For posterity sake, I will post our Christmas letter that we emailed to friends and family this last year in 2014.
MERRY CHRISTMAS!
From Scott,
Katie, Timmy (7), Aaron (5), and Cora (1) Stapleton
Our family has been living in Aachen,
Germany for 2 ½ years. We have loved our
experiences here. I get asked all the
time what the best part is of living abroad.
Our favorites
things have been:
1.
Listening
to the boys learn and speak German. So
much fun!
2.
People. Serving in the church and meeting wonderful
church members who have welcomed us to their ward family. Amazing Neighbors. I am not exaggerating.
3.
Experiencing life in another part of the
world. It has been enlightening to live
somewhere where certain traditions and mindsets and philosophies are different,
where the whole health care/taxation/social benefits/school system are
different. I appreciate things here we do not enjoy back home, and I still have
things that I long for that we enjoy in the states.
4.
Living
in a historic place where the history dates back to Roman times! I enjoy (and will forever miss when we leave)
the quaint cafés, the narrow alleys, and the foot-traffic-only gathering places
in the middle of each and every town (no matter how small!). We need only hop on the bus and go into town
to feel like we are on a European vacation.
It’s lovely, and we never tire of it.
5.
Traveling
and getting a taste of new places. I always think I will get my “fix” and
“fill” to satiate my desire to travel and see new places, but I’ve experienced
enough now to know that I will never get tired of it. It’s been really fun to live somewhere where
it is literally 10 Minutes in the car to go over the border into the
Netherlands and Belgium. It has also
been accessible to take the train, and occasionally fly a few hours on a budget
airline and be completely immersed in another culture and language.
Scott: Is finishing up a 3 year post-doc at
RWTH Aachen University. He is right in
the middle of the application/interviewing process for tenure-track professorship
positions, which would most likely begin in August 2015. It’s one of those
exciting years for us where life is in limbo, and we know we are going somewhere this summer, but do not know where yet! We feel the fragility of our lives, and are
grateful that they are in the Lord’s hands.
Timmy:
Timmy has shown a real talent for swimming, and has also started reading
and writing in German and English this year.
He is in the “Erste Klasse” (1st grade) with Frau
Tschernoster. He loves school and enjoys
walking there with friends from his class, and playing with his two best pals,
Sabastian and Arghya in the OGS. He is
having a birthday party at Aquana pool this week, and is excited to play with
his best friends there.
Aaron:
Aaron has mastered the 2 wheeled
bike this year. He is a pro. He loves to ride his bike and even tries
doing tricks. He is a natural, in great
control, and very safe, which amazes everyone who watches him bike, as he rings
his bell, weaves through crowds, and waits carefully by each driveway and light
for me. He is very interested in all
kinds of subjects and can’t wait to go to school. He enjoys his new kindergarten that he
started attending in August, and playing with his best friend, Leo.
Both of the
boys achieved their “Seepferdchen” (basic swimming certificate) this summer,
and are working on their “Bronze” swim certificate.
Cora: Is army crawling all over the place, and
chattering indistinguishable words in her cute little voice. She also likes to sing to herself. She gives big smiles to strangers and loves
to laugh, which makes her the sweetheart baby at my gym, with people we meet at
the grocery store, and on the sidewalk on our way to and from school &
kindergarten. She is “our baby” and we
all dote on her lots and love to make her laugh.
The Most Exciting parts of 2014 AT-A-GLANCE
In February,
we celebrated Karnival with the Lüth
and Siebke Families in Mausbach.
Our dear Grandma Brown passed away. We were grateful Scott was able to attend the
funeral.
In March, we
tagged along with Scott to Paris (he
had a conference). Cora and I also flew
to Barcelona to visit John and
Cookie Allred, who were serving as missionaries for the Church of Jesus Christ
of Latter-day Saints as CES Institute Missionaries. Cora and I had a great time with them!
In April, we
rounded off our “Trip-fest” with a trip to Crete,
Greece with Scott’s mom, Janice.
Such a great trip! We visited the
West side of the island. Highlights were
Kris at Kris Apartments and his amazing breakfasts with fresh squeezed orange
juice each morning, and Loutro, a quiet (and I mean quiet!) fishing town on the
southern coast. One of those charming
towns with white washed buildings, blue doors, turquoise sea, the goats on the
hill, and hiking along the coast.
In June, Allie came to visit! Highlights were the Aachen Kletterwald,
hiking Lousberg, touring Liege, Masstricht, and Amsterdam, where we had some
mad-delicious Indian food.
Germany won
the World Cup!!!!
In Summer,
Timmy and Aaron did an intense swim
course. We swam 7 times a week for a
month. (2 x a day on W/Fr!)
We visited Bojana and Matt in Bremen, and Christian in Hamburg. Great friends from our Michigan days, who
also happen to be great tour guides!
Afterward, we spent a night on the Wattland.
In September
and October we were delighted to get visits
from Tim & Janice (Scott’s parents), as Tim was on his way to the World
Arm Wrestling Championships in Lithuania!
Annie, one of my best
friends from the mission, stopped by on her way to the US from Thailand with
her friend, Braden. So fun to see
them! Dan & Janet came for a remarkable tour of Germany which
included Janet running the Berlin Marathon (amazing lady!!) and touring family
history sites in Northern Germany.
Thanks to Dan, we now know that we have bragging rights…..our children
are descendants of Charlemagne! It was nice to see family and friends here. It was like they brought home to us.
For the fall break,
we took a family trip to Pula, Croatia
(we’ve got to pack it in before we leave!).
We enjoyed the pebbly beaches and clear water, and waterfalls of Plitvice
National Park. In November, we
celebrated St. Martin’s Tag at Aaron’s and Timmy’s schools, and then a
very delicious and heartfelt Thanksgiving
with our friends, the Baumann Family.
MERRY CHRISTMAS TO YOU!! WE ARE GRATEFUL FOR WONDERFUL FRIENDS AND
FAMILY.
WE LOVE YOU AND WISH YOU AND YOUR FAMILY
“A GOOD SLIDE” (as they say in Germany) INTO THE NEW YEAR!
Love,
The Stapleton Family
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