Busy Busy Busy!!

There is not enough time in the day for us right now! Between work, holiday parties, meetings, and Vic working late - it has just been crazy.

We did manage to escape for a quick trip to the nearby town of Regansburg. Initially, we wanted to sight-see and stop by the Christmas market, but we stumbled onto a mall, and spent the day there. It's not too often you find a mall around here!

We are planning a trip to Prague for Vic's birthday/a late anniversary trip ... so we are really excited for that. It's is really hard to want to take trips in the snow, but we know we have to maximize our time here! Speaking of snow ... we got a ton of it ...

It got to the point where Lola couldn't even venture into it ... she would wait for Roscoe to make a path, and then follow behind.

The view from our back porch ...

This is called a 'roof avalanche' in Germany, and they terrify me to my very core. What if you're casually walking to your car and this crap falls on you? It could really ruin your day. Apparently several people in our neighborhood had their car hoods dented in and patio furniture broken when they came tumbling down.

This is the view from our front door ... pretty, right? It's all fun and games until you have to shovel ... which, by the way, we have broken two shovels already ...

Eli is doing so much better eating solid foods. So far we have tried yogurt, cheese, birthday cake (don't judge), mashed potatoes, pancakes, cheerios, cottage cheese, waffles, and German potato salad ... he loves it all! He's had some issues with keeping down solid foods (I won't bore you with that saga), so the past week has been huge for him!

We are getting so excited for Christmas, and we're having a lot of fun starting our own traditions. The Christmas presents from family keep rolling in, and we feel so blessed. We have (kind of) kept our promise about not opening any ... unless they weren't wrapped - then we thought they were fair game?? Either way, we got majorly spoiled ... and we will be very busy come Christmas morning!

My little brother sent this recorded book of him telling the story of Frosty the Snowman ... very cool ...

In other news, Eli is EVERYWHERE and into EVERYTHING!!! Vic and I pride ourselves on having a really clean and tidy house, so we are constantly following behind him and cleaning up messes and toys - we'll see how long that lasts. The ladies at daycare call him busy ... which, I think, is a nice way of saying, "you have a crazy baby" ... whatever, he's really cute. My goal for Christmas breaks is to install cabinet locks, so my pots and pans aren't constantly getting thrown around the kitchen.

This is his attempt at helping me with laundry. I got everything sorted and folded, and then set it on top of the table ... two seconds later I turned around and he had the whole basket pulled down and destroyed. He's no longer invited to laundry time.

Ohhh fun, toilet paper. Awesome.

Vic's company had a 'Brunch with Santa' ... I was a little worried about E's reaction to this bearded man, but he did great - and really hammed it up for the camera. I wish I would have taken my own pictures, but this one will have to do. Those are Vic's Battalion colors in the background ... not your typical setting for a Santa photo-op, but kind of a cool touch ...

We had awesome Christmas cards made, and they seem to be lost in the mail. Hopefully they will come soon, but I'm not holding my breath. At this rate - I would check your mailboxes around February. 

Anyway, Eli is currently trying to ride Roscoe like a horse, and dinner needs to be started! Hopefully we can Skype and/or talk to everyone over Christmas!!!