Beautiful Malta

     After Christmas and traveling to the states for 2 weeks in January, we needed a vacay from the vacays.  We did a 5 day trip to Malta where, after rain the first night, we had beautiful sunny weather. After a long German winter, we were ready for some warm sunshine.   

Views from the Hilton Resort 

 Visit to Valletta

 City of Mdina 

  

Private tour around the island

 

Fall and Winter Update

So much has happened since September!

I made it back to the states at the end of September and stayed through first week of November.  The first couple weeks, I was with my mom to help out while she continued to recover from her illness.  She is doing much better and continued to get stronger over the past few months.

 I drove back through St Louis, where I visited a few friends.  Then made my way on to my daughter’s house.  I got to see their new home for the first time.  And was there to witness the birth of my granddaughter, Hadi.  She came a couple weeks early, but that meant I got to spend extra time with her.  I enjoyed 3 weeks with her and her sister and it was so hard to leave!

A few days after getting home, we flew to the UK where we attended a dinner at Gonville and Cauis College in Cambridge.  It was a true honor to get to go.  We spent the rest of the time visiting friends. In December, we had several visitors and spent most of the time visiting German Christmas Markets, which I’ll get into in more detail with another post.

Our daughter, husband and the 2 grands came out to spend Christmas with us.  It was wonderful having them here.

    

 

   

 

In January, we made a trip back to the states to visit family and get caught up with our medical appointments.  We arrived at Beki’s right before a winter storm rolled in and ended up snowed in for 3 days.  We saw Ari and Jerret in St Louis along with friends in the area.  Our last stop was Ohio to see parents and siblings, good visits, good dinners, and a Walleye hockey game.  My cup is full!

We’d been home 5 days and John had to leave for the states, which meant I stayed in Germany by myself.  It’s really weird and a bit scary being in a foreign country by myself.  I laid awake the first night anxious and running through the what ifs.  It’s these moments that I continue to learn to lean into my faith. 

In peace I will both lie down and sleep; for you alone, O LORD, make me dwell in safety. Psalms 4:8

When you walk with Jesus,you are truly never alone.  I’m going to make it through this week.  I may not leave the house, but I’ll get through it!

It’s all going to be alright!

 

German Christmas Markets

One of the great benefits of living in Germany are the Christmas Markets!  They start early in mid November and last right up until week of Christmas.  Here are a few highlights of the ones we saw this year.

Koblenz

  

 

  

  

Bonn 

  

Cologne