We wish you a merry Christmas!

Time sure does fly when you are busy! We just came from America and already preparation started for Christmas which came speeding upon us before we even were able to become fully settled back home. Cookies went into the oven and the tree came up. Just before Christmas holiday we got the best present anyone could give us, Heather was coming home for Christmas! She arrived the 20th and soon was pulled into the Christmas chaos. We had two guests, Mei Mei and Maria, come for a visit over Christmas. They were very nice and even helped with the stringing of popcorn for the tree. After all our rushing about we did calm down and have a very relaxing christmas day with a full asian dinner lasting seven hours! There was wonderful tasty food and we all had a go at eating with chop sticks. I was sad to see Mei Mei and Maria leave the next day. It has been a different Christmas then usual this year but that is what makes it more special and it will stand out in my memory: the fun, friends, and laughter. Merry Christmas to you all! And a happy New Year!

Mis Schwiiz!!!!

A tear shed, a hug given, the bags marked and on their way, and so are we. This happened after our first panic when, while unloading our luggage, we discovered to my dad's dismay and my amusement, that we had packed Heather's allotment of luggage. Eight, nine, ten, we count again and sure enough there are ten bags sitting their on the ground in front of the airport. We are only allowed eight pieces (two per person). Dad nervously picks two unlucky victims (suitcases) to be sent back with grandma to go into boxes and into the mail. Hopefully he chose the bags with things we can do without for a few weeks.

Now we are sitting in the Harrisburg airport, gate B2, on the fourth December. We wait .... and wait ... and wait a bit more ... a long time later we are still waiting. The good-looking ticket man announces into the speaker that our flight has been "delayed" due to "mechanical difficulties." The time for our connecting flight to Zürich was drawing closer, would we still make it? Tick tock tick tock, forty minutes till that flight! It seems to tight. Finally the ticket man called us forward, he talked with Dad and sorted out different possibilities. Dad returned with tickets for a new flight plan starting from gate B3.

Finally on the plane and on our way to Washington-Dulles! It was a very small plane and took only about half an hour till we landed safely in Washington. As we walked wearied out of the plane we saw, to our joy, that we didn't need to go through any customs! Relieved, we waited for our flight to Frankfurt, Germany.

The minutes turned  into hours as the large plane slowly inched across the atlantic. A movie was playing on my screen and my journal was in my hand. Food was on my table, and turbulence was shaking the plane. Six hours, Seven hours, "Please take your seats, we are now landing in Frankfurt" said the pleasant stewardess. How can she be so happy? I haven't gotten a wink of sleep on this flight and I do not feel very happy.

Exhaustedly I stumbled off the plane, what did I pack in my carry-on! things are a lot lighter when I feel it in my comfortable living room. To my chagrin I saw in front of me .... the dreaded customs! They were strict! I was passed through but mom was scanned with the hand held metal detector. We sat down to await the incoming flight that would finally take us home. I slept on mom's lap. I don't know why I can sleep in airport chairs but not in planes. I woke up enough to drag myself onto the airplane and as soon as I sat down I began to drift off. We went higher and higher. I opened my eyes to watch the scenery slowly drift by below. Maybe I would recognize something, look a forest, is that a town?, the back of my eyelids. I was asleep again till a sudden jerk made me sit bolt upright. I heard afterwards that was one of the bumpiest landings my parents had experienced.

Finally in Zürich! A language I recognize! An airport I recognize! Now the part we have been worried about, did our luggage make it as well? One, two, .... seven, eight, yep all eight pieces. As we exit the doors we are met cheerily by cowbells and Mr. Brent with Amy (our neighbors/dad's coworker). My sleepiness left me somewhat with the excited chatter of Amy and the excitement of being home sweet home.

I know this town, it is Oensingen, I turn down that road for my judo. Balsthal! It hasn't changed much! I see it up ahead! I recognize that landmark! There is the castle ruins on the hill, it must be around the next bend! And there it is! Mis clynes Holderbank! What a relief to be home! The car comes to a slow stop in front of a white house with brown shudders, I know it well. That is the small place I call home.

Stuffing Ourselves with Stuffing!

Mashed potatoes, stuffing, a reduction in the turkey population, and increase in your own weight, hmm, that sounds familiar. Happy Thanksgiving! A time to be thankful and be with family and friends as well as have an excuse to eat as much as you want! 

My first thanksgiving was on thanksgiving day with my Shirey family. Twenty-four, soon to be twenty-five, of us gathered together at hershey farms for a family style thanksgiving meal. Anne Manduka became a Shirey for the day and joined us :) From a bowl full of stuffing to mouth watering turkey, we ate our fill, then ate our fill again when the pumpkin pie came around followed closely by the apple pie and a container of ice cream! We all were as stuffed as that turkey used to be. That is all part of the fun of thanksgiving!

Thanksgiving wasn't over yet! My Bollinger family came over on Saturday for a homemade  thanksgiving meal. I made a very large bowl of stuffing with grandma, making a slight mess with an egg in the process. Did you know that if you squeeze an egg just right it will squirt towards you instead of into the bowl? Thanksgiving was ended with games and laughter.

A "Real" Teenager

Amidst the excitement of Heather's return and the stress of the nearness of our return to Switzerland as well as the approach of Thanksgiving there was Rebecca's birthday. She turned fourteen which some people call the real beginning of being a teenager. She chose a special breakfast and  lunch as well as an ice cream cake from dairy queen for supper. Her birthday was spread out over a few days making it possible to involve both grandparents and prolonging all the celebrations. There can never be to many parties :) It was days full of celebration and many presents, including her sister's return for a week. Happy Fourteenth Birthday, Rebecca! And many more.

Guess Who Was Back!?!

Tuesday, last week, was a very exciting day. Besides being the last day of visiting, another event was marked for the end of that day. More accurately, it would occur the next day, early morning. After cleaning the whole house, we waited in anticipation. My parents left. I sat next to my bed counting down the minutes, 1:30...1:31...1:32...zzzzz. Upon waking up there she was! Heather was sleeping soundly in her bed as if she had never left. The next few days flew by so fast full of shopping and chatting constantly about everything possible to talk about. For Wednesday and Thursday I had a third sister join in the fun, Anne Manduka. Heather returned to university this Monday a little past six in the morning amid much weeping and hugs. I will have to somehow manage to survive one and a half years without seeing her but then will come two years of being on the same campus.