Making the Yuletide Gay

Christmas Eve - new PJs

Christmas Morning - Stockings

 Matching hats

 the Aftermath

 What's for Breakfast

 You can't have Christmas without Gingerbread

 The Feast

 SNOW!......two days later ;)

2014 Christmas Card

Here's our Christmas card for this year!

 

This year we've had a lot of big changes.  Here's a run-down of each person in our family.

Joe - Started out the year with a few blessed, extra months to learn and pass Iraqi.  Almost every waking hour was dedicated to study, and he was very nervous.  Ruth never doubted him for a second, and of course he PASSED!  Phew.  In CA he was serving as the 2nd counselor in the Elder's Quorum presidency.  In the little spare time he had, he loved biking along the coast, and tried to drag Ruth with him as often as possible.  Now in Germany, he is enjoying looking at and dreaming about European bikes and cars.....although he's sick of cars, because he as spent a great deal of time repairing them here.  He is now serving with Ruth, teaching the Sunday School class for the 16 and 17 year olds.

Ruth - Stayed busy for the first half of the year with homeschooling Cora, serving as the 2nd counselor in the Primary presidency, and reading as many books as she could.  Even though she was really looking forward to moving to Germany (a dream come true), she was really worried about her mom, who had a close call in January.  Unfortunately, Ruth's mom passed away in August, right before we moved to Germany.  It was hard, but Ruth was grateful that she didn't pass away AFTER we moved to Germany, and she was able to spend a few extra weeks with her family.  Ruth is now enjoying more free time than she's used to, and trying to take advantage of it by traveling more, reading, sewing, and whatever else she feels like ;)  She's 40 now, and feels as happy about that as Cora was to turn 13. She has "forced" Joe into participating in the choir at church, and on Sunday she played a piano solo for the Christmas program (she's trying to do things that get her out of her comfort zone). 

Cora - Finished up two years of homeschooling, having improved her grades GREATLY!  She officially became a teenager in February - she's very excited about that ;) Cora left a large group of good friends in CA (both in our homeschool group, and at church), and that was very hard for her.  She did, however, reunite with one of her best friends from TX, and they spent a few joyous weeks together.  Here in Germany, for the first time, she finds herself as the only Mormon girl her age at school.  She gets a lot of questions at school, and she gave away her first Book of Mormon the other day.  She was quick to make friends with some really good girls here, having started attending the middle school, and is enjoying the whole middle school experience.  She made the honor roll her first quarter, and we couldn't be more proud.  She is in the science club and the cooking club.  She is also the current music director in Young Women's.  One thing that continues to be a source of amusement to her, is that everyone is always curious about her race, and they never believe that she's just plain old white ;)

Joseph - Enjoyed being homeschooled, but was glad to get back to regular school, where he could spend more time with friends. Joseph and Cora had the opportunity of being in the Manti pageant this year, and they both had a lot of fun doing that, and staying with Grandma and Grandpa Liddell for a month.  Joseph loved going back to TX this summer, and said he would love to move back there some day.  We swam almost every day we were there, and that almost wasn't enough for him.  He REALLY loves to swim ;)  Joseph turned 12 this year!  He has loved being a part of the Young Men's program, passing the sacrament in church each Sunday, going to the activities, and having his first temple trip.  He taught the Young Men's class last Sunday, and felt really good about that.  He is enjoying middle school this year too.  He says he hasn't tried any German food that he doesn't like.

Madleyn and Alex - I'm combining these two because there's not much to say.  They both love school and are good at it, they both are quick to make friends wherever we go, they are both growing like weeds, they both lost more teeth, they both got attacked by wasps this summer, they both use a ridiculous amount of paper to create works of art each day, and they are both generally very happy people.  We like them both ;)

And that's been our year.  I feel like I'm forgetting stuff, but oh well.  We can't wait for 2015 and all the adventures it's going to bring us.  We love you all, and wish you a very Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year!

Burg Ronneburg

The Christmas market at Ronneburg is a bit different because it has a Medieval theme to it, and the market spreads out around the grounds, and INSIDE the castle (burg) - So. Much. Fun!

All of the vendors are dressed up in medieval attire, and a lot of the people who go to the market are dressed up as well.  A lot of the vendors sell things like armor, leather goods, weapons, capes, and everything else you would need to have a really great medieval costume.

The castle doesn't look like much from the outside, but it's totally like the Tardis - bigger on the inside!  Oops, my nerd is showing ;)  The castle is out in the countryside, so there are beautiful views from the top of the tower.

We had a lot of fun at this place, and would love to go back.  Enjoy the pictures.

Christmas in Germany

Weihnachtsmärkte (Christmas markets) are how Christmas is done RIGHT here in Germany. 

I do not like Christmas shopping in the States.  I hate the crowds.  It's all about the stuff.  It does NOT put me in the Christmas spirit.

Christmas markets here are different.  People don't go just to shop (although there are booths selling all kinds of stuff, and it's perfect for getting your gifts).  People go for the atmosphere, the lights, the music, the nativities, the food, the WHOLE experience.  Christmas markets DEFINITELY put me in the Christmas spirit :)

Because we love them so much, we have been to a lot ('a lot' being a very relative term), especially since Joe's brother John and his family came to visit us, and they wanted to go to a lot of Christmas markets too.  We went to Wiesbaden, Rudesheim, Meinz, Frankfurt, Darmstadt, and Burg Ronneburg (which I'm going to talk about it a separate post). 

Each cities' market is a little different, with different decorations, different food, different performances, etc.  Joe's favorite market was Rudesheim, and we all agreed that they had the best food - Kasewurst (cheese sausage) and Flammlachs (Flame Salmon) were to DIE for!!! I don't know if I can choose a favorite market or not. 

Surprisingly, we didn't see as many kids at any of the markets as we might have expected.  There are a few rides for kids, kinderpunch, candy and toys, but still, the LARGE majority of people at the markets were adults. I don't know if this is because a lot of people go their to drink, or there are a lot of tourists from other countries, or what.  Our kids still love them though.

The markets are WAY more crowded at night than during the day.  When Joe and I went to Frankfurt during the day, it wasn't bad at all.  But we took John's family there at night, and it was packed!  It reminded me of riding the subway in Korea during rush-hour ;)  However, it's fun to see all the lights at night.

Here are few pictures from our adventures, with a collage of some of the things you can buy at the many booths.

 

 

 

 

There are LOTS of booths that sell hot drinks, which are perfect when you're walking around Christmas markets on these cold winter nights.  Most of the drinks for sell are alcoholic, but you can always find Apfelsaft (which is just hot applejuice), Kinderpunch (which is a non-alcoholic version of Gluwhein, or mulled wine), and Kakao (Cocoa).  The drinks come in these cool mugs.  You can return the mugs and get some money back, or keep the mugs and collect them.  Each city has it's own mug, so it's fun to have the different mugs as a souvenir of the different markets you've been to.

We may have acquired a few extra mugs at Ronneburg ;)

To sum up, Germany is a fun place to come and visit during the Christmas season.  You've already got a place to stay - all you have to do is ask ;)

Alsfeld

I went with a few ladies from the Out and About group to Alsfeld and the Christmas market there.  This little town, founded in the 8th or 9th century, looks like it's straight out of a fairytale.

The first picture is the town center, with the Town Hall (1512) in the middle, the Wine House (1538) on the left, and the Apothecary on the right.  Down every narrow and twisting street there are a wealth of amazing half-timbered buildings that Germany is famous for, some of them leaning out over the streets or against each other.

 The town is passionate about preserving their architectural heritage.  There is beautiful wood work on many of the buildings

 On some of the buildings you see words or characters carved - these are meant as protections to ward off curses and other bad things.

 We saw several houses that were using chairs as a part of their décor.

 This is Walpurgis Church. 

 And this is the Church of the Holy Trinity with an attached former Augustine Monastery.

This monastery is where Martin Luther's friend lived and worked, and Martin Luther's entourage actually spent a night in Alsfeld on their way to Worms in 1521.

Below is a picture of the Pranger (pillory) on the left corner of the Wine House.  This is where offenders were publicly humiliated (the metal collar would be secured around their neck, and they just had to stand there).

  At one time Alsfeld was completely surrounded by an oval shaped city wall.  This is all that is left.

One of the things that Alsfeld is best know for is that this is the town where the Grimm brother are thought to have written Rotkappchen (Little Red Riding Hood). If you have a large enough group, you can even have Red Riding Hood herself give you a personalized tour of Alsfeld :)

 Alsfeld has this Fairy Tale House, with each of the rooms decorated to illustrate the Grimm's fairy tales.  It wasn't open when we were there, but I'd love to take my kids back.

Out in front of the Fairy Tale House is an old city well that was recently discovered.  The frog prince sits atop, and I had to give him a kiss, even though I already have my own prince - remember this poem I wrote him back in the day? (and check out how red my hair looks in the sunlight!)

This is another well in town with the Goose Girl on top.

Now, the best part of the Christmas market in Alsfeld was this booth.

This lady comes every year to sell these fairytale dolls, and I HAD to get the Little Red Riding Hood one.  At first glance it doesn't seem all that special.

 But look closer....and turn the doll upsidedown/insideout

There's Grandma!

 But wait, there's more!

Turn Grandma's cap over, and there's the wolf, disguised as Grandma!

Is that the coolest thing or what?!  All of the dolls are like this, and she has dolls for EVERY fairytale.  I haven't even shown the kids the doll yet, because I want to take them back next Christmas and have them experience the booth firsthand like I did.  But I'd also love to go back when it's warm, and I can wander the whole city for a few hours ;)

 

 

I'm realizing that I am taking a LOT of pictures of places/buildings, but not very many of people/family, so I need to work on that.  People.  People are good.