To my two favorite Dads!

So I'm late, but I hope you had a great Easter anyways!

This weekend was Fasnacht festival in Germany.  Its similar to Mardi Gras and Carnival going on elsewhere in the world.  The celebrations in the region started on Thursday with their culmination today.  People dress up, traditionally in costumes that tease or make fun of politicians or leaders.  I couldn't find a good definition online, but I'm told that it was once a time when the lower class could poke fun at the upper class and celebrate together.  Each day has a different theme.  There are parades and people dress up crazy.  

We went to the Wiesbaden parade yesterday.  Today in Mainz, one of the biggest celebrations is taking place, but Jason and I aren't going.  I've heard it can get really crazy and I just don't think its a good place to be 8 months pregnant - too much smoke and I really worry about getting hit or run into.  But I feel like we got a taste yesterday and it was fun to see the city out and celebrating.

Indulge in something pink today!

We had a good New Year's Eve with friends here in Wiesbaden this year.  We sat on a hilltop that overlooked the city and was able to see the crazy amount of fireworks that were being set off throughout the city.  I took a quick video below and it doesn't even do the amount of fireworks justice, but you can at least get a sense.  Thousands of people were setting them off.  It was a great view!

I head back to the States tomorrow for almost 3 weeks with family & friends.  I'm sad to leave Jason here and will be anxious to get back to him, but am excited for some time in the US!  Wish me luck with my flights!

I wasn't that great at getting photos off my camera in a timely manner this year.  Here's a good one of our Christmas tree on Christmas morning.  We had a really great Christmas this year and are looking forward to a wonderful new year!  I have high hopes for 2014!

This is a little late, but I couldn't post these earlier before people received them.  For our close family, I decided to make ornaments this year instead of Christmas cards.  The idea sounded fun and easy in my head, but turned out to be harder than I thought.  
The post office here is always busy around the holidays, so to avoid being shunned by everyone else in line, I would only bring 5-6 ornaments to ship at a time.  This meant that I went to the post office and stood in line at least 6 different times to ship these little things, in addition to our other Christmas packages that had to go out.  

Also, salt dough isn't as easy to work with as I had envisioned!  It took me 3 batches before I deemed them acceptable to give out, and even then they weren't as perfect as I had hoped they would be.  

I hope all who got one though, liked them though and that they didn't look like a 5 yr old made them! :)

Jason and I had our first Christmas of it being just the two of us this year.  It was quiet, but it was really great.  We took our time drinking coffee, making the traditional breakfast casserole, and opening presents together and had a really great morning.  I got a new lens for my camera for Christmas, so I played with the old one and the new one around the house for a bit before guilting myself into preparing for our Christmas dinner.

We hosted Christmas dinner for 10 at our house in the evening.  I for once, really didn't overdo it with cooking, and it was so nice.  Maybe I'm finally starting to get the hang of hosting?  We did pot luck and I made a honey glazed ham and a salad, along with some nuts, olives, & cheese that I put out for appetizers.  Having multiple people plus myself in and out of the kitchen made me yearn for more counter space though!  Next house??  Maybe?? The Kuwait house still holds the title for kitchen with the most storage & counter space, but also for most ugly...

It was a good first Christmas in Germany, but I'm looking forward to being with family next year.

Hope you all had a wonderful day!  Now what to do for New Years!  

I'm doing it by myself this year, but I had to have a Christmas puzzle to work on.  It reminds me of Christmas in Ohio.  I'm rushing to finish it though because we have company coming for dinner on Christmas day!  Probably not my best idea ever, but am enjoying the quiet with my Grandma's Christmas music on in the background in the meantime.

After Dachau we headed to downtown Munich for some merriment.  We ate at the Augustiner Brewery Friday night, Saturday we did an all day tour of King Ludwig II's castles (next post), and Sunday we slept in and headed back to Wiesbaden.

Munich of course had its own Christmas Market.  It was hosted in the Marionplatz, the main square in front of the town halls.  This square is hectic and busy without the Christmas Market, so it was a bit overwhelming with all the festivities packed in there.  The boys enjoyed some Gluwein (warm spiced red wine) as I looked.