A White Birthday

This year I had a birthday full of birthday firsts... My first birthday when there was snow on the ground, my first b-day snowman, and my first birthday event of (helping) put snow tires on the car. When I woke up, there were probably 4-6 inches of snow on the ground - I couldn't believe it - snow in October! There was plenty on the balcony, so Tom and I built a GT snowman. Thanks to Ed, Nancy and Ellie for the GT scarf (I was wearing it until Snowman stole it) and to Lisa for the sweater! And just for the record, Tom did not go out in public dressed like that :)

Even thought there was snow, it wasn't too cold outside and the sun was out and shining.

Our backyard.

It's SNOWING!!

Yep, it's October, and it's been snowing all morning here! I'm really not in GA anymore.

Tom talked me into this...

After almost a year of Tom climbing he (and my neighbor) talked me into going. It was a little bit of a challenge, but not too scary and rather fun. This was my first time, and by the end of two climbs my arms were dead! We went a few other times on real rocks which I liked better. It wasn't clear where to put your hands and feet, but the climbs were less vertical and didn't require the arm strength that the very vertical wall did! So I tried something new and even enjoyed it :)

I survived thanks to lots of encouragement from Tom and Chantal.

Here I am literally holding Tom's life in my hands!

Summer Visit to the States

Tom and I came to the States for two weeks at the end of July. Almost immed- iately after arriving in Atlanta, Tom headed off to Oshkosh, WI for an airshow with his dad and sister while I headed in the opposite direction for a visit with my parents and then a brief stint at the beach with Ashley and Cristina. It was a jam-packed two weeks, but lots of fun.

As for Tom's trip, he spent 10 days either in an airplane, sleeping underneath the wing of one or admiring them (both in the air and on the ground). And he had a blast. Yes it was hot and there was no a/c, yes they had to walk a lot, and yes, the tent was a little on the short side, but he thoroughly enjoyed it. He went to plane workshops, watched plane movies, saw just about every type of plane there is and even saw Harrison Ford from afar. I'm glad that he had a good time, but was also glad it was him and not me :)

I spent my weekend in Dothan visiting with my sisters and parents, going to garage sales and eating yummy food. Then Cristina and I road tripped to Myrtle Beach, picked Ashley up at the airport and checked into our beach side hotel! We spent our time talking, wading in the surf, talking, sitting in the hot tub, talking, making cheesecake, talking and watching a few movies as well. It was good girl time and the beach was beautiful.

After our respective trips, we met back up in Atlanta for some good steak dinners, some shopping and a few more visits with friends and family. Then, all too soon, it was back to CH. Switzerland is great, but it still doesn't feel quite like home!

Tom got to see his friend Matt who is studying in WI while at the airshow. In the background is the Holst campsite.

Tom was co-pilot!

We took an afternoon and did some shopping.

Kitties :)

I have so many cute pictures of my cats, I just had to share a few...

We found Cloé taking a nap in Andrea's skirt.

Maggie climbed into my suitcase while I was trying to pack for our trip to the US.

Cloé is pretty easy going - she was patient with Ellie while she did an extensive photo shoot of her and Maggie.

My cats like to sleep anywhere out of the ordinary.

Maggie is in and out all summer. She loves the balcony, but prefers the view of the birds to that of the mountains.

A Swiss Wedding

At the end of May, Tom and I went to our first wedding over here. We met the couple (Pascal and Laetitia) through the church and though we haven't spent a lot of time with them, really enjoy their company when we do. It was fun to go to a wedding here and see the differences and similarities to weddings back home. We were told multiple times that this wasn't a typical Swiss wedding, but since it's my only frame of reference, I'll just have to go with it.

Differences
1) The wedding was an all day event. We arrived at 10am and didn't leave until 8pm. We had a big lunch around noon and then different dinner stations in the evening. You had the option of bread and cheese, crepes, and chocolate fondue with fruit!
2) The wedding was in 3! languages at various times. French and German to accommodate the different native tongues of most of the guests and English during the ceremony because that is what the pastor spoke.
3) At the end they did the customary Swiss balloon release at the end of the day. Everyone wrote something on a little card with their address on the back which they tied to the balloon string. Then everyone released the balloons. The idea is that if someone finds the balloon, they will send you the card back. A few days later we got a card from Lucern - it was from the balloon Tom released - neat!
4) The ceremony was pretty traditional (from my point of view), but then after lunch there was another service of sorts. A different man preached (in French with translation into German) and then different people came up and sang or did skits or read poems for the couple.

Overall it was a fun day and we felt honored to be a part of it. Best wishes to the newlyweds!

At the wedding (which was held outside) with the Alps and Lake Geneva in the background.

On our ride home (about 40 minutes) we got to see a beautiful rainbow. It went across the whole sky and lasted the entire drive. Along with that, the sunlight was lighting up the landscape brillantly. It was gorgous - thanks, God!

Andrea Was Here

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My sister, Andrea, is majoring in Spanish and as part of her education studied abroad in Spain spring semester of this year. That meant I had a family member living in the same time zone as me for 4 months! After her program, she stopped over in Switzerland to visit with me for two weeks - fun! We enjoyed shopping, drinking coffee and trying out various Swiss pasteries together :) We also made a trip to Geneva - somewhere I hadn't been - and to Bern. Geneva was a neat city - tons of history! More museums and things to see than there will ever be time for. It was also home to John Calvin for some time and witness to his protestant teachings. So there is a lot of religious history their as well of which we barely scratched the surface! Above, Andrea is atop the (Catholic) cathedral looking out onto the city. A Protestant church is right next door and still holds weekly services in English.

The well-known Geneva landmark - Jet d'Eau.

Reverting to our childhoods.

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