the Matterhorn - found it!

We just had more guests!  Our friends Laura and Joe came in for a week.  We took them over to Zermatt for a long weekend.  Unfortunately, the legendary Swiss train systems were a total fail for Laura and Joe.  On Friday, on our way to Zermatt, something happened with the train tracks that resulted in a two hour delay, buses, taxis and a really smelly train restroom.  Ew.  And then, on Thursday when they tried to get to the airport, there was another accident that caused total chaos and messed up the schedules of all the trains.  They made it though.  And they'll be the only people on the planet to complain about the Swiss train system!

The weather on our first two days in Zermatt was snowy and overcast.  Everyone kept telling me about this famous Matterhorn but I saw no evidence that such a mountain existed.  Finally, on Monday, when we got to the top of the mountain above the clouds, we saw the Matterhorn!  She is definitely something to see.

the Matterhorn exists!

Laura checking out the view

It snowed overnight and there was hardly anybody on the
mountain on Monday so we could cut our own path!
Joe on the right.  Matterhorn on the left.

Andre and Joe chillin'

Andre taking a break.

view of the village below

we had to ski through the clouds to get back down
visibility was pretty bad

and now....for my very favorite picture taken a few seconds after Andre uttered the words "Hey - watch this!"

why yes, that is the bottom of his board that you see!

We love guests.  It gives us a good excuse to go explore new parts of Switzerland.  Come visit!!!

PS:  total sidenote - currently watching The Kings Speech again.  If you people haven't seen this movie, go rent it now!

Chamonix (uh huh huh)

Hopefully you read that title in a bad French accent.  Makes it more fun!

On the day after Christmas, we headed to Chamonix for a week of skiing with friends!  We got there a day early so we spent the day exploring the city.  We skied three days while there and we ate approximately 800 entirely too rich meals mostly including dessert.  We immediately came home and planned our healthy meals for the next week and I did some serious shopping at the grocery store.  Hopefully the healthy eating lasts long enough for us to fit back into our clothes....

Side note:  Public transportation in France is Awwwwwwwwful.

Pictures!

The view from our hotel balcony:

Day 1 on the Slopes at Les Houches:

The boys mapping out our ski plan

the view - Andre on the far left

so Will and I (both on skis) convinced Andre (on his snowboard) it was a good idea to come down through the deep powder - hilarity ensured - bwuhahahaha

Andre had a bit of trouble staying upright....

he's actually standing here - that's how deep the snow was

and now, planning our way down the mountain

Day 2 on the Slopes at Les Grands Montets:

the boys taking in the view

if you zoom in, you'll note that it's -18C with a wind speed of 40km/h

the view from the top

our friends are at the bottom center - Andre and I took our ski stuff up to the top but totally wussed out and took the gondola back down

Day 3 on the Slopes back at Les Grands Montets:

we found our courage and actually skied down from the top the second time!  go us!

um...the slope just drops straight down - yikes

we're halfway!  see that little tiny house at the top - that's where we started

Andre coming around the corner

it was getting late as we slowly made our way down from the top

and I only fell once!  granted I also rolled a few feet as part of that fall but hey, no pain, no gain, right?!

We came back to Zurich on Wednesday.  Andre went back to work on Thurs & Fri (sucker!) while Sophie and I sat around at home enjoying a few more days of vacation.  Ahhhhhhh vacation from our vacation.  :)

Christmas in Zurich

So we spent Christmas here in Zurich.  We did a couple of serious Skype sessions with the families but mostly we laid around in our pajamas eating and watching t.v.  I even cooked Andre three square meals on Christmas.  Probably the most I've cooked all year.....  :)

A few pictures from Christmas related activities:

Squeeze trying out his new lighted reading glasses!  It was like talking to an alien.  

everyone tried on the reindeer hat - including Zen Zin!

a few of our gifts - redneck wine glasses from Andre's parents and a stack of trashy magazines from Bryan - love it all!

Sophie got a Christmas present too!  And she loved it!

and this is how Sophie and I spent most of Christmas  :)

I hope everyone had a great holiday!

"Ich lebe in die Schweiz"

Ugh.

So Andre and I went shopping this weekend.  We agreed as our Christmas gift, we would buy ourselves a super fancy coffee machine.  One that grinds beans, makes coffee and cappuccino and lattes and such!  So we're in the Media Markt checking out and comparing coffee machines and this woman comes up and asks us (in german of course) if she can help us.  Andre asks her very nicely "Sprechen Sie Englisch?"

Her response:  Nein, ich lebe in die Schweiz.

Translation: No, I live in Switzerland.

kids, stop reading here...

Bitch.  Guess who won't be buying a coffee machine in your store.  

More cheerful posts coming throughout the week.  Christmas!  Chamonix!  My Kindle!  Who's excited!?