Christmas & New Years Eve

Our Christmas this year was quiet and peaceful. We followed our usual traditions. We held our annual family nativity. Can you tell who's who?

We made our traditional soups. Erick's favorite was the clam chowder. Mine was the tomato basil parmesan. Delish! This year, Joey and Bailey found their inner Grandma B and decorated the table beautifully. 

At the end of the night, we all got our new Christmas jammies.

We didn't have snow for Christmas, but it came in time for New Year's Eve. The kids built two snowmen. This guy was allowed to live through the night...

...but sadly, his friend did not make it. We used our fireworks to blast him to pieces. The kids had so much fun that we've decided to do it again next year (as long as there is snow).

Christmas market extravaganza: Schloss Guteneck

While Sarah was in town, we joined her for a fun evening at one of our favorite markets, Schloss Guteneck. This market has a medieval theme and opens only on the four weekends of Advent. Best of all, it's not far from our house!

The bird man was cool. He had several falcons. My favorite was the tiny owl. He looks big in my picture, but he was only four or five inches tall.

The kids' favorite part of the evening was feeding the goats with Sarah. My favorite part of the evening was enjoying a nice warm fire while the kids fed the goats with Sarah. Ha ha!

This tall guy dropped one of his juggling clubs. TJ picked it up and handed it up to him. He was super friendly and gave everyone high-fives.

Sarah was super kind and spoiled the kids with a new treat. I can't remember what it was called, but it had meat and bread wrapped around a stick, and it was delicious. We ended up buying more because it was so good!

Christmas market extravaganza: Strasbourg

We were pretty tired by the time we got to Strasbourg in the late afternoon. It was an hour drive from Freiburg. Then we got stuck in traffic because, like most markets, it was opening weekend, and everyone was coming into town. I was a little concerned, because Strasbourg was the main reason I wanted to take this trip, and I wasn't sure the kids would hold out long enough for us to really see it.

We experienced a little miracle in finding a parking spot in a garage that was supposed to be full. We couldn't turn around once we saw the sign, so Erick decided to drive through to get to the exit. Luckily, we found a spot, and Erick demonstrated some mad driving skills when he fit our big American van into a tiny, crowded, French parking stall. I sure love that man of mine.

We started our visit with a local treat, Kougelhopf. The kids devoured it in minutes. I had to stop them long enough to take a picture. Luckily, one side remained uneaten for the photograph. Later we enjoyed delicious candied almonds.  We didn't get Heisse Schokolade or Kinderpunsch because we were disappointed that the drinks came in plastic cups instead of mugs like most markets.

Strasbourg was everything I wanted it to be. It had 11 small Christmas markets throughout the city, so the people were spread out. We didn't struggle too much with crowds. The sun was going down, so we were able to see all the lights and decorations at their best.

When the kids (and Erick) decided they were done, we were on the opposite side of the city from our car. As we walked back, we happened upon some of my favorite views. I loved the Christmas tree all lit up and "Petit France" on the water.

We visited the inside of the cathedral. It was breathtaking. Just like I remembered it. We wandered around from city square to city square enjoying the unique lighting and feel of each small market. I found a Christmas bell for our tree made out of white and blue Alsace pottery and a small stork's nest.

We ended our evening with warm food. Joey and Diena ate lemon and sugar crepes. TJ and David enjoyed Nutella crepes. I had Spaetzle (noodles) with mushrooms. Erick had the best meal of all, a crepe filled with egg, cheese, and ham. He let me have a bite... It was amazing!

And that's it. That was our three-Christmas-market-weekend-whirlwind. You should come visit. I'd love to show you some of these markets. So fun!

Next market on my list? Regensburg Thurn and Taxis Palace...  stay tuned...

Christmas market extravaganza: Freiburg

The next morning we headed to Freiburg (this is the Black Forest Freiburg, not the LDS Temple Freiberg located on the other side of the country). We arrived before the Christmas market opened and climbed a small mountain near the city's center.  I read online about a tower at the top of the hill and the beautiful views of the city. According to the weather forecast, it was going to be a sunny day.

We did not take the tram up, but I thought it looked super cool with the city in the background.

The hike was beautiful. There were still leaves in the trees with lots of color. We even found some wild raspberries on the trail.

Raspberries!!

But we did not see beautiful views from the top. We only saw fog. We still climbed the tower. Erick and I sprinted to the top for a good workout. My legs were sore for a few days afterward. Despite the fog, it was a wonderful hike and a fun adventure for our family.

Next we hit the Christmas market in town. This was the opening weekend and the first weekend of Advent. It was crowded. I don't love squeezing through crowds while trying to keep track of four little people and one tall man. But we tried to get a good feel of the city. We picked up a pretzel and a pretzel ornament for our tree. Then we warmed up with some hot Kinderpunsch and headed back to the car for baguettes, camembert, and salami. Yum!