I'll be sharing all the Holiday festivities over the last 2 months in this post, so prepare yourself for lots of pic's!
We had such a nice Thanksgiving this year! Matt's parents (Bill and Susanne) came out for a visit (our first visitor's in Missouri). It was wonderful to just enjoy our time together. For the actual Thanksgiving holiday, we made the drive down to Memphis, TN where Susanne's mother, and her sister (+ family) live. It was so fun to share the holiday at her sister's home, we spent the day cooking (of course), it ended up being quite the feast! With friends and family filling the house, everyone was well fed, enjoyed conversation and football!
Before Matt's parents left, Matt's Dad helped to set up the train set that they had given us when we moved out here. It had been a tradition in Matt's home to set up the train and Christmas village for the Holiday season. It was a 4 day project (mostly because they were fixing some things along the way). Even though it takes up half the living room, and we had to relocate the couch, chair, and two tables to different rooms, it is so charming and such a special set, it was well worth it!
The months between Thanksgiving and Christmas were definitely busy with work, getting all the presents out, and all the holiday get togethers. We ended up hosting a Holiday Dessert one evening for the other teachers in the classroom I work in. They and their families came over and we enjoyed some tasty treats, watched the train go round and round, and played some rock band on the Wii. One of the most special things to me was that one kid from our class came (his mother works in our classroom as his aide). He LOVED the train! We layed him down in front of the set and he literally watched the train go around for 4 hours and enjoyed every minute! He is pretty limited in his ability to move (though totally quick and sharp as far as his mind and communication go!), he would lift his head up every time the train came by him, we were all thinking that was some excellent physical therapy for him! I also got the chance to play rockband and chat with his teenage sister. I totally felt like I was back in Germany talking with the teenagers that I was so close to while I was doing youth ministry!
We drove out to Virginia for Christmas this year to visit my Mom and Sister (+ family). We were going to leave the Saturday the week before Christmas, but because of a huge snow storm in the area, we decided to wait a day. Good thing we did! It gave them the chance to clean everything up (especially going over the mountains). I counted about 15 vehicles left abandoned by their owners on the side of the road. They were buried in snow up to their windshields, I actually saw a few owners back out with a shovel, trying to dig their cars out! Glad we waited that extra day.
We had lots of fun the rest of the week leading up to Christmas, we were able to spend some time with my friend Jen, who walked us through Colonial Williamsburg (very charming) and brought us to a tavern for dinner, where we enjoyed an excellent meal accompanied by music and magic show preformed by people dressed as traditional Colonial folk!
One of the days we were there we brought my niece and nephew to Busch Gardens, while very few actual rides were open they were still celebrating Christmas in a special way. We saw some awesome shows, rode a couple rides (the open ones), and were in awe of the way they were able to light up the place and make such an awesome festive atmosphere!
We are back home now, Matt is back to work and I have still have a couple days off before school starts again next week. It's been good to have this week to plan some stuff out, clean and organized around the house, and get ready for 2010!
Thanksgiving
We had such a nice Thanksgiving this year! Matt's parents (Bill and Susanne) came out for a visit (our first visitor's in Missouri). It was wonderful to just enjoy our time together. For the actual Thanksgiving holiday, we made the drive down to Memphis, TN where Susanne's mother, and her sister (+ family) live. It was so fun to share the holiday at her sister's home, we spent the day cooking (of course), it ended up being quite the feast! With friends and family filling the house, everyone was well fed, enjoyed conversation and football!
Chopping some veggies for the salad!
The whole family
Between Holidays
Before Matt's parents left, Matt's Dad helped to set up the train set that they had given us when we moved out here. It had been a tradition in Matt's home to set up the train and Christmas village for the Holiday season. It was a 4 day project (mostly because they were fixing some things along the way). Even though it takes up half the living room, and we had to relocate the couch, chair, and two tables to different rooms, it is so charming and such a special set, it was well worth it!
Some views of our Christmas set up!
The months between Thanksgiving and Christmas were definitely busy with work, getting all the presents out, and all the holiday get togethers. We ended up hosting a Holiday Dessert one evening for the other teachers in the classroom I work in. They and their families came over and we enjoyed some tasty treats, watched the train go round and round, and played some rock band on the Wii. One of the most special things to me was that one kid from our class came (his mother works in our classroom as his aide). He LOVED the train! We layed him down in front of the set and he literally watched the train go around for 4 hours and enjoyed every minute! He is pretty limited in his ability to move (though totally quick and sharp as far as his mind and communication go!), he would lift his head up every time the train came by him, we were all thinking that was some excellent physical therapy for him! I also got the chance to play rockband and chat with his teenage sister. I totally felt like I was back in Germany talking with the teenagers that I was so close to while I was doing youth ministry!
Christmas
We drove out to Virginia for Christmas this year to visit my Mom and Sister (+ family). We were going to leave the Saturday the week before Christmas, but because of a huge snow storm in the area, we decided to wait a day. Good thing we did! It gave them the chance to clean everything up (especially going over the mountains). I counted about 15 vehicles left abandoned by their owners on the side of the road. They were buried in snow up to their windshields, I actually saw a few owners back out with a shovel, trying to dig their cars out! Glad we waited that extra day.
We had lots of fun the rest of the week leading up to Christmas, we were able to spend some time with my friend Jen, who walked us through Colonial Williamsburg (very charming) and brought us to a tavern for dinner, where we enjoyed an excellent meal accompanied by music and magic show preformed by people dressed as traditional Colonial folk!
One of the days we were there we brought my niece and nephew to Busch Gardens, while very few actual rides were open they were still celebrating Christmas in a special way. We saw some awesome shows, rode a couple rides (the open ones), and were in awe of the way they were able to light up the place and make such an awesome festive atmosphere!
Fun at Busch Gardens
A visit with Santa
Finally our last day in VA was Christmas itself, we really enjoyed watching the kiddo's open their gifts, and had a wonderful dinner. There was definite chaos with the four kid's playing with their presents all day, but we had a great time in the midst of it all!
The kid's opened one of the gifts we got them on Christmas Eve (pj's!)
Christmas Chaos, I guess this is what happens when you have 9 people opening gifts on Christmas morning!
We are back home now, Matt is back to work and I have still have a couple days off before school starts again next week. It's been good to have this week to plan some stuff out, clean and organized around the house, and get ready for 2010!
Here's to Happy Holiday's and a Wonderful New Year!
