Good morning everyone

As I said in my last blog, I was waiting on pictures of my Grandchildren. I had sent a message to Marissa to tell the baby- Switzerland Grandma said to smile. Well being a true Fisher and I think already taking after "Uncle Craig" {Pooh-bear 2} decided to put together a nice show; here's what Marissa had to say:

Hi Everyone!

Chris and I just got back from our 2nd ultrasound! The pictures aren't as good this time, but thats because the little thing kept moving around! I think he or she did about 3 flips just while we were watching and at one point it even looked like it was doing the Michael Jackson "Thriller" dance with its hands! LOL! Poor thing looked like it just wasnt able to get comfortable so it kept trying new positions to lay in.

The doctor said everything looks good! We got to listen the the heart beat which was 150 bpm (supposedly that means boy according to the old wives tales.)

We have our 18 week scan on Aug. 30th - thats the big one where they check all the organs to make sure everything is where it should be AND we can find out if it's a boy or girl. Chris REALLY wants to know and I would also like to know but like the idea of waiting and letting it be a surprise, but Im not sure if I will be able to say no when they ask me if we want to know or not. So, if anyone wants to place your bets about what you think it is, now might be the time.

Love,

Marissa 

    And A beautiful picture of Mommy and Daddy!

      

Our car

This is a "First" in our 29 moves, today- while at work Rich received a phone call asking {how anxious are you to get your car?} Then he was told that a car came in for him...it was a VW, wrong make, wrong color, wrong year!! The car we got was meant to go to Russia and for awhile today no-one knew where our car was! How do you loose a car? Well, in all of our years of travel- I have to say that the Army never lost our thing's... at least they always knew where everything was! 
Late this afternoon we were informed that our car had been located in Antwerp and would be here "sometime" next week. I'm glad that this happened while here in Europe..we have great public transportation and are able to get around just fine. 
My next blog will have a new ultrasound picture of Chris and Marissa's baby. I'm so excited to see! Also I'm waiting on pictures of Shealynn and Brady. Moving in is coming along fine, our shipment from Va. will be delivered on Wednesday; I have no-idea where I'm going to put those two rocker/recliners...perhaps one in the guest suite.

Swiss National Day

 I thought everyone might be interested in hearing about the up-coming Swiss Day. As you can read below, there will be quite a celebration ending with fireworks! I'm not sure where we will watch the fireworks yet, we were told that you can see them good from our house. We'll be taking the camera to get lots of pictures. I'm excited about checking out this fun day. It's really a shame that Chris {Mac} and Linda won't be able to make it up for the weekend....you see, she let her Passport expire and is now having to wait for a new one!

 

1th August 2010, Swiss National Day

Bern awaits you on August 1 with an enticing 1st-of-August schedule of events. You can find out all about the official celebrations here: 9:00 a.m. – 4:00 p.m. (also Saturday, July 31, 2010) Open House at the House of Parliament Visitors will be able to view the chamber of the National Council, the chamber of the Council of States, the Hall of the Dome (Kuppelhalle), and the Wandelhalle lobby. On August 1 at 11:00 a.m., President of the National Council Pascale Bruderer Wyss and President of the Council of States Erika Forster-Vannini will be taking questions from the public in the chamber of the National Council. Wait times are to be expected. 10:30 a.m. / 11:30 a.m. / 5:30 p.m. / 6:30 p.m. (meeting point: Zytglogge) Guided tours of the Clock Tower (Zytglogge) Number of participants limited to 20 persons per group 11:30 a.m. – approx. 1:30 p.m. "Bärner Jodlerpredigt" yodeling concert at the Cathedral (Münster) 2:00 p.m. – midnight Food and drink in Minister Square (Münsterplatz) 4:00 – 8:00 p.m. Paper lantern workshop and children's play area on the Cathedral Terrace (Münsterplattform) Paper lantern making, face painting, game tables, balloons, storytelling 3:00 – 6:00 p.m. River rides starting from the Schwellenmätteli restaurant with the "Pontonierfahrverein" boating club of Bern Starting at 5:00 p.m. Various concerts in Minister Square (Münsterplatz) 4:00 – 4:45 p.m. Organ concert Evergreens, pop, and classics at the Church of the Holy Ghost with Jürg Brunner 9:00 p.m. Paper lantern parade (starting from BearPark) Music by the brass band of the Salvation Army of Bern; free ice cream for kids taking part 9:30 p.m. Bonfire at the "Ostsignal" on Gurten Mountain 9:30 p.m. Official celebration in Minister Square (Münsterplatz) with a speech by the president of the city council Urs Frieden and rapper Greis, followed by an impromptu ringing of the bells 10:00 p.m. Procap sea of lights in Parliament Square (Bundesplatz) 10:30 p.m. Fireworks on Gurten Mountain in 6 tableaux Musical accompaniment of the fireworks tableaux live on Energy Bern, 101.7 MHz Best viewing locations: Cathedral Terrace, Monbijou Bridge, Nydegg Bridge, Kirchenfeld Bridge, Aargauerstalden, Rose Garden, and House of Parliament Terrace.

Ikea

Rich and I were able to go to Ikea last night {his friend and co worker had offered to take us}. We purchased kitchen cabinets 3 set's to be exact. Any way it was late when we got home so Rich said he'd put them together after work tomorrow. That was fine..I'm just happy that we found some nice ones that were affordable. Earlier today Rich had phoned from work to say we had been invited out to dinner by some friends from the Embassy, also adding that he could put one or two of the cabinets together once we got home. Well we got home around 9:30, and after a few drinks at dinner...guess who went to bed and what is still in the box? LOL It's alright though...he'll get them up soon enough and I will be able to put together my kitchen. I'm excited to see them up, I think there going to be beautiful. Not to worry..I will take before and after pictures for my Blog.

Sunday

Yesterday Rich and I decided to take a break from un-packing/arranging rooms; so we took the Tram to the top of Gerkin. It was a wonderful place and we will for sure be taking our Grandchildren there. When the boys were little we used to take them to a park called Tarzan Land, well this place is a larger improved version of that. We walked around some and had a great lunch before heading back to the house. Here's just one of the many pictures:

 

Done

"Unpacking" that is. We were able to finish emptying the boxes yesterday. I now have things everywhere, seriously....we really need to purchase some cabinets! Today I will try to arrange the living room "somewhat", yesterday Rich was also able to hook-up our AFN in record time! I should say that it's good to see the commercials that were on when the boy's were growing up...still going strong. Makes me miss them even more!!!!!! They grew up to fast and I wish I could turn back the time :(((((...pause... Alright enough feeling sorry for myself, I've got too much to do!
For those of you who were concerned about Rich getting a beer yesterday, we made a trip to the grocery last evening and found a store that sold beer and wine. Rich got two bottles of Hefe-Weissen Dunkle Beer which made his day complete.

Day 2

It's the second day of unpacking. While Rich was at work yesterday I managed to unpack all of the boxes in the kitchen, living room and guest room. we have found that the Israeli team did a horrible job. Even though I had everything sorted, they "still" managed to pack several rooms in a box; and their were several "unmarked" boxes as well. Richard had them place the unmarked in the garage- so today we get to go through the "mystery boxes". Right now we have a lot of things on the floor... just not sure where to put everything; plus we need to make a trip to Ikea to purchase a few things: however we are still waiting on our car. I had one bookcase- and it did not hold together on this journey. We like to read and I have tons of cookbooks so needless to say our stacks of books are high.
Rich keep's asking for a beer....so the challenge is: The first one of you to show up with a beer, will get a "special" gift.

BAM

Guess who showed up this morning? "The moving company"...that's right, we now have our thing's after four years. Of course we still have part of a house still in storage in Va, but it stays put for now.
Today everything ran smoothly- we had a great team, even a bit funny. the first thing to show up was this:

Now I had no idea what they were planning, however they seemed to have everything under control.
Next to come was the first truck...this is when I began to feel a little sick.

K

Knowing we would have to un-pack all of these boxes and then some! But first they would have to get everything into the house. One step at a time....

Now for the lift to the third floor:

 What about the second floor? Well when thing's were to heavy to carry they opted for the old stand on ladder, lift, push and pull method.

As for my kitchen...well I AM happy that I have my thing's back:

 And as for Mikey....he had a good day as well; like my friend Kim said: Christmas in July.

 We do have a lot of boxes un-packed, and tomorrow I'll be on my own while Rich is back to work, But we have the weekend!!!!!! Oh...I can hear a hot shower calling my name....bet I'll be unpacking boxes in my sleep tonight!

Still waiting

Well- no delivery today, they will bring everything on Friday. Just in time for the weekend! We were able to get the carpet down in the gym yesterday, It looks really nice! I'll take pictures later today. We also have closets in the bedroom and a flat screen for the kitchen that Rich has hooked up to cable. So even though we don't have everything yet, I can't complain. Things could be a whole lot worse! 
Rich and I "along with Mikey" went out to dinner last night. We took the StraB into the old town and sat down at a new restaurant. The food was good; but the company was better! I'm off to market to pick up something for dinner this evening. I hope you all have a great day.

Prague

Hello, well we made it back from Prague- I must admit I was wondering though. The flight was uneventful but the CAB-RIDES were terrifying!! In a land where Stop signs and Red traffic lights are just Meir suggestions, and sharp turns with no warning are the norm. They slow down for nothing and no one! The experience was terrifying. I shall never take another!
With that said, we did have a wonderful time {once out of the cab} We arrived at the Hotel "almost" the same time as Mom and Dad...what luck! We had a very nice room with a view on the 6th floor, after a quick settle-in we ventured out on foot to find a place for lunch. We came upon a local Piano Bar that did the trick; although if I had known what was in store for dinner, I would have passed on lunch. We were able to meet-up with Rachel and Shy for dinner. For those of you who have never had the pleasure, Rachel is another FSO who worked in Israel with Rich. Also for those that don't know yet....Rachel and Shy are now Married!! I'm sure you'll join us in wishing them all the best.

 The next morning we went on a bus tour of the city with Mom and Dad, it was lovely and were able to get some nice pictures of the area.
The Gargoyles were my favorite.

As you can see they are hanging away from the building, notice their mouth...their purpose is to keep water off the building; whenever it rains the water is drained from the building through their mouths.

Al 

Another one of my favorite buildings was this Cathedral.

l

while walking through town we came upon a celebration by the Harry Krishna.

l

These guards were posted at the entrance at the Castle

 l

My favorite form of transportation from now-on whenever I go to Prague.

 

We're off,,,

Tomorrow morning we will be leaving at 6am to take the train to the airport. We're off to meet-up with family and friends. It will be a rather short trip to Prague; we leave tomorrow and return Sunday evening. We'll have the best of two days to check things out. Will take lots of pictures for you and it will be posted Sunday evening for all to see. I hope everyone enjoys their weekend!

Let's back-up

So, going back to the day we moved here from the Hotel. It was both exciting and busy- getting to know the house and running off to get a few thing's that's always needed. We had spent most of the day doing just that. It was hot outside but the inside of this house was very cool "great insulation" The first thing I wanted to do was cook a meal- the kitchen has all top of the line appliances, now I've never had an oven that was also a steamer so out came the instruction manual. {no English} The company is suppose to be sending one...hopefully it will arrive soon. In the mean time I have the stove top. With my imagination along with the three pans that were provided I've been able to manage without a high fat content. Lot's of vegetables! With the mixture of excitement and sadness.."miss the kid's" my appetite' isn't much- but I try to eat. Anyway... that afternoon I went to the top floor to take a much wanted shower; { the floor of the showers are made of some kind of rubber, so it doesn't get slippery- thank God } Being on the third floor, I didn't give much thought to the water pressure and when I turned on the water I thought I was going to be blown through the glass!! "I couldn't move" After a few minutes I was able to get it under control....but wow- lesson learned! I'll never "just assume" again.

Hello again

Wow, nice to be able to blog again! I've had so much to say I'm not sure where to begin. We are "living" in our new house with very little of course. Our shipment has not come-in so we are at the mercy of the Embassy welcome kit...two plates,two cups and I'm not sure what happened but we got three bowls. "someone must have been asleep at the conveyor belt of greetings" We heard through the grapevine that our car and shipment from Va made it into Port on Tuesday; no word on delivery. I think we will be hit sometime next week with everything at once, it's a bit frustrating living in a home out of a suitcase- I think some would have more at a campsite than we do here. However all is not lost, just tonight Rich was able to hook us up on-line. He could not hook up the cable for television though..we were provided with an old Sharp TV with a built in VCR and it doesn't have the connections for cable! A brief back to the future moment. LOL We are able to receive German, French and of course Swiss show's, two English channels..CNN and MTV; look-out Corey, I'm learning all the Hip-Hop moves so I'll be able to embarrass you properly when we go out! In my mind I can hear you right now saying...{OMG...noooooo, that's just wrong....Mom!!! Noooooo!} Feel free to correct me if I'm wrong. "Now your just smiling shaking your head"
I was able to catch up on my e-mail all 165 messages! It's so nice to know that so many people missed my blog! I'm glad that you like reading it! I will mention that one of the letters was very informative from my daughter-in-law Marissa; I'll write about that another time- just know all is well with her, Chris and the baby.
Well I think I've gone on enough for one night, it's good to be back.

Moving

This is it! Tomorrow morning we will be leaving the Hotel at 6:30 AM, and make our way over to the house. We will be receiving our unaccompanied shipment from Va. between 1-3. Unfortunately I haven't got much in there; but the Embassy supplies a welcome chest that will have everything we need until our things arrive. Their even bringing a bed,TV, table and chairs. When we took most of our luggage over there earlier this evening, the owner of the house was in the back yard planting a tree for us! They are a very sweet couple and I know we'll be friends, she has already asked to take me around to the best shops,where the best deals can be had, and when she found out I was "green" she offered to come help me arrange furniture in a way that it will save energy. I'm looking forward to what she can teach me!
Rich met with the Ambassador yesterday, he told Rich that he want's him to stay three years instead of two. "I guess it's been awhile since he's had anyone of Richards knowledge and competence." 
I'll be back on as soon as is possible, Everyone please take care, and GODS SPEED.