17 February, 2008

Moving into our Swiss home!

The Lary family finally has a home! We spent Friday, February 15th moving into our new home in Versoix, a small suburban area outside of Geneva. As we remember, the house is beautiful and quite large for European standards. We have five bedrooms, 4.5 baths, a full basement (Lauren's room), laundry room, utility/cat room and a lot of extra storage throughout the house. A much different environment from our small hotel quarters! We also have a gigantic yard and lots of grass for the kiddos to run on.


So, here are few photos of moving in day. Things moved quite quickly. By 10 a.m. everything had been delivered - air shipment, rental furniture, washer/dryer, extra fridge, wireless and phone were connected and most important, our SKY TV was working and ESPN was running from the moment we unlocked the door.


The best part of the weekend was and is having the ability to cook real food in a real kitchen. With the air shipment arrived some of our personal belongings including basic kitchenware, bedding, linens and a few toys. Everything we needed to begin calling this home! Our sea shipment is expected in the next couple of weeks which we all look forward to as well - namely our own beds and more items to personalize our new home!








Before we finally checked out of the hotel and brought the boys (and the cat) over to the house I made sure to have their rooms made up so it felt like home to them too. Here they are showing off their rooms and their huge bathroom! And Devan is now sleeping in a "big boy bed" and proud of it!







Here is the long hallway from one end of the upstairs to the other - looking at Kellen's door. A photo of the master bedroom (see the uncomfortable rental bed!). Our room sits in the middle between the boys'.


The view of our backyard from the master bedroom - a Romeo and Juliet style balcony!

The stairway ...


Our living area, between the dining room and den/office.


Kellen and I finishing up in the kitchen after lunch.



Kellen with his Mega Mask in the playroom.


The patio, off our kitchen and dining area, with a wood fireplace and awning to keep in the warm fire's heat. We look forward to using this area a lot!





This is a funny, must-show, photo ... nearly 30 old-style skeleton keys. There is a key for EVERY door in the house so we had to remove and carefully label each of them so we can locate them later (and make sure no one gets locked in or out of the rooms, namely the kiddos!).



Other things from the past week. Dave spent two days in Stuttgart, Germany for HP work - a quick 90 minute flight up and down. And today, Sunday, we experienced a lot of traffic going through downtown due to the many cars driving around the city, honking horns and yelling, while showing off their Kosovo flags proudly - they were all celebrating their Independence Day. More proof to Geneva's multi-nationalism.


10 February, 2008

Kellen turns 4! A day trip to Italy!

We spent the weekend celebrating Kellen's 4th birthday with a small "fete" (party), then ventured over the Swiss and French borders into Italy - Courmayeur, Italy, a quaint ski resort town just after passing through the LONG Mont Blanc tunnel. Enjoy our photos ...


Kellen goofing around in the tub!


Birthday morning, afternoon and evening ... opening a few gifts early in the a.m. - a French game for his Leapster, a puzzle and a "pompier" (French fireman) costume. We spent the sunny Saturday shopping around town (Saturday is a BIG shopping day for everyone - stores are jam packed). We bought necessary items in preparation for our move into the house, then went to have a yummy burger downtown and finally, a fancy cake to enjoy with everyone! Kellen's day was fun-filled and fancy free!











More gifts. This round - a replica of our former Volvo SUV with a horse trailer. Very popular toy with both boys.


Posing with his friend and aupair, Lauren!




We spent a sunshiny Sunday walking the cobblestone streets of Courmayeur. Enjoyed lunch an Italian pizzaria where the boys made friends with the waiters and ate fresh bread, breadsticks, pasta and pizza. We encountered several kid-friendly games along the streets so we couldn't bypass those without donating a few Euros. The boys also played in the open square, overlooking the mountains, with a couple of boys their age. Again, the language barrier didn't cause any issues for these kiddos! Bongiorno, finito, ciao and grazi were the only words we needed to know!

















There was a big festival in town over the weekend and with that, a BMW xDrive expo so we took a quick photo of the cars lining the streets. But what you don't see in this photo are the hot Italian guys decked out in their BMW ski gear. Ooh la la!






Entering the Mont Blanc Tunnel ...





A claustrophobic feeling driving through a 10-mile long tunnel. Would there be a way out in case of an emergency???





Back in France!


Next adventure ... moving into our house! We're all anxious to leave the hotel life behind for a while!

03 February, 2008

Our first trip to the mountains - La Faucille-Mijoux, France

Starting the day with breakfast - room service!





Kellen bonds with his puppy before dressing for the snow!


Devan tries on some ski gear for size!



A fun day of sledding in La Faucille in the Monts Jura begins -
just 20 minutes away!



Not a bad view, huh? This is a view east from the Jura Mountains in France, looking down to Switzerland's Lake Geneva and the city.



Kellen said to tell Grandma and Mama Cece he was up really high!



Have you met the "French" Devan? Bonjour!



A final view before heading down into the city ... gorgeous!



Au Revoir!