Happy birthday to our firstborn, Tim!! 16 years old today and what a place to celebrate a birthday. Not many can say that they went skiing in Switzerland on their birthday! He literally couldn't wipe the smile from his face all day and set himself great challenges and amazed everyone at his skiing ability after only three days!! He is so fit and strong and ready for a challenge that he has loved loved LOVED the skiing.
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| Our little bridge |
It was a quiet and quick rendition of Happy Birthday and a few Swiss chocolates wrapped in piste maps to mark his waking up! Then, as Karl and Annika were on kitchen duty, they had to head downstairs promptly and the rest of us flung into action in the rush of the morning. Breakfast finished and lunches made and we were ready.
Annika and Luke played briefly on the
little bridge outside our accommodation and then, as Luke is not skiing,
Karl looked after him for the day while he played, read and explored. I
was so thankful not to be dragging a resistant Luke up the mountain
again and very grateful to Karl.
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| Our Alp train |
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| Scenery on the alp train |
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| Breathtaking! |
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| Hard to believe these trees will be ready for spring soon! |
We are into the swing of taking the
bus with all our gear and boarding the little two carriage alp train.
The day was STUNNING, blue skies and blinding sparkles from the white
snow. Truly felt like a winter fairyland!
Today
we went past Wengen to Wengernalp where our day's skiing began. There
were so few others on the slopes that for the majority of the day our
little group was the only one. What a privilege! Next week, being
Easter holidays, will be more crowded no doubt.
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| Getting high! |
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| Evidence of recent avalanches |
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| Township of Wengen |
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| Sunshine on the mountains makes me happy.... |
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| Cog track for alp train |
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| Wengernalp station |
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| Tim and Annika at Wengernalp |
I
was allocated to Tim's class and felt unhappy to leave Annika on her
own but she said it was alright. At the end of the day, she had had a
headache all day and was frustrated at the slowness of her group. The
fact that they were slow meant that she couldn't join us for lunch which
was the plan and she really just wanted her Mum to give her a hug.
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| Ski princess |
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| Ready to ski!! |
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| Tim's skiing! |
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| Ski expert! |
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| Loving his birthday |
Tim
and I had a wonderful morning in the fresh air and sunshine and bright
light of the alpine areas. Tim is a master of the slopes and loving
every minute of his ski experience and birthday. I coped reasonably
well with the blue runs but found my hips weren't quite up to the
skiing I used to do!
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| Smiles! |
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| Birthday portrait |
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| Annika's ski class |
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| Chillin' at lunch time at Kleine Scheidegg |
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| Master of the slopes |
We
skied down to Allmend and caught the train back via Wengernalp to grab
our lunch bags and up to Kleine Scheidegg! Lunch looking out to the
Eiger and alps as far as we could see! Magnificent!
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| Alpine chuffs - sweet songbirds of the high country |
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| Nothing like an old teabag for lunch! |
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| Kenny....you are needed here. |
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| Panorama |
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| Another panorama |
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| Alpine cafe |
In the afternoon, David, the Baptist Minister from Croydon, Philip from
the Isle of Wight, Kirsten the German speaking trainer from Bournemouth
and I went back down the blue run from Kleine Scheidegg to Wengen - ALL
the way on the snow!! It was breath takingly fabulous and if I never
ski again today will remain in my memory as a superb experience! We
stopped for a Swiss priced coffee at a little alp cafe with a terrible
portaloo. What a life!!
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| The Eiger |
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| Mountain pass |
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| Love the trees |
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| Forest scenes |
Back in Wengen it was a very short walk to the train and then home - ah!
Tim had an absolutely amazing day going down the World Cup Run with athletic skill. He had a wonderful 16 th birthday which finished with a surprise chocolate cake and singing of Happy Birthday after dinner. He was SO happy! A thrill for us as his parents!
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| Happy 16th birthday! |
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| Chocolate cake! |
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| Family photo! |
The speaker tonight spoke on the Loaves and Fishes story (John 6:1-17) with reference to the power to provide : replication, multiplication, satisfaction and identification after an uplifting time of a capella praise. The young men here were in full voice and it was wonderful to be amongst young adult Christians who worship with such passion.
Fondue was served as supper which was an absolute treat! Our tummies are more than full! Being so tired after all the exercise, we headed of to bed fairly quickly.
What a wonderful day!! So special for Tim :) sounds perfect!
ReplyDeleteIt really was a great day for Tim, everyone is amazed at his skills!
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