Christmas traditions

We just finished our last day of school before the Christmas break. The students were a bit crazy Wednesday in anticipation of Christmas. We had a nice chapel Wednesday morning to tell the Christmas story from Luke and to be grateful to the Lord for our friends and our school. Two families are moving back to the States over the Christmas break, so we said our final farewells after chapel. These are some of the tough moments we go through as a small school because we build a strong sense of community together. We will miss our students immensely. Here is this year's school picture - these are some of the best kids in the world.

We have been preparing for Christmas over the last weeks, trying to keep from accumulating too many things that will just have to stay here. In a odd sort of way, it is actually good that things are so expensive for us here; it keeps us from getting too much stuff. Trips to the Weihnachtsmarkten in Basel, Weil a. R., Lörrach and Gengenbach this year have been festive - Delynn loves the woolen goods; Michael loves the food! In the picture of the Basel Christmas Market, to the left you can just see three little cherubs atop the gold and white striped spires - the one closest is holding a wurst up like a prized offering. They make me smile every time I see them... We decided against getting a tree this year and instead have decorated our apartment with just a few items; Delynn made sure to pack our Christmas stockings which now hang on our wall waiting for the Weihnachtsman to fill with goodies. Did you know that in Germany, they still trim the Christmas trees with candles? We were talking to a German friend at Life group (that's what we call our Bible study groups at ACB) about how dangerous that must be and she said that it never really occurred to her that it might not be safe - her family has done it all of her life and they still do! The tree at school has electric "candles" on it along with student crafted ornaments.

Basel Weihnachtsmarkt - note sausage wielding cherub to left

Here's a better shot of the Wurstengel.

Delynn's thinking: "I could make that..."

We have been busy little social butterflies over the last week, attending several parties for Christmas - our Life group, RIA and Praise group all celebrated the Advent season. We also had a wonderful Carol service last Sunday evening. The service was held in the Pauluskirche up the street from where we normally worship. It is a great stone church with a rather large chandelier in the dome. The choir sat up in the balcony where the organ is situated. The entire service was filled with Advent readings interleaved with the choir and congregants singing familiar carols. With over five-hundred voices reverently and joyously reverberating within the confines of the Pauluskirche, it gave me goosebumps.

Speaking of geese... For Christmas day, we toyed with the idea of having a Mexican Fiesta thanks to a generous care package from the Taylor clan in Vancouver - they even sent festive cups and plates and a pair of maracas to party with! In the end however, we decided that the Fiesta will best be enjoyed with fellow staff members sometime soon and opted instead to try our hand at cooking goose. Well, it's not quite as big as the one from a Christmas Carol (you know: Scrooge and Tiny Tim...), in fact, it is not even a whole bird but just a goose breast (our oven is not that big...) We will let you know how it turns out.

Christmas tree in the courtyard of the Baseler Rathaus

The ribbon festooned Puppenhausmuseum (dollhouse museum)

Delynn and I would like to wish all of our friends and family a very blessed Christmas, or as we say in Germany: Wir wünschen euch ein sehr gesegnete Weihnachten.