We spent a wonderrful weekend in Weggis with our family. We stayed at the retreat place of Sue and Suru. It wasn't the greatest weather, but we had such an enjoyable stay. We really enjoy having a fireplace to relax around...something we really miss from home.















The view from our room.


Relaxing by the fireplace.































We enjoyed a wonderful meal of pasta. We don't often get to make our own meals as a family, so it's special when we make our own...something Connor wishes for a little more often.


















We spent part of one day touring around Lucern. We watched an IMAX film and toured through a transportation museum. We also discovered this great little place where we saw formations from glaciers, a house of mirrors, etc. Lots of interesting things to see and do.














The "Dying Lion of Lucerne" is a one of the worlds most famous monuments. It's a huge monument carved out of a cliff - 50 feet high. This monument was made in memory of the heroic death of the Swiss mercenaries at the Tuilleries in 1792.

There will be more pics to come, but the blog site won't let me get any pictures uploaded for some reason. Have been trying for several days now. Check back again in a week or so.

Two days after arriving back home, Mike Hack came out to visit us for a few days. We were really sorry to miss Rose as she had to go back to S. Africa. We spent lots of time with Mike just hanging out, watching videos and visiting. It's amazing how you just carry right on as if we had just seen each other yesterday...



Mike stayed for a few days and then we drove him out to Weggis, which is right near Luzern (Switzerland), to stay with some other friends. It's about 1 1/2 hours from us.














While there, we drove way up on this little meandering road that you could barely fit on. We hiked up on a path on the mountain trying to find our way to the top and searching out a spot for our picnic, but after meeting some other people along the way, we found out we couldn't get to the top on this path. The scenery was incredible. We were under the clouds in the town, but up high we were looking down onto the clouds from above. It looked like a lake of cloud in the valley.















We were not dressed appropriately for a hiking trip, so we turned around and went back into town where we ate our lunch along the lake...it was freezing cold. This is the first time we can really say that we had a picnic by the lake in winter!
















We then met and visited with Sue and Suru Blatter - friends of Mike and Rose. They have a beautiful place overlooking the lake. It's used for retreats and groups to stay. Absolutely gorgeous. We left Mike here for a few days and headed back to the start of our new school year. Students started arriving the next day and pretty soon the place was full and alive once again. I was surprised to hear how everyone was so anxious to get back here. We're not into the full swing of things. The semester ended about a week after school started so exams were happening that following weekend already.

On Thursday, Mark took the boys out of school and headed back up to mountain to pick up Mike. They spent the day on the ski hill right near their place. What an experience to "ski in the alps". This ski hill is more geared towards families and has easier runs which was perfect for our "not very experienced" guys.

Christmas Break in Prague....
We had a wonderful time in Prague with Connie & Al and the kids. We spent a week with them just after Christmas. This was a first visit to Prague for our kids.















We all headed into Old Town Square via bus and subway. We were quite the site...all 11 of us!


























In Old Town Square















All the little outdoor booths were still set up and we had fun exploring the little shops. It was a bit cold walking around, but it was so pretty and it felt like we were in a snow globe with all the snow coming down.















































The snow continued on for the rest of the day...










































































Connie, Al, Andrea, Mark and Sara




















All the grandkids!

We had our own Christmas Dinner a few days after Christmas. Connie had ordered a turkey, but when we got to the store to pick it up there had been a misunderstanding as to the day it was to be delivered. We ended up buying turkey breasts which ended up being some of the best turkey we've ever had! It was an awesome meal. The turkey even cooked on time with no turkey disasters which is often the case when Connie and I cook a turkey!















Many evenings were spent playing games and relaxing.

One day was spent sledding. Mark and Al took all the kids to a place for toboganning.

We all went out (a treat from U. Gerry and A. Fran) for a special Mexican meal. This was the first time Connie and Al had been here but it sure won't be the last. The meal was incredible and all the kids loved it. This will be a place we come back to every time we're in Prague!

We spent a number of days helping Connie and Al move into their new home. I can't believe we didn't get any pics of their home or the moving!
Mark, Tiera, Jacob and I spent one afternoon on our own exploring Prague. We had fun checking out some of the sites. It was really too cold to do any major touristy stuff, so we'll have to save that for spring. We later met up with the rest of the crew at the Mexican Restaraunt.