The Hills and Halloween

*Warning-this post is supposed to have pictures, but Blogger seems to be having some problems with uploads. So, in an effort to at least get something new up here, the pics will come soon.

Ok, ok so I'm not that great at updating the blog. So here is a quick catch up of how things are going here in Vienna. Last weekend, the Rushers, a few people from the Inzersdorf congregation and family went up to a camp owned by the churches in Austria, Switzerland, and Germany to do a little work on the camp. If you want a full detailed description you can check out the Rushers blog
It was pretty fun to get out of Vienna awhile and see what else Austria has to offer. I must say this country is gorgeous. I think it has to be one of the most beautiful places I have ever seen. On the drive up we were going through the mountains and all of these small villages that looked like they were taken right out of a story or something. The trees on the mountainside were bursting with reds, yellows and oranges. When we got to the camp, after a long hike for most (Abby and I lucked out and got to ride up with the luggage in a 4x4) there was already snow, a lot of snow, on the ground. Jake spent most of his time working outside, which he loved, but was disappointed not to be able to do any wood cutting. I helped in the kitchen and got to cook on a wood burning stove (see the picture below). This was one of the coolest things I have ever done. I loved this stove. We were only there for 2 days, but by the time we got home on Saturday evening we were all exhausted. It was a great time!!!
So, Halloween isn't exactly sweeping across Vienna with the fervor I was used to in the States. It is here, but not as popular and it is very dark here. By that I mean, if you are lucky enough to find costumes, they are all witches, Dracula, devils, etc. Since, Abby is just now at the age when she might actually care about Halloween, it wasn't too big a deal for her. We just decided we would sort of skip over this holiday. However, the Hensal kids were very excited about Halloween. So, Brian and Alisha offered to host a small little party for the kids. They got to watch the Charlie Brown movie, decorate some cookies Alisha made and wear their costumes. The grown ups sat and sipped cider. Yummy!!!
You will see in the pictures below Abby's very poor excuse for a costume. I really like making her costume, but by the time the party idea came around it was too late to make anything. Besides, the fact that fabric is insanely expensive here. So I found like 3 princess dresses at a toy store. This was the least expensive one, the others were 100 euros!!! Don't let the price fool you, the quality was roughly the same. Carli, Caleb and Cotter wore costumes their grandparents brought with them from the states. Zaden was protesting the whole costume idea.