More Pictures from Avignon and the Provence Region

Here are a few more pictures from the Provence trip. As you can tell, it was warm and sunny and very lovely. All of these pictures were taken in or near the village of Sault, France.
Of course the day included a trip to a fabric shop where I purchased a tablecloth for our dining room.

The girls enjoyed walking in the fields and smelling the plants. We have no idea if we were even allowed to trespass onto the property, but there were no signs indicating otherwise and no gates to keep us out, so we made ourselves at home.

The sweet smell of Provence

On Sunday, August 5th, we returned home from 4 days in the Provence region of Southern France. It was absolutely beautiful......one of my favorite trips so far. Since this is our last summer in Europe (we move back to the States early next summer), I told Jared that I wanted to visit Provence while the lavender fields were still in bloom. We made it.

I don't think I can really describe the beauty of the region in a manner that would do it justice, so you will just have to check out this picture and some from postings that will follow and imagine for yourselves. Sorry that I can't turn the picture into a scratch and sniff sticker so that each of you could enjoy the deliciously sweet and relaxing scent of the lavender.

More pictures from Barcelona and Las Palmas

A few more pictures of our Barcelona/Las Palmas trip: Mea is walking along the wall at the Las Palmas harbor; a cafe in Barcelona with the Berwegers; coffee; Lily with 'Don King' hair (and a runny nose) after an afternoon at the beach; last, Christopher Columbus statue near the port in Barcelona.

Barcelona, Spain and Las Palmas de Gran Canaria

The girls and I recently had the pleasure of tagging along with Jared on a business trip he made to Barcelona and the Canary Islands. What a treat to have a 'bonus' getaway! We had a great time sightseeing and enjoying the beautiful weather and beaches.

We flew to Barcelona on Friday afternoon and enjoyed a relaxed evening and half day on Saturday making our way around the city with Peter Berweger, one of Jared's co-workers, and his wife and son. Peter's wife, Sylvia, is a native of Barcelona and she was very informative as to things to do and see as well as just a wealth of knowledge about Barcelona's history and the surrounding areas.

Late Saturday evening we flew to Las Palmas, a city on the Grand Canary Island. We spent Sunday exploring a little bit of Las Palmas and then making our way to the beautiful dune beaches of Maspalomas. It was a perfectly clear and cloudless day which meant that it was also very hot and the sun was directly upon us. Since the girls and I have such fair skin, we only spent about an hour or two in the sun before retreating to a nicely shaded cafe and enjoying an early supper. From looking at the pictures it appears that the water was dark and dirty, but actually the sand was like a fine mix of gold and black so you can't tell that the water was extremely clear and beautiful. We got to see lots of speedos and boobs.........but what else could we expect at a beach in Europe.

It was an exhausting trip since we had to stop through Barcelona on the way to Las Palmas and back, but we had a great time being together and just exploring another part of Europe. We hope to make another trip to Barcelona when we have more dedicated time there and are able to check out the museums and Gaudi stuff.

Mea's 3rd Birthday Party

Okay, I know. Mea's birthday is April 1st, so what kind of mother am I for postponing her party until July??? Well, let's just say it is a long story with a happy ending----the happy ending being the arrival of the Dora the Explorer cake pan.

All Mea asked for for her birthday was a Dora cake and being the sweet (and insane!!) mother that I am, I said, "Of course you can have a Dora cake. No problem." I had forgotten that it had been almost 6 years since I took my Wilton cake decorating classes. Never the less, we finally received the pan in the mail and set about planning her Dora party.

We had a wonderful evening of tacos, face painting, playing on the playground, presents and Dora cake. Hope you enjoy the pictures.

A Visit from the Schullers

In early July, our family was blessed to be able to host family friends, Karen and Fred Schuller, in our home in Horgen. They were passing through Switzerland as part of their European vacation after having completed a mission trip to Moldova. It was such a treat for us to spend time with them and catch up on what has been taking place in their lives since we left Atlanta. Mea and Lily fell in love with them, and now Mea calls the Hotel Schwann in Horgen "Karen's hotel" since that is where they spent the night.

Thanks, guys, for stopping in and visiting with us. What a joy and encouragement you both were (and are) to us.

IPC Ladies Retreat in Adelboden, May 2007

I received the greatest Mother's Day gift from Jared and the girls this year: I got to go away for a weekend to attend the church women's retreat! It was a wonderful two days away from home where I got to relax, unwind and recharge. The retreat was held in Adelboden which was an incredibly beautiful village about 2.5 hours south of Zurich. Our speaker was Sandy Bradford from Wisconsin, and she delivered a message to encourage us as we strive to have a fresh relationship with the Lord. The key verse was Psalm 57:8a "Awake my soul!" During our free time, we were able to explore the village and all of its cute shops as well as having time to hike around and just enjoy the lovely surroundings and perfect weather. It was also a very special time to get to know so many other ladies from the church and to hear about their backgrounds and home countries. Definitely a blessing for me!

Mother's Day

Here is a quick shot of the four of us after church on Mother's Day. (The little girl in the bottom left corner is our youth pastor's daughter. She had been playing with Lily and was not happy when we took her away for a picture.)

I would like to say that we had a wonderful day relaxing and spending time together, but that was not the case. On our way home from church we suffered a flat tire which resulted in parking on the curb, walking to the bus stop, waiting for a train, riding to Horgen, walking to the house then sending Jared back to take care of the car details. I was just relieved that the tire was the only thing damaged......and not the cyclist who swerved into our lane!!

Jared joins the IPC church council

This Sunday was very special in that Jared was officially installed as a member of the church council. He will serve as treasurer for the church for the next year. All of the new council members were called before the congregation Sunday morning to introduce themselves and to pledge to serve the Lord and the church in their respective positions. Here are a few pictures :

A Weekend with Kashif

It is rare that friends from home come to visit, so we were honored to have Kashif Khan spend the weekend of April 21st with us. Kashif is a friend of Jared's from KPMG Atlanta and he stopped through Zurich to see us as he was on his way back to Atlanta from Pakistan.

We had a wonderful weekend just taking in the sites around Horgen and the Zurich area. The girls were especially happy with our trip to the Knie Kinderzoo in Rapperswil and our Sunday afternoon hike in Au.

Thank you, Kashif, for taking the time to visit us!

Quick trip to Paris

After recovering from our trip to Greece, we decided to make a quick weekend trip to Paris to see my cousin, Donna, and her family while they were visiting France. We took the train over on Friday afternoon and came back Sunday which only left a little bit of time to visit, but seeing Donna, Joel, Monica and Logan was well worth the trip.

We spent the morning walking and talking, mostly catching up on all the activities and happenings in the Bernstein family and letting them get to know our girls a little bit. It had been over 3 years since we had seen Donna and Joel, so it was nice for me to be able to introduce Mea and Lily to them. It was a wonderful treat to spend time with family and Paris couldn't have been more beautiful.

Greece: March 29-April 9

Since I have always wanted to go to Greece, Jared was so kind as to make that wish come true by taking us to Greece for a spring getaway. We had wonderful time visiting Athens and spending a week on the island of Santorini. I have to admit that as big and dirty as Athens was, it was still a great place to visit----an unexpected highpoint of our trip. While the scenery was beautiful and the people extremely nice, we were surprised to have very chilly weather during our time in Santorini. Another downer was that both girls got sick while we were there which resulted in a trip to the village clinic and a lack of sleep for us all.

We had a great time being together playing on the beaches, visiting markets, exploring the island and eating a lot of wonderful food. (I personally came to love mousaka and I think I ate tzatziki and cucumbers everyday.) Mea seemed to enjoy playing on the beach but at first she wasn't quite sure what to do with rocks instead of sand....we ended up building rock towers instead of sand castles.

Greece was quite a lovely place and I hope to visit there again.......maybe without the children!

Saying Good-byes

Here is a picture of Kacey, me and Amanda at a going away apero for Amanda and her husband, Aaron. Seeing this picture made me reflect on what it is to live in a different country and to appreciate the friendships I have made................

One of the hardest parts of living an expat lifestyle is having to say "Good-bye" to friends who have played such a crucial role in my Swiss experience. However, a huge part of living so far away from family and all the friends back home means that your new friends become your 'family'. You jump right into these new relationships because your time is limited and there's no point wasting what little time you have on small talk and mindless chatter. They are the ones who throw surprise baby showers for you, who come and cook supper and take care of your kids when you are sick, who help you look at apartments--- with two children in tow while your husband is out of the country--- in the thick summer heat AND while using public transportation. These friends become your lunch buddies, movie buddies, recipe advisers, therapists, free referral services and so much more. Sometimes they even brave the unknown and spend their Christmas holidays with you (and your children) in another country............pretty amazing!!

Our family has been in Zurich for almost 2 years now, and the 3 ladies that befriended me my first week in town have now all moved on to new places: Susan, my very first friend, is back in the NYC area; Shannon is now in Hong Kong; and now Amanda has moved to Munich. Thanks ladies for the friendships and love.

Arosa

Here are some pictures from our KPMG TS weekend in Arosa in early March. We had a great time getting to know many of the other families in Jared's group. Mea and Jared were able to get out on the slopes on Saturday for Mea's first ski lesson. (Mandy hung out at the hotel and read books and napped while Lily caught up on her sleep.)

Happy Baby

Since I was a bad mommy and didn't take many close up pictures of Lily at her birthday party, I decided to try and snap a few shots during lunch earlier this week. She is smiling just enough to show some of her teeth and the slight dimple in her left cheek. I think Lily is a doll, but then again I am very biased.

Saying Good-bye to Jacqui

On January 11th, we treated our Kiwi babysitter, Jacqui Dibley, to a "good-bye" lunch in Zurich. We met at the Bellevue Brat stand, ordered lunch and then walked to the lake to eat and feed the ducks.

Jacqui was in Zurich for a year both living and working with a family in our church and she came out at least once a week to take care of the girls while I ran errands. The girls loved her very much which made it even more difficult to see her go. The upside is that now we have a friend in New Zealand whenever we want to go visit! Thank you, Jacqui!!!