Greg and I stayed a few days in a timeshare on the San Antonio River Walk. We bought a blue bonnet picture at an artist shop, ate Mexican food, and toured the alamo.
Great Grandchildren are Special!
Vacation in the States has kind of gotten me "back (b)logged." I'm really having a difficult time getting back into the blog scene.
We've now been back two weeks and the jet lag has been worse this time than ever before. I attribute it to the fact that we left wonderful, sunny, warm Texas to fly back to dark, cold, dreary Vienna. Our days and nights have really been mixed-up, but it is finally getting better.
Our time in Texas was absolutely fantastic! Having our kids and grands there was such a huge blessing. We also had the added blessing of being with my mom, Greg's parents, my brother, cousins, aunt, uncle, and friends.
Our family Christmas was celebrated on Sunday, 12/26. The day began with family church in our home in Bulverde. Talk about voices from heaven! The kids sounded like angels as they sang their little hearts out. Greg presented a lesson and each family communed together as we took the Lord's Supper. It was a very special time.
Everyone pitched in with the food and the meal of smoked brisket, spiral ham, and all the trimmings was very yummy. There was way more dessert than is humanly possible to dispose of in a week, but we made a good dent in it. After lunch the kids scattered to the four winds (or shall we say, the north forty.) The trampoline is always a big hit. There was also a slack line strung between two trees to test both kid's and adult's balance and dexterity, horse shoes, croquet, and just sitting by the pond playing and letting the fish nibble fingers. With an 11 yr. old, a 10 yr. old, two 8 yr. olds, a 7 yr. old, two 5 yr. olds, a 4 yr. old, two 3 yr. olds, and a 1 yr. old there are sure to be ample playmates.
The slack line was much more difficult than it looked!
Trampoline fun for young and old!
Silas armed with Nerf gun he received as a gift. In fact, I think most of the kids (adult kids included) had one. There were some fierce Nerf battles!
One of the best gifts a grandparent could receive was given to us by our kids this year. They commissioned two photographers to come to us. The field out back with the tall golden grass proved to be the perfect backdrop. The two weathered blue benches from the back porch (thanks Brandts!) provided the perfect seating. Another good backdrop for the grandkids, Nana, and Pop was the steps of the well house. We are anxious to get them and will definitely share them with you on this blog site.
The girls got dolls from Germany from Nana and Pop.
James gets in on the present scene. He was showered with WalMart gift certificates this year, but I didn't hear any complaints.
All the boys got LED head lights
My birthday dinner at Mamacita's restaurant in Kerrville.
Greg and I celebrated both our birthdays and 39th wedding anniversary while in Texas.
Sheppard relaxing while Nana does all the work.
Uncle B, Jake, and Max having a little shoe tying session.
Aidyn, Delaney, Anderson exploring Nana and Pop's property and making friends with the neighbors.
The week prior to leaving for Texas I hosted a lunch and cookie exchange for the women in my international cooking club. Normally, the person hosting would prepare a meal from her country while the others observe and assist. After 3-4 hours of preparations we all partake in a scrumptious meal.
So, how does one from the United States decide on the food of her country? It's not as cut and dried as those from other countries. When I suggested we do a cookie exchange the women were intrigued. After decorating and baking sugar cookies and dipping oreos topped with caramel in chocolate, we sat down to a lunch of meat and non-meat (for the vegetarians) chili followed by traditional American pumpkin pie. A good time was had by all.
Countries represented are Portugal, Syria, Germany, Lebanon, Japan, Honduras, and U.S
We really enjoyed our evening at the Kisi Kid's concert. One of the girls in our home church (Carli) invited us to come. She has been singing with this Vienna Christian children's choir for a few years. She is a natural and loves singing in German since becoming fluent in the language.
The kids did a great job with both their singing and choreography.
Carli (one with the black scarf)
One of the surprises was the location of the concert-Pharrkirche (one of the old churches in Vienna.) It's not everyday that one gets to sing in a facility like this!
We felt privileged to have the Assefs (Thierry, Uta, and bebe Nathan) come over to bring Indonesian (the food of Uta's country) last weekend. We have become quite attached to Nathan. I was able to visit in the hospital when he was born and we have been gradually building a relationship with Nathan and his Mommy and Daddy. We thoroughly enjoyed our evening of excellent food, good conversation, and a lot of oohing and aahing over bebe Nathan.
Last week we were uplifted by attending a concert by Michael W. Smith at the Stadthalle. We were surprised by the large crowd. It was MWS's first time in Vienna and he seemed pleased by the excitement and participation of the audience. On one song he asked the audience to sing the verses in German and everyone seemed to know the song well enough to do so. We met a couple sitting near us who were from just outside of Vienna. They were part of a charismatic catholic group (never heard of such a thing!)
I just had to blog about our crazy weekend. It all began on Friday evening when we hosted an "N-1 Group Meeting." N-1 was the group Greg led in Los Alamos prior to coming to Vienna. Well, it just so happened that there was a large percentage of the group (past and present members) here for a conference last week. We decided to have everyone over for Mexican food (green chile chicken and red chile enchiladas.) There were 25 present (including a canine friend and a few of our favorite little people.) One of the "nicer LA people" brought us eight cans of Hatch green chile. (Thank you Phil-we'll love you forever!) After 23 years in LA one becomes accustomed to "real green chile" which is not to be found here. Canned Hatch is a close second to the real thing!
Maya and her Daddy (James) with Violet looking on
Belian girls (big ones and little one)
Now, tell me, why does everyone like to congregate in the kitchen (the record was 15!) when there are tables and chairs available?! I attempted to get into my kitchen to be the "good hostess" and make sure there was enough food, dishes, drinks, etc. available for our guests, but finally just gave up and let them fend for themselves. It's a good thing we have a larger than usual Austrian kitchen!
Even Colby (our canine visitor) recognizes the significance of hanging out in the kitchen!
There were some who made use of the tables and chairs. The one sitting with her back to the camera is Becca Stevens (she was a high school friend of our daughter, Amy, and now she is in Greg's group here in Vienna. Small world!
On Saturday my friend, Shonna, invited me to a DAR (Daughters of the American Revolution) genealogy luncheon workshop at Cafe Landtmann. It was four hours of tons of information on how to research our lineage in order to identify a person who was involved in some aspect of the American Revolution. It was so interesting and I am chomping at the bit to learn more of my family history. Not sure I have the time while here to get this going, but it will be a nice project for the future.
The next event of the weekend was home church at our place on Sunday followed by more Mexican food. Hey, why not? So, after our time of worship we feasted on tacos, pinto beans (which cannot be bought here), and beef burritos. We also had the Bizcochitos (NM cookie) and homemade salsa (made by a chef friend) which was left over from Friday night. I think all present enjoyed the food (even our Austrian friends who usually turn their noses up at American food.)
Jake, praying with our kids. We have two Austrian girls and their mom who attend. They speak no English so our services have to be in both English and German. We sing mostly in German-Greg and I seem to be able to do much better singing German than speaking it. I guess they would think we were just a little weird if we sang everything. Oh well, we're probably weird anyway!
After a very busy weekend Greg and I took a little time to relax on Sunday evening and watch "The Middle" which has become one of our favorite TV shows. We pay a fee each month in order to download a few shows from the States. German TV gets a little old after a while. I don't think I've ever laughed so hard at a TV show as I do watching "The Middle." It is about a quirky family with three kids. Tune in sometime and see what I'm talking about.
So, as I reflect this morning on our weekend, I thank the Lord for our health and energy and all the blessings He so graciously bestows upon us.
