Christmas Decor in our home away from home

I love this set!

The Crommar's were able to get us a Hungarian nativity set from the lady that makes them that lives in Kaposvar. She was out of the cow and the donkey but we were able to find those at a gift shop in Sopron. Steve gave me the beautiful table cover for Christmas.

This is our cute little tree which was very adequate for our presents and our surprise Christmas socks. It is hard to think that we have been that good all year to get socks too! Ok, Santa didn't bring them, a very kind friend who only hears the good things we do sent them. 

Do you think the decorations in the bathroom are an overkill?

The tree was a little dusty so it had a shower.

Our wreath was so pretty with all four candles burning on the fourth Sunday reminding us of faith, hope, love and joy. Steve got really good with our Chinese lighter. My sister made the runner and it was perfect for the wreath. I actually decorated the wreath to match.

I have never had much luck with getting a Christmas Cactus to bloom but I figured that since this already had blossoms on it at the store that this might be the year. Yep, one blossom emerged! Poinsettia's on the other do well under my care, maybe I should change that to the past tense, did. Our poinsettia died two weeks before Christmas, usually I am trying to knock them off around Valentine Day. Flowers are very inexpensive here.

This is what Christmas trees can look like in Hungary!

Our home was filled with the Spirit of Christmas and a blog to help us remember 

Christmas 2012 in Hungary.

Eggs in Hungary

I think that the eggs in Hungary are fresher than those in the states. It is impossible to buy a dozen but you can get ten.

This time we got more than we bargained for. 

I won't go into details as to why the feather is stuck to this egg. Lets just say that we really got more than we bargained for.

I didn't make this but I got to eat it. They really make some good dishes using eggs. I wish I liked eggs as much as Steve does.

A NIGHT IN SOPRON CENTRUM

CHRISTMAS EVE  2012

On Christmas Eve the rumor has it that the grandparents take the grandchildren down to the central market while the parent put up and decorate the Christmas tree.  So my favorite companion and went down to see what was going on.

It was an amazing evening.  There was a heavy fog and it set such a wonderful atmosphere.  We actually saw very few people there, but following are some things that impressed me.  (You can see the mysterious phantom on the right side of the picture).. But she is very cute.

I will NEVER get tired of these statues on the buildings.  I LOVE them.

I love the OLD DOOR WAYS and the intricate moldings.  

These pictures show the fog.  What a wonderful setting for an evening walking around.  Don't you think this would be a wonderful setting for a thriller movie?

Again see the mysterious beauty.  You can see the lights on the building in the background.  This building had an advent calendar on it for each of the days.

These are the little building on the square where they sold things during the month of December.  They had programs every Friday and Saturday night. We went one night and there was a huge crowd.

I LOVE the cobblestone walkways.  I would love to have my driveway done in this, except I WOULD NOT like to shoved the snow off it.  You will notice most of the streets have this in this part of town.

It was such a peaceful atmosphere maybe like the night of the first Christmas.

This is a small park by some Roman ruins. 

One of the beautiful parts is that there we so few people around.  It was like we had the entire town to ourselves. 

We are now on the road that goes around the Centrum (Old part of town) of Sopron.   At no extra cost we are going to offer you a visual acuity test.  Can you see the man in the picture?  If you look carefully you can see him in front of us about 60 yards.  Notice the street light and the decorations.

This is a wall from the Roman ruins.  We have had this picture blogged before, but never in such a romantic atmosphere.  

Enjoy one more picture of the street. Notice the light in the middle.  I thought for weeks they were giraffes, but they are OBVIOUSLY  stars.  Some of us are just a little slower than others.

This is a Best Western Motel which owns the branch house we meet in.  I love it here so much.  It has been an amazing Christmas experience, not that we wouldn't want to be with the family.  Shauna and I tied 21 quilts and bound them and then delivered them to each of the members in our branch, both active and inactive.  It was an amazing experience.  Just one example:  we called an elderly sister and asked if we could visit her.  Many times we have called and she has turned us down.  We have visited her a couple of times, but most if the times she didn't want us.  So we invited the missionaries to go with us and we took her a quilt.  She was so appreciative of it.  Several times she repeated, "Nagyon csodalotos" (very wonderful.)  She said she had felt better after our visit, and she is going to have the missionaries come on Sunday nights for dinner.

Our hearts are full of love towards God and all men.  We love you all.

This is the only thing to do in a missionary conference.  Prior to this we have some wonderful presentations by the Zone Leaders, the Assistants to the President, and President and Sister Smith.  

Then, came the food.  Shauna helped prepare some of it.  The sister in the blue is Sister Felsted, a YSA Leader with her husband, then is Sister Carpenter from the office and the other girl is a member helping out.

The food was very good and the company even better.

This happens to be one of my favorite elders.  He is Elder Jones, from Michigan, and a bright spot in anyone's life.  Elder Cox (in the back) is our new zone leader and gave some great instruction.

This is all of us engaging in my favorite pass time.  Who wouldn't want to be a part of this group?

These are the elders from our zone.  Shauna and I were in charge of a game, so we played "Fruitbasket", a longtime favorite of mine.  Just to be a part of these people is a  blessing beyond comprehension.  I can't say enough about President Smith and his wife.  They are amazing leaders and very spiritual. The couple on the left are the Heaths who helped with the West Zone Christmas Party. What a privilege to be here.

This is Elder Christensen.  He is the son of the bishop of Cathy and Mike's ward.  He is a good man.

This is Szent Istvan's Cathedral. (just so you appreciate the magnificence of my photography skills, these pictures were taken without the benefit of a flash).  There is a Christmas Market in the square just in front of this. 

The images  were projected on the side of the building and they were always moving. The technology was amazing, as least to me, being the technical genius that I am.

These were hanging on poles and trees.  Beautiful!!

This was in the middle of the square.  There is a small ice skating rink around this tree.

This is the world famous "Hard Rock Cafe" of Budapest.

 

This gentleman had a nose that looked and felt like mine.  It was very cold.  I guess he just walked around the place, catering mostly to younger children.

 A manger scene at the square.

These are wooden Christmas trees, or as they are known in Hungary Karacsony fa.  Shauna has ideas of me making some of them.  She forgets I have two left hands.

This is the view as we walked to the bus stop with the Heaths. It is just a block from their home. 

 This is a building that is for sale not far from where the Heath's live.  Anyone who is interested can give us a call.  I would love to walk through that.  Notice the garage, like many around, where people park their cars.  

The Heaths live in an apartment building that has garages like that.  This is the hallway that leads to their garage.  It is the second the last door, for those who are interested.

This picture was taken for Shelly.  Yes, there is a Claire's in Budapest in the Achon Shopping Center.

It is such a privilege to be here.  We are anticipating Christmas in three days.  What an amazing place to be at a time like this.  

To buy a whip or not buy a whip, that is the question

We first saw the whipping stuff last May at the District Picnic. A member from Szombathely brought her whip and she was really good. She then let all the elders show off their talents. We were impressed with how well most of them could whip.

Come to find out, most of the elders buy a whip to take home from their mission 

as a souvenir. They practice on their p-day.

A couple of weeks ago the Elders wanted us to take them some place so they could whip. It was cold so I told Steve to take a picture.

It was much warmer to watch a video.

Some couples are taking a whip home for each of their grandchildren. I guess we could do that if they promised not to practice at grandma's house. It has disaster written all over it for the Flammer Clan.

He sees you when you're sleeping

Sometimes it is a good idea to cover all ones bases. Santa Clause came to visit at the primary party last week. I took advantage of seeing him and told him in Hungarian that I have tried

 to be really good this year. It must have worked because he brought me some candy on Sunday!

The key word is tried!!

Naspolya

One of the great things about being in Hungary is to taste many new things.

Naspolya's are one of the most interesting. They grow on a tree and in English they are called medlar. The dictionary  says that it is a small deciduous Eurasian tree of the rose family whose fruit resembles a crab apple and is used in preserves.

They each have five seeds in them which takes up a lot of room in the fruit.

To eat them one just peels off the top and suck out the fruit and spits out the seeds.

The texture resembles applesause and I don't even have to cook it.

This picture has nothing to do with nasplya's. It is a picture taken from our bedroom window this morning of the sunrise. What a beautiful world no matter where we are.