It's a week into June but I'll revisit May :)

Well - all I can say about my absence on the blog is: busy, busy, busy.



There is only one of 6 recitals left at school, 2 end of year parties, 2 birthday parties, a house party, several school meetings, a luncheon, a 5th grade celebration (not called graduation here), 3 Sundays to lead worship, a trip to the Gemeinde (like city hall) for B permit renewals (residence permits) and a trip to Immigration for return Visa's - that's all that's left to do the next 2 weeks before we go to the States. Oh, and pack. But we're travelling light.



Oh, and while I'm at it, I'm re-doing the silicon grout where needed in our shower since Bart left this morning for 5 days to the States. One wouldn't think we'd need our grout re-freshed as the bathrooms were completely remodeled before we moved in 3 years ago. We thought the little vents high on the wall were doing what they were supposed to. There are no fan switches in the bathrooms. But after Rachel created a little electrical disturbance on her side of the house (not going to write out that stupid incident - yes, it was s-t-u-p-i-d!), I was at the electrical box in the storage room to flip the breaker switch when I find a strange knob (there are several) in the off position. I thought, hmmm, wonder what's that's for - and flipped it to on (I'd appreciate no comments as to where Rachel gets her curiousity from).



Lo and behold, a fan started running. In both bathrooms. Because the logical place for an off/on switch for a bathroom fan is on an electric box placed 7 feet high in the back storage room. I need a stool to reach it. So after 2 1/2 years we found the fan switch - too late for the bits of mildew that found a home during the fan-less years. We only occasionally use the fan - you know, because it's so conveniently placed.



But before this week started and I began this project while the man is away, we went on our last holiday trip of May. Whew! Get me off the train. Literally.


We finally took the Glacier Express from St. Moritz to Zermatt - 7 1/2 hours on a train. Hello! Still felt like I was moving when we had dinner that night. This trip is something we've talked about since we moved here and when we thought we might be moving back, made sure we got tickets.



Pause - Just realized for those who were not emailed - Bart's Work Permit (Swiss) was approved!!! Hallelujah!! The other permit appointments are just normal course of business at this point. It has been a roller coaster for us and sometimes daily drama but not things I really wanted to share in detail in this forum. Needless to say, God is faithful, we have some great friends and are pleased to have resolution. One more year, one more ski season, the countdown will begin. Mixed feelings.



Back to our semi-regularly scheduled program:


So we hopped the train to St. Moritz on Friday - packed a sandwich dinner and had a great time. It was a long week for Bart and I could tell he was so happy to get out of town and on our way. I've had some foot pain and worried about walking much. My hiking boots hurt and tennis shoes were all I could wear at the time - it's much better now for which I'm thankful. I'd like to wear something besides tennis shoes this summer! Probably not so many flip flops......





BTW - lot's of pictures today.

St. Moritz had THE BEST playground EVER! A big zip line, this thing below, a log roll barrel, a ground trampoline, set on about an acre + and the best long slide. Bart and I both went down the long slide the second day in our hiking pants and picked up a bit of speed. I managed to stay on my feet when I landed but Bart ended up rolling - he almost made it but landed with too much momentum going forward. We were OK but didn't try it again. Oh yeah, the girls had fun too.

We enjoyed our Saturday exploring St. Moritz/hiking trail. Oh, and the place was dead. Our neighbors weren't kidding when they said " Oh, but no one goes to St. Moritz now. It is empty. The 'season' doesn't start until later June." It was a ghost town - shops, gondola's, restaurants, hotels - closed. Of course there is a little open for the Glacier Express tourists and locals but NOT MUCH. Fine by me!

Sunday morning we caught our train! (pic taken via timer so excuse the angle)

Some of the things you see from the train -

Painted buildings:

TeePee's - the Swiss are still fascinated by the Wild West culture and you find TP's here and there:

Wildflower fields with poppies (speaking of poppies, I seriously think my staid, older, organic farming Swiss neighbors are growing Cannabis in their garden with the herbs - the plants are small though and might morph into something else but looks like it to me - go figure):

Men moving mules down the road:

Little white, mountain chapels:

Dams - 60% of Switzerland's electricity is generated by hydro-electric facilities (just a fun fact for today) - the remainder is mostly nuclear fueled.

The Oberalp Pass - highest point of our journey and a very good reason for the St. Gotthard Tunnel's existence. This picture was taken May 31st. Many of the passes had to be plowed out in May because of heavy snowfall this year.

A small airfield - I would consider the Glacier Express a sort of 'back country' tour of Switzerland. It was beautiful and quaint and sometimes made you wonder "What do people do out here?"

Hey - Look at that, How'd that get in here?

Well, the journey ended in Zermatt and although it was cloudy, I was able to get some clear pic's of the Matterhorn Monday morning. It is hard to see because of the glare in the pic below:

So went our Pentecost Weekend - we had good weather, a good time together and are looking forward to seeing some family/friends in just 2 1/2 weeks!!!!

A quick verse for this season we've had and our thankfulness to a Faithful God:

"Be anxious for nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God. And the peace of God, which surpasses all comprehension, shall guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus." Philippians 4: 6-7