My mom would always get us something special for the day: A MAD magazine or a spy novel. And she would always sing to wake us up:

Be my Valentine,
Be a pal of mine.
Promise me the whole day through
You will be my friend so true.
Will you be my Valentine forever.

I think Sister One still calls Mom up and sings to her, though Sis gets water-ful eyes at about the third line. I don’t know if she makes it all the way to the end of the song. (I don’t even try…)

Of course here, people give flowers and CHOCOLATE. And frilly under-things (or so I’ve heard).

But I saw a German Chocolate Cake in our oven last night. Now THAT’S a pretty good Valentine’s Day present.

Enjoy the day.

Today, Son 2 and daughter (along with 221 others) made the solemn promise to uphold the constitution of Switzerland and of the Canton of Vaud. They now have dual nationality and love both of their countries.

This morning, I woke up married for half my life. (Wife must wait another 11 months till she reaches that blessed date.)

Good reasons to celebrate… So we will have some friends over, eat some fondue and enjoy the blessings that God has given to us on this day. And who knows what good things tomorrow will bring?

Son 2 had the public defense of his Senior Project last Friday. He did a wonderful job integrating his 24 hour, in-the-snow survival with that of polar expeditions past and present. The “expert”, that is the guy who sits with the advisor and analyses the work and helps with the grading, was very demanding… But you could tell he’d read Son 2’s work. His copy was marked-up and he asked the first questions, putting Son 2 on the spot from question 1!

As parents, this is the second time we’ve gone through this process. It is a great way to prepare High-School students for College. The fact that they have to publicly defend their results before two profs (in addition to their fellow students) builds a sense of responsibility and ownership of the work which is unique in the education process here (not to mention the importance of final exams just to get out of High School).

Congrats to Son 2 on a job well done! 

His counselor suggested that for the public defense he build an igloo high in the mountains and spend the night in it, so he and Arnaud, a buddy from the Geneva church, waited for the first heavy snow (2 feet) and I drove them up to a jumping off point at about 4500 feet.

Risk of avalanche was terribly high, so they followed a snowed-in road up a couple of miles and, within sight of deserted chalets (chalets aren’t normally built in avalanche corridors) they made camp. It was just below freezing, yet they managed to get a fire going but had less luck with the igloo for, as expected, you cannot construct an igloo out of fresh-powdered snow. (Actually, that’s an old Inuit proverb that comes in handy in many situations.)

They had packed in a tent (polar explorers NEVER count on good luck, only good preparation) and set out to drink gallons of hot tea (in order to stay awake all night). After a couple of pounds of sausage and some cooked apples, they burned the rest of their wood supply and crawled into the icy tent.

Wife and I picked them up this morning at the bottom of the hill. I suggested they stay another night, just to see if they could survive it. It would give them a chance to build an igloo with the now-compacted snow. But no go. They were out of food and Son 2 had used up all the memory in his camera.

Plus, graduating from High School is not THAT important.

The conversation shifted to how you take certain drugs. "Can you sniff heroine?", Daughter asked. No, we answered. You inject heroine.

Son 2 corrected Daughter. "For your information, you don’t sniff cocaine. I think the proper term is snork!", which absolutely cracked us all up and made it nearly impossible to finish our meal.

Then Son 2 kindly consented to let me write about it all on today’s post…

Friday was a big day. Son 1 turned 20.

We remember the birth day like it was yesterday. Wife in labor all night, she woke me up after two hours of contractions. She wanted me to sleep. Timing of contractions, a bath and some relaxing. A thrilling ride to the hospital at 6 am on a Monday morning. I ran the red lights even though there was no need. You only get the chance once in a while. Wife doing Lamaze breathing and, finally, at 9:06 Son 1 came out with a cry. And he cried for 2 hours straight. A big baby. Long, long thick hair. Unhappy to be out of his 9 month lodging. Wife very happy to have him out. We were, and are, thrilled to have him in our lives.

When I tell the story (every birthday), the kids remind me that I almost missed the actual birth. The car was supposed to be moved at 9:00 and I didn’t want a ticket, so I told Wife I would be right back. She convinced me to stay. Insisted really. I guess she knew something was up. So, I was there when he was born.

And we didn’t get a ticket. Boy, was I relieved.

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In some countries, just being born within their hallowed borders makes you a citizen of that country. You may have to jump through a few administrative hoops to get it, but if you’ve got the valid birth certificate, there is generally not a problem.

All 3 of our children were born in Lausanne. Used to be, you had to be worthy to be naturalized, meaning you had to take tests, pass through an interview process, pay a large portion of your yearly salary, and then WAIT. They’d even interview your neighors and go through your garbage. Now people laugh about it, and there is simplified naturalization. It’s for 3rd generation foreigners who have done their schooling here and are rather well integrated.

Son 1 started the process a few years ago, just before everything got simplified. He had an oral exam and filled out all kinds of forms. A little later, after simplification, Son 2 and Daughter decided to do the same. We recently received news that they had been accepted as Swiss citizens by the city, canton and the Feds. They’ll be sworn in sometime next Spring. Son 1 is still waiting. Patiently.

We all love the USA and consider ourselves Americans. But the dual nationality will provide the children with opportunities on two continents. Doors will always be open here and there to serve God and live out their faith where ever God is leading them. That’s the plan, anyway, until we get to our real country.

Thanks for stopping by.