Hello everyone. Sorry it's been such a long spell since we sent photos. Prepare to catch up now!
Our cargo shipment finally arrived from Africa in March! In a big snowstorm.
Unfortunately, there was about CHF13,000 damage caused by improper packing.
John was in the secondary play "Alice" at his school. No photos allowed but I snuck this one at the end (that's him third from left).
And Kate was in the primary musical "The Aristocats." That's Kate right behind the orange cat.
On the subject of "breaking a leg," I spent the past 3 months recovering from a fractured ankle and heel and ruptured right and left ligaments in my right foot. Surgery was not recommended. Only time.
Then
Now
I am finally allowed now to walk without crutches. It has been a LONG journey :)
Over this time, we have been so blessed by a physiotherapist who comes to the house several times a week and by the school community--bringing meals, shopping, driving me to appointments, taking Emma with the dog-walking group. And of course, my family has been amazing! John doing laundry, meals, and getting Kate to and from school; Kate comforting me and creating lots of cheerful art; and Jeff doing everything else from staying beside me through several painful ER visits to setting up a chair arrangement in the bathtub, to just being patient and kind! I am very grateful for them and grateful to be healing. Hope to be legal to drive again in the next few weeks!
For spring break (while I took pain killers and kept my foot elevated), Jeff and John took the train to Milan.
Outside the fashion district
In the Arcade in Milan
In front of the Cathedral
And Jeff and John got to see DaVinci's "The Last Supper"
And Jeff and Kate drove to Neuschwanstein Castle
Spring finally came
Kate had market day at her school. With Molly and Maya, she sold Hawaiian fruity smoothies and cocktails.
For Mother's Day, we loaded up a wheelchair and went to Viamala Schlucht about an hour south of our home. There is a beautiful gorge and you can see some of the ancient Roman trading route which connected Italy and Saxony.
Jeff and kids hiked into the gorge.
I stayed up above.
Then we went to the oldest town in Switzerland, Chur, on the way home.
The following long weekend, we went with our friends the Michels to Lake Lugano in Switzerland/Italy.
The views on the train ride from Zurich were stunning!
Meredith, William, Nathan
Kate and Elise
Menaggio
We took the ferry on Lake Como to Bellagio
Nancy, Dave & Meredith at Bellagio
Dave & Nancy at the Parco San Marco, our hotel.
We celebrated John's 16th birthday on our last night in Italy!
The following weekend, our dear friend Erica Messerly came to visit!
Swiss Chuchi, Hotel Adler
Bürkliplatz, Zürich
And sites in our village:
Küsnacht Dock
Küsnachter Tobel (Forest)
My sweet South African friend Ann has made a point of getting me out on sunny days. Here we are at Lake Zürich.
Two weeks ago, all the fourth graders at Kate's school hiked 15km round-trip from the school through the forest down to the Küsnacht beach. They each filled as many water bottles as they could and then carried them back to school. This was an exercise to show them how many people in the world must get their water.
Recently Jeff, Kate and Emma hiked in our Forest to some Hapsburg castle ruins (Wulp Castle from the 1200's)
John organized a chili cook-off for our English-speaking congregation in April. Big success!!
And we recently had a picnic together.
That's a worm, not a sausage. And no, it's not skewered!
John finished his exams a week ago. He spent last week working on his personal development month (PDM): intensive German in the mornings and volunteering at Foundations for Learning in the afternoons. He will continue in the coming week. He will spend 3 weeks at a medical immersion camp at Georgetown this summer to complete his PDM (required by his school).
Kate will finish school this Thursday. She spent last week at Kandersteg Scout Camp with all the 4th graders. They studied water. The rain for most of the week was a nice touch, don't you think?!
Kate's class with their teacher, Mr Lamont
Actually, it seems like it has been rainy and cool here every day for about a month. Our sump pump alarm even went off a few nights ago. Coming from summer in Joburg in January to winter here to sunny spring to now what feels like autumn--our seasonal clocks are very mixed up!!
Jeff will fly to New York for work tomorrow. We will miss him! It has been a great day to celebrate him and be grateful for all he is to us!! Happy Father's Day!
