Norway

Norway was on our list of places we wanted to go before we left Europe. I had heard the the fjords were beautiful and I was also hoping to see the Northern Lights.

Unfortunately November really isn't the time to see the Lights and the fjords were too far away for us to visit in the weekend that we had. We decided we would have just as much fun renting a car and exploring the countryside. We thought we should skip Oslo - after awhile all European cities start to look alike!

It turns out that Norway pretty much shuts down in the winter. Everything seemed to be closed and there were not many people out and about. But there was plenty of snow!! We asked several of the locals things we should do in the area and they all just looked at us strangely saying "Its winter!"

Even though everything was closed Norway still was beautiful.

view from our hotel

traditional Norwegian church

Lucerne for Halloween

On Halloween this year we headed to Lucerne, Switzerland to cheer on our friends Ali, Emily and Jamal as they ran a half-marathon. I was supposed to run with them but Mike came home and he's not a big runner so I lost my motivation.

The weekend was beautiful. Nice and cool - perfect running weather. I was a little jealous as I watched my friends run by but then I remembered how hard running is :-)

We got to Lucerne the day before the race and spent some time sight seeing. We even took a boat ride on the lake.

mmmmm cheese

that's Luna and I by the river

Merry Christmas!

Mike and I enjoyed a very quiet Christmas this year. It was nice in one way - not having to get out all the Christmas decorations, set up a tree, etc. But some of the Christmas magic is all of that stuff, so we lost a little of that this year.

Our Christmas tree was a house plant

But even though we didn't have all the 'stuff' we still managed to have a very nice Christmas.

It was definitely a white Christmas

Mike and Luna enjoy Christmas morning

That didn't last long...

Mike waits for his dinner

sunset Christmas Day

Update

Ok, ok, ok - I know its been forever. Sorry :-(

I promise to document the last few months soon but for now here's whats going on this weekend.

Christmas break started early on Thursday with a early release from school and no school on Friday because of the snow. It hasn't stopped snowing since Thursday! We have to have like 8 inches of snow. A record for our time living here. I think Germany is sending us off with a bang. We may not be seeing any snow for the next few years!

Saturday we headed to some Christmas markets with Emily and Jamal. We drove northwest to Aachen and Monschau.

Homecoming

After 5 long months Michael is finally home!

Hanging out waiting for Mike

This is at 10:30. He was supposed to be here at 7.

Hanging out watching them unload and go through customs for 2 HOURS! From about 100 feet away.

My clock says 11:54. I didn't actually get to see him until 1am.

Yay!

Gazing into each others eyes :-)

I was wiping my eyes. Mike says he was taking off his hat. Whatever.

Luna and Mike reunited.

Video to come....

Chock-a-Block

CAB is a local german cover band that plans American songs. They have a huge American following. When we first got to Germany we heard CAB mentioned as the 'pilot band' because many of the pilots on the base liked to go see them. I was counting the other day and I think I've seen them play at least 10 times. We've driven as far away as an hour to go see them. We've seen them outside in the rain, inside in the middle of winter. We even saw them one New Years Eve.

Last weekend was their last show. Germany and Chock-a-Block are linked for us and it was a sad show. So this post is a little tribute to CAB.

Francis - the bass player

Sly - lead singer

Sly and Marco

the band taking their final bow

girls night at a CAB show

catching a ride to the New Years Eve show

dancing!

we drove an hour for this one

looong car ride in the party van :-)

and the wet show

sparklers at the last show

Pig Fest

Long ago, Wittlich was a walled city that was constantly bombarded by intruders. One day, the man charged with locking the gate to the city couldn't find the key, so he stuck a carrot in the keyhole. An innocent, hungry pig came up and ate the carrot, leaving the gate open and allowing intruders into the town. As punishment, the people herded all the pigs into the center of town and roasted them, because of course, that made sense to punish the innocent, hungry pig. Now, Wittlichers recreate this by roasting pigs and having a giant party to go with it every summer. And thus, Pig Fest lives on.

(thanks for the story Kate!)

first Ferris Wheel ride

Friday night dinner :-)

parade - yep, those are dead pigs

and live pigs :-)

watching the parade in the heat

Wittlich church from the Ferris Wheel

second Ferris Wheel ride!

taking a break from the heat

yay for RockBand!!