It's Beginning to FEEL a Lot Like Christmas

What a Christmas weekend! I mean, 3 weeks ahead of time. After Carter and Mamie arrived Friday night, we headed out early Saturday morning for my Hedberg family Christmas. Unlike last year, it was clear roads and pretty much smooth sailing over to Lake Elmo, Minnesota!

After a great meal – mostly provided by our amazing next generation – we had our annual program, which I hope never dies in this next generation. Usually each R family has to (or offers to) do a number of some sort. Late Friday, my twin and I texted through a routine that would leave most of our micro-families off the hook.

We did a "Broadway production" or way OFF Broadway of "It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas." And via text at few hours before, we worked out a short song and dance. Let me know if you want the video link!

Rayna talked true love with her Christmas Gnomes!'

Romey and her kids played and sung Feliz Navidad with their foreign exchange student Bianca.

Renell's multigenerational family was totally into Alvin and the Chipmunks... with Kazoos!

Then Beth's son Nils (right) decided he really needed to sing "We Wish You A Very Christmas" with RoAnn's granddaughter Khloe or just by himself. Either way, it was so entertaining!

Brother Ron had words of inspiration with song lyrics to back up our memories.

Rachel showed off her teacher skills by reading through a book about winter and pre-Christmas.

I love that now our No. 1 son and his wife are in Minneapolis, they can attend my random MN/WI family gatherings!

Also was grateful for these 2 GREAT-nieces!

As for my niece Caryn. I've known her since I was 10+ years old. If she just happened to break her middle finger. I am the last person to say she shouldn't take advantage of that "signal" in her holiday (or realistic) greetings!
 

It's beginning to FEEL like Christmas, indeed!

Swinging Through Emotions Like Tarzan

Not gonna lie. There was a lot of stress this week (mostly work-related). But then you realize there are much bigger problems that, by the grace of God, we are not dealing with.

My lunch break today consisted of going to a funeral for a neighbor lady we usually saw a minimum of once a day walking her dog past our house. I was immediately brought to tears when her grieving husband told us "I just loved her so much! Make sure you two hug each other when you get home!" Uff da. Throw in a How Great Thou Art and Josh Groban's You Raise Me Up, and I was emotional toast the rest of the day. 

A while later and channel-surfing hubby finds Tarzan playing on one of the Disney channels. "Little Carter" loved this movie (I'm sure we've seen it 100 times) and had the soundtrack memorized. Plus I've already decided our mother-son dance at his wedding (if he ever gets married) will be Phil Collins' You'll Be In My Heart. So yes, add some more emotion for the mama missing her (now 27) toddler!

How do we cope? Like any Wisconsinite, we head to a Friday Fish Fry!

And witness a gorgeous sunset, too! I can see now that slowing down to 15 mph is still too fast for a crisp photo, but you get the point.

We went to The Ridges and my Haddock Au Gratin was 100% as delicious as it looks! I didn't even need the Ranch to dip my fries in – they tasted amazing dipped into that extra au gratin sauce!

And it wasn't just the food that shifted my mood. We literally ran into about 20 people we know. Lots of people enjoying fish, that's for sure. And great to catch up with a few friends I haven't seen in awhile. Apparently, we gotta get out more!

Have a good weekend, everyone. Hug your loved ones and especially yourself if you need it!

Santa Knows I've Been Good

Santa must know that I've been good this year. First of all, in our Secret Santa reveal today, my friend Emily had me and gave me a mini Mr. Deck Chair bird feeder! How cool is that!?

I had my friend Hannah (who sits right next to me) and she definitely knew it was me. So much for being sneaky! Still, she loved her gifts – even though the final one hasn't arrived from wherever. Hopefully I can give that to her this week yet.

When I got home after work, I was pretty excited that my other Secret Santa (OK, it's ME) had a gift delivered too.

I think I've shared before that although my hubby is an accomplished organist, I know nothing about playing the keyboard so I made up little Post-It notes to guide me while practicing choir songs. On a whim during our ride home from Minnesota Sunday, I thought I'd see if there was something out there for other novices like me. There was!

So today my little keyboard cheat-sheet, so to speak, arrived!

And I immediately could play my songs for our church choir Christmas performance! Just a random joyful moment this holiday season.

Hopefully you have a few of those, too, whether Santa agrees or not!

Prime Country Date Night

In 1997, country music artist Collin Raye recorded the song "Little Red Rodeo." At that time, the love of my life was driving around in a red Rodeo. 🥰 Fast forward 27 years and the love of my life and I are sitting in the front row, merely a few feet from Collin Raye, listening to him sing it in person.

Now that's a date night! 

If you listen to the Prime Country channel on SiriusXM radio – with its '80s and '90s country playlist – you'll hear a lot of his hits. Or just go to his concert. Ha. His voice is still phenomenal! We were so glad a group of our friends had 2 tickets available at the last minute, so we could go.

He was entertaining. Made us laugh as he talked on behalf of men everywhere before singing "That's My Story and I'm Sticking to it."

He also made us cry. He sings with such emotion. "Little Rock." "One Boy, One Girl." "Love, Me." "I Think About You." "His Love Remains." So, so good! And a few songs I didn't know, the lyrics still grabbed me. 

That was a treat and a fun trip down music memory lane.

Sure makes me miss that little red Rodeo!

When We Say Goodbye

It's graduation weekend for Assumption. I had previously committed to shooting photos of the ceremony and I thought it would prove to be a good distraction.

The thing was, every time they sang a song about goodbyes, they were thinking of their classmates. Their parents were thinking of them leaving the nest. And I was thinking about my mom.

An emotional evening. But I was glad to get pictures of everyone. Today we had a few graduation parties and I had the honor of "hosting" a therapy dog (therapy for me anyway) for the next couple of days.

Buddy has already made himself at home and damn if he hasn't already trained me to pet him. Continuously. Little does he know, I just need to connect with something that loves my attention and isn't leaving me any time soon.

God bless all you parents about to experience an empty nest! It definitely takes awhile to adjust. But if you don't mind hair on your furniture, I have some great options in mind!

Congrats, class of 2024! Do good things! 

Booked Stay-cation

Hello! My name is Elder Lee Robyn. Ha. Get that one? I am in a musical mood and I pretty much danced through the day, checking off "to do" items one by one. My stay-cation was booked. I even mapped out my errands so I could start at the south end of town and work my way up in a time-saving manner back home.

Got through my list. I've got my Wild Women's Weekend "gear" packed. And my car is loaded. 

Just in time for an amazingly funny and relaxing evening I "booked" with my friend Cindy. We bought tickets to the Book of Mormon months ago after not getting a chance to see it before when it was touring through Appleton and everywhere else. The Grand Theater in Wausau is a nice venue because it's small enough we could see and hear well – and laugh our backsides off. 

I think our cheeks still hurt from smiling and laughing for a solid 3 hours. It's just hilarious. Outrageous and bit raunchy so not for the faint of heart or easily offended. We do not fit into that category. Ha. We loved it.

Most everyone else did, too, based on the quick-to-their-feet standing ovation at the conclusion.

Now it's off to bed for a quick sleep so my fun vacation can continue! 

Clean Slate

Don't let your eyes deceive you. For once this is the winter view out my windshield and that is NOT snow. After my dental checkup, I got in line at a car wash because... drum roll...

Yup. Spring has sprung in central Wisconsin! At least for a day.

So I came home from lunch hour with clean teeth and clean car. What more could one ask for? Not much in February in the Midwest. Especially knowing reality will put us at subzero again within 24 hours. That's the nature of the Mother Nature business.

To keep our spirits up, my friend Cindy and I had a movie night. I forced Jim to go golfing (indoor league) so she could use his recliner as we enjoyed popcorn and a new movie (to us) on Disney-Plus.

Encanto came out last year and we've heard such positive things, we thought, why not watch it even if we don't have little kids anymore? So we did. And it was really, really good! A story line that seemed maybe too deep for littles, but who knows? Kids are smart these days.

Just as long we don't talk about Bruno, right? (If you know, you know.)

So now I can't stop singing that and I might skip my way to bed tonight. Alone, I guess, since I never told hubby to come back home. Yet. 

Gratitude Challenge Day 12 :: Song

Today's a tough challenge – only because again, I have way more examples than necessary.

Day 12. A favorite song.

Just one? I could almost cheat and say a favorite song from each decade of my life, but then I realized why they're favorites. They're connected to memories. So depending on what kind of mood I'm in, I am grateful for different types of songs.

When I want a pick-me-up that I can dance to or sing along to with my sisters or girlfriends, I gotta go with Cyndi Lauper.

How can you not feel joy when you hear '80s music in general (ha) – and especially Girls Just Wanna Have Fun? It's just always been a fun song for me.

But I'm also thankful for songs that make me appreciate life and good memories.

I get a lump in my throat every time we sing How Great Thou Art in church. Always think of Grandma Hedberg (must have been sung at her funeral) and that makes me think of my other grandma and all the aunts and uncles I miss, too. So grateful for memories!

When I hear Why Me, Lord? I think of my dad. His favorite song and also an anthem of sorts for him. He had an obstacle or two in life to overcome. Miss him every time I hear it.

For my own anthem, I gotta go to The Story by folk-rock artist Brandi Carlile. (Here's the video.) A few lyrics that are "me."

All of these lines across my face
Tell you the story of who I am
So many stories of where I've been
And how I got to where I am...

and this verse, too:

And all of my friends who think that I'm blessed
They don't know my head is a mess...

Yup. I've been through a thing or two and come out on the better side. Music can be therapeutic and uplifting. I'm so very thankful for that. 

What a song you're grateful for?

#gratitudemonth

Gratitude Challenge Day 5 :: That's Entertainment

I'm going to slightly improvise for Day 5 of the Gratitude Challenge and add musicals.

Day 5: A favorite book or movie. 

For the record, I do have a few favorite books and movies I'm grateful for. But tonight, I have thrillifying Broadway musical on my mind – that was based on a book and set up as prequel to the Wizard of Oz movie.

Just got home from seeing Wicked over in Appleton. Clock's about to strike midnight, so this tired old witch will keep this short. 

I saw Wicked 10 years ago and loved it. And bought the swankified Wicked jacket I'm wearing above. Just had to have it. And dang, it's so cool I can't believe I don't wear it more often. Anyway, I was excited to wear it and see the show again.

My friend Cindy, who was my season ticket partner pre-Covid and during Covid, had never seen it. So I was excited to introduce her to my favorite show. Went to dinner at Good Company first, then walked down to the Emerald City. Left our broom parked at the restaurant!

The thing I love about Wicked is that there's more than one thing to love. It's entertaining as heck. Very funny. And sad moments, too. Great music. Incredible set designs. And the Broadway touring cast was crazy talented. We laughed and cried. 

I'm grateful for the experience. Grateful for the incredible message of friendship and acceptance in the musical. And grateful to share it with a dear friend. 

Pretty Oz-some!

#gratitudemonth

The Escape Song, Kind Of

If you can believe I've been channeling my inner Billy Joel all week just to hear one particular song his new Sirius radio channel.

And I never heard it.

Apparently Allentown isn't as popular as I thought. But it will be tomorrow. Because, well, I'll be there. Ha.

Doing a travel weekend with hubby and 3 other couples to fly out to Allentown, Pennsylvania, and attend a football game in nearby Easton on Saturday, then fly back home Sunday. That's how us jet-setters roll, I guess.

Our friends' son is a senior at Lafayette College and has been on the football team since his Assumption days. It'll be fun to see Big Joe in action. And just see a new area of the country. Plus, the campus is right across the river from New Jersey. In case we want to get crazy.

After a stressful week between work projects and home computer issues, I can't wait to get outta Dodge.

Wonder if Billy Joel wrote a song about THAT!

Not Throwing Away My Shot

Nine months ago, my friend Cindy and I got to see Hamilton – unseating Wicked as my most anticipated musical. It did not disappoint. We both fell in love with the story AND the music.

We had to get season tickets to the Broadway Touring shows at the Appleton performing arts center, but it was worth it for our guaranteed seats to this show.

Due to COVID-19, we didn't get to see the last 3 shows in our package – though Dear Evan Hansen will come around in August of 2021. I guess seeing the theatre-goers' state of suffering prompted Disney to take advantage of the situation and offer a subscription to their Disney-plus streaming service, which includes a recording of Hamilton, as it was presented on Broadway.

I was going to wait until I had lots of free time to subscribe, but that $6.99 was burning a hole in my pocket – especially after so many friends watched it this past weekend when it first became available. So after supper, I signed up for a month (a bargain compared to theater pricing), ignored the severe weather outside, and joyfully sang along with Lin-Manuel Miranda, who not only created Hamilton, but portrayed him.

Thumbs up from this fan. The production was amazing to see in person and this lived up to it – partly because of the camera work and close-ups we couldn't see from our balcony seats, and partly because I know most of the songs now!

I forgive you for fleecing us, Disney. Just this once.

Dinner and a Show

Last night was the third show in my season ticket package of 6 touring Broadway shows at the Fox Cities Performing Arts Center in Appleton. Since my usual partner was under the weather, my friend Brenda filled in at the last minute to join me.

We ate at The Good Company – so good – and just walked the two blocks from there to the show. Pretty chilly last night so it was a brisk walk!

Since the Miss Saigon musical takes place in Vietnam during the war, the local Vietnam veterans had displays of artifacts there. I like how Appleton does a great job adding some depth to the shows. I mean it's winter. We're all in the lobby area for an hour, so they might as well entertain and educate us.

I had heard of Miss Saigon but didn't know the whole story line. This isn't a real spoiler since it's been around 30 years. Through music, it tells the tragic tale of a doomed romance involving an Asian woman abandoned by her American lover. There are some funny and entertaining parts, but I'm not gonna deny it was sad. And knowing this happened frequently for real, that's sad, too.

But we both enjoyed it. I rank it behind the first two shows I saw this season, but a Broadway production is always, always worth seeing if you can. The talent is incredible and the changing set and scenery are amazing to watch.

Worth getting home at midnight and trying to recover all day at work! Good thing today was my "Friday."

Jingle Bells, Batman Smells...

In one of my handful of trips around town today during my day off, I ended up behind the Batmobile. I'm guessing the owner things an 8 looks like an A. The Batman sticker is a clue, too.

Immediately I started thinking of the parody of the Jingle Bells song where we'd sing "Jingle bells, Batman smells, Robin laid an egg. The Batmobile lost its wheel. And the Joker got away. Hey!" You didn't have a complete childhood if you didn't have that in your life!

I could have changed the words to "Jingle bells, Batman smells, Robyn needs an eggnog shake!" I'm still bitter than neither McDonald's or Culver's in Rapids has them!

I could also change it to "Jingle bells, Batman smells, but the Vikings really stink!" It doesn't need to rhyme. Nothing we did tonight made sense. I guess we're in the giving spirit of the season. Merry Christmas, Packers. Enjoy your division title.

At least we're still in the playoffs. But we shouldn't be surprised to see lumps of coal (or a new playbook) in our purple stockings on Christmas!

On a positive note, I finished a 400+ page book during the game. Proved to be more interesting. Still probably cried more at the final score of MNF though. Where's a Hallmark happy ending when you need one?!

What's the Word on the Birds

I guess I'm a little slow on the uptake. I didn't realize there was actually some meaning that connected the seemingly random partridge, doves, hens, swans, geese and more in that 12 Days of Christmas song. Someone mentioned this at church council tonight and I'm glad I looked it up.

Each element in the carol has a code word for a religious reality that made it easier for children to remember. Except I don't think they grew up and shared with their children what the meaning was to pass it on. Or somehow was lost in translation.

But now YOU know...

The partridge in a pear tree was Jesus Christ.

Two turtle doves were the Old and New Testaments.

Three French hens stood for faith, hope and charity.

Four calling birds were the four gospels of Matthew, Mark, Luke and John.

Five golden rings recalled the Torah or Law, the first five books of the Old Testament.

Six geese a-laying stood for the six days of creation.

Seven swans a-swimming represented the sevenfold gifts of the Holy Spirit – prophecy, serving,
teaching, exhortation, contribution, leadership and mercy.

Eight maids a-milking were the eight Beatitudes.

Nine ladies dancing were the nine fruits of the Holy Spirit – love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self control.

Ten lords a-leaping were the Ten Commandments.

Eleven pipers piping stood for the eleven faithful disciples.

The twelve drummers drumming symbolized the twelve points of belief in the Apostles’ Creed.

It totally makes sense. And I'm glad there's deeper meaning. Makes listening to the world's longest Christmas carol worth it, I guess!

A Bit Nippy Out

After seeing this on my weather app this morning, I just couldn't get that now-controversial Christmas song out of my head. Baby, it's cold outside...

Now it's in your head, too. You're welcome.

Call me crazy (which you likely do), but single digits in December just don't feel the same as those in January. I still haven't worn a coat. Granted, it's sitting in the front seat of the car with me if I need it, but when I go from my garage to my work parking garage, I'm really not exposed to the elements very long.

Must by my thick Scandi-hoovian skin. Or pre-Christmas pounds!

Since hubby had to substitute bowl tonight, I ventured out, too, and went to our girls basketball games to cheer on our Lady Royals and take some pictures. Right now, I'm still a bit nippy so I'm not going to go through all my photos tonight. But spoiler alert. Our JV team won quite handily but our varsity team lost to rival Wausau Newman, 40-33. Dang.

Still pretty much a whole season left. There are plenty of opportunities to turn on the heat and win some games. Or just crank the heat.

Because baby, it's cold outside!

So This Is Tech-smas...

These days, I can't "do" Christmas without technology. Even though I am trying to be low-tech and support the U.S. Postal Service by mailing out dozens of cards. I need to print out labels (I am not THAT low-tech that I will use a pen) and hopefully print out a letter that I threw together.

So while I try to install a new printer I purchased on Black Friday, I will share this techno treat with you. I hope this works for you.

This is a video of one of the songs from our Christmas Cantata yesterday. It's our version of "O, Holy Night." I'm in the front row, third from right, among the beautiful altos. Enjoy...




And if for some reason it doesn't work, it's probably user error. Sorry. You can find it on my Facebook page or, if you're not on Facebook, just try this link. 

Now back to computing my Christmas cards...

Parties Weren't Meant to Last

As a teen of the '80s, Prince played a major role in the soundtrack of my life.

I reminded a classmate today that it's so weird that 30 years ago we were about to graduate from high school and "party like it's 1999." And 1999 seemed so far away. So futuristic. Now, it seems so long ago.

Especially when the life of my "baby on the verge of adulthood" has spanned that entire time.

And now Prince and that party that wasn't meant to last are gone.

If you are around my age, you may have some similar Prince-related memories...

As a border town in Wisconsin listening to and watching media based in the Twin Cities, we all had some ownership of this rising star named Prince Rogers Nelson. Almost like, "Yep, we know him. He's from Minneapolis." So the more his stardom rose, the more we smiled, sang and danced with pride. He was ours.

Back in those days, because I am old enough to reference back in the day, we didn't have a disposable income. In fact, not much of an income at all. I had just enough babysitting money to get by. So many of us could not afford to buy records or cassette tapes. Instead we'd get our cassette recorder positioned by the radio speaker and try to record our favorite songs – like 1999 and Little Red Corvette – with the hopes Casey Kasem wouldn't talk over them during his Top 40 Countdown. (I hope the statute of limitations for pirating music has expired.)

When the Purple Rain movie and subsequent soundtrack came out in 1984, it was an amazing mix of tunes. Not only could I not afford to buy the album, but I was 16 at the time and couldn't even see the R-rated movie! Back in those days, it took many, many months before a movie came out on video – as in VHS. And you had to rent the VCR because only rich people had them! Needless to say, we may or may not have had a slumber party at my friend Amy's house to rent a VCR and watch Purple Rain before we were 17.

I never did get that whole album recorded on Sunday night countdowns. In time, I rectified that. When I got to college and was brainwashed by Columbia House to buy those 12 cassette tapes for 1 cent, the Purple Rain soundtrack was among the dozen! When technology advanced, I even burned a copy to CD. Oh crap. Is that pirating, too? Plus it's still in my "running mix" on my MP3 player.

Naturally, I had to swing home after work and grab that CD to listen to while I ran errands. Went to Shippy Shoes to buy new running shoes. Stopped at King Cone to have some ice cream with purple in it in Prince's honor (Blueberry "Yes, Please" Cake). Then to balance it, I went for a 3-mile in my new shoes. I just missed the rain storm but saw a rainbow in the home stretch.

I guess that's what it looks like When the Doves Cry.

Candlelight to Silent Night

All the candles on the Advent wreath have been lighted AND we even had a candlelight church service at 1 o'clock in the afternoon. Now that is a special way to kick off Christmas.

Carter and I hit the early service since we knew we'd be eating at Grandpa and Grandma Austin's for the 4 and 6 p.m. services. Since it was a cloudy, dreary day, it was just dark enough in the church to make the glow of candles shine. Very pretty.

I love the Christmas service, not only for its message, but its music. We sang lots of Christmas carols, which I love! I really enjoy the ones we did way back in high school choir – especially when I can remember the harmonizing alto part. Yup, doesn't take much to impress myself.

On our way home from church, Carter and I swung through McDonald's and got small eggnog shakes. Did we really NEED them knowing we'd be eating just 3 hours later? Probably not. But last time I tried to get an eggnog shake on Christmas Eve, they were out! I was mainly just doing it to see if they'd improved their customer service.

(Will lying get me on Santa's Naughty List??)

We headed over to the in-laws around 3:30 and had a really nice afternoon and evening. Ate good food (naturally), played some cards, exchanged some gifts and had some laughs. Oh, and got our annual picture of the four C's....

Cousins Colin, Carter, Clay and Casey. It seems year over year that Carter is the only one inching upward. The rest are just looking more like "men" now than boys. At least they all still believe in Santa.

They better!

Casey and Clay are staying overnight at our house and Santa has that programmed in his RPS (Reindeer Positioning System) already. According to house rules, it doesn't matter so much if you are naughty or nice... As long as you have brown eyes and dimples, you'll be spoiled Christmas morning.

Hopefully green eyes qualify, too, since I'll be making breakfast. I guess we'll see.

First, some silent night...

How Great

Do you ever have a song that immediately triggers a memory?

Sometimes it's a good one. Like a lot of '80s songs (Don't judge me). Some from those rare positive moments of high school and a lot from college, too. (How can I hear "Love Shack" and not think of dancing in Carly's on 3rd Street?)


Other times the songs bring up sad times. Like those reminding me of special moments with boyfriends turned ex-es turned jerks. Or those hymns calling to mind loved ones who have passed.

This afternoon, I got out of work early to attend the funeral for a friend's dad. He was about same age as my dad and, since the hospice workers can make a pretty accurate prediction of death, was able to say goodbye to his loved ones in time.

There were a handful of hymns played over the sound system during the funeral service. When How Great Thou Art came on, I couldn't hold back the tears. Nothing to do with today's funeral necessarily but memories of my Grandma Hedberg's instead.

Every single time I hear it or sing it, I get a lump in my throat and think of that day, the only time I've seen my dad cry. And a hard day for her dozens of grandchildren not ready to say goodbye.

Today, we also heard Amazing Grace, another of my favorites. It also makes me think of her.

The woman sitting next to me had told me beforehand that she has only attended three funerals in her life and she absolutely hates going to them. With my hubby's wise words echoing in my head, I told her, "It's not about US. It's about being here for them –  the family, friends and grievers."

Showing them we are here for them until their soul is ready to sing again.

No matter how long it takes.

24 German Guys

This day came too quickly. When they say time flies quickly when you are having fun, they are right. Ever notice how a tough work week can drag on and on but vacation zips by in a flash?

We weren't exactly on vacation, but we did stray from our normal routine for the past 3 weeks as we welcomed a new family member, exposed him to our version of America and came to love him.

While we don't officially say goodbye to Lukas until tomorrow when he boards the bus to Chicago at noon, we held a Farewell Dinner at the school this evening. After the meal, the German 24 performed two songs for us as their part of the program.

The first was called "Junimond," which was sung in German but still sounded great.

 

The second was their own made-up song sung in English to the tune of "99 Red (or Luft) Balloons." Oh yes, '80s music lives on!

 

We responded with a song of blessing sung to the tune of "Edelweiss" and a Power Point of music and memories. Lots of great photos of their time here. You can see the kids crying just watching it. I'll admit, I was, too! 

Now Carter (the driver) and Lukas are out with the group eating smoothies and probably laughing and crying some more. Since we got home earlier than them, I did have time to upload the video of the 22 German students and 2 chaperones singing. 

Enjoy. You can follow along to the Luft Balloons "24 German Guys" song with the lyrics below. (When they refer to the getting locked in prison cells, that is their county jail tour. When they refer to prom and Jesus fitting between that is our rule for slow dancing!)

-->

24 German Guys

Do you have some time for us

Then we’ll sing a song for thee

‘bout 24 German guys

on their way to Germany

If you think ‘bout their depart

Then we’ll sing a song for thee

‘bout 24 German guys

head back home to Germany

24 German guys

really loved the USA

Already for three long weeks

That’s hard for us to believe

We had the best time of our lives

In Wisconsin with you guys.

Their stay went out so perfectly

For the 24 guys from Germany

24 German guys

did the shopping of their lives

We hope the airline won’t complain (and we’ll)

Fit that stuff into the plane.

We went to prom and dressed up fine

Dance real wild and looked define

But Jesus always fit between

The 24 guys from Germany

24 German guys

went to school to exercise

we didn’t have much time ot bore

in subjects never seen before

we tried some food we never had

the craisins tasted not too bad.

Peanut butter candy, smores

All different kinds of Oreos.

24 Germany guys

took field trips that turned out nice

Chicago was a gorgeous place

Besides a minor fire case.

We visited Wisconsin Dells

They locked us up in prison cells.

Finally we saw some snow.

We yelled in Green Bay: “Go, Pack, go!”

Outro:

24 German guys

hiding tears in their eyes

the time went by too fast for us

we don’t want back on the bus

Soon we’ll be high in the sky

Missing you and start to cry

But we know next year we’ll see

You guys again in Germany.