I loved this day.  It was the stuff snowy, Swiss dreams are made of.  

We decided to take the drive to Bern, about an hour and a half away.  Bern is so beautiful.  The city center sits inside the u-shape of the Aare river, and there are now 18 bridges that cross the river.  Bern is listed in the top 10 cities for the best quality of life, and has a similar population to that of Boise, but only if you included the surrounding municipalities.  The city itself has only 138,000 people.  

We drove around for a bit, and then found a place to park and ate a lite pre-packed lunch in the car.  We didn’t eat much because I was determined to eat fondue that day, and if we found a fondue restaurant in an hour or two, I wanted to have an appetite by golly.  Richard joked that Switzerland was leaving a lot of money on the table by making fondue so elusive…

Classic example of Mim’s mood swings…

So, that is Bern.  My favorite European city thus far.  We found two fondue restaurants but of course they weren’t actually serving fondue until the evening, so we called it a day in Bern and decided to drive to Baden, which was closer to home and hopefully by then we could find a restaurant that would give us what we were looking for.  

With some help from some friendly Swiss citizens, we did at last find a fondue restaurant.  

Apparently we were naive Americans when it came to fondue.  It was expensive, we discovered that soon enough as we searched for fondue restaurants.  So we had high expectations.  At home when we make fondue, we have bread and chicken, potatoes, apples, other types of bread, broccoli, other veg, a whole table of foods to dip in the cheese.  The fondue we had in Swizterland was just bread and cheese.  We were all a little disappointed when we realized this. 

Now that I’ve gotten that out of the way; the fondue was amazing.  It was so good.  It was a perfect texture and consistency and the cheesy flavor was a party for my tongue.  We loved it.  

And Simon had schnitzel and fries.  Poor kid.  But he didn’t care.  

The restaurant was in a quaint little part of town in Baden and we soaked up some Swiss ambiance as we walked back to the car, satisfied and exhausted. 

And because in addition to wooden shutters, snow-capped mountains and delicious cheese and chocolate, Switzerland has more graffiti than any other place we’ve been.  What up with that yo?!   (Not so much in my lovely Bern. Mostly Zurich and other cities/towns.) 

We asked Monica, the woman who owned the chalet where we were staying in, for some suggestions about places to take the kids sledding. (Or sledging. Or tobogganing. Or rodelbahn.) We had originally thought we were going to have to drive a long distance, closer to the Alps to find some good snow and hills.  But she told us that just across the border, in Germany in the Black Forest (that sounds so foreboding!) there were places that would suit us just fine.  And BONUS- she had sleds and toboggans for us.  

Monday morning we dressed warm because Monica warned us it would be really cold, and jam-packed the kids and the sleds in the car and crossed the river into Germany.  

It was so beautiful driving up there.  I didn’t take any pictures, I’m not sure why, I suppose I thought I’d take them on the way home.  It was snowing giant, fluffy flakes and about 20 minutes into our drive the roads were snow packed.  For a minute Richard and I wondered if it was smart to keep going, but there were plenty of others headed where we were, so we kept on.  We stopped at a small grocery store to buy some snacks for lunch and there were so many delicious looking cookies and biscuits, I wanted to buy them all.  But I’ll tell you exactly what there wasn’t. Not a bag of potato chips/crisps to be seen in the entire store.  So I just bought more cookies.  

We had trouble finding what exactly it was that Monica told us we were looking for, but we did find a ski hill, with a sledding hill next to it so we thought we’d give it a shot.  The car was telling us it was -8 Celcius, which is about 17 degrees Fahrenheit.  BRRRR! 

We put all our snow clothes on and hit the hill.  The kids were having fun, but we learned an important (and probably obvious, really) lesson quickly.  Wellies are fabulous for keeping water/moisture out.  But they are not adequate for keeping COLD out.  Our poor toes were frozen in about 20 minutes.  So we went back to the car to warm up and look for other sledding options.  We had heard of a tube hill so we decided to try and find it.  

We drove around the little town near the ski hill and then up and around the mountain.  At one point we saw a tourist office so I went in to ask for help.  The woman behind the counter didn’t speak English so we sat down at her computer and typed back and forth to each other using Google Translate.  

This is a good place to mention that the Swiss people were so kind.  They always gave their best effort when speaking English, rarely gave themselves enough credit for how well they spoke it, and if they didn’t speak it at all, would bend over backwards to find someone who did or to help us in any way they could think.  (Case in point, above.) 

To make a long story short, we decided to go back to our original spot and give it another try.  By now the temperature had warmed up to -4° (26° F) and the snow had packed down better and for some reason our feet stayed warmer the second time around.   

Once Cameron and Eli got the hang of it they were unstoppable.  They would race, they would hike higher and higher up the hill, and they would have contests to see who could slide the farthest at the end.  Mim and Si took a few turns but they were mostly content to play in the snow and watch and run around.  

Cameron and Eli wanted to sled for a while longer after Miriam and Simon had maxed out so I stayed with them until I was sufficiently frozen as well.  The snow continued to fall while we made the drive back into Switzerland but I couldn’t take any pictures because my camera lens fogged up really badly when we got back into the warm car.  

When we told the kids about our holiday in Switzerland in the weeks and days leading up to it, we really talked up the snow.  I think the sledding day lived up to their expectations and it’s the thing they still talk about when the subject of Switzerland comes up.  It’s a bit hard for me to not be frustrated that they don’t mention all the other neat things they got to see, but Richard reminds me that they are kids after all.  And I’m glad that I have him to make sure we do things besides cathedrals and museums.  

Photo credit. 

Sunday morning we drove up to a town near Zurich to attend church.  I’ve never been to a Sacrament meeting that was all done in another language, and that was a fun experience in and of itself.  They did have a translator, so we all wore headphones so we could hear the English translation.  But it was also fun to just listen to the German.  

There was so much snow in Zurich, and it snowed all day.  We found a restaurant on Yelp that was nearby, and served fondue!  So we drove up into the hills outside Zurich and found this total gem of a restaurant.  Totally off the beaten path, it was glowing with Swiss charm.  

We arrived around 1:00pm, and were told that they didn’t serve fondue or raclette until 3:00. We were really hungry and cold, and we knew the food would be good no matter what, so we took a table.  It was a really nice restaurant, and it was definitely our most expensive meal.  The menu was in English which was nice, so Richard and I both tried something new but of course now I can’t remember the names of our dishes.  It was a really warm and cozy place, with fun little coloring packets and activities for the kids, and it was a nice Sunday afternoon meal.  

And as a fun side note- there were a lot people in the restaurant with their dogs. And the server would bring out a bowl of water for the dog too, as if it happens all the time.  The dogs were all well-behaved.  It was this sort of understanding that pets were welcome and owners were responsible and only brought pets who wouldn’t be a fuss.   There was a golden retriever at the table next to ours and it made me miss Misha.  

After we ate we drove into Zurich to explore a bit.  We parked the car and all got out but only walked about two blocks before Simon started crying about being cold.  It was really cold, so Richard took Simon back to the car and the older three kids and I took a walk along Lake Zurich.  

Richard drove by and picked up the kids and I kept walking for a bit.  Despite being really cold, it was really peaceful along the lake.  And snowflakes falling makes everything feel more serene.  

I walked across the bridge and then Richard picked me up and we drove to the Grossmunster (Great Minster. Munster=cathedral or church.)  Richard and the kids stayed in the car again and I just walked around to see the oldest part of the city and the cathedral.  

I hopped back in the car and we drove back to Rekingen for a warm and relaxing evening of cards, books and puzzles.  

We woke up Saturday morning to Miriam’s shrieks of delight over the snow.  She was so excited- Richard says it was a highlight of the vacation for him, hearing her run around in gleeful delight.  

We ate breakfast and watched German cartoons for a bit but the kids were really anxious to go out and play. So we suited up and spent the rest of the morning outside.  

We built a snowman, and then Mim and I were cold so we went inside while the boys had a snowball fight.  

After the kids all came inside they watched more German t.v. while we waited for their coats to dry.  My kids are such couch potatoes. They don’t even care if they can’t understand what’s going on. 

Once we were all sufficiently dry and hungry we drove into a town called Wettingen, where we did a little shopping. (Boots for Richard, a new puzzle, a phone charger/adapter and some gloves for me.)  

I was still jonesin’ big time for some fondue so we asked a few people but either their English wasn’t great, or their directions weren’t great, or both, and we ended up at a hamburger restaurant.  We ordered crepes for the kids, because that was easy.  But the menu was in German and so Richard and I spent at least 20 minutes using Google translate to try to figure out what we were ordering.  The hamburger was different than any hamburger I’ve ever had, it wasn’t round for one thing, but it was really yummy.  And of course I ordered it with cheese- but not like any cheese I’ve ever had on a hamburger before.  Even though fondue was irritatingly elusive, I was never disappointed with the food.  

After that we stopped at a Migros – the Swiss grocery chain- and I did some legitimate grocery shopping, we drove back home.  

(That is the short version.  The long version includes a story about me going to the store, Richard taking the kids back to the car in the parking garage, Richard getting to the parking garage exit and realizing he didn’t have the right money, abandoning the kids in the car at the parking garage exit to run to a cash machine, the kids smiling at concerned onlookers from inside the locked car, and Richard getting some ridiculous amount of francs in coins.)  

We spent the rest of the day/evening inside, playing cards, watching Swiss t.v., reading books and working on the new puzzle. 

Well I can say now, that laundry literally keeps me up at night. 

Christmas Day turned into Christmas night and I stayed up changing loads, hanging laundry, packing suitcases and chatting on the phone with Lori.  I didn’t sleep a wink. We got a really great deal on airfare but the airline is really strict about baggage so we had to fit all our things into six items.  Six items period.  No personal bag/purse/backpacks allowed above and beyond your one allotted piece of luggage.  So packing required strategy. We brought three small suitcases, two bags and one backpack. (And one suitcase was just our snow gear.)  It was actually quite satisfying.  

 At about 4:15am I woke up Richard and we dressed ourselves, packed the car, and then dressed and loaded our zombie children.  I was so sleepy that I slept nearly the entire one hour drive to the airport.  But then my adrenaline started pumping when we left Richard at the check-in with the car-seats and the kids and I ran to our gate just in time.  

I was so sleepy on the plane, and the kids were really good, and the flight went really fast. (Just over an hour I think.) We landed in Switzerland around 11:00am, because of the time change, and sat around waiting until our rental car was ready.  We flew into the Basel – Mulhouse – Freiburg airport, which is on the border of Switzerland-France-Germany and it is a small airport.  There was one small cafe where we ate some lunch while we waited.  

One thing we did not realize when planning our trip was that the 26th of December is Boxing Day (we realized that) and everything, except major shopping centres, is closed (we didn’t realize that). 

At last our car was ready and we drove the 1.5 hours to our chalet, where we were staying.  I slept most of this drive, but woke up intermittently and looked out the window and the beautiful greenery.  I think the kids were all a little confused because everything was so green and we were all expecting snow.  I didn’t take any pictures of the beautiful green scenery because I was so out of it- much to my later regret.  Because it snowed that night, and every day after that, and Switzerland became white.  Which was what we came for- but I was still sad that I didn’t capture the pre-snow views. 

The “chalet” we rented for the week was so cozy and charming.  It was in a really small town named Rekingen, right on the Rhine, and you could see Germany across the river. It was so nice to have space for the kids to spread out and to have a kitchen, because we soon discovered that one meal for a family of six in Switerland will cost a small fortune.  Restaurants were so expensive!  

We relaxed for a bit in the chalet, settled in, and then decided to drive to Zurich (about 40 minutes away) to buy some groceries and get dinner.  The drive to Zurich was also more beautiful green countryside.  We drove around the city of Zurich, casually at first, and then began an earnest search for a place to eat.  Since it was Boxing Day we had the hardest time – and I had my heart set on fondue and raclette. But no such luck- and we finally found an Italian Pizzeria which turned out to be really fantastic. The kids devoured their pizza and we had to order more.  It was really good.  We ended up buying some breakfast foods at a petrol station and then making the drive back to Rekingen. 

It had been a long day for all of us – so it was early bedtime, and it felt so good.  

At the beginning of December we sat down with the kids and told them that this Christmas was going to be more about experiences and less about gifts.  I think there was some disappointment, some acceptance, and then a general naivete for what exactly that meant come Christmas morning, but really, kids are not that hard to please. 

Each of the kids got one gift and stocking from Santa, one gift from Richard and me, and then a gift from each of their two sets of grandparents.  It was really nice to keep it simple.  We only had to wrap a few presents on Christmas Eve and we didn’t spend too much time unwrapping presents on Christmas morning.  This year it was mostly motivated by a desire to use our money on travel and outings, and to minimize the amount of STUFF that we accumulate while we live here because it will either have to be shipped or given away.  But it went so smoothly, and felt right, so maybe we will keep this system indefinitely, motivated by more noble things like a desire to be less consumer-ish.  Or something like that.  

After we sat around in our pajamas all morning and into the afternoon, assembled Playmobil, started new books, excavated a sarcophagus, ate chocolate, listened to harmonicas (both Cam & Eli got one), and were sufficiently lazy, we dressed ourselves and took the kids to Greenwich park so Cameron could play with his new football.  

I literally had no plans for a Christmas Dinner going into the day, so I just made some rolls, cooked some meat we had in the freezer (that I can’t recall) and roasted some veggies that would have gone bad before our return from Switzerland.  It was really quite a dull meal, but we had Christmas Crackers to spice it up!

But Christmas Crackers are not crackers (or what the Brits call biscuits)  at all.  They sort of resemble a firecracker, they make a big popping sound when you pull them apart, and they have fun toys or jokes or treats inside. (Or all of the above!)  I can’t believe this tradition hasn’t made it to the U.S.  They were so fun.  

It was a really wonderful Christmas that also included Facetime and chatting with family members back home. We are very blessed. 

I had some apprehension about Christmas Eve because I could already tell from the way I had been feeling about Christmas up to that point, that it wasn’t going to feel like Christmas Eve back home.  We have spent Christmas Eve and Christmas Day with our families every year of our lives. (With the exception of Richard’s years on his mission.)  I have never not seen my mom and dad on Christmas Day, and there are many traditions that we’ve done with our parents and siblings over the years.  I knew this year that it was going to feel different, and that was sad.  

But it was also exciting.  Richard and I were both excited to spend the holiday with our kids, un-obliged and uncommitted. So we made a simple plan for Christmas Eve and then decided to just let Christmas Day be what it may.  

Interestingly I found myself at a shopping centre on Christmas Eve morning, trying to buy snow pants for our trip to Switzerland.  (But I quickly learned that you don’t call them snow pants here.  Pants are underwear, and what in the world would snow undearwear be for?)

In the afternoon we took the kids to see the Paddington Movie.  It was much anticipated, we had been talking about it for awhile, and the kids loved it.  It was full of slap-stick comedy, which kids just eat up, but it also had clever lines and fun characters.  (Hugh Bonneville and Nicole Kidman…)  

I really wanted to have a nice dinner on Christmas Eve or Christmas Day, but it didn’t make much sense to do it on Christmas Day and leave a bunch of leftovers in the fridge while we were on holiday.  I also didn’t feel like slaving away in the kitchen all day on Christmas just for the six of us.  Nor did I want to spend Christmas Eve cooking.  So we went with the suggestion of a friend, and took the kids to a carvery, and it was fabulous.  All the comfort foods of a festive holiday meal, without the trouble.  We went early enough that it wasn’t busy and it was simple and not too expensive. 

A carvery is a restaurant that works buffet style, but with much better quality of meat and veg than you would find at a buffet in the states. The food was delicious and the dessert options were over the moon.  I was really disappointed to find out that the kid’s ice cream was included in their meal price, because I had wanted to order six different desserts for my own selfish benefit. 

We went home from the carvery and changed our clothes for a Christmas Carol service at our church that evening.  Cameron had a speaking part, and they had asked our family to sing Away in A Manger.  The service was less than an hour, and then we had mince pies and fizzy drinks afterward, exchanging Christmas greetings with our London family.  

We went home and did a couple family things, including pajamas, and then crashed in bed.  The kids were so tired I don’t think any of them had any trouble falling asleep.  

It was really the most chill Christmas Eve we’ve had in a long time, but just busy enough to not feel too painfully homesick. 

Merry Christmas!

On the eve of Christmas Eve I decided to take the kids into the city to have one last chance to find Paddington Bear statues and to visit the Science Museum.  Cameron spent the day with a friend, so I just had these three hoodlums.  We got on a train at about 10:00am and didn’t get home until 7:30pm and I have to say that the kids were troopers.  With the exception of a few hiccups (I’ll mention later) we had a really fantastic day.  

We took the train into central London and then transferred to the tube to get to Green Park.  We walked through green park and it was sunny and lovely and the kids ran around on the green grass.  Green grass in January is new to me.  

From Green Park we passed under the Wellington Arch and entered Hyde Park.  Winter Wonderland was still going on, so we made a quick stop to use the toilet and I would have bought more churros but I had no cash. (She has no cash.) 

We left Hyde Park toward the south and wound our way through Kensington.  It was hustling and bustling with last-minute Christmas shoppers, but it was as lovely as ever.  

As we searched for the next bear I didn’t realize we were approaching Harrod’s.  I still haven’t been inside Harrod’s (on Christmas Eve Eve with three kids? No thanks…) but when I saw the building from afar I didn’t know what it was.  I just kept thinking – “That building is gorgeous.”  I didn’t get a good picture- but when I go back to actually experience Harrod’s I shall.  I have mixed feelings about Harrod’s, but those for another post.  

While the kids were watching the window displays I was looking over a map at the bus stop – to figure out if it was the right bus stop and which bus we needed.  I called to them, and they followed me down the sidewalk, but then I realized we were walking the wrong direction so I told them to turn around.  When we got back to the bus stop I paused again to look at the map.  I noticed the Eli and Simon weren’t right at my side but I assumed they were looking at the window again.  When I realized they weren’t, I looked all around.  I couldn’t see them anywhere.  There were so many people – did I mention it was December 23 outside the biggest department store in London?  

My heart started to race and I totally panicked.  I couldn’t decide if I should run back the way we came, or run ahead the direction we were walking.  I couldn’t decide if I should shout for help or scream their names.  I was the most scared I’ve ever been about losing a kid, and just ask my family, I’ve lost my kids before.  

It felt like forever but at last there was a break in the crowd long enough for me to see down the sidewalk to the corner where they were huddled with a friendly woman.  I ran to the corner and both of them were in tears.  They looked so scared, and I felt so scared I started crying too.  The woman went on her way and we just kind of sat there on the busy corner for a minute, frozen.  

When I finally had my wits about me, and the boys were calm again, we walked back to the bus stop and waited for our bus.  I hadn’t decided if we needed to take a bus to our next destination or if we should just walk, but a confined space seemed like the right thing at that moment.  

We took the bus just a few blocks toward the Science Museum, which happens to be really close to our favorite crepe restaurant.  So we had crepes for lunch and then walked over to the Science Museum.  

The Science Museum was really fun, I felt badly for Eli because he had the museum map in hand, and he really could have spent the entire day there.  He was totally loving the space exploration exhibit.  Unfortunately Mim and Si have shorter attention spans so we had to compromise a bit.  There are also a lot of hands-on science activities for kids, and Eli was interested in the science behind them, whereas Mim and Si wanted to just play with it and move on.  So I’ll definitely be going back with just Cameron and Eli another time.  

We stayed at the museum for a couple hours, about as long as Miriam and Simon would tolerate, and then took the tube from South Kensington to Picadilly Circus.  It gets dark so early during the winter, that when we arrived at Picadilly the sun had already set.  

We left Picadilly Circus and walked toward Leicester Square.  (Pronounced, “Lester”. It only took me six months to learn that one.)  Leicester Square is the heart of the theatre district, where you can buy discount tickets to all the shows. (Les Miserable, Wicked, Once, Lion King, War Horse, etc…)  There was a winter carnival set up there with fake snow and music and lots of festive spirit.  

From Leicester Square we made our way to Chinatown.  There were a couple times when we would walk right past the Paddington and then have to turn around and backtrack until we found him.  You would think with four pairs of eyes he would be easy to spot, but kids can get distracted, as you know.  

Eli was totally into the Paddington hunt by this point. He especially loved looking at each of the suitcases to see what they “contained”, or how they were painted.  He also was very cooperative with posing at each bear, which Mim and Si were more fickle about.  

From Chinatown we walked to Covent Garden and the Royal Opera House.   I had been to Covent Garden with Miriam earlier, but there were new Christmas decorations up that the kids just loved.  

There was a life-size Santa, sleigh and reindeer made entirely of legos.  Eli loved it- but you would never guess by the expression on his face.  He was annoyed because there was a long queue to sit in the sleigh and I insisted that all three kids get in at the same time.  

So you can tell by the last picture that the kids were starting to get restless.  We needed to walk back to Charing Cross station to catch a train so I thought we’d go by way of Trafalgar Square to see one more bear.  Apparently it was more bear too many… 

As you can tell by the poor quality of the picture I was distracted because of this…

I had packed some juice boxes and snacks in the backpack for our day out, and at some point when I was distracted by looking at maps, Simon drank an entire juice box in about 20 seconds flat.  I only realized it just as he finished.  

Also- public restrooms in London? SO hard to come by.  

So we walked across the street to a Next clothing store and bought him some new trousers.  There was no bathroom there, and he was already saying he needed to go again.  So I changed him in the fitting room, all the while him loudly saying “I’m sorry I peed my pants Mom.  Are we changing my pants? Thanks for getting me new pants…”  I stuffed the wet things in the Next bag and off we went. 

Fortunately Next is right by Charing Cross, so we hustled to the station to use the toilet, except it costs 30p to use the toilet and I had no cash.  So I got cash out of an ATM, but it only accepts coins, so we waited in the queue and bought Eli’s train ticket to get some change.  All the while Simon whining about how he needs to go again, and me PRAYING that he doesn’t pee in his pants again.  

Fortunately it all got sorted out, and we got on our train, and I just took deep breaths the whole ride home.   

Once we got home we were in a mad rush to get in the car and go pick up Cameron from his friend’s house, and since we were already in the car I figured we could stop and deliver some treats we had made for Kayden’s family.  They kindly invited us in, and while the kids were playing we all noticed a foul odor.  Everyone blamed it on Tyler for awhile, until I realized it was Simon.  In his new trousers.  With no underwear, because I had completely forgotten to put underwear on him when we got home.  Sooo yeah.  Pure awesomeness.  

Well this post was really long.  Thank you if you are still reading.  And perhaps you are feeling as exhausted at the end of this as I was.  

On Christmas Eve of 1914, the German and British soldiers were hunkered down in trenches, separated by what was called “no man’s land;” the space between them where, should you enter, you would surely be shot.  In the darkness of the night, British soldiers recounted that they began to hear Christmas carols being sung by German soldiers.  The British responded with carols of their own, and back and forth they sang across the battlefield.  

In the morning, brave German soldiers entered “no man’s land” and crossed the ground between them.  The British responded in kind, and gifts of chocolate, alcohol, food and cigarettes were shared.  They spent the day burying their dead, playing football, and just sharing in the joy of the Christmas holiday.  It is estimated that 100,000 soldiers participated in the unofficial cease fire.  

By Christmas-time of 1915 there were strong orders from leadership that fraternisation was prohibited and by 1916 the feelings of peace and camaraderie that once existed seemed to be lost.  

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To commemorate the 100 year anniversary of the Christmas Truce, our stake organized a Christmas Truce Program.  It was a public event, and included participation from other local churches and clergy.  


We took the kids, and they really enjoyed it.  The program included audience participation, fun historical songs along with traditional Christmas carols.  There were speakers who spoke and recited letters from actual historical accounts of soldiers there, and gave background to the event and the war.  It was an engaging combination of humor and emotion.  A young man sang “Oh Holy Night”, singing one verse each in German, French and English and it was the most moving performance of the song that I’ve ever heard.  

Eli especially was touched by the service.  He sat by Richard and was completely enchanted from the get go.  He listened carefully to each word that was spoken and just absorbed the powerful feelings that were there.  When it was over Richard and I both felt overwhelmed with gratitude for the opportunity to live here and experience these things, for ourselves and our children. 

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I can’t imagine what it felt like to be a soldier then.  Everyone was hoping to be home by Christmas, no one thought the war would last that long. It must have been a welcome reprieve to relax for a day and open their hearts with love and kindness toward each other.  But then, the next morning, to resume the painful and destructive acts of war, to return to an existence full of fear and conflict, must have been such a drastic shift.  

But it gives me hope in humanity, that when given the freedom to do so, our souls long to connect with other humans, and express love and gratitude and friendship.  

I could have sworn I already wrote this blog post, but upon further review it does not seem to exist.  Sigh.  I’m losing my mind. 

We left Winter Wonderland and just stopped quickly at home to collect our fruit and ham and then went straight to the Catford Ward Christmas Party.  It was really fun.  These Brits know how to let their hair down…

I know that someday I will miss these people so much, and since it’s a bit awkward to snap photos at church, I’m glad I had this chance to capture their faces.  

We ate, chatted, danced and ate some more.  It was really low-key but I don’t think I stopped smiling the whole time.  I love these people.  

As a funny side note- a couple months ago one Eli told me that there was a disco ball in the primary room.  I totally didn’t believe him.  Then wouldn’t you know… they turn down the lights, play some tunes, and on goes the disco ball, for fabulous party ambiance.  

This is obviously only a handful of people in the ward- hopefully at future events I can get some other photos.  Our ward has been so welcoming and friendly.  I know that we aren’t the first ex-pat family, and I’m sure we won’t be the last, but they still make us feel special.