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.