{This must be catch up week around here! Sorry to bombard you with so many post but I don’t want to fall behind!}

Switzerland has no doubt given us a wonderful place to host family and friends. I never could have imagined how many people we would have and it has been such a fun season. Tiring no doubt, but fun.

Our last visitors at Swiss Chalet Kolb were my cousin, Josh, Jordan and Justin Strong. They were on their way back from living in Thailand and wanted to do a bike tour around Switzerland. They spent  a couple of days with us here visiting Bern and it was fun to get to know them better since I haven’t seen them since they were my boys ages! Made me feel quite old!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

notice  the metal table and fancy chairs! Temp furniture makes for fine dining with guests!

 

 

 

 

 

 

After they ate granola bars for their 4 bike riding days we made sure they made one last stop at a Swiss restaurant…

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

at the beginning of their fondue

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

by the end!

 

 

 

 

 

 

Our house was overflowing with boys. I for sure was outnumbered. My boys got ramped up in an attempt to get the big boys to give them attention…which was tough to do with soccer games on tv. By the last evening Seth was busy doing something so Owen asked Josh to help him with his ice cream. He then wanted to hold his hand. It was too funny!  Owen knows how to lessen the generational gap

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Hey y’all.

We had a happy Mother’s day around here!  The boys made me cards and got me an address stamp for our new address (which still doesn’t seem like a reality with all of this waiting but that is a whole other post)! We spent most of the day Sunday with friends at a mountain restaurant with a big park for the kids and traditional Swiss food!  It was fun having Seth’s mom along to experience some Swiss scenery before heading back to the US.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Mia had rosti for the first time! It had bacon, cheese and onions! very yummy!  She couldn’t finish her giant skillet so we all helped her a bit!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

the mommas and kids! Feeling very blessed!

other updates…

We are settling back into a routine..well not really. Seth’s mom left yesterday morning and I hit the ground running cleaning the house and knocking some things off the neglected to do list. Seth woke up Saturday morning with pink eye and because it is now in the second eye and still very red his boss asked him not to come in. He asked if he could go in before everyone else and get some stuff knocked out but it sounds like everyone is really scared of getting it, which is understandable because it is miserable. So, we are hoping he can go back in tomorrow and not feel completely swamped.  Oh yea, and we are praying that none of the rest of us get it.

In other news, our friends back in Virginia knocked our socks off a few weeks ago and surprised us by going to our new house and working on the yard. They weeded, mulched, and generally spruced the place up! I know our neighbors appreciate it!  It actually came at a time when I was feeling so desperate to just get there already and get to work. And they stepped in and played us for a little while. Y’all are awesome! Can’t wait to see you all soon.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

A huge congrats to my friend Leigh! A little less than a year ago she and her family left missions work in Germany to return stateside. Just yesterday they moved into their new home in Waco!  Praying that they get settled quickly and love their new home!

And last but not least, the big blood pressure raiser these days is that it’s less than 3 weeks now that until the packers come!  I’m taking advantage of having my pink eye guy so I can sort the last few closets and work on some pending projects!

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Okay, so I am still feeling behind and trying to catch up. I am antsy to fill you in on our trip to Barcelona and share some pictures but I have completely skipped over the week before when we were busy taking Mia around Bern…and surrounding countries.

Week before last we took Mia to downtown Bern for some shopping, on a couple of long walks around our surrounding farms, to Colmar, France for a day trip and finished the week with a day trip to Luzern to the transportation museum.  Here are some pictures from our fun times. Lest you think its all carousels and ice cream cones, it is a lot these days with Mia around, but she is getting her fare share of our boys in their true rare form! She will vouch for the more prickly sides of life! But for your enjoyment I will only include the happies for today!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

is it just me or does Jackson look like he is a teenager in this picture? I love it but he is getting too darn big.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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It was 4 years ago today that we sat in a hospital waiting room.  We were parents of a cancer patient. A 9 month old cancer patient. Jackson. I can remember it like it was just yesterday. We sat with our parents and my older brother Ryan.  We waited for the nurse to come out and tell us about Jackson’s surgery and if they were able to remove the mass. As Seth and I laid in bed last week one evening we were remembering the day we were told that Jackson had cancer. As we talked I felt my chest tighten and a flood of emotions come back.   The emotions are as real today as they were then.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Many of you know our story. How Jackson was diagnosed with Rhabdomyosarcoma, by not one oncologist but many from the top hospitals in the US. We were told he wouldn’t likely make it through the year, would have radiation that would eliminate his ability to have children and that if he did survive he would possibly have his leg amputated or very limited use of the affected leg. We blogged on here begging the world to pray. And you did. Every corner of the globe was praying for Jackson by name. And God chose to answer your prayers. I say your prayers because I distinctly remember my inability to pray clear prayers during those days. We were experiencing such shock and had to just pull it together to get to doctors appointments and keep life normal for our baby.  After a longer than expected surgery, the surgeon herself came out of the OR flabbergasted that there was no longer evidence of the mass. She opened his leg and found a mass of blood vessels remaining. His muscles were set to heal properly leaving no long term damage and he was set for recovery.

Today Jackson is an almost 5 year old ball of energy. He is smart as a whip and keeps us on our toes. He starts kindergarten in the Fall and loves life! At times his scar seems so much a part of him that I forget. And other days it catches my breath as I remember where we have been. Today we celebrate Jackson’s life. It isn’t his birthday but it’s a very special day when we look at his scar, stop and celebrate life! Tonight we will have his favorite meal, thai food! (although he tells me his Nama makes the best, mine will have to do tonight!)

Thank you for your prayers 4 years ago. Please let us know if there is ever a time when you need our support!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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