Jacob and Abi Beutler Family

Yesterday, Ben and Lizzie were fighting over an imaginary computer. Lizzie would type on her imaginary computer, and then Ben would run over, grab at the air, and say, "MY computer". This, of course, sent Lizzie into a screaming fit. She got the imaginary computer back by grabbing "it" out of Ben's hands, which got Ben going. And that started the whole thing going again. I tried to tell them that if their "computer" got stolen they could just whip another one other out of thin air, but neither one would expand their imagination to allow two imaginary computers to exist. Lizzie looked at me as if to say, "Come on Mom, get real, there is no such thing as two imaginary computers. Duh."

Then at lunch they were throwing around a imaginary camera. It went something like this:

Ben (throwing): Liz, catch.
Liz (catching and bringing hands up to eyes): Say cheese.
Ben: Cheese.
Liz (holding up her palm): See.
Ben: Oh, that's a good one.
Liz (throwing): Ben, catch.
Ben (catching and bringing hands up to eyes): Say cheese....

This continued on through most of lunch.

Guggisberg

Ironically, part of both Jacob's ancestors and Abigail's ancestors lived in Guggisberg, Switzerland.

Jacob's great great grandparents, Rudolf and Elizabeth (Trachsel) Von Niederhasern owned a farm in Guggisberg. The following four shots were taken at this farm, nestled in the mountains of Guggisberg. Most of the farm buildings and house are all originals. The people who now own the farm kindly let us look around and take pictures.

Abigail's great great grandfather, Frederick Beyeler, is from Guggisberg. The following three shots were taken in the center of Guggisberg. Notice that Abigail is pointing to the Beyeler name on a sign in one photo.

Lucerne, Switzerland

I was worried that the rainbow wouldn't show up on this shot, but it did. Lucerne, like all of Switzerland, was breathtaking.

The following Lion Monument was sculpted in honor of 700 Swiss soldiers who died defending their palace from a mob of angry Parisians during the French Revolution. It is a huge lion and reminded me of CS Lewis' Aslan.

Please Pass the Chocolate!

On Saturday night we met up with Jared at his friend's sister's house. We stayed there for two nights. The family was extremely kind to us and very hospitable. One thing that we witnessed while we were there was how much chocolate is a part of the Swiss life. Some version of chocolate was served at each meal, and not just at dessert. I ate more chocolate in those two days than I have in six months! Would you like:

• chocolate sandwich (bread and Nutella)
• chocolate muslii (dry oatmeal with chocolate)
• chocolate yogurt
• chocolate milk
• chocolate squares (served as a side dish)
• chocolate soup (melted chocolate bars on top of ice cream)

We did eat healthy food too, but if you want to feel Swiss at breakfast/lunch/dinner/snack time, don't forget the chocolate!

Trummelbach Falls: Located in the heart of the Jungfrau Region, these monsterous glacial waterfalls have carved their way through the mountain.
We rode in a lift (like a glass boxcar) 100 meters up the inside of the mountain. Ben loved the lift so much that we went on it twice, thanks to the nice operator.

After riding the lift, we worked our way down the mountain. The path weaved inside and outside the mountain. The hike was slippery and cold on the inside, and warm and dry on the outside parts, but the waterfalls were amazing/loud/awesome.

You can't really tell in thise picture of me and the kids, but little Johnnie is straped inside my baby carrier up front, with my sweater over him, and my rain poncho on top. He slept through the whole hike.

The first thing that we did in Switzerland was go to the temple. Jacob watched the kids while I did a session. The temple is beautiful inside and out. For more information on temples of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, click here. It was a great start to our vacation!