A NEW YEAR STARTING

Wow...I can't believe its been so long since I updated this blog. I knew that December was a very busy month but I had hoped that to have done a little on the blog.

We started December getting ready to decorate our apartment for the Christmas season. I love Christmas and wanted to decorate early. Deep cleaned the living room to get ready, and the best laid plans just didn't come to pass. It was almost the week before Christmas before I got to start decorating. Too much going on.

The first weekend in Dec. we went to Arnsberg in western Germany. We love to go and visit with Esther and Randolph and their church. We had a great weekend of ministry and just fun and fellowship also.

We had a visiting teacher stay with us for 3 days. He was teaching the 2nd and 3rd year students. This is the 3rd year that he has come and taught at the school for Richards 3rd year class.

On the 11th we headed to North Germany, a village called Krogaspe. We have dear friends there, and we wanted to visit and take in a couple of Christmas Markets. On Friday we went to Lubeck for the first market. It was fun with Hans and Else, and the old part of Lubeck is quite interesting, so it was a good day. On Sat. Richard had to study for his sermon on Sunday morning, so Hans and Else and I went to another Christmas Market. It was amazing. We went to a farm where they had set up a huge craft market and outside other booths with many different types of items. I loved the craft market, and found several different types of things. Some stocking stuffer items, which I love to find. On Sunday we were at the church and had a wonderful time with the people there. This is a bitter sweet time for us, since we are realizing that we may never be back there again, since we leave to move back to the states the end of May.


Marguerite - Richard - Else

I made Christmas cards this year. It was the first time I have ever done that, and I was so pleased with how most of them turned out. I only sent them to people in Germany, since postage to the US is more expensive than the cards I made. People in the states got our e-mail greeting - sorry.

The last week of school before break was very busy. I had my last English lesson until the 3rd of Feb. We also had a Christmas party for the 3rd year class. It was fun. We had supper for them, and boy do they like to eat. It was a fun night and we laugh a lot. Three of the students will travel to the US for their practical studies for a month. One young man will be at the Church in Gillette. I am so excited about the, as he will be working with our daughter and son-in-law and some dear friends for the month. I love it when our family gets to meet some of our students.

On the 19th we had the leadership team to our apartment for dinner. It was our way of showing them our love and appreciation for their work at the school. We had a wonderful dinner, and lots of fun conversation and prayer. The leadership team prayed for me, since that morning I found out that I had bronchitis, and also that we would have a safe trip to the states. Such wonderful friends to have.

We were able to open our home to one of our students that didn't have a place to go for Christmas. Not a good home situation, so Richard had an opportunity to speak into his life about some ways to try to make things a little better in that situation. Christmas morning we read the Christmas story, opened our stocking gifts, and ate a special brunch. Sven left a little before noon to spend a couple of hours with his mother and then he left for Frankfurt. He flew out the next morning for Missouri. He will do his practical study there for the month of Jan.

On the 31st we took the train to Frankfurt, spent the night - and what a night that was - to leave the next morning for the states. New Years eve in downtown Frankfurt is not a restful place to be. We tried to go to sleep early because of the long travel day on the 1st, but from about 11:30 until about 1:00 there were more fireworks shot off than I have ever seen. We finally got up and watched them for a while, until they started to settle down a little. So, not a whole lot of sleep. Our flight on the 1st was great. We left right on time, and because of the weather we got in 1 hour early. Gave us a little more time to visit with my family (my sister and her husband and my mom and dad). We had a good visit with them, ate a Chinese meal and then headed back for the airport in Detroit.

Richard - Marguerite - Susie - Kit - Mom & Dad

Marguerite - Mom - Dad

Marguerite - Mom - Susie


Got into Tampa about 10:00, got the car and went to a hotel. We really needed some sleep by then. It was a little over 24 hours by that time that we had been up.

We are now in Leesberg, Fl. for the month of Jan. Trying to get some things done at the house so we will be able to move our stuff here in May. With a house full of stuff, and bringing 8 years worth of stuff from Germany, we need to organize. So, that about brings you up to date on what is going on in our lives at the moment.

A fun thing is - we are now a great Aunt and Uncle. Richards nephew Micha and his wife Jen had a baby girl on the 2nd of Jan. We will get to see Emily Love on the 15th or 16th. How fun. She looks like a beautiful little girl, and little girls are a scarcity in our family, so it will be fun to meet her.


Micha - Emily Love - Grandpa Scott - Grandma Sylvia


We wish each of you a New Year filled with many blessing. My New Years resolution is to try to keep up a little better this year on my blog. My goal is to update it at least once a week. We will see.