Birthday Eve

Tomorrow is a big day for the Buckleys.
Townes will be celebrating his first birthday on a ten-hour flight to America! We thought it would be best if I have a few extra days in Memphis for all the running about and seeing loved ones so T and I are flying alone. Well, alone and surrounded by patient people who understand how difficult it is to sit still without throwing things and growling. Fingers crossed.

We opted to forgo the traditional big birthday party. But here's some pictures from last week's baby group. My friends Edwina and Maureen have babies (Johnny and Abby) who turned one this month as well.

Here are Townes and Johnny on the way to play group. Johnny is Swiss-Australian and his mom and I are encouraging the boys to be best friends!



The trio of one-year olds are sporting birthday crowns that I made. (I had really big plans for a homemade Christmas this year...these crowns are about as far as I got!)



The b-day boys were worn out by all the excitement and slept most of the way home on the bus!

There's no place here to take a picture of Townes on Santa's knee and the blog www.sketchysantas.com makes me feel like it's not such a loss:

Spin, Baby, Spin

Townes has a pretty mean jump but it's the spin that has us most impressed.

David Lynch, Interview Project

InterviewProject.com

Oddly normal for David Lynch, but I enjoyed spending some time with the site.

I particularly enjoyed the interview from Andalusia, Alabama.

Getting into the Season

We've jumped into the Advent season this week with a few outings. Townes and I have strolled through the Christmas market at the main train station twice already. I've resisted the fried apple rings with vanilla sauce so far but that ends tonight when we meet Coy there after work so we can buy our dinner at this stand:



We also went to the singing Christmas Tree on Wednesday to see kids and students from my school perform. They're singing was sweet but if you're looking for new Christmas music this year, I highly recommend Emmylou Harris' Light of the Stable album. Excellent.




We hope that your December is off to a festive start as well.

(I also apologize for the ironic juxtaposition below of a blog entry about thankfulness followed by one of grumbling. That pretty much reflects my general success at maintaining a spirit of gratefulness. But I'm working on it!)

Disappointing

A referendum was passed yesterday that forbids the construction of minarets in Switzerland. The referendum was put forward by the SVP, a political party we've referred to in the past most notably for their black sheep campaign.


The Swiss government was opposed to the proposition and advised voters to not put the country in such negative light or risk straining relations with the small Muslim community here. However Switzerland passes law by direct democracy which means that the ban will be upheld because it received 57% of the votes. Unsurprisingly, religious leaders around the world are voicing their outrage.


I'm also bummed that it's already snowing like crazy here. Don't picture white Christmas, it's more like thick, grey rain.

Happy Thanksgiving

Give thanks in all circumstances, for this is God's will for you in Christ Jesus. I Thess 5:18

So much to be thankful for. Rather than making a full list, I thought I'd just consider the reasons to be thankful for the things that I've complained about recently.


*The proximity to the construction and its noise. This problem is, by far, outweighed by the proximity that our apartment has to so many wonderful things. We're a 3-minute walk to the lake, a 10-minute walk to our church, a 5-minute walk to our choice of grocery stores. Depending on the direction I take off in, within 15 minutes, I can be hiking in the woods or standing inside the Gross Munster cathedral. Here's a picture though, in case you were wondering how the progress is going! And, yes, I'm sure those lovely gentlemen enjoy the view they have of our kitchen.




*Townes's disinterest in crawling. We have so very much to be thankful for when it comes to Townes's health. Just typing that makes me feel overwhelmed with gratitude.

*The new complications in feeding the boy. As it turns out, if the food is mushy, squashy, or damp than Townes will not put it in his mouth, he will only throw it. This rules out everything but bread, crackers and cereal. (Of course, he's still getting the majority of his food on a spoon.) I've tried giving him my teacher look but that hasn't helped. But you know what? Being concerned about having to pick up food off the floor is nothing in comparison to the people who have to worry about having food to put on the table. We are blessed.




*Townes is now obsessed with his father. He cries and clings to Coy in the morning when it is time for him to leave for work. He attempts to scramble up Coy's chest when I try to pull him away. And then he begins waiting for 'Dada' around 6pm. Anytime he hears the elevator, he looks around anxiously. As hard as it is to see Townes so upset, it's easy to be thankful for this phase. How wonderful that he loves Coy so dearly (and that he takes my steadfast presence as constant and unshakeable, right?).

We wish you a wonderful Thanksgiving!