Just videos

These links are from some videos that we took last weekend (our "Festival Weekend..") Just press play!

Festivals, festivals and more festivals!!

We joke with our German friends here that every weekend in Germany there is a festival (we usually get a "but of course" look in return!) Anyway, last weekend we were treated to not one, not two but THREE "fests" in the local area. The first festival was the Esslingen Erdbeer (or strawberry) festival- very cute event in the historic part of Esslingen. The next day we headed to a Motorcross Tournament up the road (they had riders from all around the world). Probably our favorite "fest" was the local "Musikverein" or Music Club's annual fundraiser- a mini October fest type thing in the park across the road- so much fun! We ate bratwurst and sang German songs and just thanked God for the opportunity to live here in Germany and for this amazing life. Summer in Europe is simply wonderful and Fi personally thinks that everyone seems happier and nicer in the summer months. Well enjoy the pics and take care wherever in the world you may be. Love and hugs, Zev and Fi xoxoxo

Update on the flowers...

A new twist perhaps on an old saying: "The family that: prays together, runs together, shoots trap-and-skeet together, cooks together, watches "Deadliest Catch" and "Anthony Bourdain" together.....and....GARDENS together......STAYS together!" Gardening really is a lot of fun though, and it is exciting to be "surprised" by how our flowers and herbs turn out. We also planted some "giant" (and we mean GIANT) sunflowers- the packet said they could grow to 3.5 METERS! Yes, meters. When our neighbors recently asked us what we had planted this year, we told them about the sunflowers. As a side note, we had planted some sunflowers out the back, where it is a little shady (just to see "what takes"), and when Zev explained to our sweet landlord/ neighbor what we had planted our there, he said with all the sincerity in his eyes "but sunflowers need sun!" Yes of course, but us crazy Americans just wanted to do a little planting experiment.....A recent conversation between Zev and the neighbors regarding the sunflowers we planted in pots on the front balcony:

Neighbors: "Your flower boxes look lovely. What else have you planted?

Zev: "We planted some sunflowers here. They should grow to about 3.5 meters (indicating with his hand)."

Neighbors: "Oh yes that's nice. But 3.5 meters? Are you sure? Oh no, you probably mean 2 meters."

Zev: "Oh no. 3.5 meters. These are GIANT sunflowers."

Neighbors: (chuckling to themselves, probably thinking "These Americans are confusing meters with feet again"....): "Oh that's nice. Yes, have a nice day. You have lovely flowers...."

We will keep you updated on the progress of our little garden!

Hungarian Dish for Hungry Husband!

Fi's lovely new friend, Lilla, whom she met in her German class, is from Hungary, and shared a recipe for "Paprikaskrumpli" for Fi to try at home! Lilla was gracious to give Fi some special ingredients from Hungary. including "Paprikascreme" and "Gulashcreme"!! The dish is basically a potato, onion and baby sausages dish with great spices including paprika (of course!), majoram, cumin and "Vegeta" which is a dry vegetable spice....all in all, the dish seemed to be a hit with Fi's "Hungry Husband" Zev, so it will be added to "Fi's Repertoire of Staple Week Night Dishes." Hopefully when Fi's mum, Meme comes to visit, she can learn some good Peruvian dishes to add to that list. Thanks for the recipe and great ingredients, Lilla!

The man can cook....

In addition to fixing "things" Zev is an amazing cook. Luckily for Fi, Zev has passed on some of his cooking "trade secrets" and so Fi has been "experimenting" in the kitchen, and has cooked Zev up some surprises of her own! Cooking is such fun.....(Zev thinks Fi has come a long way since her "Sauerkraut Surprise" which she made as a newlywed bride.....oh what an experiment that was!!) We made that pizza last week- nothing better than fresh basil from our basil plant in our garden, with fresh mozzarella, tomato and spices- restaurant quality!

These are a few of my favorite things...

Some Spring pictures of our beautiful surroundings. The last image is one of Zev's favorite things in the local area- our neighborhood Turkish restaurant. Every time we run by in the evenings, the employees lean out the windows to say hello!! Zev loves their "Yufka" kebabs- very fresh and yummy (and garlicky....) Fi also had a chance to pick cherries from the giant cherry tree a few houses up the street. Spring is great! We are so grateful for God's abundant blessings....

My Mr. Fix It

If you need something fixed- give it to Zev. After our Canon Camera suffered a bit of a misfortune of getting wet recently, Zev took it upon himself to figure out what was wrong with it and to fix it. Long story short, where Fi thought that the camera had finally met its end, Zev figured out a way to repair it at home- and now it works as good as new! Zev is definitely a thinker: he was able to take apart the broken camera, pinpoint the exact problem (when he pointed out the minuscule problem "part" to Fi, she had a hard time seeing exactly what it was, but Zev did). Mr. Fix-It then ordered an identical broken camera on eBay (eBay Australia incidentally), and when he received that camera in the mail, he took that one apart too.....and well...now we have one complete fixed camera and lots of little camera parts. God picked the perfect husband for Fifi- a guy that knows how to cook a fabulous dinner AND fix things....among other things of course ;-))