Keith and Dru Davis Family: settling in

Last Saturday our Ward rented this place on Estavayer-le-Lac on the south-east bank of Lake Neuchåtel where you water ski without a boat. I was confused when I first heard about it, but it was really cool. There are cranes in the lake that hold up a cable that goes around in a very large circle. You put your skis on, stand on the doc, and wait as the rope pulls you in and around the circle. If you fall, which most people did, you simply swim away from the middle and wait for the boat to come get you. It was wild. I didn't try it but Keith and the kids did and had a great time. Afterwards we had lunch on the beach and enjoyed the sunshine.

Kelly, Erin, Elayna, Lara, Natasha, Nadine

A castle near the lake.

Sunday was a very interesting experience. After church, we went to a "Remembrance Ceremony" for 9-11 at the Ambassadors home. It was a beautiful mansion behind the U S Embassy. The Ambassador spoke, they had a few musical numbers, and my friends daughter read a poem. Afterward they planted two trees on the grounds and everyone had the opportunity to be a part of planting them.

This picture I took from the Embassy website because I didn't have my camera. I would have loved to have taken pictures of the Ambassador's mansion - it was amazing.

It was a busy week as we continue to try and get settled in. Monday I did some more shopping with my friend Monique who helped me navigate the grocery store and find some things I had not been able to on my own. We then met our husbands for dinner and had a wonderful evening. Tuesday I met with Kelly and Josh's new principal and we talked about classes they could begin taking in the afternoon in order to get to know the kids at the school they will attend in November. Wednesday I waited for our Internet stuff to be delivered (which it never came), got my haircut by my friend Lori who just moved here from Portland. She then took me to a great grocery store where the prices are much lower than I'm used to. After that we went to a book club with some really nice women, most of whose husbands work for the Embassy, and all who had lived all over the world and were very interesting to talk to. Thursday I was planning on going with the kids to their first after school classes, but ended up not getting the okay and will now wait til Tuesday. I went to a few more used furniture stores because the company van was available and it was a chance to get a few more things. Friday morning I had a great time at my friend Monique's house where she taught me to make polymer clay beads. It was so much fun, the craft and the company. That night we went to a birthday party and dinner for some really great people that we met at church. They are from Uruguay and have now lived in Switzerland for two years. (Interesting side note - his parents were just called to be mission president in Peru.)

Monique took these pictures of our days work, they were so fun to make.

Saturday we took a train to Interlaken and spent the day zipping through the trees. We went to this really big outdoor park that had a ton of rope courses and zip lines. (the best part was we pretty much had the place to ourselves.) As we were up 20 meters on a platform we heard this loud ruckus and looked over to see a parade of cows coming down the hill with huge cow bells and head pieces. You don't see that everyday. We got to the zip lines at 12:30 and had to pull Josh off at 5:30 because they were closing. Needless to say, we had a great time and Kelly and Josh had no fear standing 20 meters in the air on a small platform around a tree, hooking their zip line on the cable, and jumping off.