Switzerland and a Summit on Family Trends

Switzerland is in our blood! Literally! Not only do we love this place because Tal and his wonderful Swiss wife live there so we keep finding great reasons to go back but also because my grandmother Ida Weber Clark and her parents Samuel and Verena Goldenberger Weber were born in a little village not too far from where the our Swiss family now lives! 

This time we came, not only to enjoy our Swiss family but also to attend a Summit on Family Trends that we had been working on for a long time. It was planned and organized to be ground-work for a future film loosely based on our book, The Turning.  

Before the Summit started Tal and Anita were able to stay with us for a night at the resort where the Summit was being held. We had SO much fun! We went sleigh riding and ice skating and even got to see a large group doing the most-popular (JK) event at Olympics....Curling. Can't figure that game out but it was sure fun to watch! 

It's not often that Richard feels like a "Little Guy" but Tal does that for him!  

The following day, Summit members began to gather at this spectacular five star resort in the Alps called Guarda Val. There we spent two and a half days with fascinating people from all over the world with amazing backgrounds and stellar educations that concerned some aspect of expertise in the family! Over half were from the U.S. but others were from Switzerland, Austria, Lithuania and China. 

There's nothing that makes the Wasatch Mountains seem like "hills" like The Swiss Alps! 

The meetings were held here and the surrounding ski resorts, including downhill and cross country skiing are very popular in this area of Switzerland's winter wonderland!

The rooms were enchanting:

In the building to the right is the spa where there are two big "beds" of hay where you can relax and forget all your troubles : )! It took me right back to my farm roots and actually produced the desired result!

The food was the best of local food as well as a restaurant with a Michelin Star chef!  It's a place where Roger Federer and his wife sometimes dine, as he has a house in the next valley!  Just FYI.

We took hikes between meetings and on the last day we walked to the village nearby for a fun ride in two horse-drawn sleighs!

One of the drivers was a great guy who looked like Heidi's Father!  Perfect!

Here's a close-up! This guy driving the horses has been running this business for many years and knows what he's doing!

The afterglow of our amazing experience there lasted all the way back to Zurich, where we did a workshop on family for the Eyre's Stake congregation there. The ride back was spectacular and we had such a fun group of parents at the meeting as well as two terrific translators who did a great job! Tal introduced us in High German! A first and a big effort for him! He is trying to hard to learn German but it has been so hard with his extensive travel schedule for work. He was delighted that people laughed at his jokes so he knew they were understanding what he was saying! Thanks not only for that Tal, but also for adding so much to the discussion. There's nothing like having  someone who was raised in our house there to explain "the real deal"!

A dear friend with lots of "resources" handed Richard a set of keys when he shook his hand upon our arrival....which belonged to a beautiful Ferrari, that he was kind enough to let us use for the next few days until we left! What can we say?  Richard and Tal were like kids in a candy store, checking that thing out! 

We spent a few more days with Tal and Anita and even though Anita wasn't feeling well, we had lots of great talks and a chance to see their little cutie's kindergarten class on the play ground and their stampede to the schoolroom when the bell rang. Wish I had a video because it was so cute. This is all I got: 

Wish I had thought to take pictures of the prices at the grocery story. Darn! It was amazing! Just incredibly expensive but also beautiful, fresh food! 

The Ride to the airport was pretty great! It was hard to keep Richard from putting "the pedal to the medal" but the extensive video cameras on the roads and the exorbitant fines kept him pretty well in the bounds of the very strict Swiss speed limits!  The views were amazing as we approached Zurich. 

It will probably take a couple of years for the film to come to the theaters but the direction we should go settled in our minds as we digested what we learned! We grew to love all the participants of the Summit and are so grateful for their input!

It was a trip we'll never forget!