Musings of Amy

We could have baptized Noah on his birthday, which would have been kind of cool.  But it was only the day after we got back from Austria, and even I couldn’t have pulled that off!  Plus Oma and Opa really wanted to be there, so we waited and did it two weeks after his birthday.

I had asked Noah beforehand what kind of treats/food he wanted for the party afterwards.  Zucchini bread, brownies, cinnamon rolls and CTR cookies were requested.  So that is what I spent Friday and Saturday (when we weren’t on the boat ride) doing, baking all those treats.  I tried out a new sugar cookie recipe for the CTR cookies from a lady’s blog that sells them for money.  They were really, really good!  I will definitely be using that recipe again.

I didn’t have a CTR cookie cutter shield, so I just drew one on paper, cut it out, and then placed that on the dough and hand cut each cookie with a knife.  Fortunately the shield is just four “swooops” so it went pretty quickly.  I found out later that my friend actually had a shield cookie cutter, but it was faster to just cut them out this way, rather than drive into Zurich to pick it up.  Yeah, that’s what I am going with. 🙂

Noah was so excited about finally getting baptized, since all the other kids in his Primary class have birthdays in February and March.  It was hard waiting so long.  Chris did a lot to prepare him, both spiritually and practically.  They read lots of scriptures that dealt with the covenants you make at baptism and talked about what they meant.  They also practiced getting dunked under the water. 🙂  Every few days Chris would just walk up to Noah and say, “Okay, let’s practice!”  And then grasp his arms from the front and bend him backwards.  It was a good thing because Noah had a hard time bending his legs and would just let himself sort of fall backwards.  Chris was afraid he would slip out of his hands!

Finally it was the big day. In order to make the day extra memorable for Noah, the water heater kindly arranged to break down.  This meant he got baptized in very cold water.  Twice.   Because his foot popped up the first time.  Chris was trying to do it fast because of the cold, but it backfired on him.  They were both shivering by the time they were done.

I rubbed Noah really well with the towel to try and help him warm up, but he wouldn’t let me do it for very long.  He was laughing and saying he wanted to race as fast as possible, so they would only have time to sing three songs.  I don’t know if he made it, but he sure had fun trying.

When we made it back to the chapel, the girls and I did a little musical number to “I am a Child of God”.  Sarah and Alexandra sang, Sophie played her recorder and I played the piano, sort of.  When we practiced at home I did fine, but playing in front of people always make me so nervous!  My fingers tense up so bad I can barely move them.  But the girls sounded great and Noah liked that they went to all that extra effort just for him.

Noah had asked Dolores to give the talk on the Holy Ghost just like she had done for all the other kids.  She has been his teacher since he started Primary and just recently moved out of the ward.  He was very happy that she agreed to come back and speak.  It was a great talk, and he loved all the little presents she gave him that went with the theme.

Opa gave him the gift of the Holy Ghost and the Bishop welcomed him to the ward and gave him his very own Triple combination in German.  Then it was time to party!

Chris and I had originally talked about having his baptism on a Saturday and grilling in the nearby park afterwards with everyone who wanted to come.  But when we suggested it to Noah he was less than enthusiastic.  He wanted a baptism “just like everybody else”.  Since we wanted the day to special for him, we obeyed. 🙂

You can see most of my kids in this shot, although not their faces. haha.  But don’t those cookies look cute?  The fancy tray was borrowed from my friend, Megan.  It really helps to glam them up, I think.

It’s not a great picture, but this is the angel crew that helped me put this shindig together.Rahel is slicing her homemade bread that she brought to go with the meat and cheese I brought.  Wendy is next, who brought real American chocolate chip cookies, which got devoured in about 5 minutes.  Megan brought snickerdoodles, which were a request from Chris.  I am a pretty good baker, but for some reason I can’t make those particular cookies to his liking.  Fortunately, I have awesome friends who take pity and make him a batch once in a while.  Tanya made veggie pizza, which Noah didn’t touch, but Nicholas and I loved it.  And Terrian, not pictured, brought a great veggie tray with dip despite the lateness of the request.

The thing about awesome friends is that they are able to walk into the room, assess that you are in need of help in about .5 seconds and immediately get to work.  Love, love, love these ladies.  I honestly don’t think living in Switzerland would be near as great as I think it is without them.

We were so thankful so many people came out to support Noah, despite the fact that it was summer vacation.  He absolutely loves being the center of attention and they all helped to make him feel special.

By the time we had cleaned everything up, with the help of my awesome friends, their husbands, and the Bishop, we were pretty tired and ready for bed.  What a great day for a great boy.  Love you, Noah!  We are so proud of you!

Grandpa Jean had big plans to drive all over Switzerland and Italy, but he quickly discovered that that wasn’t quite feasible anymore.  Which was a huge relief to me because I was very worried he would end up seriously hurting himself or others, and that’s no way to go on vacation.  But this meant he now had many empty days to fill.  I suggested a boat ride on either Lake Luzern or Lake Zurich, and when that went over so well, we decided to join him.

We almost didn’t make it, though.  Oma and Opa left earlier to pick him up at the bed and breakfast, and I left a bit later to meet them down in Luzern.  I got to the train station and parked just fine, I have done that before.  But we couldn’t figure out how to get out of the train station and end up in the right spot, until after we had gone up a few different exits.  Then there was a really long line to buy tickets at the pier, and by the time it was our turn, we had about 1 minute until the boat was supposed to leave.  And this is Switzerland, which meant that the boat was probably already leaving the dock.  The ticket agent told me he couldn’t sell me the tickets, I needed to buy them directly on the boat.  He pointed me in the right direction and the kids and I took off running.  We had been in phone contact with John, so he went out to the dock to wait for us and let the captain know we were coming and to not take off without us.  It was a pretty crazy couple of minutes, but we finally made it.  Whew!

It was totally worth it.  The weather was perfect, and the views were incredible. Nick wasn’t sure he was happy about joining us, but after a few minutes he relaxed and realized how nice it was.  The other kids had a blast exploring the boat and taking pictures of every little thing that caught their eye.

I really miss being out on the water.  It’s not like we went all the time, but we did go out on my Grandpa’s boat every summer, and I always loved it.  Despite the queasiness I sometimes felt.  He would even let me control the rudder when we got out into more open water.  I loved steering the boat around one of the giant pylons holding up the Coronado Bay bridge.  Such great memories!

So this boat ride was very special and brought back lots of happy feelings for me.  It was fun to share that with my kids as well.  I know have a goal to go on at least one boat once a summer with them.

I think Grandpa likes the salty sea air in his face as well. 🙂

The ride was also made nicer by the fact that no one fell in the water or got seasick. bwahaha  We saw some really fancy houses and hotels lining the coast, and had fun imagining what it would be like to live in one of them.

We also played a fun little game.  Every time we passed another boat with people in it, no matter how big or small, we would smile and wave really enthusiastically until at least one person waved back.  A few people waved right away.  Others stared at us for quite a while before finally raising their hand to wave back.  Only one small boat, with two people in it never waved back.  We called out a cheery greeting to them in return. 🙂

Sophie and Alexandra were very worried they would starve to death on the two hour boat ride, so I brought plenty of snacks and water, including a whole bag of dried apricots.  Ever since, whenever I offer them to her for morning snack Alexandra will remind me that she learned she didn’t like them on the boat. I wonder if she was feeling queasy and associates that with the dried apricots?

Anyway, it was a lovely way to spend the afternoon, and I only wish Chris would have come along as well.  Maybe next time…

After a quick stroll through Appenzell, and a stop at the toy store to pick up a belt for Noah, the baptism boy, we headed over to Eichberg. This little house is covering the water fountain Papa and his siblings used to stop and get a drink at before tackling the big hill on the way home from school. We have a picture of just Chris and I in this same spot on our honeymoon.  Fun to come back with all the kids so many years later.  Unfortunately, time has not been kind to the fountain.  You aren’t allowed to drink the water anymore, I guess it isn’t safe. 🙁

Right behind the fountain were some funny sheep.  They came running down the hill toward us, I guess they thought we had food?  Anyway, they were all bleating very loudly at us, which just cracked us up.  Then I bleated back, and we had a conversation. 🙂

Eichberg itself is pretty small.  There isn’t really anything to do there.  So we drove past the old house, stopped at the restaurant on the top of the hill to admire the view, and then headed over to the Hoher Kasten.

Back when Chris was a kid, they always took visitors up the cable car to the top of this mountain and then hiked back down.  Our kids may have been up for that sort of thing, but there wasn’t time.  So we rode the car both ways, courtesy of Grandpa Jean.  Thank you for the tickets, Grandpa!

Some of the kids had expressed some concern about the ride up the cable car before we got there.  But it wasn’t nearly as scary as they had feared, and the views were amazing.  Grandpa kept moving around to snap photos out of every different window. We saw two white cats in the field going up, and one of them was still there on the way back down!  Watching them helped the kids calm down quite a bit, and just enjoy the ride.

When we got to the top, our party broke up.  The older generations went to the restaurant to enjoy the views and have a bite to eat.  We headed around to the back side of the mountain and had a picnic lunch. It was a very happy, relaxed atmosphere, and there was much giggling.  In fact, at one point, Nick’s drink went flying out his nose he was laughing so hard, which only cracked us up even more.  I am sure the man sleeping on the bench nearby found it slightly annoying, but we were just having fun and creating memories.  And then when the man woke up and walked away we started laughing again because it turns out he was a she!

Sophie did need a bit of help going down the path to our picnic spot, the path was just a bit steep for her. But we all made it and were able to enjoy the view.

Wouldn’t it be fun to hike to that lake and go swimming on a hot summer day?

And since it’s Switzerland, you have to see the crazy cows grazing on the steep mountain slopes.   If they can walk up there, I know our kids could make it!  But how do they not fall off?  Crazy.

We left the others on the mountain since they were going to visit either the chocolate or cheese factory, both of which we have seen lots of times.  We just wanted to get home.  But by the car park, we did see this fun, crazy statue.

It always fascinates me how things like this don’t just fall over.

Grandpa Jean, Oma and Opa wanted to go back and visit the area where the family had lived 20 years ago.  Since we were so close, we decided to travel to Eichberg via Liechtenstein.  We have driven through it several times, but I don’t think we have ever stopped.  True, there isn’t much to see, but it is fun to say you have gone to 2 different countries in one day!

We were lucky and found some great parking very easily.  On the walk from there into the main downtown area, we passed this church.

It was very charming and lovely inside as well. Sarah especially liked this church and wanted to go back inside on our way home as well.  I think she appreciated that there were no gory pictures anywhere, and that pink light through the stained glass is very pretty.

The main square was a large pedestrian zone full of fun little shops, a few museums and a municipal building.  Instead of the traditional cobblestone, there was a large area that had been renovated with yellow tiles.  They were beautiful, but really, really bright in the sun.

There was also some fun art, which always interests my kids.

Off to the side of the main walkway, there was a gravel garden, with several trees and even more statues.  We walked through it on the way back, and saw several families relaxing on the benches along the walls.  It was very friendly looking, but still bright!

We walked for quite a ways, and even found some public restrooms we made use of.  but since we weren’t really in a shopping mood, we didn’t stay too long in town.  We did drive up the hill to get a view of the royal residence.  The Fürst still lives here.  Like the ghost shot in the corner? 🙂  The kids got a good laugh when I pointed out the old toilet on the side of the tower. Sarah asked if they still used it.  I am pretty sure the inside has been thoroughly renovated with indoor plumbing!

He sure does have a beautiful view! Next time we have visitors, I would like to come back and stay a little longer, maybe take a walk in the mountains nearby.  For sure, I want to visit the museum that was on the main square.

Alexandra has been learning her letters for a couple of years now.  She was always pointing to  the writing on Chris’ t-shirts, asking what this letter was, and that one.  So he found an online site that helped kids learn the letters and their sounds and we would let her play on it whenever she wanted.  She did it so much that eventually, it got boring.  She knew them all and wanted a new challenge.

So, just like he has with all the other kids, Chris would sit with her, writing out very simple words and helping her learn how to sound them all out.  Things like cat,hat,sat.  Or mama, papa.  Simple basic words.  Whenever they were done with a little session, she would go running around the house, waving the paper in front of her and read it to anyone who would listen.  It was pretty cute.

But all too soon, she tired of that.  It was boring.  And she wanted to read more than Papa had time to help her. So she took matters into her own hands.  And started grabbing books off the bookshelves to read. We didn’t want her to get frustrated, so we gave her the most easy, simplest one we have, thinking it would keep her busy for several weeks.  Oma, Papa, and I helped her sound out the words she didn’t know, and she was off.  She ended up reading through almost the entire thing in one day, even though I kept asking her to stop because I didn’t want her to get too frustrated or burnt out.

[youtube]http://youtu.be/lhm7HYLROXQ[/youtube]

After she read this book for several days, over and over, she asked to read her own verse during family scriptures.  So Chris would help her read the shortest of the verses, giving her hints on how to sound out new words, and just telling her what the difficult words were.  It sounds a bit daunting, reading the Book of Mormon as your second book ever, but it is actually a great tool.  So many of the same words appear over and over, that she quickly memorized what they looked like, and can now read even longer verses with just a bit of help on the more difficult words.

We are amazed at how hard she has worked to learn this new, important skill.  Even though she has done it the complete opposite of all the other children, who learned to read in German first, and then English.  But whatever works for her. 🙂

Good job, Alexandra!

Our little village lies in between two great cities, Zurich and Zug.  Zurich is more famous internationally, but Zug is very charming while still containing lots of good shopping and entertainment.  We almost always go to the movies in Zug on date night, and it has a lovely, very accessible lake for a nice stroll.  The boys also had an appointment there on Saturday to get new passport photos taken, so we all went with.

The girls and I did a bit of shopping, and then walked over to the photo studio, where the entire crew joined forces.  We ended up at the lake where it was nice and shady and had a bench for Grandpa to sit on.

It really is a gorgeous view.

I brought a bunch of bread and the kids had fun feeding the ducks, and themselves. 🙂

  Then some of us walked around the lake and even dared to dip our toes in a bit. It was a tad slimy so we didn’t do more than that.  There was also a bit of broken glass mixed in with the rocks and I didn’t want the kids to cut their feet on it, so they had to keep their shoes on.  On the way back, Nick showed off how tall he is getting.

Oma, Opa and Grandpa Jean, aged 97, came for a three week visit starting in early August.  Grandpa Jean couldn’t make it up our stairs several times a day, so he actually stayed in a local bed and breakfast, but we saw him several times during his stay here.  The day they arrived happened to be Oma’s birthday, so we took her down to the bakery and let her choose a cake. Naturally there were also presents.  Sophie and Alexandra worked hard to make her something, and Sarah was very frustrated because she also wanted to make a little gift for Oma, but I had no time to help her. 🙁  Sorry, Sarah.  Lex made her the necklace she is wearing in this photo.  And Sophie made a bracelet.

They spent the next several days getting Grandpa situated, and showing him the sights, so we didn’t see them much.  But the next week we had a few fun adventures together…

Compared to the Fourth of July’s I experienced as a kid growing up in the States, the Swiss really don’t do a whole lot for their national holiday.  There are very few organized firework shows put on by a city, no parades, and no craft/art fairs to visit.  BUT you can buy tons of legal fireworks from roadside stands and stores, and light them with pretty much no restrictions.  And a day off, is a day off, right?

We keep our celebrations pretty low key, as well.  But we still have fun.  Someday I would love to get a big neighborhood party together, like the ones I remember from my childhood.  You know, when everyone in the cul-de-sac gathered for a potluck and we kids spent the afternoon and evening lighting sparklers, shooting our pop guns, and oohing and awing over the colored smoke snakes.  Remember those?  Unfortunately, everyone is often gone traveling for the short summer break, and there wouldn’t be much of a crowd.  Still, it would be lots of fun.

For Christmas last year, all the kids received Swiss cross t-shirts.  Naturally, they all wore them the whole day.  Look at that well coordinated table of red and white!

Everyone was happy to have a reason to celebrate.

Sometimes we grill at the Badgers on this day, but we decided not to brave the “crowds” and stay home.  Which meant we had to improvise when it came time for dessert. On a complete whim, I bought these giant marshmallows at the store.  We had seen something similar when we were in the States last year, and thought they were hilarious.  The kids were so excited when they saw the bag.  The only problem is, they are so huge, you have to roast the outside, eat it away, and then roast the middle!

Finally it was dark enough we could go outside and make some noise.  Isn’t that the best part?

Oh yes, Nick was there, too. 🙂 Our little neighbors came out to watch for a while, and I offered them some sparklers, but they declined.  We also had some small fireworks that Chris set off for us.  It was a lot of fun, and we think the kids are ready for some big fireworks next year.  Maybe even for New Years…Oh, and don’t worry.  We were good neighbors and cleaned up all our mess before we went inside.

We have a Playmobil store upstairs in the playroom.  I have mentioned it before.  It just keeps growing, even though they have so much already, because Playmobil keeps coming out with new stuff that my kids just have to have.  I wouldn’t normally give in.  I won’t buy the girls any more Barbie’s, for example, no matter how much they beg.  They have plenty, who needs more?

But Playmobil is a different story.  Why?  Because they play with it.  For HOURS. All.the.time.  Even Nicholas will still spend half a Saturday up there with them, building scenes, acting out stories, using their imaginations and just having fun.

One example of this happened on Erste August.  To pass the time until they could set off fireworks, the kids all went upstairs and played with their Playmobil. They called it the Thornag Battle, and there was apparently an entire story that went along with it.

It took them most of the morning to set it up.  Everything had to be just right.  They used up every single Playmobil weapon we had, which was surprisingly quite a few. There were also beasts of burden involved.

Then the battle commenced.  But it was not a crazy free-for-all.  It was a well choreagraphed undertaking.  There were only ever two people battling at a time, and the winner was not pre-determined. They have played this before, and each time Thornag always wins.  He’s the leader of the bad guys, by the way.  But this time, to the smaller, underdog army of good guys delight and astonishment, they won!  There was much celebrating and rejoicing, and Nicholas couldn’t believe it for a few days afterward.  He is the master of Thornag, you see, and was beginning to think he was invincible.    I hope they will always be able to look back on these days of innocent playing with happiness and joy.  And of course, I will save all the Playmobil they want me to for their own children. 🙂

Noah’s birthday was on Sunday, the day after we got back from Austria.  Fortunately his big party had already taken place, because there would have been no time to get much of a big too-doo ready.  We have picked up his birthday cereal while in Austria, and fortunately he wanted something easy for lunch, like tomato soup and grilled cheese sandwiches.  🙂  Finally, that afternoon it was time for presents, the best part!

They had to wait a few minutes for everyone to gather, thus the non-interested faces. 🙂

So happy he still likes to cuddle.  It’s my favorite part of being a mom, and the older kids only allow it at bedtime. But I am thankful they allow it at all.

Finally, he can dive into that big pile of wrapped goodies and see what is inside!  Sarah was more than happy to jump in and help if needed. haha  One of the presents he received was a new watch, his first one ever. He immediately asked me where I got it, and I explained that I had bought it on our trip to Legoland in June.  (didn’t take pictures, therefore no post on my blog was made about it).  He was shocked, because naturally all the kids had been with me in the shop and were there when I bought everything.  Aw, but I hid it the entire time we were in the shop, and then just at the right moment asked them to please go wait for me over there while I paid for everything so they wouldn’t be in the way of anyone else.  Then I whipped it out and placed it on the counter so it could be rung up.  We moms are truly ingenious when we need to be. 🙂

He really wanted a cake “just like the one we had at Nick’s party in the zoo”.  That party was several years ago, but Noah still remembers it because he was so excited to get to go along.  That is why we had the unusual combination of lemon cake with chocolate smarties on top as his birthday cake.

Look at those adorable cheeks blowing out the candles!  And yes, that is one of my new serving dishes I picked up at Gmunder Keramik.  It’s perfect for cakes like this.

Happy birthday, sweet boy!  Eight is pretty great!