5th Sunday of the month: Gemeindetag

Today we had invited to an open house. This sign stood outside the building. The Lord brought one visitor our way, a student in Magdeburg (no picture, I didn't have out my camera yet), whom we enjoyed getting to know. She was able to stay for dinner, but had already arranged to meet with a friend early in the afternoon. We enjoyed the day at church with the church family. The men who were at men's meeting yesterday morning sang a special number in the morning service. Our friends from Nigeria who live an hour away, came up to spend the day with us. These are the kids from my Sunday School class this morning. Calling everyone to dinner :) Fellowship around the tables: This was Werner's official good-bye. We ordered a special cake with marzipan (almond paste)and a greeting on the top. His dear wife died 2 1/2 years ago, and in a few days he will be moving down to live with his daughter and family in southern Germany. They were among the first few Magdeburgers to attend our church almost 15 years ago. Jesse turned 5 a few days ago and shared his birthday cake with everyone. The kids enjoyed playing some games together between the official activities of eating, watching a short evangelistic film, a singspiration, and coffee and cake. Today was also the 1st Advent Sunday, so we had decorated the church this past week. Last, but not least...clean-up time:

Happy Birthday, Evan!

Evan turned three on Wednesday, so Carol and Kevin had a party for him yesterday afternoon as well. Watching him unwrap was so sweet. He was so serious and appreciative, saying: "Oh, my word!", "This is so big!", "This is amazing!", and always a ready "Thank you" for the giver.

A Lovely Meal

Lorraine had fixed the tables beautifully. Many hands helped prepare the beautiful meal, and many mouths helped to eat it all. :)

A Thanksgiving Chain

Last week Richard and the kids had several days of "secret art class." Yesterday they presented us with this very long chain. Each link had been written on. It was a blessing to read everyone and everything they were thankful for.

Thanksgiving in Germany: Preparations at Home

We delayed our Thanksgiving by a day due to school schedules and enjoyed a wonderful afternoon and evening of fellowship with the Matthia family and Richard on Friday. Most everybody had a part in getting ready. The kids decorated the cookies they had made the day before. Doreen helped with several projects, e.g. the stuffing and Derek's donuts. Unfortunately, I never quite get pictures of everybody. :)

Thanksgiving Glimpses from Greenville

We are having trouble with our other computer which is home to most of our pictures. I will add a greeting from the girls in Greenville once we have it up and running again. They had a special Thanksgiving with the family in the States.

Wednesday: Around Home

Derek, my handy-man: It smelled like the vacuum was burning up, so Derek took it apart, down to the motor, which Bradley was able to find online and order for me. We hope it will be here soon. We miss our clean floors! :) Danika and Bradley in their daily reading time. Danielle enjoyed sitting in Daddy's big chair and trying out his "donut-pillow".

Yummy!

Today Derek did some whitegloving in my kitchen and then decided to try out a new recipe he had found: DONUTS! Wow, what a treat for us. He finished them up a little bit ago, so we will get to enjoy them for breakfast! The "CHEF" hat he is wearing was made for him by Danika. :)

More Snow on Monday

What a thrill to wake up to bright new snow on Monday morning. The boys had finished taking down the scaffolding on Saturday, so the deck was beautful for the kids to play on! Donia and Doreen couldn't resist stepping out into the snow during the morning hours. Donia made the kids a huge play house in the upstairs school room.

Sunday, November 23rd

On Sunday we enjoyed the new picture hanging over our information table. It was made by Natascha who moved last month with her husband to the former West to take jobs. Our guests joined us for dinner and the afternoon. We were a nice international mix---Austin, all the way from Nigeria, and T. Höppi and Olaf who live just a few streets away from the church. At the end of the day the four youngest and I had a great time building up a Duplo city and country side. :)

Little Is Enough

We had snow in the last days- Not very much at first, but enough to thrill the kids and let them enjoy a good time outside! They also enjoyed bringing some of the snow in and experimenting on it with food coloring!