Snowy Days and Thanksgiving

So, since the 27th, it has been snowing and snowing and snowing here!  It's quite exciting since last year we had NO snow, and the year before that we were in the process of moving here so we were holed up in a hotel with no car, no house, let alone any sleds or winter gear.  

Living on RB has its pros and cons, but it's snowy days like these when it really pays to live here.  We have the BEST sledding hill.  

A nice perk about the snow:  James' winter stuffy attire leaves him virtually immobile.  He sat in that spot for over an hour just watching us sled.  It was awesome.  

Anyway, with the snow still falling, today is a perfect day to hunker down in my jammies and get caught up on my blog.  

So, Thanksgiving.  Yeah, Thanksgiving.  We spent it in Utah with my family!!  I was counting the years and I believe it had been six years since I had been home for Thanksgiving.  For me Thanksgiving is the holiday that's the hardest for me to be away from home.  I don't know why, maybe because it all centers around a herculean meal, and the thought of whipping up such a meal by myself only to have my kids say they want mac&cheese instead is just too overwhelming/depressing. 

 So, I was more than thankful to spend the holiday with my family this year.

First I have to tell you the story of flying to Utah though… because it makes for a great story.  We were in Florida for the Shaha reunion, remember?  Ben had to fly back to Germany to return to work… so I intrepidly flew with the three kids on my own from Orlando to SLC.  No biggie, right?  I mean, come on, we just crossed the Atlantic.  Crossing the U.S. is child's play.  Or so I thought.

 Pat and Nancy saw us off at the airport, I think they felt apprehensive/guilty for leaving me at security with the three kids, a honkin' stroller and a gajillion carry on bags.  No sweat, though.  Don't worry…

  I got this!

After getting through security without any incident, we arrived at the gate to find the flight was delayed over an hour.  We didn't board until 9:30 p.m., by this time the kids were so tired…. as soon as we got on the plane both girls crashed hard.  The plane was subdued and quiet as passengers slept on the redeye flight.  I didn't know what to do with James though… he was tired but I couldn't get him comfortable on our crowded row.  I spotted a row that was completely empty just a few rows behind.  I snuck over there so James could sprawl out on his blankie and hopefully conk out.  We weren't there  more than five minutes before a steward came over and told me we weren't allowed on that row because it was an emergency exit row and no one under 15 could be on that row. Ugh.  So rolling my eyes, I made my way back to our seats only to find Emily awake, sitting up, and crying.  And with vomit everywhere.  I couldn't believe what I was seeing.  The remnants of her Olive Garden dinner were on her clothes, in her hair, on her blanket, her Daisy Duck stuffed animal, and ALL OVER the floor.  I couldn't believe this  happened in the short five minutes I was gone!

I immediately pushed the call button, because what else could you do?  A couple stewardesses came over and tried to be helpful, but weren't really.  They brought me some wet paper towels from the bathroom and I tried to clean up what I could, but it was hard to get to the floor with Caroline sprawled out on the seat completely unconscious.  They brought me bags to sack her blanket and Daisy, but I didn't have an extra pair of clothes so I couldn't strip her down.  I cleaned her up the best I could and then asked if we could move to another row (they were just going to put down a blanket over the rest of the mess on the floor and have us remain there for the rest of our flight.).  So, I dragged all three of them to the very back row, which was not so great because of our proximity to the bathroom we got to hear and smell things that make an already queasy stomach that much closer on the verge of losing it. 

Both girls went to sleep immediately, but I had to walk James up and down the aisle to get him down.  Have you tried walking a baby up and down an airplane aisle?  It ain't easy.  It's cramped and a bit unsteady, feels kind of like walking a tight rope.  He finally fell asleep on my shoulder and of course I didn't get a wink of sleep.  We touched down in SLC around 1 a.m. which was 3 a.m. Florida time.  Imagine waking all three kid up and trying to get them off the plane from the back row.  I was soooo glad to see my mom and sister at baggage claim, waiting to greet us and offer a helping hand.  You're probably asking yourselves why in the world I chose a redeye flight with three kids on my own.  Because it was only $110 a ticket!  Sometimes you have to ask yourself if it's really worth it though.  

Anyway, the next 2.5 weeks were spent hanging out with my siblings, the kids with their cousins… shopping, eating out, going to movies, playing games, etc. 

Here are some pics from the wonderful time there.  Ben joined us for the tail end of it. 

Eating at In-n-Out after going to the temple on the anniversary of my dad's death. So grateful I was able to join in this tradition (both the temple and the burgers) since I feel badly I miss it every year.

Seeing old high school friends:

Playing and playing and playing with cousins…
Phil and Kathryn came with their family from Denver and stayed with us for a week… Sam was so patient teaching Em to play Monopoly.  

This sequence at the bouncy place is great:

Thanksgiving dinner:  oh my heavens it was sooooo delicious.  Em made the place cards :)

Visiting Dad's grave after dinner.  Thanksgiving was his favorite holiday.  Oh, how I miss him!

All the kids except Travis

Some of the grandkids.  C is wearing the same coat I wore as a four year old!

New babies Hyrum, June, and Jensen

And their proud papas

Temple Square

A Little Family History in St. Gallen

So, this past Thanksgiving I was perusing my mom's collection of family history records and came across an account that peaked my interest. It told the story of a family from Switzerland who converted to the LDS church and then joined the saints in Utah. 

Switzerland's my neighbor you know.  Practically a stone's throw, which is really a surreal fact to me, even if it's only for a year or two more.  

This particular family hailed from St. Gallen, and a quick glance at google maps told me that it's only a 2.5 hour drive from Stuttgart...  Ok, so that's cool.  Why not go check it out?

The story I read basically told of a Catholic father, mother, and four children who met the missionaries and were baptized into the LDS faith in a frozen river on January 1, 1863 (incidentally the same day the Emancipation Proclamation was signed).  One of the children, who was 16, was my great-great-great grandmother, Maria Magdalene Mauchle.  Shortly thereafter they sold their farm and home at a loss, emigrated to the U.S., and by August, the father was dead from cholera, exposure, and exhaustion at Winter Quarters, Nebraska.  The mother sadly passed a few weeks later in Echo Canyon, just a three day's journey from the Salt Lake Valley.  The four children were orphaned and kindly taken in by LDS families. And that's how my great-great-great grandmother started her life in the United States. 

So, I loved visiting St. Gallen.  It's clean, beautiful, understated, and not very touristy.  I felt like we were the only visitors. 

My sister has been dying for some pictures, so here you go:

This abbey was founded in the 7th century and is  a UNESCO world heritage site.  I love the Baroque style… not nearly as macabre as the gothic cathedrals

The abbey also contains an amazing library, but we couldn't take pictures.  So, here's a pic from the net.  The books featured in the glass cases date back to the 7th century and were hand written by monks!  It was VERY cool.

We went to a lookout point over the city and captured some beautiful views

That's Lake Constance in the background… it borders Germany, Austria, and Switzerland.

A very interesting nativity depiction

Some views of the surrounding area… don't you think it would be hard to pack up and leave this beautiful area?

Straubenzell is the village where they were from, and is now part of the city of St. Gallen



And we figured that the river we found near St. Gallen was where the family was baptized:

Maria's father was born in Bruggen, which means bridges.

All in all, a very cool way to spend Christmas Eve day, and we picked up a delicious loaf of bread from a Swiss bakery on the way home for our Christmas Eve dinner.