A Good Slide

I just had a nice chat with our neighbour, Heidi. I was walking very carefully back from the grocery store because it was icy, and she took my arm and walked me to our gate. She enjoyed calling me an "old girl" because I was going so slowly.

Heidi speaks Allemanish. It is the local dialect, which is very similar to Swiss German, and very unlike High German. When Heidi and I visit, I generally get about every 5th or 6th word (at best), which gives me just enough to know what she's talking about and to join in now and then. However, her last two sentences this morning were completely lost to me, so I just wished her a "good slide" (Happy New Year!) and she was off.

Heidi and her husband Ewald are anomalies in this very formal German culture. When we moved into our house five years ago, she called to us across the yard the first chance she had to welcome us to the neighbourhood and to say, "Ich heisse Heidi" (My name is Heidi). This raised our eyebrows a little having become used to this formal culture of "Herr" and "Frau". But, Heidi jumped that first cultural wall at our first meeting, and it's been a nice change from the usual stiff acquaintances. Compare this with our landlords who call us "Dueck" (one step more informal than "Herr Dueck") and whom we call "Kilchling". It's a puzzle.

Happy New Year to you all and may you continue to enjoy God's amazing grace and goodness in your lives!

Arlin's last day

Today we were off to the Alsace, about an hour from home. As you can see from the plethora of pictures (!) the towns are absolutely beautiful there.





Notice the stork's nest on the top of this house.



These people know how to make a sign.



We enjoyed wandering the streets.


Alsatian china and pottery.


A great door.
This looks like Bauernmalerei, the German folk art I learned in Brazil. This is a portion of a shutter.

Two cultures meet

Here we are eating again! This time it's raclette which I believe actually originates from Switzerland. That's Katy's friend Deborah who was visiting for the day.
Then it was time for a few rounds of "tnipsbrat" if you're a Mennonite, or "crokinole" if you're not!

Pizza

Arlin took us out for pizza. We've had some interesting discussions about differences between families...

Family pic

Christmas meal with the Pletts

I spent Boxing Day preparing for our Christmas meal with the Pletts. We have a tradition of getting together with them each year and it is definitely a highlight for us all.
Around the table: Arlin, Katy, Beth, Lindsey, Jason, Sherri, Danny. Howard is hiding.
There he is!

I'm dreaming of a white...Boxing Day!

This morning Katy woke up knowing that this would be the day it would snow. She was right and was quite pleased with herself!
It's not a lot of snow (as of this moment) but it's enough to have to shovel and salt. A few years ago an elderly lady from our back alley came to the door to tell us that our portion of the alley that we shovel was "Spiegel glatt", meaning "mirror smooth". Howard told her he would get some salt on that ASAP! Which he did.
I love our red railing, especially at Christmas.

A lazy Christmas Day

Brunch was followed by a very lazy day, for most of us. But, even I managed to find time for a nap in the midst of preparing for company for the evening.

Christmas Eve

After enjoying our traditional cheese fondue around the coffee table, it was time to get down to business. A good time was had by all.

Arlin's here!

This is what we expected at Christmas...
...but now we have this! Howard's nephew, Arlin, is here with us for Christmas so I managed to find a suitable stocking and something to put into it so he could join in on the festivities with us!
Here he is being a great big brother to the girls - i.e. being a pest!
Okay, there's hope!
The sweater Bethany is wearing here is my sweater from Jr. High at T.A Norris! Does anyone out there recognize it? Or do you still have your own? My girls think this sweater is just "it" and so do their friends!
The kids took a hike around town and even up to the local war memorial.
In contrast to the winter wonderland up the hill from us, this is what our town looks like today on Christmas Eve.