Christmas 2010

We went to Texas for Christmas vacation and returned to Zürich last week.  Though this blog is usually about our adventures in Europe for people in the US, I still want to write about our trip for posterity's sake (let's face it, blogs are the new journals).  We left Zürich Christmas Eve early morning and even with bad weather and major delays going on in Europe, we thankfully made it Dallas without any problems.  My mom, step-dad, brother, and sister-in-law live in Dallas.  Since moving to Dallas 8 years ago, we started a tradition of going out to dinner on Christmas Eve with some family friends.  Darren and I had been up for 24 hours straight, so needless to say we were exhausted, but we managed to make it through the night and have a good time.

My awesome dress was provided by my super fashionable mom

We had a great Christmas morning and just like in younger days, my parents were the last ones up!  We had a lot fun opening presents and afterwards we ate our traditional breakfast casserole.  Mom surprised me by framing my Master's degree diploma, which I had requested it to be shipped to her house, but she never told me it had arrived.  It was a really thoughtful gift, but now we need to get our undergrad diplomas framed to match!

A few days later, our family from California arrived to join in on the Texas fun!  We had another round of presents when they arrived.

Our little cousin each gave us special gifts, Steve got a sheriff's badge

Darren and I gave some of our family members a gift basket that had a sampling of some things we like in Switzerland like Nutella, Lindt Chocolate, Rösti, and handmade crafts from the Strasbourg Christmas market.

Grandma and Papa opening their gift basket

Christmas dinner #2

Another fun thing we did with everyone was go to the ICE! attraction.  Just like the ice displays in really cold climates, this exhibit had ice sculptures, but with a theme of A Charlie Brown Christmas.

Darren and I then traveled down to Austin to spend time with my dad and step-mom who moved there in October.  We had fun hanging out with my little brother and getting ready for my new little sister, Lauren, to arrive.

Movie buddies watching Toy Story 3

We also were fortunate enough to be in town when my roommate from college was having her wedding reception in San Antonio.  So we drove down to see them on New Year's Day.  It was fantastic to hang out with these two and participate in one of their wedding events.

Best friends and the husbands

On January 3rd, my baby sister, Lauren, was born!  She had some difficulty breathing when she first arrived, so they decided to send her to a children's hospital where she could get better care.  After a few days, her breathing improved so she is home now with my parents.

Lauren just after she was born

Dad already trying to indoctrinate her with BYU stuff

Me and Lauren

The next day we flew back to Zürich and things have been pretty quiet ever since.  It was kind of tough to leave the US and come back to our still-furniture-less apartment, but it was actually warm and sunny on Saturday so my love for Zürich is renewed!  More adventures to come for us in the short ten or so months we will be here!  Stay tuned.