Fredrick's Take Europe : Gruyères & Bern

This summer my mom and sisters took an 

extended vacation to visit us in Europe!

First adventure:

Gruyères, Switzerland

Château Gruyères

La Maison du Gruyère 

unlimited chocolate tasting at 

Maison Cailler

On the drive back, 

we stopped for a session at the Bern Temple

It was a really fun day and a nice chance to 

break the girls into Switzerland :)

Let's Go See the World :: Zurich

I don't know where the summer went but this post is now almost 10 weeks overdue.

Since I did such a terrible job sharing our adventures for the summer, 

I am going to skip the photo sharing for now 

and show you the video I made of our next stop: 

Zurich

Let's Go See the World - Zurich from Ali Fredrick on Vimeo.

Zurich was more of a lazy stop on our European tour.
We did a lot of laundry,
napping,
and relaxing.

And at the end of our stay Bobby twisted his ankle.

You know.
Perfect timing. 

A Typical Day in May

May was full of mostly school, 

and a couple little adventures along the way. 

A Typical Day in May from Ali Fredrick on Vimeo.

Spring in Zurich

We have been spending a LOT of time outside lately. 

These pictures prove why.

City strolls

Swim lessons

Rainy days

Bike rides

Afternoon runs

Picnics

 Fresh picked flowers

Blooming orchids

It is unbelievably beautiful here. 

My goodness, 

when they said Switzerland is green, 

they weren't kidding. 

A Clear Day

What do you do when you have been stuck in a lab all day and it is beautiful outside? 

Go to the mountains, 

that's what. 

After school we took the train to Uetliberg to watch the sunset, 

then make the short 1 hour hike down to our new home. 

Sometimes, when the air is just right, the mountains are magnified 

and appear so close that you want to reach out and touch them.

From the top of the tower we could see the whole stretch of the alps on one side, 

and our village on the other.

As the sun sank, the mountains became even more visible.

These pictures cannot do it justice, 

but we will definitely be taking all visitors
to our favorite spot in Zurich.  

Fastnacht in Urdorf

Fastnacht Urdorf 2015 from Ali Fredrick on Vimeo.

Fastnacht is a Swiss Holiday similar to Mardi Gras or Carnival. 

Children dress up in costume and go door-to-door singing songs for candy. 

Fastnacht was a whole week long in our village

 and began with a big parade, the Fastnachtumzug.

The costumes ranged from very traditional to crazy:
wooden masks,
rainbow ghillie suits,
face painting galore.

We had a lot of fun watching the parade
and having colorful confetti poured on us.
:)

Schneeplausch @ Hoch-Ybrig

This past weekend we traveled to Hoch-Ybrig with the ward
for a "Schneeplausch" or snow camp. 

Stephen and I volunteered to go early with the transport team. 

Most of the families would be arriving after dark

and it was best to transport food and extra gear in the daylight. 

We knew there was a lot of stuff, 

and we knew there would be a little bit of a walk, 

but we didn't expect THIS. 

This picture does not show the other side of the tower...

 which is a massive cliff. 

I wish I had recorded the faces of the skiers on the lift with us. 

You are going to take all this stuff WHERE?

Down 2 flights of stairs, across a footbridge, along a cliff, 

and through the knee-deep powder we went. 

Back and forth. 

After a half hour I got the idea to sled on my suitcase 

instead of trying to roll/carry it anymore.

It worked. 

Kind of. 

Suitcase Sledding from Ali Fredrick on Vimeo.

^ half the gear ^ 

2 hours later all the gear was to the house, 

I had unpacked the kitchen, 

and the families began to arrive. 

That evening was full of yummy food, BINGO, and lots of laughter. 

The next morning everyone rode up to the resort for winter activities!

We opted to snowshoe.

It was a winter wonderland. 

Absolutely picture perfect, 

exactly how I envision Switzerland in winter. 

^ This is what happens when you try to walk backwards in snowshoes ^

While eating lunch we watched the 

skiers and snowboarders, 

snow sledders, 

dog sledders, 

ice fishers, 

and other hikers. 

It was incredible to see it all in one place. 

^ off-roading ^

Night 2 was full of more delicious food, 

far too much chocolate, 

and epic games. 

The last morning we woke up for breakfast, 

Sacrament meeting and Sunday School, 

lunch, and packing/cleaning. 

Everyone pitched in and helped 

so transporting gear back to the gondola was a lot easier. 

^ The camp house ^

While waiting for the gondola, 

the most incredible snowflakes fell from the sky. 

Every. single. snowflake. was perfect and completely intact. 

It was such a wonderful weekend. 

We had a blast bonding as a ward 

and enjoying this beautiful country.

Also,
our friends vlogged the weekend!
Check it out!

New Years in Seewis

For New Years we traveled to Seewis, 

this beautiful town in the alps 

where our friend Bekki's parents live.

We hiked in the snow, 

buried each other, 

threw snowballs,

and rolled/body surfed down the hill. 

In the evening we ate fondue chinoise and 

played lots of card games, foosball, and pass the pigs. 

Just before midnight, we may have unintentionally fallen asleep....

But we woke up to light sparklers and 

watch the fireworks from the resort. 

The snow those couple days was the stuff dreams are made of. 

Absolutely breathtaking. 

We can't wait to travel over the summer and see Seewis perfectly green!