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Well, here we are again. Christmas is just around the corner and
that seems to be the perfect opportunity to review the past year in
our Christmas Letter. I’ll try to pass through the year
chronologically, maybe that makes it a bit more organized….. ;-)

We spent Winter Break quietly at home. Was a good thing, too
because we had hosted a big New Year’s Eve party in our new
home, and also because everyone was not exactly sick but not
feeling too swell… After the break, Tim had to kick it up a notch at
school, the grades would decide which educational path he will be
able to take. We practiced a lot together (darn spelling in German!)
It was a nice change of pace to have the Brech Family stay with us
for a few days (they live in Regensburg, Bavaria now).

February was pretty quiet, too – Mardi-Gras isnt our thing so
much…. Plus, our annual “diet” was still running, since we
extended it from the usual 4 to 6 weeks. At the end of the month we
had reason to party after all: Tim's grades were so good that he can
visit the Gymnasium (the only one of 3 possible school types that
allow him to potentially go to college later). Tim also participated in
a gymnastics competition with the Holzgerlingen team, and at first it
went well but then a mistake at parallel bars cost him points. Next,
on vault, someone exchanged the “bouncing board” (?) while he
was walking back from the practice “jump”, Tim didn't notice . So
with the now board having much stronger springs than the first
one, Tim took the jump and at the other side of the horse there was
a jumble of arms and legs…. Still, he got lucky for as adventurous
as it looked, he didn't get hurt (not counting the hurting pride of
course…). I had to go through a bitter sweet day when I stopped
teaching at “Pilates Stuttgart” – I will miss my days in Stuttgart
downtown, my colleagues and clients. But together with the
goodbyes I got much praise too.

As March came around I was deep in negotiations with the City of
Boeblingen about where I was going to work and what my hours
would be. I tried to enjoy my last free month, and Ralf and I went to
Dresden for a few days (without the kids), courtesy of 25 years with
IBM. During the first day we had beautiful sunshine and it was clear
how the city got its name “Florence on the river Elbe”. The other
days were wet and cold but luckily Dresden has many wonderful
museums, churches and castles. We had a wonderful hotel and one
especially nasty afternoon we spent at the indoor pool with a view
of the Dresden Skyline. At the end of the month I hosted my
“traditional” Birthday Breakfast with “my girls”, but who knows if I
can keep up this tradition once I go back to work….

April started with Tim’s birthday which we celebrated at an art
school. Tim and his friends made dream catchers and carved shark
teeth from stone. The party was barely over when we had another
reason to celebrate: My godchild Paul’s first communion. It was a
beautiful and festive day and the boys look so swell in those dark
suits….. Easter was approaching fast and with it the first
anniversary of our moving into the new home. Ralf took another
trip to the states and Tim mastered his bicycle-diploma, as one of
only two boys “without any mistakes” (the other honorees were
girls of course…). For Mona the school year picked up quite a bit,
her class held a bake sale to raise money for the week-long trip to
a hostel by the North Sea in the summer. She spent Girl;s Day at
IBM and had some very interesting projects there. A checkup with
the family practitioner showed that the results of her blood work
were fine now, what good news! (a year earlier the pointers for
cholesterol had been slightly too high). On April 21st, finally, I went
back to work, part-time, for the City of Boeblingen. My new job is in
the administration for 23 childcare institutions held by the city, with
ca. 1500 children and ca. 250 employees. Childcare is a pretty hot
topic in Germany these days as a law is imminent which grants each
child a spot in a preschool from birth (up to date it was granted at
the age of 3) – so now cods and diapers are conquering preschool
after preschool, under close scrutiny of the public and politics.
During my third work week, our team got “re-structured” which left
us without team leader – in addition to the position one up from
team leader being open since February. Lots of gaps to fill……

Still, the month of May got off to a very good start since we went to
Tuscany with our friends Petra and Martin. The drive was quite long
(especially with the Gotthard tunnel being closed for 2 hours on
the way going and a huge traffic jam on the way back) for just 4
days, but we had a great time rediscovering Tuscany after 12 years.
We were there during late spring for the first time and found a
marvelously colorful Tuscany, so very different from the earth-
toned version we knew from our many visits in the fall. We also
invented a completely new recipe to go about our days: We’d sleep
in, have a quick “Italian” breakfast (espresso and a cookie) and
around 11 we would go hiking, for 2 hours or so to a carefully
selected restaurant where we would have Lunch until 4/5PM. Then,
we’d hike back and by the time we got back to the apartment we’d
feel much lighter already and we enjoyed the sundown by the pool.
At night, we went for a walk around town or for a slice of Pizza.
Unusual, but with a lot of potential! We had just gotten back when
we left again, this time for Bavaria, Regensburg to check out Imke
and Helmut’s new pad. Regensburg is a pretty town, with a river,
bridged, wonderful beer-gardens and ice cream parlors! Early-
Summer break came around and the kids were booked solid. Tim
went to Tennis camp for a week with a friend and Mona spent lots
of time at the stables with the horses. I had changed my work
schedule from 5 mornings to 2 ½ days and it all worked out very
well.

As usual, June started out festively – with Ralf’s birthday. Only this
year, he chose an unusual format to celebrate: He went camping
with the kids by the Lake Of Constance, together with his old
buddies from gymnastics and all their kids. This trip is a much
beloved annual tradition, however Ralf went for the first time.
Mona missed out on the fun, but she had fun somewhere else – by
the North Sea on the island of Sylt with her class. They were gone
for a week, the bus drive alone took 14 hours each way. She was
pretty tired but happy when she got back. From what could be
heard there were the usual pranks but nothing serious and
everyone had a great time. In between all this, the soccer
European Championships went on in out neighboring countries
Switzerland and Austria and Germany’s soccer-craze was peaking.
For the final, we organized a public viewing in our backyard, with a
sheet as screen and a beamer. The weather was nice, but our team
didn’t win. Oh well. After she got back from Sylt, Mona had one of
her biggest dreams come true: She got a pet rabbit. His name is
Roiben and he is a small, white, cute, furry ball with short ears and
red eyes. He is such a darling! We also got around to taking Paul
(my godchild) to an amusement park nearby, which had been our
birthday present for him. The boys had a blast, as he is one of Tim’s
best friends. Mona spent the day playing Volleyball with her team in
one of the biggest tournaments in southern Europe, with teams
from Italy, Switzerland, France… The team didn’t play very well –
they haven’t had much practice together yet, but just being part of
this huge event with all the athletes all around was a hoot! I helped
out at the food court and it was nice to meet Mona’s new
teammates and their parents. Tim also had another gymnastics
competition and this time he won first place! Shortly after, Ralf had
to travel to the U.S. again, but the kids and I have our routine down
for when he is not here….. As for the house, the space in front of
the house was now complete, with all the bricks laid, tree planted,
fountain sprinkling, and planters placed and planted. The trashcans
are in a box of stainless steel and granite – it all looks very nice
now. We put a bench out front and one day, as I was leaving the
house, I found a neighbor sitting on it. I got scared at first, but she
said it was such a wonderful place to sit – she just had had to try
it…. :-)

The month of July brought lots of work for Mona at school leading
up to summer break – tests similar to TAKS had to be taken in
German, Math and Biology. Mona kept her cool and the grades
were good. For Tim there was even less to do than throughout the
rest of the second semester of 4th grade… the only noticeable
things were excursions and parties. Ralf went back to the Lake of
Constance another time, this time for a gymnastics competition.
Him and “the boys” had a lot of fun, material for stories about
heroes! Whenever the friends from gymnastics are together these
stories are told.... The kids and I used the time to drive to Munich
and meet up with Andrea and Sammy from Austin who were visiting
there. Uncle Uwe and Aunt Christa took the kids for a hiking trip
during one day. Then the kids and I drove back home and after a
week, Andrea came to stay with us for a few days. During that
weekend, everything was happening at once: Friday Night we had
IBM’s annual summer festival and on Saturday an old friend of mine
from dancing days got married at the monastery of Bebenhausen,
followed by a party at her student-union’s house high above the
historic Tuebingen. We enjoyed delicious food, life music and
beautiful views of Tuebingen as the sun went down. The remaining
hours we spent with Andrea and Sammy and enjoyed it very much.
As to not let the month get too dull, Mona and I went to see
“Wicked”, while Tim and Ralf watched “Blue Man Group” a few days
later - as appreciation for their good grades. At the end of the
month, summer break started and the kids went to camp for a week.
They spent all day in the woods and every evening I picked up two
dirty and tired but very happy kids.

During the second week of summer break, Tim went to camp with
IBM – he was part of a film team and they taped a whole little film
which we got to see at a picnic at the end of the week. Mona spent
the days on which I worked at the stables and she loved having so
much time with and for the horses. Meanwhile, I was working a lot –
even during summer break there was much to do, catching up on
work that had been abandoned with so many people missing.
Finally, it was time for our summer vacation: We traveled to Austin
for a few days and then on to Cancun/Mexico. The days in Austin
flew by, time was so short! But we were able to see and hug many
friends – some even threw breakfasts or parties for us, how nice!
In passing we witnessed Michael Phelps collecting one medal after
the next at the Olympics in Beijing – how exciting! Fe found our
good old Austin unchanged – somehow… many of the charming
sites, people and weirdnesses were still there, and some new ones
had been added. But since many of the bigger road constructions
got finished since we left we found ourselves more than once
having to find our way by looking at street signs or maps – like
tourists! Home and not home… weird! We had a wonderful time and
the days were too short, so we thought we’d enjoy some quiet
relaxing days in Cancun by the pool… The only activity we had
planned was a day’s program “discover scuba” to see if Tim and I
would like it and as a refresher for Mona and Ralf. We all had such
a blast that we went back for several two-tanks. We were very lucky
to have Marin as our dive-master, he was so great with the kids
and showed us many marvelous sites and underwater life. We go
so lucky for only a few days later the outer edges of Storm Gustav
hit the peninsula and the water was very choppy, with no visibility
under water from all the sand being whirled about. Another
highlight of our Mexico trip was snorkeling with whale sharks. They
are earth’s biggest fish and you can – if you are strong enough –
snorkel alongside them for a while. They are such majestic, calm
animals – it was a deeply touching experience, we were all very
much impressed. We also took a day trip to Chichen Itza to see the
pyramids, they are one of the “modern 7 wonders of the world”,
and so together with last year’s trip to Rome (coliseum) we have
already seen two of those 7! 5 more to go…..

We had just returned from our trip and school had just started
when we celebrated mona’s Birthday. She had a Bollywood
sleepover party, we cooked Indian food (it was not so easy to get
all the ingredients…) watched a Bollywood movie (yes, with Sharuk
Khan..!) and played a game where they had to identify various
spices by touch, smell and taste. Tim had a highlight too, he started
a new school, the “Schoenbuchgymnasium” (short SGH). It was a
nice ceremony, and Mona was on stage twice – once with the
school choir and once with her acrobatics group. There was
another presentation by the magician’s group, and Tim decided
right away he wanted to try acrobatics and magic! We also found
out that Tim and Dominick (Whom Tim knew from Austin) would be
in the same class, Tim was in heaven! During the first weeks of
school we met all the kids’ teachers (and I believe we pretty much
lucked out this year). We got our weekdays worked out and after
two, three weeks everything was running smoothly with my
working, the kids’ schedules, extracurricular groups at school and
sports (Tim Acrobatics, Woodwork, Magic and at night gymnastics,
Mona choir, acrobatics, and at night gymnastics, volleyball and
horseback-riding). The cafeteria at school had found a new
provider and the kids loved eating there, so all fell into place very
nicely. I am volunteering at the school’s library, a nice way to keep
in touch with the kids’ school. During the last sunny days of
summer we went for a hike with most of Ralf’s numerous cousins –
does it mean you are getting old when you start to enjoy family
gatherings like this one?

October 3rd is a holiday in Germany and Imke, Helmut, Moritz and
Janina stayed with us for a few days. A colleague and old
acquaintance, Jutta Rebmann, published her 9th book and I went
with some of my “girls” to the release party. Mona spent a weekend
at a tournament in Austria with her Volleyball team. Ralf sacrificed
himself and went with her, taking 5 girls in our car and sleeping on
the gym floor. Meanwhile, Tim and I saw a magician’s show at his
school. Timo Marc is World Champion and a former student at SGH,
he brought along some friends and put on a show at his “alma
mater”, Tim was very impressed! He has been practicing his card
tricks even harder ever since, and at some of them he is getting
impressively good. Ralf and I also went to see the “Kleine
Tierschau” , comedians who combine standup comedy with music
and just plain fun. The program showcased the highlights of
25years, we had a blast! The next day, Ralf’s parents celebrated
their 50year wedding anniversary and we went out to dinner at a
very nice restaurant. From there, we drove directly to the Jostal in
the black Forest area where we spent our annual Fall Break week
at a farm and hiking with our friends Petra and Martin with their 4
kids. We had sunshine for a few glorious days, and midweek it
snowed! Fresh white show under a blue sky and sunshine, it was
gorgeous! On day it rained and weather was nasty but that was OK
since our repertoire has one tour that we only do in nasty
weather…….

November was barely here, and we were celebrating yet again!
Boeblingen had the bi-annual “Alba” weekend, when restaurants
from the sister city in Piedmont/Italy pack up everything, drive it
across the Alps and set up shop in Boeblingen. There is food and
wine and truffles, and much Italian spirit. We went for Dinner twice,
and on Sunday I helped out translating at the wine seller’s stands.
That earned me 6 bottles of yummy wine and Italian chocolates – in
addition to practice my Italian-speaking skills for free! Together
with the results of the presidential election in the US, all this made
for a sparkling weekend. The Monday after, Ralf had been
scheduled to travel to the US again but the trip got cancelled –
good for the kids and I, but for Ralf it will be a long break until he
can travel there again early in 2009. Then, exciting days were ahead
at the kids’ school – they ran a project where the whole school is a
country of its own, with its own money and politicians elected by
the students. Everyone has to be present for 6 hours/day, and has
to work for 4 hours. Adults and kids are equal, so sometimes a
teacher would work for a shop-owning student. The country was
called Schoenbuktu, Tim worked at a tattoo parlor and Mona owned
a shop together with a friend. They sold custom-decorated
shopping bags. Everyone had tons of fun and it was a wonderful
experience. The kids learned a thing or two about economy,
politics and society. The first grades of the school year came home
short after, and we really cannot complain…. Still, there were also
some problems at school, since a student in Tim’s class got
diagnosed with head lice. So at home, the machinery kicked into
gear: Change sheets and wash them, together with all the clothes,
winter jackets, hats, scarves…. – put all stuffed animals into
quarantaine for a week in a plastic bag out in the garage and wash
our hair with some wicked-smelling shampoo several times, then
comb out the hair with a special comb. Yum. So, of course I was
thrilled when the Mom of a boy who Tim sits next to at school called
me 3 days later and told me her son had gotten home from school
with a live louse on his head. That meant: the whole procedure yet
again…..GRRRR! When all that was finally over and no more lice to
be found, it was already time to start with Christmas decorations –
at least on the outside of the house. It took three weekends, but
then the house was decorated inside and out, the kids’ advent
calendars were filled and the advent wreath (this year in purple
and silver) was ready. Most of the Christmas presents were taken
care of also, which was a good thing for at work, things were
stepping up after one of the open positions had been filled and we
had a new “boss” who took charge. I worked 30+ hours/week. Ralf
and I relaxed by using a child-less Friday night (the kids were at a
sleepover) to enjoy a show in Stuttgart downtown. Of course, there
were also several cardmaking-events at our house.

As usual, the month of December was filled with festivities: With
Ralf’s work we went to a wine tasting at our favorite wine dealer’s
and for our wedding anniversary, Ralf and I went to see a show in
Stuttgart with dinner afterwards. The kids had several Christmas
recitals with gymnastics or choir, we stayed pretty busy! But the
excitement doesn’t end there: In time for Christmas, we will get (we
hope in time) a glass roof for our balcony as well as new outside-
furniture and a new dining table.….

That much from here! It was another exciting year and we are
hoping that 2009 will yet again bring us many wonderful
experiences. We hope you all will have a joyful holiday season and
that 2009 will become a year of hopes fulfilled!