Thanksgiving and SNOW!!!

We woke up on Thanksgiving morning to a glorious sight: SNOW!! We hadn't looked outside as soon as we woke up; working out took priority so it was about an hour later that the kids and I came upstairs and looked outside to the marvelous scene of snow. The kids were so excited. They rushed to put on boots and coats and play outside; for about 5 minutes, until they realized that it was REALLY cold and wanted to come back inside and warm up. Ella lasted outside the longest:

We (I mean, I) finished the last minute baking and cooking for our Thanksgiving feast and headed over to the Wilkenson's house for dinner. The food was fabulous, the friends were fantastic, and most importantly, the desserts were divine. We ate, talked, ate, joked, ate, and hung out around the gorgeous new dining room table for about 3 hours before realizing that we needed to go. The kids ate so little so I felt it was my parental duty to make up the difference and eat enough for all 5 of us. Only Jaxon ate a worthy plate full of delicious food. We rolled our way out of the door and headed home. I am very thankful for wonderful friends who have adopted me while Sean has been gone and treated me like family, maybe even better. I am so thankful for my children who make life worth living. I am excited that this is the last holiday we'll be celebrating for a LONG time without Sean. He better be back in time for the jolly fat guy to make his appearance. On Friday, there were no stores to go to at 3am for Black Friday deals. We're in Deutchland: no Walmart, Target (moment of silence) or Best Buy. There's online shopping, but it isn't the same. But that's ok. I will take living here over super special deals on stuff that I really don't need but end up buying because it is such a good deal that I must need it somehow, sometime, right? So, I saved a bunch of money, which I will later put to good use at ECL or another favorite German store. German stores have awesome Christmas decorations. Friday morning, my cleaning lady came and I got to practice my German with her a little bit. That was fun. We dropped Jaxon off at the commissary parking lot for another fun filled Boy Scout camping trip this weekend, this time to Belgium and the Battle of the Bulge site. We bundled Jaxon up as much as he would let me, loaded him up with chocolate, and sent him on his way (with his toothbrush and toothpaste, which he keeps 'forgetting' to pack). We started to take out Christmas decorations in the afternoon and the kids were sooooo excited to see things we haven't had in two years. That is one of the biggest downfalls of moving at Christmas time, we kinda miss out on Christmas every third year. I took the kids over to Christy's in the evening so Colton could go sell Christmas trees on base with Cameron and Dennis for the Cub Scouts. Danielle watched Ella and Mason while Christy and I escaped, I mean, went shopping at some German stores for some final Christmas presents. All in all, a great last few days, and a few extra pounds that will have to be taken care of pretty quickly. Curse that extra helping of fudge!!
Here's some fun pictures from the last two days:
Mason calling Batman on the phone:

Ella learning to read and reading some words for me:

And a picture of the white stuff outside my front window: