Just a little note again on cross cultural living! We had a birthday party for Ashlyn last month and due to some circumstances we ended up inviting all the girls from her class to our house. (Apparently it is not impolite to only invite a few kids and doesn't hurt feelings!) Anyway, we planned to let the girls make their own pizzas. Now, in the states we would have cheese, pepperoni, and maybe hamburger or canadian bacon. I had cheese, pepperoni, olives and ham. I did cut up some onion and peppers and mushrooms for Jason and I. When the first girls began to make their pizzas they saw my "measly" offerings and asked if I had anything else. The first thing they asked for was corn. Unfortunately I didn't have any, and the girls had to settle for the toppings I had cut up for Jason and I . Anyway, I just thought it humorous that most of the girls wanted much more than plain cheese pizza.

Pizza places here offer some very unusual toppings. This week we got a flier in the mail with the newest pizza offerings. The toppings: hot dog wieners, pickles, and a few other things! Another new offering : bacon and egg pizza!
Popular toppings: corn, broccoli, tuna fish

Life is good here, Who wants just pepperoni on their pizza!!!

Just a little something that happened here the other day that I want to share with ya'll. Logan was asked to pray at dinner. Usually he doesn't say anything but I guess the other night he was feeling talkative. Anyway, in his sweet but sometimes difficult to understand voice he began:
Dear Jesus, thank you for today, thank you for grandmommy's birthday, and help Payton get better. Amen
He may have added thank you for the food but Jason and I can't remember for sure. It was very sweet and heartfelt and cute. (the grandmommy thing came from a conversation we had had at lunch earlier that day. I had seen on the calendar that my mother's birthday was the next day and told Logan this. He actually remembered this and then prayed about it.) He continued throughout the meal to talk about her birthday. It was cute and comical.

A picture of our new mailbox

The old, blown into 4 pieces mailbox!

You probably wonder why I put this on here but I thought it a "good" culture adjustment moment to share. On New Year's our mailbox was blown up by a firecracker. We had to replace it because we never found the lock and the hinges were unrepairable. Anyway, the next day we were off to the hardware store for a replacement. Now, I have never shopped for a mailbox in the states but I would guess it is a little different here. We had probably 20 to choose from but we wanted metal, not white, and big enough to fit the holes already in the cinderblock wall. So, that narrowed it down to 5 or 6. We bought the cheapest we could get and it cost us about $100 dollars for the box and the drill bit and the mounting hardware. Luckily, it just covered the holes and damaged stucco. (The one that was blown up is twice as big and much heavier duty, it must have cost a small fortune!) Anyway, I just find it humorous that we have to pay so much for a silly mailbox that is often only for junkmail!

We had an eventful few hours Wednesday. Logan was on the stairs and (I didn't see what happened)he fell and split his chin open on the metal carpet strip at the top of the stairs. Luckily it didn't bleed too much but we thought it best to take him to the ER to have it looked at. After a 5 minute or so wait, the nurse taped it and glued it and then we waited another 5 minutes for the glue to dry. The Dr. came in later and explained a couple things and we were off. Jason paid all of the whopping 38 euro bill with our check card and the lady was so surprised that she had to have help figuring out how to use the machine! For being brave, Logan (and Caedon) got water shooters! (I am not sure the medical term for these, but they are used for putting medicine in IVs and things without needles). PS: the nose bruise is unrelated and happened a couple days before on Ashlyn's bed ladder.

Well, we have had an exciting New Year's Day. Ashlyn and I spent the morning in the Hospital making sure she doesn't have appendicitis. (We still don't know why her stomach hurts, but it appears as though it is not serious.) On our way out of the house this morning, we discovered our mail box had been blown up. We were the only house on the street hit. I knew I should have brought it in last night! New Year's Eve is an exciting time here in Dresden. (See my post over at NonModern.) Here's wishing everyone a blessed 2008!