We’ve been having a lot of fun with Krista’s family here. Sorry, we haven’t posted but I did upload a lot of photos from several of our day trips:

Opening Presents on Christmas Eve

More photos like this can be found here in the Photo Album

Mom on our trip to Colmar, France for the Weihnachtmarket

More photos like this can be found here in the Photo Album

One of our favorite trips is to Haut Koenigsbourg in France

More photos like this can be found here in the Photo Album

Krista and her sister in front of the largest waterfall in Germany (Triberg in the Black Forest)

More photos like this can be found here in the Photo Album

Hope ya’ll have a wonderful New Year’s Eve. We’ve got our fireworks and we’re ready to go. Tschuess.

Sorry I have not blogged for a while. The day that I last blogged was the day that my parents came for a two week visit. It was wonderful having them here. It also gave us an excuse to take some time off and do some of the sightseeing that one can do around here in the Black Forest and Switzerland.

It was really great catching up with them here and listening to them repeatedly say how much Alex has grown and matured. It was ironic that they came about 8 months after we left the US and in about 8 months time we are planning on returning to the States for a visit. So they came right in the middle.

You can see some of the Photo Albums from our trips using these links (these are just some of mine - between all of us, we had over 4 GBs of pictures):

• Triberg & Badenweiler
• Heidelberg
• Interlaken
• Augustica Rustica & Haut Koenigsbourg

Oh, in some of the pictures you will see John. John is an eDOT member who is currently raising his support to be a part of our team that is located in Kiev, Ukraine. Also, you will see Krista’s Dad, Howard. He was able to have a two day layover with us on his way from Kenya to the USA.

Today we had a nice little family hike to our “local” castle, Burgruine Rötteln, which is in Lörrach (about 15 km from our house). It is just a beautiful day and so we parked a little ways away and hiked over to the castle. Then we explored all the areas of the castle (with a very happy and exploring child).

Something we have found interesting is that when you live in America, a lot of people have a fascination with castles and the fairy tales of knights and princesses. However over here in the land of castles (and the origins of fairy tales - remember the Brothers Grimm are from the Black Forest), a lot of people have a fascination with teepees and the Native Americans. Just something to think about.

Check out our exploration of Burgruine Rötteln in the photo album.

This last weekend we did a little get away and visited some friends of ours who are now living in Köln (also known as Cologne). They moved there in December and are still getting everything set up but it was great to hang out with them. They are a part of a church planting team called Cologne In Motion.

There is definitely a difference from rural Germany (which is where we live) and urban Germany. Even how they speak German is very different however it was awesome to see the sights. The Dom (Cologne’s huge cathedral) was spectacular and even just hanging out in the park and letting the kids splash in the fountains was very relaxing. A highlight for us was that they have a Mexican restaurant (not something we have found in our area) and so we thoroughly enjoyed ourselves.

But probably the most memorable time in the weekend was on our way to the restaurant. After we parked our cars and were trying to figure out if we needed to pay for parking (of course, the signs are in German), several men were yelling to us that parking was free as it was after 3 PM on a Saturday. My friend approached them and started conversing with them in his limited German. Our wives and kids went on to the restaurant but he and I stayed just for a few minutes talking with them. On Saturday nights (and from what I could tell, other nights as well), these gentlemen hung out at this coffee shop (owned by a man from Tunisia) and played Rummy (but not for money, they insisted). All of these men were from Algeria (over 30% of Cologne are immigrants). They invited my friend to come hang out with them any time he wanted and he could play cards and work on his German (they all had to learn German when they moved here too). We introduced ourselves and then were going to introduce our families when we realized they had already left and decided we had better get moving ourselves.

We walked away from that experience pumped. Not only were we able to speak with these men in German, but also to be invited to hang out with them is just the opportunity that my friend is looking for in his ministry. Lives are changed when relationships are built and in those relationships, people see God’s Work in our lives as Christians. That doesn’t mean being perfect, it just means that they can see the Hope we have and how that moves us.

Please check out our photo album with all of the pictures from Cologne.

I have just reorganized and updated the Photo Album so be sure to check it out. It includes a photo set of our latest journey which was a two day trip to Schloss Neuschwanstein und Hohenschwangau (where are castles near the German and Austrian border). To get there, we got to go through three countries (Switzerland, Austria, and of course, Germany).

It was interesting as these are “newer” castles that were constructing in the 19th century. You may look at Schloss Neuschwantstein and think it looks familar. Well, if you like Walt Disney World, then you probably can guess that this was the castle that inspired the design of Cinderella’s castle. Unfortunately, the do not allow photos of the inside of the castles (but you could probably find plenty online) but they were both absolutely fabulous. A must see if you come this way.

Oh, if you want to see this latest photo set directly, just click here

Tschuess!!