It was a full week - happy, sad, good byes, hellos, pick ups and deliveries, beautiful sceneries and the official end of Christmas. We had rain, shine, snow, slush and wind. We discovered the bakery up the street is open way more hours than we thought - that's dangerous. We witnessed, once again, what a fabulous little community we live in. And we are so grateful, over and over again, for technology. We get to hear and see our famLee almost anytime we want. We were able to sit with people from Russia and watch a church video in their own language. It brought tears to their eyes and ours. We can't always understand what is said but we feel the love through hugs and eyes. We love these people!



Train Station good-byes are always so bitter sweet.
Excited for them, sad for us. Anxious to meet replacements.



It's hard to say good bye to the ones we've worked with for so long.





And of course another fantastic meal with great people.



Our last District Meeting with these fabulous missionaries.
The men in front are going home, the sister is going to Switzerland.





The last official act of Christmas - the burning of the trees.
Our community met in this field. The fire department picked up trees and people
brought their trees in wagons and we watched them go up in smoke, in the rain/snow
and drank hot punch and ate sausages while listening to music - it was reminiscent of
Oktoberfest. It touched all of the senses. Another great experience.



This last week made up for the previous week of contemplation. We spent more time on the road and in meetings than we did at home. We made lunch for 26 missionaries - it never ceases to amaze us that these young people can conduct meetings, teach each other about spiritual matters, teach complete strangers about the teachings of Christ and keep clean/semi-clean apartments AND they are fun to be with! We are learning so much from them. We got to end the week at the Swiss Temple followed by lunch at Cindy's Diner - delish! My companion spoke in church today about forgiving and moving on - he used the analogy of Tarzan swinging through the jungle. The only way Tarzan could move forward was by reaching for a vine and letting go of the one behind him. If he held onto both vines his progression would stop, if he didn't reach forward he would swing back. He gave a wonderful talk and he did it in German! We continue to love this work and the opportunities it gives us to move forward and watch others do the same.

Why didn't I think of this when we were raising our famLee?
They are lining up to wash their own bowl so they could each
have two cookies and most had fun doing it!



And they are off to teach and preach after being fed spiritually
and physically.

A little ancient city we found on our travels.

Oranges instead of chocolate - flu season - as a reward for
a clean apartment.

An elf from Forks provided wonderful Christmas gifts for my friend.
She'll probably never get to Forks so we brought Forks to her.

We traveled two hours to get here by 8:00 am, beautiful
way to start a Saturday.



We ended the week with another delicious meal with fantastic company.

It was snowy but it certainly didn't slow anything down.

Some might call our past week lazy but we prefer to call it a week of contemplation, reflection, planning, rest and recuperation. We sat and watched it snow from our warm living room, we reviewed 2014, we made plans for the coming year, we read, we talked - it was marvelous. Our wild and crazy New Year's Eve consisted of having the young sister missionaries over for dinner (Racelette), a movie (How Rare a Possession) and very competitive Uno. Too bad they had to be home before 9:30, that was plenty late for us!

The path up "our mountain"

We now call this "our bench." The Alps and the Bodensee
can be seen on a clear day from here. Corn will soon replace the snow.

We didn't stay in ALL week, it was beautiful to be out.

Some have asked what we ate on Christmas. This was delicious!

What a wonderful Christmas season we have had. We missed family and friends terribly but we are able to go home with new traditions and fun memories. We have been able to spend more time reading the scriptures and appreciating more how lucky we all are to know of Christ.  Christmas is celebrated on 3 days in Germany.


On the 1st Day of Christmas we were invited to a wonderfully
warm home and a delicious meal.

On the 2nd Day of Christmas we went to another wonderfully warm
home and another delicious dinner.

On the 3rd Day of Christmas we enjoyed some down time in our own warm apartment with our own trees and another delicious dinner. This time not so fancy but still delicious - bread, cheese and fruit. 



We got to spend Christmas Evening with the missionaries as they
Skyped home.

And then it snowed. And snowed. And snowed!



A "library" in the park. It was a pretty busy little spot.

Fun ice skating rink.

We spent several days this week being sick and locked up so getting out in the fresh, crisp air by the end of the week felt wonderful. We "worked" in a few different cities and love the charm of Christmas in Germany.  Most cities have Christmas Markets and some even install ice skating rinks. It's a great family activity, lots of laughing and fun. We also got to help Santa (Nicolaus, Weinachtsmann) pass out treats, loved that activity! The highlight of the week was celebrating The Man's Birthday! The young missionaries filled the car with balloons, friends had us over for dinner, friends called and sang, and famLee calls are coming in. Life is great.

In front of a Hair Salon, the ornaments are
curlers.

The looks on their faces were priceless.

View out our friends' balcony.




Surprise - balloons!!

Our friends on their balcony.

German Chocolate cake mix and frosting
brought from home. Delish!
Happy Birthday!
 

 We lost track of how many Christmas Markets we went to. They each have their own specialty depending on their region and they have some of the same at each one. The sights, sounds and feels are indescribable - everyone should experience a German Christmas. The sacred Christmas carols can be heard everywhere, manger scenes can be seen everywhere and laughter and happy greetings can be heard everywhere. No one is in a hurry to buy, wrap and send. It's a fabulous feeling to be able to focus more on the life of the Savior during this special time of year.



The multi-zone Christmas Conference was a great way to feel the
spirit of Christmas.

LOTS of packages full of love were delivered to young missionaries.

We celebrated Christmas early.

Nothing like warm soup in a bread bowl in a park on a cold day in Vienna.



Typical "hut" at a Christmas Market.



All company needs to see Neuschwanstein. It was very cold so we
rode in a horse drawn carriage wrapped in wool blankets almost
to the top.





Good bye! We had a great time!





We dragged them from the Black Forest to Vienna, Austria. We went to Christmas Markets, a conference, a baptism, palaces, train rides, bus rides, a concert and we walked and walked and walked. Thanks for coming girls. We love you.

It's been a full week - a sweet sister finished her mission and went home, we are excited to have visitors from home, we were able to participate in the baptisms of 4 beautiful people and we showed this beautiful country off to our visitors and lots of other minor things to keep us on our toes.

Good bye! It was great working with her.

Hello sweet visitors!

Christmas Market Number 1.

Ordering food all by herself. Christmas Market Number 2.

Such a wonderful experience with these people.

Christmas Market Number 3. Yes, it is cold!!



The reason for the season.
 

Beautiful Swiss Temple at night.