ISN'T IT IRONIC...

I find it pretty ironic that the place I feel most at home here in Zurich is...IKEA!  I come all the way to Europe, and the place I find that feels most like America is our favorite European store in America.  Go figure.  Viva la meatballs! (I know, that isn't German...or Swiss)

SO THEY SAY...

...that transitioning through an international move is as stressful as dealing with a death in the family.  I believe it.  Maybe in part to the bit of bad luck I've had the last couple of days.  First, I got stuck in the elevator at the apartment with Levi, but Isaac was left unattended in the apartment for 45 minutes (as I was just running down to the storage unit for a minute).  Levi and I were in the elevator with 2 men who spoke only German, and I of course speak only English.  We got to the brink of panic, as the phone to call for help wasn't working, and we kept getting an error message (that is me speculating, of course, since I couldn't understand anything that was being said).  Thank God Isaac stayed calm and didn't get too curious about anything.  Needless to say, I took the stairs the rest of the day!   
Secondly, my new iphone got stolen out of my car this week.  AAAhhhh!  I didn't realize it was in my diaper bag that I leave in the car.  Our car was locked, and in our locked/secured garage, but apparently someone broke into both the garage and our car, or we share our building with a thief.  Great.  Chris had already spent a good deal of his time getting my iphone for me (the Swiss require a certain level of registration to even buy an iphone which only Chris has since he works here), and the poor man had to spend another FOUR hours negotiating a reasonable price for a second iphone since they were trying to charge him $1000 for a phone with no contract.  Thank God he is a good negotiator, and such a super guy.  I have to admit, I've been less than easy to live with, and Chris has been amazingly helpful at home while dealing with so much at work.   One thing is for sure, we are melding together as Team Courts...more than ever.  It feels like it's us vs. them right now...and I think we can this win thing!

LUKE-THE BULLET-COURTS

We went sledding today with our friends Brandon and Saskia and their little guy Hugo.  Playing in the snow is a new thing for these Atlanta boys, and they are loving it!  We followed Brandon and Saskia to a huge sledding hill up in the Alps, and schlepped the kids up a giant hill.  We had a great time until Luke went flying past Chris at the bottom of the hill and almost clotheslined himself with a ski-lift cable.  Chris said he had to have been going close to 30 mph.  Phew.  After that, we called it a day and headed in to get the boys some hot chocolate.  Chris and I had a Maisgold brew to calm our nerves.  To be honest, it would have taken a 6 pack to actually calm my nerves, but I enjoyed those 12 ounces, and it did help to take the edge off!  Driving home we passed the ski jumps where this years Gold Medalist at the Vancouver Olympics practices...we were sledding in his hometown!  After watching Luke zoom down that hill on a sled on the ground, and praying "please lay down, please lay down" as I watched him zoom (laying down) under that cable, I wonder to myself how the mothers of those ski jumpers can take it!