The First Day of Christmas

As I said in the Christmas Eve post, we were out quite late celebrating with the Heyer family. So we were very glad that the boys slept in until close to 10:00 am....and Tracy and I did the same. Originally, our ski trip was to be our only present to the boys; however, we decided to get the older boys a few things that they had been wanting from the Christmas market and the younger boys a new toy to play with during the break. Tracy and I were concerned that the two week break could be a tough one for all of us so having a few new things might help. When we made those gift decisions, we were not planning on any Christmas packages. So rather than having nothing for Christmas morning, we had more than usual! What a treat to enjoy fun new things over the two week break!

Besides Christmas lights, I also packed the boys' stockings.
The number one request for a stocking stuffer was a big
bag of Haribo gummi bears. 

Thank you to the Louws Family and our California
cousins for contributing to our Christmas in Germany!

A tradition that we have every year is to give the boys a new tree ornament.
There is a shop called The Glas Insel that sells stained glass products. Tracy
and I met there one afternoon and chose ornaments for the boys along with
a manger scene for our family.

~ Punching arms from Uncle Todd and Aunt Marcy ~
These have been a favorite of all of the kids that have visited our home
since Christmas....but you can tell from the photo that they are not a
favorite of Tracy's! He looks like he's just about to say, "Enough already!'

~ Fun shirts from the California cousins ~

One day while at the Christmas market, Micah and Joel found some hats
from the Himalayas that they really liked. The next morning, Tracy and I
went back and purchased them. Later that afternoon, the boys took Tracy
by the booth to show him the hats they really wanted. I think they were
both a bit suspicious but didn't say anything.

Noah opening his remote control car. Needless to say, we heard that thing
run just about non-stop for the next 48 hours. The recharge time for the
battery ended up being a pleasant time of quietness.

Joj got a diablo (Chinese yoyo) that does some really
cool tricks...if one is skilled enough to master it.

Tracy shows off his new coffee mug that Noah made for him at school.
Little did he know he was about to get smacked with a
punching arm....that smile is soon to fade!

Normally, for Christmas brunch I make something that we all like to eat - like blueberry scones or monkey bread. This year I opted to visit the local bakery just down our street on Christmas Eve. Along with fresh pastries, I also had several cartons of pineapple juice - a favorite drink of the boys. That was one of the things that Joel asked for as a gift!

For Christmas dinner, we invited Colin and Rachel to join us mid-afternoon. They are an American/Australian couple that we met one of our first days after arriving. We get to see them fairly often as they also attend our church. I cooked a turkey and a few dishes to go with that, and Rachel provided some side dishes as well. Colin and Rachel were flying out to Paris the next morning so graciously offered us all of the leftovers. As a result, I didn't have to cook for two whole days! That was glorious!

I cooked the turkey without a turkey bag this time and
it turned out so much better than at Thanksgiving!
That was surprising!

~ Stollen from Dresden ~
Our neighbors, Bernd and Barbara, gave us this Stollen as a Christmas
gift. They told us this is traditional to eat at Christmas and that we were
to save it for Christmas day. We've sampled several Stollens throughout
the last few weeks and this was by far the very best we had. Barbara said
that this particular recipe from Dresden has been in the family for over
500 years and is known to be the best that Germany has to offer.

Rachel made her family's traditional fruit cake to share with us. The little
snowman on the top of the cake was so cute that I asked her about it.
She purchased the little guy from a booth at the Christmas market....so I
made a trip to the same booth and now own a similar little
glass snowman for next year.