Thanksgiving and Christmas

The holidays sure do go by fast. We had a wonderful visit with Peter when he came here for thanksgiving weekend. We went to Nuremburg on Saturday. Nuremburg is known for their Christmas markets but they are really the same as Munich's. It was weird to be celebrating Thanksgiving when there is so much Christmas around you. On Sunday we went around Munich and to the Residence. It is always interesting what you notice the second time you go through. I used to like the Treasury Room the best but now not so sure. We realized this time that the time we went before half of the place was closed for renovation or something. So not seeing all of it may have altered our perspective then. I really enjoyed it. We had a thanksgiving dinner on Sunday evening with the full trimmings. We found a turkey cheap this year in the supermarket. They seemed to be available more this year. I think we were looking for a big turkey last year since we had more people coming over whereas the turkey's in the market are only small turkeys. It was a wonderful weekend.

We spent December roaming the Christmas markets for gifts. We then flew to Arkansas where we spent a week celebrating Christmas with the Sears family. It had been a long time since the whole Sears family gathered at Hazel and Derek's so it was nice to be able to this year. Hazel and Derek has done a lot to update their house. It looked totally different. Very beautiful. We did our usual walks with the dogs, playing games, and eating lots of chocolates. We road go carts one day for fun. Derek and I were lucky to be allowed to go on with expired licenses but the employees were so bored that they let us on. We were the only people there at first but a few people showed up when we went miniature golfing afterwards. It was fun to be with everyone there and very relaxing. It was quite warm for Arkansas at this time of year until Christmas Eve when a cold front rolled in and we woke up to a white Christmas! A few days after Christmas we went to California to be with the Estes for New Year's.

We had extended family get together the evening we arrived in San Jose. It was wonderful to have the chance to see whom was able to come. It was the first time also that we got to meet Paige. Monday, the Estes' spent all day together. We played with my nieces and opened gifts for each other. We went to the Cheesecake Factory for dinner. It was a great day. I have missed the girls very much. Tuesday, we had a great lunch with Grandma Joan and Grandma Gail. Wednesday, Chris and Peter went to a Sharks game (Shark's won!). Chris really enjoyed being at the game live. Thursday, we got together with our friends for food, games, and celebrating the new year. It was fun to see everyone again. Game night is definitely something we miss and treasure. Friday, we had lunch with Tomas and Lisa at their beautiful new home. It was a very nice visit.

Friday night I left to go back to Munich while Chris stayed for some job interviews the following week. I started back to work on Monday. Work has been going well so far in January. Very busy at first getting things sorted out for the new year. Chris finally got back Friday evening having left early Wednesday morning; bad weather in Ireland delayed his flights. But he made it safely thankfully. Munich has had only a little bit of snow. We had about 4 inches on the ground last week. We took the kids several times to go sledding. It was fun. Now the snow is almost gone. We are staying around Munich as Chris is starting his experiments finally and is hard at work. We are planning a small trip next weekend for my 30th birthday. I am taking a four day weekend but I think we will only use part of it to go somewhere. I can't believe I am turning 30! No wonder my shoulders and knees are cracking more and more.

Gemini has finally forgiven us for leaving her for two weeks. She would not leave my lap or shoulder, no more than two feet away anywhere I was, for over a week when I got back. She also found a new spot she likes.