Sledding and Doughnuts!

Sledding Selfie - Dominic, AJ, Rachel, Stefanie & Steve

We have had a fair bit of snow over the last two days so that meant it was time to go sledding! We have some excellent hills within walking distance of our house which makes sledding very easy.

Dominic in the forefront and AJ WAY in the distance

 Steve is the brave one and he takes the kids out in the snow and sleds with them. I don't go for two reasons. First, I'm a baby about the snow and cold AND second, I worry too much that someone is going to get hurt, which is absolutely no fun for anyone!

Stefanie having fun?

Stefanie

And after seeing some of today's photos, I know I made the right decision!

AJ

While I do enjoy the quiet while everyone is out sledding, I am busy. I use Steve's great-grandmother's recipe to make homemade doughnuts. It is actually easier than it sounds and they are truly delicious. The kids LOVE coming in to hot chocolate and fresh doughnuts.  Wouldn't you?

Notice - professional doughnut cutter courtesy of Grandma

Almost ready....

And they are done!

Merry Expat Christmas

Steve, Missy
Dominic, AJ,
Stefanie & Rachel

We had another great Christmas here in Germany! And although it wasn't white on Christmas day, it did start snowing the next day and has just kept going so it's an almost white Christmas!

Cute girls with their mom

We had a wonderful day together and then since like us many of our friends also our without families we had the ones who had stayed "home" for Christmas over for dessert! It was a fun party with many families. The picture is a little blurry, but you get idea! It's nice to have such good friends when you live so far away from home and family!

Happy Birthday to Me!

Stefanie, Rachel, Missy, Dominic & AJ

It was a a great day! Most people tend to think a holiday birthday is rotten but my family has always done a spectacular job of making it a special day for me! I got to run (what I like to do) and had a great brunch!

Steve and I met friends for drinks by the lake and it was a beautiful day. And then I got to spend the rest of Christmas Eve with my family and attend a beautiful evening mass at our local German church. And this stunning sunset ended the day!

D Day (Dominic's Home!)

Rachel, Stefanie, Dominic & AJ

WOOHOO!!! Dominic has made it back to Germany safe and sound. First semester at West Point on the books! We all went to the airport to collect him, because we were that excited!

Ready for the brother!

Is he ever going to get here?

YAY!!!!!

Then, since we live in Germany and it's beautiful day, we stopped at a Christmas market in Erding!

Stefanie, Dominic, Steve, Rachel & AJ

Our view (sometimes)

That's our house with the red slate roof

When we drive down the street to our house sometimes we get an amazing treat. The mountains occasionally just pop out of the sky. When they "come out" it is thrilling to come down the hill and see them.  Most of the time however we can only see a hazy outline and some days we can't see anything at all, it's like the mountains aren't even there.  This just makes us appreciate days like today even more. It also means I park my car and walk back up the hill with my phone trying to get a picture that will show how amazing it is to see! I wish I was better at it!

Christmas Tree Hunting

AJ, Rachel & Stefanie

We went back to the Christmas Tree Farm we found the first year we lived in Germany to find our tree. It's out in Unterweikertshofen. They have a great system and we really enjoy it. You can ride a tractor out to the farm and then trek around and find your tree and cut it down. There is also a great market. We have a delicious snack and gluhwein by the fire and then shop the little stalls. We always find some fun treats to take back with us.

Finished Product!
AJ, Stefanie & Rachel

Happy Birthday Steve!

AJ, Rachel, Steve & Stefanie

Happy Birthday to the best Thanksgiving surprise ever!  Steve celebrated 45 years today! A nice milestone to be sure!

Birthday art by Rachel

Since it is also Thanksgiving we had a birthday breakfast of apple pie, Steve's favorite kind of birthday "cake"!

Feisin' in Den Haag

Stefanie is back at Irish Dance!  YAY! We have found a great dance school in Munich and Stefanie is motivated. She gets herself to and from class via public transportation and goes to class twice a week. This past weekend she participated in her first European Feis. She placed fifth which was great for her first feis in two years. Another dancer at Stefanie's school was kind enough to let her borrow this dress. It does look beautiful on her. Stefanie loved that it is adorned with Swarovski crystals!

She and I travelled to The Hague in the Netherlands for two days. It looks like a cool city but we didn't have much a chance to explore since we arrived late Saturday night and then spent most of Sunday at the Feis. I did go for a run in a beautiful park and we did enjoy a delicious Mexican dinner at Kua Mexican Kitchen after the Feis.

There were some differences and some similarities to the way a US Feis runs. This feis was smaller than the ones we used to go to and didn't use any computers for tallying results. This led to a very long day. Also, some dancers danced in multiple levels of competition.  Odd. Lastly, results were announced and dancers called up on stage for every single competition! Things that were the same? Lots of dancers, lots of wigs, lots of elaborate dresses and lots of bling.

AJ WINS!

At the end of every sports season our school hosts a sports night.  All the individual teams meet for 30 minutes and then there is a larger presentation to all the teams.  Each coach picks a MVP and a Coach’s Award recipient.  We were very proud when AJ recieved the coach’s award.  Especially after we listened to his coach talk about him.  Coach Pados said very nice things about how AJ really worked well with the team, helped the coach communicate to the players, talked to the refs when the team didn’t understand a point and was just a solid player on the court for every single point of the season.  AJ has worked hard on the varsity volleyball team all three years we have lived here, especially this year as captain. It was nice to see him rewarded!

Dinner with Dianne

Dianne, Stefanie & Rachel

We had an extra special treat tonight. Steve's cousin Dianne was in town for about 14 hours and she fit in time for dinner with us. We trekked into the city and had dinner with her at our favorite burger place, Hans im Gluck. the kids were not at all disappointed that all the traditional German restaurants were booked due to a conference.

Dianne, Stefanie, Rachel, AJ, Missy & Steve

It was terrific to see her and catch up on the latest and greatest in her life. We hope to see her again at Christmastime!

Fall 2014 Sports Season

AJ, the senior, gets top billing

AJ, Stefanie and Rachel all played fall sports.  It was a great season of watching them play and have fun with their friends.

Stef's got her own hops

Rachel outruns the competition

AJ was captain of the boys varsity volleyball team.  He and his team won both big tournaments this year.  SCIS and the ISST’s which are the all European Championships.  They were pretty excited to end their season with both of these awards.

Stefanie was co-captain of the girls varsity volleyball team.  Her team has slowly been improving over the last three seasons. They are a great group of girls and have a lot of fun playing together. We are hopeful for what they will achieve by Stefanie’s senior year.

Rachel is still on the soccer field and was co-captain of the middle school girls soccer team.  Her team is made up of many new players.  They work hard and they are keep it close.  It’s fun to watch her run up and down the field and even funnier to hear her occasionally yell at the other team in German.

Lindau

Lindau

Steve and I found ourselves with a weekend on our own.  The kids were all away at sports tournaments.  We had offered to go watch AJ play in Athens at his last volleyball tournament, but he said that would make him nervous.

Instead we went to Lindau, a little island on Lake Constance. It’s a sweet little town with cute shops and good restaurants.  We couldn’t venture out on the lake, it was cold and the boat services were all closed for the season but we certainly enjoyed the view.

 

Alte Rathaus

We had a wonderful time, just relaxing, exploring the island and doing a little shopping.