Good-bye, Luke and Tyler!

Christmas vacation is over and after some wonderful weeks spent with Luke and Tyler, they have left us and are back to college. Luke flew back to Indiana on Tuesday, and Tyler is somewhere over the Atlantic right now on his way back to Texas. He left very early this morning. We miss them already, but are so thankful for the days we could spend together.
They really enjoyed reconnecting with old BFA friends while they were here.



Luke and Billy have been the best of friends since Grade 2. Billy came home from Vancouver for Christmas which Luke was very happy about!

Three Kings Day

Today is a holiday in Germany - Heilige Drei Koenige or Three Kings Day. One of the fun traditions that German families participate in on this day is eating a king's cake or king's wreath. It is a sweet yeast bread with nuts and raisins in it and a paper crown on top. Inside the bread is hidden a small plastic figure of a king. Whoever finds the king in their portion gets to be king for the day and wear the crown!
Tim bought this delicious "king's wreath" at our local bakery this morning.



The king!

King for the day, which by the way is much more exciting for little kids than for big "kids"!!

Good-bye KD!

On New Year's Day our cute little dog, KD, went to a new home. It is a long story so I won't bore you with all of the details. She knows her new owners very well because they took care of her last summer when we were in the U.S. for two months. She loves them to bits and we know that they will take great care of her!
It wasn't too hard to say good-bye to her because we will see her again. In fact we are dog sitting her this coming Saturday!
Pictures taken on our last night with her.....







Here are her new happy owners!

An interesting tidbit

You have heard the expression "once in a blue moon". On December 31 I learned where this originates from. On rare occasions there are two full moons in one month. Did you know this happened on New Years Eve? There was a full moon on December 2 and on the 31. This doesn't happen very often - the next one won't happen until August 2012. Hence the expression "once in a blue moon"!
There was also a partial eclipse that night. I didn't get a picture of it though. It didn't last very long.

A Drive to Hochblauen

Tim, Luke, and I drove up to Hochblauen yesterday afternoon to walk in the snow and take some pictures. It was bitterly cold because of the wind, but it was worth it!! It was so beautiful with the hoarfrost on top of the snow-covered trees, and the blue sky breaking through the fog.
Here's some photos that all three of us captured.

Happy New Year!

Happy New Year from Germany! May you experience His abundance in 2010!
"I have come that you might have life and have it to the full." John 10:10

Tim and I took these pictures last night of Kandern welcoming in the new year.

Christmastime in Basel

Tim, Luke, and Tyler went to Basel yesterday afternoon to see Avatar in 3-D. Great movie! They were blown away!
I meanwhile, walked around the city and took pictures in the rain while they were in the theater. One last chance to see the festive lights before they all come down until next Christmas!


The Basel Doll Museum which was decorated beautifully inside and out!



Outside of Doll Museum



The Cartier store was covered with real pine boughs on the outside!




Roasted chestnuts - we buy these every year! Delicious!


Marktplatz