Sunday, July 31, 2016

America!


Well, we did it. 

Over the last few months we somehow managed to tie up our loose ends and leave beautiful Switzerland behind. We are now busily focused on and excited to make a new home in lovely Golden, Colorado!  

Leaving Switzerland was harder than we imagined- from saying goodbye to friends (the hardest part by far), to tackling mind bending German paper work logistics, to moving out, selling or giving away almost all of our furniture and earthly possessions, to figuring out shipping logistics for the rest of our items, to moving Tanner, and to saying goodbye to our simple, and adventurous little life in Switzerland. 

Although moving was very bittersweet, we knew it was time to make the move. Switzerland will always hold a special spot for us in our hearts. Hopefully Cora won't be too mad at us for moving her back to America too soon and hopefully her adventures in Switzerland will help positively shape who she will become!

In late May, Cora and I arrived in Denver to live with Nana and Papa until we found a permanent house in Golden. Nat followed shortly with Tanner in tow. Poor Tanner had to fly direct from Zurich to L.A., where Nat and Pooh Bah were there to pick him up out of customs (which took many stressful hours). Thankfully Tanner is one tough doggie and made it fine. I think we were all more shaken up about his move than he was. 

Nat began his new job at Yeti as the National Sales Manager in June, which he really enjoys. While looking for a rental, he stayed at a friend's house in a spare room in Golden and I drove back and forth from Fort Collins to Golden to help look at houses. We found a cute little temporary house for the next year, which isn't perfect, but it not only has a backyard but it also has a washer and dryer and is about twice as big as our Switzerland apartment! Cora, Tanner and I have spent a lot of time in that backyard since moving in (playing in a kiddie pool, playing hop scotch, riding her bike, playing with balls, playing pony attack, etc.) and we love the "garden" as Cora calls it!! Also, the views up the road in our nearby park are phenomenal! 

Moving back and resettling has also been harder than we imagined. Not only have we been dealing with reverse culture shock (Americans are messy, obsessed with consumerisum and drive far too much!), but we've also had to figure out many puzzle pieces of health insurance issues, phone problems, bank issues, and we've even had to take driving tests for new USA drivers licenses (are you kidding me!?)! Then we had to buy new cars, new furniture, and basically start completely over. Humbling is a good word for it all, I suppose! Cora though, is handling it all like a trooper and is keeping us all very grounded and level headed. She loves being around more family and thinks America is pretty fun. As she said the other day, "Mommy, I miss Switzerland but I love America more." 

Since we've been so incredibly busy I've let this blog slide for the last few months but hopefully I'll be back to my weekly posts again soon. Below are a few of my favorite photos over the past few months.

Good bye Milkenstrasse haunted mansion!
Bye to Bern!

Last get together with friends :(

Packing up.

I'll miss these glass windows.


Bye to boyfriend Benji.




Bye to Lilly and baby Linus.
  
Last train ride. 

Bye Flueli river walk!
Bye bye neighborhood chickens!



Our "countdown" board of stress!

Colorado!

Loving being in Colorado so close to Nana and Papa!

First hike outside of Golden.


Swimming in Nana's pool.





Cora meets baby Elouise!

Slumber party at the Grafts!




The two heifers. 


Processing healthy food in America!


Goofing around after mom passed her driving test.



Moving day! (Stuff from Idaho storage arrived!)


Princess Elsa helping us move.




New Car!




Quick trip to Idaho!
 





Cora's first horse ride!

She loved it.


Uncle Ian and his little ladies.


Cora and C Lu - the cutest mouse and strawberry around!

Full car drive home!

Barefoot hiking. Such Colorado hippies.

Playing Pony Attack with Aunt Marisa.

Vail weekend!



We love Aunt Marisa.



Celebrating Dad's birthday!


Cheers to new backyards and ice cream princesses!


Our favorite backyard kiddy pool.

And a new addition is coming very, very soon ...