Celebrating the Holidays in Germany

Frohe Weihnachten! Happy Holidays!

We've lived in Germany now for over three months, and so far December has been full of fun experiences for our family. Our boys are doing well in German school, picking up the language much more quickly than we are. They have gone to the theater and sledding with their classmates, and spent a week making crafts for Christmas. They came home with bird feeders, ornaments, candle holders, masks and homemade cookies (see below). German public schools teach religion to all school children, so these past few weeks, our boys also took part in lighting an Advent candle wreath and each day one student had the chance to open a door on the classroom Advent calendar.

Advent calendars are sold here in all shapes and sizes, available at just about every store. Since our family celebrates Christmas, we purchased unique advent calendars for our boys. We are sure this is not something they would find at home...Alex's calendar is the ever so popular Playmobil.

We have enjoyed the Christmas markets here, as it is an opportunity to get out of doors in the cold and snow, visit the festively decorated wooden huts, selling mulled wine, bratwurst and crafts of all variety. Mostly, it is a great place to hang out with family and friends. The pictures above and below were taken in market here in Marburg. We arrived for the lighting up of the city, which was really beautiful.

A few weeks ago we took a trip to Munich. See the pictures below of their Christmas markets in the town center. I've also included a picture of my husband and me enjoying a good German beer at a local brew house. Cheers!




It is an amazing experience for our family to be here. It isn't always easy, but we have settled into life here as best we can. We are much healthier thanks to all of the walking we do on a daily basis. I know our boys are gaining a sense of independence as they are able to do things they wouldn't normally have the chance to do. And thanks to our very tiny apartment, we are all getting to know each other very well - like it or not!

Happy Holidays from our family to yours! Best wishes for a Happy New Year!