The countdown is on...

Christmas cards have been sent (thanks Memoo!) and received
Cookie after cookie has been baked (and eaten)
Christmas parties and programs have been attended (with just a few more to go)
Gifts have been made and purchased
Suitcases have begun to be packed
And last night was our Christmas service at NCW...

On Friday, we head to America.
We are ready.
Ready to spend time with our family.
Ready to relax.
Ready to have some fun.
Ready to celebrate our Savior's Birth.

Merry Christmas from our family to yours...

Family Poem...

Luke has been working on a project about "his family" for school for a few weeks now.  He could choose from a long list of things to do.  He made a family crest, a family tree, provided a waffle recipe that has been passed down from his great-grandmother (and this morning I went to school and shared some fresh waffles with the kiddos) and wrote a poem that cracked me up....

Hunter, is my family name

From all around Europe, we all came.

Back to Europe we went,

4 and 1/2 years we've spent.

We came here a church to start,

Our home is in the city's heart

German, a language I not yet knew,

Schnitzel and Sachertorte learned to chew.

I've been to 4 different schools, 

But everywhere they think I'm cool :)

(and yes, he is just like his mom and put a smiley face at the end of his poem!)

Tis the Season...

For making Advent wreaths...

for making Gingerbread houses...

For waking up to shoes filled with candy from "St. Nikolaus"...

and for visiting Christkindlmarkts...

Kitchen Makeover...

The month of November has flown by and has been filled with lots of things to be thankful for!

Many of you have asked for an update on the kitchen, so here it is...

Before::

I wasn't so good at taking good "before" shots, but I found this one and you get some idea of our hodge- podge storage.  (This was taken after the St. Andrews team was here and had delivered TONS of American goodies!)

And here is some of the mess in between...

And FINALLY here are some After::

We were so happy that we got to use it just in time to celebrate Thanksgiving!

Gratitude Photo Challenge

I moved my photos to my photo blog... www.iliketotakepictures.wordpress.com

What a week...

This has been an extremely full week!  We have much to be thankful for and excited about :)  All of these events should really be their own post, but I am just too worn out to write them all separately...

so here is the shortened version of what our week looked like--

::  Halloween Party on Monday

:: Luke had his awards banquet for soccer on Thursday evening.  They really grew as a team and had a great season!  We are so proud of him!

                                                      (Luke is all the way on the right in the red and black striped shirt)


::  I started a photo challenge

::  We had a wonderful team dinner on Friday, celebrating Lindsay, as we prepare to say goodbye to her for a few months.  She will be back in the States until March~ and while she is there, she will be support raising, receiving additional discipleship training from WHM, spending time with her family and friends and hopefully getting some good rest :)  We are really going to miss her and look forward to her return!

:: Luke had 2 middle school parties on Friday!  We are on the brink of having a teenager on our hands :)

Gisselle and Irena

:: Our friend Gisselle came to visit for the weekend from Munich.  She lived in Vienna for a short time while she was working on her Masters, and she was an active part in the first few months of our church plant.  She was and continues to be a great encourager to us!  It was great catching up and getting to know her friend, Irena.

:: Kitchen demolition began on Saturday...and if all goes well, we will have a new one by Friday :)

:: While the kitchen was being taken apart, the kids and I joined some dear friends for a day of playing in the leaves... ( I will def. post more pictures later)

:: And last but not least, tonight we received our first class of new members at New City Wien!   It was a historic night for our young church and a great celebration of God's faithfulness to us and our church.

Go HERE to see more photos

Gratitude Photo Challenge :: Day 5

Day 5:: Morning sky at the Belvedere 
At first the sky was super gray this morning- but then the sun made a surprising appearance.  So thankful to spend a wonderful morning with great friends and a beautiful castle!

Gratitude Photo Challenge :: Day 4

Day 4:: Leaves
I am very grateful for all of the years we spent in sunny Florida,
but I LOVE experiencing all of the seasons while living in Vienna
(taken with my i-phone)

30 Day Gratitude Photo Challenge...

I have never been a part of a photo challenge...but I have always wanted to try it.  So even though I am starting a few days late... Here goes! (I am cheating a bit with using pictures I have already taken for these first 3 days)

Day 1~ Favorite Food

Without a doubt, one of my mom's favorite foods is peanut M&M's...just ask her how many she ate the day Luke was born :) Also, I am very thankful for my momma!

Day 2~ Smile

I love this photo so much that I put it in my header for my blog...I can't get enough of this little guy :)

Day 3~ Happiness

This just screams "Don't Worry, Be Happy" to me!

So, I might not post the photo here everyday, but I will to my Flickr acct and my photography blog

Halloween Fun...

Halloween isn't really celebrated around these parts, so we always like to invite our friends over for a little Halloween Fun!

:: goody bags

:: cookies

:: costumes

:: s'mores

:: silly games

:: plenty of good friends

:: pumpkin carving and ghost stories all make for a really fantastic Halloween :)

Berlin in Bits... Day 3

Our last day, the dads joined us for some fun family time.  We went to Tropical Islands!  It was amazing- once we got over the initial shock of how enormous/overwhelming it was! :)

Pools, waterslides, beaches, restaurants, hot air balloon rides, an indoor playground and good friends...what's not to like!