Playing Catch Up.

This is long overdue and for that, I apologize. So much has happened since my last post and I hardly know where to begin in catching up. To keep this post as short as possible (which isn't very short at all), I am going to skim the the past couple months and look at some highlights. Here goes.

Christmas.

Tim and Jean were able to come for Christmas break and it was absolutely wonderful. We traveled around the area, played games, went hiking, and just enjoyed being with one another. One of the highlights for me was making buckeyes. This is a family tradition and it's just not Christmas without them.

Here is my favorite picture of Tim and Jean from the trip. We took it one day when we went hiking up by my dorm. It was a beautiful day and the snow was perfect.

Break was a nice change of pace and though this Christmas was a little unusual (for example, we had a Christmas lamp instead of a Christmas tree), I wouldn't change at thing.

A new semester.

Now the girls are back and we are settling into schedules and finding the rhythm of life here once again. So far, this semesters has been filled with basketball games, dance parties, and lots and lots of snow. One weekend the basketball games were cancelled due to the snow and the girls took the opportunity to spend the day sledding next door on Sonne's hill. Here is a series of shots from our adventures.

SO much fun. I love the energy and life that these girls have. They bring me so much joy. Living life day in and day out with them is refining and teaches me so much about what it means to live in community. We see one another at our best and worst and learn to love each other in spite of our faults.

In more recent news, we are beginning to hope that spring is on the way. We had over a foot and a half of snow throughout the past few weeks and it has finally almost completely melted. This weekend the weather was "warm" and though I don't have the heart to say we won't see anymore snow, I enjoyed the break from the frosty weather with a hike up to Hoch Blauen (the high point behind our dorm) with two of my girls. The sun was out and we felt brave so we did this in shorts. There was a lot more snow on the path than we had anticipated but we had a great time. This is Beka and I somewhere along the path.

And Anna conquering the snowy logs.

And our poor bare legs. They were a little red by the end but it was great to feel the freedom of wearing shorts again.

And of course, attempts at some jumping pictures. We never completely succeeded but had fun trying.

When we finally reached the top and received many a strange look from the Germans we passed, the view was spectacular. Only on very clear days are the alps visible from here but we could see them so well. This is us enjoying the view.

And here is the view. Incredible. I still have a hard time believing that I live here.

That's about all for now. Things are going well here. I continue to absolutely love what I do here and though I miss my home, family, and friends so much, I know this is where God wants me.

A few things to pray about.

- I will be coaching soccer this spring which will be fun but will keep me extra busy. Pray that I will balance my time well and not get burnt out.

-Spring break is coming up which means our girls will once again be traveling all over the world.

-Joe, our dorm dad, has been gone due to his mother's death for the past few weeks and will be returning to the dorm tomorrow. Pray that it will be a smooth transition.

That's all for now. I will try to update this more regularly again. Thanks again for all your support!

Peace.