Our Friends

So, I thought, since we are always mentioning our friends M & S I ought to blog and share with you who they are. These pictures are from two weekends ago when we had some extra time on a Sunday to spare. It was a beautiful day so I think we barbecqued in the evening, the boys fixed a chainsaw, the kids really worked hard to better their hoola-hooping skills, and us girls read books in the garden and chatted. So, M&S have 2 lovely children, K (5), and J (4), and two birds, Rocky & Piefke (apparently means "Little One" in Germany). They live here in the same village but in a new build community. Its quite a bit different from where we are living with our host family because the houses are much closer, and everything is mostly brick surrounding the houses. But everyone has a yard (varying sizes).

In this picture Daniel was helping M to rebuild his chainsaw so that they could cut some more wood for burning in the fireplace in the winter. Hard to believe when you see how much wood they already have, huh? But, that's really the only heating they use here.

They have a nice new Audi A3! And weee loooove it! :)

This is K. He was busy looking good while watching his Papa and Daniel do guy stuff.

Their house. Despite what age this style may represent to you, this house is only 3 years old. On the left is their carport, and small garage, and on the right is a bed of rocks for the kids to play on, and the beginnings of their flowerbeds. Behind it is their backyard.
S has had a horse all her life...so, this is a horse family. A welcoming sign for the English speakin' folks. :)
And for the "Germs" :)
Here is Miss J. :) She is sweet, loves horses too-just like her mommy, and, apparently, hoola-hooping. She spent so many hours practicing on this day AND every time I come over again I HAVE TO watch her show me her improvments!
So the funny thing is that K totally has the hip movements for hoola-hooping. He is a natural and can go forever. J has to really try a little harder. Shame for us girls that sometimes boys can move so much better! Here are S & K competing for longest hoola-hooping ability. I guess while I'm at it I will introduce you to the rest of the family. This is Rocky. And here is Piefke. Which, apparently, means "little one", or something, to German people. Now I took this picture to show my mom because I really thought that if you have birds, your house will always, inevitably, have bird poo smeared somewhere, feathers flying around, or, at least, the remaints of their nuggets they eat strewn on the floor below their cage. BUT(!), and I know this picture only represents one moment in time, these birds dont ever throw food on their floor and there is nooo birdy poo in their house anywhere! And, yes, they do get to fly around for about 2 hours a day. I was amazed. Thus my rediculous paragraph about this. :)
So, they have a very beautiful home, which S keeps very nicely, despite having the added difficulty of kids, toys and birds. They love bright colors, which is not unlike many German households actyally, and I always feel very light when I am there.

Here is a picture of one of the fireplaces that they have here. What I mean is this one is representative of the many fireplaces in the homes in Germany. Not like ours back home. We might actually be adding one of these to our little cottage for a different, more cozy, kind of heat for the winter. :) Will post pics if we do!
The rest of these photos were pictures I took of their lovely yard. They, too, like to garden. And, I really appreciate it! Thanks to my mom and dad and Oma & Opa who have always worked hard in their yards, I have a real understanding of what it takes to create such a pretty place.

Here is a pic of, what I thought was, an interesting kind of pine. Love the long needles. Reminds me of fireworks exploding when I see it. Happy. :)

This is actually the neigbors palm. Funny, I wouldn't have guessed they could grow here!

A Banana tree/shrub...something. It will actually grow bananas some time, I guess.

View from the back door. This is where we sit and have our dinners outside. We often barbecue.

This is where we barbecue. M built this beautiful thing. Its actually the other side of the rock pit.

S's olive bush and her tomatoe plants (which, mmmmm, smell so good - like homegrown tomatoes!)

A crazy plant that looks like coral when you can see it with your own eyes. This picture is not so good. Its really neat!

Our view from the barbecue/hearth. Like I said, the neighborhood has small yards, but its enough for the kids swing set, and soccer net! Its great! Not too much work either! That big terecotta pot on the right of the patio is actually an oil lamp! Its so nice at night!

A lovely bench under the trees. :)