Christmas has came and gone :(

And so have our guests :( Basically the one thing that makes me homesick when I am here is when people come---and then they leavE! I know in a couple of days I will forget that we have family on the other side of the world (haha) but for now I am missing everyone!

We had such a great time and a great German Christmas! It really is a magical place here in Germany this time of yeaR!

A short (ok long) recap of the rest of our trip. We got home from our trip to Southern Germany and everything was closed on the 24th, 25th, 26th AND 27th (Because it was Sunday) Soooo...we spent most of our time relaxing those days--but did manage to find a few things to do :)

Here we are Christmas Eve opening a few gifts :) I got new PJ's from my mom (it's a tradition in our family) and I LOVED them!! We had such a nice Chritmas Eve. Sari made turkey, and mashed potatoes, fruit salad and German rolls :) We read stories and told our favorite Christmas memories.


Random picture...but this just shows why we really needed a dryer!! We were hanging clothes EVERYWHERE..including the coat rack :) 7 people in one tiny apartment with a small washer and no dryer = HUMIDITY! But--it all worked out!

Colty also got new PJ'S from my mom-- he LOVED having family here, he just followed everyone around all day like a happy little camper!

CHEESE!

But by night time, boy he was worn out! This was the best time to get him to cuddle!

Christmas MOrning...basically all of the presents under the tree were for Colton.

He Loves books!

Colton's new guitar---plays the greatest songs!

So-- we decided to leave the house Christmas Afternoon to tour Weissenfels. Here is Annie by the castle...

And this was the beauty we drove around for 2 weeks...it was SO nice to have it!

The streets of Weissenfels

A view from the castle

Wooded park near our house

And he is back with his guitar :)

Christmas night Colton got to wear his 2nd pair of Christmas pajamas--and he was still so tired from our long trip that he was getting delerious. He basically just walked around the house laughing all night!

Especially when I played his new flute, he started laughing so hard he fell to the ground! I think he takes after me...or my mom with the Giggling!

On the 2nd day of Christmas in Germany--we had a wonderful German meal at Sylke and Christian's where we ate duck and rabbit...mmmm....tasted like chicken ;) Then- we went to a small town called Freyburg

Yep--he is a nerd

Annie and Matt looking over the castle view

The greatest part about this trip was everyone got to eat at their first Eis Cafe!

Family photo in front of our church building...yep that's it :)

Matt's 2nd game while the FAM was here--they all got matching Jako t-shirts for Christmas.

Colton really liked the Wolf--I thought he would be scared, but he wouldn't stop looking at him!

Ivana is back in town from Serbia (One of Matt's teammates- Radenko's- girlfriend) We love her!

Colton got a new Bundesliga Basketball from Grandma and Grandpa :)

Annie got to play the drums with the fanclub :)

And here he comes! I was kind of bummed because this game didn't go as well (for Matt) as the first so the family wasn't able to see much, but his team won and Matt is still all of our favorite player!

And Travis got to shoot a half court shot at half time...too bad he missed! They even went and practiced Friday morning so he would be ready ;)

Colton with his friends after the game! Sophie got a Matt Stucki #31 Jersey for Christmas--they are awesome fans!!

We didn't waste any time and the next morning we got up and drove to Dresden. Sylke and Christian were able to come with us to be our tour guides! Before heading into Dresden, we stopped at a Fortress, the Festung Koenigstein (Fortress King Stone)

In Dresden we ate at an authentic Spanish restaraunt--I think I prefer Mexican food over Spanish :)

In the Mall in Dresden!

I thought this picture was amazing! Sari's camera works SO well at night and you can almost capture what we really saW!

Matt and I

And...at the end of our day in Dresden-- we got to eat at another Eis Cafe! Travis was going on and on about how much he loved it--but really, who wouldn't love THAT:

The whole clan :)

The next morning we got up and went to Weimar and the Buchenwald concentration camp. It was COLD. So--we took a pit stop in the mall and had Subway (ok, i did) I haven't eaten very much "American" food since we got here, so I figured I deserved some of it. They even had the same cookies as in America...and dang they were good! I'll be making a trip back sooner than lateR!

The streets of Weimar

By the end of the day Colton was ready to be free from his stroller. We let him out and he ran around for an hour-- and was loving life! I love this picture of Colton with grandma and grandpa!

Don't ask what he is doing ;)

We were SO glad to have our family come visit us and had such a great time!! We will miss them...but it's a Good thing I am thinking about making a quick trip home in a few weeks :)

Stucki's and Travis in Germany

First of all, Merry Christmas Eve to everyone!! We have had such a busy and fun week this past week, traveling to places that are unlike any we have ever seen! Matt's parents and sister and my brother arrived in Weissenfels a week ago and since then we have been on the go :)

Colton and Grandpa-- seeing eachother for the first time in over 4 months! I am not going to lie, he was a little nervous of everyone at first, but it didn't take long to get used to them!



The first night they were here we got to go to the MBC Christmas Party. It was in a dungeon room of our Weissenfels Castle, and I don't know how we ALL forgot our cameras!!

The next day, it was 15 degrees, but felt like 0 and we all went to Leipzig. Holy Cow, I don't think I have ever been so cold in my life, but it was fun! Here is Annie and I at the Eis Cafe ( we got Hot chocolate instead :) )


Of course he slept so nicely in his stroller :)

Entering into the Zentrum of Leipzig...

Inside a Cathedral in Leipzig

So proud of their first Bratwursts in Germany

Going into their very first Christmas Market

Inside of Bach's church in Leipzig

Next to the Bach Statue

Colton's new outfit that Sari got for him at our Ward Christmas Party..sooo cute!!

Waiting for Matt's game to start :)

The leader of the "Wolf Pack"

Missy and Zeke are back from America...they would not stop staring at eachother

Matt had a great game...and they WON! The newspaper come up after the game and interviewed Sari-- so that was fun :)

After the game, they all go around and give high-fives to all of the fans!

Colton and Caroline after the game in the VIP room. She is so so cute!!

After Matt's game they had 4 days off!!! Woo HOo.. So we took off to Southern Germany where I have been wanting to go since we got here. The first day we went to Rothenburg ob der Tauber. It is a city that still has the feel of the Medieval Times and it is seriously amazing! There are walls surrounding the whole city and gates to enter it, here we are about to enter!

The town is "Christmas all year 'round" and has stores that are completely decorated for Christmas...the girls in front of the Christmas store!

The store is HUGE on the inside, and it looks like little villages and houses with tons of ornaments and traditional German Christmas decorations.

It was again freezing, but it started snowing and warmed up a little bit, and it was so beautiful in the snow!

In front of the Cafe we ate dinner in...

Just one of the amazing buildings in this town. It was a really rich town and went through poverty after being taken over for years, so it was preserved because they weren't growing and expanding. Years later, it was still the same, and has now become a big tourist spot!

I always see this picture as a famous picture from Germany, so we had to find this location and take a picture...soo cool!

Matt and I :)

The boys walking around town!

One of the "Christmasy Windows" in the town!

Greatest part about the trip...the Night Watchmen's Tour. Not only was he SOO funny (in a dry sense of humor kind of way) but we learned soo much about the town...and he informed us that a German man AND an American man saved this town during World War II...pretty cool.

This is one of the entrances to Rothenburg, I love it at night all lit up.

Ok...SECOND greatest part about this town was the place that we stayed. A German woman named Karin Weiss's Bed and Breakfast. She was such a witty cute lady who spoke Great English! It was a very authentic German house and she made us little "surprises" (smoothies) and put them in the fridge, PLUS, she made us a "Royal" Breakfast as she called it, and sat with us as we ate and told us stories of Germany. It was awesome!

You can climb up on the wall of the city and walk around and look out at the entire city!

Karin's House :)

NEXT on our Agenda was Munich. It was a MUCH nicer day!

They have so many crazy statues throughout the towns, so here is Clair and his "friend" :)

We all walked in this church and were in awe...so fascinating, but I don't know who could actually sit in this church and learn anything??

The "RotHaus" or Red House, which is basically the Town Hall of Munich.

Annie, Travis, Clair, and Matt all climbed to the top of one of the buildings and were able to look out...pretty cool view!

In our hotel at night...we styled Colton's hair like Matt used to get his hair styled-- they have the same Cowlick (I love these boys!!)

The NEXT Day we drove to the Beautiful Salzburg Austria, the scenery was incredible. We were trying to take pictures outside of the window--here are the ALps!

It was 48 degrees and SUNNY when we arrived in Salzburg--couldn't get any better than that :) Colton got to hold our hand and walk around..yay!!

Walking across the bridge to the city!

Yes, Mozart is from Salzburg!

Here is the street Mozart was born on...and they have cafes and shops all for him!

This very special pond with horses was straight from the movie "The Sound of Music!"

Another Cathedral...we couldn't get enough!

Sari was in search for the Neunburg Abbey from the Sound of Music so we did a lot of walking/hiking, but we found it!! Matt and I in front of the gate to enter in. They also filmed part of the road leading up to the castle in the movie...so we went up to the castle too :)

All in All it took about 2 hours probably to get up to the castle..and it was STEEP! But...look at this view of Salzburg. I swear it looks like it is straight out of a post card!!

Inside the castle they had stores with Marionettes and fun little things! And here we all are about to leave Salzburg! It was such an amazing city!!

Anyway, we have been having a blasT!! We are taking a couple of days off..but there is much more to come!!