Christmas Moments

This year Greg and I hosted Christmas for the first time, and we also realized it was the first time since before college that we had stayed home for Christmas. That was way back in 1994! Both sets of grandparents made the journey here, and we had some special moments together as we celebrated the coming of Jesus by opening gifts, attending church together, eating traditional treats, discovering our surroundings a bit, playing games, and playing in the snow. The grandparents also helped us out a great deal as they did lots of helpful things around our house, like hanging mini-blinds, cleaning the kitchen/dining room floor, hemming a shower curtain, cleaning out the flower bed, cleaning the bathroom, putting away the Christmas decorations, etc. It was great preparation for the arrival of the baby. We are eagerly awaiting her debut any day!

Everyone at the Nutcracker in Pataskala...

Papa and Deeda with our little wiggle worm...

Nonnie and Mimi with the little girl who likes cookies...

Greg with our little eskimo who likes to take her gloves off...

Our Christmas Tree

Our tree.

The Tennessee Santa.

The "daughter" squirrel ornament.

One of my favorites...little Greg peeking out from in the tree.

The polar bear from Musee d' Orsee in Paris with sledding Kermit in the background.

Our Christmas tree has many memories tucked away in it's branches. From the Tennesse Santa to the little squirrel in the airplane, each ornament has a story. I grew up with a "real" tree each year, and Greg has been so sweet to continue this tradition. We also always put white lights on the tree. I'm thankful for the beauty of the tree, and enjoy the tradition and sentimental meaning attached to it. Below are two more reasons I enjoy having a Christmas tree...that it is alledgedly tied to the German reformer, Martin Luther is one, and the song "O Tannenbaum" is another. The third stanza of the song, literally translated, is my favorite. Please see below.

Legend has it that Martin Luther began the tradition of decorating trees to celebrate Christmas. One crisp Christmas Eve, about the year 1500, he was walking through snow-covered woods and was struck by the beauty of a group of small evergreens. Their branches, dusted with snow, shimmered in the moonlight. When he got home, he set up a little fir tree indoors so he could share this story with his children. He decorated it with candles, which he lighted in honor of Christ's birth. (http://www.christmas-tree.com/where.html)

O Tannenbaum, o Tannenbaum!

Dein Kleid will mich

was lehren:

Die Hoffnung und Beständigkeit

Gibt Trost und Kraft

zu jeder Zeit.

O Tannenbaum, o Tannenbaum!

Das soll dein Kleid

mich lehren.

O Christmas tree, o Christmas tree

Your dress wants to

teach me something:

Your hope and durability

Provide comfort and strength

at any time.

O Christmas tree, o Christmas tree,

That's what your dress should

teach me.

Discovering Columbus

The Main Public Library

This past week we became more familiar with our new home by visiting a few new places in Columbus. Phoebe and I joined friends at the main library downtown to view their Christmas train during the week. The children's section has two play areas and tons of books, and the train display looked like a replica of a German village. Some the trains even had German on them.

Greg and I also spent some time downtown on Short North and visited the North Market. Our evening on Short North was very cold, as we had gotten "soft" after having lived in Louisville for 4 (6 for Greg) years, but the Italian food at Marcella's was worth it. Greg enjoyed seeing the engineering savy of a restaurant built on an interstate overpass. The Market was wonderful...stands offering Indian, Japanese and Vietnamese foods, as well as pastries, produce, flowers, huge turkey legs, and much more. We enjoyed an Austrian cream cheese plunder and a banana nutella crepe for breakfast...delicious!!

Phoebe and her friend Noah enjoying the train at the library.

After our delicious dinner at Marcella's.

Greg pondering the engineering dynamics of the overpass.

The North Market from the second level.

Mmmm...banana nutella crepe!

A Tribute to Mamie

My great-aunt Mamie, my Grandpa's sister, passed away this past Thursday night at 88 years old in Walnut Creek, Ohio. I'm very thankful to have had such an example in my life. Here are some of the reasons she was such a blessing to me and to my family...

• ...she always welcomed family into her home.
• ...she always had some sort of delicious goody ready to eat (monster cookies come to mind!).
• ...when we visited, she always had a pitcher of Tang ready.
• ...she had a sharp mind.
• ...she a great sense of humor.
• ...she devoted most of her adult life to caring for her mother, and considered her to be her greatest influence.
• ...her motto was "not my will, but your's, Lord".
• ...she looked to Psalm 23 for comfort.
• ...she was not afraid to die.
• ...she wanted to be remembered as someone who loved her family and loved the Lord.

While I will miss Mamie dearly, I rejoice that, because Mamie trusted in Christ, I believe she's enjoying all of pleasures of heaven at this very moment. This reminds me of one of my favorite verses, Psalm 16:11:

"You have made known to me the path of life; you will fill me with joy in your presence, with eternal pleasures at your right hand."

                Mamie holding Phoebe last Christmas.              Phoebe playing the blanket Mamie made for her.

Christgiving/Thanksmas

We spent Thanksgiving in Cincinnati this year, for the third year in a row since the switch from Carmel, Indiana. It has become even more of a meeting point for my family since we've moved to Reynoldsburg, since two families are now coming from the Columbus area, and three are coming from Indy, to meet three more in Cincinnati. Due to the amazing planning and preparation of my Aunt Dawn, we were able to have the entire Thanksgiving meal at lunch, eat Thanksgiving dessert, then transition to Christmas goodies, the traditional family pictures, and then went to the basement to open Christmas gifts infront of the tree! Having both on one day had a number of advantages, but the main one for the Savages was being able to celebrate Christmas with family, since as of next week, I won't be able to be further than an hour away. We also headed to Evansville for a few days to see the Savages, Mayse's and the Beck's, where we enjoyed nice meals together and played our traditional round of Mexican train dominoes. Here are some of our family moments...

"After" Pictures

Here are some more before and after pictures, now that our house is pretty much finished. I haven't included all of the rooms, because the bathrooms and the office/nursery still need a little work, but here are the rooms that are finished, except for maybe a few finishing touches here and there.

The dining room...

The kitchen...

The family room...

The play area...

Phoebe's room...

Our bedroom...

Schmidt's Sausage Haus

On Thursday, we enjoyed (thanks to some friends at RBC) a wonderful evening at Schmidt's Sausage Haus in German Village, which is just south of downtown Columbus. The setting was beautiful...quaint houses lined closely together on cobblestone streets, and the restaurant is lined with white lights. Greg got to try the famous Bahama Mama spicy sausage (which, he says, was the "wurst"...haha...hoping someone will get that bad joke), and Val savored Rouladen, Spaetzle and Kartoffelpuffer mit Apfelmus. We ended the evening with their famous creme puffs. The pictures below are of the outside, the "Autobahn Buffett" and the happy man serving sausage. Danke schoen!