Merry Christmas Everyone!

Ralf and I are back from celebrating our first Christmas in Beilstein. Christmas Eve is the big event in Germany. During the day Ann-Katrin and I decorated the Christmas tree, complete with real candles (which must be very strategically placed so the whole tree doesn't go up in flames!) In the late afternoon we visited Volker and Sibylle's church for their Christmas service and then after some Wurst-salad we got down to the opening of presents.

Christmas morning we awoke to the sounds of a brass band which plays Christmas carols every year from the tower of the castle for the whole town to hear. A thick layer of frost gave everything the "white Christmas" feel. Later in the day Silke and Rüdiger joined us and we enjoyed traditional holiday foods, and a nice stroll through the frosty vineyards. It was for us a very merry first married Christmas. Often we found ourselves reminiscing about last year's Christmas with the Harms family and were glad to be able to Skype with most of them and share at least a bit of the day together. Of course our photos are not nearly as cute as Santa Ruby or Adorable Elizabeth, but we hope you enjoy them none-the-less. Frohe Weihnachten!

Christmas 07