Farewell Sweet Greta

This has been a very tough week on our family. Our Bernese Mountain Dog, Greta, after a tough week of heart failure and only an estimated couple weeks left of life was put to sleep yesterday. We adopted her when she was 2 years old and for the last 10 years she has been my shadow. Constantly by my side through all the good times and the bad, helping me raise and care for 3 babies, and always looking after all of us. We are so lucky to have had her in our life for the length that we did. Most Bernese Mountain Dogs do not live longer than 8 years and she made it to almost 12! She was the most loving, loyal, faithful dog with an almost human-like personality. She was so in touch with all of us and if one of us were sad or ill, she laid by our side until we recovered. This week, we had to return the favor to her and it was tough. She was our rock and now she is no longer with us.

It’s ironic that she left us now as we were really stumped as to what we were going to do with her once we moved to Dubai. We knew taking her would be extremely risky and, honestly, not worth it as she very likely wouldn’t have survived the stress of the journey. And then, the Dubai heat! We had made arrangements for our dear friend and caretaker to live in our home with her. We would come back and visit as often as we could. He grew just as attached to Greta as we all did. He was captured by her loving manners and was with us in the end when we said good-bye.

Saying farewell to her was not the only challenge. Telling our kids, on their last day of school, was also a huge challenge. Their reactions were all very different. Our 7 year old daughter burst into tears right away while our 9 year old son was silent all day until bedtime when he tried desperately to fight back hysterical tears. Greta always helped me with bedtime. We’d clean up the kitchen, round up the kids, go through bedtime duties like teeth brushing or bath and then up to their bedrooms for books. I realized that none of our kids have had a life without our sweet Greta so it is going to take some getting used to.

Our 4 year old daughter who had no reaction initially asked where Greta was 3 hours later once we were at home. We were all stunned and silently waiting for her to register what we had told her earlier. She did. She followed up with, “Is Greta dead? Do we now only have 2 dogs? Is Greta in heaven?” then she cried.

What a sad week it has been in the Clements’ home. We will miss you, pretty girl. R.I.P.

Ali's End of School Year Party

On Tuesday, the parents of the maternelle (5 kindergarten classes) were invited for an end of year party with the parents and students. We were asked to bring a snack or drink. I brought in apple cake and enjoyed chatting to the other moms and Ali's teachers. Here is a photo of Ali with her teacher, Isabelle (on the right), and the T.A. (teacher's assistant) Erzsebet. I found it interesting to learn that Isabelle is trained as a Biology teacher for high school kids, however, she enjoyed the short change of teaching the little ones. She was very good at it as well as she is very nurturing and sweet. Her teaching career at the Lycee Francais Budapest has quickly come to an end as her husband's job is taking them to Milan this summer. She is very excited.

Erzsebet has been at the Lycee for quite some time. She was the T.A. for Mia 4 years ago and is really lovely. She especially bonded with Ali - and vice versa. Thanks to Erzsebet, Ali actually had a really good year. She had trouble at the beginning of the year but once her and Erzsebet bonded (mostly in Hungarian), it all improved. After the photo is a short video that I took while we were on the playground of the maternelle.

My Magyar Mia

Magyar, for those of you that don't know, means 'Hungarian' in Hungarian. Mia is a Magyar girl through and through. She loves the food, culture, language and now that she's been introduced to the folk dancing, she is at home!

Earlier this week, we had the pleasure of watching her and her class on stage dancing in true traditional Hungarian style folk dance. She was so great (I thought)! The teacher did a great job and all the kids on stage seemed to be perfectly in sync and with smiles on their faces. It was so fun to watch and I can tell that they also enjoyed performing!

In the short video below, she is the 3rd girl to come out.

T's Gardening Skills

Been slightly out of touch lately. Just a very quick update on my very proud son as we all admire (and beg for nibbles) his freshly grown peas. He planted the seeds about 2 months ago and they are now grown and DEEE-licious!!!

Here are 2 videos. The girls were begging to have some but he wasn't too happy about sharing - especially after he recently discovered them taking some without his permission. So, he made up a game of questions and when they got the answer(s) correct they were rewarded with a pod.

Albania 10th birthday celebration video

If you are interested, our marketing team put the photos together from the event into a video show. You can view it here.

Latina Fiesta Ball photos

From the last Saturday in May. It was a great night that began at our homes for a drink and photos (like prom) then we took a bus down to the Marriott Hotel where the Charity Fund Raiser was held. This year's theme is Latin, hence, the crazy costumes (again!)

Mia's Dance Performance with DCA

Finally, a few more photos and a video of Mia's dance performance last week. Have so many other updates but have no time now. Curt and I are off to Geneva for some meetings in a few hours and haven't packed, prepared anything for the kids during our absence, etc.

Ciao for now....

And a short video clip. Mia is the gray cat with the bun in her hair. Don't feel bad if you cannot find her right away. I also had trouble at the beginning of the show.

Ali's Olympic Day at School

Every year at the end of the year at French school, they have a special Olympic day for the kids. They are grouped together by classes. So, this year I have 3 Tuesdays where I have to attend as all 3 kids are in different groups. Today, Ali's class, the Petite Section was with the Moyenne Section for their Olympic games. It's such a fun, yet chaotic, morning that the kids really get into... Here are some snaps of our little Ali....

'Number 1' and waiting for the relay race baton

Below she is doing a shot put underhand toss and kicking a ball into a goal.



Below: all the kids liked the trampoline jump. On the below right she is with her little BFF, Molly, and their good friend, Tyler.

Here she is in ACTION

And 2 videos:

Ice Cream and Beer

A couple of Saturday's ago, we were out for lunch with some friends at one of our favorite Italiano restaurants in town. Ali and her BFF, Molly, decided that they wanted to have ice cream and apple juice without glasses. I didn't know why but I agreed. Then, they decided they wanted to sit up in the bar area of the restaurant (the rest of us were outdoors) for their dessert. Here they are eating their ice cream and drinking their apple juice and calling it beer. Funny little things. By the way, notice Ali's new fashion sense. Ensemble is her own creation 100%!

New Juicer

Last week, Terence and Curt came home with a new juicer. It is ubber cool! Love, love, love fresh squeezed juice. When I was living in San Francisco as a single woman (was that in a past life? just kidding), I got really into the fresh squeezed juices as that was very trendy at the time. People were getting all funky and adding extra vitamins, wheat grass, etc. into their drinks. I'm more of a traditionalist. Recently, when we were in Dubai, I noticed a juice bar across the street from our hotel and I became a regular. My personal favorite that I almost never stray from is carrots mixed with celery. So refreshing and uplifting! Now, with the new juicer we got and my amazing kids (and hubby), I get fresh squeezed juice regularly. As long as I keep the supplies stocked, then we can get it. The new juicer works like a star! Love, love, love it. Check out the recent video of Terence and Ali (my 2 clowns) hard at work. Mia comes in later to take part...

Sneak Peak at Mia's Dance Recital Today

The theme was CATS. Mia did really well! And, most importantly, had a great time...

Ready for the Dance Rehearsal

This is Mia, 7 1/2 years old, yesterday getting ready to go to her dress rehearsal for today's big show. She looks so grown up. It completely freaks me out. I love that she still has her little girl cheeks... Once she loses those...boo hoo hoo... Check her out.

She always gives Ali a lift. She's the ideal big sister!

Below she is loving our garden with her big Jackie O sunglasses that she just found after it had been missing for about a year. After our day in the city yesterday, she and Ali went across the street to help the neighbor with her gardening for almost 2 hours! This is Gabriella, the grand daughter of Margit Neni who you may remember passed away 2 years ago. Mia used to spend every free second she got with Margit Neni fiddling in her garden. Now, Gabriella has moved in and Mia has adopted her (or vice versa) as a gardening friend. I don't mind as she came home yesterday with lots of fresh herbs and radishes out of Gabriella's beautiful, healthy garden. I'll try and get some snaps of them across the street together sometime soon. In the meantime, here is Mia enjoying our peonies.