Christmas 2015

Our Christmas this year was really exciting.  I felt like this year I was on top of it.  I sent out all our family gifts early (to America), planned the Christmas markets we wanted to attend, sent out our annual Christmas cards, hosted a Christmas party for the little troopers, and completed most of the present shopping for our kids before December even came.  That way, we could enjoy reading Christmas books, watching Christmas movies, baking and decorating sugar cookies, playing in the snow, and eating way too much at all the parties.   

 

 Jane at the Little Troopers Christmas party.

 Kate at the Little Troopers Christmas party.

 Grinch cookies for Santa and carrots for the reindeer.  Jane is so happy to be held by her big sister. 

 Both girls slept in until 7:40am.  Jane mostly enjoyed the paper and ornaments.  She received books, clothes, balls, rocking giraffe, and a trampoline for Christmas.

This might be the first Christmas Kate will remember.  She got a lot of princess stuff, dress-up stuff, Frozen stuff, and of course, a trampoline. 

This was such a fun surprise from Santa!

Jane 5 months

Sweet little rollie pollie.  Jane has slept through the night two times.  She is getting up on her hands and knees and pushing herself backwards.  She has had licks of apple, banana, soft pretzel, and carrot.  I don't think she is ready for food yet, but she sure loves putting "food" in her mouth.  It is so fun to see her watch Kate play around her and include her in some of her play.  We are loving on our sweet little girl and can't believe she is growing and moving so fast!

Merry Christmas!

Merry Christmas from Germany! Bryan and Rebekah are enjoying all our European adventures.  Kate loves singing, dancing, and dressing up.  Jane is fat and happy.  Both girls bring so much joy and excitement to our lives!  We hope this letter finds you well and wish you a Happy New Year.

Thanksgiving, Christmas Markets, and Garmisch-Partenkirchen

We are on the hunt for awesome Christmas Markets and collecting gluhwein cups.  And since Jane does not have her passport yet, we have been doing just that.  8 Christmas Markets thus far- 4 in Dresden, Guteneck, Parsberg, Lupberg, and Kuhstallcafe.  You can spend a lot of money on trinkets, food, and entertainment.  So worth it though.

While we were in Dresden, we drove an hour and a half north to the Rackotzbrucke or devil's bridge.  The reflection of the bridge on the water makes a complete circle.  We still are not sure if it was worth the extra 3 hour drive, but we checked it off our list of things to do and see.  Kate threw an awesome first tantrum there.  It was a culmination of tired and hungry and first time watching a movie in the car.

After Dresden, we drove down to an inactive volcano in Parkstein.  It was snowing and the view from on top was beautiful.  Poor Jane mostly gets pictures in the carrier while we are traveling, so this might be a first.  

 Saw camels in the parade at the Guteneck Christmas Market.

Bryan had an optometry conference at the military lodging Edelweiss in Garmisch-Partenkirchen the first week of December.  The girls and I tagged along and I am so glad we did!  The weather was fabulous and I was finally able to see the Zugspitz (tallest mountain in Germany that we hiked up last fall).  We visited the cute little town of Oberammergue and all the beautiful wood carving shops.  

We checked out the monastery in Ettal and the cheese factory.  I love cheese!!

We hugged Jane too tight in Santa's chair.

 We hiked the Partenkirchen Gorge and ate icicles. 

  

And we swam in the indoor and outdoor pool.  Jane was a trooper through it all.  

 

Kit Kate

Our little Kate is quite a handful.  She is up at 7am and running her mouth and/or body non-stop.  She can be a big helper or she can be a terrible two-and-a-half year old.  You just never know which one you are going to get minute to minute.  Kate is quite the little gymnast.  She can do flips holding on to bars or adults arms.  She tumbles all over the couches and jumps on the beds.  She loves to help change Jane's diaper, especially if it has poop or she needs diaper cream.  She doesn't eat, unless it is a "snack".  She knows all the words to every Disney princess song.  She says girl, Belle, and down super cute.  Reading is a necessary thing every day and she has been reading (memorized) some of her books.  Kate loves to swim and has gone down the waterslide by herself.  She wants to do everything "all by myself".  She had her first drop down to the ground and scream tantrum at a park in eastern Germany, near Dresden.  She talks about how mommy and daddy left her there and it made her so sad.  She gives kisses and hugs to Jane every night before bed.  She is a fireball and I can't wait to see what else she has in store for us!  We love our little Kit-Kate.

Jane 4 months

Jane is such a sweet, chubby bunny.  I love her little laughs and giggles.  She is ticklish under her neck and armpits.  The best, is her giggles while changing her clothes.  She is rolling from her back to belly, but prefers to lie on her back and watch Kate dance around.  Jane has started drooling and sucking on her fingers.  I have put gloves on her hands at night, so we don't have another thumb sucker!  No big adventures this month because we still don't have her USA citizenship or passport!

Love the thighs and dimples in her knees!

Halloween 2015

Halloween was a lot of fun this year.  Having kids really does make the holidays more exciting.  Kate has grown very fond of the movie Frozen since Grandma Koplin visited and bought her Frozen everything.  I thought it would be fun to dress up as the Frozen characters and then have the costumes for dress-up throughout the rest of the year.  

Bryan- Kristoff, Kate- Elsa, Jane- Anna, Rebekah- Sven

These hats were the best purchase.  They kept our little kids warm while we went out trick-or-treating and are super cute! 

The military base put on a little fall festival with professional pictures, games, and food.  Kate got to hang out with her bestie, Colton, one more time before they moved back to the states.  Sad, sad day. We went over to our friends, the Moore family, for soup and trick-or-treating.  Our kids lasted about 15 minutes in the cold.  On the plus side, that meant less candy!