Now, that's what I'm bloggin' about!

Texting trouble. . .

2011-09-02T21:21:00.001-05:00

I just had a “Mom” moment with my teenage daughter. Here’s the set up. She wanted to go to a movie with her friends. You know how this goes right? “What movie?” “Is that an appropriate movie?” “What do you do if you get there and they decide to go to the inappropriate movie?”, etc, etc.

She said NO, they weren’t going to that one, even though her friends that are on FB (and too young to legally be on FB) were saying that they were. Yes, I’m friends with her friends that are on FB, I’m a smart momma.

So with the guidelines all out, Matt and I headed to dinner and she would be leaving soon to go to the movie.

*Text me when they come pick you up

*Text when you get into the movie

*If you friends choose to go to the other movie, call me. She assures me that one of the other girls doesn’t want to see the PG-13 one either so maybe just the two of them will go to the first choice.

*Text when the movie is done.

Clear right? right.

So, we’re at dinner, it’s 7:00 and I know the movie is supposed to start at 7:05. I haven’t heard from her so I begin the texting conversation. . .

Mom: Did they pick you up yet? 7:00pm

12yo: Yeah                                                                                  7:00pm

Mom: Are you at the theater?                                              7:01pm

12yo: No                                                                                        7:01pm

(*Hmm, 7:01, the best choice movie starts at 7:05, and the other one at 7:20, looks like they’re planning on the other one, right?)

Mom: Are you seeing smurfs because that starts at 7:05?                                                                                              7:02pm

(*yes, I know, it’s “Smurfs”, but it was a better alternative than “Shark death killer 3-D” whatever it’s called.)

12yo: Yeah we r just running late                                      7:06pm

Mom: OK. . .let me know. Love you!                               7:06pm

Mom: What movie?                                                                  7:16pm

12yo: Im waiting for maya to come and smurfs          7:17pm

(*Ok, I’m not crazy right? It sounds like she’s waiting alone outside for her friend and the others have gone into the other movie right?)

Mom: OK. . .did they all go to the other one?               7:17pm

Mom: Do you have her number?                                       7:18pm

12yo: Yes                                                                                     7:18pm

(*Clearly I’m talking too much here and not allowing her to answer me. . .yes to which question??)

Mom: Did you text her to see if she’s coming?             7:20pm

12yo: Yes I did.                                                                        7:20pm

Mom: Let me know when she’s there. . .otherwise we’ll come get you and go shopping                                 7:23pm

12yo: Yay!                                                                         7:23pm

(*Ok, so we’re all on the same page, I think she’s standing alone outside the theater after making the correct choice in not going to the PG-13 movie and now her friend isn’t showing up either. It’s also almost 20 minutes past when the Smurfs movie started. . .)

Mom: Is she there?                                                                 7:31pm

12yo: She hasn’t answered my text yet.                        7:32pm

Mom: Are you by yourself?                                                7:33pm

12yo: No they r with me                                                       7:34pm

(*ok, now I’m confused. . .all they all outside waiting on this one friend 30 minutes after the movie has started?)

Mom: You haven’t gone into the movie yet??             7:34pm

12yo: Yeah                                                                                 7:40pm

Mom: Yeah you did? Or yeah you didn’t?                   7:41pm

12yo: Yes I have!                                                                   7:42pm

(*facepalm)

Mom: OK. . .then stop texting me!! Love you!   7:43pm

12yo: Yeah. . .stop texting ME!!!                                         7:44pm

And THAT my friends. . .is how NOT to have a texting conversation with your 12 year old teenage daughter.

Video

2010-12-28T15:53:00.001-06:00

Click here to see the awesome video that Matt's sister Tiff put together of James' journey.

P.S. Tissues will undoubtedly be required to view this video.

Homecoming

2010-12-14T19:08:00.001-06:00

Just wanted to share some of our photos from James’ homecoming yesterday. They were blessed to have a private jet that flew them from San Diego. James said he was prepared to be in pain the whole time, but said the plane was so comfortable with very little turbulence. They flew in style, making it from San Diego to Lincoln in only 2 hours and 15 minutes. It’ll be hard to take a commercial flight after that one!

Behind Jeff (James’ Dad) Tyley was snatching up Vincent from her sister. As soon as those doors were open, she needed those babes!

Coming out to grab Aliyah

Nothing like that Mommy love!

A few of the signs the kids had made

Just some of the crew that came out to welcome James, Tyley and Sue back.

More Mommy love! (Matt’s Mom is in the brown jacket)

Getting a good look at Vincent!

Lots of kisses for the babe!

I love these photos of Tyley looking at Vincent!Hugs from Dad!

There’s James! We all broke out clapping and cheering! He just said, “well, hey everybody!”Grandma Sue and Grandma Mary lovin’ on VincentJordan wanted this documented. . .you know when Jade got something in her eyes that made them water. . .

More hugs and love from everyone that came out to see James, then Aliyah climbed in next to him for some snuggles!

Love these photos of James and Aliyah. One of the Marines said that in when he was trapped in the car he just kept rubbing his fingers over the bracelet that Aliyah had given him. These photos are from once they got set up at Madonna Rehab here in town. They gave them these little tags to put on anything that belonged to James. It was completely appropriate to put one on Vincent! (You can see the bracelet Aliyah gave him in the picture below.)

James impressed all of us with how well he could move that left arm and lifted Vincent right up! (that’s the one that was so badly damaged in the accident), he also showed us his “NY City Rockette” kicks with his right leg!

So happy to see them all together again!

Wonder of Wonders

2010-12-11T15:04:00.001-06:00

We have experienced miracles upon miracles in our family over the last 3 1/2 weeks. I wanted to document them here to have a record of the events, as well as to share the miracles and testify to others. This time has bonded our family and reminded us of the most precious things to us. . .our family, and life.

On the evening of November 17th, I was finishing up at book club eating some yummy treats at a friends house. I got a phone call from Matt in which he explained that our brother in law (his sister Tyley’s husband), had been in a serious car accident in Mexico. I asked if he was ok, and Matt’s words were, “well. . .he’s alive.”

I headed straight to Tyley’s home where I hoped I could be there to comfort her and her 6 year old daughter, and only 10 week old son. The house was full of family when I arrived.

James and his family are members of the First Free Evangelical Church, and from the time he was in high school, he has gone on mission trips to Mexico. His mother helps organize these trips and often they did these missions as a family, as their family vacations. They are an amazing, loving, Christian-minded family. Big huggers and jokers too. On this particular trip from their family was James, his brother Andy, and his mother Sue. They were helping in an area just outside of Ensenada, Mexico, at a Men’s Alcohol Rehab center. As one of their first tasks, James and his brother Andy headed out to get water. They were on a dirt road.

The Baja 1000 road race is famous around the world. It is one of the longest, toughest road races. It takes place every year in November, and involves several different races (motorbikes, buggys, trucks). The beginning of the race was the next morning. Several racers will ride the course in the days before to get a feel for it. It should be noted that this is not a specific “track” course, it is simply a race on the roads near Ensenada. The family tells us that they had no specific notice of the race, and they were never warned to be careful on the roads. This is the story we have of what happened. James and Andy noticed a truck coming toward them and pulled as far as they could off to the right in the mini van James was driving. There was a race truck coming over the hill, and it jumped the hill and when it came down it hit the van on the drivers side sending it backward and flipped them onto the top some 100 feet away. Andy was able to get out of his window with several cuts and minor injuries. The van was tipped and weighing down on James side, trapping him underneath the steering wheel. He had a severe cut to his upper left arm (almost severed), a bad cut to his right leg, and a cut across his neck (jaw angle to jaw angle). We would also find out later that he had a broken hip.

Here’s where the miracles begin. . .following shortly behind the first truck was another race truck. In this truck were 3 US Marines--Kent Kroeker, Jeremy Graczyk, Colt Hubbell and Jeremy’s father.

The word was that they were trying to get James out of Mexico and med-evac flown to San Diego. We arranged flights for Tyley, her daughter, her son, and Matt’s other sister Jordan to go and help with the kids. We received word during the night that he was not stable, he had excessive bleeding, a collapsed lung, needed more surgery and they were not flying him out. Tyley doesn’t have a passport, so the work the next morning was to get an emergency passport and get her to Mexico. She flew out with a friend from the First Free church that helps arrange these mission trips that would help her get a passport in Denver and get her directly to James in Mexico. Another miracle was that due to the race being that next morning, they actually had a flight available and within 24 hours James was on his way to San Diego. (We have heard from several people that that sort of thing just doesn’t happen in Mexico.) Tyley was able to reunite with him that very evening. We have plenty of family here in Lincoln and we all agreed to pitch in to help with the kids. Jordan specifically offered to sleep at Tyley’s with the 6 year old, and she quickly earned her “mommy certificate” after caring for their 10 week old son for what would be 3 weeks (all while going to school FT and working). Another miracle is that their son was actually born 4 weeks early, so just a week before, Tyley had gone back to work, and daycare was already set and going for their son.

The following is an account given of the events. This is from a website devoted to the off road racing community. The descriptions are graphic.

“Surprised that nobody has told the story of this incident. Robby Gordon alluded to this story during the driver’s meeting. I wasn't there but according to people who were, this is the story:
The evening before the race, General Tire/KORE’s Kent Kroeker, his co-driver Jeremy Graczyck, KORE’s Colt Hubble and Jeremy’s dad, Jim were prerunning the start in KORE’s “TRX 4” – an uncaged, Ram 1500 moderately equipped with a radio and decent suspension. They were out to slowly recon the start a final time in order to identify booby traps, program some waypoints and make note of anything new.
About 20 miles from Ensenada, a trophy truck came up on them, hard on the horn at 70% race pace. Kroeker moved over in time and let them pass, remarking that, “****! The ****ing race is tomorrow morning.”
Five minutes later they crest a blind hill and find the TT rolled and, for the most part, destroyed. Another vehicle is also crushed and almost unidentifiable. Civilian traffic – some kind of mini van. An obvious head on collision, the result of the TT cresting the blind hill, as the co-driver stated, “going only 50 mph”.
The TT driver and co driver are wandering around, unhurt in a zombie daze. The mini van is upside down, smoldering. Kroeker and Graczyck climb into the smoking vehicle, shouting orders. Jim and Colt secure the area from oncoming traffic, call EMT/Police and disconnect the battery.
Inside is a guy trapped in the crushed metal. He’s upside down with the dash and firewall crushing his legs. He’s bleeding out fast from his left arm which has severe lacerations, is 7/8 amputated with exposed bone and muscle just below the shoulder, brachial artery pumping him out. Kroeker gets under the guy and applies upward pressure on his torso with one hand, so he can breathe and compresses the open amputation with the other. The only thing holding the arm on was some tendon, the artery and some crushed bone.
Graczyck uses Kroeker’s knife to cut some seatbelt, throws it to Kroeker who tourniquets the artery. Colt tosses Kroeker a large screw driver to torque down the tourniquet. Graczyck makes a time hack, gets the guy’s age and name, vitals from Kroeker and writes it in his notebook. Kroeker talks the guy through – “hey buddy, you’re going to be fine- no big deal. Where are you from? I’m going to touch your ass – it’s not because I’m attracted to you, I’m checking your pelvic girdle for some things (crepitus) – just seeing where we need to keep pressure- you’re going to be fine…”
Most of the guy’s lower chin is torn off, Kroeker is laying under him in the broken glass, applying upward pressure, Graczyck is tearing apart the dash, ripping the seats out. Kroeker is a pilot and a FAC and Graczyck is a special operations JTAC – same school – ground Marines - close air support – from inside the car (still smoldering) they’re shouting orders to establish a DZ in the nearby field, get our VHF radio frequency to the supporting agency and start a fire with wet wood to give signal for a talk on.
Kroeker and Graczyck are the only Americans on scene who speak Spanish.
The locals comply. Colt (another Marine Officer) tells them they won’t launch a life flight from Brown Field for some reason or another. Somehow some O2 shows up and Colt gets it on the guy’s face.
Jeremy and Kroeker’s hands and arms are covered in cuts from pulling apart the car. The guy’s blood is everywhere. Smells like a fresh gut pile. They continue to pull the car apart. Mexican Police arrive first, then Mexican EMT. This is about 1.5-2 hours after the Marines arrive on scene.
Up to this point all this is pretty standard expeditionary, combat medicine. Stop the bleeding, start the breathing, protect the wound, treat for shock – ingrained in every Marine from day one- totally routine, JV-level stuff, all happening in a permissive environment (i.e. nobody is shooting at them while this is happening).
This is where it gets weird: At least six Mexican EMTs show up and stand around scratching their heads and assessing for about 30 minutes while Gracyzyck and Kroeker are telling them what to do in Spanish from inside the vehicle. Finally Kroeker gets out and tasks the TT co driver with holding up the vic’s body, so he can breathe. Kroeker then finds the Mex in charge, tells him to shore up the vehicle, find the jaws of life, pry bars etc. Colt and Jim actually show them how to use the equipment – where to attach the pneumatics etc. Kroeker places the jaws, gets back in the vehicle, moves his hands up the guy’s legs to his ankles and holds his hands on his feet while telling the jaws operator how far to expand. He gets one leg free and the guy is screaming in pain. Kroeker is now laying under him again, bench-pressing his torso up while freeing his leg and applying pressure on his armpit.
From inside the vehicle on the opposite side, Graczyck is backbriefing the EMT on time of incident, vitals and telling the EMT where and how to insert an IV and what meds to administer. Finally they get the other leg free and a back board inside the car. It takes Graczyck, Kroeker and two EMTs to move the vic upward onto the board and get him into a cervical collar.
They get the guy into the Ambulance and help the EMTs clean up the scene. The vic’s mother is on scene, Kroeker briefs her on what to do – there are two good hospitals in Ensendada and several clinics. Make sure he gets to a hospital and not a clinic. Permit the indig doctors to get him stable and wounds clean then immediately extract to San Diego. Do not permit the Mexicans to do surgery.
Robby Gordon is watching. This is what he was talking about at the meeting.
Anyway, that’s what happened. The latest news is that even though the guy's arm was hanging by a piece of meat the size of your thumb for many hours, it looks like it will be able to be saved. The guy is going to lose most if not all of his triceps however. He's not out of the woods yet. Broken pelvis, numerous open fractures, etc.
Here is a link to the website

I have a firm testimony that Heavenly Father is in control and know of each of us individually. Tragedy happens, and we are asked to walk on roads that are agonizing, but I also know that the Holy Ghost is there to guide and direct and comfort. I know that these Marines were lead by the Spirit to be prepared and to be ready that evening. They of course, will accept nothing of this “angel” and “heaven sent” talk. They say it was just what they already knew to do. An everyday thing.

Kent Kroeker wrote a post about the conversation he and Jeremy had before leaving for their practice. Jeremy asked what they should pack, and Kent made some mention that is was just a routine thing, that is wasn’t going to be any big deal. Jeremy laughed at that and they decided yes, they should pack some basic survival stuff. The truck already had a medical kit but they were obviously guided to be prepared. Kent said that Jeremy will certainly never let him forget about this “no big deal” night. We are so grateful that these specific men were there that night to help James through this moment. Kent has said several times since then that he did nothing more than what he does every day, that it was specifically James that had the fight and the courage and he was just there helping. Kent said specifically that it was crucial to make sure that everyone there believed that he would survive, it was important to those helping and espeically important for James to know that.

“After James was stabilized, I took his pulse. He had lost so much blood/pressure that I couldn't get a reading from anywhere on his body. At that point it was all up to his courage/will and those around him to calmly believe he was going to be OK.”

In the next few days, James endured many surgeries trying to repair his arm and leg. He was trapped for over 2 hours so without good circulation, he also had a lot of dead, damaged tissue. About a week after the accident, they official said that he would be able to keep both his arm and leg, that the Doctors were amazed at the healing, and that they were also able to close up the wounds without skin grafts. Initially the wounds were so infected and swollen, with the pictures that were sent they had to tell us what we were looking at. Just yesterday they removed the stiches and staples from the leg, and the Doctor that removed them said that someone must have been “showing off”. They were time consuming type stitches that help the skin heal and look the best!

Tyley has been amazing. She will not leave James side, even at night. She slept for 17 days in a chair/bed and finally when they were moved to rehab they had regular bed she could stay in. James has told her that he knew he would not have survived had she not been there. I’m sure that she would not have survived had she not been there with him.

James was also able to have the surgery on his hip as scheduled. The Doctors were surprised how fast the surgery went and without complication. He now has a 5 inch plate and screws holding him together. He will have to be non weight-bearing for 3 months, but in physical therapy they have him up and moving some already.

He has struggled with low blood pressure and has recently struggled with vertigo due to a calcium crystal that dislodged in his ear, but all is slowly getting better.

More miracles:

--Skype-ing with their children (it certainly doesn’t make that mommy and daddy heart ache any less, but it makes them smile!)

--Employers that are amazing and generous

--A visit from Kent (one of the marines) and his wife on Thanksgiving day. They were also visited by Cole, another marine.

--prayers and fasting

--A visit to San Diego from the driver, a man that is obviously feeling pain over the whole event, but he was able to meet with James’ parents and has provided so much support including paying to have their house (all carpet) wheel chair ready with laminate flooring, etc, and offering a private jet to fly them home when he’s ready.

--Happy kids! Those two sweet babes are certainly watched over right now by a loving Heavenly Father.

--Oodles of support, volunteers! We have been working on the house, painting, flooring, cleaning, organizing, and have had a houseful every night to help!

--an article in the local paper http://journalstar.com/news/local/article_74fd8f16-33d2-5c64-8494-eefd911403e6.html

That’s just the beginning of what we have received. One of the most important things for me is to see how it has affected my own children. At this time of Christmas and giving and Thanksgiving, they understand what is most important in life. They both have offered to give their own time and money to Tyley and James. Madison offered any babysitting money that I would pay her to go directly to Tyley and James as well.

The future is unclear for James as far an employment goes, we hope he’ll be ready to work in some capacity at his old job (Construction/Home Energy), but most of all we’re grateful that he is here, to be with his wife and children. They are hoping he can be flown here next week to a wonderful rehabilitation facility right here in Lincoln, then home SOON!

I am completely aware that amongst trial and tragedy that things do not always turn out the way we would want them to, but I do know that they turn out the way Heavenly Father needs them to be, for us to grow and change, and to help us serve each other.

I know you’re thinking the exact same thing someone commented on about this picture. . .”How are you both still the best looking couple even in a hospital?”

Here’s a link to James’ site where you can get updates.

www.caringbridge.org/visit/jameslamb

If you are able to give, here is a wonderful site that is matching .20 to the dollar on any donations before December 23. I know that even the smallest of amounts will make a huge difference.

http://www.lifehopefoundation.org/james.htm

Day 9 Switzerland—Dad’s 70th Birthday and Switzerland’s “National Day”!

2010-11-16T22:57:00.001-06:00

My Dad has always known he was a true Swiss Man! His Birthday (August 1st) falls on the Swiss National Day! One thing that my friend Julie told us, is that you don’t often see the Swiss flag out (like in America where they are often out at homes and businesses). But, for the Swiss National Day they are EVERYWHERE! Swiss flags and Canton flags too. Our Bed and Breakfast was decorated well for the breakfast on the big day! I ordered Dad a custom shirt that says “Let’s celebrate! It’s my birthday!” in German, and on the back it had a Swiss flag and said “I’m a Swiss man at heart!” in German. He was a trooper and wore it all day and had several, "Alles Gute zum Geburtstag" comments too!

Here’s a photo of the crooked stairs at the Bed and Breakfast (I swear the camera is straight up and down) we would laugh everytime as we walked up the stairs and slowly tipped to the right. . .

We headed to church at the branch in Interlaken, not too far from the bed and breakfast! Lisa even met one of her good friends parents who are serving a mission there! (cue: music to It’s a small world. . .)

It was fun to attend church in that small branch and hear the German saints bear their testimonies of the Gospel and of our Savior. Dad even got up and spoke some wonderful German words about his thankfulness for the missionaries that converted our ancestors.

After church we headed to Grindelwald, a wonderful little town up the canyon a bit. From there you can ride a gondola up and rent these scooter bikes to ride down. Good thing they had good brakes because it was a pretty great, fast, and sometimes steep ride! Julie started off, but made a wise decision after the first hill (and a spectacular wipe out!) to ride the lovely gondola back down and wait for us there. I believe her words were “well, I think maybe if I could ride a bike I could do this. . .” She also used her wise advice that she has taught her son, Lincoln. . .”if you’re going to crash, lean for the grass!!” She had some good grass stains on her shorts and legs! She was a trooper and the rest of us headed down for a wonderful, and of course, picturesque ride!

Look at that VIEW!! Well, if I’m being honest, Dad scared me to DEATH watching him wiz by me on that bike! But I think he LOVED it! I told him “Dad, please slow down, I don’t want to pick up your teeth off the road.” Guess what his smart-aleck remark was to me (his dental hygienist daughter)? “Well, at least you’ll know which one is which to put them back in!!” HA!

Here’s a good look at the back of Dad’s shirt. . .

At the tail end of the scooter bike ride we drove by a beautiful church and cemetary in Grindelwald and pulled off the road to see if we would find any gravestones with our families names on them.

SEE! I wasn’t kidding when I said the cemeteries here were beautiful!

Here’s another one of those great water fountains they have in every town in Switzerland. I’m convinced it’s so all the hikers and bikers can fill their water bottles!

After the scooters we needed to head back to Interlaken’s main street to get our place for the big parade!

My Dad has told us about these parades for years. . . they always start with the BIG Swiss cows and the huge ornate bells for the celebration!

It’s the Swiss Way! The clean up trucks were right after all the animals to clean up the street before the rest of the parade!

These were the boyscouts (or at least whatever they have like that in Switzerland) doing some fund raising. I like the idea of just having the blanket and people just threw their change. They had several running around collecting all the misses too!

And right on cue, the cleaning crew was out again! Then everyone just joins right in for the parade!

After the parade we walked back toward the hotel. We had noticed some sort of little “amusement park” ride place just across the street earlier, so we decided to check it out! It was kind of little a little personal roller coaster ride that was called “Heimwehfluh” which means “fast path!” Boy was it! You took a little ride up the hill. . the rode down! It was a blast! For the first ride, I did get pictures at the end, but I think we all must have been a little timid and kept the break on. For the last ride I was the first one down and got to see everyone else come down. (Heidi did pictures at the top) They had a break for you to stop the cart, but most of us didn’t realize it was going to stop itself so quick! So everyone that came down so fast that second time had a total whiplash moment, Heidi’s was the best! Her glasses that were on her head completely flew off! It was hilarious and we had a great belly laugh over it!

We were exhausted from the day, so we headed back the B&B and rested for a bit. We had a yummy dinner at a restaurant just North of Interlaken in a town near Beatenberg. The clouds were rolling in and there was a pretty fantastic thunderstorm during dinner. It cleared just a bit and we headed toward main street in Interlaken again where they have a huge fireworks display. We brought umbrellas and enjoyed the fireworks in the rain. It was fine at first, we’d just get dripped on a bit when we’d tip our umbrellas too far to look. But eventually I think they just said “forget it!” and lit up everything, with the rain the smoke was so thick that you couldn’t see anything! We could hear all the fireworks but couldn’t see anything but smoke. It was so funny! One would go off and we’d say “Oh! That one’s my favorite!”

We also had an adventure getting back to the hotel, thinking we were taking the “easy” way. But it was a fun night! Happy 70th Birthday Dad!

Oh, I told you I’d explain more about William Tell and the Swiss National Day. . .(I thought the main story was the whole “shooting the apple off of his sons head!”. Not so.)An emperor of Austria had come to the canton and village near where William Tell lived to try and take over. He ordered the people there to build him a new castle. His servants would also carry around his hat on a pole and order the people to bow down to it. William Tell would not do it. He was arrested and as punishment was required to shoot an apple off of his sons head with his crossbow. He was successful but one of the servants had noticed that he had pulled two arrows out of his quiver and questioned him what the other one was for. He told him that if he had injured his son, the other arrow was for the emperor. This angered the emperor and instead of setting him free as promised, he bound him and took him to his ship to be transferred to another castle. A storm came up on the Lake and Tell escaped. When the emperor caught up to him, Tell shot him. In celebration the townspeople tore down the castle they were building and had a huge bon fire. To this day, on August 1st, their Swiss National Day, they build bon fires all over the mountains and towns to celebrate! (and NOW you know. . .the REST of the story. . .)

Day 8 Switzerland

2010-11-16T11:12:00.001-06:00

Today was amazing! We saw two things in Switzerland that are absolutely on my “Must-see” list for anyone traveling there. We woke up early in Interlaken to beautiful blue, clear skies and knew it would be a great day to travel up to the Alps.

Before we did that we stopped back in Lauterbrunnen to go to Trummelbach falls. The Trummelbach alone drains the huge glaciers from the Monch, Eiger and Jungfrau mountains. It’s a series of waterfalls INSIDE the mountain. They take you up a elevator built inside and have a path lit all the way up and down inside. It’s definitely a day for a raincoat, just from the spray of all the waterfalls! From the noise alone you can feel the power of these waterfalls. It’s tough to capture it in pictures, it really is a must-see experience. Around almost every turn was another amazing waterfall.

This was a picture looking up to see a little glimpse of the blue skies!

It was awesome to see the rock of the mountain and see how the water had carved it out over thousands of years!

Here’s a short video of some of the waterfall inside. It is that loud!

Trummelbach falls!

Next up for the day was to take the cable cars up to the Shilthorn. They have a 360 degree rotating restaurant on top. The restaurant was actually completed for a James Bond film, “Her Majesty’s Secret Service”. There are full views toward France and Germany. From there you can also get fantastic views of the Monch, Eiger and Jungfrau. Together they make up one of best known sights in Switzerland. They are part of the Bernese Alps and sit between Switzerland and Italy. It was a gorgeous site and we picked a perfect day! Clouds would roll in and out, but for the most part we had clear views.

Left to Right: Eiger, Monch, Jungfrau

Looks toward Germany and France

There was some snow up there, but it was pretty slushy. . .

There was a glider plane up there taking in some amazing views I’m sure!

After this long, busy day, we headed back to Interlaken. Dad went to a big, outdoor play they do of William Tell every year (More about that on Day 9’s post), and the rest of us headed to the main street in Interlaken to have dinner. Our waiter was kind of over the top and even played the Alp Horn for us!

Day 7 Switzerland—Swiss Open Air Museum

2010-11-15T16:09:00.001-06:00

Todd arrived late and we stayed up to play games before we were all ready to crash for the night.

I think that is Dad mummified under those covers. . . (Thanks for the photo Todd!)

We had another great breakfast and headed out to the Swiss Open Air Museum!

This is one of the few pictures on our trip with everyone in it! We wanted a shot of the backs of our sweatshirts. . .and just so you know. . .we smiled for that picture too! It was fantastic! It’s a 160 acre area where they have carefully dismantled then transported and reconstructed all kinds of buildings from around Switzerland. It has over 100 historic buildings, some as old as the 1600’s! They also have several farmhouses, complete with a pig sty and other animals. Some of the homes have workshops with people working with authentic tools and machinery. Weaving, spinning, pottery, cheese-making, yarn dyeing, etc. It was a great way to spend the day. For any other Mormon’s out there. . it’s a lot like “Nauvoo” for Switzerland. Here’s a gazillion pictures from our day! (Be sure to at least scroll through for the story of the rest of our day!)

They had a chocolate factory next door that we popped into to continue our Chocolate Taste Testing for our trip.

It was getting a bit late, but we decided to try to make it to Lauterbrunnen (many waters), to see if we could see Trummelbach falls. We were too late (they were closed), but we were smart and decided to head up the canyon a bit to Steckelberg, the farthest you could go by car. It was a wonderful little town surrounded by waterfalls, and tons of campers and hikers.

Julie was by far the “pickiest” of us as far as eating (right, Julie?), so when she saw hamberger on the menu. . .she ordered. Little did she know it would be “double hamberger. . .hold the bun”. You can tell by Heidi’s face that we all thought it was quite funny!

During dinner these 2 farmers just started walking their cows right up the road! Only in Switzerland.

We checked into our Hotel in Interlaken, it was a funny little place. A dog (Monty) that would just nuzzle himself right through your door at any time, the emergency fire hose for the place was hooked to the communal shower down the hall, and the stairs were completely slanted. I’ve never had a drink of alcohol, but boy, I sure felt a little drunk walking up those stairs! Dad even set down his apple by his door one morning, and it rolled all the way down the hall! It was a great little place with plenty of character. We did love it because all four girls got to bunk up together. However, we did not love the laundry situation. . .this was our first chance to do laundry, so the gal showed us how to start it up. . .and she just kept loading and shoving, and loading and shoving. . .we came down later and when I opened the door the water came POURING out! Lisa and I were laughing so hard we didn’t know what to do, we tried to wring it out in the sink, then dry it in shifts. . . .well, about 3 hour later, we decided to just hang it to dry on our balcony chairs. . .yep, unmentionables and everything. It was SO soaked.

Ah, what a memory!

Switzerland Day 6

2010-11-15T14:32:00.001-06:00

Today was a great “middle” day for our big trip. We woke up to light rain, and had a yummy breakfast in Wilderswil. So we had a lazy morning, then made our way to the Woodworking museum and shoppe in Brienz.

We also took our time and did plenty of souvenir shopping too. Swiss flags, shirts, cow bells, etc.

In the Woodworking museums shoppe they had a wonderful display of beautiful cuckoo clocks. Dad was so generous and bought each of us one to hang in our homes to remind us of our journey. Mine is hanging as I write this here in my dining room. The kids love it and come running whenever the cuckoo makes an appearance. It has wonderful little pieces that remind me of Switzerland. . .a St. Bernard dog, one of the little water fountains that are all over, a wood stack, and of course the beautiful wood work on the home and the flower boxes with red flowers!

We stopped at a lovely restaurant in Oberrid, right on Lake Brienz. I can’t remember if I’ve mentioned how beautiful the lakes are before yet, but take a look at the color of the lake in the backgroud of this picture! (The top picture has a better view of the lake, the bottom picture has a better view of US!)

It was always this fantastic ice blue color.

With internet access sketchy, it was hard to keep in touch with our families. Heidi and Julie went into a small town and were asking some teenagers where they could find internet access and all the kids could do was shake their head and say, “not here.” We finally ended up figuring out the “Swisscom” system, and were able to call home to our husbands and kids!

Dad had left his hat at the restaurant we had eaten at in Isletwald a couple of nights before so we stopped by to pick it up, then headed back to the Bed and Breakfast in Wilderswil for a nice night of games before we headed to the train station to pick up Todd!

One funny thing of the night. . .you all know how much we love games, so while shopping we bought a couple of Swiss games that looked fun. We struggled through the directions for a card game, but tried it out and it was making no sense (although we were laughing really hard). . .Heidi finally decided to try out her French and read through those directions. We finally realized that we had only read through 2 of the 4 pages of directions in English. Turns out it really was just a card game like “Nerts”. . .one we already love and know how to play well. That was a good belly laugh, eyes crying moment.

Here’s a few more photos I took around the Hotel/B&B. . .it was full of great antiques on every floor.Here’s a look at the “lift”. It really was just like a closet. . .you just pulled the door open and pushed the button.

This was a little kids play room they had on the first floor close to the dining room.

Here’s a look at where we had breakfast every morning.The Lobby

Day 5

2010-10-26T15:44:00.001-05:00

Well, after an amazing night at the Schwendimann party we woke up and had another great breakfast at Fritz’s. (and probably another 20 packets of hot chocolate!)

Today our plan was to finish up in Niederstocken, see a few other cities, then head to Wilderswil, just south of Interlaken, which is where we would be staying for a couple of nights at a bed and breakfast. We loved walking around the small town. One thing I love is all of the woodwork of the homes and buildings and of course all the flowers! This is a picture of the bus stop in Niederstocken! It even has flower boxes! These two signs are on the fire station building in town.

After going through all of the family history information after the party the night before, we had a few questions for Susi who lived next door to Fritz. Susi lived in the same home that my great grandfather was born in and lived in for some time in Niederstocken. Below is a picture of a picture that Susi brought to the party. That home was destroyed in a fire in 1999. We found out from Susi that it was an electrical fire. Susi was in another town and came home to see the firemen dousing the home. There was too much structural damage and water damage that the home had to be torn down and she rebuilt a beautiful home on the same lot. Here is Susi with my Dad. It was fun to hear them chat in German all about the old house and her life. She married Eduard who is the son of Eduard who is the son of Friedrich who is a brother to my Great-great Grandfather Samuel. Make sense? Good. One other thing we for sure wanted to see were the original drawings of Abraham Schwendimann and Maria Anna Eggen that have stayed in the home all these years.

Here’s a good look at the beautiful woodwork of the Switzerland homes. That’s Susi up there! We had a great time talking with Susi and finding out more about her family and her life!

This is the side of Susi’s house that faces Fritz’s.

Here are some other photos from around Niederstocken.

After talking with Susi, we found out about the homes that the family had lived in, and also about their old school house. We saw a few old pictures and decided that we would try to “recreate” the photo and find out where they were. Oh, boy, was that an outing. Julie was bound and determined to find that exact spot.

My great great grandfather Samuel was a wheelwright so we had fun pretending that maybe he made this wheel!!

Just look at all the photos I took for Julie, trying to get an idea if these were the old homes and school house. . .

See those tiny little figures down there? That’s Julie with Lisa and the laptop with the original photo trying to map it all out. We had a great laugh about that one. Heidi actually pulled up in the van, dropped them off, and said, “once you get back in this car, we are NOT talking about this ANYMORE!” . . .and she was serious.

These are a few pictures from Oberstocken. My great grandfather had written in his journal that they lived in this home, that now is the post office in Oberstocken. There was some argument as to whether they lived in that home or the one next door, so we took photos of both.

Another place we wanted to be able to find was the river and waterfall that feeds the river where our ancestors were baptized. We knew from the journals that it was called the Wissenbach falls and our great grandfather had taken some photos as well. We asked Fritz and he pointed us in the right direction!

This picture looks almost exactly like the one my great grandfather had taken. They said in the journals that they hiked from Niederstocken about 1/2 to 3/4 of a mile to an area where the water had pooled enough that they could have the baptism. There were obviously several areas that had be altered by logs and cement to change the flow of the river, so we aren’t exactly sure where they were baptized. It was more important to us to just be there. What an experience!

This was a small little resting spot just on the path from the waterfall to town. . .SEE! A flower box!

Here is a look at Niederstocken from the spot where the little bench was.

We stopped back at Fritz’s to say our goodbyes and pack up our things. What a great little place they have, and we were so thankful to them for all of their hospitality toward us!

We headed out of town and honked and waved to several of our RELATIVES! we saw on our way. We made our way toward Wilderswil (or in the German accent. . .Vildersvil!). It was rainy but a beautiful drive. Here’s a photo of the bed and breakfast where we stayed. It’s a beautiful old hotel, full of antiques and a gorgeous lobby area!

Checking email and playing cards by candlelight, with hot cocoa anyone?

The B&B owners also had this sweet old Bernese Mountain Dog that hung out in the lobby.

We drove down into the town for dinner. . .here’s a couple of big laughs from the trip. We were looking over the menu, and trying to decide what to get. One of the options was “consumme wit Pfannkuckenstriefen”. Here’s where we put Dad’s German language skills to the test. . .Ok, Dad, what is that? He said, “well, it must be like a broth with sliced pancakes.” What? Well, that’s what it says. . .so we finally discover another menu on the table with the English menu and it says, “Beef broth with sliced pancakes.” Seriously! Dad WINS! So, of course we had to order it. . .and yep, it is what it is.

We all tried it and I can confidently say that should you ever eat at “Mr. Chicken” in Wilderswil, I do not recommend the “consumme with Pfannkuckenstriefen”. However, I had some amazing Raclette, and ate it so fast I didn’t get a picture. . .sorry.

Day 4 Switzerland—the Schwendiman(n) party!

2010-09-28T13:55:00.001-05:00

This was by far, the best part of the trip, and I think we would all agree! When we were planning our trip, my Dad called Fritz and mentioned that we’d love to have a Schwendiman party, inviting any Schwendimans in and around Niederstocken to come. Little did we know that Fritz and his wife Lotti would go above and beyond. When we arrived on Day 3 in Niederstocken, they showed us the room they wanted to have the party in. . .starting to get set up already, and mentioned that about 60 people would be coming. SIXTY! We were thrilled.

We were so, so busy chatting with everyone (well, trying. . .) and taking pictures that I think this is the only pictures of the delicious food! We had pasta with veal and an amazing cream sauce, green salad and a yummy dessert too! One thing we wanted to have happen at the party was for us to figure out how we all were related. I had worked hard before the trip to make up our family charts, with as much information as I had about our ancestor Samuel and his family (parents, siblings, aunts, uncles, etc.) I posted the chart at the entrance to the room, and was so excited when people, as they entered stopped and seemed to recognize some names. We also worked that afternoon on making some other charts with siblings of Samuel listed, so hopefully we would be able to put people in where they belonged. We made up and copied a 3 generation chart for everyone to fill out when they came in with as much information as they had, as well as their address, email, etc. We gathered them up and were able to make connections right away! So exciting! It was most exciting to see how many had come with charts of their own, lots of old pictures of families for us to take photos of, lots of memories to share! Most of the work came that night as we poured over the charts in our jammies, and put families together and figured out how we were all truly family. My Dad hired a true “Swiss” band to play music for us during the party. He even introduced them as the “Switzerland Beatles!”

Here’s the whole gang! (except me, of course, taking the photo.) In true Schwendiman style, my Dad made each of the kids introduce themselves, say how old they were, etc. . .they he treated them each to a chocolate bar.

Levin and Sirio This is Nils Heusser. It was so great to see these little Schwendimann boys. As they left, one of them shook my hand and said “Thank you so much”, and I said “It was so nice to meet you!” He looked at his Mom and smiled and kind of shook his head like “I have no idea what she just said.” They were so kind and sweet and polite young men!! The Heusser boys from left Till, Jens and Nils. Levin and Sirio Guinig.

Till Heusser Table one with Lotti and Fritz in front then Urs and Rosemarie next. Table 2 with Anina and her Mom Christine, and my sister Julie next to Susi and Ida. Table 3 with Ueli and Margarete on the left and Lilli and Christian on the right. Sweet Lilli brought us these great Switzerland hats. So perfect. We even convinced Ida to come up and put on Todd’s with us for a picture. Ida was truly the hit of the party for me. She is actually a FIRST cousin of my great grandfather! She is 95 years old and was so excited to be at the party, and it was such a joy to see and meet her! The party winding down. . .we started about 6:30, and I don’t think anyone left until at least 10pm!Dad, Margarete and Ueli Schwendimann

Dad with Ernst and Dora Schwendimanns family. . .(Anina, Dad, Christine, Yves, Severine, Dora, Florian, Rosemarie, Urs (hidden), Silvia, Sirio, Ernst and Markus.)

Lilli and Christian Aeschlimann with their daughter Angelina and her husband Andi with children Till, Jens and Nils. Lilli didn’t remember but when my Dad had completed his mission for the church in Germany he came to Niederstocken to visit family and went to Lilli’s father Hans’ bakery. She was only about 15 and took him for a little tour around the area. He was so excited to meet her (again!) Dad with Christian and Lilli Dad with Dora and Ernst Erwin, Andreas, Eva (Erwin’s wife), Markus, Trudi, Bernard and Christine

Dad and Fritz Dad with the Hans Schwendimann family (Hans Sr., Hans-Jorg, Margrit, Vreni, Hans-Jorg’s twin daughters Tanja and Martina, and his wife Susan) Dad with Lotti (Fritz’s wife) Dad with Margarete, Christian and his wife Dad with Markus, Silvia and Susan Dad with Dora, her sister Susi, and Silvia Dad with Regula Schwendiman and her husband Daniel Sommer, with Ida. Ida is Regula’s great aunt, and she promised her father that she would always care for her. Regula said that Ida had said that “she loved to danced, and if anyone had asked her she would’ve tried”. So with that my Dad scooped his arms right around her and gently danced with her. . .she was so happy.

Dad with Jens (Angelina’s son) and chocolate!!

Dad dancing with Margarete Dad and the Heusser boys! Dad with H. Reudi Vampf

Dad with Peter and Susan Schwendimann Hans Schwendimann Sr. and Daniel Sommer (Regula’s husband) Dad with Verena Schwendimann and Hermann Saurer Erwin Schwendimann and his son Andreas Dad with Hans-Jorg Dad with Paul Schwendiman and his wife Christine Angelina was a huge help to us! We put her right to work for translating. Even with my Dad’s good german, in these small towns where they not only speak Swiss-Deutsch but even Niederstocken-Deutsch! It was great to have someone to help us out! Dad and Ernst Dad and Erwin Dad with Florian (Urs and Rosemarie’s son that was helping out in the barn earlier in the day.) Some of the Hans-Walter Schwendimann family members Some of the Johannes Schwendimann family members Here is Ida! She got a little chocolate from Dad too. Again, it was so amazing to have Ida be there with us. Ida Schwendimann with Susi SchwendimannThe whole group sang Happy Birthday to my Dad (he said that he knew he truly was Swiss because his birthday is August 1st which is Swiss National Day!). After they sang he was talking to Ida, and she said that she loves to sing, and she used to sing everyday. He asked her if she would like to sing a song, and she said sure! She was so sweet, and we loved hearing her little yodeling song. . .it brought tears to many eyes!

Julie and I with Hans-Jorgs twins Martina and Tanja Margarete with Dad Hans-Jorg talking with Ueli and Margarete

Dad with Patrick Schwendimann and MiriamMargarete came up to me and was trying to explain that they had a song to sing to my Dad. She was so cute, and said with her voice going up, “you know. . .la, La, LA!” I said, “Oh, of course! He will LOVE it!” Here is Margarete and Vreni, Christine is behind Margarete with two of the Swiss Beatles as they yodeled for my Dad! This video is split into two parts (I think it accidently had shut off), but be sure to watch the end of part 2 for Margarete’s big finish! I LOVE it!

The Schwendimann women! We had all the blood relative Schwendimann women come join us for a picture. Back row from left is Silvia, Christine, Julie, Lisa, Heidi, me, Lilli, Margarete, Margrit, Verena. Front row is Regula, Ida, Christine, Tanja and Martina.

The Schwendimann MEN! Just a little resemblance huh? Back from from left is Paul, Fritz, Dad, Ueli, Urs, Markus, Andreas, Erwin. Middle row is Christian, Hans Sr., Hans-Jorg, Ernst, Peter. Front row is Florian, Patrick and Marco.

It’s just not sufficient to say what a great night this was. To have that many Schwendimanns in one room was amazing. . .lots of talking, singing, dancing. . .we really ARE family!!! Thanks to Fritz and Lotti for putting it together and we were so thankful to everyone that came!! Let’s do it again! Next Summer?? I wish!

Switzerland Day 4—welcome to Niederstocken!!

2010-09-27T12:15:00.001-05:00

Day 4 was spent in Niederstocken--the small town in southwestern Switzerland where our ancestors are from. We woke up to this amazing view!

Actually, to be honest, I woke up to my father yelling my name, as well as all my sisters names from outside in a good Swiss German tone. . .”Vendi!!!! Vendi Schvendimaaannnn!” He’d been up early to take a walk around town (but not early enough to see the morning milking in the barn! We’d have to catch the afternoon milking.) We woke up and had a yummy breakfast in Fritz’s dining room. I really think we went through 20 packets of hot chocolate that morning. Oh, another “clean Swiss” thing we have noticed is the individual trash containers on each table. . .again, so Swiss. No matter how fancy the restaurant it seemed they had these little containers. . .and seriously, it took us all a while before we figured out what they were for! “clean up after yourself please” Oh, one other was that each and every toilet stall had it’s own individual toilet bowl cleaner wand. . .no matter if there were 2 stalls or 10, each had their own. . .and I’m sure those things were more clean than mine was coming out of the packaging. Ok, back to the sites. . .

We arrived in Niederstocken after dark the night before so before we headed up to the Stockhorn we stopped to take some pictures by the “official” sign.

We left that morning and headed toward Oberstocken to see the Bell Factory. Bummer. . .they were on holiday, but I’ll be getting a catalog to order a bell like this for my front door. I love it!

We took a leisurely drive and stopped in a small town to gather some supplies for the family party that night, then headed back to Fritz’s for a delicious lunch! You can see that Heidi obviously hated the soup. Luckily Julie hadn’t finished yet, so I did get a “before” picture. It was a tasty squash soup (with I’m sure more butter than squash. . .I still remember it.)

After lunch, we headed to Reutigen—the town where the main church was where our ancestors attended, and also the grave sites.

I LOVED the all wooden turret on the steeple of the church. Beautiful and amazing it has lasted all these years. The first mention of this church (I hope I’m remembering this right, was in the 1300’s.)

A look at the new benches, with the original paintings/murals on the walls. The stone baptismal bowl at the front of the church is also original. So that is where my ancestors were all christened! Amazing!!We did find some of our relatives gravesites and headstones. Unfortunately someone there told us that they don’t have much room, so after so many years, they just take off the headstones, and grind them up to make new ones. (sad face.)

Really. . .Switzerland had the most beautiful cemetaries! Each plot is really a flower garden.

One thing for sure on our list was to head up to the Stockhorn (schtock horn). In my great-grandfathers journals he writes that he climbed up the stockhorn when he was about 5 years old! These photos are the view from Fritz’s bed and breakfast! They went often as children. Well, we’ll take the gondola, but only because we’re on a time-constraint. The gondola actually goes up the other side of the mountain, because from the Niederstocken side it is literally straight up! We drove over to Erlenbach and rode the gondola from there. It was a little cloudy up top, but we hoped we’d get some great views. . .of course, Switzerland delivers!

I loved the little wildflowers growing right out of the rocks!How did we know the Stockhorn was really made for us Schwendimans? They had a huge jigsaw puzzle half way up! Dad stayed up top and took pictures of us doing the puzzle. Mama Jill would be so proud of us!

Fighting for the last piece!! At the halfway point for the gondola they had a little kids playground. . .complete with a slide and a huge rocking horse!! This is Lake Thun.

Once we got back into town we walked around Niederstocken a bit. Look more wood stacks! We made it back to Fritz’s just in time to see the 5pm milking! We met Urs and Rosmarie (little did we know that we were related and they’d be at the party that night!!) Thank goodness for Dad we could communicate with them, so she showed us around a bit. There was a tiny calf (just 2 days old!) She showed us the momma, and showed how they fed the calf when they were in the barn. They had a container of the mothers milk, so they would just pour it into a bucket, then had a little nipple bottle top and would just put the calfs mouth right into the milk! She said that the calf would nurse from the momma for about 4 months, then from anyone she could get lucky with. Here’s a look at the side of the barn. It’s right behind Fritz’s bed and breakfast then there’s a large grazing pasture behind that. We stayed long enough to see Urs drive off in their car with the cans of milk headed to the cheese factory and to see Florian (their cute son!), walk the cows out. Here’s a good look at the front of Fritz’s place. Seriously! The woodwork! The flowers!!

This is the back side of Fritz’s place, and a peek at what the rooms were like. I loved that everywhere in Switzerland that we stayed not matter how big or small had real feather comforters and pillows. We took a walk next door. The original Schwendimann home where my great grandfather was born used to be right next door. There was a fire in the early 90’s, and because of structure damage it had to be torn down. They since have rebuilt there (more on that story and Susi who lives there later.) The old structure in the picture is the area on the next lot. Fritz owns that.

Here is a look at the original shed that was behind the home. My Dad remembers coming here in the 80’s and having Eduard (Susi’s husband, and my great grandfathers cousin) show him the rabbits they kept out back for eating. (It looks totally authentic, with satelitte dish and everything!) Here’s a look at some of the old tools, a sled, some kind of belt driven machinery, and my Dad earning his keep by cleaning up outside!!

Here is a larger look at Susi’s home with the shed in the back.

Another thing about the Swiss houses that I love is all of the decorative work. Each home, when built has some type of inscription engraved on it as well. Oh, and the flowers! Everywhere! That is my goal for next spring to have Matt build me some flower boxes so I can decorate “Swiss style!” for the summer. We headed back to Fritz’s to help get ready for the party. . .

Next Post coming up. . . .THE SCHWENDIMAN (N) PARTY!

Switzerland Day 3

2010-08-31T11:51:00.001-05:00

Before everyone gets worried that my brother Todd was somehow shunned from the family, and didn’t get to go. . .he DID join us later on our trip. He couldn’t get that much time away from work. We made up for it big time once he arrived. . .you’ll see him in pictures later, I promise.

We had a leisurely morning at the hotel in Zurich. . .yummy breakfast, and packed up our big van for our journey to Niederstocken. (Nice sign huh? I ordered it for our trip!)

Our first stop was the Lindt chocolate factory in Kilchberg. We had hopes that they actually still had tours, but we were wrong. . .oh well, we just hit the store instead.

We did however, journey over by the factory, and just opening the windows could smell the chocolate. We may or may not have stayed there a little while just breathing deeply. This was the day that our official “taste testing” contests of chocolate began. Dad was obviously the champion of taste testing, but more of that later. . .

Oh, before I get on with our day can I do a plug for the Garmin GPS system? Otherwise known as “stay sane with your family on vacation!” I will NEVER do a trip like this without one. My Dad bought one before we left and made sure it was updated with all the European maps. We just plugged in wherever our little hearts desired and it took us right there! My sister Heidi was the main (awesome!) driver, and she quickly reminded us that although we all had our maps out she needed NO ONE to tell her where to go. . .that was all left up to FRAU. That’s what we named our GPS. Frau was a life saver! Thanks Garmin!

After leaving the Lindt factory, we headed south and hit a few cities along the way. Really we just looked in our guide books and found some interesting things, and we were NOT led astray! It was a fantastic day! Our second stop was in a town called Einsiedeln. Our main stop there was the Abbey. The picture on that link gives you just an idea of the massiveness of that place. . .but you have to compare it to our pictures. . .

See those little tiny people in front? Yep, that’s us!

The Abbey became a pilgrimage of sorts for many. They say that those coming would stop at the fountain in front and drink from the water. (Just FYI, Switzerland is loaded with all kinds of fountains all over the country with fresh water, so you can always take a drink, or load up your water bottle!) We stopped and had a quick lunch across from the Abbey. . . .what a view!! The abbey is one of the finest examples of Baroque architecture. (insert joke from Beauty and the Beast here. . .) It was in a word. . .amazing. No pictures allowed of course, but pictures would never do it justice anyway. A.M.A.Z.I.N.G. A monastery was founded on the site in 934 (yeah, that’s old.), and it was rebuilt to it’s current lavish Baroque design in the 1730’s (yep, still really old.) There are just a few pictures on this link.

As we were leaving Einsiedeln, we noticed this amazing ski jump area, and found out that this is where Simon Ammann practices!

After leaving Einsiedeln, we headed to Aldorf to see the William Tell statue there. William Tell is the folk hero of Switzerland. . .and I thought I knew the “story” but really had no idea. . .I’ll explain more of the story in my August 1st (Swiss National Day) post.

Heidi was just a little bit excited that she finally found her Torino chocolates we’d be on the hunt for since day 1! They were my winner for the taste testing for sure!

Dad, Julie and I are re-enacting the William Tell story. . .complete with a real (half-eaten) Apple!

Need to know what time it is? Find the church!

I had to take this picture for all my fellow Southeast High School Knights! (Raise your black, and gold, and fight forevermore to stay!)

Our day had been a little longer than we anticipated so we skipped seeing the city of Meringen, where there is a Sherlock Holmes Museum, but we did see Reichenbach Falls (the waterfall where Sir Arthur Conan Doyle chose to kill off his hero--Sherlock), on our drive. There were tons of tunnels we drove through, but this one was my favorite 1/2 tunnel! Cool! Yep, still like a postcard! We stopped for a lovely dinner along Lake Brienz in a town called Istelwald. It was late (and dark) when we finally arrived in Niederstocken. Niederstocken is the small town just southwest of Interlaken in central Switzerland. It is the town that our Schwendimann family is from (InSwitzerland all the Schwendimanns still have 2 n’s.) We found Fritz and Loti Schwendimanns fabulous restaurant and hotel/apartments. They greeted us with hearty Swiss hugs and were SO excited to have us there. It was a thrill to finally be in Niederstocken with our Schwendiman family. In the larger towns were able to get by with our English pretty well, but in these small towns, my father’s german was the ONLY way we were going to be able to communicate (Thanks DAD!!) My Dad wasn’t actually sure how he and Fritz were even related, so I pulled out my family history charts that I had worked hard on and copied to bring with me. I started to show him what I was trying to figure out and he stood up and held his hands out as if to say. . .”wait just a minute.” He left and went toward his large back kitchen area, and when he returned he had it. THE book. You know, THE book that they show in the shows about genaology. Fritz HAS THE book for Niederstocken. All of the records of births, marriages, deaths for the town of Niederstocken back into the 1700’s. Yep, you couldn’t have picked my jaw up off the floor if you tried. He immediately found and showed us the records for our ancestors Samuel and Magdalena and their six boys. They even had recorded when they left for America in 1886. A couple of days later, I spent most of the morning taking photographs of the book to hopefully find more records of our relatives that we’re missing. When we were talking about going to Switzerland, I really started to research our family history. Honestly, a LOT of it had been completed, and it seemed that we had as much information that was available. My hope was to find at least something. . .even one name, that was missing. We did have most all of the information from our direct line, but what about siblings, spouses, cousins, etc? We were truly blessed in all the information that was discovered over the few days we were in Niederstocken, and even more blessed by the places we saw, and the people we were able to meet.

Switzerland Day 2 (part 2)

2010-08-19T12:02:00.001-05:00

So part 1 left us ending our cogwheel railway trip. We landed in Alpnachstad (say that 3 times fast). Then we were able to take a great boat trip on Lake Lucerne. . .just the ticket for the end of our day.

I’m serious. . .the whole country is beautiful like this. . .

Cards and Hot Swiss Chocolate (we were trying to decide if it was really the chocolate that was good, or the whole steamed milk they mixed in. . .both I think.) Hearts with Dad!

Dad decided to take a deck-side snooze. I’m glad the tour guide did all his talking on our way there. . .we were all zonked on the way home.

Why yes, that is my Dad crashed out along the back 4 seats of the bus. . .. and yes, he snored the WHOLE way home. :)

Heidi found her first geocache in Zurich near a bus stop on our way back to the hotel!

A little peak at the simple beautiful hotel rooms. . .we were really happy to see these beds after our long day! Tomorrow. . .onto Niederstocken!!

A couple of things we had already noticed about Switzerland. . .order and cleanliness. Everything is in it’s place, and probably the cleanest country you will ever be in. We would see things so perfect and Dad would exclaim. . .It’s the SWISS WAY!

One thing is for sure. . .I need to teach my children to get in touch with their Swiss roots.

Switzerland Day 2

2010-08-19T11:43:00.001-05:00

We crashed hard for a great night of sleep in Zurich. We woke up early and had a great “Swiss” style breakfast (more like lunch if you ask me. . .breads, meats, cheeses) YUM! We headed over by the Bahnhof to meet our “Best of Switzerland” tour to Lucerne. In hindsight this was a fabulous idea for our 2nd day. We were planning to go to Lucerne anyway and doing all the things they offered for the tour, so why not let THEM drive!

I think Lisa was already dozing off. . .

One of the highlights of Lucerne for sure was The Chapel Bridge. It’s a must see for Switzerland. It’s the oldest covered wooden bridge in Europe and was built in 1333, and has paintings along the trusses from the 17th century. There was a fire in 1993, and most of the painting were destroyed but they were able to save some of them, some the structure is still blackened from the fire damage. The water tower is the most photographed monument in the country. It was beautifully covered with flowers on both sides.

Our next stop was the Lion Monument in Lucerne. It’s a beautiful and mournful stone monument carved out of the rock. It commemorates the Swiss Guards that were killed in 1792 during the French Revolution. It’s beautifully situated right into the rock, as if the Lion is in a den.

After the Lion Monument we headed for a beautiful gondola ride up to Mt. Pilatus.

Here’s a peak at the sweatshirts I put together for our trip. The top arrow says 1886 for the year our ancestors immigrated to America, and 2010 for the year we headed back for our trip!

Beautiful Swiss countryside

Well, it was there just a second ago. . .

Heidi holding up the mountain!

You can see the hiking trails. . .yeah, I’ll take the gondola.

We had a great lunch at a small restuarant at the top. . .complete with a swiss band!

For the trip down we were able to take the steepest Cogwheel railway in the world! (48% gradiant)

What’s a cogwheel you say? Well, here’s a picture of one! Got it?

I think I’ve overloaded Windows Live writer so I’ll stop there and come back for Day 2, Part 2!

Switzerland Day 1

2010-08-10T13:12:00.001-05:00

When we made our plans for Switzerland, we hatched a plan to meet up somewhere so we could make our l.o.n.g. flight all together. My sisters and Dad met up in San Fran, and I flew from Omaha, and we all met up in Philly for the 9 hr. flight to Zurich. We managed to get our seats together by sharing our sweet snacks! Yes! There is a reason I pack like a Mom even when I’m by myself. Peanut butter M&M’s will get you a long way.

A few weeks earlier I made “travel packs” for my sisters and I. . .just like kids! I got each of them a little bag and put in their favorite game book (variety, crosswords, sudoku), mechanical pencils (why has it taken me so long to realize the awesomeness of mechanical pencils?), pens, a sleep mask, lip balm, gum, tic-tacs, kleenex, hand sanitizer, lotion. Honestly, I made them these bags as much for me as I did for them. . .after a long 9 hour flight, I need everyone to have tic tacs. . .and if you ask to borrow my lip stuff one more time. . .

Lisa and Heidi modeling their masks. . .Julie had a spongebob one.

(Me and my bloodshot eye sleep mask , and that neck rest thing I bought was worth every penny! Thanks for snapping this photo Dad!)

One of the best parts of the travel packs were these

Please tell me you had a cherished childhood in which your parents bought you these for road trips, complete with the magic pen? We seriously had the best time with these, and in true Schwendiman gamer fashion, everything was a race and contest. We finished half the book pretty quickly, and decided we had to save the rest for the ride home. If you need to know Lisa kicked our butt, just like she always does. . .

After a good sleeping pill and about 5 hours of sleep the flight attendants woke us up by cheerfully saying “good morning!” and handing us a danish. Really, all I could think was why are you giving me a danish at 2am? Ok, I’ll play along. We landed in Munich and had to catch a little flight to Zurich. I had an adventure in the airport trying to figure out why my baggage only got checked to Munich and not to Zurich, but I learned a few things. . .the Munich airport is impecably clean, that the old lady that tried to inch her cart past me in line was NOT nice, and if you find the right customer service person, you will learn that you can go in or out of security and down and back up from baggage claim as much as you like if you have a boarding pass. I also learned that the baggage ticket for your suitcase will only hold 3 destinations, so in my case, I needed a second one. (Chicago, Philly, Munich, Zurich).

Quick flight to Zurich and we were there!! We picked up our rental van, a huge VW bus! Sweet! Heidi was our appointed driver and she rocked it. We arrived to our hotel (in the red-light district. . .hey, it’s an adventure right?) just in time to have my good friend Julie walk into the lobby! Yeah! I was so glad to have Julie living in and around Switzerland for about 12 years (her hubby is Swiss) to bounce questions off for months about our plans. She graciously agreed to meet us at our hotel and immediately walk us around town to keep us awake and get us to our reservations for fondue for dinner!!

Here’s a bit of what we saw

The Bahnhof (Train house/station!)

Loved all the flower boxes everywhere. . .little did I know this is a country-wide thing in Switzerland and in the smaller towns they’re even more spectacular!

This is Frau Munster (if you ever need to find the church in Switzerland, just find the clock!)

Lake Zurich

This is a delightful treat Julie got for us. . .they are called Luxemburgerlis. Little meringue cookies in all kinds of flavors with a little filling. . .we devoured the box pretty quickly!

Fun little streets (“gasse”) in Zurich

Sweets anyone??

The crew (ignore our clothes and faces and hair. . .it had been a long day)

Gross Munster (“Big” church)

Thanks for a fun little tour Julie!!! So fun to see you!

We had a great yummy fondue dinner, then we got to find out all about the Swiss medical system. . .don’t ask. But just so you know, 4 hours in the ER, a CAT scan and several x-rays will only cost 640 CHF (about $650. . .not bad huh?) p.s. It wasn’t me.

Bustin’ out the BLOG!

2010-07-22T16:33:00.001-05:00

Wait. . . I know you’re asking yourself who I am. I know I’ve been gone a while but let’s just pretend that I’ve been here ALL along.

So, it’s time to bust out the good ol’ blog! I’m headed on an epic adventure and it needs to be documented, so to ensure I do that, I’m starting it off before I leave TOMORROW!

These awesome people are the Schwendimans. Samuel and Magdalena Schwendiman to be exact. Our Madison was almost named Magdalena, after this fabulous woman. Samuel and Magdalena both grew up in a tiny town in Switzerland called Niederstocken (knee-dur-sh-token). They joined the church (more on that story in a later post), and decided to immigrate to America. They are pictured here with their 6 sons. From left to right the boys are Christian, Samuel, Friedrich, Gottfried, Johannes (John--my great-grandfather!), and Rudolf. This photograph was done they day they departed for America in May, 1886. The circumstances of the move to America was difficult. Much persecution was upon them, most of it from their own family. Below is a quote from our family history book written by my Dad’s cousin Glenn. Glenn compiled most all of the journals and documents we have and had them published and bound for all of the family members.

“The matter of fact account of the journey of Samuel and Magdalena Schwendiman and their children as written mainly in the memoirs of Sam and John do not convey to us a sense of the emotional feelings which they must have had as they left their homeland. In a day when we drive to the nearest airport and are then air lifted to an overseas destination in a matter of hours, it requires time and effort to reflect and think what it must have been like for them to be taken to the nearest railroad station in a horse drawn wagon with all the family belongings. The parents must have sensed the dramatic change that was coming in their lives for they paused long enough in Thun to have a family portrait made. How grateful we should be that they did this. It preserves a moment in time which enables us to appreciate and share what they experienced.”

That is why we are going back to Switzerland. To get a taste of what life was like for them there, and to visit and bond with our Schwendiman family that still lives in that wonderful little country (and village of Niederstocken). I’m so grateful for the strength of Samuel and Magdalena and the courage they had to begin a difficult journey with their young boys, and I’m grateful I get to make the journey back with all my siblings and my Dad to celebrate his 70th birthday!

A Blogworthy storm

2009-12-09T10:20:00.001-06:00

Wow, has it really been that long since I’ve blogged? Sorry about that, maybe it’ll be my New Year Resolution.

ANYWAY, we’ve had a huge storm and I wanted to send photos to all my family/friends that I’m sure miss living here in Nebraska and missing out on these storms.

Shall we have lunch at the picnic table today?

The slide is even better with snow!!

They cancelled school the evening before about 7pm in anticipation of the big storm, Matt headed out for work (no early morning seminary—Yeah!), but State Farm sent everyone home at lunch—after they unloaded all the cafeteria food for free!!

Here’s some more photos from this morning, we haven’t had a storm like this for a long time, it started snowing Monday night about 8pm and literally snowed ALL day, finally today the bright sun is out. . .no school again today, no work for me, and Matt doesn’t have to go in until noon! Happy snow day!

Umm. . .I don’t think I’ll go anywhere today.

Whoops, forgot to put the cozy coupe away, it looks like a rabbit is maybe hiding out in there?

Higher! Higher like a flyer!

2009-10-03T21:46:00.001-05:00

He really is smiling under there. Speaking of “he”. . . Simon is all big boy now. When did that happen? He is a toddling, babbling, bundle of big boy-ness. Non-stop eating. (I swear I really do feed him although he contests otherwise at all times.) He bursts into laughter after someone else does, just so he’s sure to be in on the joke. He constantly opens and shuts things loudly and tosses his toys around with joy. He is one beautiful boy. . .so beautiful and fun that we’ve decided. . .

we’re done. Really, as I discussed with my bestest the other day. . .I’ve been having babies for 10 years. I know that some women have babies for much longer but I’m spent. I also feel very done. I had initially thought, well, I’ll give it until Simon’s a year old (I can make NO good decisions when I’m so sleep deprived and crazy. . ). As Simon reached that one year mark I was so excited. Ready to “move-on” in life. I’m ready for all of us to go places, not to have to pack snacks, diapers, sippys, worry about naps and babysitters. Most of all we just know it. I really had been wondering, but the moment I knew was when I was holding someone’s little tiny babe (I LOVE babies. . .), and she started to fuss. It used to be like a challenge to me when I was holding a baby and they fussed, like I was saying, OK, watch me in action, I can get this baby to be happy, go to sleep, let a little gas go . . .whatever. But this time the first thought in my head was. . .yep, I’m done.

I have 4 beautiful children and a wonderful hubby right along my side. Those children are growing and growing literally before my eyes. Madison can look me right in the eyes now and shares my shoes. . . I’m coming to realize that in only 8 short years, Madison will graduate.

I’m excited for “life” for my kids. I’m ready to be that big momma bird that preps and talks and practices with them then sends them off flying. Of course, I’m not ready for that but I’m excited for it. They’re ready, and because they’re ready I have to be.

Did you hear that?

2009-08-27T14:13:00.001-05:00

Did you hear that noise? I think it was jingle-bells.

When the weather cools off a little I always start thinking of the Holidays. I blame (praise?) my mother, Queen of shopping ahead of time. In fact, I already have her gifts to my children for Christmas (wrapped, with bows, with a card) upstairs in my storage closet. I have a handful of things already, but I’m in the mode of finding things they will really love, not just play with for a bit, then toss into the never-ending pit that is “the playroom”. Here’s a couple of things I’ve bookmarked from blogs that I’ve seen that I love. I need to get in gear to make these. . .

http://www.sayyestohoboken.com/2009/08/henrys-book.html

How much do you love this? Finding the things that Simon loves, pictured with the cute block letters? Love this idea Liz!!

http://youcanmakethis.com/info/featured-products/Personalized-Name-Pillows.htm

Really cute/designed name pillows for your kiddos to claim their turf (well, at least where they lay their sweet heads.) I know that Design Mom posted about these as well, but I can’t find the original post. Here’s a picture from a recent post where you can get a glimpse of Oscar’s pillow. These would be super cute to make ahead for your kids bestest buds birthday gifts too!

Well? Get to work! Just hear those sleigh-bells jing-a-ling. . .

Cake time!

2009-08-11T10:53:00.001-05:00

We had our family party for Simon the Sunday after his birthday. . .presents, yummy food, and of course, the cake! (oh, and don’t worry Duff, I obviously won’t be taking over Charm City Cakes anytime soon. . .)

Hmm, just a taste. . .

Oh yeah, shovel it in!! Who’s birthday is it??

So big!

MMM, cake in the ears.

All cleaned up and playing after a much needed bath!

Happy Birthday Sweet Boy!!

Simon’s 1st birthday!!

2009-08-11T10:39:00.001-05:00

**editor’s note: Simon is not one today (actually it was on 7/11 which is when I originally attempted to post this. . .I’ve changed to using Windows Live Writer and was having some trouble with the pictures. . .but now it’s all good. . .let the blogging resume!)

My BABY is ONE today! Wow, that was fast (click for a peek at his very first post). He was a really awful baby (of which I will remind him often. . ), but now he makes up for it big time. I am completely in love with this little boy! Happy Birthday Si-si!

I totally stole the idea for his shirt from Tesia, a friend from High School. Super easy and it turned out so cute!

Simon is. . . So big (his latest trick)

I kept trying to get a picture of the back of his shirt and he kept turning around to find me!!

We headed out to the zoo. . .

Molly went up to the dog show in Omaha with Grandma Mary so we missed her!!

See ya dudes! More pictures of tomorrows big party with cake of course coming up soon!!

It’s out with the old. . .and in with the new. . .

2009-07-08T09:55:00.001-05:00

I have new dishes! Finally! IKEA in Utah came through. It’s a good thing I don’t have an IKEA closer to me, or I may ditch everything in my house and start over. For now, it’s just out with the Corelle dishes and in with these. . .just plain white dinner plates, salad plates and bowls. Plain, simple and SO much better than the old.

http://www.ikea.com/us/en/catalog/products/00044481

and some of these for the kiddos. .super cute in olive green, red/orange and turquoise.

http://www.ikea.com/us/en/catalog/products/10132972

Oh, and these new glasses (which I also saw when I went to LVC’s house after I had bought them. . .of COURSE we have the same glasses.)

http://www.ikea.com/us/en/catalog/products/60131705

SO, anyone want to roadtrip to Minnesota, or back to Utah with a big trailer for all our goodies??

My twinner

2009-05-28T08:31:00.006-05:00

My secret twin Lisa Lou's birthday is today! I want to make it fully clear that I'm not copying her, this really was my plan for today!!! Lisa and I have never remembered a time without each other. In fact, my first memories almost always include her. I'm so thankful for our parents who must have realized our friendship early on and always had us together (or more than likely our mothers were tired, and needed a break, but that's ok, we get that now.) We seriously thought we were twins, I mean, come on, her birthday is ONE day after mine, and who cares that she was born in the Carolinas, and I was born in Nebraska, we are SOOOO twins. We have been through probably every situation together. . .hilarious (remember when my little sister Julie would cry and we would laugh? :), and your sister Gina got left at the dance studio?), sad (we saw ET about 12 times and thought it was the most tragic movie we'd ever seen in our 7 years), scary (remember that creepy guy that worked next to the dance studio that freaked us out while we were waiting for our moms?). When I was about 8, I wanted a dog SO badly (Lisa hated them I'm pretty sure), and Lisa helped me all the live long day on time cleaning out this corner area of our yard to show my parents I could take care of a dog and in the end. . .no dog. I'm sure my Dad took us to DQ for ice cream or something instead. (Oh no, I'm that exact same parent today. . .) The only way I survived at BYU was that I took my two best friends with me. . .Lisa and Cim. We lived at Heritage Halls with 3 other room-mates, I think in the process of living with the 3 of us we ran out about 4 total room-mates. . oops. The day before I was scheduled to get my wisdom teeth out, my mom's best friend died in a car accident and she needed to leave right away. The first thing I thought to do in that moment was call Lisa. I didn't know what I would do if I didn't have Lisa and I just wanted her to know. She also offered to come and hang out with me when I got back from the Dr. She got me my drugs, watched movies with me, all that good stuff.

Lisa and I have that kind of relationship that just has always been. I can't remember a time without her, and I know that I never will have a time without her. We may not chat every day, but I think some part of every day, I think of her, or wonder what her smarty pants kids are doing, and mostly wish that we had our dream of living next door to each other. Yesterday when she called for my birthday, we were wishing we were together and she reminded me of something we decided a long time ago. . .we certainly have our mansion lots next to each other set up in Heaven. Where we will always be able to take each other to lunch and watch our gazillion grandbabies run around while we reminisce about the good old days.

Happy Birthday Lisa Lou!!

Nibs Bibs

2009-05-19T09:33:00.003-05:00

My Dad has always called me Wendy Nibs. When I was little I wore this pair of overalls everyday. EVERY day. If my mom tried to wash them I'm sure it was while I was sleeping. I also always wore them with my Rousseau Rams shirt from the elementary school where my older siblings went. I called them my "bibs", so that's where my name came from. They were my nibs bibs. Anyway, my mom didn't ever get rid of them (THANKS MOM!), so I still have them. I have pictures of Madison in them, and I think Molly too. Yesterday I was clearing out some things in our room and opened up my cedar chest to see if I needed to toss anything in there, and there were my nibs bibs, and my blue shirt! I called to Whitney and put them right on her. . .luckily, they still fit (mostly. . .now they're capris on her). She posed up for me so I could get some pictures. Be sure to look closely at all those patches. Whenever there would be a hole, I couldn't bear to throw them out, so my Mom would just patch them up. One patch is even a little heart by the front ride side. Here's some pictures of Whitney, and a few of me in them (I think I was maybe 2-3 years old?).