Catching Up on December Activities

Our week ended by Mom getting to one more Christmas market. We went down to Baden Baden. They say that because the town is so nice you have to say it twice. It was a cute little town that we wished we had more time at - the story of Mom‘s trip. While Mom was here she was a handy lady too. For all of you who know her you wouldn’t expect anything less. She hung hooks in my closet. This sounds really easy but we have cement walls and a small handheld drill. She also fixed my vacuum cleaner with the duck tape that she brought over. I love when she comes to my house whether in the states or abroad. She headed out on Friday with no problems. I was only a little upset to see her go, but she kept reminding me that we had a big trip ahead and only a couple of weeks until I would see her again. Thanks for coming over Mema.

Now onto what we did for the rest of the weekend. Dan arrived home on that Saturday and slept for the better half of the day. The Grau’s invited us over for supper and some cards the same night. It was so nice to visit, (beat Dan and Angie G. in cards) and get Dan up and round. On Sunday, I decided to take the kids ice skating in Heidelberg. I thought I would see how they faired since we will be doing some ice skating in Austria. They had a great time as you see in the pictures. The weather was wonderful. It was lightly snowing. Just enough to make the setting beautiful and get you ready for the upcoming season. I think they would have stayed all day but my toes were like ten tiny little ice cubes. We finished the ice skating with hot chocolate. If Mom were along she would have asked for amoretto in it. (Just kidding Mom). It’s the German way!
We also had a going away party that night for 2 of the John Deere families that were on their way back to Moline. Even though we have only been here for a short time, the John Deere community is very strong over here and it’s sad to see them go.

This brings me up to date on our activities. I’m now in the car riding to Austria. We have been sitting in a stau for the past couple of hours. This is a traffic jam for those who don’t know what a stau is. While we were sitting there, Dan and I noticed there were a lot of cars pulled over on the side of the road. Our friend Seth called as the discussion was going on between Dan and myself. He let us know that part of the year the Germans use more of a water fluid for their windshield. He found this out from his personal experience. His sprayers froze up on the outside of his car. Now it makes sense why people were pouring water over their windshields and their hoods were up because they were pouring antifreeze in their tanks. Lucky for us that Dan had his oil changed and they had already replaced the windshield fluid for us. The gas stations are absolutely ridiculous. People pouring out of everywhere. Good thing we aren’t in a hurry and the kids are doing great. I love vacation. Merry Christmas. Enjoy each and everyone one of your family members and all the craziness that ensues. We will be thinking of you while we’re skiing.