It's The Most Wonderful Time of the Year!

Greetings from Deutchland. I have a list of things I want to do for the holiday season, but honestly I've been slacking. I need to get a move on (Christmas cookies have yet to be baked, Paul's shopping yet to be done, and many more excursions to be traveled). On the upside, Paul and I got our tree today(despite the fact that we couldn't locate our tree stand-we pushed ahead and got it). These pictures are courtesy of our good friends the Kuhls. They had just gotten a great new camera (ours isn't too hot at night), and were kind enough to help us document this years holiday fun. They were from the Heidelberg Christmas Market and Thanksgiving.

Speaking of friends... Recently when dining at a friends house, I asked if I could finish her food-this got me thinking. There are certain indicators that let you know when you're really good friends with someone. For example: You know you're good friends with someone if you go to the bathroom while on the phone with them, if you finish their scraps of food, if you clean their bathroom when it needs it. There are plenty of others, but at the moment I'm drawing a blank. Lastly, I have to share something a friend did that eased my burden and was truly awesome. Last night after our Christmas enrichment activity, there was much cleaning to be done(most of you know how time consuming this can be-putting decorations away, tables away, doing dishes, mopping floor...). Unfortunately, Paul was working and so I had Tristan for the night. I knew that it would be a nightmare taking care of Tristan (who should have been in bed), and trying to help get the church cleaned up. Thank goodness this didn't happen. A good friend of mine, was nice enough to take Tristan home and put him in bed for me (then just waited patiently for me to get home). This really was the greatest gift someone could give and I feel so blessed for friends (thanks so much Leslie).