Hiking through the vineyards

Today was another beautiful day of warm weather. It was almost 70F which is almost unheard of at this time of year. We took advantage of the warm weather and went for a hike through some local vineyards. It was an incredible day.


Look deep into nature, and then you will understand everything better. ~Albert Einstein

Hiking near Hilzingen

Today was a beautiful day.. clear blue skies, warmer weather.. so we decided to go for a hike and a picnic. Although you can't tell in the pictures because of some distant clouds, we could see the outline of the Swiss, Austrian, and French Alps. Amazing!!
Here are some pictures from the hike (as always, click on pictures for larger view):

Go Giants!

We are excited that we will be able to watch the Super Bowl, but unfortunately it does not come on until midnight. GO GIANTS!

Singen Carnival Parade

Today Adam and I went to the Carnival Parade in Singen. There are a lot of local carnival clubs and music clubs that put on the parade. The carnival clubs are a lot of fun during the parade... they "kidnap" people and put them in carts full of confetti, bop you in the head with balloons made of pig bladders, tickle you with feathers, and throw candy for the children (plus lots of other fun and trickery). Overall it is a great parade!!

Love
Jodie and Adam

The Hemdglonker Parade

On Thursday night we met up with our friend Erin for the Hemdglonker parade in Konstanz. This is the parade where you wear a white nightshirt (or any other carnival costumes) and join in the parade in the streets. We had a great time!

Here are some of our favorite pictures:

Our friend Erin

Its Carnival Time!!

Carnival (Fasnacht) starts tomorrow in our region. At 5am our local villagers will try to wake everyone up with parade music, etc. Then tomorrow evening everyone dresses up in white nightshirts for the Schmotziger Donnerstag (dirty/greasy/fat Thursday) parade, and anyone can join in on the parade. Saturday and Sunday are more parades with local Fasnacht clubs wearing traditional costumes.

It is an incredibly fun time of year, and we are so happy to be here for it. Here is a link from Wikipedia with more information: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fasnacht

Wishing you a happy Carnival season!
Jodie and Adam

Here are some of our pictures from last year:

December

Its been over a month since the last time I wrote in our blog. December was an incredibly difficult month for us. My cousin Jackie and Grandma Do both passed away. It has been a very tough time for us, but we will find a way to get through.

I hope to add more posts soon, and wish all of you a happy new year. Remember to always cherish the precious time you have with your friends and family.

Love
Jodie and Adam