Christmas Eve/ Christmas 2007

On the night before Christmas, we headed to the Eve service at the church on base. Along the way, lovely Aunt Ingrid slipped on the ice while carrying Hayden. Fortunately, Hayden remained off the ground, BUT I bruised and skinned my knee. I can't remember the last time I tore a pair of tights by falling on cement. I think I can handle never doing it again. The church was packed. We heard music from an African group, a classical solo, and we sang many familiar carols. We even lit our candles from a candle from Bethlehem. After the service we took a few pics and opened a couple presents. We also ate a bunch of appetizers. Hayden also got to play a bit at the park behind my apartment.

Christmas morning we all slept in. We awoke to a tree full of presents and the smell of caramel rolls. We opened our presents and emptied our stockings. We ate ham and all the fixings for dinner. It was a nice relaxing day. Tomorrow, we head to the Neuschwanstein Castle.

Stuttgart Christmas Market

Today, we went to the Christmas Market in Stuttgart with Joey and Hayden this time. We bundled Hayden in his tights, warm fleece suit, and winter coat. The Stuttgart market is much bigger than the Dresden one. It was another chilly day!! So, we only covered a small corner of it. It was a chore to get the stroller through the crowds, but we managed. We ate many more German items today. Joey was a huge fan of the Gluhwein (warm wine). I can't handle the strong smell let alone the taste, but you do get to keep the glass if you don't want a refund. We ate rote wurst instead of the brat. We got a few things at the market and than headed home.

Dresden

We got up at 1:30 for Gretchen and I to catch the USO bus to Dresden for the Christmas Market. The bus wasn't full so we each got two seats!!! We stopped along the way for breakfast. I managed to order some yummy eggs and fresh squeezed orange juice.

Dresden was FRIGID!!
Dresden was bombed and mostly demolished in WWII. Many of the buildings were restored to their original grander after the war. They even used a lot of the pieces of the old buildings they found to rebuild. In the pictures, all of the black on the buildings were stones replaced or columns or sections of buildings burned and still standing and used to rebuild after the war.
After the tour we had 6 hours to shop and wander through the market. On a different day we would of appreciated the free time, but it was soooo cold we could barely stand it! Gretchen and I bought tights at the Christmas Market because our legs were freezing and numb! We walked around the market for a while and tried some different foods. We tried a strange pizza. It was pretty good. We also tried grog to warm up. It is a warm eggnog with alcohol in it. It was soooo bad we had to choke it down.

Then it was off to the mall to look around and get out of the cold. We still had 3 hours to burn so we spent it between 2 cafes. We got on the bus at 6 and headed home. We arrived home at 1:30 am and were glad to hear Hayden got some much needed sleep and the guys took a little tour of Stuttgart while we were gone.

Arrival

The Paricka's have arrived!! Hayden needed a little relaxation after too many hours stuck on a plane. Joey was wiped out and Gretchen was rearing to go....so after getting them IDs we headed to Real, a store kinda like Wal-Mart, and checked out the PX/BX/Commissary. Tomorrow morning, Gretchen and I head to a Christmas Market in Dresden with the USO. Andrew plans to show J and H around Stuttgart.

Tree

I waited until Andrew was home for a bit before we began decorating for Christmas. This is our tree and a ton of presents. Only because I wrapped every item I had bought while travelling while Andrew was away. The typical souveniers became gifts plus some of the presents were for my sis and her family.

Heidelberg

Andrew and I thought we had better take at least one trip before my family arrives. So, we headed to Heidelberg to check out their Christmas Market and their castle from afar.....It turned out to be a dreary day, but we were able to find a few things to take home. Plus, we got our fill of crepes, bratwurst, and hot cocoa. Since, it was so early in the month the crowds were non existent. We didn't want to climb the hill to the castle, so we took pics from the bottom of the hill. The other time I came to Heidelberg was with my friend to go to a bazaar on one of the bases there.

Thanksgiving

Andrew arrived home in time to celebrate Thanksgiving with me :) We contributed to a big feast held at my friend's apartment. I made strawberry jello applesauce salad, a pumpkin carmel pie, and a cranberry dessert. The cranberry dessert turned out to be a flop, but all of the food was delicious. I'm glad others did the "hard" work and we were able to just enjoy.