The beginings of Christmas ...

The day after Thanksgiving, Shelby, Darren and I began the Christmas season by heading to a Christmas Market in Bern Kastel Kues. This little town is along the Mosel river, and is known for its advent house ...

I love looking at all the booths with the wooden stuff ... (below is the Advent building)

The next weekend, Shelby, Spencer, Darren and I went to cut down our Christmas tree. It was a rainy, muddy day, but we still had fun picking out our tree!

Our fallen tree... not too big ... or so we thought

When brought in the house, it has taken up half the living room! Pictures to follow Christmas ...

Should We Stay or Should We Go?

Okay all you 80's lovers ... remember the song? "Should I stay, or should I go now? If I stay there could be trouble, If I go there could be double ..." We have known since last June that Darren will be doing a fellowship at the University of Utah for one year, starting this coming July 2010.... Well, then we found out that Darren could apply to do the fellowship through the military - which would add 2 years for the 1 year fellowship. Darren applied to keep his options open. Today we found out that it is ours if we want it. So, we have to decide. Should we seperate from the military this summer, go to Utah and do the fellowship, and then job hunt ... OR, should we sign for another 4 years, get military pay while doing the fellowship next year, and then so somewhere for three year .... Should we Stay or should we Go? .... we'll keep you posted ....

Did I mention I LOVE my lanterns?

So, it started a year or two ago with a couple lanterns I thought would look cute on the front porch ....

It has grown, and I'm not even sure how many I have now. All different sizes and shapes -- the more different, the more I need to have it .... It's fun that there are so many different ones here in Germany! And, they are very nicely priced - even with the yucky euro to dollar exchange! (eat your heart out Pottery Barn!) Well, lanterns had to moved around to make room for Christmas decorations ... such a quandry ... what to do?

I love the nativity in the lantern! This is such a little nativity, but it looks great in this lantern ...

Lanterns mixed with nativities ...

I bought this lantern with the express purpose of putting a nativity in it ... This isn't the one I'm thinking of, but it will do for this year ....

I loved the simple pine cone and berries in this lantern!

You can always fill a lantern with ornaments ... truthfully, the larger lanterns look better with the ornaments in them -- but this one needed something ....

I have the shorter lanterns on top of my potter cabinet -- the cabinet is so tall, it's hard to find stuff to fit on top ....

Lanterns in the kitchen ...

more lanterns in the kitchen ...

And lanterns in the bathroom, bedroom, hallway ...

Did I mention I LOVE my lanterns?