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A Very Stuttgart Christmas


I've lost count of my German Christmases by now.  Ever since stepping foot in this foreign land more than 8 years ago (wow has it been 8!) I've been kindly invited to join the Tews for Christmas.  Then I met K and they have also kindly extended the invite to him.  They have truly embraced us like their own, our home away from home.

We received our invite back in May, you can only put that down to the German efficiency ;).  It took us a while to accept it as we weren't too sure of our plans then but we finally decided to accept the invite in August.  Flights booked and all, all I could keep my fingers crossed was... for a white Christmas.  I've still not had one can you believe it.  The year I went back to Singapore for Christmas was the year it decided to snow like crazy.. and I think there was yet another year where we stayed in London and it snowed again.  The joke is on me these days, that if Belinda comes to Stuttgart, there will be no white Christmas.  Looking back at Christmas 2016, I think it's safe to assume this statement holds true. :(

K and I decided not to take any days off and so we flew out on Friday evening, where we would be met by Werner at the airport.  He referred himself as our 'taxi driver' and when we arrived at his place at 10pm, Anita kindly prepared a German soup for us which we gulped down really quickly.  And like how it is in the Tews household, we ended the meal with an alcoholic drink.  We haven't seen them for two years and so we chatted.. from serious topics such as Brexit and Angela Merkel's policies and popularity, down to the weather (any signs of a white Christmas perhaps?), down to the Tews boys and their newest addition 'relaxed Liam'.  I have to say it was a good conversation with little references to the English-Deutsch or Deutsche-English dictionary.

Doing last minute present wrapping in our room

The next morning was Christmas eve morning and Sabrina came over for breakfast.  Funny how even though Stuttgart is only one hour ahead of London, we found it so hard to wake up at 830am.  (Blame it on the alcohol last night?).  Ah and blissful Sabrina is all married and is having a baby soon.  We had a good chat and since she lives not too far away, she invited us over to their apartment.  K was all about the "well built" houses and apartments in Germany.  He was very impressed with everything he saw.

The tree at Werner and Anita's

Crazy pose after Christmas eve church service

Christmas eve came and we went for church service and met Stephan, Priscilla and the boys.  That was where we took a few pics by their huge Christmas tree.  Their pastor recognises me haha, the returning Christmas guest :)  We met the boys and smiley Liam for the first time.  Sam and Gabe were so adorable and remembered our names.  We all went back to their place for their traditional raclett grill dinner.

The boys and their grandparents

Boys showing me how to do 'cool'



Overflowing, as usual :)

 We all ate a lot as usual, and proceeded with presents.  The boys were very excited.

Yay Gabe chose a present



Reading the story of Hansel and Gretal to Sammy

We spent Boxing Day back at Anita and Werner's for a big lunch, followed by a walk in the big field near their place.  Some fresh air was good for everyone and would make Liam sleepy so he could nap.  Most places outside were still closed so we couldn't go anywhere else.




The elder boys were very loving and protective of Liam which was very endearing to watch.
And Liam just smiles ALL the time!


Boxing Day lunch

Boxing Day lunch - the Tews and the Ongs

We took a leisurely walk outside for some fresh air
Walk after a full lunch, well not much of a walk for these kids.  I would love to have gotten in too!

Anita and I

Who would have thought our NTU/ Queen's exchange days would bring us this close?  :)

We split our time between Werner's and Stephan's and most places were closed during our stay there, with the exception of Tuesday.  We ventured out to the mall for a few hours before packing up for the airport.

Some parting shots with everyone by the tree.

We realised that we covered the tree lol
See Liam is still smiling!

With Sabrina, Bernd and their baby bump

and of course with Werner and Anita

Thank you guys once again for having us and being our second family here in Europe.  Much love to everyone.

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