2nd Doctor's Appointment

Last week we had our second baby doctor appointment. Everything looked good and the baby has now developed all of his/her legs, arms, fingers, toes, etc. It was amazing. Marisa goes back next week for another appointment. Mother and baby are doing great.

Thanksgiving and Pot Luck

We had a wonderful Thanksgiving. We spent the day eating turkey, ham, and American and German sides with some friends from church at Rey and Denise's house. We missed seeing our families, but had a good time. Most Germans celebrate a thanksgiving but it is in October, their harvest time, so all of the German stores were open for business which was good because we needed to stop by IKEA. Both the ham and turkey were grilled on the grill. This was probably due to the fact that most German ovens are smaller than American ovens. For example, only our smallest cookie sheet fits in our oven.

A few pictures from Thanksgiving.



Today we had our monthly church pot luck at our house. Marisa made chili and corn bread. We finished decorating our little Christmas tree last night and are looking forward to the Christmas season and plan on visiting lots of Christmas markets in Germany and surrounding countries. There is a Christmas market we found out in a cave in the Netherlands that we plan on visiting soon.

We hope everyone had a blessed Thanksgiving.

Wim Wenders

Last night we saw Wim Wenders in person and his new movie, Palermo Shooting. It was in German and was kind of like watching a picture show. I had no idea what was going on. Collin understood quite a bit and wanted to explain it to me. Wim Wenders is one of Collin's favorite movie directors. After the movie he spoke and signed autographs. I had never seen a famous screen writer and diretor in person before. It was a neat experience.

Our Second American Visitors

Last week we were blessed with the company of Gary and Carole from Texas, along with their German friend, Mathias. They took us to see the Heidelberg castle and we enjoyed talking with them and catching up.

Rothenberg and Christmas Tree Lunch and Hunt

We got our first snow yesterday. It was cold. We decided to drive to Rothenberg to meet with some people at a retreat. Because of the snow people were delayed, including us, so we only met a few people. We had a nice lunch and bought some Christmas ornaments from the Kathe Wolfahrt Christmas store. After spending way too much money we headed home.

Picture of our sidewalk

Rothenberg

Today was our church's annual Christmas tree lunch and hunt. We ate lunch at a cute German restaurant that was part of a mill. It was still snowing. We decided we would use our small Christmas tree this year and cut down a real one next year when we have a baby. The group that went on to hunt for their Christmas trees found some really good ones.

Picture from the lunch

PWOC Conference

I (Marisa) just got back from a PWOC (Protestant Women of the Chapel) conference in Northern Germany. It was the yearly European Worship and Study. One of the neatest things about the conference was seeing so many military women and spouses of the armed forces join together to worship God. There were over 400 women living all over Europe and a handful from the U.S. The speakers were excellent and the Bible studies were educational.

While most of the women at Worship and Study are already Christians some are new to the faith. In fact, one exciting night three women dedicated their lives to Christ. Praise God! They were baptized in the hotel's swimming pool. That was the highlight of the whole trip.

It was difficult being away from Collin for a week but he held down the house well and I'm glad to be back home with him.

We're connected!

Hi everyone. I'm excited to report that we finally got home phone and internet today! It makes me realize how dependent we are on these technologies.