Christmases Past - 2011

Our Christmas Tree in 2011

My mom's tree that year. She was still in her mobile home then. 

My mother-in-law's. She always packed on the ornaments. She loved Christmas and loved decorating for it. 

The big guy on duty, looking like he's been drinking too much egg nog. 

And now he's off duty. 

Mom, who hated getting her picture taken. And it shows. 

Nick always has been a ham for the camera. 

I listen to Christmas music pretty much non-stop the whole month of December. Just as I was posting this picture, the song Auld Lang Syne came on my computer. Crap. I knew it was a bad idea to post pictures of past Christmases this year. Yet, I don't think it was a coincidence that that song came on just now. God has His plan. And I'll be okay. 

Christmases past - 2010

 

As you know, it has been another rough year around here. Don't know how many Christmas cookies I'll bake or decorate. Also, didn't feel much up to writing a series of Christmas blog posts for the month of Decmeber. Plus, do any of you really have time to read them? So this year, to keep it simple - I present a series of pictures from Christmases past. 

Torturing the family by making them wrap presents. 

All the stockings hung with care.

Stockings of pets who have passed and - well - our foreign exchange student Ines, who thankfully went home two years before. 

TV rabbit ears growing out of my head. 

The tree

What Will We Eat Next?

Is everybody eating turkey for thanksgiving again this year? I wish I could talk Hubby into something different, like something international, or a different dish from a different country.

I told him that I had some ideas.

Our first full day in Prague, we stopped at Zlaty Strom restaurant. I had the Penne Pollo (chicken pasta) and a raspberry lemonade to drink.

 The food was good, but the atmosphere was the selling point. This is the ceiling!

Commonly made and sold by street vendors, these are called chimney cakes. I wish I had a picture of them being made into this shape, by spiraling dough around a stick before setting them on the rotisserie over the fire to cook. When they are done, they are filled with whipped crème or ice cream. We were disappointed in the one we tried, but perhaps we should have tried another one from some place else before we judge.

The day we went to Český Krumlov, we had lunch at the Travelers Hostel and Restaurant, as our tour guide had recommended it. I had the chicken breaded cutlet with mashed potatoes and Denise had chicken breast in mushroom sauce. Both were very good.

One of the couples from our tour ate with us also, and they had the grilled cheese and bread (which clearly was not a grilled cheese sandwich) and something else that I can’t remember at all. They also ordered two slices of honey spice bread which they shared with us, and it was delicious! Didn’t get a picture of that.

And believe it or not, I didn’t get a picture of all of our food. But I will keep showing you what I did get.

In Dresden, Germany, we wandered around the market for a while, trying to decide what to get. It was a no brainer all along, but we had to dwell on it anyway. It was indeed the best bratwurst I’ve had, and living in Wisconsin, I have eaten my share of brats.

Our last day in the Czech Republic, we were in Kutná Hora and found this literal hole in the wall to eat our lunch. Café Harmonia.

There were no other customers when we walked in. In fact, the lights were off in the dining room, but the lone server flipped them on for us and was extremely sweet. I believe this is the tortilla sandwich with ham and cheddar cheese. Oh, so very good! I’m just discovering now, that just like in the States, you can look up their menus on-line. Don’t know why I find that surprising.

But here is the truly surprising thing. When traveling to any foreign country, you need to be ready for whatever bathroom facilities are available, and trust me, I’ve used some pretty abysmal toilets. Oh, my goodness, but look at this one! I had to flush it three times to get the video. I left a hefty tip, to make up for my wastefulness.

Back at the hotel, for our farewell dinner that night, they served another filling and delicious meal. All and all, no complaints about any of the food. 

Ancestors

Matthew 1, Verse 2  Abraham was the father of Isaac. Isaac was the father of Jacob. Jacob was the father of Judah and his brothers.   Verse 5 Salmon was the father of Boaz (whose mother was Rahab). Boaz was the father of Obed (whose mother was Ruth). Obed was the father of Jesse.   Verse 13  Zerubbabel was the father of Abiud. Abiud was the father of Eliakim. Eliakim was the father of Azor.   Verse 16 Jacob was the father of Joseph, the husband of Mary. Mary gave birth to Jesus, who is called the Messiah.

And all the other names in between, which make up the entire genealogy of Jesus.

I wasn’t going to post anything today, because yesterday I got caught up in my own family tree and lost track of time. But when I remembered the opening chapter to the book of Matthew, I thought I could throw something together.

I have really only scratched the surface of my ancestors, having gone back only four generations on most of the sides of the family. Found some interesting stuff, though.

Sadly, a lot of babies only lived a month or two. One wasn’t even given a name; he was listed as Kind Ohne Taufe, which translates to “child not baptized”. He was born and died the same day – October 9, 1867. Which is no doubt why, as I’m looking up all these newborns, they were all baptized within a few days of being born.

I also found something interesting in several baptismal records. Along with the usual name, date of birth, parents’ names, a few of them list “Legitimacy: Unehelich”. That translates to “illegitimate”. At least the church let those moms get their kiddos baptized.

I also have been looking up on Google Maps all the towns they lived and died in. I study those towns and villages and wonder exactly where they lived, what they did, who their neighbors were. I did find something that got me very excited.

In one of the records of my second great-grandmother, it listed the author of that information as Evangelische Kirche. Stadtkirche zu Sankt Margarethen, which is the Evangelical City Church of St. Margaret. I google-mapped that, and it is a church which is still standing! It has a history starting in 1127, with the current building having been built 1791. Services are still held there and its website shows pictures of the beautiful old building.

A place where my ancestors attended church! Something concrete.

But you know, we all have something concrete from our past, even if we can’t see it or touch it. It is the love of God for us through His Son, Jesus Christ. And Jesus’s family tree leads all the way through the centuries straight to us.

Because I hate pilfering pictures off the internet, this is not St Margaret Church in Germany. This is St James in Kutna Hora, Czechia. But St Margaret’s is just as beautiful to me.    

The rest of Kutna Hora, part 3 - Czech blog #18

Well, you know me, so when I say this is the last post from my trip to the Czech Republic the end of September, you realize I might not be completely done. Thanksgiving is next week after all, so I might share one more episode with that in mind.

So here are a few random pictures from the city of Kutná Hora, located in the center of the country, about an hour’s drive east of Prague.

Earlier this week, I posted way too many pictures from the inside of St Barbara’s church. This is the view just outside looking to the right.

If you start walking away from the church and look to the left, you’ll encounter the Jesuit college.

Continue walking and you’ll be going along the Gallery of Sculptures.

Of course, they are all of someone famous in Bohemian history, but I’m not game to look them all up right now.

According to our guide, this building is open for tours and was part of the silver mine in town. On line, I found that this particular building housed a horse-powered winch used to pull material from the mine to the surface.

The view looking back at St Barbara's and the college.

A ranom wall. I'm not sure where. 

The Church of Saint James the Great was built in the Gothic style between 1300 and 1370.

The Stone Fountain is a twelve-side stone structure located in Rejsek Square. From 1495 to 1663, it supplied the city with drinking water, since many other sources of water were disrupted by mining activities.

Most of the towns we visited on this trip had a Plague Column. Kutná Hora is no different; its Baroque column commemorates those who died during the plague epidemic in 1713.

Perhaps, the last rose of summer. 

St Barbara Church, Kutná Hora, part 2 - Czech Blog post #17

I would love to jump in and just show you pictures of the St Barbara Church in Kutná Hora, but I really feel the need to share just a teeny bit of the town’s history first.

Though other metals, such as copper and zinc, were mined around Kutná Hora as early as the 1^st century B.C., it wasn’t until silver was discovered in the 10^th century that the town found prosperity and posterity too. 

It was during these boom years, that building on St Barabara’s Church began, in 1388. The church was named after Saint Barbara, the patron saint of all those working in dangerous professions, especially miners. The local silver mines allowed the town to flourish, and the hard-working miners helped to build the church. 

However, in the mid-16th century, the Kutná Hora mines ran out of silver, and construction on St. Barbara’s had to be temporarily stopped. It was originally supposed to be nearly twice the size it is now. I can’t imagine that! 

Over the next centuries work continued, off and on, with a lot of changes, such as going from Gothic to Baroque. Does anyone out there really know the difference?  

One of the most distinctive features, from the outside at least, are the three roof peaks, which represent the three hills surrounding Kutná Hora: Kuklik, Kaňk and Sukov.

Since the beginning of the 20th century, the beautiful stained-glass windows were all painted by František Urban. They mostly show Christian themes or significant events of the time.

 

Not sure what any of these are about, but the one below has a picture of the three tent peaks from the church. 

It was a very overwhelming building and we didn’t have nearly enough time to take it all in.

Life is crazy, isn't it?

I sure wish I could promise you this would be my final post about my daughter, Val, but I’m not always so good at keeping promises. But just like me, you’re gonna have to take it one blog at a time, one day at a time.

On Monday, August 25, we all met down at the funeral home to make arrangements. We all agreed we wanted to keep things simple, short, and quick. But fitting. I don’t know. People said we did a beautiful job presenting a fitting tribute to Val. But, again, I don’t know. It was Val, her life, not any of us.

But anyway, sitting in the funeral home office, we had to decide what to put in the little card they always have for people to take. The thing that Hubby has to bring home from every visitation or funeral we go to, and it sits on the kitchen counter, bugging me for weeks before I finally throw it away.

The funeral home lady (Karri, an absolute sweetheart, by the way) offered suggestions from the standard funeral card book. Not a one was even close to Val.

Her boyfriend suggested we use the words from the Tom Petty song from the tattoo on her back. We knew it was something about wildflowers and could all picture it, but none of us could pull the words out of our brains.

We finished our business, and I told Karri we’d figure out the lyrics and get back to her.

That night, when I couldn’t sleep (as if I thought I would ever sleep again without taking any drugs), I went on my laptop and started looking up the lyrics for all of the Tom Petty songs.

Duh! The song is literally named “Wildflowers.”

This week, I was working on cleaning up my computer by deleting some of the thousands of pictures I’ve stored from all my travels. In 2017, Val and I went on one of our many trips to Kenya, and one day she got sunburned while wearing a shirt with straps in a pattern across her back. And there were those words, blowing along her back with flower petals. Did she ever think those words would mean so much one day? 

Life. It’s crazy, isn’t it? We’ll never be able to understand it. All we can do is keep muddling along, praising God that He has it under control.