Trees for Troops, Christmas Market

We had a great Saturday!!!  We started out our day lazy and hung around the house, then at noon we went to Landstuhl hospital where they house the wounded warriors.  We decorated trees for each person that is staying there right now to start with, then we were able to go into the hallways and drop them off.  We didn't knock on the doors because many of them just came in the night before.  After that we stuffed stockings for all of them.  People were generous and donated some items to fill them.  Then we took those and a Christmas card to each room to put by the trees.  It was really cool to have the boys so excited to be doing something good!!

 

One of the trees AJ decorated

 

 

Stuffing stockings

 

Even the older boys were having a good time!!

 

 

putting the stockings at the doors

 

AJ making sure everything was just right!

 

After that we went to the BX to run off some energy for the boys.  We were there for awhile and you will never guess who was there visiting?!?

 

 

Yep Santa!!!  So we got our picture taken with him and the boys let him know what they wanted for Christmas!!  Then it was off to a Medieval Christmas market in Burg Lichtenberg.  We got there right at sunset and it was beautiful!!!  We couldn't have gotten there at a better time!  It was different than the last Christmas market in what was sold, etc.  That was cool!!  The AJ found an old musical instrument and Michael a pirate knife (made out of wood of course).  The vendors were stretched throughout the whole castle and there were a lot of people there!!  It was hard to get through sometimes.  The German people also don't take to saying excuse me, they just push right through with no thought at all.  But it was a neat castle, one we probably will go back to when there aren't so many people around.  In the proximity of the district town Kusel it is the largest defense system in Germany, the castle Lichtenberg. The 425 m long fortress was mentioned in 1214 for the first time. Since the castle system was already placed under monument protection in 1895.  It is the biggest castle in the Rhein.  Henry the Lion lived at this castle from 1170-1195.  We had a good time and tried some new foods, not sure what one was called, it was tree something.  It was dough that was wrapped around a big wooden dowel.  It was then coated in sugar and rotated around with the fire beneath it.  Then coated in whatever you want, we had cinnamon and one chocolate.  They were very yummy!!  This was the first time that we had seen these and will have again if we see them!!! 

 

Our walk down towards the castle with the sun going down

 

Sun is gone, but beautiful colors left for us to admire!!  God sure paints beautiful pictures!

 

The entrance in to the market and castle

 

 

A view off to the left of the castle

 

 

The chapel with the sun setting behind it and the market below it

 

 

The boys wanted to do action shots - here is Michael's

 

And AJ's

 

 

They had a couple of different bands playing, this one roamed the castle

 

 

They had some live animals there, here is Michael with the sheep

 

 

Another band, they sounded really good!!

 

 

Then on Sunday morning it snowed.  AJ decided he wanted to help Daddy clear the snow.  He did a great job!!  Here in Germany, if somebody slips on your sidewalk in front of your house, they can sue you.  So you make sure that you shovel the sidewalk and put down salt.  Also I found out that if you don't scrape the snow of the top of your car, you can get a ticket.  Little things that we are learning, hopefully we will continue to learn them the easy way and not the hard way.  :-)