Happy birthday Pepe!

Pepe turned 17 today!

Last summer I took him to the vet because he wasn't himself and just seemed off. I found out two things. The good news was that he had spontaneously healed his diabetes and the insulin I gave him everyday was actually making him sick since he somehow was no longer diabetic...who knew? He didn't tell me. But that bad news was that he was also in severe kidney failure. Of course we were very sad... But after a daily kidney pill and a switch from special diabetes food to kidney food, his kidney tests are almost completely normal! His doctor says he has never seen anything like it. He said once cats go into kidney failure, the best you can hope is that they stay where they are, but he has never seen them actually improve.
Jaime thinks we need to bottle up whatever he has and start marketing it!
Along with his awards for healing this year, I think he also should get a shout out for most patient cat.
Lucia's new thing is to make videos of herself (and apparently of Pepe too) on my ipad... ran into this gem the other day.

Hap e Brta Laime!

Jaime got a turtle cake for his birthday this year!

The really big chair

I have been wanting to put a picture of this up for awhile...only took me three years or so.
So, soon after we moved to Geneva, Lucia and I were driving near the United Nations building when she casually says "That's a big chair." Totally deadpan, no big deal. I don't think she was even three yet, so I figured that she probably just saw a chair at the side of the road, because everything is big when you are that small.
So anyway, I look out the window and I saw this:

I said something like "WAIT,WHAT?! THAT IS THE BIGGEST CHAIR I HAVE EVER SEEN!"
I mean, isn't that a normal reaction to seeing a humungous chair on the side of the road?
So funny...every time I drive by, I laugh and think of Lucia saying it was a big chair like it was no big deal and we always see giant chairs out the car window.
If you are wondering why this giant chair has a broken leg, it symbolizes opposition to land mines and cluster bombs and sits outside of the U.N. here in lovely Geneva.

Snow business

Hey all,

Lucia and I went skiing yesterday and skied together for the first time on slopes other than the beginner slopes, up high on the mountain.   We went with our friends Karin and Penelope, who is just learning to ski, too.  It was both exhilarating and scary as hell.  A note for the skiers out there:  there are no "green", or easy runs here.  The easiest they have are the Blue runs, which are called "More Difficult" in the states.  So, we tackled those.

Lucia was flying all over the mountain:  at times I had to turn on the speed to even catch up, meanwhile covering my eyes for the inevitable crash that rarely came.  I spent the day somewhere between being a proud dad and a nervous wreck.  The irony of me wanting her to ski and being scared now that she is skiing on big mountains, was not lost on me.

Here are a couple of videos from yesterday.  Note:  they are not the best quality.  Picture me, on skis, poles in one hand, iPhone in the other, skiing down the mountain trying to video the girls.  Not the best combination for videos, but you get the idea.

At any rate, we had a great day.  Ah, to be six again and equipped with pliable muscles and a short memory span!

Be well,

Jaime

Cat cake

For some reason, our birthday cake construction has been ratcheted up a notch to two over the past year.  Lucia wanted an owl cake and Sarah came through with flying colors.  I mean, chocolate hearts for feathers?  Come on.

So, when asked about a cake for her recent birthday, Sarah ordered up a cat cake.  Cat cake?!
Full disclosure:  baking/decorating is not one of my strong suits and/well, Lucia is working on her French baking skills at school...so...we gave it a shot:

I cannot wait for my octopus cake in April.

Jaime

Ski style, Italian Alps

Hey all,

It's been a bit, but wanted to catch you up (those of you still listening) on what we have been up to lately.

As most of you know, I love to snowboard and ski, and it's been amazing to be so close to all these historic, majestic mountains.

Last week was no exception:  Sarah booked us a ski holiday in La Thuile, a resort in the Italian Alps. It was stunning!  The ski slopes looked out over the storied Mont Blanc, blue bird snow days, pasta and pizza to warm us in the evening.

Here are some shots from our room and up on the slopes:

One of my favorite parts of the trip:  BOTH girls spent the week learning to ski!  Sarah:  her first time.  Lucia:  her third time.

We signed Lucia up for lessons for the week and she did so great.  It was hard to drag her out the first three days, but she really turned it on the last two days.  And this was no green, daisy run they learned on: they took her up on the lift to 7000 feet to learn!  See yellow helmet.  (We have an outstanding conversation about upgrading her gear now that she likes it)

You can see a bunch of kids piled on the slopes way up high:  that is Lucia's group.

So, proud parent moment:  Lucia was in a class of 15 kids of all shapes, sizes and nationalities.  Some had been skiing for years, some skied only a few times, like Lu.  On the fourth day, the instructor came up to me after class and guess what?  Lucia was the best skier in the class!  We/she were so proud.  They told be she is ready to go up on the mountain with me and ski..I can't wait.

Of course, I can't forget how proud I was of Sarah, too.  I have been trying for years and years to get her up skiing and she did great.  It was nail biting and precarious at times, but she did so well.  Most of all, she rocked the slopes with her style:

All in all, a wonderful week.  We'll catch up to you on our next adventure or folly.

Until then,

Le Swiss three

Holiday news

So big news... after 8 years, Jaime has finally made it into the family! He received his own hand knit stocking this year. I have had mine that my mom knit when I was a baby, and Lucia got one last year... so there is always that awkward moment when we hang stockings and one of them is blank. But my mom surprised him this year  - how exciting!

Lucia and I have also been busy doing some extra wrapping...