After walking in the park for a few minutes, we came upon a huge greenhouse.

The greenhouse was filled with all kinds of plants in different habitats. Here's David in the desert section.

We left the greenhouse and crossed the park to the rink. The girls planned to skate; we guys ended up setting off on an adventure of our own, rather than wait on a bench for two hours. More about that in a minute...

Ellen snapped this one.

Ellen and her friend Solvi

When we got to the rink, they were taking a break to resurface the ice, so we killed time eating a snack and playing on the adjacent playground.

Ellen shows off her mega jungle gym skills.

Doesn't every little kid dream of driving the Zamboni?

The skaters started making their way onto the ice, while the three of us made our way up to the balcony for a better view.

The little kids could skate holding onto little gnomes. I wonder if they have those in adult sizes? Can you tell why I wasn't out on the ice?

After watching the skating for a few minutes, we said goodbye to the girls and headed on a quest to find a church. We could see the tower in the distance, so we had a good idea of the direction we needed to travel. We started our walk and found the streets were pretty much deserted.

On our walk toward the church tower, we stumbled upon a block of old-looking houses. One was really old - from the 1770's; the rest were built in the 19'70's by a private foundation to resemble houses from that time.

We stopped by one of the buildings on that block so I could nab this photo of a window in an old door. Dan read the sign by the door and realized it was a museum or something and that it was still open for the day, so we knocked on the door, and a guy unlocked it and let us in.

The building ended up being a library owned by the foundation that rebuilt the block of historic houses.

The library was filled with books written in an old form of German. Dan had fun talking to the librarian. Dave and I amused ourselves looking at the display cases and paintings.

After we left the library, we kept on walking toward the church tower as the sky grew darker.

The church is named after the Angel Michael and has a statue of him over its front entrance.

I wasn't supposed to take a picture in the church, but, oh well, I read the sign after I'd already snagged this one.

When we got back to the rink, it started snowing! We guys stood on the balcony overlooking the rink and caught snowflakes on our tongues until the girls were ready to leave. Then we all made our way to the mall.

Can you imagine an American mall with a fruit and vegetable stand? I've never seen one, anyway. It's hard to believe the Germans are this into healthy eating.

I can't believe that German malls have real bakeries either. It's like I've died and gone to Bread-lover's Heaven.

A shopper bundled into winter clothes eyes the new Summer 2006 collection.

A cup of chai hit the spot before our train ride home. Thank God that coffee houses are something the US has in common with Germany.

STIR CRAZY

Illustration by Alli Arnold

Today was pretty much a lazy day of hanging around the house, we are all going a little stir crazy, what with the cold weather and all. Tomorrow we are supposed to get out of the house for a little adventure, at least driving into Buchholz or something. I'll keep you posted...

SNOWMEN, SNOWBALL FIGHTS, AND BOTTLE ROCKETS

winter makes a dramatic display in white here in Germany, that's for sure...I keep expecting to see the White Witch's sledge pull around the corner at any minute...

Here's my attempt at a self-portrait...

Dan shovels the walk so we can get to the patio where we will shoot fireworks...

a snowman family portrait...These were the first snowpeople I've made since we lived in TN when I was 3...so really the first I remember...

Dan and Nette putting on the finishing touches...

E with the snow lady...

Me and the kids with our snow people. See the old army hat on the snow man? It's from a British soldier found in a German field after the war ended.

The snow hit most of Europe. It made the news. Here's a link with the story. In this picture, you can see how thick it was. My footprint swallowed my hand when I measured the depth.

Looks picturesque, doesn't it? But shoveling snow is much harder work than this Mississippi boy expected it to be!

This is a neat spiral staircase behind E & D's school. I'll post some more pics like this on my design blog. If you want to see them, follow the link on my blogger profile...

ELLEN

I promised Ellen I would post a couple of more flattering pictures of her on the blog for all of you, after showing her so many times hidden under her puffy coat and my hat. Here's one of her on her birthday that I took on the school's playground.

Here's one Ellen's mom made of her on the same day - my beautiful niece!

Here's the Ellen I remember from the last time I visited Germany. She sure has grown up a lot.

TIMES SQUARE LIVE VIDEO FEED

Here's a link to MSN's live video feed from Time's Square. If you are like me (no US TV), you will appreciate it.

HAMIN' IT UP

Guess which movie we are watching tonight...

ICH BIN EIN BERLINER

Berliner-Pfannkuchen (Wikipedia)

SHOOT 'EM UP! BANG! BANG!

turbophoto.com

HAPPY NEW YEAR'S EVE!

We finished breakfast, and David and Annette ran to catch the bus into Buchholz to pick up some fresh Berliners for tonight's celebration (tradition here). In Germany, New Year's is called "Silvester," named for Pope Sylvester I. Ellen and I are just hanging out around the house until they return.

You should see Dave with his fireworks. He's lined them out on the living room floor and inventoried them more times than I can count. He's planning quite the pyrotechnic display for tonight. Looking at them all spread out at my feet, I feel like I'm typing in a military arsenol.

I'll end this post by wishing you and yours a very happy, healthy, and prosperous new year! God bless you in 2006! I pray we all know Him better in 12 months than we do now. I can't think of a better New Year's resolution.

MAKING A SNOW ANGEL

SNOWBALL SNEAK ATTACK

David finds himself in Narnia...

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pulling the sled toward the trail...

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David at the slope's top

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