Well, since coming back from Michigan October 19th, we have been keeping busy with friends in Ye Old Lippstadt. There was the Herbstwoche Festival (celebrating the arrival of autumn) which was a lot of fun for the kids and the adults too. Jason has posted those pictures on this site. Addison went on a lot of roller coaster rides that would scare other normal 3-4 year olds. Kylie went on her share of little kid roller coasters. The food at this festival was your typical fare of brats, pommes and of course beer (apfel shorle for the kids). We all took a ride on the largest Ferris wheel I had ever been on; I believe it was 165 feet up. SCARY!

Addison and Kylie are back in the swing of things in Germany. They both still attend their German kindergarten during the week (3-4 hours daily). Addison is keeping busy with gymnastics and soccer with Louis. She also started going on pony rides two times a month with some other girl friends, Annika & Merriam. It is really cute seeing her brush her pony, clean its hooves, then ride it. Of course she showed off when I was there..."Look Mom, no hands!" Afterwards all the parents enjoy coffee and snacks. It is nice to be able to meet others in the area. Kylie gets to tag along with me where ever I go. She always likes to do or see what I am doing. We call her our little spit-fire or Jason's favorite, Kylie Monster. I think the terrible (or terrific) TWOs are upon us!

We celebrated Addison's 4th birthday last Sunday. It was a lot of fun. She invited Louis, Juno, Annika, Merriam, Mila, Tristen, & Mara. All of the parents also attended. Since there is no Pastry Palace here to order my cake, I had to make one from good ole' Duncan Hines from Michigan. I cooked and frosted the cake and Jason decorated it. It was actually very nice and reminded me of my cakes growing up. My personal favorite was angel food cake! Addison got a lot of cute gifts.

For Thanksgiving, we decided to go to Munich for four days. Apparently it is the starting of their Christmas festival there. It will be a five hour drive from Lippstadt. We plan on seeing some castles while we are there too. It should be fun!

We are coming back to Michigan and NY on December 13th until January 2nd and are looking forward to seeing everyone for Christmas.

Signing off only for now!