Arth Goldau

On a expectional warm and sunny day, we went to Arth Goldau, a little town not too far from my parents' house. I remember going there as a child myself. Andrin was smitten with the deer, even though he did not like that they were pushy and took their food right out of his box that he was has holding. He also liked the goats, but they also were headbutting him. But the clear favorite were all the chickens. Do not ask me what is going on with our little boy and the chickens. He also continues to be highly fascinated by eggs ... Well, some things just do not change, even if you move across the ocean! Oh, did I mention that he was heart broken because we did not see the wolf? He could not stop saying that he did not see them. But we saw some bears, but he was not impressed at all ...

Happy Birthday, Opa Jumbo

We were lucky that we were able to congratulate Opa Jumbo this year in person. Andrin helped me bake a cake and he was fascinated by the fact that we had magic candles that kept going and going and going ... We also were all happy that Opa Jumbo's birthday coincided with Papi's arrival in Switzerland. Welcome home, Papi!

Catching up ...

I am sitting on our NEW couch, in our NEW house, and can finally blog again. For some reason, I was not able to blog at my parents' house and we waited for a week to have internet at our NEW house. It has been a busy time and you will have to wait a little bit until I will post the pictures of our NEW house ... But so much: We are all doing well and are enjoying our NEW home. Andrin still talks a lot about his friends. But he was in heaven today and completely happy when there were some children playing outside on the playground. He is by far the youngest, but they had him join in their game of soccer. It was wonderful since Andrin just went out the back yard and joined them. It gave us some time to do some more IKEA assembling. Today, we made big strikes in our NEW house (with the help of some professionals :). We now have a couch, a bed (yeah!), and a cabinet. We also got Andrin's room ready and he is currently trying to fall asleep for the first time in his big boy bed.
But let's back up ... We had a good trip. I was so glad to have Oma there to help with the children. Bigna was a big trooper and slept most of the flights. Andrin had more problems falling asleep, but he did surprisingly well. We took the time to settle at my parents' house. Thanks for hosting us and putting up with us and all the nighttime disturbance and loud child! I was surprised how quickly the children adjusted to the time difference. Andrin loved to be at his grandparents' house. We took lots of visits to our neighbor and his little farm. Andrin adored the little kittens and the chickens. It was wonderful to see that he was enjoying himself and being in nature.

...in case you were wondering....

Brief update.

We currently don't have internet at home, so at the moment Femeke is unable to update the blog (but she will pick up the slack very soon!).

Although 50% of the family is missing Oregon already, we are all happy and content, albeit stressed out at times.
Last Friday we moved into our new place. A detailed description and pictures will be posted soon.
My lab is currently being remodeled and should be done next week. It is still devoid of equipment and reagents but I inherited a ton of stuff from another lab (which saves me $$$).
If you want to check out the view from my office you can do this through the official Biozentrum webcam (which happens to be located in my office): http://www.biozentrum.unibas.ch/webcam.html

To sum it up: we are alive.

Goodbye Oregon!

The house is empty and "clean" and passed the inspection.
The movers arrived Monday morning at the crack of 9AM and loaded up the truck. I spent the last two night with my friends John and Keiko. Yesterday, I ran the last few errands and said goodbye to my labmates. Afterwards, it was time to float the McKenzie for the last time with John, my "partner in crime".



The truck was still almost empty by the time the movers left. However, the final box count was: 70!


This house was our home for the last 5 1/2 years and it really felt like home. Needless to say, I am sad to leave Oregon in general and this house in particular. As I was walking through the empty house last night I was flooded with memories and I was glad I could spend the night with friends.


This is it. My plane is leaving in one hour. The Oregon Adventure is over and it is time to say a final Goodbye.



I wish you all a very fond farewell!

I will miss about Oregon....

1. Healthy, natural organic food!


... for example Market of Choice's M&M cookies (Andrin calls them "Papa cookies" for a reason!)

2. The Oregon coast and the Pacific ocean!

3. Oregon's beautiful rivers!


...the famous North Umpqua!


...the beautiful Deschutes!


...the wild and scenic McKenzie!

4. The Oregon wildlife!


....Pteronarcys californica, the giant Salmonfly!



...rainbow trout (Deschutes redsides, in particular), and his anadromous brother the mighty steelhead!

...Chinook Salmon!



5. But most of all, I will be missing our Oregon friends!

....such as our "birth to three" group. But also all the other wonderful friends we made during our stay here in Oregon.