Merry Christmas from our house to yours!

We want to wish all of our family and friends around the world a very blessed and meaningful Christmas. We are thankful to God for you. Most of all we are thankful for Jesus. He is the real reason for Christmas.

Christmas Eve at our house

Its Christmas Eve and we have had a fun evening. I am so thankful to the Lord that our family can all be together during this wonderful season of the year. It is heartwarming to see Luke and Tyler hanging out a lot and having a good time being roommates for a couple of weeks before Luke heads back to college.

Candlelight service at our church this evening

KD had a bell and festive Christmas bow around her neck but it didn't last long!

Eating our traditional Christmas Eve dinner - pizza fondue!

Pizza fondue and sparkling apple juice - yum!

I know! I know! Some people think its kind of weird, but we open our gifts on Christmas Eve! This is one of Luke's gifts to Tyler(he found it on a great sale and it was too small for Tim so he figured it would be great for Tyler!!)

A new Christmas tradition?

When we were in the U.S. for our year furlough('05-'06) Tim took a cooking class for men only! One of the dishes they made was bananas foster. Tonight Tim made it for us (for the first time since his cooking class) while we stood nervously by! When he ignited it, it did not blow up, our house is still standing, and the dessert tasted wonderful!

Good-byes

We never get used to saying good-bye at BFA, but we have to do it a lot. I have had to do it for 27 years! This is one of the bittersweet aspects of our ministry. BFA is a very transient place. We have to say good-bye to seniors who graduate every year and we have to say good-bye to staff constantly.
Usually we don't have to say good-bye mid-year, but two precious girls from my small group are having to transfer to a different school in January. So.....once again I have had to say good-bye. Not easy! I will miss them so much, but as we say in German - Wiedersehen!" - see you again! I know I will see C and E again!

E with her parents

Christmastime in Basel

School is out and most of our BFA students are home for the holidays or else they are on their way - on planes, trains, etc.. We went into Basel last night and enjoyed walking through the Christmas market, seeing the Christmas lights, sampling the food, and listening to the street musicians.
Gluwein, a popular hot drink at this time of year, is available to buy on the street.

One of many stalls at the Christmas market


Plenty of traditional food to enjoy


Glass blower

Elementary School Christmas Concert

What a fun time we had tonight watching the BFA elementary school perform at their Christmas concert. It was heartwarming to see their enthusiasm! They did a fantastic job!

A walk in the fresh snow with Luke

Today it snowed almost all day! Luke and I went for a long walk in the woods with our cameras! So beautiful! We even saw a deer but he refused to pose for us!

Our favorite neighbors

We invited our neighbors for dessert tonight and fourteen of them came - from Palmgarten dorm! We live next door to these wonderful girls and thoroughly enjoy their company!


KD provided the entertainment!