Happy New Year

We ushered in the New Year in a quiet way last night - so very different from the party atmosphere and all of the celebrating that happens every New Years Eve in Germany. Last night at midnight we went outside of our house to watch the fireworks off of Pike's Peak. It was very cool the way they lit up the mountain even though there wasn't very many of them. It was clear outside and the stars were spectacular!
While outside I was struck with how quiet it was in our neighborhood when the clock struck 12 - a stark contrast from Germany where we would hear the wonderful sound of the church bells ringing in the new year (the bells from both state churches in our town would ring for approximately 30 minutes). Also, "the whole town" comes outside to welcome the new year, with neighbors wishing each other a Guten Rutsch (literally translated as a good slide or a smooth ride into the new year). Our whole family misses that! Even Tyler made a comment about missing it last night. The last pictures in this post are from past New Years Eve celebrations in Germany.
Happy New Year to each of you who visit our blog! We wish you His abundance in 2012!

Past New Years Eve in Kandern, Germany