Weihnachts Celebrations, Markets and other stuff

When it snows here we love looking out our window--below is what we see!

We also see this when it is getting dark!
On December 11th we held a Missionary Christmas Party. It was a lot of fun! This picture is of Ilona Berkhahn on the cello (she is the temple Matron),Ron Frost at the keyboard, and Peter Bleyl on the flute!


Several of the missionaries were on the program. The Americans (us and the Frosts) really let down our hair and sang and read "Twas the Night Before Christmas." Our Temple President told Karen afterwards that he sees us in the temple everyday and we are reserved and quiet and go about doing our assignments with dignity. He just didn't expect us to be so begeistert. (If you don't know the meaning of that word, look it up! (Hint: it is German)

As usual the Germans make their food look beautiful.

This is the salad Karen made--she didn't think to decorate it up, but it tasted good anyway! It is a chicken salad, with canned peaches, pineapple, mushrooms and cherries in it. When we get home we will make it, but probably leave out the mushrooms. We got the recipe from one of the German Missionaries who is a chef!

Throughout Germany during the month of December the cities hold what they call Weihnachtsmarkts. There are all held outside. Before we went to our first one Carol Frost and Karen were talking about how cold it gets in Germany. Carol told Karen that it didn't matter at the Weihnachtsmarkts how cold it was because they were so much fun. Karen thought Carol was crazy--"it doesn't matter how cold it gets????" But she was right--they are a blast even though they are all outside and it is very very cold.

This Weihnachtsmarkt is at Marburg. We visited the city with several other Temple Missionaries on December 13, 2010. We were fortunate that the temple president and his wife had time to go with us.

One of the many shops!

Don decided that he wanted a bratwurst--no Weihnachtsmarkt is complete without one.

The Weihnachtsmarkt was surrounding the Elisabeth Church which

was built in 1283. Now it is a Protestant Parish Church.On the streets of Marburg

The Rathaus (City Hall) in Marburg

It was very very cold. Note the crazy hat that Karen is wearing. At least it is very warm. We say we dress like onions--layers and layers and then when we get too warm we can start to peel
Typical German buildings Don decided he had had enough of the cold and tried to get in a door--sorry Don it is locked!

A path from the Castle into the city. It was very steep and had ice on it! Again, we found out afterwards that we could have driven down! Yikes!~

More pathway down to the city.

Castle in Marburg--started to be built in 1000. One of the earliest high forts in Germany. It now belong to the University and houses the Museum of Cultural History.

The group of Temple Missionaries--we were all very cold but still smiling!

Looking down on the City. This church is the Lutheran Parish Church.

Castle

This is one of the forests around the area. Note the orange leaves still on the trees--they will be there until the new green leaves start to grow on the trees.

Once in a while it is nice to get out of the cold. This is the nicely decorated inside of the mall.

Weihnachtsmarkt in Frankfurt.

This was painted on the front of one of the shops.

Don really likes this Moose.

We got out of the cold to eat!

The carousal is a double decker. There are horses on the second level.

The Gingerbread man lives!

Weihnachtsmarkt in Bad Homburg. All of the shops are in the courtyard surrounding the castle.

This is a handcarved Nativity--the figures are nearly lifesize.

It was cold!

We see these hanging figures of Santa on a lot of the apartments. These are about the only Christmas decoration that we see outside the homes!

This is a real steam engine. The tracks are very close together and it is amazing how many kids can get on this train.

These are mackrel being cooked--they are speared on sticks and cooked over the grill. We were told that they are wonderful--but we just took their word for it. The German people eat fish as part of their Christmas Celebration. The favored fish though at Christmas time is Carp!

Weihnachtsmarkt in Darmstadt.

Karen with the Christmas Tree Man!

Yes, it was snowing.

We hope that you enjoyed the Weihnachtsmarkts along with us.

We wish you all a very Merry Christmas!

Thanksgiving and Advent

On Thanksgiving Day we started our shift at the Temple at 12:30. We stayed there for a couple of hours and then we were given permission to leave and attend a Thanksgiving Dinner with the Area Office Senior Missionaries in Frankfurt. We had a great time--there were about 60 of us there and we had wonderful food. It was a very nice Thanksgiving.

This is one of the Table Decorations. Yes, that is a real cabbage. We thought it was especially beautiful and creative.

This is a German Speciality. It is called Schwarzwaelder Kirschtorte or in English it is called Black Forest Cake. This is probably the only thing at the Thanksgiving Dinner that is truly German. These cakes are very very rich. The directions on the recipe says to not worry about the calories or fat just enjoy the taste!

Everyone enjoying the food!
First Snowstorm of the Season--this is looking out our window.

Getting Ready for the Beginning of Advent!

Advent starts on the fourth Sunday before Christmas. There is usually parties and celebrations, also concerts and programs.

Every year the Temple President and his wife hold Beginning of Advent in their very large apartment. The ladies from the temple get together the night before and prepare the food and then on the night of Advent there is a program and open house at the President's apartment. City officials and prominent citizens from the city are invited along with the Church leaders and the temple missionaries.

The following pictures are of the ladies preparing the food!

In this picture Carol Frost, Ingrid Morrill are preparing fruit kabobs. Erika Vollath is preparing dates stuffed with marzipan--yum!

It is amazing what the German people can do with everyday ordinary food. This picture is of Ursula Rauh--she is the mother of one of the young ladies that was serving a mission on Temple Square at the same time as Cynthia; they weren't companions but knew each other. Now Ursula and we are serving missions together. (Small world).

In some of the following pictures small slices of bread that is buttered is being prepared and then everyday ordinary food is arranged on them--they are very pretty and really taste quite good also.

Angelica Rehes is preparing a porcupine. This is a large grapefruit sliced in half and covered with aluminum foil. Then toothpicks with cheese and grapes is stuck into it to resemble (loosely) a porcupine.

Karen helping prepare the fruit kabobs

The temple at night.

The building in the middle is our new (soon to be) home. We will be moving there after the first of the year. It is a much bigger apartment--two bedrooms, a livingroom, and a kitchen. We will think we are living in a palace after leaving this tiny one-room apartment.

Some of the finished product.

We had our first taste of cavier--not much to rave about!

Advent

Don was assigned to help move the food from the Hostel cafeteria where it was prepared to the Villa. He kept snitching tastes--isn't that just like him?!!!!

This is an Advent Wreath. On the fourth Sunday before Christmas the family gathers around the table and lights one of the candles. They sing Christmas Songs and tell stories about the Savior; and then blow out the candle. On the Third Sunday before Christmas they light two of the candles and sing songs and tell stories--and so on until all four candles are lit. This way they work up the excitement of Christ's birthday and the children know more what the true meaning of Christmas is. This tradition was started by the Roman Catholic Church hundreds of years ago and has since been adopted by all of Germany and much of Europe. We think that it is a wonderful tradition!

Don and Karen at Advent

The stairs that we are standing on are in the Villa. There was a choir of young adults that performed at the Advent Program and the choir stood on these stairs to perform. The bass section stood in the balcony above the stairs. They sang beautifully. We think it was a wonderful way to start the Christmas Season!