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

Happy Birthday to Me!

Arriving home from my meetings in Frankfurt I was greeted by this birthday message from Ralf made out of lentils and corn kernels and little blue card giving a clue to my present...

Tickets to see the Blue Man Group show!

We were up close and personal in the 8th row - rain coats required to protect from paint splashes, etc.

Auntie LaLa and Uncle Raaaalf - twice over

Elizabeth's pet names for us seem to have stuck. We'll have to wait awhile to see what the newest family addition will want to call us, but little Ruby Christine can have her pick. Since her debut on November 25th, we're calling ourselves blessed, to welcome her into our family and our hearts, and praising God for her healthy arrival!

Who Says Germans don't Celebrate Thanksgiving?

...they do when an American is willing to prepare the feast for them! It works out well, they get a really fat delicious meal and I get a little taste and feel of home. Its a very symbiotic relationship. Throughout the meal they kept saying "I'm already full"...so they still haven't fully grasped what Thanksgiving is really all about - eating till you pop! As we went around sharing what we are thankful for, I mentioned of course my dear sweet husband (who lovingly cleaned up the whole kitchen after the feast!) and being grateful that all family members were able to enjoy the day outside of the hospital. Happy Thanksgiving!

Thanksgiving

Reliving the Moments

This Thanksgiving I'm thankful for Uncle John - who spent many hours putting together a fantastic video memory of our wedding day. Here is the crown jewel for your enjoyment "Highlights".



Also available online:
Matt & Sara's Solo - Feels Like Home to Me
Ceremony Snippet

Wedding Season Fall Edition

As promised...we just finished another round of festivities and are due for a break until Ralf's sister's wedding in March. At the end of it all, we're still convinced our wedding was the best - the prerogative of every couple, right?!

Weddings Fall Edition

Peaks and Valleys

We've just returned from a week vacation wandering through peaks and valleys of the Swiss Alps. Over the past weeks we've experienced some figurative peaks and valleys as well, wandering through the news of Dad's cancer and Elizabeth's ins and outs of the hospital. We feel like we are getting good at living out Romans 12:15 "Rejoice with those who rejoice; mourn with those who mourn." On the one hand rejoicing over God's beautiful creation and the chance to enjoy it (not everyone can just pop down to Switzerland for vacation!) and on the other grieving with those who have difficult views right now. Hope it works the other way around too and you all can rejoice with us through our vacation!
 
After celebrating the wedding of Stephan and Ina on Saturday, we caught a train Sunday morning to Beilstein where we picked up Ralf's parents car and the keys to their vacation apartment in Switzerland. Monday we drove the rest of the way to Thyon, stopping briefly at Montreux on Lake Geneva. Tuesday thru Thursday were spent exhausting every possible muscle in our body as we hiked up and down various mountains. Friday we drove up the Furka Pass - reminiscent for all you Harms' of Phantom (aka Puke) Canyon - on our way to the Thermal Baths at Vals. There we soaked every muscle in our bodies at the super chic pools designed by one of Ralf's favorite architects Peter Zumthor. Glorious weather and a complementary room upgrade helped to make up for the colds we were both suffering from.

Switzerland

Ralf asked why Switzerland is so special for Americans when we have the Rocky Mountains which are just as high as the Alps. (Pike's Peak is 14,110ft vs. the Matterhorn is 14,690ft) My answer was simple - because its in Europe! So the next time you are planning a trip over the Atlantic, just remember you've got friends in high places...6562 ft to be exact.

Retreating

Since January, Ralf and I have been participating in a Christian leadership training group led by one of the elders from our church together with his wife. We meet together every other Sunday evening and explore various aspects of growing as leaders. This weekend the whole group got away to a conference center at Germany's North Sea for a seminar "Ordering your Personal Life". The speaker was Gordon MacDonald, a pretty well known American pastor and author. Everything was translated so Ralf and I got to hear everything twice. We got some good input on how to care for our spiritual lives and enjoyed some beautiful weather. Always hard coming back from a retreat and re-entering the daily grind, but it gives us a chance to practice some of the disciplines we learned about this weekend!

Dunenhof Seminar

Church Picnic with a Twist

This year our church decided to try something different for the annual church picnic, making it into an event for the whole neighborhood. Food stands, live music, a flea market, Olympic games, face painting, and a jumpy gym for the kids, all made for a lively atmosphere and a great place to invite friends and people from the community. I invited all the ladies from my Integration course, and was super pleased when two showed up with their daughters. Ralf's sister Silke and her finance Rudiger were here to visit for the weekend and we enjoyed spending the day with them and other friends from our church. God blessed us with great weather for the event - it was one of the few times we've seen the sun this summer - and we were very grateful for it!

Summer Festival

View from Above

This is by far one of the coolest wedding presents we got - a roof tour of the Cologne Cathedral - courtesy of Ralf's office. Other than the open construction elevator that we had to use to get up there, it was fantastic. We had a beautiful sunny day which displayed the stained glass windows in all their glory. Was nice to experience it together with his colleagues. Even though the tour is only in German, I'm taking all the Americans on it when they come to visit - its worth it even if you can't understand a word!

Cologne Cathedral - Roof Tour