I can't even Yodel!: The Best of Times, the Worst of Times...

A little behind on my blog but trying to stay in chronological order so going back in time to November 2012. Already seems long ago!

As November plodded along and the snow and cold weather seemed unrelenting, we anxiously awaited the arrival of some of our best buddies. First, the Campbell family was heading over from Eugene, Oregon to spend Thanksgiving with us and shortly after the DiPiazza's who were in Berlin visiting Kat's brother Nick, were stopping by for a few days. When the Campbell crew arrived we planned on spending a few days in the Alps and exploring a new place called Saas-Fee. On the morning of their arrival to Geneva, I awoke unable to move my right arm. After spending a painful day (in more ways than one) at Swiss Urgent Care I was diagnosed with Frozen Shoulder - an incredibly painful condition that most likely stemmed from an old injury I had successfully (until now) ignored for years. Combined with overuse and stress my shoulder had essentially gone on hiatus. I was initially told it would take months to years to heal which was beyond frightening for someone living in a foreign country with two young boys and expecting a baby in a few months.

At the same time, Hardy proceeds to come down with the worst case of the flu I have ever seen him get, he was completely out of commission. Unfortunately the Campbell's arrived to a very rough crew and rather than taking a few day trips before heading to the Alps as planned, Pat, Holly, Lauryn and Miles were great troopers and instead took over care of our house and kids for a few days. Thankfully they are such good friends, and understood what a dire situation we were in. Eventually Hardy headed to the pharmacy which is an invaluable resource here as the pharmacists are able to administer prescriptions of many kinds. He was able to get medicine to kick his flu and we sent them on to the Alps to start enjoying their vacation. I, in the meantime, had started my painful physical therapy (as I wasn't able to get the recommended Cortisone shot due to the pregnancy), however I still had no mobility in my arm.

The next day, Thanksgiving, we were able to leave around 2 for Saas-Fee to celebrate with the Campbell's. When we'd booked the reservation, we had no idea that the town would essentially be closed down in between the "high" seasons of summer and winter. It's an incredibly popular resort for skiing and summer sports with lots of restaurants, bars and shops but 95% of them were closed until the first of December. We spent our Thanksgiving dinner at 1 of the 2 open restaurants, a local pub, and enjoyed a cheese fueled meal, a great way to start our vacation. We had rented a beautiful 3-story house with incredible views of the mountains and for the next few days we explored Saas-Fee a pretty, pedestrian-only village known as the "Pearl of the Alps." It was located on a very high plateau surrounded by a mountain range in which all of the peaks are over 13,000 feet including the Dom, Switzerland's tallest mountain at 14,812 feet. One day Hardy and Pat took the older kids on a day trip up a Cableway to the Eispavillon, Switzerland's largest ice cave or ice grotto on the Allalin Mountain but for the most part we just hung out, caught up, let the kids play and enjoyed ourselves. A few days later as we're packing up the house we hear a crash and a scream from the middle floor. Miles had been climbing on the staircase bannister and had fallen and hurt his arm. After some confusion on what to do we finally called the rental office who contacted the local doctor. Hardy and Pat quickly took him and the doctor decided Miles needed to have x-rays taken which could only be done at the next town. After Miles had charmed everyone in the clinic, the doctor determined that he had sprained his elbow, gave him a brace and some pain pills and sent them on their way. Miles was a trooper and we all headed back to Neuchatel where he and I continued to nurse our defunct arms. The next day they left for Munich, the final leg of their trip. It wasn't until they arrived home and took Miles to the doctor for a re-check, that they realized that his poor arm was broken! Lesson being, the Swiss medical care may be world renowned, but try to test the system only in big cities....

FUN SAAS-FEE FACT: The video for one of my all-time favorite Christmas songs - Last Christmas by the fabulous Wham! was filmed in Saas-Fee. Re-live the excitement right here:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E8gmARGvPlI

View from our House in Saas-Fee - Latelhorn Mountain.

Lauryn & Deanzie.

Playing on the Deck.

On Cableway to Eispavillon.

Eispavillon.

Pat, Lauryn & Miles.

View from Allalin Mountain (11,482 ft).

Buddies!

Walk Through Saas-Fee.

Au Revoir Campbell Famille!

The following week Jason, Kat, Nick and Nicholas arrived from celebrating the Thanksgiving holiday in Berlin. They were only here for 2 short days and the weather was absolutely freezing! But we were able to at least take a day trip to Bern and visit downtown Neuchatel before they headed home. It was so much fun to see all of these wonderful friends!

Train to Bern.