We started off the week with food preparation for when the Journeymen arrived. We made a HUGE batch of Chex mix, double batches of brownies, peanut butter squares and White Trash for the Journeymen up at the Eden House.
Monday Glenn and I went to the Christmas Market in Vienna, Austria for the day with a couple of our missionary families that live here in Budapest.
We went to 4 different markets during the day, but there were several more that we didn't have time to visit. Most of the booths were selling Christmas items, particularly ORNAMENTS!
In addition to ornaments, there were a lot of booths selling food of all kinds. Our favorite was lunch! We ate a type of sausage in a baguette. It was delicious!
They also sold doughnuts like these, and candies of all kinds, mulled wine and spiced cider, gingerbread cakes and cookies.
One of the booths was selling mistletoe! These two men were standing in front of the booth, and I kept waiting for them to move out of the way so I could take a picture. I finally gave up and just as I snapped the picture, they moved. Even though this picture LOOKS like they are about to kiss, they did NOT. It just looks like it.
This is one of the booths selling cellophane-wrapped gingerbread cookies. They decorate the cookies with scrumptious frosting.
Booth after booth after booth of Christmas balls, ornaments, wreaths, swags, flowers, toys, gloves and hats, clocks, pottery, scarves, books, knick knacks, and lots more.
We found peppermint candy canes for 1 euro each, which is about $1.30! I just returned from the U.S. where I bought peppermint candy canes at Walmart for 88 cents for a dozen! What a mark-up! I'm so glad I bought them in the U.S.!!! (We bought 5 dozen so we could hang some on our tree, make peppermint bark, and for the Journeymen to be able to eat too so they could have a taste of "home".)
We also went to a market at the Schoenbrunn Palace on the outskirts of town that we visited this summer with our kids. The setting was beautiful with the building lit up. Even though it looks like snow on the ground, there wasn't any. It was however, verrrrry cold!
This market was similar to the others, but it had a larger variety of things for sale.
In the afternoon of Christmas Eve while Glenn was cooking half of the turkey, a couple of us made over a hundred sugar cookies and decorated them.
Elizabeth made the frosting for us in 7 different colors so that we could have lots of variety!!
As some of the young people returned from shopping and sightseeing in town, they joined us in decorating the cookies. This is one of my favorite Christmas traditions from when our kids were little, and I was so glad the Journeymen wanted to decorate them too! I love to cover them with lots of confectioners sugar frosting and then pile them high with Red Hots (which I bought in the U.S. too).
Later that afternoon we loaded everyone into the Eden House van and a couple of cars and went to the Intercontinental Hotel to participate in the International Baptist Church of Budapests' Christmas Eve worship service.
This is our group enjoying the Christmas carols...
...and then enjoying some finger foods and fellowship!
AND THEN THE BIG DAY ARRIVES!
Glenn and I slept at our house on Christmas Eve, but woke up early to help fix a big breakfast for all the Journeymen. After breakfast, we gathered in the living room for a time of worship and celebration. Brian read the story of the birth of Jesus to us, just like my Dad always did when I was a child.
The Journeymen opened stockings and then we "swapped" Christmas gifts by playing Dirty Santa. You know, the game where everyone brings a gift and then draws a number out of a bowl, and each person in order chooses either a wrapped gift from under the tree or "steals" one from someone else. I got a huge box of candy from Russia and Glenn got a bag of Christmas Blend coffee from Starbucks. NICE!!
Natalie shows off some of the things in her stocking.
At 2:00 pm we had our Christmas dinner. I'm sorry, but I was so busy eating the delicious meal that I forgot to take a picture!!! We had a ton of food and lots of it left over. By the way, even though Alvin "ordered" am 18-20 pound turkey from the meat market, it actually weighed 33 pounds and was so big that Glenn had to cut it in HALF to get it to fit in our oven!!!! He cooked half of it on Christmas Eve and the other half on Christmas morning while we were opening stockings and playing Dirty Santa. Our compliments to the chef!
After the meal, Glenn and I went home and collapsed! We watched TV for the rest of the day, and most of the next! We snacked on turkey and cookies. I can only imagine how exhausted Brian and Michelle were when all the Journeymen left!
The last evening that most of the Journeymen were at the Eden House, Glenn and I took them into town to see the city at night.
We took them up to the highest point that overlooks the city (the Citadel), and to Hero's Square (shown here), and then past the Parliment building, and down Andrassy Street (Budapest's version of Champ's Elysee in Paris).
Elizabeth and I walked over to the City Park where they have this humongous outdoor skating rink so that I could take a night-time picture. Earlier in the week, the Journeymen went ice skating here.
It was so cold! At the end of the evening we stopped for coffee at Gloria Jeans Coffee House. (Starbucks is supposed to open in Budapest this year, but we're not holding our breath. They were supposed to open last year too.)
And then after everyone got warm, they all came over to our house for an impromptu dinner of tortilla-wrapped veggie and sausage sandwichs (Glenn's famous sandwich that he invented in Ivory Coast) and a fooseball tournament in our basement. It was a lot of fun and was the highlight (for me) of our time with the Journeymen. We said good-bye to most of the Journeymen that night because they were leaving the next morning.
We had a great week, loved having the Journeymen, and loved getting to know all of them better. They were so much fun!
Well, back to real life....
2 comments:
So, the mistletoe picture cracked me up! Are you SURE those guys weren't about to kiss? And although you did get a great deal on candy canes, the ones you took a picture of looked really nice (not worth over $1 each, but still, they were pretty). I'm glad you got the good deal ones, cause I'm sure your Journeymen friends loved being able to get one! And yes, I got a tear in my eye when I read the lyrics of the Christmas song you all were singing... "White Christmas". waaaah... wish you were here...! But knowing that God is using you in so many wonderful ways there...
with love...
Pam and Adam
Thanks for the update! It looks like y'all had a great time and I KNOW the Jman appreciated it, having been there myself a few years ago. So as a former Jman overseas away from family, thanks Mom and Dad! And as your kids, thanks to the Jmen who came to keep them company for us!
Ready to plan next year yet? Your place or ours? ;)
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