Can't believe it

Sean and I don't have the best of luck. It's not like we are UNlucky, we just don't really have the best of luck. As long as we and the children are healthy and safe, that's all that matters. When we moved to Germany, I thought we would get a really cool house. Well, we weren't unlucky, we found a house that is big and works well for us, but we didn't find the dream home we were kinda hoping for. When our landlord informed us a few months ago that he is trying to sell the house, we figured we wouldn't worry too much quite yet, and if the perfect house opened up, we would jump on it. Well, since we don't have the best of luck, we have just been patiently waiting and hoping that our house wouldn't sell. A few weeks ago we started inquiring about our friends' house that they are moving out of this month. This house is amazing; basically, my dream German house. I didn't think there was any way we could afford it, so I didn't think too much about it. Then things started to happen miraculously. The house was appraised in our price range, the landlords are amazingly wonderful, our friends who are moving out helped us tremendously, so now, I can't believe the LUCK we are having, because we are moving into a really awesome house. So, allow me to indulge for a minute as I shamelessly brag about the new house and show a few pictures. It is in the quaint little village of Elschbach, about 15 minutes from base. The backyard is the size of a football field. No, I'm serious. There are livestock in the neighboring field: Mason couldn't be more excited. We have a fire pit. The kitchen is BIG. 6 bedrooms. A basement. A pink princess room for Ella. A blue room for Colton and Mason. A new stainless steel refrigerator, a deep freezer, and the best part: A RIDING LAWNMOWER!! So, now, if Jaxon starts up with some pre-teen attitude, I can say: "Go mow the lawn!" and we'll see him in about 3 hours. Ok, Ok, I know, you want to see pictures, so here they are:

The backyard:



Ella in the fire pit:


The living room:

Entryway:

Kitchen:

Mason in his new blue room:

Extra bedroom:

Ella's bedroom with huge closets to fit all her clothes:



Toy Room/Office with door that open to the patio and back yard:

And last, but not least, Sean getting the low down on our new riding lawnmower:

New Year's Eve

On New Year's Eve, we headed over to the Turner's for some good food, good friends and good times. Christy made an amazing assortment of appetizers, I made a few desserts, and our friends the Bowser's made awesome smoothies and salsa. We played some fun games and the kids ran around wildly having a great time. Around 10 pm, we headed outside to start lighting the many fireworks we had all purchased. In Germany, "Sylvester", or New Year's Eve, is a huge deal. This normally quiet, reserved society gets a bit crazy. We started hearing fireworks earlier in the evening, but by 10 things were starting to pick up. My boys LOVED LOVED LOVED setting off the fireworks, especially Jaxon. He turned into a bit of a pyro that night and couldn't get enough of lighting the fireworks. Ella loved the sparklers the best. And Mason? He was cold. And tired. He lasted til about 11, then fell asleep in my arms. Here are the kids having a 'blast' with the fireworks:

Frohe Weihnachten

Merry Christmas! We had a wonderful Christmas Eve and Christmas Day.We started out the 24th with some holiday dancing. Mason and Jaxon rocked out to Jingle Bell Rock in the dining room:


We had more snow today so Sean had to spend some time shoveling outside:

Look at Santa's favorite elves:


We spent Christmas Eve at the Turner's, eating the most delicious food in the world and acting out the Nativity story. Here we are eating dinner:




Here's the "kid's table". Look how happy Mason is to be sitting down and eating:


If you know Mason at all, you know he LOVES his juice. A lot. So here he is with his 'juicy' while Sean is downing his favorite 'juicy' as well.


We tried acting out the Nativity Story. Mason refused to be Joseph. He insisted he was Sarah. Still no idea who this Sarah is, but Mason channels her sometimes and pretends he is her. So, we had Mary (Ella) Joseph/Sarah (Mason) some wise men, shephards, and an inn keeper. Guess who played the role of the innkeeper? For which of my children is it NOT hard to be rude and slam a door in someone's face? Yup, the pre-teen.
Here is our cast:







We exchanged presents with the Turner's. Ella LOVED her candy making jewelry set almost as much as Mason loved playing with it too.


And this is how we ended the night, with Colton handcuffed to the stairs with the new set of handcuffs I bought Aedan:

On Christmas morning, our children slept in!! They didn't wake up til after 8:00 am. WOW! Here are our blurry eyed children walking into our family room to check out what Santa left:



Polly Pockets and Princesses were high on Ella's list this year.


We were privileged to have Batman and Robin show up for a few minutes Christmas morning to share in our festivities:



Colton had only one big thing on his list, a Lego castle. His list slowly got longer over those last few months, but this was the one big ticket item he really was hoping to get.


Mason was happy to get a new Batman jacket and some fun Playmobil sets:



Jaxon already got his big Christmas present early, an Alienware computer. But you know me, I couldn't have him opening NOTHING on Christmas morning. So, he ended up with some history books, a computer game, and some board games.