Congratulations Daniel

This Christmas Daniel's greatest gift was a phone call from the Tuck School of Business at Dartmouth in New Hampshire to say that he has been accepted into their MBA program. This is a two year program that will begin in August - so we are now officially planning to move back to the US this summer. It looks like our overseas adventures are coming to a close (sigh).
We celebrated his achievement with a few friends - but I have to admit, it was with mixed emotions!
So now I am intent on enjoying Europe for the little time we have left and this included a train ride to Montreux to go to the Christmas market. A "mini-blizzard" added to the festive atmosphere! - We missed you Warrens and Muellers - the market just wasn't the same without you!

Scroll Down!

Scroll down past the Christmas Program posts to see the latest post - "Giggling with Dad"

Christmas program pt. 2

O.K., Andy asked for a 20 minute video, which I don't have, but here are a couple other little blips from the evening. The "inn keeper" is James - one of the friends we had over for Thanksgiving and his little boy, Harrison (who is in my Sunday school class) is the one calling out "DAD!" during the play and the boy Analise is holding hands with as she was walking in.

Christmas Program

Last night at church the kids did their Christmas program.
And I have learned what it means to have your kid in the show . . .
It no longer matters what kind of chaos is happening on and around the stage - your eyes are trained on that one little person, no matter how small and insignificant they might be - and suddenly this simple little Christmas play becomes the most beautiful, inspired, fantastic production you have ever seen.
At least that's what I felt watching our "little cherub" stand up front with the big kids and be a part of the angel choir.

We were pretty proud of her ability to stand and watch all that was going on and even look at us and wave - all without crying. What a big girl!

Giggling with dad

Just having a little giggle/snuggle time with dad in the morning before he leaves for work.

Come for a Visit!

Thanks to my friend Bethany I recently discovered the Google car has made it's way through Prangins and you can take a virtual walking tour of our village.
Better yet - I'll be there to greet you! I was standing in our window when the car passed by and voila!
Here's how it works . . .
type (or cut and copy) our address into the toolbar: 14 rue de la Gare Prangins, Switzerland

click on the map of the first link (it should be google maps)

click on the address of the "Dr. Pegada - dentiste" labeled "A" and move the little yellow man in the corner of the map to the "A"

then just scroll around until you see me standing upstairs, just inside our balcony door!

Continue further down the road to have a view of the bakery, the chateau and the Alps!

See you soon . . .

The Little Guy

Well, here is the little guy at 27 weeks.
We are so thankful that he is happy and healthy. The French doctor kept saying, "Oh yes, he's a good baby," and I completely agree - this has been a very easy pregnancy so far. I'm starting the third trimester now and he is making his presence known with plenty of movement (football player? soccer? runner?)

All of his measurements are average and he weighs about 2.5 pounds. His due date is March 3rd and we're already looking forward to meeting the little guy!




What do you think - does he look like anyone already?
All I can say is that it looks a little squashy in there and a I can see how that can be comfortable but he doesn't seem to mind!

Santa's little helper

putting up the tree

Well, here goes nothing . . .
it's time for another tree. Last year our tree ended up being the biggest blaze at the Prangins tree burning and while we do feel we have a reputation to maintain, we'd rather not have that fire hazard in our house for a month. So this year Daniel trimmed the stump up a little higher in hopes that it will actually take up water . . . only time will tell!
Analise had fun going through the tool kit and my flowery tools (gifts from Uncle P.J.) were a big hit.
Tonight Daniel and I trimmed the tree - so we'll see how long that will last once the wee one wakes up tomorrow.

Making cookies

Chef Analise at home in the kitchen













Mommy and Lissy in our aprons -
Thanks Janette Z. for Analise's and to Betty for mine!
(Mine in French says "Queen of the Kitchen" - not too sure about the truth of that statement, but I'm not saying anything :)





We were making Grandma Volm's ginger cookies with maple syrup - do I need my head examined??
Maybe, but the process was actually pretty fun and worth the added clean-up.








The video gives a nice close up of the snot nose/ flour mixture we have going on . . . yummy . . .

watching our show

I do apologize for the lack of "material" on the blog lately but today we were just watching the Praisebaby DVD, which buys a precious half hour before dinner is ready, and I thought maybe we should just capture a few of those mundane moments that I'll probably miss when she's 25.
Socks and shoes are off because they are actually quite muddy from our walk earlier this afternoon. Analise has discovered how great it is to walk through puddles.
And sorry about the kiss dad - I think she was a bit more engrossed in watching a video than in recording one.

something in my eye

This is one of the outfits from the lady who gave me 5 BAGS of clothes for Analise. They're a little baggy, but soon!
I was trying to get her to talk to Grady, which is a constant occurrence, expect for when you try to catch it on video . . .
So anyway, we did a few animal sounds but something stuck in her eye was clearly bothering her - it must be all that hair!

Goodnight Papa . . .

Heading up the steps to go to bed

Goodnight daddy - we love you!

snow in the mountains . . .

We drove up into the foothills today to enjoy some of the new snow. It was quite funny to turn the bend and go from "fall" to "winter" in a matter of moments!





















































Later in the afternoon, I was trying to get a family picture before church. Here is one of the options - but it turned out to be more fun just snapping pictures of Analise walking in her new coat.

47 days . . .

I love my family and I love their posts on the last blog (even if Andy's does make one gag) :)

Just so you know, we had dinner with friends from church last night and confessed that we'd been listening to Christmas music earlier that day. Her response was "FINALLY!" and she immediately turned on Bing Crosby Christmas! She has a countdown in her hallway and let us know that it was only 48 days left.

It was a successful evening with Analise falling asleep in the pack-and-play in their storage room right around the main course (but not before she consumed half a bag of chips thanks to their little three year old who thought it was hilarious to continue to feed her). And as an added bonus she slept until 8:30 this morning.

Well, no pictures, but just wanted to share the contagious Christmas spirit . . . even if it does mean I'm a brainwashed minion of my mom.

Is it Christmas yet?

I know, I know . . . we haven't even celebrated Thanksgiving yet. There are still plenty of red and gold leaves on the trees. We still have pumpkins out and fall decorations up.

But this morning Daniel left for work and then came back in to say that the foothills were covered with snow and sure enough - the foothills as well as the mountains across the lake are beautifully white. The days are starting to get dark at 4:00 already (especially when it's rainy and cloudy) and I'm wanting the comforting glow of all those twinkly little lights.

So is it too early to bust out Amy Grant, Mannheim Steamroller, Johnny Matthis, the Carpenters, Michael W. Smith and "Windham Hill Christmas"? ah, all my friends
Is it legal to bake a batch of sugar cookies? . . . . mmm, just one
Can I hang some lights? . . . . o.k., but only a few

I mean, half the fun of Christmas is the anticipation, right? So rock on Karen "It cay -m upon a midnight clear . . . that glorious song of old - o . . .of ayngels bending near the earth to touch their harps of gold . . . "

Merry Christmas everybody and happy Thanksgiving planning!

Halloween with the Swiss Miss

Halloween was pretty low key but we enjoyed
carving pumpkins, getting dressed up to greet some trick-or-treaters and celebrating our friend Bethany's birthday!
Here's our little swiss miss, complete with a mini cow bell . . .

Fashion show before bed

Many apologies for the lack of blogs as of late . . . I've been a bit delinquent. Analise has been walking for a few weeks now and although she is starting to get a mind of her own and not want to walk in the same direction I am going, it is actually super handy having her walk on her own two legs! She really feels like a full fledged toddler and it leaves me wondering where our baby has gone. She goes down the slides at the park with confidence, uses her spoon with greater agility, and "says" lots of animal sounds. Her favorite book at the moment is "Ten Little Finger and Ten Little Toes." (I highly recommend it you mommies - it's darling).
We're having a bit of a fashion show before bed because I found a bag of clothes that I didn't realize I had saved for her - so we were trying on a possible Christmas dress.
In the other pictures we were sorting beans and pasta (also stringing some pasta), watching "Praise Baby" with dad, and practicing our yoga on the kitchen floor - all in a days work.

Yvoire with Dad . . .

Watch out - here she comes!














"The hat's cute mom, but my snacks are in that bag - so get out of my way!"












"Hey, look at the ducks over there"










We happened to be there during their Fall Festival - so we watched the men pressing apples in a huge winepress. The tan-ish mass here are all apples that have been pressed for juice. Yum, yum!





Going back home to Switzerland on the boat

crazy bunny

just another Friday night at the Mueller's . . .

petting the cows

all the pretty tractors . . .











Analise and friend Lea playing on the teeter-totter










just looking around

after the parade we got to see some of the cows close up. Good thing we've been working on the "moos"!