The German Slopes

One of the many benefits of living in cold weather is the occasional trip to the slopes...and I do mean occasional, this was our only visit thus far. We drove rode in what seemed like a never ending circle to a nearby mountain about 45 minutes away with our friend Joseph and hit the slopes. 

Please forgive the butterscotch hat....it was Stephen's and he insisted my cute blue cap was not warm enough!

We had our ups,

and downs,

 but really enjoyed the beautiful morning and fresh air.

In the end we survived the treacherous green slopes and even managed to keep down our breakfast on the ride home....thanks to a little myth busters trick, GINGER!

Come visit us in the winter and you just might get to see our "skills" in person!

NIC Christmas

..I only said it might be the last one! This one really is! Just wanted to post a picture from our Christmas Eve Service at NIC. We had a great group and even some new visitors. Until next year...

Joyeux Noel

I know, another christmas post, but it might be the last one! Right before Christmas we headed over the border to Mullhouse with some of our favorite people: Mr. and Mrs. Widmann along with Steffi. 

Entrance to the Church

Some of the Widmann's friends live in France and create a "nativity scene" each year in their local church to celebrate the season. I am sure your wondering, what kind of nativity scene is so special that we would drive twenty minutes to see? My thoughts exactly...until I saw it! It is huge, battery powered, coin operated, and has some figures I never would have guessed would be included in a nativity scene, for-instance— fairies! Yes I said it, big, sparkly, winged, fairies! Try to spot them in this video.....it is only a small taste of the nativity's true awesomeness! (Please excuse the poor video...for some reason I always want to turn the camera vertical....one day I will learn!)

In all seriousness, it was a great trip. Some of the intricate detailed figures are beautiful and I hope next year we can visit again. 

1st Spanjer Christmas...in February

I know it is a little late for christmas, but I wanted everyone to see our first christmas together in Germany. Unfortunately, I left my camera here on our trip to the States...hence, christmas in February. 

We did our best to decorate our little apartment and hang our stockings over the mantel, I mean radiator! Our stockings were extra warm on christmas morning!

We also received this smoking Santa  Weinachtsman from our landlords, it puffs out scented smoke. 

I made our first christmas skirt with inspiration from pinterest.....so addicting. I am pretty happy with the way it turned out and am glad that I can mark that project off for many years to come.

You may recognize some of the material from the lazy-boy....trying to get rid of scraps!

I was unaware that the advent wreath is such a huge tradition here, but it is. I was invited to make one with a friends family and must say it is a fun tradition. We got to light a candle every sunday leading up to Christmas and the greenery we used made the house smell wonderful.

Now to the good stuff, Christmas Day! We tried to start some Spanjer traditions, but it is extra hard when your husband is a pastor and has to work on Sunday. So we settled for a taco dinner after the christmas eve service (don't be too horrified....that tradition might not stick) and then started christmas around 1pm on Sunday. It was a bit anti-climatic but we did the best we could.

First we opened our stockings and then ate a "breakfast-lunch" so it seemed like christmas morning.

Can you tell who's wrapping is who's? Boys and their camo!

It was a great 4 hour celebration (we had to take all our decorations down that night before we headed to America the next morning) and did just the trick. I am looking forward to next year.