Finally :-)
Well, I know that many people thought that I would never post another blog. :-) But, here it is, just to prove them wrong, lol. Sorry, life has been kinda busy lately. I will try to give a quick overview of the last, um, 3 months.
Well, after the wonderful week that Adam was here, things pretty much got back to normal. The kids went back to school and so we all got back into the swing of things. My friend Meredith and I took a couple of great weekend trips together, one to Geneva the last weekend of August and then one to Montreux & Lausanne the first weekend of Sept. We visited the Chateu Chillion in Montreux with another au pair, Jemima and her boyfriend Preston. That was a lot of fun. I will be posting some pictures of that soon. Then we over-nighted in Lausanne at an awesome hostel near the train station (got 2 of the last 3 beds in the girls dorms, whoo-hoo!). Lausanne was a really cool city. We saw the cathedral there, which if I remember right, is the largest in Switzerland (it was huge, no doubt) and enjoyed walking around the old town. We also spent a considerable amount of time in the Olympic museum, which was fascinating. We originally thought, "oh, Olympic museum, sports stuff, we'll be through it in a couple of hours". Nope, we were there for well over 3 hours, checking out all the neat displays on the history of the games and the cool memorabilia. But I think my favorite part of that trip was when we took a train to the village of Grandvaux, which is not far outside of Lausanne, and walked from there through the vineyards along Lake Geneva to the village of Lutry. It was so beautiful, the vineyard were so green and the grapes were ripe & hanging heavy from the vines. Meredith and I had almost decided that we would have to buy a vineyard and move permanently to the region. Too bad they speak French down there, because that is one language neither one of us really wants to learn, lol!
We got a new influx of au pairs in late August/early September. We were sad to see the "old" ones go and excited to meet the new ones. There is actually another gal from Oklahoma here this year! :) One other person we were REALLY sorry to see go was Sarah Taylor, the founder and coordinator of the Aupair Connection. Her husband's job in Switzerland came to an end after, I think, 5 years and so their family had to move back to California. :( But, Sarah did leave the group in the very capable hands of Janelle Wigent. :) So, the Aupair Connection will continue to thrive!
Now for my FAVORITE part of the last 3 months, . In October, I got to go home for a 3 WEEK visit!! Yippee! I was soooo happy to see Jonathan and the rest of my family. :-D My goodness, how my siblings have grown. Seth is TALLER than me now. He wasn't taller than me when I left!! Caleb is well on his way to being bigger than me, too. :::shakes head::: And Miss Olivia was prettier than ever!
It was a busy 3 weeks, too. I had a great day with Mom, Olivia and Jonathan, trying on wedding dresses. :) I think I found "the one". Simple, yet elegant. ;) Jonathan was such a good sport the evening we spent 3 hours starting one of our registries. And I got to spend some great quality time with all of my siblings, who I have missed a lot!
The 2nd weekend I was there, Jonathan & I went with his cousin John Mark & his wife Holly to Stone Mountain, Georgia to attend the Scottish Games there. John Mark is a bagpiper and the band he's a member of was there, competing. :-) That was a fun weekend. It was a LOOOONNNNGGGG drive, but well worth it. I was really glad to meet the band (which plays awesomely, I must say) and to go to the games. Ate lots of scottish food and bought lots of cool scottish stuff. ;-) (AND John Mark and Holly brought along Baby Catlain, who is as cute as a button, so I got to "brush up" on my baby skills, like cuddling, kissing and talking in ridiculous baby talk! ;) I just LOVE babies! )
The worst part of the trip was saying good-bye to Jonathan at the airport. :-( Gosh, that was HARD. Now I know how he felt the 2 times he was here visiting me, poor guy. Man, was I extremely homesick the first week I was back! I am still homesick (will be a little 'til I'm home for good, no doubt), but it's no longer that overwhelming kind. It did help to get back into the routine of life in Zurich. And Janelle, our new au pair group coordinator, hosted an American Thanksgiving dinner at her house the 1st weekend I was back! (she did it then, and not on "the day" because she and her family will be back in Ohio for Thanksgiving) It was a great evening. Many of the au pairs who can't make the Wed morning meetings were there, so we got to see a lot of new faces. And guess what! I met yet another au pair from Oklahoma!! HIS name is Casey and he is taking care of a 6 yr old boy. (no laughing guys! there ARE male au pairs, too!) So, of the au pairs from the States, looks like the Okies are in the majority! Who'd have thought?!
Well, I think that covers the highlights of last few months. I have tried not to make this a HUGE blog, so that it won't take a half hour to read, lol. More details as I think of them and of course I will keep ya'll updated as we head off into the Christmas season. :-)
Well, after the wonderful week that Adam was here, things pretty much got back to normal. The kids went back to school and so we all got back into the swing of things. My friend Meredith and I took a couple of great weekend trips together, one to Geneva the last weekend of August and then one to Montreux & Lausanne the first weekend of Sept. We visited the Chateu Chillion in Montreux with another au pair, Jemima and her boyfriend Preston. That was a lot of fun. I will be posting some pictures of that soon. Then we over-nighted in Lausanne at an awesome hostel near the train station (got 2 of the last 3 beds in the girls dorms, whoo-hoo!). Lausanne was a really cool city. We saw the cathedral there, which if I remember right, is the largest in Switzerland (it was huge, no doubt) and enjoyed walking around the old town. We also spent a considerable amount of time in the Olympic museum, which was fascinating. We originally thought, "oh, Olympic museum, sports stuff, we'll be through it in a couple of hours". Nope, we were there for well over 3 hours, checking out all the neat displays on the history of the games and the cool memorabilia. But I think my favorite part of that trip was when we took a train to the village of Grandvaux, which is not far outside of Lausanne, and walked from there through the vineyards along Lake Geneva to the village of Lutry. It was so beautiful, the vineyard were so green and the grapes were ripe & hanging heavy from the vines. Meredith and I had almost decided that we would have to buy a vineyard and move permanently to the region. Too bad they speak French down there, because that is one language neither one of us really wants to learn, lol!
We got a new influx of au pairs in late August/early September. We were sad to see the "old" ones go and excited to meet the new ones. There is actually another gal from Oklahoma here this year! :) One other person we were REALLY sorry to see go was Sarah Taylor, the founder and coordinator of the Aupair Connection. Her husband's job in Switzerland came to an end after, I think, 5 years and so their family had to move back to California. :( But, Sarah did leave the group in the very capable hands of Janelle Wigent. :) So, the Aupair Connection will continue to thrive!
Now for my FAVORITE part of the last 3 months, . In October, I got to go home for a 3 WEEK visit!! Yippee! I was soooo happy to see Jonathan and the rest of my family. :-D My goodness, how my siblings have grown. Seth is TALLER than me now. He wasn't taller than me when I left!! Caleb is well on his way to being bigger than me, too. :::shakes head::: And Miss Olivia was prettier than ever!
It was a busy 3 weeks, too. I had a great day with Mom, Olivia and Jonathan, trying on wedding dresses. :) I think I found "the one". Simple, yet elegant. ;) Jonathan was such a good sport the evening we spent 3 hours starting one of our registries. And I got to spend some great quality time with all of my siblings, who I have missed a lot!
The 2nd weekend I was there, Jonathan & I went with his cousin John Mark & his wife Holly to Stone Mountain, Georgia to attend the Scottish Games there. John Mark is a bagpiper and the band he's a member of was there, competing. :-) That was a fun weekend. It was a LOOOONNNNGGGG drive, but well worth it. I was really glad to meet the band (which plays awesomely, I must say) and to go to the games. Ate lots of scottish food and bought lots of cool scottish stuff. ;-) (AND John Mark and Holly brought along Baby Catlain, who is as cute as a button, so I got to "brush up" on my baby skills, like cuddling, kissing and talking in ridiculous baby talk! ;) I just LOVE babies! )
The worst part of the trip was saying good-bye to Jonathan at the airport. :-( Gosh, that was HARD. Now I know how he felt the 2 times he was here visiting me, poor guy. Man, was I extremely homesick the first week I was back! I am still homesick (will be a little 'til I'm home for good, no doubt), but it's no longer that overwhelming kind. It did help to get back into the routine of life in Zurich. And Janelle, our new au pair group coordinator, hosted an American Thanksgiving dinner at her house the 1st weekend I was back! (she did it then, and not on "the day" because she and her family will be back in Ohio for Thanksgiving) It was a great evening. Many of the au pairs who can't make the Wed morning meetings were there, so we got to see a lot of new faces. And guess what! I met yet another au pair from Oklahoma!! HIS name is Casey and he is taking care of a 6 yr old boy. (no laughing guys! there ARE male au pairs, too!) So, of the au pairs from the States, looks like the Okies are in the majority! Who'd have thought?!
Well, I think that covers the highlights of last few months. I have tried not to make this a HUGE blog, so that it won't take a half hour to read, lol. More details as I think of them and of course I will keep ya'll updated as we head off into the Christmas season. :-)