Advent Calendar

I have been looking for a couple years for a simple way to count down the days to Christmas and look forward to the joyful day of celebrating Christ's birth. Most everything I saw in the stores involved candy as a part of the count-down. Not a good idea if this calendar is to be used a bedtime! Then I found this cute magnetic Advent Calendar. I ordered it and it came to us in about a week - perfect timing!

Here is our daily reading to go with it (adapted from Noel Piper's advent calendar readings, since her calendar is no longer available for purchase). I hope it will be a wonderful way for our family, this year and for many years to come, to count down and look forward the day we celebrate our Savior's birthday!

The item in bold each day is what will be put on the calendar.

Jesus is the greatest Treasure of all. This is the story of how He came to us. Long ago, God made a promise about a little town named Bethlehem. He said, “O Bethlehem…from you shall come forth for me one who is to be ruler in Israel.” Jesus is the King that God promised to send.
1) One time, a long time ago, in Bethlehem there was a place called a stable.
2) In the stable there was a manger
3) filled with hay for the animals to eat.
4) Animals like a sheep…
5) and perhaps a cow.
6) There was also a donkey who lived in the stable.
7) One day the animals had a big surprise. A woman came to stay in the stable. Her name was Mary, and she was glad to rest in the stable with the animals, because she was going to have a baby, very soon!
8) Her husband, Joseph, was with her. Before they traveled to Bethlehem, an angel of God told him in a dream that the baby was God’s son. The angel said, “You shall call his name Jesus, for he will save his people from their sins.” The baby was the King God had promised.
9) Mary and Joseph could not find a cozy inn or a warm house to stay in because the emperor had commanded all the men, women, girls, and boys to go to their hometowns and sign up for paying taxes.
10) Little Bethlehem was filled with people (lady with basket), so there was no room for Mary and Joseph. Their baby would be born in the stable with the animals.
11) It was a very busy time in this little town, many people were hustling and bustling around with their luggage, running to get water or food for their families while they were staying in Bethlehem.
12) Out in the fields near Bethlehem, there was a shepherd.
13) …taking care of his sheep…
14) …under the trees, outside in the hills near Bethlehem.
15) Maybe there were other shepherds with him….
16) …to help him take care of the sheep.
17) Since many shepherds cared for their flocks in the hills surrounding that area.
18) That night God also sent a very special star.
19) Far away, a wise man saw the star and said “This is the sign that a special king has been born. I must find him and worship him. I’ll bring him a royal gift of gold.” So he got his camel ready to travel.
20) …and he brought along another wise man who had a gift of rich perfume, called frankincense, for the King.
21) He brought with him a third wise man who prepared a gift of precious oil, called myrrh for the king. When they had packed their baggage on their camels, all the wise men set out on the long, long journey to find the king that God had promised.
22) One night, an angel, of the Lord appeared to the shepherd. And the glory of the Lord shone around them. They were filled with fear. But the angel said, “Fear not. I bring you good news of a great joy that will be for all the people. For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Savior, who is Christ the Lord. And this will be a sign for you: you will find a baby wrapped in swaddling cloths and lying in a manger.” Suddenly, there was a multitude of angels, praising God and saying “Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace among those with whom he is pleased!”
23) Then the angels went away from the shepherds back into heaven. And they said to one another, “Let us go into Bethlehem and see this thing that has happened, which the Lord has made known to us.”
24) And all who heard it wondered at what the shepherds told them. But Mary treasured up all these things, pondering them in her heart.
25) And they went with haste and found Mary and Joseph, and the baby Jesus lying in the manger. And when they saw it, they made known the saying that had been told them concerning this child. And the shepherds returned, glorifying and praising God for all they had heard and seen, as it had been told them.
When Jesus grew up, he died and rose from the dead to save us from our sins. He is our greatest Treasure!

Halloween & St. Martin's Day

We celebrated Halloween again this year with the chapel "Hallelujah Festival". We enjoy the non-scary atmosphere and free supper, and the boys adore the big jump-house! Josiah dressed up as a mouse and Nathaniel was a horse. Fun was had by all!

On Nov. 11, Americans celebrate Veterans' Day. Tom gets a day off from work and we love an opportunity to relax together with no destination to rush off to. Germans celebrate that day, too; it is St. Martin's Day. St. Martin was a Roman soldier in Germany (long ago) who was kind to the poor and gave away his own belongings. The children celebrate by making lanterns and singing songs together to commemorate St. Martin's good deeds for the poor. Nathaniel's kindergarten held an evening gathering and processed around our town with their little lanterns. Nat, Jo, and Mom made paper lanterns for this event (a monster truck and an owl)- they were cute and glowed quite well in the dark night! Nathaniel did a great job learning German songs and his class even sang songs the next day at a nearby nursing home.

Beautiful Bavaria

For the last 8 days we've been in Bavaria. Tom attended a medical conference at a hotel there, and the little guys and I just enjoyed the mountains and swimming pool at the hotel. The boys and I swam every day. We took a cable car up to a mountain peak and enjoyed the view from the top. We "hiked" every day, too. A hike with a 2 and 4 year old is more like a wander-back-and-forth, but at least we enjoyed our surroundings and could praise our God for His fantastic creation. The fall colors were nearly done, but there were a few trees still hanging onto their leaves. Together we contemplated the amazing possibilities about the ways God created mountains (were the rocks like play-do in his big strong hands or did He draw it with His finger and then it took on shape and form??). We enjoyed our time together. One day when Daddy was out of his classes earlier in the afternoon we took a fast ride down the mountain side on a rodelbahn (alpine slide). It was an exciting rush!

After the conference was finished for Tom, we went to stay at a farm near Berchtesgaden for a couple days. The boys enjoyed petting the cats and goats and maneuvering the toy tractors and trailers. We wandered around the barns, observed the cows, checked out the tractors and came to the conclusion that farming is a LOT of work! We also enjoyed the boat ride in the Königsee and a hike up and around peaks at the other end.

Enjoy the photos from our recent Bavarian adventures!