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Posts tagged ‘travel’

The Joy of Being (in Switzerland)

The joy of just being

Is certainly joy enough

But the joy of being in Switzerland

Is a joy that’s hard to beat – it’d be tough.

While friends and family back home

In California and Montana are roasting

We were enjoying comfy mid-seventies

And lovely meals and yummy wine toasting

Then the weather changed!

.

We were having ham with salad & sausage

At De & Andrés wonderful chalet

I came back to our room to post

And left Bob to finish dessert, but hey…

.

There were two girls outside

Hunkered under umbrellas in the rain

So I pointed to our inside table

And sent them to Bob – let me explain

He was having sorbet; I was done

My place at the table was free

He will love getting acquainted

And they will love his company!

This morning we cooled it in our room

Bob read and I enjoyed reading posts

The day started off rather quiet

More alone time than Swiss’s most

We went for a walk in Vissoie

And enjoyed every sight and each sound

We visited the local church and had

Time for prayer, finding God all around

“Daily Word” gave us the scripture

“Be glad in the Lord and rejoice”

Let nothing keep your joy from you-

Respond with a song; raise your voice!

Like a well that can never run dry

My joy is a wellspring from the Lord

I deal with whatever life brings me

With a smile – and I never am bored!

Keep your sense of humor alive

Find the joy in whatever you see

That poor bunny hit the door with a bang

Oh come on, have a good laugh with me!

There he is on the other side!!

.

The joy of being in Switzerland

Is part of the happiness of being alive

Well enough to travel and adapt

Thanking God each day we survive!

Thank you for traveling vicariously with us!

We love sharing with you. Take joy!

“Be glad in the Lord and rejoice, O righteous, and shout for joy, all you upright in heart.” Psalm 32:11

See ya tomorrow (God willing) –

Love, JanBeek

Category:

Bible Lessons, blessings, contentment, God, Gratitude, happiness, Jesus, Love, optimism, Poetry

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Visiting Zinal

What a wonderful way to spend a Monday afternoon in Switzerland! DeAna drove us up to Zinal… just to enjoy the time together, the scenery, and an ice cream. We did all three. Wanna join us?

Mountain majesty

Views usually not seen

Except in movies

Sharing with our De

Made all the more beautiful

By stream and mountains

Blue sky up above

Flowing River at our feet

Life can’t be more sweet

Then add some icecream

And the cows that made the cream

Surely it’s a dream!

Hearing the children

Laughing and playing outside

Yes, it’s Paradise!

Meantime, the Groshongs

Continued their hiking fun

In this same region

Found a gentle cow

Grazing on the Swiss hillside

Up close – personal!

Lucky the bovine

Was feeling cooperative

But don’t press your luck

Here comes another

He’s looking mighty leery

Don’t try petting him

Onward to glacier

Visit before it is gone

Then back to Zinal

What will tomorrow bring? Come back and see! I love sharing with you. Which of my pictures today did you like best?

Love to you from JanBeek (and Bob & De, too)

Category:

Animals, blessings, Family, friendship, Haiku, Love, mountains, nature, Poetry, relationships, Travel

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Sweet Swiss Times

Our weekend began with a cloudy day in Sierre, Switzerland, but soon the sky cleared and the weekend was sunny and beautiful.

It was a beautiful fun-filled time with family and friends. Let me share some highlights with you. We’re having such sweet Swiss times! One highlight of our weekend was a choir festival in Véraz (near Sierre) where our daughter, DeDe, and grandson, Chris, sang with the Chippis choir.

Every day here in this beautiful country is full of the blessing of family and friends. Sweet catch-up time. I love sharing the fun with you.

Me with DeDe at the choir festival
Bob with DeDe

After the festival, we went to André’s brother’s fiancée’s place for a raclette evening. So nice to have catch-up time with Kad & Roger.

Meantime, our friends, Jim & Terry, took the bus from Vissoie up to Grimentz where they are enjoying a few days of hiking in those fabulous mountains. They’re sharing a few photos of their experiences. Have a look!

Wow! Great photo, Terry!
Terry, the hiker
Jim … the trooper
Hah! Listen to Terry’s description of their hike and Jim’s take on this!

Yes, the mountains are alive with the sounds of water and hikers and joy! Once upon a time, a dozen years ago, Bob & I took that hike. Now we are content to enjoy those high Alpine views through others’ cameras! Oh, and from the bus- of course.

Thank you for your responses to our posts. We love sharing our trip vicariously with you, dear friends. Wish you could be here in person.

See ya tomorrow (God willing)-

Love, JanBeek

Category:

blessings, Family, flowers, Love, mountains, photography, relationships, Travel

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The Hills Are Alive!

The hills are alive with the sounds of family!

Yesterday our daughter, DeAna, drove us down into the Rhône River Valley, through Sierre, and up into the Alps on the other side to an area called Crans-Montana. It is where she & André lived 30 years ago when they first moved here. On the hillside e hind the restaurant André managed way back then are a few chalets. One of them, built in 1772, is owned by ZuZu & Célia. They invited us to spend the day there with them.

ZuZu (Christian Zufferey) was our AFS son in 1980-81. He is André’s first cousin. He and Célia prepared an amazing meal for us! The first plate was an outstanding eggplant quiche. The second plate was lamb (my favorite) and a ratatouille. All the vegetables they grew in their gardens here in this gorgeous high Alpine place.

The opportunity to be together again with ZuZu was so very special. After the meal we shared various liqueurs – also made by them using various fruits, etc. that they grew.

After our time there, De took us back down into Sierre where we had a nice visit with our friend, Christiane Rielle.

Then (as if day was not already blessed enough), we were treated by our DeDe and our grandson, Nick, to a wonderful dinner at Capri Restaurant in Sierre before returning to Vissoie for the night.

Then today we went on a guided tour of Sierre. Our grandson, Mike’s new bride, Tania, provided the tour. At the Sierre Tourisma Office, my buddy Terry found a hat for a souvenir… and I found a terrific pair of funky glasses that I could not resist!

Now you can see why I didn’t bring a pair of sunglasses with me on this trip. I needed THIS pair!!

Bob, Jim & Terry Groshong, our MT/CA best friends, learned all about the history of Sierre. There is the town hall behind the 4 of us. If you saw my post about Mike & Tania’s civil ceremony, it’s the same place where they were married last weekend.

Then Tania guided us to an old (1700s) chalet. Look at they key Jim is holding. It opened the cellar door where we did some wine tasting.

Next Tania drove us to Chateau Mercier where she explained the history and we tasted more fine Swiss wines.

Lovely Chateau Mercier has beautiful gardens, too. We walked around and admired them before going to Chateau Villa for Raclette dinner. Mike joined us there.

Mike & Tania’s church ceremony is Sept. 20, so we have another couple weeks here to enjoy the hills alive with family. Stay tuned!

Jim & Terry will leave tomorrow – so you can say farewell to them for now nit’s been wonderful to have them with us this week!

I can never tire of these beautiful Swiss Alpine views! Come back tomorrow. We’re going to take the bus down to stay with André’s mom. I’ll share those views with you, too..

Thanks for traveling vicariously with us! Bee 🐝 well, dear friends! See you tomorrow (God willing).

Love, JanBeek (and Bob)

Category:

Family, food, friendship, Love, mountains, nature, relationships, Travel

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Terrific Tuesday

Yesterday and today we woke to the magical sound of children across the road from our bedroom here in Vissoie, Switzerland. What a joy!

Yesterday evening we were treated to an Alphorn concert. Nine dear people (one being our grandson, Mike) played this age-old instrument. I became acquainted with it when I was a child. My Uncle Hans was my mom’s oldest sister’s husband. He was a young German-Swiss cheese maker when he moved from Switzerland to Washington back in the 1930’s. He & Aunt Evelyn had 3 children. He taught them all to yodel and he taught his son, my cousin, Hanslie, to play the alpenhorn.

Mike is on the left.

My mom would be so proud to know her great-grandson is following in the musical tradition of her family! I get sentimental and cry when I hear these instruments and think of how mom & my aunt and uncle would have adored hearing this!

Today our friends, Jim & Terry, are here to enjoy a few days with us in this marvelous place. Last night they were able to meet Mike & Tania and we all celebrated Jim’s 75th and DeDe’s 55th together. André fixed an incredible dinner of ribs with a medley of vegetables. Yum!!

Here is yesterday’s delicious roast beef lunch.

Last night’s ribs

It is so wonderful to have my forever friend, dear Terry here to share these experiences with us.

This is Vissoie’s Main Street

Later this morning we’ll walk down that street and get a few groceries at the store. Wish you were here to go walking with us!

See ya later! Thanks for traveling vicariously with me. Hugs, JanBeek

Category:

blessings, children, Family, food, friendship, God, Gratitude, life, Love, mountains, music, relationships, Travel

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Walking in Sierre

Today Denise (our son-in-law’s mom) took Bob & me on a walk in Sierre. Thirty years ago, when we first started coming here (when our first grandson was born), we would have jogged up the trails into the vineyards. Today we were content to take a leisurely walk on a relatively flatter terrain.

We walked up to the hospital where Mike was born. His grandpa was the chief executive officer there. André had been a chef in its kitchen before he came to California and married our daughter.

The grounds around the hospital are beautiful. Lots of trees and flowers and park benches where we could sit and take a break.

The leaves on the acacia trees are starting to show signs that autumn is coming. The grapevines are laden with fruit ready to be harvested.

Look at the base of this grapevine. It’s over 100 years old! All gnarled and twisted behind the protective wire fence.

I thought of Derrick & Jackie Knight and their beautiful garden when I saw these gorgeous rose bushes.

Beyond this water trough, with its constantly flowing fresh drinks for the cattle that used to come through this town, you can see the concrete sides of the round church. We went to mass there this morning with Denise. This morning I posted the sounds of the bells for you. Did you catch that blog?

I pray you had a beautiful Sunday, too, my friends. Tonight we’re going up to De’s chalet in Vissoie. We’ll be there all next week. Wait til you see it!

Oh, and tomorrow is DeAna’s birthday! Our DollyWolly will be 55. Can you believe it?

Our arthritic hands show our age – even if our active spirits deny it! Stay young in spirit, my friends. Thank God every day for the gift of another opportunity to live and play, breathe, and enjoy life. Live in the now! And stay vibrant!!

See ya tomorrow (God willing). Love, JanBeek

Category:

Aging Gracefully, blessings, children, Family, flowers, God, Gratitude, happiness, Love, nature, relationships, Travel, trees

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Day 2 in Switzerland

Sierre, Switzerland

André and the 3 boys

All were born here

This is the view from our balcony. That’s a beautiful castle on the mountainside

In front of our 4th story balcony we see the roof of the circular Catholic Church and we hear the bells ring every 15 minutes from 8: to 8: I love it!

Yesterday our grandson, Nick (the middle one – the fun-loving guy who has a band called Fluffy Machine) and his girlfriend, Céline, took us to nearby Martiny for lunch and a fun tasting experience at a micro-brewery.

Our lunch spot
Bob, Céline, Nick & Grandmama Denise

When we arrived on Thursday night, we had cheese fondue in Denise’s backyard with all 3 of our grandsons and their girlfriends plus our daughter, DeDe & her hubby, André.

Here is Bob on Thursday morning at Denise’s breakfast table:

The views from our balconies are wonderful – and the terraced vineyards on all the steep Alpine mountainsides here in Valais (the French part of Switzerland) are spectacular! God really worked overtime to create this scenic place!!

This is the house across the road from us. It was built in 1772. The plaque between the windows there tells the years it was renovated.
1772- 1946- 1976

Thank you for traveling vicariously with us for these next three weeks. What would you like me to show you next? Tomorrow is Mike & Tania’s civil ceremony. I’ll share. Come on back!

Love,

JanBeek

Category:

blessings, Family, God, Gratitude, Love, mountains, relationships, Travel

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Thursday Meditation

Just meditate on this scene;
Let the beauty soak into you.
Thank God for the beauty around you.
You’re blessed. You know it?

No human can recreate what God has done.
Meditate on the wonders of the universe.
Thank God for His many blessings,
And have a wonderful Thursday, OK?

Just 5 more days ’til we leave to go
To Switzerland for our grandson’s wedding.
We are anticipating the beauty we know
We will experience there. Come back…

I’ll share!

Thanks for visiting JanBeek today.
God bless you!
See ya tomorrow (God willing)

Your prayers for our wise preparations and safe travel will be very much appreciated!

Click the link below
if you’d like to have an hour or so
of beautiful meditation music
(water sounds, flute, etc.)
while you count your blessings.

https://music.youtube.com/watch?v=525KKRd_6Yo&feature=share

Category:

blessings, Faith, Gratitude, Living in Harmony, Love, mountains, music, nature, peace, Poetry

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Montana Trails with Friends

This is “Lucille.”
Yesterday we joined 12 friends
and went on a trail ride
into the Gravelly Range
above Antelope Basin.

Lucille is our ATV (all terrain vehicle).
Because she’s a redhead
on whom we have a ball,
we named her after the actress/comedian,
Lucille Ball.

Are you old enough to remember her?

Anyway, we met at Antelope Basin
about 50 miles south-west of Ennis,
and took the trails through the Gravelly Range
to our destination of Hidden Lake.

It was a blue-sky-perfect day
with temperatures not rising above 80 degrees.
We had not been up to this site for over a year.
In the meantime forest fires
had ravaged the trees
and changed the landscape.

This tree was lush and green last time we were here.

We stopped and chatted with our friends awhile before taking a lunch break.

Good buds: Sherry Riggs and Penny Hocking

TazE was quite interested
in what Rex & Penny Hocking
were getting from Linda Schott.
Mmm … fresh and yummy Flathead cherries!

TazE was interested in Bob’s Cheetos, too!

After lunch we traveled on up to the lookout above Henry’s Lake.

The wildflowers were prettier
than I have ever seen them this late in the summer.
We had quite a wet spring and that helped!

Traveling back down,
we could see our Madison Valley in the distance.

We gathered to take a group photo of our ATV friends.
And then some couples and quartets, too.

Top left: Kris & Bob (CG’s cousin) with CG & Caroline
Bottom left: Penny & Rex
Right: Sue & Bob Welna

Here are our five ATV’s.
You can see that Lucille stands out
among all those earth tones!

Most of the way to and fro
the trail was a road also traveled
by cowboys in their pickups,
tending the the cattle up in the verdant fields.

Some of the trail was rocky, steep and pretty hairy.
But, we managed just fine…
and I am so grateful that
Bob and I both had
enough stamina to enjoy the trip.

We Thank the Lord for our neighbors/friends
(the Welnas and Hockings)
who came to help Bob prepare Lucille
for the trip, and then
returned this morning to
help him put her back away.
God bless them!!

Maybe you’ll come join us
one of these days
for a Montana trail ride.
Ya think?

I’d be tickled to see you!

Just give me a call
and let me know when you’re coming.
We’d love to see you
and treat you to a Montana trail ride!

Thanks for visiting JanBeek
See ya tomorrow (God willing)

Click on the link below if you’d like to enjoy
Dale Evans & Roy Rogers
(my favorite cowboy)
singing “Happy Trails to You.”

https://music.youtube.com/watch?v=oG_fSoYFWLA&feature=share

Category:

Animals, blessings, Family, flowers, food, friendship, Gratitude, Living in Harmony, Love, Montana, mountains, music, pets, relationships, Travel

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Eyes Ahead

Photo by Gratisography on Pexels.com

Eyes Ahead

Keep looking ahead
Don’t look backward instead
Keep your balance upright
And your future in sight

Don’t be in a hurry
You don’t need to scurry
Be ever expectant
But, don’t be a contestant

We’re part of a whole
Connection’s our goal
Slow down and discover
We can lean on each other

May your eyes look ahead
And read what is said
About those in distress
Who live in a mess

Because they don’t pause
And look at the cause
Of the trouble they’re in
It stems from within

They rush here and there
Seldom are they aware
Of the joy that’s ahead
If they’d slow down instead

So keep your eyes looking up
Let the calm fill your cup
As you savor each day
Spreading love on your way.

In his book, Ever Faithful,
David Jeremiah reminded me
in today’s devotional
that there is something
to rejoice in,
give thanks for,
and pray about
around every curve.
He referenced this scripture:

Thessalonians 5:16-18

“16 Rejoice always,
17 pray continually,
18 give thanks in all circumstances;
for this is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus.

David Jeremiah reminds us that looking ahead
– keeping your eyes focused on the path
is the important task at hand.
Do not be hurried!
“Real joy in life comes not to the hurried, but to the expectant-
those eager for new experiences and discovery.

There are encounters,
discoveries,
people,
events,
opportunities,
blessings
and challenges
to be found.”

Photo by James Wheeler on Pexels.com
Seldom straight or smooth

John 16:13

“However, when He,
the spirit of truth has come,
He will guide you into all truth.”

Today, trust the Holy Spirit
to guide you
as you travel your chosen path.
Keep your eyes looking ahead.

David Jeremiah invites us to
“Keep your eyes and arms open
to embrace what you discover.”

I’m gonna do that.
I’m gonna ask the Holy Spirit
to lead me to a new, peaceful path.
And I’m gonna keep my eyes
looking ahead.

How about you?

Thanks for joining me today.
See ya tomorrow (God willing)
Love,
JanBeek

Category:

Bible Lessons, contentment, Faith, God, happiness, Jesus, Life's Challenges, Living in Christ's Family, mental health, music, peace, Poetry, Travel

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