Bodele - Austria

Last weekend we drove down to Austria to go skiing. We haven't had any snow here yet this year, but luckily the Alps had a fresh covering. We stayed in the town of Dornbirn, which we have been to many times now (thanks to Hotel points). It sits in the West of Austria and borders both Germany and Switzerland. A great thing about Europe, is that they often have a "family rate". Bodele offered one, and so our entire family skied for what it would cost one person in Colorado - Gotta love it!!! They also had lots of great sledding places to boot! After Christmas, we were tired and not so sure we wanted to go away, but a couple of nights away was just what we needed to rejuvenate us. We rarely have time anymore, when we are all on vacation at the same time (with the school and work schedules), so it was extra appreciated!

Bailey and Mia building a snowman...

A perfect place for sledding!

I love these guys!!!

Fun!

Fun!

and more fun!

Wheee!!!!

This was gorgeous... The mountains were full of snow, but as we were heading back down into the town of Dornbirn, there was less and less snow. This little church is located at a place that overlooks 3 countries (Austria, Germany, and Switzerland).  So pretty!!!

There is something so calming about the alps!

The fresh snow - just waiting to be skied on :-)

My little skiers :-)

Knowing that I won't have them forever, I want to always remember these times!!!

12 Days of Christmas

Merry Christmas! I hope everyone had a wonderful day. We had a very nice day. For me, it seemed like Christmas flew by this year. I'm not sure if it was because I was working, but there just didn't seem to be enough days (or time) to take it all in. Yesterday was the "2nd day of Christmas" here, and I chuckled as I was running at 8:30 am through the streets of Bamberg. In this city of 70,000 people, I saw only 5 cars, 1 biker, and 3 walkers - everyone was still very much in the spirit of Christmas. No shopping, no errands, no activities, just a second day to be with family or friends - Very nice. There will be the feeling of Christmas right through to Jan. 6 (Epiphany). The 3 Kings will come and bless our house with incense and then the next day the decorations will come down. I grew up singing the very traditional 12 days of Christmas song, but now it makes much more sense....

What we've been up to... (in photos part 2)

December has been very busy, and in addition to everything, I have been substitute teaching at Bailey and Camden's school - which makes for very little down time to relish the Season. It is now officially vacation though, and the great thing about Germany is that everything closes on Tuesday by 2:00 in the afternoon and does not re-open until Friday! Finally, the quiet time I have been looking for to cherish the moment! We have been very busy with lots of activities that are fun, but I am really looking forward to a few calm days as well :-)

Bailey and Camden's school went on a field trip and this was the Chapel in the Castle in Nuremburg.

Looking out one of the castle windows...

The torture devices in the Dungeon underneath the city (O.K. sorry, not so "Christmasy" :-))

Camden has a fantastic class - I really enjoy the kids... Here they are in the Dungeon

The Christmas Market

More Dungeon pics...

So pretty!

Nothing like Germany at Christmas!

Dinner at my favorite Italian Restaurant

Coburg Christmas Market

Coburg Christmas Market - very traditional and not so touristy

Always, the contraptions to keep you warm (the Gluhwein always helps too :-))

The kids always love the Candy stands...

So many cute things!!!

A couple of photos from Bailey's trip - yes she survived the flight home from London and had an incredible time- yeah!! Here she is with her favorite guy - Nial from the Group One Direction (O.K. it is really him at the Wax museum - made out of wax :-)) It is funny... to me it looks like a school photo from the 80's :-)

A boat ride on the Thames.. She got to do all of the things that we don't always get to do as a family of 5 because of the cost multiplied by 5 (the London Eye, the Wax Museum. River Boat tour, Ripley's Believe it or not etc...) She had a GREAT time!!!

A day out with Mia - we went to a special weekend Christmas Market

She got to feed a Lama

I had to share this one... this is Camden's Christmas gift from his soccer team. We only pay the equivalent of 10 dollars A YEAR to play and they even get a free warm up suit for the Christmas gift - it isn't all about profit - instead, it is all about the kids.. (Notice Camden's goofy face - he wasn't so happy to have his photo taken :-)

This is funny too, the sponsor of the team is the local brewery :-)

One of our Advent Sundays with our neighbors brought us to the forest in a "Wald Spielplatz" - a forest playground... The advent Sunday "get togethers" have been a tradition for a couple of years now. It is such a fun time. Each family hosts one Sunday, but we enjoy 4 fun evenings with good food and great company.

What we've been up to... (in photos - part 1)

Decorating the tree

After 3 years, Mia got new glasses (it was really sweet, because she was very nervous that people wouldn't like her new glasses - but not many people even noticed the change :-)) Sadly, her vision was at only 50% before the new ones came - yikes!!!

Bamberg Christmas Market - oh how I will miss this!!!

Delicious Hot Flammenkuchen - almost nothing better on a crisp afternoon!

The blacksmith

The wood carver

Bailey being inducted into the FBLA (Future Business Leaders of America)

The "Light Night" in Bamberg

I love the decorations everywhere!

Bailey and I went to the High school dance - (I was a chaperone) The them was "Bavaria" - these were the take home gifts -nice memories/momentos for Bailey

Advent! Each Sunday we gather at one of our neighbors for snacks and drinks - another tradition that we will miss so much!!!

St. Niklaus arrived on the 6th!!!

We hosted our first "Wine Club" - our friends invited us to join, and it is a lot of fun. The host supplies the themed wine (our theme was Franken/Frankreich - wines from Franconia and France). The guest bring the food - and the food is always really good :-)

The kids playing "Leben" (Life) at one of the Advent Sundays

Harlem Globetrotters

Last Night, the Harlem Globetrotters came to the base to put on a show as a thank you to families serving overseas. It was a really fun evening. I keep having to remind my kids that it is not normal to be able to go to events like this, where there are only a fraction of the normal number of spectators and you are able to get autographs and photos after the event. Definitely a special thing. We brought our German friends' kids too and it was really fun to see them laughing and having such a good time. We learned that one of the players had just (last month) broken the world record for the longest shot recorded by the Guinness Book of World Records - see the link here:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LvqdC5ltE48

Very cool! It was really a great time.

This was "Hi-Lite" - he had a microphone on the entire game, and was kind of the MC giving all of the "Hi-Lights"

They were super interactive with the crowd - the kids love it!

This photo made me laugh - you can see Bailey and her friends taking photos :-)

A couple of times, they let the kids come out onto the court too!

Camden having a GREAT time with his friends - they had a lock in that night too  - so much fun.

They were all so nice to the kids!

This was Thunder - he is the one that recently broke the World Record