Steve really was there

I posted the wrong picture before. Steve really was home for Chrismtas Eve!
We are off to Domus tonight. So what will it be? Spaghetti or Uitsjmiter? Dame Blanche or Pannekoken? What do you chose?

BRRRR, it is cold outside

It is quite a challenge to be outside all day when it is hovering near freezing. We bundle up and stop often for hot chocolate. One day we just stayed on the base and bowled. Oh, I must report that Heidi was in 'Bowler Zone'. I think she had 5 strikes and was easily the winner.. Her score was 133. Even Rach bowled. She was great.
The big coincidence was meeting Coach Fiedler in Trier at the spaghetti ice cream shop. It was just like old times for the boys.
Now if we can just get everyone back to full health, that is our challenge for the moment. Coughs, earaches, sinus, runny noses. The usual winter issues.
We still have a week left toghether but it is going by way too fast!

Christmas morning

We had a great Christmas. Loads of fun to have kids in the house...from 8 months to 29 years old, ALL kids!!! I have to report that the cinnamon rolls were underdone for the first batch, as always. We must stick with tradition.
Our favorite activity of the day was talking to Nicole. Wasn't it great everyone? She brought us all together on Christmas day (well, thanks to Noel) and I loved hearing everyone's voices.

Christmas Markets

Colie's Christmas Message to Family

As promised, Natalie!

So far...

Here is what we have been up to so far....

Updates on the Christmas travelers

So Jake/Mel/Rach/Tommy are here. Their adventures:
1) the ticket was in the name of Melanie Herway and her passport is still Melanie Grossen. Had to call a neighbor (Luckily he was home!) who got their spare key and brought their marriage license...in time no less. That did the trick there BUT
2) They sat in Charlotte for 2 hours on the tarmac because of fog, luckily their layover in Dulles was 3 hours, so they made their connecting flight BUT
3) Their bags DID NOT make it. Not even one. So Tommy and Rach opened Christmas presents early and found pajama's and Mel and Jake are in borrowed clothes while they wash theirs and hope like anything that their bags come in tomorrow STILL
4) They did arrive 1/2 hour earlier than scheduled, which beats Steve who arrived 25 and 1/2 hours later than scheduled....not as bad as it sounds though because he just traveled a day later because he FORGOT his passport the first time at the airport.
NEXT is Seth and Heidi who have to travel from Salt Lake City to Chicago to London to Brussels. If Seth and Heidi are the dominant travelers, then they will have no adventures to report. Let's hope for that!

Joyeux Noel from Colie, part II

And there are more pictures. Obviously, she has been saving up. The music I chose isn't really missionary music, but has the right message anyway....

Joyeux Noel from Colie, part I

I got pictures and a video clip from Colie. There are tons, so sit back, relax and enjoy the show.

Christmas 1996

Natalie and I were talking about Christmas memories. Every kid remembers being part of a nativity scene, and even if they had to be paid (Zane) to be part of it, they love doing it. The singing, the socializing, the food, the music, the story...all of it creates something in our hearts and minds.
I thought about Christmas 1996. Dan was a Senior. Steve was a 1st grader. Everyone else filled the grades in between. Teens, pre-teens, kids...
I have to say that my highlight of this clip is when Steve is doing his Jingle Bell Rock dance and the girls on either side of him get mixed up about which way to raise their hands, and Steve can't win because either way he puts his hands, he is going against one girl or the other. He shrugs his shoulders and chooses....and ends up the only kid going the wrong way.
The clips show some oldies but goodies...Nathan Mulholland, Meredith Kearsley, Hillary Sponbeck, Paige LaTour, Darin Honeywell, Alex Watson to name a few.

Paris for St. Nick Day

Dad had an area meeting in Paris, so I tagged along. One of the best parts was our hotel: Concorde Layfayette. We stayed in room 2009....so that put us on the 20th floor. All the photos of the Eiffel Tower were from the window in our room! Incredible. At Christmas, Paris is even more a city of lights, if that is possible. The weather forecast was rain, rain, rain, but we were blessed and didn't pull out the umbrella even once. It was cold, but no rain.
One splurge was hot chocolate that was so rich it tasted like you were drinking straight chocolate. Of course it cost 7.50 euros per cup! Yikes.
Dad had a great meeting with all the french speaking Stake Presidents in Europe. There were 12 of them. They are planning the first EFY in French speaking Europe, so he has his work cut out for him.
One of my favorite shots is of a police man with his roller blades!
Oh, and there was a fabulous "creche" in Notre Dame Cathedral. The pictures don't do it any justice. Crazy how they can't put the baby Jesus in any of the creche scenes for fear he will be stolen.
OOOPs. I was with Catholic friends today. They informed me that Jesus is not placed in the crib until Christmas Day (dummy! He isn't born yet!) My mistake.