Goodbyes & More

Our month-long run of visitors ended with Uncle Russ! We were so happy that he came to Europe to see us for a 2nd time! Andy took a few days off to show him around Switzerland & France. Also in town were some more colleagues from Charlotte. It was quite amazing to see so many current or former PWC-Charlotte employees in Zurich together!

After a fun, but exhausting month of visitors, we took a little time for ourselves on Mother's Day weekend and went to a Animal and Fun Park near Constance, Germany. The weather was great and the kids (Andy included :) had a ton of fun on all of the rides.

Some great pics of our family in Germany:





Uncle Toby came back from his study-abroad time in NC. Uncle Michael & Judith dropped by too!

Lots of laughs with Oma & Opa





Cheering on Bayern Munich!



Much of May was spent finalizing the logistics of our move. Let's just say that it's a good thing that Andy speaks German, as our relo company wasn't performing well. He handled virtually everything, which made my job easy. The moving company packed everything and we had a cleaning company too. In Switzerland, when you leave an apartment it has to be just like it was when you moved in and very clean - we're talking 1200CHF-clean! I'm glad that PWC was footing that bill. 

We spent as much time as possible with our friends and made many more great memories. Angie helped me with a hand-print project that will serve as a great daily reminder of all our little friends in Switzerland.

My closest friends joined me for a much-needed girls night out. We should have done that more often! Not having these ladies as part of my daily life will be the hardest thing about moving back to the US. I was blessed with such great friendships and the children of my best friends were truly my kids best friends as well. The only thing that makes the goodbyes slightly less painful is that I know I will see them in the future. Since we plan to visit Oma and Opa each summer, it won't be hard to pop down to Uster for a day or two :-)



Tom & Huck





Our Beauty!

It's hard to believe that our time here has come to an end. It's taken me a while to write about it because it is still so emotional for me. Despite the things that we didn't like about Switzerland, we did find wonderful community here and it's hard to leave it behind. Here's what we're thankful for from this experience.

1) God provides. The uncertainty of moving is always stressful. God provided us with a wonderful townhouse and "neighborhood," a great preschool and incredible friends that will be with us for life.
2) Family relationships firmly established. This time in Europe gave our kids an opportunity to truly know Oma & Opa and to spend precious time with them. This will provide an excellent foundation for the future.
3) Jonas is speaking German. Literally in the past 2 weeks, his confidence in German has improved incredibly. (He continues to take great pleasure in correcting my German).
4) We were able to see so much more of Europe and to provide our kids with amazing experiences and a glimpse into different cultures.
5) One great thing about moving is that it forces you to declutter and purge.

A few tidbits:

My water baby is back! After 2 years of having no confidence in the pool, Jonas began swimming again. When I told him how proud I was and that he found his confidence, he smiled and said: "It must have been hiding in my heart somewhere :0)"

As we were running errands one weekend, Jonas piped up from the backseat: That's Italian music, isn't it? M: Wow, Jonas! How did you know? J: When people speak Italian they wiggle their tongues all around inside their mouth.