Christmas In Switzy

More of our Christmas, here.

That is a now 25 year old's face.

There was a birthday boy up in here! Tuesday Jachen turned the BIG 25, now he is only a year younger than me(or is it "I"?)....well until my birthday. When he arrived home from work he was surprised with the below, which our personal photographer captured. After the opening of gifts we headed to a fancy dinner at McDonalds followed by a grocery store run. But the best news is when we arrived home, we bought plane tickets to London...that is right, the one in England. Jachen served his mission there and we have been eager to go together and explore the sites. We had wanted to go this summer, but didn't think it would be a possibility. So Tuesday we decided to just go for it. Our plane takes off July 27th and it brings us back August 2nd. We are ecstatic to go on a trip together and luckily my travel buddy has this London thing down pat.

He is real excited for the two seasons of Park and Rec, can you tell?

Fourth of July

We celebrated the 4th of July with a Swiss twist. I am one of those people who like to keep with tradition. The 4th of July is my favorite holiday and I have certain things that are...well required. Red Vine Licorice, meat, not being stuck inside, marshmallows, watermelon, feeling American and hopefully a pasta salad or potato salad. A few days before the holiday, I saw in a grocery store add that they would have some "American" products for sell on the 4th. So as soon as Jachen got home from work on the 4th we headed there and loaded the cart with what they deem as American. Earlier that day I made a pasta salad so all that was missing was meat. Unfortunately already cooked meat isn't a thing here, you either have to be at the right place or at the right time. So we settled on some dry meat...I think salami sticks, I just forgot the word. However, we did buy mini hamburgers. HA. I decided that counted. They don't sell Red Vines, so I settled on some sour rope candy. OH and of course had to have me some "American" Coca~cola. A little story about the crispy M&M's...I always wondered what happened to them. They don't sell it anymore in the USA(or Lynnwood WA) and I loved the crispy ones...well good ol' Switzy had them at the grocery store. So I guess they still exist. After filling up our bags with food, we headed to find a nice place for a picnic. I love picnics. Even more so I love picnics with a view. There are some breathtaking views here, but hardly can you park the car and picnic by the views. We found this patch of grass that was practically on a hill, about half of where we sat was flat, the rest was DOWNhill. BUT it was worth it because we had a VIEW I tell ya. You could see so much, Germany, lake Konstanz, St Gallen etc etc. Click on the panoramic to see bigger. We chatted, ate, took pics, would have played Skipbo but there was a nice breeze, hung out, had some cow visitors, watched hot air balloons, a Zeppelin and enjoyed laying in the sun and breeze. And, thanks to my parents for sending me American flags and paper plates.

What a beautiful way to celebrate.