Thanksgiving Dinner

I got this photo the other day from one of our nurses. We served dinner at the hospital on Thanksgiving day for the staff and patients. It was packed with families. All the army folks wore their dress uniforms but not all the Navy folks had theirs so we were in cammies.

My job was the dessert table, I know it was a tough assignment but someone had to make sure there was whipped cream on the pies.

Here is a picture on me hard a work.

Tomorrow I am taking the family to Fussen to see the Fairy Tale Castles. I'll take pictures and post them later this week. We decided this was a good day trip for the kids. We'll see. It is 4 hours one way, then walking up and down two hills - one steep and one very steep. Plus we are driving towards the Alps so that means snow - maybe lots. They already had snow when I visited in OCT. On the plus side - Fussen is the home of Ludwig Dunkle Vison (my favorite beer in all of Germany) this time I will buy some to take with me.

It should make for a few good stories to post on the blog.

Christmas Greetings going out to friends and Family around the World.

Merry Christmas to Altoona, Portage, Summerhill, Johnstown, Tionesta, Reading PA, Florida, North Carolina, Virginia, and Yellowstone.


Christmas Morning Photos.

Photos of Germany

Here we are getting off the plane and seeing mom!!



The other photos were taken at two different Christmas Markets. One here in Kaiserslautern and one in Rothenburg. Both were great, but cold.

Christmas Day coming to a close

Well it is 8:22 Christmas Evening. Santa found the 3 Cumming Children here in the middle of Germany. He even stopped by my apartment this afternoon on his way back to the North Pole to check on the family.

This morning was great. I'm not sure who was more excited about Santa finding us, Catcher or Parker because Kaite KNEW he was coming dah!!!

So after we opened gifts we got ready and went to my apartment. I cooked 2 turkeys in 24 hours. Well, ok Vince cooked 2 turkeys in 24 hours. He is amazing. We took one turkey to the hospital last night for the staff and we made one today for all of us. We hosted about 15 friends and family in a Christmas day pot luck. It was a lot of fun. Catcher wants me to add he was surprised Vince did not get everyone sick, but I had great faith in him.

We just called home and talked to the family and now we need to go back to our rooms. I'll share some photos.

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year.

Love,
Marcia, Vince, Catcher, Kaite, Parker, Grandma Polly and Pappy Ray.

Merry Christmas from Germany

Merry Christmas Eve.....

It is 8:45 pm on Christmas Eve. I ran around today doing last minute shopping, just like if I was in the States. The crowds were crazy, the parking was nuts - I felt like I was at home. Then I entered the store - and everything was in German. Talk about throwing a last minute shopper for a curve. I could not read any of the sale signs or the directions for checking out, but we managed. I did throw in a 12 pack of beer just in case things get out of hand.

Transformers - Parker wanted me to tell you all about them. He really likes them. Bumble Bee, Optimas Prime are two of his favorites, but he likes them all. (Now I can finish my entry)

We went to mid-night mass this evening at 5 pm (my idea of mid-night mass). Then we came home and had turkey. I'm going to get the kids ready for bed and then Vince and I are going to take food up to the Hospital for the staff that is working tonight and tomorrow.

Have a great holiday. We will add photos tomorrow.

Love ya.
Marcia


Katie wants me to add the following:
I love you Grandma from Kaite.

Hi Aunt Lucy, Uncle Bill, Luke, Joel and Britany.

Good Bye
said Kaite.

Last Weekend

I guess I'm a week behind. Last weekend we spent the day in Bamberg, Germany. It is a neat old German town. It dates back over 1200 years. It has a lot of religious history, at one point it was the capitol of the Holy Roman Empire. Another note is that the only Pope buried north of the Alps is buried in Bamberg, Pope Clemens II.

The city has two rivers that run through town. I took photos of the old Town Hall built by the people to reflect their presence to the Monarchy in 1386. The King refused to give the people any land to build a town hall, so they built up an island in the river and erected their town hall.

In 1000 the King and Queen of Bamberg were King Heinrich II and Queen Kunigunde. We were told a number of interesting stories about them, but I will post each one separate with photos. They were canonised in 1146 (Heinrich) and 1200 (Kunigunde).

Bamberg is known world wide for it's Nativity collections. There are over 25 churches in the small town. Each church sets up a nativity scene at the beginning of advent. Some set up the entire scene and others set up the scene has it relates to the church calendar. For example, last weekend some Nativity scenes only had Mary and Elizabeth greeting each other. Has the weeks unfold the churches will add more figures . They will continue this until the 3 Wisemen arrive.

The artwork is amazing. I'll post a separate blog about the art work as well. Long story.

Still In Germany

I'm still here in Germany in case you were wondering. Last week and this week have been very busy. Long hours, but it is rewarding.

Last weekend was the Navy-Army game and in case you did not know the Navy beat the snot out of the Army. I did work a lot of long days, so Saturday I was exhausted. I did some running around in town and then went home. We were having a party at the Irish Pub for the game so I thought I would get a little sleep before walking up the hill. I fell asleep at 2 pm. I woke up at 7:30pm. The game started at 6pm. My friends told me they came to the door, knocked, rang the doorbell and even tried my cell. So they went without me. When I did get up, I ran up the hill to join the group. It was a good time. I heard they showed our spirit spot in the stadium and they were suppose to show it on CBS. Who knows.

Then Monday I was invited to have lunch with a certain Distinguished Guest. I think I can tell you since he is gone, but before I do I better check. I know I can't write about who is coming, if I even know, but I need to check about posting it after the fact. This brings me to another point. Some people where wondering why I don't talk about work and what is going on over here in the hospital. All I post is my down time. Well, that's because I can't. I'm not doing anything top secret, sorry. However I can't post any details about the workings of the hospital.

I can tell you we treat people from all over the world. And it is a really interesting place to work.

It is late and I need to get up early again tomorrow. I think we are going on a bus tour this weekend to a Christmas market. I'll take pictures and let you know what it was like.

The weather here is so crazy. One day the sun shines and it is not that cold. Other days it is very cold and windy. Then it just rains. It is always dark out, very dark. We were told in the summer the sun shines until 10 pm or longer. I guess we'll see.

Got to go, I'm starting to fall asleep. I think I'm going to buy a car. I looked at a BMW 300 series today. That is a 1989 BMW 300 series. I know it is a let down, but I would like a car.

I'll keep you posted.