February Friends! A special visit

Long time no write!

Sorry about that, but not much was happening here. We have been eagerly awaiting the arrival of our friends from New Haven, the Millers! Well, the visit has come and gone, and now I can write all about our exciting adventures with them.

They arrived on Saturday, the 18th - extremely and tired, and just a tiny bit frustrated at trying to find our place. (Road signs are just a bit difficult to find, let alone read.) Anyway - they brought us many goodies from home. I now have unsweetened chocolate (brownies in the oven as I write), choc. chips (way too much to use!), lots of cold medicines, books for the kids, and some Yu-Gi-Oh cards especially for Harrison. (He was SO happy.) Our first little venture out into the country-side with them was short - just enough to help them got out into the fresh air and make it until the evening - when, hopefully, they would SLEEP. (Leah didn't sleep at all on the plane, and David got maybe 10 minutes because he was seated beside her.) We took them to see the country house - 'Rushouse' - and family estate - 'Schloss Hulshoff' - of the famous local poetess, Annette Von-Droste-Hulshoff. They managed to get through our chatter over an informal 'abendbrot' (German light meal with meat, cheeses, and bread) and we settled them into our friend's house, the Emmel's, who offered them their house while abroad - bless their hearts! All in all, a nice beginning to our week.

Day 2 - we let them sleep in while we went to church, and then brought them lunch later in the afternoon. We took the opportunity during dessert to celebrate David's birthday from the day before. We invited the next door neighbors over for coffee and cake, and had a nice little chat about living in Germany. Heidi and her two kids, Nicole and Peter, were very informative about the whole educational process here, and they brought over gummi bears for all, a huge success. The weather was still cooperating, so we parents took a little walk around Altenberge to help orientate the Millers to their little village. We actually saw very little of Rowyn and Leah during the week - they were in their own little universe, and loving it!

I'll pause for some pictures.