Life in Lohn and a few other things

Well we've finally started to settle in to life in Lohn. On the 1st of August Switzerland celebrated their national day and we attended a cookout in our village. We saw some familiar faces from our church and met some new people as well. It was a nice time and the weather was beautiful. Each year on the Swiss National Day each town/village has a huge bonfire. Lohn is situated on top of a large hill and we look down into the valley. Although we did not attend Lohn's bonfire, we watched the bonfires of other villages all over the hills. There were also fireworks going on in the valley and a huge thunderstorm came in and added lightning to the view. It was a spectacular sight.

Just yesterday we attended our street grill party and met many of our immediate neighbors. They were very welcoming and somehow many of them already knew who we were. This is a photo of our house. There are three apartments inside and ours are the top two floors pictured here. This building is about 300 years old and used to be a building for carpentry. When the carpenter built a new building he made this into apartments. Supposedly the town watched as he updated a billboard out front of the house with pictures. It was funny to meet people yesterday who said, "ah yes, you are the German and the American that live in the old carpentry building with two floors, a gorgeous kitchen and blue carpeting upstairs!" I was surprised with how much they knew about us and our apartment but it is a small village and word travels fast.

Yes, as you can see there is some scaffolding in the background of this picture. We didn't know it prior to our move but the house just next to ours is being totally redone. It has made for some noisy days but lately it has gotten better since more work on the inside of the house is being done. When I say it is "next" to our house I mean it is so close that I can stick my arm out the bathroom window and touch it. That is close. I'm just glad the work with the jackhammer is almost done. :)

Despite the construction and moving boxes we are finally feeling more at home. The boxes are almost all unpacked and pictures and things are getting hung up. Lina is loving the extra space to move and walk! She is so much fun to play with and enjoys our almost daily walks around the village to check out the cows, horses, ponies, chickens and sheep.

Lina was practicing her art skills the other day and made a beautiful picture. Her favorite part was sticking the stickers to it. :)

Well that's all for now. Blessings to you all!