Hi fellow American,
Basel is a great place and Roche will give you all the help you need to get settled. We just moved back 7 months ago after 4 years in Basel. As one typical American to another. Here is what you can expect. You don't need a car for daily errands. Your kids, husband and yourself can do and get everywhere by Tram, train, bus. Your grocery store will be accessible by the same public transport or your trusty bike. Your refrigerator in your apartment will be tiny, you will do more daily shopping for perishable items and weekly shopping with the car for the bulky items.
You will not be buying any real estate, you will be renting an apartment that will seem to be crazy small.
We did not bring our furniture - we put some in storage in the US and sold the rest. My US furniture would not have fit in this apartment. IKEA will be your friend. So forget that overstuffed couch, that big lazy boy recliner, the china cabinet, side board, big dining table, Big dresser and bedroom suite - it won't fit. Don't bring a lot of "stuff". You will not have the storage and you don't need it.
Since your 14 year old will either be at the International school or the Swiss International School, you have a choice of being either in town or out toward Aesch, Reinach area. If you can, arrange for your 14 year old to visit a day at both the ISB and the SIS. They are different.
My daughter was 16 when we moved. We enrolled her in Black Forest Academy which is about 20 miles from Basel over the border in Germany. It is an American curriculum. There is a school bus that takes kids from Basel to the school. She graduated from Black Forest Academy and loved it. We could not afford the international schools in Basel, my husband's employer was a small swiss company, so no school tuition help.
My son was 11 years old when we moved to Basel, he attended the local swiss school first and was fluent in speaking German/Swiss within 6 months. He struggled with the school work - the grammar was impossible for him. After two years, we changed him to Black Forest Academy so he could transition back to an American curriculum for our return back here to the US. for High School.
Finally - read everything in this Forum on every topic and follow the rules. There are lots of rules to live by, and that is what makes Switzerland a great place to live, most of the time.