Friends Make Life Worthwhile!

We have been so blessed to make really wonderful friends here. I have been amazed at how kind, selfless, and good people are. I know my first month here could have been really disastrous had it not been for the good people who took us under their wing.

Our friends, Elodie and Fabio, and their adorable boy Elio have been so kind to us. They helped us so many times during the first few weeks we arrived - from making us a wonderful dinner to helping us find a carseat to taking me to and fro from the hospital during my miscarriage...  And I know it isn't just me that they've helped. Nearly everyone I've talked to here has a similar story about them. They are wonderful.

Fabio even came and waited with me at the ER so I wouldn't be alone (Elodie had to go work and Don was home with Sam).  He heard me tell the nurse lots of detailed gynecological things that no one wants to know, especially about a friend's wife... He even had to translate for me several times. At one point, I was really dizzy from all the blood loss and had to use the loo. I stood up and felt faint, I had to sit back down. The nurses were busy with other patients and no one was around. Just thinking about this makes me laugh. He looked at me, with an ashen, determined expression and asked me if I needed help going to the bathroom. I'm sure it was the worst thing he could have imagined, but even still, I know he would have done it because he is just that kind. So funny. Oh, and I didn't need his help, thank goodness; I'm sure he was as relieved as I was.

Here are a few pictures from the night they had us over for dinner. Look at that meal! Roasted chicken, roasted potatoes, fresh green beans, pumpkin soup, bread, mozzarella and tomatoes drizzled with balsamic vinegar, and fruit salad for dessert. I don't think I've ever made that many dishes in two days let alone for one meal! Impressive and delicious.

And in Switzerland, you don't serve yourself. You are served. Fabio is slicing Sam some more chicken (I've never seen him eat so much!)

Elodie organized a play date with other mommies from church so I could get to know them. We went to a place called Signal de Bougy, a farm and play place donated to the area by Migros, the grocery store chain here. Sam loved all the animals and after about an hour of feeling very hesitant with all the new people and with everyone speaking French, he started running around and playing with the other kiddos. 

Naomi, Elodie and Elio, Monica, and Sam in the stroller - checking out the geese.

Monica and Esther. Esther is the cutest little thing and loves Sam. She tried to kiss him the other day. Sam ran away. I hope he does that when he's a teenager, too. 

We saw this seriously pregnant goat and we all laughed and felt so much compassion. Poor thing! A couple more days and her belly will be dragging on the ground! She's only got about 2 inches 'til it does.

We went inside to the indoor playground because it was chilly and Sam finally got excited to be around the other kids. It has been tough for him; he doesn't understand anything the kids are saying to him. But, he's much better now than he was when we got here. I think he's learned many lessons in being flexible, which I am grateful for. 

Sam loved the legos.

After the kids played, we got some food at the Migros cafeteria, which actually has pretty decent food that is more affordable than anywhere else you could eat around here; a basic dinner at a restaurant costs around $30. Ouch. Basically, we just don't eat out. It is actually the only place I've eaten out in Switzerland because everything is so ridiculously expensive.

Sam thought the little pushcart was pretty rad. He was proud of himself for successfully guiding our pasta and chicken curry to the table.

Jessica, Oriana, Sam, Elio, and Elodie and I had a really nice lunch. Elodie and Jessica are both from Southern France and grew up together. They married Swiss men and ended up living close to each other here.

The beautiful woods we walked through to get to the playgrounds and farm.

One of my very best friends, Laurie-Anne, is French and her parents in the temple presidency at our church's temple in Bern. L-A's mom had called me several times during my miscarriage to give me support and when they were driving home to Grenoble, France, they stopped by so she could give me a hug. It was so kind and thoughtful of them. I feel like she is my mom here and we went to stay with them a few weekends ago on our way to the French Riviera. It was fun seeing L-A's dad because L-A looks just like him in the eyes and smile. Sam was excited to spend time with his best friend Josh's grandparents. 

Some of our best friends from college days, Dan and Holly Colton, and their kids live in Germany where Dan is stationed as a JAG officer for the Air Force. They were driving down to Italy to go on a cruise and came to our place for dinner on their way south. We stayed with them last time we came to Europe (almost 2 years ago) and it was such a treat to get to see them again

Dan and Don talking while Sam practiced his gymnastic moves on the couch (somersaults are a favorite activity right now).

Maggie, Holly, and Josh. Josh was born while we were all still in Provo together. He is so grown up (strange to have a living gauge to show the passing of time). We just spent the weekend with them in Colmar, France.  We are so lucky to have gotten to see them three times while they've been in Europe the last 3 years. They are moving next week to Vegas so we'll hopefully see them frequently there, too.

Maggie with one of the mouse toys that belong to the cats. Sorry, Holly. That's gross. 

...and Bradley. Last time we saw Dan and Holly, she was nearly 9 months pregnant with this little guy. So fun to see him so grown up!

I had told Monica, my wonderful friend from church, about my miscarriage and she and her husband (who is our bishop) and the kids made us an apple tart the very same day. It was so sweet of them and Don and I ate the entire thing in one sitting. I probably shouldn't admit that but it was that good. The flowers are some that Sam and Diane (who waited with me at the ER and took care of Sam while I went in for surgery 'til Don could get home) picked for me from the yard. They made me happy every time I saw them and they lived for 3 weeks! Far longer than any flowers I've ever had. It must be because they were picked with so much love.  

I went on a walk along the lake in Morges with Amandine and Jessica, two French ladies from church who have taken me under their wing. It was such a beautiful day and we could even see Mont Blanc across the lake. 

Amandine and Jess

Louis, Amandine's older boy. He rode a scooter all the way along the lakefront to the playground. I am so impressed with kids here. They walk seriously long distances and ride their bikes or scooters all over the place - for miles! It has made us want to teach Sam to be so independent and walk on his own (it hasn't worked very well so far). I think it must take a lot of work but it would be so handy if he could walk back and forth to the grocery store, etc.

Gambin - Amandine's younger boy

...and Oriana, Jessica's little girl. Don't you love her chocolate smiley face cookie? 

Val, the lady we are renting rooms from, has been good to us and Sam likes her. One day, we took Sam to the playground in St. Sulpice and fed the ducks. Then, we went to the hardware store and bought some sand to bring home to make him a sandbox. He was pretty excited about it but we only had a box without drainage so now the whole thing is full of water. It was a good effort and he enjoyed it for a couple days before it rained...

Feeding the ducks pretzels is so much fun!

Sam's first time through the car wash was with Valerie. It scared him so much, I had to sit in the back seat with him - then he thought it was pretty exciting.

Washing out the box we decided to use for the sand...

Smoothing out the sand with his excavator hand (he does this funny scooping motion like he has a boom just like a real excavator).

Poor guy can't keep his pants on. He's flat bummed just like his parents. He rocks the plumber bum look a lot.

Jessica put together a "lunch canadien," which is what they call a potluck here, so all the girls could get together with the kids. I think we ended up with 15 kids and 7 mommies and with a huge spread of delicious food. I decided to make guacamole last minute and discovered that tortilla chips are pretty precious here. 150 grams of chips cost well over $4. If I'd thought it through, I could have made something really nice for what two tiny bags of chips cost me but oh well. The company was great and the guac (and everything else) was tasty.

Naomi (in white in back), Jess, Elodie, and Amandine

Look at all that goodness. Sam went to town on the cheese tray and nearly finished one of the cheeses on his own before I realized how much he'd eaten.

Stephanie and Amandine - beautiful sisters.

We realized that until Claudia arrived, none of the ladies present were actually Swiss! Naomi is English (and so is her husband), Elodie, Amandine, Stephanie, and Jessica are all from Southern France (who all married Swiss men - except for Stephanie but she's dating a Swiss man so it's likely she will too.), and Monica is Spanish (from the Canary Islands, actually). Her husband is Swiss but was born in Argentina. Claudia was the only Swiss woman there but I think she is actually of Chilean descent and speaks Spanish as fluently as French. Quite the international group of girls! 

Jess's dad is a pastry chef and the apple doesn't fall far from the tree. She made the most delicious carrot cake I've ever had. I love that they use nut flours in their baked good here. It makes things so flavorful and hearty. She also made this really light whipped cream frosting mixed with cream cheese that was divine. Then, she topped it with little marzipan carrots. 

Yum! 

Elodie took me and Sam to La Ferme du Chateau (farm of the castle - and there really was a castle!). They had all kinds of animals and a cool little playground by a cafe so the mommies could have a cup of tea while the kids played... As soon as we got to the farm, though, Sam started crying and saying he didn't feel good. Two days later, he had conjunctivitis in both eyes and a fever. It turned out he also had a double ear infection. Poor guy. His eyes were so goopy and swollen. One night they sealed shut and he cried and cried. I can't blame him - it must be scary to not understand why you can't open your eye all of the sudden. 

Here are some fun pictures of the farm:

Feeding the chickens stale bread.

  

Cows with cowbells make me so happy. I zapped myself on the electric fence trying to take a good picture of this cow. Not my smartest moment.

I love goats - especially baby goats.

This crazy buck was barking or something (sounded like burping - not a nice sound at all) and chasing his ladies around, keeping them in line. I'm really glad Don doesn't bark like that at me; I would not respond well. 

Elio has to be one of the cutest little boys of all time. 

And here is the castle.

And poor, miserable little Sam, me, and the castle

Sam just stayed in the stroller while we walked around the farm and was pretty miserable the whole time. We decided to have a snack at the playground and Sam finally got out of the stroller. His first time down the slide (head first), he smashed his face into a ride-on tractor (see it above - by the slide?) that a kid rode right in front of the end of the slide just at the wrong time. That resulted in a nasty scrape on his head which has left a white scar you can still see. Despite all of Sam's unhappiness, it was a lovely farm and Elodie and I had fun.

I was having a pretty tough time after the miscarriage here. Don works like crazy and I felt so isolated, lonely, tired, and depressed out here. It is hard to be so far from anyone and anything. Even the grocery store is more than a mile walk away - down a really steep hill. Pushing the groceries and Sam up that hill is not something I'll miss, particularly in the rain or in the dark. Also, the weather is often very foggy and gray which didn't help me feel like my cheerful, normal self. I know - ridiculous, right? How can you possibly be depressed when you are living in Switzerland! My usual way to manage my crazy is to run but since Don leaves before it is early and gets home after it is dark and I'm out in the country without my jogging stroller, I have no options for that. Not to mention, it wouldn't have been smart to run right after the miscarriage. I was so tired and anemic. After a little pep talk from Don, I finally decided to get over myself and start being proactive about my loneliness and have a friend over once a week for lunch. It gave me a reason to cook good food, clean the house, and something to look forward to. Also, it meant having friends for Sam as well as for me...something we both miss (being the primary playmate is tiring!) 

So on Halloween, I had my first friends lunch with the Bonnys. The kids had such a good time and then later that evening, Monica came and picked us up and took us trick or treating, which I'll post about later. I made the best quiche of my life (definitely had to do with the gruyere cheese. It is amazing) and a nice salad and pumpkin-shaped sugar cookies. I didn't have a cookie cutter that was pumpkin shaped so I painstakingly cut circles with a glass and then squished each circle into a pumpkin shape and added a stem of cookie dough on top. Then, after all that effort, I put too much red food coloring in the frosting so they ended up looked like apples; funny. In fact, Sarah, Monica's oldest girl kept telling her mom that they looked like a "pomme," which is apple in French. It seems like the only French words I really retain have to do with food; shows where my priorities are. The kids liked the cookies despite the inaccurate frosting color.

Monica, Sarah, and Sam.

Monica with her sweet kids, Daniel, Gabriel, Esther, and Sarah - with Sam showing off the pumpkin/apple-looking cookies.

They had so much fun on Valerie's rocking horse

This is Sam's favorite way to ride the rocking horse - usually with daddy. So fun.

One cold rainy day, Naomi came over and took us to the Vivarium outside of Lausanne. Sam loved all the reptiles and particularly the huge Galapagos tortoises. He and Nila had such a blast chasing each other and running around. He really misses friends that he can communicate with so having a friend who speaks English is a real treat and he and Nila get along really well.

The penguins were swimming around and waddling all over. They were really fun to watch.

Naomi is a wonderful friend to me. I am amazed that people still want to be my friend knowing that I'm only here for a few months. I assumed when I came that people wouldn't want to invest the time in getting to know me and hanging out with me but despite my short stay, they have really made a huge effort (usually involving driving long distances to pick me up or drop me off or meet me at a train station) to get to know me and help me feel loved and supported. 

One day, we had Nila and Naomi over for lunch and I offered to watch Nila so Naomi could get some work done. It was so nice to be able to actually do something nice for someone. It made me feel like myself. It is strange not being able to help friends in the same way I would at home because I don't have resources. Sam and Nila had so much fun and were so cute together. They had a dance party and took pretend naps and helped me hang the laundry. Sam held Nila's hand all the way down the stairs (definitely a first for Sam - he's not one to hold hands with girls). They sweetly shared their apples and pears. I felt like I was chaperoning a date. 

Sam sharing his pears with Nila. So sweet!

Such a sweet little sassy thing!

I love this picture. 

Another story about medical emergencies: Sam and I had gone to Germany to visit one of my best friends from Boulder, Jenny, and her husband Stefan and their two little kids (I'll post about this later). While we were there, Sam didn't feel well and had a fever one night and then on the train ride home (8 hours), he didn't eat anything. The next day, he also didn't eat well and we'd gone to Gruyere to the cheese making factory and to see the town and we really wore him out. That night, he woke up screaming and and crying saying his stomach hurt so much. He screamed for about an hour before we decided to have our housemate drive us to the ER - we were worried it was appendicitis. As soon as we got to the hospital, he fell dead asleep... We finally decided not to wake him but to take him home and put him to bed. He slept all night but complained the next day that his stomach hurt. 

Monday morning, I had a playdate scheduled with Naomi but she knew I was trying to figure out how to get Sam in to see a doctor. I had tried to get Sam in with her pediatrician, but they didn't have any appointments open. When she came to pick us up, she offered to drive us to the only pediatrician I could find who would take Sam that day. Naomi drove us a half hour to the doctor and after we finally figured out how to get in the door (the receptionist had to come get me because I couldn't figure out how to get in the building) the doctor thought Sam's liver was inflamed and wanted us to go to the hospital for an ultrasound. 

I was a mess at this point. The miscarriage was one thing. It was me and I knew I would be ok but to be told Sam might have something wrong with his liver! Livers aren't easily replaced! Liver problems are deadly! I called Don bawling and he immediately got on a train to meet us at the hospital for the ultrasound. Poor Sam cried and was so sad throughout the ultrasound and through a translation between the Lybian doctor and a nurse, we found out that everything was fine. He is just skinnier than other kids and you can feel his liver more than his chubbier counterparts. Naomi then drove us back to the doctor who told us that Sam had stomach cramps from not eating and bad gas. Wow. 

That was one of the most stressful and expensive mommy days I've had. I am so relieved that Sam is ok; it just taught me a good lesson about not expecting the worst when you don't have all the information. Naomi was leaving the next day for England and instead of packing, she ended up driving me, Sam, and Don back and forth from 10a-5p. I can't believe she and I were supposed to have a play date and I ended up hijacking her entire day. She is so kind and I appreciate her so much. I wish I could repay her and the others who have helped me for their kindnesses.

This week, I had Elodie and Elio over for lunch. It is so great to have such wonderful friends. I feel really lucky and so much more like myself now that I have great people to spend time with. Hurray for friends!