Picture Perfect

As we meandered through the city, collecting trinkets from St. Peter's Platz, we eventually made our way to Munsterplatz.

The sky, the Rhine, the day, were all just perfect - too perfect not to capture.

And after all of this time, we still marvel in the experience.

Birthday Wishes!

Birthday Wishes for Noah!

As we quickly approach "one," I find myself becoming sentimental and to be honest, a bit weepy.

As Noah marches into his first birthday, we wish so many things for him.

We wish warm sunlight upon his sweet face.

We wish him kind smiles from strangers.

We wish him awe and wonder in all of his new discoveries.

We wish him continued excitement in all of lifes adventures.

We wish him happiness.

We wish him bountiful health.

We wish him love from family & friends.

We love you Noah and wish you all of the beauty life has to offer!

Noah at his first birthday party!

Enjoying his first birthday gift!

Riding the horse with the help of Diego...

Family shot...

Fun on the slide...

Kai, Noah, Daniel and Thomas in the toy box!

Balloon fun...

What a great day!

Noah looking up at us from his stroller...we love his new scarf!

Happy first birthday celebration Noah!

We love you so...

Vineyards & Castles Part II

Robert & Noah at the local playground...weekends are great! Animals trotting through green pastures...

A Weekend of Vineyards & Castles

I love weekends.
Well, who doesn’t?
It starts off slowly – with some nice coffee, a walk and a little fun at the local playground.

It is so nice to have Robert home, in fact, it is so nice that I am thinking of getting this 5 days of work - 2 days of play thing changed.

Who invented that anyway?

And I love Basel, and vineyards, castles and hikes.

Shoot, I love everything today, except for the fact that it is only day 2 of the 5 day work week.

In 10 short minutes we can take a tram to a sweet little, fairytale of a village where little hobbit people live and animals trot through green pastures. We then hike to castles from so long ago I cannot even fathom, all the while breathing fresh air and loving life.

And then, we meander down through vineyards to get some true appreciation for the red or white stuff we love to sip slowly on the weekends.

I love this place and I love weekends.

Vineyards and Farms...

Entrance to one of the castles...

Heather, Noah & Robert at one of the castles...there were three on our hike...

Fall leaves...

Old bridges leading to the castle...

It is getting dark...

Family shot at the top of the castle...

Sweet village of Muttenz...

Heather, Robert & Noah hiking...

Boys at the castle...

A cool pattern left by the wind...

View from the castle window...

I just loved this piece of art...it spoke to me...no one else, just me...

Views of the vineyards...our own little Napa..

Grapes and views....

Ready to be picked...

Family shot among the vineyards...no tasting on this hike...

Cool shot Robert took...

Little hobbit people not pictured...

11 Months...

He is standing, crawling, chatting, and declaring his independence and still the love of our lives. Noah is 11 months today.

How is that possible?

This time last year, I was still housing his precious, growing body and now, he is such a part of our family that we cannot imagine what life was like without him.

Now that we are parents, time no longer moves slowly and lazily, but rather races and marches at a pace we are trying desperately to keep up with. So, we are documenting each minute, snapping pictures crazily and enjoying the growing, precious moments that only a child can provide.

Noah is such a gift and such a beautiful compliment to our family.

We give thanks for him each day!

Noah at the local play ground

Loving the swing...
Fun, fun, fun...

Enjoying the day...

Helping with laundry...

Noah sports the Swiss Amber necklace...it is supposed to help with teething pain...

Where does this go?

Morning walk with Dad..

Happiness = The Fall!

Happiness...

Colors, colors and more colors!

With the fall colors in their prime, my steps are a bit bouncier and I find myself grinning from ear to ear. This time of year fills me with a deep, inner happiness.

I recently stumbled across this quote from the book I am reading, The Geography of Bliss by Eric Weiner and I think it does a nice job of summing up happiness.

"Maybe happiness is this:

not feeling like you should be elsewhere,

doing something else,

being someone else."

That seems to say it all!

So for today I will try to remind myself to just be and enjoy!

A beautiful moment shared by my boys!
Robert & Noah enjoying the fresh air...

Beautiful fall...

Quiet, still morning in the woods...

Melinda & Noah on the hike...

Morning solitude...

Trail on the hike...

Fire anyone?

New friend...two is enough...

What the World Eats...

What the World Eats...What We Eat...

I recently stumbled across a great article that profiled families around the world and what they consumed during the course of a week. Each family was asked to display their weeks worth of groceries on their kitchen table for all of the world to see. The pictures were quite humbling. The Western Countries’ tables were filled with processed and fast foods and the third world countries were filled with vegetables, fruits and whole grains. Quite the contrast. The contrast I imagine stemmed from convenience, income levels and deep imbedded traditions. To be honest, some of the families’ choices saddened me. Processed food sprayed out on the table for the world to see, fast food littered not only the table, but also their bodies.

It made me think – if I were to take one weeks worth of groceries and spread them out on our table, what would the picture look like? Would I be happy with the snap shot of our weekly consumption, or would I cringe in disbelief? So, I took a picture and this is what it looks like.

I do have to add a disclaimer here. Because the European refrigerators are so small, we shop three to four times per week at our local grocery store. Having that said, it made it rather hard to display one picture that represents a single week.

You might wonder why, all of a sudden I have gone from taking and posting photos of our little man and our travels, to photos of our food? Well, with a simple response, I think it is important. I find it of particular interest and great importance now that our son is eating. What goes into his mouth fuels his precious body throughout the day and helps him sleep peacefully each night. Simply put, what we eat matters.

I also have an interest in nutrition because I attended the Institute for Integrative Nutrition in New York City. The curriculum was rich with every nutrition guru in the world who opened their minds and hearts with theories, practices and wisdom. At the end of the program I found myself overloaded with information and wondering, what in the world are we supposed to eat? After my dizzying head came to a stop, I realized it is rather quite simple.

Eat more real food – meaning whole foods – foods that come from the earth and in their natural form. Fruits, vegetables, nuts, seeds, grains, beans, lentils, etc. should make up the majority of our diet. This isn’t to say that our diet is perfect (lots of room for improvement =) and I do appreciate a great deal of Swiss dark chocolate (I often wish this were a whole food!!!), a nice cup of coffee or a delicious Euro pastry, but for the most part, I want to be conscious of what I consume and what fuels not only my body, but also the bodies of those I love.

Good eatin’ everyone!