Mysteries of Kandern Germany (2)

Mystery 2:
How do they do that?

Log stacking here is an ART!

I feel like I did my share of stacking when I was in high school, but it never looked like this! I think it's amazing. Every house in the village has a perfectly formed stack of wood near their house.

Possible explanations?
1. It's genetic.
2. They take wood stacking 101 in 1st grade.
3. They buy "pre-fab" stacks of wood.

Any more ideas?

The Mysteries of Kandern, Germany

Mystery 1:
Why do the leaves only fall on our yard?


I wish I had taken pictures of the neighbors yards this fall. I could have shown you how perfect they were. Maybe next year. I would do it now, but it's snowing. So I ripped off this pic from the Shuman's blog. Even their golf coarse is leafless in the fall.

All the yards here in Germany have trees, but for some unexplainable reason... our yard gets covered with leaves when the neighbors yards don't. How do they do that?

Here are the only possible explanations I can come up with....

1. They teach the wind and the trees to only drop leaves into our yard.

2. In the event that a leaf does fall... they run out into their yard and grab the leaf. They then run back into the house very quickly.

3. They convince their pets to pick up the leaves and carry them over to our yard.

4. The sheep eat them.

What do you think? Any ideas?


Sheila

Christmas in Germany

Germany really knows how to do Christmas BIG! If anyone is thinking of visiting us while we are here, you may want to consider any time in December.

The girls were excited to learn that there is Christmas in Germany too. I think they were a little worried about that until we got our tree.

This year everyone got things like scarfs, gloves, earmuffs, coats, snow boots, etc... and a few toys.

Then we had to modify our traditional Christmas day walk to the beach. The girls put on just about every gift they had just received, grabbed their new umbrellas, and we took a hike to some nearby castle ruins.

We got to the castle latter than expected. The sun was going down and it was starting to snow.

The girls
were right...
We should have brought their new flashlights also.

We hiked back down the mountain in no time. We got home just as the sun went down. The hot chocolate was the best I had ever tasted in a very long time!

Although we miss you all and the beautiful Aptos climate, we thank God every day that we can be here. I truly believe Brian's professional experience was a great need here and we are blessed to have your support to make that happen.

A very belated Merry Christmas to all of you. Please forgive the huge gap between posts. We do think of you often and pray for you regularly.

Love Brian, Sheila, Hannah, Jennifer, and Heather.

Fehler vs. Falle....

They actually sound pretty much the same, (or at least to me the do) but it's important to know the difference. So... Just in case you ever find yourself "accidently" taking a case of milk from a German grocery store: the correct phrase to use is:

"Ich habe einen Fehler gemacht." (I made a mistake).

Just trust me... "Ich habe eine Falle." (I made a trap) is NOT the recommended response!

Thank God the cashier was patient and understanding. Also, pretty generous.. She gave me a chocholate bar on my way out. : -0