December in Review

Wow! I better hurry and finish 2010 before January 2011 is over!


We had a wonderful December. First, we got a car! To this day, we aren't "legally registered" in Switzerland, so we gave Oma money to buy the car in Germany and have it on her insurance. They delivered it on Sara's birthday. It's a 2000 Toyota Avensis. Silver, leather interior, heated seats, sunroof, etc. Only 60k miles on it b/c an older man owned it and didn't drive it much. I love it and wish we could bring it back to the States. In fact, it's my favorite car I've owned, which is amazing considering that we bought it without seeing it in person or test-driving it ourselves. Oma & Opa did a great job car-shopping for us. Thanks!!


Having a car makes life so much easier! Especially since the winter weather is upon us. Now, it's so much easier to get Jonas to preschool and to do grocery shopping. Sara moved up into her "big girl" car seat and likes being able to see a little more of what's going on around her. We got a navigation system too, so the kids and I can venture out on our own without getting lost.



Jonas was absolutely thrilled with all the snow we had in December. We went sledding with Oma & Opa the weekend of Sara's birthday. Jonas loved it! Sara had quite a different reaction. She hated it and went screaming down the little hill with Opa. She much prefers being slowly pulled around.

There was no shortage of presents in December! Between the Advent calendar, St. Nick's Day, Christkind and Santa, the kids certainly stocked up. Then of course there were packages arriving from the States too. They were so happy! And a bit disappointed when all the gift-getting ended :-) Then, Jonas decided he wanted to send a package to his friend, Keegan. When I told him that we'd first have to go buy something to put in it, he replied, "We'll just send Sara's toys."

We attended the Christmas party at Jonas' preschool. Santa was there! Jonas was shy at first but then so excited to have met Santa. Sara screamed the entire time she was in the same room with him :-) This is Sienna. She's the daughter of Jonas' first, and favorite, preschool teacher, and the first girl Jonas has had a little "crush" on.

On December 10th, we finally got our Christmas tree. I much prefer to put it up the day after Thanksgiving, but they aren't available here until mid-December. Jonas enjoyed helping Andy decorate the tree. Really, he was so incredibly into Christmas this year. It was so cool to experience it through the eyes of a child.

Jonas spent much of December pretending to be Santa. He'd dress up in all sorts of things and deliver the toys. Our couch was the sleigh. He even said, "When I grow up, I'm going to be Santa." When I asked him what Santa would think of that and suggested that perhaps he could be Santa's helper, he replied, "Ok. But I'm going to drive my own sleigh."

Every night we'd read Christmas books. Jonas basically memorized 'Twas the Night Before Christmas. In case you missed my facebook post during Christmas, here's the video:

Jonas learned a lot of Christmas songs. When I sang Away in A Manger to him, he said, "No! We can't put baby Jesus asleep in the hay. It's too prickly!" We also learned Silent Night in English and German. One night, after singing it as a family, Jonas commented that it sounds better in German. A very good point, considering that it was initially written in German :-).

We went to visit Ur-Oma and Ur-Opa in mid-December. It was the first time they
met Sara. Both kids warmed up to them very quickly and Ur-Opa even commented (in German, of course), "They know their people!" Andy's aunts, uncles and cousins also stopped by to see us. We had a lot of delicious food and Oma sent us off with a bunch of Christmas cookies.

Our Christmas holiday was just fabulous! It was the first time in 8 years that Andy's mom had all of her boys with her for Christmas. Plus, we had snow - and a lot of it, which always adds to the magic of Christmas. Sara was quite the little princess in her Christmas dress.

Jonas got a new sled for Christmas, but Sara took ownership of it. And, you can see that they're getting ready for the marching band. Jonas loves his new drum, which can be carried as either a bass or a snare, and Sara has figured out how to play the trumpet.

I gave Andy tickets to Andrea Bocelli for Christmas. More on that in the next posting. He got me a new camera. Here are a few great shots he took:

So, Andy and Oma's neighbors created a snow bar with all the snow they shoveled over Christmas. We enjoyed warm gluehwein outside a couple of nights. Jonas and I decided that the only thing missing was Marshmallows, and Opa had some! The Germans got a little chuckle out of us roasting our marshmallows.

We visited with some of our German friends from the German preschool Jonas attended in Charlotte. Julia was visiting her parents, who live 20 minutes from Andy's mom. Petra and family had moved back to Germany in the Spring and came down to meet up with all of us. So cool to see some "Charlotte friends" in Germany! Jonas was happy to see Benny and Elias again!

New Year's Eve was rather uneventful for me and Sara. We both stayed home sick. Andy and Jonas had a great time celebrating at the Kelly's house!