The toughest thing...

  

...is to say a last good-bye to somebody we love. 

I had to do it at my beloved grandma's funeral in Germany last Saturday. 

But I am sure Grandma was watching us and smiling, all her six grandkids came together (from USA and Poland). We all wished it would have been for a different reason, but it felt so good to see each other after all these years. 

It must have made my grandma happy to hear us talking and laughing about our childhood memories. 

I could feel her right there with us. 

And I think, my parents did too...

The best grandma of all...

My beloved grandma Martha passed away on January 30th.
I will miss her terribly. She lives in my heart.

A bitter-sweet visit

We just came back from a very short trip to Germany. Just five days. The reason: my father's-in-law 80th birthday. We couldn't miss that one!

We spent five days with our family and attended the (very long!) birthday party. So interesting, many of the people who were there knew me since I was 17...and they still recognized me!

The movie about my father's-in-law life Olaf and I prepared was a big success. I have to admit we worked very hard to get this result, but it was a lot of fun too.

On top of it, the date of the party was my father's actual birthday, so we had two birthdays to celebrate.

This was the funny part of our trip... unfortunately there was a very sad one too.
Two days before we went to Germany my beloved grandma had a stroke. Almost miraculously, I got the chance to spend the last days she was conscious with her in the hospital, to talk to her and to kiss her good bye. I am thankful for that.

She is still in a deep sleep...and I must be ready to fly back soon.

Party time!

Jakob will turn only 12 on Wednesday, but he already partied until 5am... 

He celebrated his birthday ahead, together with his best friends, sleepover included. Though, there was not much sleep. 

They played wii and ds, raced each other in the basement, ate pizza and cup cakes and watched movies and...talked afterwards until 5 am in the morning! 

It always amazes me how much they have to talk about... 

After a short sleep and a healthy breakfast (muffins and pretzels, ha,ha): one more round on ds in pjs. What a fun!

Ps. It's 3pm in the afternoon - Jakob is sleeping deeply...

Welcome 2013!

Christmas is not just the most wonderful time but especially the busiest one... No time to take a brake or write on my blog. 

We celebrated Christmas Eve very traditionally, like we always did in Germany. The Christmas Day already started very American with ( too many) gifts in the morning and a Christmas party at our friends house in the afternoon. 

And then came the relaxing part: our trip to Vermont. The same procedure as every year, ha,ha. Skiing, snowshoeing, spending time with friends, having good food and good time!

While the boys went skiing,  I was snowshoeing in a gorgeous, deep powder snow for hours. 

There is nothing better than to be completely exhausted after a good work out and then to have a nice dinner together with friends. 

That's what we did in Vermont and how we crossed over to the New Year. 

And here we are, in the Year 2013. I hope it will be a good one!

"Ladies and Gentlemen: The Beatles!!!"

In New York City, even the Beatles are alive and on stage again! At least on Broadway. Our annual "Pre Christmas" event turned to be kind of nostalgic this year. 

We started the day with a Beatles show ( so much fun!!!) and continued with a visit at the Library to see the original Winnie The Pooh and his best friend Piglet (and all the others). 

And we paid respect to the Christmas Tree at the Rockefeller Center, of course ( and to the Lego shop next by, ha,ha). The Highlight of the Christmas season. 

What could be better than New York City at Christmas time?! In moments like this I still cannot believe that I live here...

Our German - American 1st Advent

The German part -  it's us and the German Christmas Market in our town. The American part -  it's our friends visiting us and the traditional Christmas tree hunt at a local farm. In one word: we had a very merry weekend! 

It all started with a dinner at The Black Forest Inn on Friday, where my husband enjoyed (finally) his German Bratwurst and Bier. 

We continued the German event at the Christmas Market, buying tons of "Lebkuchen" and drinking "Gluwein"with our friends. 

But the highlight of the seasons came on Sunday. We all went to hunt for the best Christmas tree... and found one! ( The real challenge was, as usual, to put it in the stand...ha,ha). 

The reward came afterwards in form of a real German afternoon coffee time with the lightning of one candle on our Christmas wreath. 

Even Jakob showed real Christmas spirit. He was selling Christmas wreathes with his Scout troop and played saxophone at the Christmas school concert ( personally, my absolute highlight!!).

Maybe it's not New York but the Christmas tree in our town could almost be mistaken for that one at the Rockefeller Center...