Well, needless to say that the people of Switzerland are giving us some advice about shopping for meat and cheese...apparently it's LESS EXPENSIVE in Germany.....Now, you might be asking yourself: "Why would you go ALL THE WAY to Germany just to pay a few bucks extra for meat???"  Well, my friends, we're about a 10 minute tram ride from both Germany and France!  It's incredible!  So, yesterday John and I ventured into Germany one to get meat but also to add another country onto 

my list!  It was a lot of fun...meat is about 60% less in Germany than it is in Switzerland so we stocked up!  We have a small refrigerator with an even small freezer built in so our freezer is now PACKED TO THE MAX...but we enjoyed incredible burgers and will probably have some yummy brats or hotdogs for lunch!

So, this isn't the most interesting post...but whatever, we're on an adventure : )

Love and prayers to all!

"Til next time...

Emily and John <><

Baseball Update

For those interested in learning more about our games, here are a few links to check out:

A website of the whole league. Our team name is the Therwil Flyers.

http://www.spielplan.ch/overview.asp?liga=NLA

Our team website:

http://www.therwil-flyers.ch/main.php?id=home

And an English version covering European baseball:

http://www.mister-baseball.com/category/news/switzerland

Anyways, for all you fans of our baseball/softball careers (haha), here's our latest update.

On Sunday, we both played/coached games. The softball team crushed their opponent, 15-0 and 15-2. Emily was 4 for 6 on the day with 4 doubles. She also pitched 4 innings, striking out 9 and giving up 2 runs. Her team is now 5-3 (4-0 since she has been here). 

On the baseball side, we won both games as well against the Lausanne Indians. Always an interesting team to play, the Indians are filled with Swiss-French-Latino players. They are VERY passionate about their play, often stopping to argue for minutes at a time. They are one of the better teams in the league, but we won 14-7 and 8-0. Our team is looking very dominant thus far in the season. We are 4-1 currently. I went 1-2 with 2 RBI, 2 HBP in game one while playing catcher and went 2-4 in game two. Possessing a lineup of extremely solid hitters and two great starting pitchers, I fully believe that we will end up as champions this year. 

Last, we are enjoying our days in Switzerland. Combined with waking up whenever we want, running on the banks of the Rhine River, reading, walking around in the local marketplace, reading to each other, praying together, getting STOMPED in rummy by Emily, and getting to know our Swiss friends, our lives are incredibly blessed and we continually see the hand of God in our lives. In the last months, God has clearly placed his divine presence in our lives and we now see, even through the struggles at times, God has taught us many things about ourselves and each other. 

Our love goes out to my grandmother who is fading at age 93. Please pray for comfort.

Until next time...

J & E

Lucerne...Here we come!

Friday we decided to take our first venture out of Basel to a place that EVERYONE has recommended to us...Lucerne.  We woke up at 5 am and arrived for our train leaving at 6:04 am.

The city of Lucerne is about an hour south of Basel and needless to say it was my (Emily) first train ride in Europe.  John, being the expert that he is, had been on millions of trains before in Europe and was excited to take me for my first.

When we arrived it was really cold.  It was about 7:30 am and unfortunately we did not think to plan for such crispy weather.  So, we found a nice little coffee shop in the train station and warmed ourselves up, playing cards and sipping on yummy fresh European train station coffee!

Life for the rest of Lucerne came alive around 10 am.  John and I walked around the streets of Lucerne for hours going into their cute little shops and taking in the INCREDIBLE views!  We climbed to the top of this HUGE castle...Scary?  Yes.  But, we did it and, of course, we HAD to take pictures!

There were lots of random things on the streets of Lucerne, including a giant croissant and ice cream cone and some sort of bread/pie/cake/pretzel man....not really sure!?!?!

John stopped outside this gorgeous looking building that we weren't really sure of what it was. He tried to open the door and when he did we were AMAZED at what was on the inside!  It was the most beautiful church I had ever seen...I mean, the difference from the inside to the outside was incredible...on the outside of this mysterious building was the sounds and scenes of life that's loud and moving incredibly fast.  But, on this inside of this mysterious building came alive this piece of art that was peaceful and still.  We had to immerse ourselves in the silence and take in the beauty before returning to hussle and bussle of the European culture.

We fed the ducks, took pictures of the swans, and ate fondue for the first time : )  Well, I ate cheese fondue for the first time...and it was AWESOME!  (See Pictures!)

'Til next time...

Emily and John <><

First games in Switzerland

Hey All,

Reporting from the land of rain ~ thus far. Each day passes with a morning of warming sunshine and ends with a drizzling rain. However, I (John) managed to get one game in on Saturday and Emily played both of hers.

John: In the first game as head playing coach, we won 13-6 against the Zurich Barracudas! However, it got off to an inauspicious start. In my first at-bat, I got hit in the elbow and headed to first base on a 2-2 count. The umpires, after some argument by the Zurich coaches (which there is a LOT of arguing in Swiss baseball), decided that instead I was out! This infuriated our team and I told both umpires I would purchase them a rule book after the game. Funny, but a strikeout. Without going into too much detail, I was 1-5 for a "homerun" that was only a double because it was a short fence (thus, an automatic double). Not a great start at the plate, but considering the elbow hurt all game and time to shake the rust off a bit, a huge win for the Flyers!

Emily: Needless to say, she's dominating already! The Flyers' softball team won 19-1 and 18-3. Emily started both games at shortstop and went 3-4 on the day with 5 walks. She also pitched 2 innings and struck out batters after giving up a "shot" in the first batter she faced. I think she was more amazed at the fact that every girl pulled out post-game snacks of carrots, vegetables, and other healthy items instead of the typical American chips, hot dogs, and candy bars! 

All in all, great wins that we celebrated by going out with players from both teams last night. Today, we did some laundry and decided to stay in most of the day. I (John) can't walk very easily (my knees managed to make it through all 9 innings, but I'm sore), and Emily seems to be a bit sore as well, so we've stayed in most of the day and watched as the day turned from bright to gloomy. 

We are posting some pictures of the city, of the tram we take around most of Basel, and some of my game and the down pour of rain that occurred right after the first one. 

We miss all of our family and friends terribly, but are so excited to explore more of Switzerland and Europe. We are planning a trip to either Interlaken or Lucerne next Friday for a brief one night stay at either place in Switzerland. Also, Emily and I are preparing a three hour lesson on BASEBALL for a school on Tuesday. Should be interesting, as we must teach the most basic of things (what is a ball, a strike, the goals of the offense and the defense). Should be a blast!

Much love from Suisse country.

Love you all! 

'Til next time...

Our Apartment!

Here's our apartment. It's a great adventure worth commenting about. Recognizing where one can put his or her things isn't as easy as it was when he or she was one their own : )  This means that we've already had to be very intentional on where each others things go and how much one person needs over the other...(we would say that the girl in this relationship takes up the most space)!  

It's been quite a journey of discovery, but as the journey unfolds we are becoming more and more pleasant with the path.

And, yes, we're still in love!

'Til next time...

Emily and John <><

We're HERE!

Hey Everybody!

Well, we've made it into Switzerland and we are as happy as ever! Our place is pretty incredible to say the least.  We were welcomed by our teammates who put us up into a great apartment in the heart of downtown Basel, (equivalent to being in downtown Minneapolis or Seattle, for all you folks who need a good picture in your head). The people here have provided for us in more ways than we could have even imagined.  WE HAVE TWO BIKES!  Wow, that's a big deal here since everyone gets around either by tram, biking, or walking.  There are very few cars on the roads that don't say taxi or "polizei," which means POLICE!

We've been exploring the town mostly these last couple days, finding just the right coffee shops, late night eateries, and fun bookstores and shopping stores.  So far we've been to a few little restaurants that we could possibly make our own :)  We can hardly stand the fact that the Rhine, (river that flows through Basel and beyond), is within walking distance, and it's only a matter of time 'til we can float down it, working on our base tans!

We've made a few friends along the way, not to mention the softball and baseball teams we're playing on.  As we take the tram to the fields we have to almost pinch ourselves and remind each other of where we are and what we're doing.  If there was ever a time to credit GOD in all this now would be the best.  What a Provider!

'Til next time...

Emily and John <><