Christmas with the Schmids! Frohes Weinachten für alle Leute!

This year Danny and I took part in an event called the Christmas Good Cheer Program.  The Good Cheer program lets soldiers and their family spend Christmas with a German Family.  The family that Danny and I were placed with were the Schmids.  There are four members in their family.  The dad's name is Stephen and he works at one of the Bosch plants in Bamberg.  The mom's name is Sylvia and she is a stay at home mom.  The daughter is 15 and her name is Jessica.  The son's name is Alexander and he is 12.  Both of them are great kids.

We arrived at their house at about noon and were just in time for lunch.  We did the gift exchange before lunch.  When we met the Schmids two weeks ago, we had asked the children what they wanted for Christmas and Alexander replied Big Red and bubble gum.  Jessica said that she liked to read books.  We ended up getting the parents a bottle of nice Italian wine and we got a 12 pack of Big Red and a bag full of assorted candies for the kids.  We were surprised  to find out that they we actually talking about Big Red bubble gum ... They ended up liking the soda though so it worked out all right.  Danny received a carton of assorted Bamberg brewed beers and I received a wooden box with the Bamberg Rathaus (old city hall) carved into the top.  It is lovely.  Danny and I also got a Bamberg City book in English and two little Santa ornaments. 

For lunch, we had pork with plums and oranges in the middle and the sides were cabbages, potato dumplings, a spinach and potato soup, and gravy.   We played board games and cards in the late afternoon hours and had an apple pie and coffee break at about 3:30.  A family the Schmids know stopped by and stayed for a while.   For dinner, we had a Bavarian specialty bread and meat dish with assorted sausages, rye wheat, cheeses, and a cheese and onion sauce dish. 

Danny had to scrap ice off the inside windshield, you know we're in Bavaria.