Bluebird's Nest

Ok, I’ll admit it – I haven’t blogged in AGES. But I’m feeling inspired to put together what happened for us this year in photos as I did last year.

Robin at Farewell Stranger has inspired me yet again to sweep away the bloggy cob webs and start anew. Nothing like trying to win a contest while you’re at it.

January

We came home from Switzerland after being gone for one month across Canada and then 5 months in Switzerland. My baby turned one, back to work for me, a new daycare for the wee babe, half way through grade 7 for the tweenager, and a new job for the hubby.

First steps are always really cool (and I shed a tear) so I think that this will be my memory for January.

February

February is a big month for birthdays in my family – mine included. My highlight was the Murdery/Mystery party my husband threw for me. It was flapper themed and so damn cool!

I don’t really like the photos of me that were taken so I’m going to post one of the two handsome blokes from the party. The guy on the left is mine. Hands off ladies.

March

March we were settled back into life around here. And the drab drab weather that the Wet Coast is here. When looking back on the photos I took in March, I found one wonderful day that I took some photos of my girls around Easter. This photo makes me smile.

April

Once again my tween competed in the Concours d’art oratoire and this time she won it in her age group! Definitely the highlight of my month.

May

We can’t have mind blowing things happen to us every month. So this month we just began to enjoy outside a little more and partake in welcoming in Spring.

June

I started a new job. I was freaked out, excited, nervous, elated, joyous, and thinking I was downright loco. A little like a new born goat. We visited goats during this month, so this photo is appropriate.

July

Two largish things happened in July so I can’t just post one photo.

My 20 year grad reunion happened. I got pretty drunk at the dinner cuz that’s what you’re supposed to do at a grad reunion party right? (sshhhh… don’t tell anyone) and then the next day we had a big family BBQ at Beckwith Park. I don’t look a day over 17 if I do say so myself.

AND… my in-laws and my husband’s aunt and uncle came from France and Switzerland. We ventured to Parksville where the weather was crap. The stayed for only 10 short days… I hope they stay longer next time.

August

In August we travelled down to the States to visit with all of our cousins. After a cold trip to Parksville, it was beyond hot in Seattle. But we had a great time visiting all our family down south.

September

In September I was bound and determined to get my baby on the front cover of Island Parent by winning the baby contest at the baby fair. Unfortunately, she didn’t win but don’t you think this is the cutest pic ever and that she should have won? We’re just waiting for someone to “find” her and make her famous. She’s not just a pretty face people. She knows two languages. Any day now….

October

In October we headed to Pender Island for a get away. Another rainy get away. Oh well, we had a great time. We also headed to the pumpkin patch to take some anual photos with the fall colours. I couldn’t resist putting in two family shots for this month. The first is a photo on the Pender Island Disk Golf Course.

November

At the tail end of October was my hubby’s birthday and at the very beginning of November the Tweenager turned into a teen. I can hardly believe my once little sweet pea is now moving into her next stage. I love this photo.

December

Welcome to the end of the year. We took some nice photos of the girls but I’ll put the Christmas card photo of the teenager in here as I just love the colours of her hat. Joyeux Noel and Bon Annee tout le monde!

I’m really happy to have my tweenager here to guest blog about her experiences in Switzerland and what it’s like for her now that she’s back. Over to you JJ!

My guestblogger: the tweenager

1. What do you miss about Switzerland and why?
   I miss my friends and family in Switzerland most because everyone in Switzerland is so nice and I miss them so much.
2. Do you think you will ever go back to live and why?
   I definitely want to go back but I’m not sure about living there because I missed everyone here so much!
3. What was one thing that you were dying to see/have/eat from here that they didn’t have there?
   Flamencuch, a sort of pizza with heavy cream instead of tomato sauce, onions instead of cheese and bacon instead of pepperoni… yumm!
4. What’s are some differences between here and there?
   Everything in town is within walking distance.
   FOOOOOD
   Building style (older, prettier…)
5. What’s the best memory you have from this 5 month trip and why?
   Just being at school every day was so cool for me because of the difference between school systems and peoples personalities.
6. What’s the worst memory you have and why?
   NOTHING WAS BAD WHY WOULD YOU PUT THIS QUESTION?!?!?!
   But if I had to answer I would say being away from everyone here.
7. What do you wish you could have done more of?
   Skiing in the Alps! It’s so pretty and fun and SNOWY!!!!!!
8. Who would you take back with you if you could and why?
   If I could take anyone from Canada to Switzerland I would take Phil, my grandpa because he hasn’t had the chance to see Switzerland yet and I hope that one day he will.
   If I could take anyone from Switzerland to Canada I would take Anita my BFF there because she’s EPIC and I want her to see my country and city <3
9. Where was your most favorite place to visit and why?
   See question 7.
10. Where would you recommend people go and why?
    See question 7… again.
11. How do you think this trip changed you?
    I’m not sure if it was the trip or just me that changed but I guess my self-confidence and the fact that I feel like I know better who I am.
12. Did your friends forget about you while you were gone? Were you a stranger to them when you got back?
    Well I wouldn’t say  a stranger, lets face it, in this age group friendships go in and out and that’s just the way it is, your still trying to find out who your true friends are. Some of my friends weren’t used to me the way I am now for say so it took a while to re-kindle our friendship then there was the friends that just plain didn’t wan to talk to me anymore, the friends who it was like I was never gone and even some people I feel closer to now that I’m back… I guess that everyone reacts a different way to this, I just try and think about what everyone else might be thinking. All I want is that everyone is happy (including myself) even if it means losing some friends along the way because being friends with them doesn’t make me or them happy.
13. What was your favourite meal?
    Fondue or Flamencuch (see question 3.)
14. Favorite restaurant?
    PIZZA TAXI=YUMMY
15. What did you do for your birthday?
    I went to PIZZA TAXI with some friends.
16. How do you feel about being back now that you’ve been back for about 3 months?
    I feel really happy and happy to have lots of friends who stayed with despite all my stories about Switzerland… <3 u guys!

Thanks JJ – I really appreciate you answering my questions today. You’re EPIC!

Reflecting… reflecting on leaving that part of my life behind. Not having a house to come back to, to pick up where I left off when I get back there. It’s really the end of one thing which is sad but also thoughtful.

Leaving

I enjoyed spending the time and watching my wee babe grow and learn everything that she had to learn from 6-12 months. I loved seeing her with her grand parents, aunty, family, friends, etc… She might not remember them soon but they sure will remember her. I’m positive that they will live on in her heart somewhere and there will always be a part of them with her. A familiarity when she sees them next. It was so utterly sad leaving my in-laws house knowing that we were taking her away from them. I couldn’t hold back the tears.

For the tweenager, I always say she had the most beneficial time. Growing her language skills, having to make new friends in a new school system in a foreign language. I’m so proud of her for all that she has done. Thanks to her, we have about 10 songs that are our theme songs for that time in our life so I will always remember that time when I hear them. She has grown up so quickly in the last 6 months and is not the same girl that left on our trip across Canada.

I’m so happy for my hubby to go back home and see his family and friends and show off his new littlest girl. You could see the joy in his face and the skip in his step when he knew he was heading up the mountains to go snowboarding. Who gets to take 6 months off and then head back to a better paying job?

As for me, I loved every minute of it. It was cleansing, rejuvenating, inspiring, fulfilling, motivational and challenging. I would highly recommend anyone to try to live in another country for 4+ months. It’s a lot of work, research and commitment to get there, but it is so absolutely worth it. I miss it dearly and I would be lying if I didn’t say that some days I just want to go back to our little apartment overlooking the lake and the mountains. We have plans though… plans to one day make it back there. Plans to get the wee babe in school over there because there is a lot more $$ in Switzerland for education then there is here. A lot. I keep asking my hubby if we can buy a house over there so we can move back and forth and then it doesn’t seem quite so over when it’s over. We shall see what the future holds for us.

Coming back

I’ll blog about the airplane trip(s) soon so I won’t get into that, but let’s just say it was about the worst experience on a plane that I’ve ever had. I was worried for the wee babe but I think I should have been more worried then I was. It was a terrible horrible no good very bad thing.

My feelings on coming back. It’s so damn easy to slip back into your life after only 6 months. You just unpack boxes, schedule appointments to get your life back into order, reconnect with friends and family, start working again and voila! You’re back at it.

The wee babe has gone through some changes with a new daycare, being sick, a new language, bad cheese (we are still buying expensive (was cheap) Swiss cheese as she really only likes that compared to the orange crap we have here), a new house, new bed, new time change, more rain than she’s ever seen, and she’s handling it all quite well.

The tweenager has fit right back into school, she’s top notch now in French, and has been building her life here. We spent so much time together that I feel ok with her spreading her wings.

The hubby started up his new job in a new building with new co-workers. Even before we got back, his schooling at Royal Roads had started and he was fully into the swing of school life as soon as we got back. I don’t know how he works all day and then studies all night. Must be because he has such a supportive wife He’s dying to go back too but has to finish school first. We have a 5 year plan.

All in all, things have morphed quite smoothly. People ask me if it was hard to transition back. Not really. The hardest thing is when you know the sun is shining over there and it’s raining here. It’s enough to make you wonder why you live here. I’m not sure who coined the phrase “Best place on Earth” but they might have been smoking something funny at the time.

I miss the friends I made, the family that touched our life, an everything that Switzerland is now to my family.

Writing this has given me closure and has been very therapeutic in feeling like that part of my life is complete.

And after 3 months I can safely say – we’re back!

One day after Christmas we drove back out to Valbella to spend time with my husband’s aunt, uncle, cousin, sister, and grandma. It was a snowy wonderland. I’m not sure I’ve ever seen that much snow and almost the whole time we were there (5 days) it just kept on snowing. You might remember it as a green Swiss Alp valley. Winter time changes the scenery completely.

We had some wonderful times there.

We put the tweenager into skiing lessons for a day. She did great of course. The only problem is that they don’t really have lessons for someone that age (either young lessons or old person lessons – like me) so we put her in the young peoples lessons which might have been a mistake. She really enjoyed the first half of the day, but the second half was too easy. Check out the video.

One day we walked to Lenzerheidi to get some groceries and we took the lake route which was beautiful. They have a cross country track that goes around the lake so we had many discussions on the two different types of cross country, how hard it is, and how good it is for your body. My hubby’s uncle is a huge fan of it. It was gorgeous walking through the snow covered trees with the sun dipping in and out. We never once used the stroller but instead a sled to pull the wee babe around. She loved it and the fresh mountain air so quite often you would look back and she would be fast asleep. Of course I always worried about frost bite but she was completely fine.

Another day, myself, the wee babe, the tweenager and my aunt-in-law all went for a 2+ hour walk to get some nice coffee and sweets. It was again a gorgeous day but I don’t think I understood the distance we were walking in the snow, and wasn’t as well prepared as I could have been for the wee babe. Regardless, it was a beautiful walk.

While I was walking (and a couple of other days too), my hubby went snowboarding. He had a wonderful time high up on the mountains with his sister one day and his uncle another day.

One of the most memorable moments happened at the spa. But this ain’t no ordinary spa. Oh no. Let me start at the beginning.

My aunt and the tweenager had been to the “spa” and pool the day before. My tweenager wasn’t allowed to go into the spa area as she wasn’t old enough. I thought that was a little weird. Anyway, the next day my sister-in-law asked me if I wanted to go to the spa. “Sure!” I said. A little while later before we left, my aunt-in-law mentioned to me that the spa was a nudie spa. “Ok” I said “but the guys are in their spa and the women in theirs right?” “Nope.” was the response. They go in there together. Eep!

I began to wonder what I had gotten myself into. A few thoughts crossed my mind: I for sure wouldn’t know anyone there, if everyone is naked then they won’t all be staring at you cuz everyone is naked, I could wear my bathing suit anyway right (this isn’t allowed by the way), look at this as something that might make you stronger and something that you can say that you did! (you can blog about it!), Oh and maybe the spa will be closed.

The spa wasn’t closed. But first we did some “sport” and did some lengths in the pool where bathing suits were a must. Then we went into the spa area took off our bathing suits right there where the men were passing by. It seemed so strange. I was completely in my head for the first hour or so (maybe even the whole time). Let me paint the picture. So there’s about 7 spas that you can choose from. Hot, moist, dry, warm, etc… When you’re in the spa you sit on your towel, naked. When you’re walking to the next spa you have your towel on. Not so bad I guess. (I’m understanding why you have to be a certain age now though.) They also have a cold pool that you can run into after you’ve been in a hot spa. It’s supposed to increase your heart rate and be good for your health. It’s friggin’ cold let me tell you. My sister-in-law (who had absolutely no problems with all of this by the way) threw herself into a snow bank beside the hot tub just to see what it was like – let’s not forget she was naked right? Oh and one other interesting thing was that there was actually a woman who did wear a bathing suit and she stuck out like a sore thumb! You could see that she was very self conscious. I found that interesting that it worked the opposite way – that being naked you blended.

Anyway, the whole experience was very liberating and I really loved it for exercising my pyschie and just seeing how confident I was in my skin. Let’s not forget here people, that everyone in the spa was all within their ideal BMI. Oh and that some of the spas over looked the ski  hill so while you’re sitting there naked, you’re watching people skiing and snowboarding down the hill RIGHT outside the window (they can see you too by the way). Overall, I had a great time there.

Lastly, there was New Year’s night. After putting the wee babe to bed in the play pen in our room and grandma to bed, we drank some wine and then eventually headed outside to play in the snow and watch the fire works. It was great walking around the streets, playing on the toboggan and checking out all the fire works displays. I didn’t get any photos (drat) but we had a very memorable New Year’s night.

We had such a wonderful time with family, the food was as always divine (we had fondue on night – yum!), great wine, beautiful scenery, fun games, fresh air, abundant amounts of glistening snow and memories to last us a life time.

Thanks so much Claudia, Christophe and Nanou for having us up to your beautiful haven. xoxoxo

We did some little out trips during the holiday season. We went to the Montreux Christmas Market (Montreux Noel) and savored some good food, handmade crafts, absinth, and abominable weather.

We also went to Vevey Noel where there was more of the same thing but the wee babe got to sit on Santa’s nap this time around. It was a little anti-climatic.

We travelled with my hubby’s parents, his cousin, her boyfriend and our family to Rocher de Naye to visit Santa once again (where the wee babe was none to impressed) but it was a beautiful train ride up the mountain. I had done this trip once before when it was my staggette although this time we didn’t stay the night.

And lastly, I could hardly believe the sight of snow in our backyard so I absolutely had to film every last second of it (ok I trimmed the video but my hubby was still convinced that people would be falling asleep. Whatev’s! It’s snow man!)

Without further adieu…

Robin at Farewell Stranger had a wonderful idea. Write a blog capturing the moments from last year by using one photo from each month. Since I take a lot of photos and I had a pretty memorable year, I thought this was a splendid idea.

January

Well, January definitely didn’t go unnoticed with the birth of our beautiful baby, Violette. It was a hard delivery (C-section) but our family was so ready to welcome her into our family and our hearts.

February

Even though February is FULL of birthdays (even mine), I could only find photos of Violette as we were well into getting to know our wee babe. (Yes those are bags of bread on either side of her head) and we had a freak Victoria snow dump as well.

March

In March we headed down to Seattle to spend some time with all the cousins on the Howe side of the family. Ok, not all of them were there but we had a great time introducing Vivi and also getting to know my cousin’s new baby, Ashleigh, who was only born 2 weeks after Violette.

April

In April I started this blog!! I had meant to start it when Violette was born to capture all the thoughts and feelings that I had been having as a ‘new’ mom (ok, I’m not new but after 11 years, I was definitely rusty). We also went on a hike up bear hill and managed to snap some great photos of my girls.

We also went up to Cowichan to spend Easter with one of our favourite families. Definitely a time to remember.

May

In May we took a trip off the island to Vancouver for the tweenager to participate in the “Concours”. Her speech was on bottled water (and delivered all in French) and she did a wonderful job. She says that next year if she makes it to the semi-finals again, she will do her speech on Switzerland!

June

We were madly getting ready for our big trip across Canada. One of the things we needed to do was plant a tree that the hubby had received when it was just a little sapling. It was now big and in a pot that was too small so he wanted to plant it somewhere memorable. We took him to the spot where we got married in East Sooke Park and named him Xavier. One of the things I want to do when we get home is visit Xavier and see how he’s doing.

July

Wow, July is an entire month filled with photos of our trip across Canada. How ever will I pick just one? I think we only have one photo of us all together so I’m chosing this one. We were on the beach on PEI watching the beautiful sunset. PEI is an amazingly beautiful place (dare I say the most beautiful place that we saw?) so I think it’s right to have this photo depict our journey.

August

August was no slouch either for getting out and about. We started our 5 month adventure in Switzerland at the very end of July so we tried to pack in as much as possible for the one summer month we had before the tweenager started school. We journeyed to the Mont Blanc in France, Valbella in Switzerland, Zurich, Thun, and to the Gewürztraminer area of France, Alsace.

Again, hard to pick just one, but this photo really speaks to me. We were in Zurich and it was so freakin’ hot. There is a really cool ground-fountain thing (I don’t know how else to explain it) but it’s jets of water that come up from the ground and you never know where it’s going to spurt up next. We were so relieved to have the water falling down on us.

September

We spent the majority of September getting to know our new digs and our new Ville, Vevey. We explored around the town, walked Jaedyn to and from school twice, sometimes three time a day and spent a few evening (and days) at the lake enjoying the afternoon sun, having dinner lakeside. This is a photo of Violette on one of these afternoons.

October

October was filled with a much anticipated visit from my mommy from Canada for 10 days and a lifelong wish to tour around Egypt. When my mom was here we walked to Montreux and enjoyed a traditional Swiss event, Desalpes.

November

In November we celebrated Luc and Jaedyn’s birthdays in addtion to Luc’s sisters. Luc had a crazy dance party and Jaedyn had some friends to our favourite restaurant, Pizza Taxi. We also visited with friends. The highlight of our month was spent during a weekend away in Bretaye, high in the Swiss mountains eating crepes and raclette. It was deliciously wonderful.

December

We were in full swing Christmas mode during the month of December making crafts, baking, checking out the festivities in Vevey (JJ skated at the local skating rink), and visiting Santa in Rocher de Naye. We spent Christmas with Luc’s family and then heading back up to Valbella to ring in the New Year under a lot of beautifully falling snow.

I loved being able to recap the year in photos. It sure was hard to pick the one that represented the month the best since our months were filled chock-o-block fullness.

Looking back on the year of 2011, we had an amazing year filled with some of the most memorable experiences I will ever have.

As I mentioned in my last post, holiday baking in Switzerland is far from easy peasy. Evidently, after talking with my father-in-law, he said that I need to buy quite a few of the things that I’m missing from a specialty shop. A specialty shop? These things are found normally in a grocery store back home. Ok, I understand how it works. Not everything is exactly the same as back home.

Everything looks ok, pre-baking

After baking in oven. Cookies on steroides.

So not only am I challenged in the area of lacking key ingredients, but I also botched up my baking as well. The sugar cookies I tried to make decided to double in size for the first batch and gradually decrease in size each time I put more in the oven. Go figure.

The icing we made, well it was glaze (exactly what I WASN’T looking for) so it was runny for decorating with. AND the stupid food colouring here is so diluted that when you try to put in the red to make red, it turns out pink. Then you add more to try and make it more brighter, but before you know it you’ve added the entire little squeezer bottle of it, the icing is still pink, and to boot, it’s now turned into liquid instead of thickish frosting.

That was the sugar cookies.

"Dontcha wish your cookies look just like these?" Trust me, they taste better than they look.

A close up of the green frosting we made. That's right. Green.

Then I tried Gingerbread men from Martha Stewart. Wowsers, without  the true molasses and brown sugar, they didn’t taste half bad, but I got the tweenager and the hubby to try a sample of one, and it didn’t pass the gift giving inspection so there’s not going to be any Gingerbread men in people gifts this year. BUT, good old Martha came through for me and had crafted up this wonderful wreath idea. So I had enough gingerbread peeps to make 2 wreaths. Of course the first one broke immediately (sure, kick me while I’m down) but the second one was an absolute work of art and will become a wonderful gift for one of the hubby’s friend’s or family members this Christmas.

After coming out of the oven. Looks pretty good right?

Annnnnddd... 5 seconds later a gingerbread man mess...

The one gift worthy thing I have to show for hours of baking today.

Tomorrow I tackle Cheese Sticks. God help me. My mother makes these every year, and after checking the ingredients, we have absolutely everything and no substitutions (except for Cheddar Cheese) so I should be all good unless, I absolutely suck at baking. Which is exactly what it’s looking like to me.

Keep in mind, my wonderful idea was to make cute little sugar cookies and cute little gingerbread people with cute little cheese sticks, put them in a cellophane bag, tie them up with a ribbon, put them in fancy Christmas canisters, and give them as gifts – is looking like a thing of the past. My homemade gift giving intentions have come crashing down on me. Time to get real with myself and maybe just buy the cookies from the grocery store, cut, bake, and package.

Stay tuned…

Happy Holidays Everyone!

This year was a big year for us in the Jermann/Howe household! So much to tell – where to start – let’s start with the littlest…

Little Winter had a wonderful carrot and parsley filled year this year, thanks to my dad. Unfortunately, it was her time to go and visit her sister in guinea pig heaven due to a growth on her back. RIP little Winter we miss you dearly.

Our next littlest family member has had an event fill first year! Violette was born on January 4^th. Her adventures began in July. She drove across Canada, crawled around Egypt, explored almost all the corners of Switzerland and saw the Mont Blanc in France. Oh and we mustn’t forget the trip to the wine district of Alzace, France. 3 continents by her first 9 months isn’t too shabby. To say we think she’ll be a world traveler might be an understatement. She also keeps us hopping. She had 8 teeth by her 8^th month, she’s climbing stairs at 10 months and pushing around furniture. She’s a powerhouse! And not surprisingly for all that energy, she sleeps quite well (now). Oh and starred in her first Groupon ad!

Jaedyn turned 12 in November. My tweenager was involved in dance this year and finished off grade 6. One day after finishing school we set off on our cross Canada trip. JJ was initially nervous but after getting into the swing of road life she quickly settled in. After driving clear across the country we flew to Switzerland (from St. John’s) and began yet another chapter. JJ started public school here and fit in straight away. Her French was at the perfect level for school and she quickly began picking up Swiss/Vaudois slang immediately. She misses her friends in Canada but has also made new friends here. She likes it in Switzerland but is also looking forward to going home in the new year.

For me, I’ve been on mat leave all year and LOVING it. I’m so happy to be able to take the opportunity to travel with my family. The cross Canada trip and our trip to Egypt have really been life long dreams that I had. I’m enjoying spending the days watching my wee babe grow up and loving being able to spend so much time with my almost teenager. I’m really looking forward to Christmas here to see what kinds of traditions the Swiss have and to finally see real candles on a Christmas Tree! I’ve also thoroughly enjoyed watching the changing of the seasons. I miss my family and friends back home but you really can’t beat this weather here. Vevey is situated in such an area where it’s sunny more than it’s rainy. We’re loving it!!

Luc took a leave of absence from school for a year and a leave of absence from work for 6 months. He has been enjoying watching his little mini-him grow up and making her laugh and smile. He also has been enjoying his time in Switzerland spending time with his family and friends. He celebrated his 30^th birthday this year with him and 4 other close buddies by throwing themselves a huge dance party (the theme was fluorescent). It was a blast!! Thanks to him, we started out our first month in Switzerland rent-free by doing a house exchange. It was wonderful. Then Luc found us the most incredible apartment in Vevey with stunning views of the lake and mountains from our balcony.

Our trips around Switzerland consisted of visiting Luc’s Grandma in Valbella, his aunt, uncle and cousin in Zurich area, and our Canadian best man in Thun. We also walked to Montreux and took part in Desalpe when my mom came to visit. And just 2 weekends ago we went high into the Swiss mountains to Bretaye with some friends of ours to take in the fresh mountain air in a cozy little chalet. We’re looking forward to visiting Santa at Rochers de Naye this weekend, as well as spending the new year in Valbella with family.

We have had an incredible and fortunate year touched by so many generous friends and family. We wish everyone and their families a peaceful and fulfilling holiday season with love and warmth felt throughout.

Love, Light and Laughter for the New Year
Robin, Luc, Jaedyn and Violette

Click here to view our holiday eCard
Clique ici pour voir la video

Click on the image above to view our holiday eCard

I’m getting excited about Christmas! Not unlike Robin at Farewell Stranger, I’m one of those people who frowns on seeing Christmas post December 1st. I shake my head at the decorations that go up more than a month in advance and the commercialism that surrounds us way before it’s needed.

But something is different this year. Maybe it’s because I’m on maternity leave and I just want to celebrate something. Maybe it’s because it’s my wee babe’s first Christmas. Or maybe it’s because we’ve come all the way to the other side of the world to my hubby’s native land to see just what it’s like over here at Christmas time. Whatever it is, I’m digging it this year.

Last year we didn’t even put up a tree. I think the tweenager was a little disappointed but I was hugely pregnant and I just couldn’t fathom taking down a tree right after giving birth. This year we aren’t going to have a tree either although, I would really like to get a little decorative tree with lights that we could put on a table to admire through the holiday evenings. It has to sit on a table to get far enough away from the destructive reaches of the wee babe.

I am thrilled that we actually have REAL mistletoe hanging in our hallway. I don’t think I’ve ever seen real mistletoe! And my hubby and I take advantage of it whenever we can.

I understand that December 6th is a special day in Switzerland. I hope that my hubby is going to do something traditional on this day for the tweenager and the wee babe (hint hint hubby).

There are decorations throughout the streets of our town and the neighbouring towns. There are craft markets happening everywhere. The sweet smell of cinnamon and nutmeg linger in the air. We will be visiting Santa on top of Rochers de Naye AND he will be arriving in Vevey by helicopter on the 21st.

There’s so much to see and do here and it’s all within walking distance which makes it really cool to check out without having to plan a whole day around things.

I’m not really a big Christmas baker but I was thinking of doing up a few oldies but goodies to get us even more in the holiday mood and remind me a little bit of back home (cheese sticks sans orange cheese, ginger bread men and maybe some shortbread).

I’ve heard some Christmas music in the malls and I’m really looking forward to hearing some Swiss Christmas carols (do they call them that?) that I’m not familiar with. I have yet to turn on the Christmas iTunes but it’s not far away I assure you.

Me thinks me and the tweenager should do up some Christmas crafts that we could normally hang on a tree and decorate the apartment with them to make things a little more festive at home.

I’m a little sad that I don’t get to make hand-made Christmas cards this year since all my craft supplies are back in Canada but we’re going to try it electronically this year and we’re going to have a little fun with it! I hope our family and friends enjoy it. I’ll post it up on the blog when we release it.

What’s in store for us on Christmas eve and Christmas day? I’m not really sure yet but I’m sure that we will be spending it with family. It’s been 7/8 years since my hubby has been home for Christmas and I’m positive that he’s going to want to spend it traditionally with his family.

What I’m the MOST excited for is seeing a real Christmas tree decorated with REAL candles! Every year the hubby turns up his nose at our twinkling lights strung around the tree, and reminisces about holidays past where there has been real candles on the tree. I always admonish him about the dangers of fire on an evergreen but he ensures me, it is fine. This is the year, my friends, that I get to see this in action – and I can wait!

Regardless, I’m really looking forward to the memories that we make this holiday season with friends and family and new Swiss traditions that we hopefully can take a little bit back to Canada with us (maybe not the the candles in the tree though ).

And then once we’re back in Canada we get to do it all over again with my family! Two Christmas’s is not too shabby!

What traditions are you looking forward to this year?

Our family just came back from a trip to Egypt. Not a destination you would think of to bring a 9 month old baby but if you notice my Life List I can easily knock of the “Visit to Egypt” and “Visit to Africa” in one blow. Although, I think I’ll keep up my visit to Africa up there though as my intentions are more to see some wild African animals and to experience the African culture.

When I say our “family” went, I wasn’t kidding. It was my hubby, the tweenager, the wee babe, my sister-in-law, and my parents-in-law. 7 all together.

We took two cars to the airport and had to be there for 4:30am. Yikes. The airport was not really too interesting and then we boarded our 4 hour flight. Arriving at the airport was when things took on an Egyptian flare.

We had decided to wait to get our Visa’s until we arrived at the airport as they were cheaper there. After a short bus ride from the airplane to the terminal we were greeted with many men yelling and strongly urging us to go in their queue to purchase a Visa. As the in-law’s were already ahead of us I said no that I wanted to stay with them. The man continued to reassure me that it was ok, I could go with him. I continued to say no. The tweenager was looking at us with freaked out eyes wondering what was about to transpire. Finally I pretty much yelled “NO!” and he finally walked away. We walked up to the rest of our family a little worse for wear after our first encounter.

We got our Visa’s ($15 Euros each) and then headed into our next queue. There must have been 400+ people waiting to get their Visa’s stamped. And get this, only 3 windows open to all the people. I think we must have waited about a half hour until we finally got our Visa stamped.

Then onto picking up our luggage. Yep, they were the last suitcases turning around. I hate that. Anybody can come in and get your luggage if they want. We had checked in my mother-in-law’s stroller and a little attachable bag on the back of it had gone missing.

Then there was either 2 or 3 more check points you needed to get through and you had to show your Visa at every stop along the way. Imagine a huge bottle neck with your kids and your luggage and trying to show 4 passports. I needed my Rescue Remedy badly. After finally pushing through them all we arrived outside into the hot Egyptian air. It was about 10am.

Next task: getting a taxi. So the first thing you need to know about Egypt is that everything is a negotiation. A game if you will. My sister-in-law is well versed in playing this game so we left it up to her to get us a good price. She spoke with one guy who we negotiated the price of the taxi (for 7 people and all our luggage) to be 8 euros. He ushered us off to another guy and once we got to his van we asked again to make sure that this was his price as well. He said “absolutely not”. Something about how many people there were, how much luggage we had… My sister-in-law continued to stand her ground and before you know it the guy was yelling at her and some other Egyptian taxi drivers who had come up.

For me at this point I was just interested in getting to the hotel. If you’re feeling this way, you’re bound to get ripped off. But to be honest, I didn’t really care. After the stressful airport, I was ready to be at the hotel getting situated in our room and with the 3:00 am wake up call we had had, I was already feeling a bit tired.

The price was finally negotiated to be 15 euros to get us to our hotel (Pyramisa Blue Lagoon) which is only about 8mins away. From what I understand, we didn’t get ripped off but I think we could have shaved a couple of extra euros off the price if we were even more persistent (if you’re reading this and thinking of going to Egypt with 7 people, keep this in mind.)

So with the luggage strapped to the top of the van, the baby seat belted in (we brought her car seat), we set off for our hotel.

This was my first taste of the desert and the garbage of Hurghada, Egypt. There are palm trees there but it’s also very dry and desertish. And there’s garbage all over the side of the road.

We arrived at the hotel. It was beautiful. The staff were amazing. Very accommodating. We got checked in. My hubby’s family heading off to a place close to the pool (with stairs) and us over to another area of the resort (with an elevator). The room was great. Big king size bed (hard but good), a mini-fridge to keep your water cold (every day you would get 3 free big bottles of water), a bidet (that we once gave the wee babe a shower in), 2 TV’s, a porch, and a living room area. The tweenager got the short end of the stick on the bed though. It was a cot that totally sagged in the middle. We put two mattresses on it but it still was pretty pathetic. As for the wee babe, we had to ask 2-3 times for them to bring us a bed for her. The first bed that was brought was intended for a baby who couldn’t roll over or crawl or stand up. The second one was better but it had a hole in the back of it for her to crawl right out of if she wanted to. There was no other options, so we had to take this one. We pushed it up against the wall and draped an extra sheet over it to try and block the hole. On the opposite side of the hole the other end of the playpen was falling down so the hubby mickey moused the side of it by putting a table on it’s side and propping it up. It wasn’t too bad but we would find out the next day that the wee babe would hit her eye on one of the table legs jutting into the bed and cut herself. Sigh.

We headed down for lunch. This was an all inclusive resort so food was supplied as was free drinks. The food was buffet style and for the first day was pretty good! Ask me by the 7th day and I would say, ugh… it’s the same every day. It was Egyptian fare so rice, potatoes, steamed or fried veggies, some sort of meat in a sauce. There was a whole salad bar that I steered clear of. DON’T eat the salad in Egypt, you’ll get sick. An entire table of different kinds of bread and another whole table of different kinds of deserts.

As for the free drinks. The rose wine was disgusting. The white wasn’t much better. I never tried the red. The beer was good. The spirits all tasted the same. What we realized afterwards from talking to some of the staff is that over in Europe and North America, we let our spirits age (rum, whiskey, vodka, etc…) for years before serving them. In Egypt, they don’t, so they all have a kind of odd same taste to them. Instead of Gordon’s gin it’s Gordoon’s. After 3 days of drinking 3-4 of these cocktails a day, I couldn’t take it anymore and just drank a few glasses of beer.

After lunch, I went back to the room with the wee babe for a little sleep and the tweenager went swimming with my sister-in-law and hubby. It was crazy windy and the temperature was probably around 28 degrees.

Then down for dinner where we sat outside around the pool. It was an early night for the hubby, tweenager and wee babe. For me I stayed up with the rest of the family and watched a dance show put on by the animation team. It was pretty good.

Tomorrow we head to the beach and the next day on a snorkeling trip….