Joyful Journey

It had snowed quite a bit this week and Bob had been watching the snow accumulation in the mountains. As we looked at options for Saturday, the most reasonable seemed like going to watch the Hornschlittenrennen , a horned sledge race in Alt St. Joanna. (Traditionally the horn sled was used by farmers to bring down hay from the mountain pasture. It's larger than a regular sled and this is a "group" race! More fun than serious from all I've read.) But as there are other times this type of race is held in other areas, and you can't always expect wonderful snowshoeing snow, the final vote came to a day in the mountains rather than watching others have fun. Definitely the right choice! Although the drive from home to the Amden area was through quite a bit of rain and clouds, once we got above Amden, into the town of Arvenbühl, it looked to be a nice day. Last time we had snowshoed here, it had been awhile since the last snow and there were large portions of the sn...

I was thinking of Justin and MarDell this morning. We got quite a bit of snow here yesterday (as seen in the photo from our afternoon walk yesterday) and Bob went online this morning to check how much snow fell in different areas of Switzerland. There is a wonderful Swiss weather website , which includes not just current weather and weather forecasts, but information on how much snow has fallen in different places, both year-to-date and within the last 24 hours. He checked out Säntis (2500 meters), a mountain where we had taken MarDell and Justin and enjoyed some great views, as seen in the photos I've included. The day we went up was beautiful and overall very clear. (It has not been this picturesque when we had taken Aunt Myrtle, Uncle Gene, Aunt Rhoda and Aunt Verna. That day, unfortunately, all we saw were clouds.) Although cool and windy, this second trip was magnificient. It is said that on a very clear day you can see 6 countries. I don't think we saw 6, but con...

It is amazing how all of a sudden things go from "planning stage" to right around the corner! After months of counting down the days, we were down to one. The rehearsal went so very smoothly. Donna Willis did a fabulous job of keeping us all on task (NOT an easy task with the Thimsen clan!!) We found out that afternoon that Pastor Davey was ill, and might not be able to do the wedding on Saturday. What a blessing that Pastor Loftis was already scheduled to lead the singing and was singing a duet himself, so he just easily stepped into dual roles. God knows. We plan, but HE knows what's coming that we don't even prepare for. So glad that we can trust our every step to Him. Personally I was very glad that Dawn and Steven recited their vows at the rehearsal, as it allowed me to get teary-eyed there rather than on the wedding day itself! (Not that I cry easily. Oh, no! Not me!!) So why does Joel get to have TWO beautiful woman to escort down the aisle? Just lucky...

Dawn and Steven opted to have both the wedding and the reception at the church. Dawn's mom and Cindy Stephenson, who gave SO much of her time. had come up with some very beautiful, yet inexpensive ideas to decorate both. We spent one beautiful sunny afternoon at the Langenbergers and the Hoferts cutting branches off of their curly willow and birch trees. Above is the Worship Chapel after those branches had been assembled into plastic pots, anchored with rocks and Cindy performed her magic with uplighting. As the trees were being formed in the Worship Chapel, the "faux" tent was being created in the middle of the gym using metal poles as the four corners, stringing wire between the corners and then wrapping wedding lights and then tulle around the wire and down the poles. Bob and Jonathan were the main workers (with some help from Joel and Steven) on this project and did a fabulous job. They are planning on starting their own company soon. Weddings R Us. You never ...

It was a real treat to be in the states for Christmas this year. Last Christmas had been difficult. We decided that rather than have the guys come and visit at Christmas that we would like them to come in early January when we would be able to take some time and go skiing together. But that did make Christmas strange, with just the two of us. So Bob had decided we would go to the Alps for a few days away. Then my Dad took a turn for the worst over the weekend and we began the process of trying to decide when I should head back to the states to help care for him. Not your ideal Christmas by any means. Add to that, I got the stomach flu and didn't even cook a Christmas dinner. Our gift to ourselves this year was a nicer camera. Bob had felt some frustration with wanting to truly capture our hikes in the Alps and felt that we needed to upgrade the camera in order to do that. But because of that, w e ended up not taking as many pictures this year as usual, as we were still ...

I guess I need to start this blog by letting you know how we first met Jenn. Labor Day 2007 was 3 days before we were moving to Switzerland. A few weeks before, Joel asked if it would be okay for him to host a college event at the house that day. Never a problem, our house is always open. But when I asked Joel if he needed my help with food prep or purchase he said "Oh no, Jenn's got that all organized." Well, I must admit my "mom ears" really perked up. I'd heard the name "Jenn" a few times at this point, but very "off the cuff." I was beginning to wonder if Joel was in the "early stages" of being interested in this young lady. Bob thought I was reading way too much into it, but I suggested that he pay close attention when Jenn arrived, because we wouldn't have many opportunities to interact with her. That night Bob was very impressed because Jenn brought a homemade Lemon Chiffon Pie. Lemon anything are favorites o...

Why is it that God gave us moms that 6th sense? That ability to sense things that aren't yet evident? Maybe because we would be the primary ones raising little ones. Maybe because He knew that we would need to be able to sense when a child was scared, but not willing to let on. Or lying and not willing to admit it. Or unsure of what they should do next. Or know when a child is wanting to tell us something, but is unsure of how to start. Thing is, it's not just when they are children, eh? Bob had arrived back in the states. I had been home about 10 days and Joel was over to the house for dinner. From about the time he walked in the door, I knew that he had a question. It would just be a matter of time before it came out. And so I waited. Don't remember where Steven, Dawn and Jenn were that night (all frequent dinner guests while we were in the states, boy do I miss that while in Switzerland!!), but it was just the three of us. Finally, after dinner and dishes were ...

Well, I'm finally taking some time to "catch up" on my blog and decided to start with our trip back to the states. Bob was gracious enough to allow me to go for a month, getting there in time to attend Dawn's graduation from CIU. I was so grateful I was able to share in that special day, as well as meet some of her friends and hear her being praised by her professors. Having been her Bible study teacher as well as an occasional math tutor, I knew that was a good student. But it is special to be able to see her in an environment where she had thrived as well as impacted those around her. You think you can get her hat on straight, Steven? It was a fun couple days in SC, even though my body was still on Swiss time. Congratulations, Dawn on completing your schooling!! I am confident that God is going to use your time at CIU to bring blessing to many.