We said goodbye yesterday to my cousin Jenny. She spent a month with us here in Switzerland! It was so fun having her around and getting to visit parts of Switzerland with her.  She survived having two adopted siblings (mostly thanks to our baby gate that at least allowed her to occasionally escape) and I think even had a little fun with them.  The boys loved following her around so much that they are still looking for her even after she is gone. Jenny, we hope you made lots of fun memories and enjoyed the break from Indiana!! Come visit anytime.

Here are some picture highlights from her time here with us!

“Bye Jenny, we’ll miss you!”

We have joked about someday having a guest home or B&B. Since being in Switzerland we have had lots of practice! Last weekend we had the calendar booked for Bo and Leigh and Katy Jo to come spend the weekend to kick off their Spring break. A couple of days before, Leigh called and asked if their friends the Higg’s could come along! Why of course! The more the merrier. The Higg’s family also work at Black Forest Academy and have 2 little boys.  And more importantly, they are also from Texas!

The gang arrived Friday night and we all had a fun evening grilling and making homemade ice cream. The kids played until they all crashed.  The next morning when we were all up and ready we headed to Neuchatel. It is a beautiful town in the French part of Switzerland. We originally went because we had heard there was a big brocante/antique sale. When we got there and realized you had to pay to even get in we decided to just enjoy the gorgeous city. We browsed the Saturday market and let the kids have some run time in and around the daffodils. Our other motive for going to Neuchatel was that they have Domino’s. We can’t get an American pizza here so it was a big treat. We picnicked by the lake and had a hard time leaving because it was so beautiful.  We came back home for another evening of grilling and chilling. We had dinner after the kids went to bed which was a big treat.

Owen teasing KJ with flowers

Seth, excited for Domino’s!

Sunday morning, Stefanie and Alex made us a delicious omelet breakfast. After breakfast we went down for some river time. The little boys young and old enjoyed skipping rocks. After some fun play time Bo and Leigh had prepared a big picnic spread.  I don’t know if any of us could even fit a picnic after all of our eating throughout the weekend but who could resist?!

Owen, learning to skip rocks

after skipping a few rocks Jackson decided he needed to rest….I guess he missed that nap from the day before.

Jackson’s friend Ella from school and her family ended up picnicking next to us!

The weather for the weekend and the views of the mountains could not have been more beautiful.  With 11 people in the house, including 5 kiddos, you would expect chaos. But the kids played really well and Jackson loved having a live-in buddy.   And I think all of the adults really enjoyed themselves too! It was a nice break from normal routine. We all enjoyed watching each others children and knowing that we are all in the same boat…the same crazy, rocking, kid boat.

Someone please check on me in August after Leigh has moved back to the US. We are savoring every minute!!! Switzerland is much more beautiful with my best friend close by! We have met lots of great people but you all know how it is, there is something so nice and comforting about having someone from home.

Last week my dear friend Bonnie graced us with a quick visit! I have been begging her since we got here to come on over and amazingly she did! Bonnie used her week of vacation to go to Germany and she, Leigh and Katy Jo popped over to Bern for 3 of the days.

We packed in the fun. Seth graciously took 2 afternoons off so that we girls could run around without napless boys. The weather wasn’t the best but we made the most of it. We went to a couple of brocantes when they first arrived in town. Bonnie is the Goodwill queen so I knew she could enjoy it! She found a few little treasures to take back with her. After getting the boys settled at home we drove to Gruyere where we went to the Callier chocolate factory and saw some great mountain views. I had heard multiple people talk of the all you can eat tasting room and we were all geared up for it. It was so fun to do it with Bonnie and Leigh because we all were on board with the “taste as many as you can handle mentality”. (I think Seth would have had his fill after a couple…but where is the fun in that? and don’t you want to get your moneys worth?!) Some strategic planner for the factory made sure there was no water fountain in the room which slowed us down but I imagine by the end we had each eaten nearly a box of chocolates. Don’t worry folks, none of us ate more than one of the same kind. We kept it classy and slowly attempted to try one of most. By the end we were about to die from the richness and gave up before having total success. This is NOT something that will be repeated on a regular basis.  Or ever again. But it was so fun!!!

luckily Leigh had a baby bottle of water.

And as if the chocolate didn’t almost kill us from richness we came home and made a traditional Swiss fondue dinner!

this is blurry but still cute of the girls dipping!

Katy Jo and Owen had some good bonding time. KJ is standing at the play table and showing him who’s boss! The boys love having KJ around. She is so happy and sweet-natured. Jackson often talks in a high “baby” voice with Katy Jo which is cute to watch.

On the second day we hit up the Salvation Army store and in the afternoon we drove around Thun and towards Interlaken. The weather was so gloomy! Bonnie has to come back to be able to see those mountains in their full glory!

On Friday morning before the girls had to head back to Germany we went into old town Bern. They got to see the bear pits and we stopped in a cafe for some hot chocolate. We are still trying to forget about me getting yelled at by a Swiss man for the way I parked (which happened to be within the lines and fine by US standards). But it is only right for Bonnie to see the whole picture of my daily life here

The trip was all too short but so fun! Come again soon Bonnie!

On Valentine’s Day, the O’Leary chicas along with 2 friends came to visit for the week. We had such a fun time.  The boys got spoiled rotten by all of the attention. We walked by the river, shopped, toured Bern, Thun and a couple of towns in France, ate, laughed hard, and had a wonderful time!

One of my memories of living with Annie was of her making her famous devil dog cookies. They were awesome! So for her visit I made heart-shaped red velvet whoopie pies! They turned our better than expected. I was sure they would look like big blobs. And I had about a 4th of the food coloring I needed. So mine were hot pink and not so red but you get the idea.

here was the recipe I used…

http://annies-eats.net/2010/02/08/red-velvet-whoopie-pies/

Enough about the treats..here are a few pictures from our time. I haven’t uploaded them all yet.

So fun to have Annie, Suzanne and all of the girlies here! Wish we all lived closer! Still having some withdrawl!