We celebrate every Sunday of Advent with a bible reading of The Christmas Story. We light candles on a decorated evergreen wreath coordinating the number of candles lit with which Advent we are celebrating (1 candle for 1st Advent Sunday, 2 candles for 2nd Advent Sunday, etc.) Afterwards, we pour hot cocoa out of a Christmas tea pot (now known as the cocoa pot) that sits on a candle burner. We dish out freshly baked cookies that were baked that day by mom and recipes chosen by dad and Bethany. After enjoying the yumminess of our goodies, we sing carols which Jeff accompanies with his acoustic guitar. I didn't take photos this year of our celebration even though in past years I have, but I wanted to share this special celebration with you. It is, afterall, part of what makes us tick as Schmidts and has brought us together a
s a family even through the most toughest times of all. It is this year that I can truly appreciate this most of all.
s a family even through the most toughest times of all. It is this year that I can truly appreciate this most of all.Another thing that we (Jeff and I in the past) love to do is attend the Christmas markets. Jeff was raised up going to these wonderful events and I, luckily, have gotten to share this with him the past 6 years that we have lived here in Germany. Bethany is not one for Christmas markets, but this year she put us through the paces making sure that we celebrated every aspect of Christmas! It also took a bit of bribing on our part (although admittedly not a whole lot) to get her to go to this one with us. In the past she has just flatly refused. This year we told her to bring her boyfriend. Need I say more? Here in the picture on the left, is myself with Bethany and her guy, Aaron. We had just arrived at the Amberg Christkindl Markt. Incidentally, while this was her first Christmas Market as a 16 year old teenager, this was also the first Christ
mas Market she had ever attended at the age of 16 months. It was much bigger than the first time she went. The second picture is kind of a duplicate. I have this same photo of Bethany taken in the very same location- under the doorstep of a building only it was taken when she was 16 months old. I had a hardtime getting the photo this time due to either lighting or people walking in front of me. It's not the best picture, but it was the moment itself that was special....at least to me.
mas Market she had ever attended at the age of 16 months. It was much bigger than the first time she went. The second picture is kind of a duplicate. I have this same photo of Bethany taken in the very same location- under the doorstep of a building only it was taken when she was 16 months old. I had a hardtime getting the photo this time due to either lighting or people walking in front of me. It's not the best picture, but it was the moment itself that was special....at least to me.We weren't there for very long before we started partaking of all the goodies the market has to offer. First stop- freshly grilled bratwurst on a yummy brotchen. I honestly probably wasn't supposed to eat this since I am pregnant- raw meat, unpasteurized meat, etc. are no-no's. Don't worry I suffered mega guilt after I ate this just like I did after eating a portion of the steak from the ball. I have been extr
emely careful with my diet and always made sure to eat the proper things, even with Kara our team commander's wife ordering me to take back my severely pink hamburger to the concession stand at one of the football games. It's great to know that I have these wonderful friends looking after me. BTW, Isaac's still doing fine as you will see in a post to come!
emely careful with my diet and always made sure to eat the proper things, even with Kara our team commander's wife ordering me to take back my severely pink hamburger to the concession stand at one of the football games. It's great to know that I have these wonderful friends looking after me. BTW, Isaac's still doing fine as you will see in a post to come!Anyhoo, the market is filled with tons of booths selling crafts (candles and ornaments), taking donations (Red Cross) and lots of food booths (grilled brats, gluhwein or in my case kinderpunsch, baked goods, crepes, waffles, pizza, kabobs and more). That is really not even covering it all. In the center of the markets they have the Tannenbaum (Ch
ristmas Tree) all lit up. Again, the pic above isn't the greatest, but you can kind of make it all out so you get the idea. If you have never been to one of these markets, I highly suggest you go to one before your tour is up in Germany or one year make a special trip to Germany (home of Christmas traditions) and check out all the wonderful activities and events here. We love it here and wish we could stay forever. It is the best place to raise kids as they are somewhat the center of german life.
ristmas Tree) all lit up. Again, the pic above isn't the greatest, but you can kind of make it all out so you get the idea. If you have never been to one of these markets, I highly suggest you go to one before your tour is up in Germany or one year make a special trip to Germany (home of Christmas traditions) and check out all the wonderful activities and events here. We love it here and wish we could stay forever. It is the best place to raise kids as they are somewhat the center of german life.They also offer a ton of activities during these markets, some even offer rides on carousels like the market in Kaiserslautern and Trier (both really great markets). Some other activities that they offer (besides shoppin
g) is a live manger scene. We were kind of giggling because only in Germany would you find a nativity scene where the participants were sipping on hot gluhwein (an alcoholic drink for those that have never partaken). However, the culture over here is much different than in the States and beer and gluhwein is a tradition here with the drinking age for beer starting at 16. While they do have those that have alcohol problems it is not nearly the problem that it is in the states and the rate of DUIs are low. They still have them, but the penalities for such a crime are so extreme that if you do make the mistake- guaranteed you'll never do it again. Another activity that some markets have is a live music. Sometimes it is a choir singing Christmas carols or in this case a live band.
One of the most unique things this live band did was to whistle a carol. Jeff was completely amazed since he is the music guru in our family. He had never before heard a band do such a thing. I was just impressed that they could whistle in tune like that as whistling doesn't come easy for everyone. It was really pretty to hear all those pro-whistlers delivering up a unique version to a traditional carol. Again, I know this pic is hard to see, but as you can tell it was very crowded so this was as close as we could get. One of the last activities that we saw at the market and offered at others like the one in Garmisch, is horse drawn carriage rides with draft horses. I love these old horses and remember seeing them when I was a child and falling in love with them then. They are truly such gentle giants and so incredibly beautiful. I have al
ways loved horses and miss riding them, but these draft horses are and have always been my favorite since seeing the Budweiser draft horse when I was a little girl in Joplin. Jeff, can we get one when we retire to go along with all the others? hehe.
g) is a live manger scene. We were kind of giggling because only in Germany would you find a nativity scene where the participants were sipping on hot gluhwein (an alcoholic drink for those that have never partaken). However, the culture over here is much different than in the States and beer and gluhwein is a tradition here with the drinking age for beer starting at 16. While they do have those that have alcohol problems it is not nearly the problem that it is in the states and the rate of DUIs are low. They still have them, but the penalities for such a crime are so extreme that if you do make the mistake- guaranteed you'll never do it again. Another activity that some markets have is a live music. Sometimes it is a choir singing Christmas carols or in this case a live band.
One of the most unique things this live band did was to whistle a carol. Jeff was completely amazed since he is the music guru in our family. He had never before heard a band do such a thing. I was just impressed that they could whistle in tune like that as whistling doesn't come easy for everyone. It was really pretty to hear all those pro-whistlers delivering up a unique version to a traditional carol. Again, I know this pic is hard to see, but as you can tell it was very crowded so this was as close as we could get. One of the last activities that we saw at the market and offered at others like the one in Garmisch, is horse drawn carriage rides with draft horses. I love these old horses and remember seeing them when I was a child and falling in love with them then. They are truly such gentle giants and so incredibly beautiful. I have al
ways loved horses and miss riding them, but these draft horses are and have always been my favorite since seeing the Budweiser draft horse when I was a little girl in Joplin. Jeff, can we get one when we retire to go along with all the others? hehe.Well, try as I might today, I have not yet caught up with all of December. I think I only lack about 4 more posts till December is complete and I can finally show you the work being done on the nursery. I have had many people ask and I have pictures to post, but the nursery is still a work in progress. So, far, I can tell you that it is turning into my dream nursery that I have always envisioned for this little one. A place of quiet comfort where I can nurse my little one and enjoy watching him grow up during our short time left here. Now that I have given you a teaser, it is really past my bedtime.
Love to all,
Our Family to Yours!
a trip down memory lane for us--these are memories we cherish and so glad you also have them.
ReplyDelete