Let's Go Pistons!

Emmie attended her first Detroit Piston's game during our visit. After we found our seats, Eric took the girls down to the floor to get some pictures. Initially they were told they could not go on the floor with everyone else, but then a kind usher, allowed them for a few pictures. The atmosphere had Emmie awestruck as she did not know where to look first.

They returned to our seats for the introduction of the Chicago Bull players and then the Detroit Pistons. The girls had fun watching and cheering for the Pistons throughout the game. We snacked on a large bucket of popcorn while watching the intense game. They thought the entertainment was fun too. During the third quarter time-out, Adeline appeared on the Jumbotron with her crazy dancing to Jingle Bell Rock. She thought it was so neat to be on the large television screen.

We were on our feet for the last few minutes of the game, when the Pistons came back to tie the game and send it into overtime. It was too bad they lost 92 to 95 in the last few seconds, but it was a fantastic family outing.

After the game, Eric took Adeline onto the floor where she could take a shot. Unfortunately, she is still a little small to make a basket, but her effort was 110%.

Santa did find us!

We had a wonderful Christmas celebration with our family. Our celebration began Christmas Eve at Woodside Bible Church with their Christmas Eve service. It was a very nice choreographed service for the entire family. After the service, we spent the evening with the Hannon family.

Telling Snowflake, our Elf on the shelf, writing letters to Santa, and telling him in person to let him know where we would be on Christmas morning surely made it worth the effort. Santa did a fantastic job remembering where the Hannon family was. Adeline and Emmie had a fun time searching through their stockings and then opening their gifts. We wrapped up the morning with a nice brunch.

In the afternoon,we spent time with my Mom and Ray. Mom also prepared a delicious Christmas dinner for us to indulge on. We spent the evening with my Dad and Denise who where at Nick and Laura's house for the holiday. The desserts were a great conclusion to our holiday celebration.

We wish everyone a joyful Merry Christmas and hope you created many holiday memories with your family.

Happy 6th Birthday Adeline Grace!

Lucky for us we did not wake up to a snow storm like the day when Adeline joined our family as we had a full day of celebrating her special day. Adeline' s day of celebrating started early as she was very excited about her birthday. Fortunately, the 3am wake up time had moved up to 6 am.

After a round of singing "Happy Birthday" to her when she entered the decorated kitchen, she opened her presents with glee. She enjoyed her Mickey Mouse pancake with the candle lit as we sang another round of "Happy Birthday" to her.

Before going to lunch, we visited Santa in "The Chronicles of Narnia" display. The girls loved the snowglobe with the snow falling around them. They also spotted the Narnia characters during the previews for the next movie to be released since they saw the first movie. Adeline informed Santa of her wish list as we helped Emmie sit on his lap. We did manage to get a few pictures for memories.

Adeline choose to go to Rainforest Cafe for her birthday luncheon. She ordered an all American meal of mac-n-cheese, french fries, and dinosaur shaped chicken nuggets. Emmie helped her out in making sure it was all consumed. When they brought the ice cream sundae out for dessert, she was all smiles eyeing the sundae while listening as the waitresses sang to her.  Adeline could only eat a few bites of it, so the rest of us helped her finish it.

The afternoon brought about much excitement, as this was her "Cat in the Hat" birthday party. We made the strawberry cake yesterday and Eric and I decorated the cake according to her plans late in the evening. After she blew out the candle, Emmie was quick to grab it and lick the frosting off it. Her favorite present this year was her new doll. Within a few minutes, she named her Anna (pronounced Ah-nuh) and she was by her side for the rest of the day.

Here are a few things about Adeline she wanted to share:

Favorite color: Purple 

Favorite vegetables: Carrots

Favorite fruit: Raspberries

Favorite ice cream: Zitrone (lemon)

Favorite meal: Spaghetti w/ no sauce

Favorite stuffed animal: Firedog 

Favorite person: Emmie

Favorite cartoon: Tom & Jerry

Favorite book: Cat in the Hat

Favorite Superhero: Spiderman

Favorite Princess: Sleeping Beauty

Favorite friend: Anna

Favorite clothes:  Fancy Clothes

7 days of Trains, Planes and Automobiles

We took no time in getting settled-in and unpacked at the Hannon homestead. The girls immediately went for their corner of toys at Grandma's house, while the suitcases went to the bedrooms. Colby was not so sure if we were really staying or not, so it took him a few hours to warm up to us again and then he did not know who to follow around the house.

Eric also called to say he arrived in London for the party late Saturday afternoon, but getting to the party would just be the initial climb of the mountain of his week in getting around Europe.  By the time he finally landed in the US, he has spent the past 7 days in an airport. Since he followed the snow storm around Europe, his travels at one point became an adventure. His tale is as follows:

Thursday -Dec 16: (Copenhagen Airport) I was booked on an earlier flight as my later flight was already canceled. However, it is now 3 hours later, this flight was cancelled and I will be spending the night back in Malmo, Sweden since there are no rooms left at the Copenhagen airport.

Friday- Dec 17: (Copenhagen Airport) It is 5am and I am back for the first flight to Frankfurt airport.  After boarding, deboarding,  reboarding, and waiting to be de-iced, we are now leaving 6 hours later.

Saturday- Dec 18: (Frankfurt Airport) My flight is the only one that is not canceled to London, so I am on my way to London this morning. Due to snowy conditions, we circle London Heathrow for 1.5 hours, hoping to land, only to land in Standsted. Standsted, which is about the size of Flint airport, had these huge 747s also lined up on the tarmack. We wait for over an hour for a stairway and then the bus to come and take us to the terminal. Inside, I wait for another hour in the passport control line and watch the chaos as the escalators kept going even though there is no where for people to get off of them at the top. When I made it by train into downtown London, there was maybe 1 inch of snow covering the ground. The taxi drivers will not even drive in it. Where is my shovel, I think to myself.

In the evening at our holiday party, I am one of 3 others from my office that made it out of Frankfurt due to the snowstorm. Needless to say, the party was not filled with attendees as planned. I still had a nice dinner and listened to the loud DJ.

Sunday- Dec 19 (London Heathrow) My flight is cancelled this morning and the earliest our travel agency can get me out of here is Tuesday evening. I cannot buy a ticket on the Eurostar train to Paris as they are sold out as well. My colleague and his wife have worked out a plan for them to get back to Frankfurt, so I am in on it as I just bought one of the last seats on the plane to Germany.

First, we take a local train to Manchester. Catching the train is a free- for- all in London, not orderly like the German train stations. When the display board in the communal hall announces what gate it will be at, there is mad rush out of the area to jump on the train when it finally comes to a halt and the doors open.

Second, we board the plane and are seated in the last seats in the last row. I do not even fit in these seats, so we will not be flying Air Berlin anytime soon.

Our street on Sunday evening

Thirdly, we land just outside Hannover for our late evening drive home in the snow. I am texting Adrienne with status points along the way, so she knows where I am, as she just keeps informing me of the bad weather conditions she is hearing about back in the US. My colleague drives us safely back to Frankfurt.

I arrive at 4am (Monday morning) in our apartment to quickly unplug the electronics, repack my bags for work, and catch a quick nap.

Monday- Dec 20- (Frankfurt Airport) It is now 6:45am and I am back at the airport to catch my flight to Copenhagen for work. Everything seems to be on schedule again.

Tuesday- Dec. 21 (Copenhagen Airport) My evening commute to Amsterdam is a breeze and I am thankful not to be going through London to get back to the US.

Wednesday- Dec- 22 (Amsterdam Airport) My flight back to the US takes off and I am now on my way to finally see my family and stay out of the airports for a few weeks.

Wednesday afternoon after appointments and visting, us girls arrive back at our quarters to find a napping Eric.

Break in the snow fall

Saturday morning, we woke up to another couple of inches of snow. Our flight was not cancelled and luckily the taxi arrived a few minutes early. We packed up all of our luggage and were on our way to the Frankfurt airport. 

The roads were not cleared yet and you could not see any lines, but this did not slow down our taxi from passing people on the autobahn. At 7:15 am in the morning, there was a long waiting line of cars already at the exit of Terminal 1, but we were heading to the next Terminal, so we were able to by pass that chaos that was backing up onto the autobahn. 

The terminal and check-in was quiet for being the Saturday before Christmas. We had no issues checking in and now just had to wait for our flight to leave. As we waited, Eric attempted to take the girls on the train to the other Terminal where he would leaving from, but the train was too crowded.

Us gals said our good-byes to Eric as we headed to our gate and wished him a good time at his company holiday party in London later that evening.

We breezed through passport control. At the security gate, I got patted down and then we were intensely questioned about the juice boxes and toys within the backpacks.  Emmie's baby doll, Goo-Goo Baba, was also patted down and then taken to a separate room, where she was frisked with paper to ensure she was not a threat. Emmie remained calm during her doll's screening, but was very happy to be carrying her into the gate waiting area. 

While we were waiting for our flight, I saw the numerous cancellations in the other Terminal. Checking in with Eric every so often, we both were still a go for our flights. Adeline and Emmie counted 14 staggered snowplows working out on the landing strip while we were waiting. 

We were the first ones to board the bus out to the plane as the plane did not have a jetway for boarding. We managed to make it up the stairs and get settled in our seats while we waited for the others to board. We were on our plane and Eric was also on his flight to London. After an hour delay and then getting de-iced, we were finally on our way back to the US. 

The girls were awesome travelers for our eight hour flight and not napping. They keep themselves busy with their projects and having a meal was a treat. They even received warm chocolate chip cookies from one of the first class attendants in the afternoon. A gentleman also lent us his laptop for about an hour to watch cartoons as we did not have any entertainment system with us and the overhead screen was an adult movie (but they could not see it anyways being small in the seat). 

Upon arrival at DTW, we were informed we could go through visitors passport control since there was no line. This also helped us to gather our luggage quickly. At customs, we had a small line and then as we were getting our okay to go, Adeline tells the clerk we have tomatoes. I then reminded her we had those at lunchtime ON the plane... phew... we finally made it through the doors to greet my Dad and Denise!

Let the good times begin of visits and holiday celebrations with family and friends along with healthy doctor appointments for the next couple of weeks. 

Performances and Parties

This week has been busy as it is the girls' final week before their three week break from school.

Monday morning, Adeline attended Snow White at the local theater with her class and a few other classes from the school. The play was put on by a company, but they asked a few of the older students to participate. A few of the girls who were asked to be in the show were her friends she plays with during their breaks. 

In the afternoon, Adeline's dance class had a small performance for the parents. We invited Uschi to join us and Adeline did a great job demonstrating everything she has learned this fall in class. Adeline even convinced Uschi to join her along with Emmie as they taught a few poses to the parents. Afterwards, we enjoyed an ice cream snack and coffee downtown to celebrate Adeline's fantastic performance.

Adeline performed again for us on Tuesday afternoon. Her class had their Christmas party in the school. In the beginning, the teacher read a story about the birth of Baby Jesus and the children played an instrument to accompany certain sections of the story. Adeline was right on cue with her cymbal. when the teacher spoke of the star. The shades were then closed and the 25 students each took a votive candle in a glass jar and sang a gentle winter song while walking in a circular procession around the room. 

I was a little nervous with all of the lit candles, but it was a neat sight with a calming tune. For their activity, the families then went on a winter hike up into the forest. Emmie and I did not attend, but Adeline had a fun time with her friends walking in the dark with their flashlights. 

Wednesday afternoon, I started packing our suitcases. With careful placement, I have been able to get our clothes, chocolate, and gifts in the four suitcases. However, I think the chocolate outweighs our clothes.

On Thursday morning, the kindergarten staff put on Snow White for the children. Emmie's two teachers were in the play, so this made it even more exciting for Emmie.  Sabine was Snow White when she was little and Anna was the blue dwarf. Emmie enjoyed watching it with her friends in their school gymnasium. 

Eric was stuck in Sweden on Thursday evening due to another snow storm. Initially, he was able to book an earlier flight since his late night flight was canceled, but after waiting at the airport for the earlier flight and over an hour delay, they canceled it as well. The airlines canceled it five minutes too late for him to take an overnight train home as well.  After an early morning delay of four hours, Eric made it back to Frankfurt early Friday afternoon.

Adeline completed her week with her good friend, Rebecca's, sledding birthday party in the afternoon.

Tomorrow, us gals fly back to the US for the holidays and Eric will travel to London for his company holiday party.  

Düsseldorf

This weekend we did a road trip to Düsseldorf. The weather was cooperative for the two hour drive north to the quaint city as we only encountered a little bit of rain along the way.

After our picnic lunch in the hotel, we ventured off towards the Weihnachtsmarkt. On our way, we walked along the luxury shopping street and window shopped. The Christmas Market is in a few clusters around the city, so it made for an enjoyable stroll throughout the day and into the evening. Düsseldorf Christmas Market Each cluster has it's own theme, so it was fun to wonder through each section, see the decorations, and glance at what the vendors had to offer. We enjoyed the sights and sounds of the festival, as well as the treats. The girls found the carousel for one last seasonal ride. On our way back to the hotel, the main street's trees were beautifully lit to make an enjoyable stroll back to the room.

Sunday morning, we left early as it was going to be a busy afternoon with our church small group Christmas party and Eric had to leave early in the evening for work. When we arrived home, all of the snow and ice from earlier in the week was gone. We also learned the party was canceled due to illnesses, so my vegetable tray for 25 people will make for quick and healthy cooking this coming week. We took an afternoon walk downtown in the sunshine and warm air before it turns bitter cold again.

The Miracle Of Friendship

There is a miracle called Friendship
that dwells within the heart
and you don't know how it happens
or when it even starts.

But the happiness it brings you
always gives a special lift
and you realize that Friendship
is God's most precious gift.

- Jean Kyler McManus -

Eric and I learned that our dear friend, Kathryn, lost her battle with cancer late Thursday evening. This poem represents the start of our friendship as we were freshman roommates at Michigan Tech. We had opposites personalities, but God brought us together as we dealt with the various ups and downs of being away at college. We have continued to be a part of each other's lives since we first met and have created many memories together. She was an amazing individual. Eric and I are blessed to have known Kathryn.

Thank you to all that prayed and supported her and her family. Please continue to pray for her family as they deal with this loss of their beloved one.

QUINLAN, Kathryn E. MD Age 33 December 9, 2010 Beloved wife of Timothy Schneider. Dear mother of Cora and Quinn Schneider. Cherished daughter of Thomas and Suzanne Quinlan. Dear sister of Ryan and Patrick Quinlan. Beloved granddaughter of Elizabeth Lenhardt. Also survived by aunts, uncles and cousins.

Nikolaustag

Nikolaustag was Monday, which made for an eventful day. The day started with Adeline and Emmie opening our door to leave for school and finding their boot full of goodies and a present. The girls were excited to discover nuts, fruit, and a few little items stashed in their boots. At school, St. Nikolaus visited them, too. In kindergarten, Emmie sang songs with him and her stocking had been filled with fruit, nuts, and chocolate. Emmie was so happy about her treats in her stocking, she carried it all the way home. Adeline also received a bag full of nuts, fruit, and chocolate from St. Nikolaus. She commented on his appearance of dressing like Santa and how he was tall like Daddy, but skinny like Mommy.

Eric also received a gift from St. Nikolaus on his Lufthansa morning flight. He received a tasty sandwich, a clementine, lebkuchen, and a Lindt chocolate packaged in an small appliqued cloth sack.

On Tuesday morning, I visited with my lady friends from church. We had a fun time conversing about living abroad, winter vacations, and planning for the Christmas party on Sunday.

Adeline got to find out what was in stocking #7 in her classroom as this was her number for the Advent calendar in their classroom. She was so happy to find a little stuffed tiger to hang on to her packback.

Wednesday afternoon, we baked peanut butter kiss cookies. After three dozen cookies of baking one sheet at a time, the girls were finished in the kitchen, but I still had a few more items to make to complete our cookie tray.

Wednesday evening, Melanie and I attended our 2nd cooking class on making edible Christmas gifts. When we arrived to class, the lights were on, but the stoves did not work. After a half hour and numerous phone calls, the stoves were on and we were underway making our treats. Melanie and I made a honey, apricot mustard, Glühwein jelly, and a Christmas liquor. After 25 minutes of us holding the electric handmixer to beat the Christmas liquor ingredients which are similar to eggnog, we were happy this was the last item to make. We ended up with 10 different recipes for drinks, spreads, and condiments and had numerous little jars to bring home to try it all out. The evening finished with punch and poppyseed eggnog accompanied with cake before heading out in the snowy weather.

Thursday morning, we woke to a Winter Wonderland. We had another huge snowfall and the snow covered trees and buildings were beautiful. I was happy I had no place to go except to the girls' school as the roads were difficult to drive on as there was ice underneath the snow. After school, we went sledding near their school. Emmie has learned how to slide down head first on her belly on the hill from watching the other kids. This is hilarious to watch as she does better in the snow then she did on the slip-in-slide. The girls also made a snowman in our yard later in the afternoon.

Eric made it home safely in the evening after a delayed flight, but not until he informed the taxi driver to take him to his house as the driver wanted to drop him off at the corner due to the snow mess on our hilly street.

Tis the Season for...

Friday evening, the girls built their Gingerbread house with Eric. They each decorated a side of the roof and then the front lawn. I believe the same amount of candy that decorates the house was  consumed during the construction of it. 

We spent Saturday afternoon at the Mainz Weihnachtsmarkt. The Christmas Market is a very nice market set in the historic city center. We arrived early to enjoy walking around and browsing the various stands with Sarah and Jorge. The festival also has a very old nativity wood nativity scene and a large pyramid from Eastern Germany. Click for Mainz Christmas Market pictures  The girls picked out a doughy snowball covered in white chocolate while we sipped on our hot beverages. When the sun went down, the city looked very pretty with the festival lights. We had a nice time in the festive atmosphere to pass the cold day.

Sunday afternoon we spent in downtown Hofheim as they were having their Christmas Market this weekend as well. Hofheim's market is small with numerous local vendors, but seeing people we know as we were strolling through the festival made it fun. The Wendel family joined us as we spent the afternoon sipping on Gluwein and hot orange juice. Adeline also saw a few of her classmates which brought a smile to her face. While the girls were eating their nutella crepes, we sat around a bonfire to warm our toes. The evening weather was pleasant to be outside, so we took our time journeying home to enjoy the sights and tastes of the season.

Let it Snow!

Monday began with a huge snowfall. Eric returned home early Monday morning after his morning flight was cancelled and then stayed home as his early evening flight was also cancelled. The girls had fun playing in the snow at school. Adeline chose to walk to dance, which was very pretty walking through town with the first big snowfall. In the early evening, Eric and Adeline went sledding.

Tuesday afternoon we celebrated the Advent season with Emmie's class at her school. The children sang holiday songs for us to start the festivities. We had a fun time enjoying the various sweets and treats brought in and socializing with the other families. We made Christmas wreaths to share with everyone. The green cookies were bright on the table with the other cookies, but this just made everyone more curious as to how they were made. When I told them the recipe, they were amazed at how easy it was and how pretty they looked even with the silver sugar balls since I could not find red little candies to decorate them with.

Eric dined at a very nice restaurant in Sweden with his colleagues Tuesday evening. The restaurant's "No Menu" concept resulted in an eight course meal with an accompanying glass of wine for each course.   The portions served were petite, but artistically displayed and full of flavor. The courses were as follows: bread plate with cheese bread, pumpernickel raisin bread, and a sourdough bread; pumpkin soup with venison heart; pork cheeks; inverted sushi with whitefish; lamb; tenderloin with gravy; melon sorbet; and orange marmelade.  The chef also would not inform them ahead of time what they were eating and drinking till after each course was over which created interesting conversation around the table. Eric did correctly guess that one glass of wine was a late harvest Riesling from the Mosel. Bloom in the Park met their goal of ensuring it is a unique experience when dining with them.

The weather turned frigid for the rest of the week. The forecast showed a thermometer in the blue zone since the daytime temperatures were in the negative Celsius. In addition, the sidewalks and streets have ice on them, so it is not easy getting around town. One of Emmie's classmates cannot park by their house on the hill due to the ice on the street. The girls had friends over in the afternoons to pass the time which worked for me as I did not have to go out again.

First of Advent

We woke up to snowfall Friday morning and what a fabulous way to get into the holiday spirit. The snow fell in large flakes in the morning, so the girls were able to enjoy it during their school breaks, but it melted by the afternoon.

Saturday, we hopped a train to Stuttgart to meet up with the Dagefoerde family. We had our own compartment for us to enjoy our lunch and the journey. The train's view was  gorgeous and peaceful with the fresh snowfall in the forest. However, about 45 minutes south of Frankfurt there was no snow, but the sun was shining. We arrived in Stuttgart on time and walked around the Christmas market with Nele, Jonas, and Finja looking at the different wooden items for sale amongst other numerous gifts. We also stopped to enjoy some Gluhwein and Kinderpunch.  

In the afternoon, we went to Esslingen. It brought back many good memories of living there a few years ago. After a rest at the Dagefoerde's home, we explored the Middle Age Market. They have candles and torches lit in the evening amongst their wooden stands, serve food made in wooden ovens or over an open flame, and sell items related to the era. To top our evening off, we enjoyed some fried apple rings and then some more seasonal beverages. The girls feel asleep as we were on our train from Frankfurt to Hofheim. 

Sunday morning at church, our family was asked to do a reading and light the first candle of Advent during the family service. After a few Christmas hymns, we were called up to the front. Adeline started the reading about Hope and Eric finished it.  An additional candle is lit during each subsequent week. By the fourth Sunday all of the candles will be lit except for the middle one, which will be lit on Christmas, celebrating Jesus's birth. There are many beautiful advent wreaths around town to celebrate this occasion as the advent wreath is big tradition practiced here.

Making Cookies

Eric woke up to snow in Sweden on Tuesday morning. We have not seen snow yet, just the colder temperatures and heavy raindrops.

This week's highlight was making cookies with Emmie's kindergarten class on Tuesday morning. The kids made two batches of cookies. Both were of chocolate flavor and one type required cookie cutters and the other type were shaped into little balls then pressed down with a fork. 

Emmie first worked at the table with the boys using the cookie cutters. She also was very good at remembering to get the rolling pin from the kitchen and using it everytime there was no more room to make more cookies.

While these cookies were baking, she went into the kitchen with the girls to make the ball shape cookies. We made over 6 dozen cookies with the kids. These cookies are for the upcoming school festivities in the next couple of weeks.

Even though it is not December yet, the girls started their advent calendars this week. I set them out on Wednesday while they were at school. I made a sweet one with candy and a Playmobile one.  When they came home they were very excited to open them. They are happy we all have advent calendars now as Eric has a gummi bear one, also. This will help them to know when we will fly to the US for Christmas based on how many doors are left to open.

Unfortunately, the snow has stayed in the north as Eric waited for over an hour and half just to take off from the Copenhagen airport Thursday evening. In addition to boarding late, the take-off was just not going to be on time as they waited in line for deicing, then after waiting for the 12 planes in front of them to take off, the airport decided to plow the runways when it was their turn.

We both came home at the same time as I was out at a social event in downtown Frankfurt. It was hosted by CKRS, the company who helped us locate our apartment. I had a nice evening in the Swedish boutique mingling with other international people who have also moved to the Frankfurt area. 

Happy Thanksgiving!

With no morning parade to watch or day off of work for Eric, we still have numerous reasons to celebrate Thanksgiving this year while on this side of the ocean. We celebrated on the weekend as this is when we could be together to count our blessings and enjoy our feast. 

 First off, we are thankful for Sarah and Jorge for doing our shopping for us as many of the traditional items cannot be locally found. Sarah made a superb decision in acquiring two turkey breasts, as I am not sure a whole turkey would fit into the oven.

With Melanie scouting out some fresh ingredients and shopping around, I was able to prepare a feast for us to enjoy with the Wendel family. Fortunately, it was cold enough outside to keep the foods I prepared ahead of time on the patio. With planned out oven usage, the turkey was first in the oven, then in went the sweet potato and orange casserole the girls prepared, and finally the rolls got their baking time. In addition, the crockpot was convenient for warming the mashed potatoes and serving them as I was out of serving dishes. 

The girls made Indian headbands to get into the spirit as we prepared the children's table and adult table for dinner.  We gathered around the table and thanked God for our family and friends, along with the food, our health, and the sunny day before we ate. I set the meal up along the counter tops and it was a good thing I did not make any more more dishes as I had very little space left. Adeline really enjoyed the feast as she had two full platefuls of everything. 

After pleasant conversation and tidying up the kitchen, we made room for my first pumpkin pie. It went over well, so thank you to Libby for making it easy to make one. 

We had enough leftovers to enjoy hot turkey sandwiches on Sunday, and another smaller Thanksgiving dinner for us gals during the week.

Instead of watching football, we went to the park as the sun was out in the late afternoon. The girls enjoyed riding their bikes around and playing on the equipment with Eric. They could not get him to go on the steep slide, but they did convince him to take a ride on the zip-line.

We are thankful to the Lord for the many blessings and opportunities we have been given this year, for our family and friends who are near and far, the love and support from everyone as we have taken this journey, and the everyday goodness that comes our way to brighten our day. We wish everyone a Happy Thanksgiving!

Stromausfall

Even though the daylight time is getting shorter, our activity calendar seems to be getting longer. 

In Kindergarten, I came home with new notes everyday about upcoming activities and items needed for their Christmas socials. This will be fun baking with the children and learning traditions here.

I met this week with Adeline's teacher for teacher conferences. The meeting went well as Frau Kühner also invited another teacher to sit-in during our discussion to help translate when needed. Adeline is a sweet student who is doing well in class. She is reaching out to others and the others are responding to make connections and relationships which makes her teacher very happy. The children cheered for Adeline this past week when she spoke completely in German during their sharing time of what they did over the weekend. Adeline is also doing great in math as her teacher showed me her math tests taken during school. 

On Wednesday evening, Eric and I had our "Night Out" events. Melanie and I attended a soup cooking class put on through the local education. We arrived to the small group of 9 women and 1 man (we noticed we were the youngest), learned of the various recipes to be made, and then chose our cooking station. We chopped, sautéed, and got our first soup cooking on the stove when the electricity went out. The teacher initially thought it was a circuit breaker, so she checked the switches and this was not the cause. They popped open the bottles of champagne and wine, and sliced the baguette while we waited for the power to return. Somehow the baguette bag also caught on fire from the tea light candle to add to our evening excitement. We eventually learned the entire street was out and it was due to the workers digging and hitting a line. Stromausfall is a rare occasion here, but happened to occur on Melanie's first girls night out and it happened later in the evening, so we could not even go shopping as the stores were already closed. After cleaning up, we were bummed as the finger foods from the soup ingredients did not fill our stomachs, but we laughed looking back at the events throughout the night and had fun just being together. 

In Sweden, Eric went on a team outing with his coworkers.  He has been elected to plan these events and this was their third one since he's been there.  Previously, he set up going to some local amateur drag races and a bowling night.  They always precede their events with a nice dinner and this time they went out to a local wine cellar, St. Michel.  Afterward, they went indoor rock climbing.  This was Eric's first time rock climbing. He did alright, making it up 2.5 of the 3 walls they tackled, all around 30' high and including an inclined wall.  His long arms and legs helped him.

The European Central Bank is next door to Eric's office in Frankfurt. On Friday morning from their office window, they watched all the dignitaries coming to bail-out Ireland being escorted in and out with a battery of police and security. He said it was somewhat interesting seeing it happen.

Friday afternoon, we had happy hour with Eric at his office. It was a nice gathering with his colleagues and their families. It was neat to see the city all lit up from their office windows. They even had one conference table set-up for the kids with numerous Christmas sweets and activities. 

Operation Christmas Child

This past week we spent gathering our items for the shoe boxes we packed up for Operation Christmas Child. Adeline remembered us doing it last year at Woodside, so this was wonderful that ICF was also participating in this project for the children. 

It was good adventure for the girls to search through the aisles for the items to fill their boxes with. By the time we found the crafts, various hygiene items, small toys, and other little goodies to fill our two girls' and one boy shoebox, we had visited over four stores. The girls each wanted to do a box representing themselves and then a boy one for Colby. Fortunately, Melanie had an extra shoe box to contribute as I did not have any more. This was also a good project for us to do this week since it was cooler and raining. 

Friday afternoon, we wrapped the boxes up, so they would be ready to take to church.  In the evening, we started watching The Chronicles of Narnia as it was damp and raining out. 

Even though it was overcast, the temperatures had warmed up Saturday afternoon, so Emmie led us up to the woods to view the baby pigs. She knew the way since her class has been visiting them bi-monthly since they were born in early September. 

In the evening, we finished watching The Chronicles of Narnia. We had to pause it a few times so Adeline would not spoil the scene for Emmie as her and Eric read the book over the summer.

Sunday morning, the girls were very proud to carry their boxes to church. They added them to the top of the pile with huge smiles knowing another child is going to be very happy opening their box. 

St. Martin's Day

Monday, the girls brought home their lanterns which they made in school for the St. Martin celebration later this week. They were both very excited to tell me how they each made their own lantern. In addition, they sang for me the traditional songs which are sung during the lantern parade.  The girls are still learning the verses, but they both know a few lines which consist of " Laterne, Laterne," and "Saint Martin". 

On Thursday in the early evening, Adeline's class will join the kindergarten in celebrating St. Martin. First, there is to be a lantern parade led by a man representing St. Martin riding a horse and then a bonfire afterwards on the kindergarten playground with food and beverages. 

Since Emmie goes to school early on Tuesdays, she was able to help make and bake the pretzels for the class breakfast. She compared our kitchen to how the class's kitchen is very similar and ever since then has been telling me how many things we have that are also in her class.

It has been raining here and significantly colder, so I was not surprised when Emmie came home Tuesday with a stuffy nose. Fortunately she still has a good appetite and is sleeping well. 

Adeline started subtraction in math this week at school. When she realized she could check her answer with addition, it all made sense to her. She has fun working out her subtraction equations and then doing her addition equations to check her answers. 

Thursday afternoon as we were getting our coats on to join the St. Martin celebration, it started to rain. Adding some more layers for warmth from the wind and rain, we finally started out the door. Brigitte came to our rescue as she had some plastic bags readily available to protect the lanterns from the nasty weather. In addition, she offered her heavier raincoat with a hood for me to wear. With the lanterns flapping in the wind, we made it into the school. 

The foyer was crowded with many families, but they were able to have a few instruments to lead the singing.  The girls chimed in when they knew a few key words and the atmosphere was jolly, despite the dreary weather. 

Unfortunately, the parade only went along the sidewalk in front of the school due to the weather conditions, but St. Martin and the horse did make an appearance and the bonfire was lit even though it was a small one. 

When we made it back into the school, we collected our goose shaped rolls to munch on. Gluwein and brats were also offered, but it was too chaotic in the small school to enjoy, so we trekked back home for the girls to enjoy their St. Martin geese.

Happy Birthday Eric!

Sunday morning, the girls were very excited to celebrate Eric's birthday. They brought him his presents in bed. While he went for a morning run, we decorated with batman balloons and tableware. We also made pancakes for breakfast. Upon returning home, he said his bones felt a little creakier this morning compared to last week. Adeline insisted we put a candle on his pancake stack and sing to him before we began eating. 

Eric's choice for lunch was "My Thai" in downtown Hofheim. Eric enjoyed his birthday meal.  Adeline like her soup and Emmie had fun dunking her springrolls in the sauce.

In the afternoon, the Wendel family joined us for cake. I ordered a Sachertorte from our local bakery earlier in the week. Eric was delighted when his birthday cake was revealed to him as this is one of his favorite tortes. However, the girls were disappointed as they wanted me to make him a Superman cake to go along with the Superman tableware. Everyone enjoyed their slice and the other treats on this joyous occasion. 

Even though we did not have a Superman cake, we have a Super man we get to share our lives with. Even with a few more gray hairs appearing this morning, your ladies love you very much and wish you a wonderful year to come.

Der Herbst, der Herbst, der Herbst ist da!

This is the title to the fall song Emmie is learning in kindergarten. She is doing a good job singing the lyrics as it talks about the weather, the changing of the leaves, fall activities, and even how it brings wine because the grapes are ripe to be picked in the vineyards.

On Monday, the girls took gummi candy to their classmates to celebrate Halloween. The kids enjoyed their treat and the girls had fun passing them out. We spent the later part of the afternoon outside as it was warm and sunny, even if the sunset was at starting at 5pm.

Tuesday afternoon, we saw a children's puppet show, "Mutig, Mutig," at the city center. It was a play about a frog, snail, mouse, and sparrow who meet at the pond. They have a bet to see who is the most courageous and do silly things to prove it. In the end, the sparrow does none of these things which demonstrates how one can say no and still be brave. The show was very entertaining as there was audience participation and songs for the children to sing along with.

On Wednesday afternoon, Emmie invited her friend, Stella, over and Adeline invited her friend, Vicki, over to our apartment.  It was a great mix of girls. They had fun decorating their crowns and putting on a talent show for me. Vicki was patient with me as I did not understand everything she was asking and both older girls helped out the little ones. They all enjoyed their popcorn snack, although I forgot to put sugar on it since the Germans like their popcorn sweet.

Emmie is getting more vocal with her German. Thursday, we were walking to the park and Emmie and Henrik stopped to look at some yard decorations. After a few minutes, Adeline told them to come as she was already 3 houses down the street, so told she told Emmie to come. Emmie replied with a stomping foot and in German, that she was coming.

This week, I dealt with the dishwasher repairman as the dishwasher broke late on Sunday evening. Unfortunately, it took till Wednesday for the drain pump to get unclogged and for us to find out it was a bracelet and broken glass from the former tenant. Friday morning, my shopping trip was cut short as they were conducting a fire drill at the mall, so I had to evacuate the dressing room. It was a good thing they went around, as I initially thought someone stole something from what was being broadcast over the loud speaker.

Friday evening, Sarah and I went out for dinner in Wiesbaden for belated birthday celebration dinners. After strolling through the quaint town, we settled on a place for dinner. We had a fun time with the waiters as we conversed in English, but had them bring us the German menus, ordered in German, and departed with German.

After attending Adeline's basketball session on Saturday morning, we walked over to the school next door. We were able to find her a new pair of ski boots after numerous fittings for this season as it was their annual ski swap.  In the drizzling afternoon, we took a drive to Hocheim for their festival.

With our umbrellas and rain boots, we strolled the streets looking at the various vendors' items. Eric found spicy flavored almonds, even though they were more mild. The girls found chocolate popcorn for their afternoon treat. We warmed up in one of the local wine grower's house. In addition to opening up his garage for serving beverages and small food items, they also converted the basement to a little restaurant. We all had hot drinks- Eric had wine, I had applewein, and the girls had orange juice.

We spent the evening in the garage. After a few attempts, Eric was able to break through the cement ceiling and install our bike hooks. With careful planning, we are able to hang the bikes and bike trailer, have room for the wagon and scooters, and park the car within our one spot.

Happy Halloween!

The evening was excellent for celebrating Halloween as the temperatures were mild and there was no precipitation. Earlier in the week, I spoke with some of our neighbors about passing out candy to the girls, so I had a handful of houses for the girls to ring the bell at. We also invited a few friends to go trick or treating with us. I lit the pumpkins and put them out in the garden for everyone walking by to see. When everyone was at our house, we practiced a few times reciting, "Suesse oder Sauer", which means sweet or sour while taking pictures. Adeline and Atisha were spiders, Henrick was a tree, Rebecca was a witch, and Emmie was an elephant. 

We were on our way and the kids were excited. At the first house, the kids were quiet as they called out for candy. As we continued down the street, their laughter and happiness could be heard all around. Some of our neighbors were so kind as they filled up special treat bags just for the girls for when they came to their door. We had to stop a few times as Emmie's elephant ears kept falling off, but it did not stop her momentum at all. 

Rebecca and her mom also knew additional people for us to go trick or treating at, so the kids enjoyed being out longer and by this time were experts at saying "Suesse oder Sauer". Eric was a trooper as he had just completed the marathon and was slowly strolling with us up and down the hilly streets taking pictures to capture the moment. Aside from Rebecca's older brother and his friends, we were one of three families, we saw out in the four block walk we strolled.

After we completed our neighborhood tour, we came back to the apartment to continue the festivities. Everyone liked our cut-out decorations and dangling spiders, bats, and skeletons strategically placed around the apartment that I had brought with us. Eric made mummy pizzas for the kids and I made a hand from carrots coming out of the vegetable dip. We made monster face cupcakes and dirt dessert filled with spiders and gummi worms for our dessert area.  

The girls had fun sorting through their candy they received. There was some new type of chocolates they tasted and many little bags of gummi items. The eyeball candy and smarties were their favorite pieces. 

We had a great time celebrating Halloween night.

Frankfurt Marathon

The morning was cool, but warmer temperatures and sunshine were expected for the marathon- otherwise a perfect day for running. We dropped Eric off wearing number 8795 at the train station for the 8:19am train to Frankfurt. He said the platform had about 100 people on it and when the train pulled into the station, it was already full. 

The marathon began at 10am and it took Eric about 5 minutes to cross the starting line. This was a quick start, since there were 20,000 runners.

At 17 miles, he was still on a 3:35 pace. Eric said the drink stations offered fizzy sport drinks along with water. Some stations also offered warm tea and Coke. There were many people along the entire route and numerous bands to cheer on the runners. At the 20 mile marker is when his steam started to run out and this is when he began to slow down.

Us gals attended church and afterwards enjoyed the international food sampling which concluded the diverse but united sermon series before we headed to the marathon. I set the navi for a parkhaus in downtown Frankfurt near the 40 km marker. This is the spot Eric said he would be good to see him around 1pm. I wanted to make sure we did not miss him, so I took full advantage of no speed limit on the open autobahn on a Sunday afternoon. The girls even commented about how fast I was driving. We made it to the city with some minutes to spare. 

Unfortunately, the parkhaus was under construction, so we had to walk down the four flights of stairs. Once at street level, the girls hopped on the stroller and I ran with the stroller to get to the course as I could see red shirts going by. I crossed the street when the light was red and then realized all of the cops were watching the race and not the cars, so I was not going to be getting a ticket. We made it to our spot at 1pm. 

We waited anxiously for Eric to come around the Turm. With every red shirt that went by, the girls thought maybe it was him. After about 20 minutes, they got bored with it, so Adeline went and sat on the sidewalk on the other side of the street. The girls were entertained by the runners dressed in banana and clown costumes, along with the few who had on business suits or balloons tied to them. We watched the race pace setters go by and still no Eric. There was a band playing at the intersection so their tunes also helped the time to go by.

Finally, the girls spotted Eric as he rounded the corner. What excitement it was! "Go Daddy, Go!" could be heard near and far from them. He stopped for a brief kiss and then continued on. Adeline tried to catch up with him, but he was too quick for her, even with a stop at the drink station.

When we got back to the parkhaus, we initially climbed to the wrong level. I remember what level the non-working eleveator said, so it was a shock to us all when we did not see our car when we entered the parking area. After a quick trip to the floor above and seeing no cars, we descended down one level to find our car in it's parking spot.

Eric completed 42km (26 miles) in 4:16 by running into the exhibition center. They had his name up on the board as he was crossing the finish. After the race, the organizers offered fruit, bread, and cans of beer along with the normal rehydrating beverages.

We returned home to tidy up the house and work on our Halloween party details. We went and picked up a slow moving Eric from the train station. We are super proud of him.

Here is the website with the race details.  Frankfurt Marathon race and details You can view the results and see portions of him running in it.

Tylenol, Motrin, and/or Both

The week started good as Emmie attended Kindergarten while Adeline came to my class. Her teachers had internal meetings, so this was her last day of vacation. Adeline was a good student in my class and even answered some of my questions for me. She was surprised at how small our  classroom was and how there were only 4 other students. After class, we picked up a tired Emmie from school. This set the stage for the rest of the week.

Monday evening through early Wednesday, Emmie ran a high fever. Wednesday afternoon, Emmie was feeling better, so we were able to get our pumpkins from the market for Halloween. The pumpkins were on the smaller size to what we are compared to carving, but they were largest they had. Emmie picked out a round pumpkin and Adeline a tall pumpkin. I had to return with the car as I was not going to attempt pulling the wagon with the pumpkins and Emmie in it up hill to our apartment. When we were unloading them from the car, our neighbors thought they were large pumpkins, so I guess they will be good for carving.

Emmie passed on her virus to Adeline on Thursday. In the evening after returning from Clara's birthday party, Adeline felt the same symptoms as Emmie had earlier in the week. I went through a few bottles of the Tylenol and Motrin a little quicker than planned this week, but am happy I brought it with us. 

Friday evening, Emmie and I cleaned the pumpkins before Eric returned home from work. Emmie had fun pulling out the pumpkin seeds and had a taste test before they were cooked. She agreed with me they are better when they are cooked. Amazingly, we got over three cups of seeds out of our little pumpkins. Adeline created a page full of possible faces for their pumpkins while she rested on the couch. 

After some train issues again, Eric finally made it home from work and with his marathon packet. Within no time, Eric was discussing the pumpkin face details according to the girls' wishes for their pumpkin. Emmie choose a happy face, while Adeline picked out a scary face.

We finished the evening munching on pumpkin seeds and discussing the route Eric was going to run on Sunday in the Frankfurt Marathon and the best place for us to see him at.

Saturday was easy going as I was preparing for our Halloween party and Eric was conserving energy for his race. In the afternoon, we celebrated Melanie's birthday with her, and her family and friends. It was a pleasant afternoon treat of hot waffles and tasty muffins for this joyous occasion. We are blessed to know Melanie (and her family) who is so very dear to our family.

Mayen

Saturday, we spent the day with the Kuchera family. They live near Mayen, a town about 20 minutes east of Koblenz, so we had about an hour and half drive north. In the morning, it was foggy and drizzling in Hofheim, but about 20 minutes on the autobahn and out of the Taunus Hills, we hit sunshine and blue skies. We arrived at their house as they were our tour guides for driving into downtown Mayen and around the city. Along the old walls of the city and the throughout the brick streets, we strolled through the Lukasfest. It was amazing to see how the festival strategically placed their rides. Heather and Josh recommended an Italian place for lunch, so we stopped for lunch before the girls picked out their rides. 

Emmie's ride choices this time was the driving one in a loop with a hill, a helicopter she could control going up and down (even though she stayed up in the air the entire time), and a pony ride. Adeline went on the driving one with Emmie, but soon realized she is getting too big as she barely fit in the car. 

Adeline picked out a ride where one sits sideways as their back is to the building and they are looking out onto the street and goes in a circle. Her, Eric, and this other small girl were the only three on the ride where it had about 20 seats in a long row. Eric said Adeline was saying "no, no," the entire time, but laughing everytime it went around. Adeline's last choice of rides was the "Mouse Trap." It was amazing how the rollercoaster just fit on the street between the buildings. Adeline had a fantastic time on it with Eric, even though she found the top part to be scary since it seemed like the winding track was going to send them right into a building on the straight aways before it sharply turned. We ended the afternoon enjoying a warm crepe filled with Nutella.

We spent the early evening visting with the Kuchera's in their new home.  They have a lovely new larger apartment over looking the fields and many apple trees. We were graciously given a large bag of apples before we departed. 

Our Sunday church service was very lively and entertaining. Africa was celebrated this week and is the last country in this series of celebrating our unity by highlighting our diversity. It was wonderful as the ladies dressed in their traditional attire and the men played the instruments during our praise portion. In addition to the songs sung in the various African languages, some members read bible passages with the passage displayed in English on the screen. 

Sunday afternoon, we spent with the Thies family, Eric's colleague who also has two daughters and speak English.  Us six ladies hung out together while the men took a 15km jog as they are preparing for the Frankfurt Marathon next week. Adeline and Emmie had a fun time playing with their girls since they are the same age. The girls put on a magic show and talent show for us after dinner.