My grandmother Toni is German, so between her and living in Germany for 5 years as an Army brat, I have a lot of fond memories of my German heritage, especially around Christmas. I plan to pass these traditions on to my children. When we can afford it, I'd like to take my family to tour Germany, starting with Rothenburg during Christmas (above). I know Elizabeth would also love to see Neuschwanstein Castle (below), better known to many as the inspiration for Cinderella's Castle.
Since that requires the kind of money I won't be earning any time soon in my current job (I'm open to better offers), I'll pass on what I can right here. My mom carries on cooking with the German recipes that were passed down to her (see my previous post when I was Tagged, re: rouladen), and I've managed to learn a few myself. The Fort Hood area has a sizable German population, so there are some authentic German bakeries and restaurants available.Then there's the tradition that Elizabeth already loves. She remembers it from last year, believe it or not. Of course, any time you get to have a piece of chocolate in the morning every day for almost a month, how can you forget?!?
Yes, I'm talking about advent calendars! My mom sent some for the family, and Elizabeth immediately remembered what they were. We had to hide them for about a week until......
DECEMBER 1ST!!!!!
Elizabeth didn't waste any time, and even helped Momma and her little sister get theirs.
Later in the month we'll get the tree set up and do presents and such. However, for obvious reasons we will not do the advent wreath. I don't think I can resurrect the computer a fourth time.
5 comments:
Advent wreath, computer... I am confused. Sometimes people don't tell me things. The story of my life.
But, I do love the pics and Germany looks georgeous at Christmas! I am a boring American mutt, so we have no really cool culture-rich traditions.
I love the picture of Elizabeth smiling! Such a cutie! She is getting so big!
Advent wreaths have open candles burning all month. We live in a house made of pine that has been drying in the desert for the past 50+ years. It doesn't take much to start a fire out here, especially with the high winds.
After the fire, I rebuilt the computer (better, stronger, faster....), then had to do it again when an electrical storm and our dirty power grid blew through a heavy duty surge suppressor.
ahhh! I was thinking you may have found out a candle or advent wreath started the fire (I could not remember what time of year it happened)! Sorry I was having a blonde... oops,sorry Christie... I mean Brunette moment!
How neat and fun to have such a strong heritage to share with your kids. It makes me a little jealous that we are such muts. And I am also sure that Elizabeth would love to see that castle someday! I sure would!
The official cause of the fire was "faulty wiring". Considering the houses were wired with aluminum wire 50 years ago and the wiring has never been upgaded (they redid the droplines to the houses after the fire), the only surprise is that it didn't happen sooner. The only special even of the day was we had just come home from District Conference.
No need to apolgize for the "moment"; it was a lifetime ago and some of the details take some remembering by us, and we were there.
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