Dec. 30th, 2021 - Beef Jerky

We all sat down to prepare a special salad for New Years that requires making our own beef jerky and that in turn requires  lot of work on everyone's part. It was a lot of fun to come together though.

Dec. 25th, 2021 - Christmas

We all took it easy on Christmas Day. Of course, we had a few people in the family who wanted to get to the presents part of the day quickly. We obliged and there were lots of presents to go around as every year.

Dec. 24th, 2021 - Weihnachten

We had a very nice Christmas Eve with Austin, as we do every year. Arno helped greatly in the kitchen and also gave us an impromptu solo on his sax. At some point people did not want to be photographed any more. I must have overdone it. Wonder how ...

Dec. 16th, 2021 - Germany

Just a quick visit with Mom. Things are still not normal and pandemic testing is still required, but at least not all stores were closed. I met my first real boss in Cologne for breakfast after 26 years of communicating virtually!

Nov. 17th, 2021 - Saxophone

Arno started to play the sax two months ago and has gotten pretty good by now. He gave an impromptu concert tonight and even improvised for us.

Nov. 8th, 2021 - Mavs Game

Arno's friend Freddy invited him to a Mavs game, which was great fun. We hadn't been to a sports even in ages and Arno is their biggest fan. Great atmosphere and  a win at home. We could not have asked for more.

Oct. 1oth, 2021 - Arno's Brthday

Arno invited his two best friends over for a night of gaming and movies before we celebrated his birthday in style. He now has a really cool setup for his MacBook and can surely hack into any system by now. Dinner naturally involved our favorite Hong Kong dumpling joint. 

Sept. 8th, 2021 - Meredith's Birthday

We celebrated Meredith's birthday this week and had a lot of fun with it. Margo and I gave her a bracelet and shawl respectively. However, Arno had the idea to make her favorite food, Dibbelabbes, for her. He bought the ingredients with his own money and then out each in its own gift wrapping so that he could hide them throughout the house. Each gift contained a card with a clue as to where the next one might be. It was all great fun and delicious, too. On Sunday Austin joined us for lunch to celebrate as well.

Aug. 12th, 2021 - Out and About

We are truly enjoying the freedom from the pandemic at the moment and grab every bit of normal life from eating in restaurants to going back to the museums. Everyone is still getting started and things are far from normal, of course, but it's nice to experience the illusion of normalcy for a bit.

July 18th, 2021 - Couple of Shots

Just a couple of shots from the past two weeks ...

July 4th, 2021 - Summer Is Here

It took longer than usual for temperatures to come up to Texas summer levels and thus we had only been in the pool once for our first swim. In any case, we are enjoying the summer and also ability to go about our lives as we always have. Last night we had an excellent fondue thanks to Margo's help in the kitchen.

May 27th, 2021 - Victory Lap

End of the school year! Margo and Arno received their scorecard and things are looking up. Both recorded straight As in every class, so it was time to celebrate and take the victory lap. By popular choice we ended up at Maggiano's where Bonnie, Margo's godmother, joined us for an eventful, funny and hilarious dinner naturally followed by an Italian ice cream.

May 22nd, 2021 - DMA

It's back to normal. Can't tell you how many cars there were on the road today. Loads of them. Arno and I determined that we should pay a visit to the Dallas Museum of Art and thus we went. The exhibits were as good as always, there were lots of people and you could tell that everyone is still a bit jitterish about what to do or how to conduct themselves. It was great fun though and we completed the tour with a tremendous milkshake from Wild About Harry's.

May 21st, 2021 - First Swim

It was a bit late this year, but we, well Arno, finally got the first swim in. We were told that the water is still cold and that that's just fine, but for obvious reasons no one dared to follow suit. Can't wait for the temperatures to come up a bit ... 

May 2nd, 2021 - Margo's Birthday

Our little girl turned 15. I am still wondering how it all happened so fast. It seems like yesterday that I saw her for the first time at the hospital and now she's a teenager who will learn to drive pretty soon. It was a good day and Margo truly enjoyed her presents. Knowing that she would get a pair of Doc Martin's, she even came prepared to put them on right away. Austin came over as well and we all made Saltimbocca for dinner. 

May 1st, 2021 - Preparations and a Korean Dinner

The last couple of days were spent in anticipation fo Margo's birthday. Tonight we went to our favorite Korean place to celebrate leaving the 14s and gradually entering the 15s.

Apr 22nd, 2021 - Ballpark

Gerard had invited Chris and me to a tour of the new ballpark in Arlington, which was interesting. Due to the pandemic the Rangers are just now starting to use the facility. It was certainly nice to take the camera out again as well.

Apr 10th, 2021 - Dinner with Chris & Mario

We had been planning to get together for a long time, but, as for everyone, things shut down of course. Mario celebrated his birthday last week and I still had an old debt to Chris for providing invaluable medical advice when I first caught COVID last year. Thus, we made good, old-fashioned schnitzel and cucumber salad followed by a big (procured) pie.   

Apr 9th, 2021 - Fashion Show

Meredith and Margo went an what can only be described as an epic shopping spree. Of course, Margo looks stunning in her new clothes, which worries me a great deal. Anyway, we took a few snapshots and had loads of fun in the process.

Mar 30th, 2021 - Dallas Arboretum

Hans-Walter and Barbara invited us to the Arboretum tonight for a member-only event with music, wine and food. People were still socially distancing, however, the whole experience felt really normal again. Something we hadn't experienced for 14 months. It was a nice glimpse into what normal life will soon be like again.

Mar 27th, 2021 - Birthday Dance

Margo had choreographed a dance for my birthday, but ran into the typical production delays that often plague creative work. It was finally ready to be performed tonight, which spurred Arno into  an impromptu performance to the same music as well. It was lovely to watch and I certainly feel honored.

Mar 19th, 2021 - Couple of Shots

More family life. Today Margo and I cooked for a couple of hours. We will have friends over tomorrow and needed to prepare a red wine glaze and pistachio ice cream beforehand. The sauce took us over four hours to make and required a full bottle of wine as well as  several pounds of meat and veggies to essentially end up with a cup of liquid. However, there is just nothing like it. Can't wait!

Mar 14th, 2021 - Dinner

Pledging to make better use of my cameras, we took it out for dinner tonight. It's a start ...

Mar 13th, 2021 - Sign of Life

Well, we are still around, albeit not having posted for a while. Here are some shots from the past few months including the week of "Snowmageddon" where we had no power and loads of snow.