Christmas In Germany

We are now only a few days from Christmas, and are loving Christmas in Germany. We are just coming to the end of the Weimar Weihnachtsmarkt. Apparently it was ranked by CNN as a top Christmas Market. Check out that link here. We have really enjoyed getting out and seeing the sights and sounds of the market. here are a few videos of it.

Here is the lighting of the Christmas Tree.

During the day seeing the Christmas Tree and German Christmas Pyramid.

Here is the Weihnachtsmarkt on Schiller Strasse

Cinda (Heather's mom) arrived last week, and it has been a joy having her. She's gotten to see where we live and walk and work. Unfortunately, we haven't had much snow (just a couple of flurries). But the time being with her and for the kids to be with their Nana has been priceless. We've made music together, made gingerbread houses, laughed, explored, and made lots of memories. We will miss her when she heads home next week, but thankful we've had this time.

We are looking forward to Christmas this weekend. A little difference culturally is that Christmas Eve is bigger then Christmas Day in Germany. Christmas Eve is when you open presents, and then Christmas Day is more relaxed and spend time with family (although in the grand scheme of things family is more important then presents). Stanley was going to be an angel in the church's Christmas Eve pageant, but as we got closer we realized that he will not go up on stage. So instead of forcing him to do something he doesn't want to do we'll just enjoy it with him.

I'll finish this post sharing a little project I had. A traditional German decoration is a German Christmas Pyramid. I found a do it yourself kit at the store, and put this together. Heather made the nativity(crippe) from peg dolls and extra fabric. We're really happy in how it turned out. Take a look.

December 2011