December 6-St. Nikolaustag (Tag=day)

December 6th is St. Nikolaustag in Germany.  Nikolaustag was a 4th century Greek that was known to be quite religious from an early age.  He was also known for secret gift-giving and would put coins in the shoes of children, thus becoming the model for Santa Claus.  (Beth, thanks for the info. on your blog)

Traditionally in Germany, children place a shoe or boot at the front door or by a fireplace on the eve of St. Nikolaustag.  In the morning, they find small gifts or candy filling their shoe.  

We were so surprised when we found these treats outside our door.  We don't know who left them for us but another example of God's goodness to us.  I had planned on buying these cute candles for our Happy Birthday Jesus cake.  I was so excited to see them in this bag. 

The picture below shows what we left for Brooke, Seth and Luke.  This might be a tradition that we continue in America.  They got candy and some of their own Euros to spend.