The First Half of December 2012

Picking out our Christmas tree

 

Getting our gifts from St. Nicholaus...new Christmas pajamas!

 

Checking out our video from Santa

 

Amelia sang in a Christmas program at our church.

 

That brings us up to speed until about December 9th.  I am trying to catch up so I will post more soon!

 

 

 

Amelia's Christmas dance recital

Amelia is taking a ballet/tap combination class this year and they had a Christmas recital.  She performed a tap dance to "Rockin Around the Christmas Tree".  It was really cute and she did a great job!

Before the recital

 

 

Thanksgiving 2012

For Thanksgiving, we went to Jackson, MS to spend the holiday with Christoph's brother, Kendrick and his wife, Sara.  Christoph's parents were also there.  We had beautiful weather and a really nice, relaxing trip.  Unfortunately, I didn't take any pictures during our time there.  This is the only picture that I have...relaxing in the hammock in the backyard...

Dollywood 2012

On the Saturday before Thanksgiving, we took the girls up to Pigeon Forge to go to Dollywood.  We met my parents and Isabella and Beck there and we had a great day!

Isabella and I making our scared face on the top of the ferris wheel.

 

These four had a great time together!

 

Nana and Papa and the grandkids

 

 

Halloween 2012

carving the pumpkin

The finished product.  Amelia designed the face this year.  She sketched it on some paper and then Christoph was in charge of implementing the design on the pumpkin.  :-)

 

Tinkerbell and an Alabama cheerleader

 

Before trick or treating we went over to a neighbor's house for pizza then we all trick or treated together.  It was a fun night!

Germany Part 3 (Heidelberg)

After we left Tubingen, we headed to Heidelberg to visit Christoph's sister, Katharina, and her family.  Christoph was feeling better so we were able to end our trip on a high note.  We had a fun five days in Heidelberg!  As an added bonus, my parents also met up with us in Heidelberg and we had fun spending time with them!

 

When we got to Heidelberg, we all headed to the park across the river.  Amelia rode Jake's bike to the park.

 

 

Christoph and Lydia at the park.

 

The next day we headed over to the castle to check that out.

 

 

Nana and Papa with Christoph and the girls at the castle.

 

 

My dad, Christoph and I did the "philosopher's way" which is a walk up on the side of the hill across the river from Heidelberg.  There are beautiful views of the city from the walk. 

 

a view of the Heidelberg castle

 

This is the main church in the old town in Heidelberg (with the tower).  On the last night of our trip, Katharina and David (David knows the rector of the church and he hooked us up with the keys for a private tour) took me and Christoph and my parents up to the top of the tower at night.  It was amazing!!  Probably the highlight of my trip.  The views at night were incredible and it was just so cool. 

 

Here is Christoph coming out of the stairwell at the top of the tower.

 

The view of the castle from the top of the tower.

 

After we left the church, we went to an old (one of the oldest in Heidelberg) pub for beer.  It was a fun night (the kids were asleep in Katharina and David's house with a babysitter).

 

The rest of the pictures are just some random pictures from our week there...

 

Amelia got to go to Kindergarten with Jake and Zoe one morning.

 

One afternoon, Katharina kept the kids and Christoph and I were able to take a bike ride to a neighboring town.

 

 

Playing with cousins

 

Preparing for our bike ride to Schwetzingen.  We had five adults and four kids on this all day trip.  It was fun!  The weather was BEAUTIFUL and we had fun on the bike and checking out the palace gardens in Schwetzingen.

 

The crew

 

Once we got to Schwetzingen, the jackets came off and we enjoyed a nice lunch outside.

 

 

 

The family in the palace garden

 

 

In the palace gardens

 

beautiful tree lined path in the gardens

 

An ice cream break before we rode home

 

I had to include this picture because Amelia loved this ride at the park.  It went up and down and around and around.  We loved the parks in Germany.  They have some really cool play equipment and lots of natural areas.

 

Despite Christoph's illness, we had a fun trip to Germany and we are looking forward to our next trip (probably in a couple of years...I still have to recover from the 10 hour plane trip home in which neither child slept.  Ah!!)  We miss our German family and friends and can't wait to see you all again soon!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 



Germany Part2 (Tubingen)

After we left Christoph's grandparent's house, we headed south to visit our friends Ioulia and Stephan and their two kids, Danil and Fabian.  Christoph got sick on the first night that we were there so he spent most of his time in Tubingen either in the bed or at the hospital...yuck!  But even with all of the drama going on with Christoph, the girls and I got to do a couple of fun things with our friends. 

 

At a fun park in Tubingen.

Amelia was completely fascinated about how everyone walks or rides their bike everywhere in Germany.  Here she is riding to the park on Danil and Fabian's laufrad (balance bike).

 

This is the only picture of Christoph from Tubingen.  Ioulia and Stephan took us to a biergarten up on the top of a hill with great views of the city.  It had a nice playground right next to the tables so the kids can play and the parents can sit and talk or eat.

A slide with a view.

 

The four kids on the swing

 

Because Christoph was sick, we weren't able to do all of the things we had planned for our visit.  Fortunately, Ioulia and Stephan have a fun house with a nice yard.  The girls loved jumping on the trampoline.

 

On a walk to see a nearby castle.  The kids found apples to eat along the way.  Lydia LOVED Fabian and he was very patient with her.  They were funny together.

 

We had some cake, tea, and hot chocolate inside the castle.

 

The group shot minus Christoph who was in the hospital getting fluids and antibiotics!

 

On our last day in Tubingen, Ioulia took us to the old city in Tubingen while we were waiting for Christoph to be released from the hospital.  They had a farmers market in the main square so we decided to get some apples, grapes, cheese and bread for lunch.

 

Getting our cheese from the cheese truck (I don't think that is what it is actually called).

 

Unfortunately, our visit to Tubingen this year was not ideal, but we are certainly thankful for our friends Ioulia and Stephan who helped us tremendously when Christoph got sick.  Ioulia kept the kids for me while Stephan took me back and forth to the hospital to visit Christoph.  We are also thankful for the nice doctors and the great hospital in Germany that took good care of us.  Hopefully our next trip to Tubingen will be better!!