Feast of Christ the King

Our new apartments are wonderful, but we are lacking a few things...like a kitchen, and the internet. To be honest, the kitchen is more of a priority (for me, we'll see if it is for the workers), but having no internet will mean that posting may be a little scarce. But we'll do our best, we can get online at the Schloss, which is now very close.

Yesterday we heard Mass in Vienna, and had a simple but very nice lunch in a Heuriger dating the 1100s. We then took the kids to the courtyard of the Schloss to play in the huge piles of leaves, while John and I watched some baseball.

Moving Again

Today saw the ceremonial handing over of the keys and the official opening of the new and permanent campus buildings of the I.T.I., complete with long speeches and plenty of food and drink. So now we have a set of keys to one of the new flats on the other side of town (much closer to the Institute). About half of our furniture and some of our belongings are already moved across, with the rest to follow tomorrow. If all goes well, this may be our last night in our current place, although I suppose we'll be returning for a couple of days yet for a thorough cleaning. Third time's the charm, right? So perhaps this one will remain our home for the remainder of our time in Austria.

Pumpkins

Canned pumpkin is impossible to buy in Austria. However, John really, really likes pumpkin pie for Thanksgiving (and/or Martinmas). For the past three years, he's had to make do with apple pie, but this year, we decided to pay a visit to the "pumpkin lady," who we pass sitting at the edge of the driveway leading to her farm each time we go to the Schloss. Maria picked out a good one, and we took it home and baked it, pureed the flesh, and froze it for Thanksgiving. It was so easy that we asked Katie to pick up two more, and now we are eating very tasty autumn desserts.

A pumpkin roll with cream cheese filling.
Made by Maria

Happy Birthday, Anna!

Hope it was a great day, with pumpkin cake and cream cheese frosting!

(Stay tuned to find out why this is on Maria's mind)

Feast of Blessed Emperor Charles of Austria

His Imperial and Royal Apostolic Majesty,

Charles the First,

By the Grace of God,

Emperor of Austria,

Apostolic King of Hungary,

of this name the Fourth,

King of Bohemia, Dalmatia, Croatia,

Slavonia, and Galicia, Lodomeria, and Illyria;

King of Jerusalem, Archduke of Austria;

Grand Duke of Tuscany and Cracow,

Duke of Lorraine and of Salzburg,

of Styria, of Carinthia, of Carniola and of the Bukovina;

Grand Prince of Transylvania;

Margrave of Moravia;

Duke of Upper and Lower Silesia,

of Modena, Parma, Piacenza and Guastalla,

of Auschwitz and Zator, of Teschen, Friuli, Ragusa and Zara;

Princely Count of Habsburg and Tyrol,

of Kyburg, Gorizia and Gradisca;

Prince of Trent and Brixen;

Margrave of Upper and Lower Lusatia and in Istria;

Count of Hohenems, Feldkirch, Bregenz, Sonnenberg;

Lord of Trieste, of Cattaro, and in the Windic March;

Grand Voivode of the Voivodship of Serbia.

And it's also Katie's birthday!

30 Years!

Happy Anniversary,

Mom and Dad / Nana and Grandpa!

We love you and can't wait to see you again soon!

Cute Kids

Just because...

Edmund smiles all the time now

We all think he's quite cute

And all three of them, for Nana.

Happy Birthday, Jake!

Happy Birthday, Uncle Jake! And a present from Edmund, his first ever smile to be caught by a camera, just for you!