2012 A N N U A L

U P DAT E

The Sad and Tough Part of 2012 (Once again not in any chronological order) In our last Christmas Newsletter, I reported the loss and passing of my Father in January 2011. In the middle of March 2012, my Mom developed sudden, explosive Leukemia, which is common for the last stage of Alzheimer's. We did our best to get there in time, but sadly my Mom passed away in our family home in Switzerland while we were in transit from the US on Saturday, March 17th, 2012. Although we had not even recovered from the loss of my Dad, we felt some relief knowing that my Mom was released from the awful claws of this horric disease. Her passing so soon after my Fathers death felt like Dj vu to us, yet it also gave us peace, knowing that my parents were reunited again after a very short time of separation!
MY MOM IN HER HAPPY DAYS

ONCE UNITED, NOW REUNITED: MY PARENTS ON THEIR WEDDING DAY

Following her funeral, we needed to dissolve another household, our family home in Switzerland, which also pulled out my nal roots from Europe in a very distinctive way. More legal and other stuff ensured a huge amount of work, still lingering on into today. Losing both parents within such a short time made this especially hard and I suddenly felt like a 61 year old orphan! To add to the complexity of our situation, John had to undergo reconstructive shoulder surgery just three weeks before my Moms death. He had started PT and began his active recovery when we had to leave the US for Switzerland. In a period of over two years we boxed up more than we ever thought possible, emotionally, physically and factually. Even our remodel and partial reconstruction of our home in Steamboat Springs is only now coming to an end and we are nally beginning to settle into our new lives.

The Good and Happy Part of 2012

Traveling was a HUGE part of our year for many different reasons. Over Memorial Day Weekend we were able to visit our son, Mario, daughterin-law Stacy, and grandson, Cameron, in Miami, Florida, spending some happy family time together for a change, even celebrating my birthday while in Florida.

On the Trails, Traveling and more Traveling...

In June my old friend Diane from Michigan came for our ladies only week and we hiked into the Mt. Zirkel Wilderness together. My dogs, Shadow and Oslo, were our guardians while in the backcountry. June is very early for the backpacking season and we encountered some rough territory, defeating snowmelt and rushing rivers. Oftentimes our heavy packs felt overloaded, and they usually were! It was a fun adventure! During July we visited my sister Christel in Lisbon, Portugal. Unfortunately, we totally forgot OUR LITTLE GROUP IN MALLORCA, SPAIN FROM THE LEFT: PASCALE, TINO, IRIS, TINA, JOHN & BODO

to take pictures during our whirlwind time together. From Portugal we traveled on to Mallorca, Spain for the 50th birthday celebration of my best friend and little sister, Tina. Naturally this visit also reunited us with many of our good old friends in Europe! After our return from Spain, we used every spare minute to train for our September trip to Peru to trek into the Andes Mountains. This was our rst active adventure vacation since our dog sledding trip to Alaska with our sons, Mario and Tino in March of 1999.

M T. ZI RKE L WILDERNESS

DIANE & IRIS

DIAN E, SHADOW & OSLO

O S L O D I D N OT L I K E TO G ET ANY CL O S ER TO THE WATER

TINA TURNS 50!

P E RU A N D M AC H U P I CC H U

Tino and his girlfriend, Pascale, were able to join us for this exciting pursuit, which was a superior bonus. Our journey took us from Cusco into the backcountry of the most amazing high Vilcabamba Mountain range. We trekked through the Rio Blanco valley, over the Abra Salkantay Pass and reached our highest point at 15,340 (4600 Meter), while being awed with the views of the glacial Moraines.

The nal day of our 10-day trek took us up to Llactapata Pass from where we came upon a distant, but quite special view of Machu Picchu from the southwest, a sight few tourists ever glimpse. Although we spent the following two days in the Lost City of the Incas, our birdseye view of Machu Picchu from Llactapata Pass above, was even more awe-inspiring to us than Machu Picchu itself! It truly was a trip right off our bucket list and created memories to last a lifetime! TRANSITION BACK HOME We barely caught up at home and Thanksgiving came upon us faster than we could believe. For the rst time this year we had our mostly European family come together with us in Steamboat Springs for this beautiful American tradition. Mario, Stacy and our grandson, Cameron, joined us from Florida, and Tino and Pascale came up from Longmont, Colorado. We also had my sister, Christel, her son, Oliver, and my little brother, Franz (our family guardian angel), join us from Europe. It is entirely possible that the Thanksgiving tradition will cross over the big ocean!
Christmas

MAC HU PICCHU
The Birds Eyes View

THANKSGIVING 2012

We celebrated last years Christmas with Tino, Pascale, Mario, Stacy, Cameron and Stacys family in our winter wonderland. Cameron and his cousins enjoyed their rst skiing experiences and all 16 of us had a fun lled week together. We will spend this Christmas with Johns family in Michigan and look forward to seeing everyone again for the rst time since Thanksgiving the year before. We hope that all of you experienced a year lled with mostly good memories and that your coming year will only hold the best in store for you.

In closing we wish you All a Very Peaceful Holiday Season, Good Health, Harmony, Happiness and Success in whatever you do in 2013!

CHRISTMAS 2011