Disclaimer: This got way longer than I thought….it’s more in the informational category so not so exciting! Feel free to skip in hopes that there will be something more interesting coming soon!

Since I just posted our guest round up I figured it may be a good time to do a random “guesthouse” post.  As I have mentioned before, this past yr in Bern we have hosted 24 guests! I have kind of made it my personal goal to get good at it. I really want people to come, relax and feel like they have a great time on their vacation. We have learned as we have gone and as we close this season of guests I feel like we have learned a few things that I thought I would pass along.

1. Prepping the house for guests

I start the preparation days in advance!! Not meaning that I work and work for days in advance, but that I spread it out so that I am not completely exhausted when our guests arrive.  I used to save the cleaning for the day before because I wanted it to be nice when they arrived. But I soon discovered that this house is way too big to try to do in one day. (we couldn’t have so many guests without this kind of space so it is a bonus)  I now have kind of a system where I do fresh linens a few days out and then follow it with different jobs that can be done ahead. I save the floors and dusting for the evening before. And then there is the fact that I used to think I could do it all myself but I have succumbed to the reality and now I have Seth on board to help me!

Now that I have a system I can devote more time that last day before to getting to the grocery store and doing some baking. Oh yea, and then once the guests arrive I let them know that I would rather spend time with them than clean. I maintain as best I can but I don’t stress. I mainly tidy and occasionally sweep if it is in desperate need, but otherwise I just let it go and enjoy the visitors.

Quick confession: I don’t iron sheets, even when I pull them out and toss them into a ball onto the bed. Both of my grandmother’s are gasping right now but I figured it was better to be honest. Sheets will be clean, but very wrinkled around here!

2. Meal Planning

I always contact our guests before they arrive to see if there is anything they can’t eat or have allergies to. Then I plan the meals, trying to accommodate as much as possible!  It’s tough cooking for a crowd and I have learned that not everyone will like every meal but I do try to pick things with our guests in mind. I always have the meals planned but not necessarily for a particular day. For instance, I know that whatever day we decide to day trip meals need to be simple or hot in the crock pot when we return. Our favorite group meals for the year have been Ina Garten’s Macaroni and Cheese,  Gina’s Barbacoa Beef that we use for burrito bowls and a recipe I got from my sister-in-law, Stephanie, for French dip sandwiches. They are all easy to make and make a cozy dinner for a crowd.

Some things I always have on hand that I can make the day before…

Refrigerator bran muffins….the ones I wrote about here. They are an easy thing to keep in the fridge, I bake them up as people want them. So far they have been a hit and everyone is thankful for something healthy in the middle of their travels.

Tomato Basil Soup… knock off of La Madeline’s. I realized I have never posted this in the past so this will be coming soon! Most guests arrive in time for lunch (or breakfast their time) so I normally make a soup the night before and serve it with Bern Zopf bread, salami and cheeses. Everyone is always eager to have something Swiss so it is an easy way to get it in when they first arrive!

Something seasonal and homemade….having guests gives me the excuse to have something yummy around. I don’t often bake treats when it’s just us here so when guests come it’s fun to have something out of the ordinary. In February when the O’Leary chicas came I made those Valentine’s whoopie pies, they were fun for Valentine’s Day but also a fun memory of making devil dogs at Annie’s house!  When my parents came it was peach season so I made some Butterscotch peaches! This time around I made Southern Living’s Apple Cream Cheese Coffee Cake which isn’t on their website yet but I am sure you have seen it on the cover of their magazine last month! It was super yummy and people snacked on it and had it with coffee throughout the week. I also enlisted Jackson to make some fall M&M cookie bars to stow away for snacking.

This guy is the Guesthouse assistant, he is always the best welcomer, conversationalist and entertainer! As we left last week to run an errand I called for Jackson who was lagging behind. When I turned to see what was holding him up I overheard him saying  “bye guys, do you have everything you need before we go?”.  We have all learned a lot about hospitality this year!

3. Ring a ling

After a few rounds of guests got lost here and there and didn’t have a way to call us easily we decided to invest in a chargeable phone. It was cheap and easy and it has made it so nice to stay in touch. There would be no need for this in the US obviously but overseas this has been great. It got comical this summer when guests were so close together that they would have to take the phone back and mail it to the next guest so they would have it when they arrived in Zurich. It made train station pickups so much better!

4. Little basket

Before guests arrive I put a few snacks in their room as well as check to see that they have the Bern map and some other brochures from previous guests. Most of our friends and family are jetlagged so I make sure they have something for when they wake up at 2 AM starving and thirsty.  It’s a goal to have the wireless password written down in the room but that hasn’t happened yet.

5. Activities

So far our guests have not been lacking for things to do. It has been especially nice in the summer festival season. There is always something going on.  Nearly everything is about an hour away, or 15 mins away if it’s in Bern. I have a feeling we would have not seen nearly as much if it wasn’t for our guests.  If our guests have any plans for a day trip by train I try to strategically plan it for about midway through their trip. that allows me to get the house back into livable shape and allows my boys to get a breather day for naps, in hopes that they will refresh and be kind hosts for the remainder of the stay!

These are likely all things you all do too!  I tried to pack it with recipes and such to make it useful! If you happen to be guests in the Spring maybe we will have it running like a well-oiled machine!

Here is the picture round-up for the year of guests! Most are fondue dinner pics but in some cases I didn’t get a shot of that!  It’s been a fun-filled year!

Seth’s Parents, Joe and Jo Beth in January

O’Leary and Shaeffer girls in February

Bonnie and Leigh (and Katy Jo) in March

Higg’s and Bowen’s in April (no fondue with this little crowd- 6 adults and 5 kids that weekend!)

my cousin Jenny in June

my parents, David and Judy in July

My brother Graham and sister-in-law Tina in August

Dan and Margo, along with their twin boys Seth and Bryce in September

I have 10 extra pounds from this fondue dinner tradition with visitors but how can people come so far and not get to enjoy!? This Fall will be bootcamp around here! Unless another guest comes, in which case we will pull out the trusty fondue pot and get a bubbly pot ready for them! It’s in the job description of being a good hostess, right?!

My sister-in-law sent me a link to a blog yesterday. It was a blog of a mom from Vienna where we used to live. Her son died in the flooding last week. One day she was posting pictures of her two children starting school together and a few days later she wrote what she had spoken at his funeral.  She was strong and candid and honest. It could only be God’s grace that is carrying her through this horrific time.

Today my mind is so full. We are awaiting results of tests run on a family member, recovery of another family member, reconciliation of others, and possible job loss for yet another.  All of these things seem big to me today and if I am honest my heart feels heavy, yet they seem so small in the midst of pondering this mom that has lost her boy.

We all know that life is too short and we all know that we should savor every moment. But why do I need reminders like this to jolt me back to the reality of our limited time together?! Clearly I need reminders. This mom spoke at her son’s funeral about the time she accidentally took him to camp on the wrong date which meant she and her son got a day and a half together that she hadn’t planned on and looking back had been such a treasure to her.  Last night we had expected to have guests around in the evening. When their day trip took longer than we expected we both jumped on the opportunity to have a family night. We got the boys out of the bath and pulled out the Hullabaloo game. For 30 minutes we were silly and laughed together.  It’s moments like these, when plans change, that I am aware of my need to snatch up those moments and savor them.

Today will be filled with wiping drippy noses, coaxing resistant yet tired boys into naps, and a blend of “hurry up Owen” and “slow down, Jackson”. The day will be full and I am positive by the end of it I will be tired. But hopefully I will have eyes to see and ears to hear all that has been given to us today.  All of those moments that were ordained before I could even make a silly plan.  I am currently reading “A Thousand Gifts: A Dare to Live Fully Right Where You Are” by Ann Voskamp. I highly recommend it. It comes in such a timely manner when I need so desperately to be jolted into the reality of being thankful for all of those little things…even when there are big, tough things.

As my sister-in-law said in her email, “hug your kids tighter”.   Definitely hugging tighter and when I do throughout today I will be praying for this sweet mom who grieves her loss.

these are some of the things I am savoring today…

little boy wanting to be a little “big” boy

brothers learning to be brothers (Jackson had a rope tied to his jeans and was getting Owen to pull him out of the tree, Owen gladly stepped in)

tom sawyer

At the risk of you all thinking all we do is day trip, eat chocolate and go to the circus every day I am going to post these picture highlights from the summer.  Like most of you, I don’t often get pictures of the rough days so if it seems dreamy just give me a call and I can fill you in on the other side! Lots of these I thought I would devote time to blogging individually but Fall is here and it is clear that I am WAY behind. so here it goes…

On August 1st we celebrated Swiss National Day with our Swiss friends here. We went up the Gurten, the kids played and then we all ate dinner together. We headed home before the fireworks, got the kids to bed and then watched the fireworks show from our front lawn. The show ended with a big smiley face firework. Our neighbors went on into the wee hours of the morning with their own fireworks shows.

this was just before Ella fell off into the water, poor girl! Jackson was so proud to be pulling her across.

she paid him back for bumping her into the water by bumping him in the little cars!

Owen begged and begged until Seth finally took him too!

this is sweet Matthis, he is a month younger than Owen!

In August, Seth got tickets for Jackson and I to go to the Swiss National Circus. Jackson was ecstatic and loved that it was a date just the two of us. His only disappointment what that there were no clowns. As we passed the circus truck on the way out he asked to have his picture taken next to the clown that he thought he would see.

Last yr we arrived just before the Toblerone festival…this yr we knew we couldn’t miss it! In mid-August we headed downtown to get ourselves some FREE chocolately goodness. We didn’t hang around for the chopping up of the giant bar like we did last yr but the kids participated in games and we got lots of sweet samples!

Wait, see, you just had that little thought creep in that life looks dreamy over in Switzerland and then….

BAM. Back to reality. Owen is cutting 2 yr molars, Jackson and Owen have colds, and it was a rough napping day today!   It’s good to look back at these pics and think of happy times when we are having a rough day! Life is good.