Dresden

This statue survived the fire
Cityscape by the river

They used the old burned stone to rebuild the church


Small Christmas market View of 1/2 of the large Christmas Market

We arrived in Stuttgart at 9:30am Dec 21st. Then it was up at 1:30 for Ingrid and me to catch the USO bus to Dresden for the Christmas Market there.
Luckily the bus wasn't full so Ingrid and I each got our own row of seats! We had a couple of stops on the way for breakfast and bathroom breaks. I had my first experience paying to use the toilet and ordering breakfast from a complete German menu. The food is definitely different. Breakfst consisted of lots of different types of cold cut meats and breads. I had a long pretzel roll and meat that I wrapped the meat around the roll to eat it. It was alos a learning experience counting euro. If you give someone a 20 for a 7 euro meal you get a five back and lots of change. I was confused for a while but learned that 2 euro comes in coins. They have a lot of different coins there!
When we arrived in Dresden it was VERY cold! We took a walking tour through the town. The buildings are palatial and gorgeous. So old and so much history it is amazing! 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!
Ingrid 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. I got diced potatoes. They served it in a basket with a wooden fork. 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 Ingrid and I choked on it for a while. The alcohol was so strong in it my stomach and esophagus burned for a good hour. Just from one sip! I was bummed I thought I would enjoy it!
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. I love the relaxed atmosphere there. You are expected to relax and take your time in the cafes. You don't get any nasty looks from the wait staff if you are at your table drinking coffee for more than an hour. You also have to ask for your check. They don't give it to you because they don't want you to feel rushed.
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. I am so glad Ingrid and I got to go to this by ourselves. It was nice to hang out, just the 2 of us!

Greetings from Germany!

Hayden playing in his tunnel he got from Andrew and Ingrid
Giving some love
Hayden't tights

Taking a nap waiting for our flight to Atlanta

Relaxing in a char at Aunt Ingrid's

We made it! We are all adjusting well to the time difference. Hayden did well on the first two flights. The last flight was a different story! Hayden had no time to run around between flights. it was off one and boarding another. Needless to say after 15 hours of flight he had enough! The last flight involved a lot of squirming and fussing and crying. We made it through though, but Hayden did have rug burns on his knees!

18 hours of travel can be tough on little ones. Considering all he went through he fared well.

We have been getting adjusted to the culture as well. Everything is compact. Everyone has been nice and understand our little knowledge of their language. Ordering food is a chore. A lot of the menus are in German. Some of the words are similar to ours so we can pick out what seems familiar.

Using the toilets took some getting used to as well. You have to pay for most of them. A lot of the toilets don't have seats either!

When we arrived Ingrid wanted us to stay awake. It is supposed to be easier on your system if you adapt right away to the time change. We went to the office on base to get our Id's. When we walked in we heard someone say "there is our little buddy!" Hayden's friends he made boarding in Atlanta to Stuttgart were in the office. Hayden is the official greeter. He waves and says hi to everyone all of the time. This couple and Hayden had a long chat in line to board the plane and it was great to run into them. Everywhere we go Hayden says hi and waves. Even here. He is definitely not intimidated by the different culture.

Then it was off to the px to get diapers and look around.

Then it was back to unload and rest. I did take a little nap and actually felt refreshed.

Then we went to REAL. It is the German version of Wal-mart. It was awesome to see all of the different things. They had huge candy and meat aisles. It seems like we are getting ripped off in the meat area at home. They have sooo many different varieties of meat here it is amazing! We got Hayden some tights. Everyone here takes their children out in the cold so they put tights on under their pants. I am glad we got them. It has definitely helped Hayden stay warm on all of our journeys!

After that we opted to eat at the brat stand outside instead of a restaurant. A nice gentlemen in line helped me order and tried to explain the differences of meat to me. The brats here are not like the ones at home. They taste different and are cut in half and served on a hard roll. I thought they were ok but Hayden loved them.

We went back to Ingrid's place and it was off to bed for me. Ingrid and I got up at 1:30 a.m. for a bus tour to Dresden for the Christmas market. Pics of that to follow.

I will post some pics from the first few days. Joey and I leave for Paris tomorrow. We hope Hayden doesn't give Ingrid and Andrew too hard of a time!:)

Early Christmas

Last weekend we celebrated Christmas early with our families. Saturday Joey's family all came. We had a great time chatting and snacking. Hayden got a lot of awesome gifts. He loved all of his new things. Aunt Jen got him a new trike. He loves it. He has been putting his treasures in the trunk all week. They even got him a license plate to go with it. Oh and how could I forget, a cool light up sword! Uncle Johnny got him a dump truck with mega blocks and a cool ball. We had yummy appetizers and lasagna for dinner! It was just a great day. And to top it off my FAVORITE aunt Barbara embroidered me some tea towels! I love them!!!! Oh yeah and my favorite in-laws got me 48 BOBS candy canes! I am going to take them on the plane and share.
Sunday my parents came down. We had a nice relaxing day.
I have been running around all week getting things organized for this trip. We were running around tonight until 8:00. I am packing now. This has truly been a huge undertaking packing and planing for everything and preparing for every possible situation. I am surprised we have kept the number of suitcases down to one a piece.
My parents are coming to pick take us to the airport tomorrow. It will be the last time we see them for a while. When we get back they will be at their place in Arizona until spring!
We are excited to go and are looking forward to this journey! I hope to check in if I have time. Hope everyone had a great Christmas and New Year!

What's been happening?

It's been a while since I have posted.

Hayden is officially walking- climbing. He started walking at 15 months. Now he can climb practically everything.

Joey and I celebrated our 8th anniversary! Our friend TeresaAnn volunteered to watch Hayden so we could go out and celebrate. It was the first time someone besides our family has watched Hayden at our home. He did well and they had a lot of fun! We are blessed to have such great friends!!!!

I have had 4 cookie exchanges this year. I have never participated in a cookie exchange before and love them!!! I love tasting all of the different cookies people make. I have baked 13 dozen cookies this year. I barely make cookies, and certainly not that many every year. It was a blast and a great reason to get together with friends!

I have been running around planing, shopping, and organizing for this trip! It is taking a lot more planing I think since we are taking Hayden! We need to be prepared and ready to face anything tat could happen with him. Hopefully we get to Germany without any flight delays, and Hayden makes it ok on the plane!. It is going to be a LONG flight. At least the leg from Atlanta to Germany will be at night, so I hope Hayden sleeps most of the way!

We leave a week from today! I can't believe it is almost here. We are looking forward to spending time with my sister and husband. Joey and I are going to leave Hayden with my sister and are going to go to Paris over New Years! WE are soooo excited to have a little get away and can't thank my sister and her husband enough for offering to keep Hayden so we can have some time to ourselves!

This weekend we are celebrating Christmas with our families, and cutting up all of the huge branches in our yard.

Santa came early this year for Hayden and brought him a kitchen! Daddy wasn't too sure about getting a kitchen, but after seeing how much Hayden loves it had changed his mind. I am sure Santa will bring Hayden something very "manly" next Christmas!

Last night I went with my mom to Orchard Hill Church for family night. It was awesome. It has been years since I have been to a family night at church and how it has changed. They totally promote family time now. You eat and do crafts all as a family, instead of the parents dropping the kids off for wed night activities. It was great to see a lot of old faces there. We ate baked potato bar and decorated sugar cookies. Hayden loved the live piano music and joined right in. He held his own with the high notes. :)

Fun in the Ice

It has been busy as usual here. Besides getting ready for our 17 day trip to Germany etc., baking 10 dozen cookies for our multiple cookie exchanges, and getting Christmas shopping done----- we lost power at our home. Tuesday Hayden and I were at the Dr. getting his shots before our trip. When we got done I had a few calls from neighbors telling me that a huge branch fell on our power line and it was sparking. Of course I couldn't get a hold of Joey.

Once we got home I finally got a hold of Joey and he came right home. It literally pulled the power line off our house and we had burn marks up the side of our house.

We packed up quick in case we needed to leave because the weather was getting worse. We decided to come to my parents house in case it was going to be days without power, even though we had multiple offers to stay with people in CR. Thanks!

It honestly was like a battle zone. When we were loading up the car branches were falling left and right. It was soooo loud because of all of the ice. Crazy!

It was a crazy drive and I know I would not have made it by myself. All of the streets were un driveable because the ice and all of the branches hanging down to the street because of the ice. It took us 2 hours to get to CF.

Joey went down yesterday to go to work and check out the house. He said the house was 42 degrees. He decided to stay there last night and camp out by the fire. We had to hire an electrician to build up the electrical stuff it ripped off our house. Joey just called at noon and we have power today!!!! Hayden and I will go back tomorrow. I am anxious to get back and get our fridge and freezer cleaned out.

We have Joey's family coming Saturday to celebrate Christmas and mine on Sunday. Luckily everyone is bringing most of the meal. I just need to get the house cleaned up and we will be good to go. I think I am not going to mess with restocking our fridge with anything until we get back. Just bread and milk and a few things until we leave!

It had been nice hanging out with my parents. They will be gone for the winter by the time we get back from our trip!

I am thankful we just had the damage we did! It could of been a lot worse and amazingly I am not that stressed! Luckily I am learning to go with the flow and relax the older I get!

We AreWalking...and Climbing....and falling...and

It is official Hayden is walking. Well it happened almost a month ago. 15 months is when he decided to go upright!

Happy Thanksgiving!

A little late but oh well. We have been very busy! We had a great Thanksgiving. I don't have any pics from Thanksgiving. I can't believe we didn't take any. We celebrated on Thursday with my parents and grandma. Then my step sister and family came for desert. We had a great meal with all of my favorites! It was nice hanging out. Hayden and I arrived Wednesday night to give Joey some quiet time to get his homework done. He is finishing calculus 2 now and renewing his Flight Instructor Rating. Hmmmm wonder why we never see him.
Hayden had a great time running laps around the house. I think it is a lot easier for him to walk when there is only one surface to maneuver. Except the kitchen which is wood but far less glossed up like ours! Our friends Sara and Phil stopped over before desert because they were celebrating Thanksgiving in the neighborhood. It was nice to see them and their girls. Sara and I decided to go early morning day after Thanksgiving shopping so we planed our attack!
Friday I got up at 4:30, got ready quick, and waited for Sara to pick me up. We headed to Wal-Mart first, then Target, Toys-R-Us, back to Wal-Mart, Farm and Fleet, back to Target, Younkers, and Von Maur. We had a blast! We got some really great deals on DVD's and a few toys. I have most all of my Christmas shopping done. We aren't getting to much this year because we are going to be gone and Aunt Ingrid has plenty waiting for Hayden in Germany! I am wanting to get Hayden a kitchen. I haven't quite convinced Daddy of that. He seems to think that Hayden needs a tool bench instead.
Friday we had thanksgiving with Joey's parents. We had a great time hanging out and eating Turkey Divan. Hayden had a great time playing with Grandma and Grandpa P. He played outside, played piggies, and played in the tub when grandma gave him a bath! Grandma and Grandpa watched Hayden and we went out to meet Sara and Phil. We had a fun time but Sara and I were tired! We met up with Joey's brother and his friend.
Saturday we lounged around for a bit. I went to the mall to look around while Joey did homework and Grandma played with Hayden. Then we packed up and headed home.
Monday we got most of the Christmas decorations up and yesterday we got the tree decorated.
Sunday night I mad an advent calendar activity thing with my MOPS group. I am sooo excited about it. The ladies had some great ideas and I am excited to start this fun tradition with my family! Yesterday at mops we had a cookie exchange. It was my first ever cookie exchange and it was so much fun! I have 2 more to do in December and am looking forward to them.
Now the countdown begins to our trip! We are getting some plans made and I have started to plan out the packing thing. Not sure how we are going to do it, but I know it will all work out.

Observation?

So... I walked into the bedroom last night and saw Hayden "blowing his nose". He just learned this new skill but we have not seen him doing it on his own yet. I wonder who he is copying here with the sound effects, Joey or me?!?!?!?