyes and mouth move on the paper.

It was a very fun night. We did not eat dinner till probably 9:30. Dinner was very interesting. It was Chinese Fondue. There was a hot beef broth and we were served thin slices of raw beef and chicken. You place one piece of the meat on the skewer and let it sit in the broth for a couple (a lot) of minutes to cook. It was served with sauces and either rice or potatoes gratin. Jason & I let everyone else at the table go first so we could watch how they did it. I have to say it was very hard eating off a plate that has raw meat on it. The meat did taste fine but it was different. The desserts were delicious!

It turned out to be a very long evening. We didn't leave until 11:15. The kids had to clear all the tables. Some kids were barely walking. It was amazing and something that we would not have experienced in the US.