A Holiday Wrap Up

2013 was an amazing year for our family! In total we lived in three countries. Brayden has now lived in or visited 5 countries! We had a lot of highs and some lows. Both Justin and I lost our Grandfathers within a month of each other. We moved a lot (3 times) and bought our first home. Here is a quick picture summary of 2013...

 

 

 

 

Christmas & New Years have come and gone. It's crazy how time flies! Here is a recap of our family's holidays...

Our little family took a short trip about 1 hours drive outside of Vienna to Semmering on December 23-24th. It is the closest ski resort to Vienna. It was nice to get away from the big city, and relax in the mountains. There is just something about being in the mountains that brings me to a very happy state of mind.



Enjoying their beverages of choice at the foot of the ski slope



Although there has not been any snow in Vienna, we were lucky to have snow on the ski slopes. It was the first time that Brayden got to play in it, and he couldn't get enough. He loved every minute of it. He really enjoyed watching the skiers come down the mountain.

We decided that night to go sledding down the 3 km (almost 2 miles) toboggan trail that was part of the ski slope at night. It was awesome! Brayden rode down the mountain with Justin via his Ergo carrier. The trail was awesome with little chalets that are only accessible via toboggan to stop in at to have a hot chocolate (or a beer). In total we did the trail three times, and called it a night. We went back to the hotel and opened our Christmas Eve package of Christmas pajamas and treats to watch A Christmas Story.



At the top of the toboggan trail





Chalet along the toboggan trail





Bedtime Christmas movie snuggles



The next morning we enjoyed a Christmas Brunch, and then went back to the slopes to let Brayden enjoy a little while longer until we headed back to Vienna.

 

 

Later that night (December 24th) we headed over to hang out with the families on the team and enjoy a Christmas celebration.

On Christmas morning we opened up gifts from Santa Claus and from our family. We stayed in our PJ's and played all day.

Later that night we got to Skype with our families back home, which is a highlight of our holidays since we never get to see anyone.



Skyping with Great  Grandma Lillian



On New Years Eve, we headed over to a family's apartment on the team for some drinks and eats. Brayden always loves getting together with all the other children. He especially enjoyed when all the guys on the team gave him treats!

Fireworks are huge in Europe for New Years, so the boys went out to shoot some off. The sky is lit up from dusk till dawn with fireworks! Justin and Brayden headed back to our apartment, and I headed downtown Vienna to enjoy some New Years festivities at the Rathaus (town hall) with the girls. They had a huge stage set up with gigantic big screens all around for the Rolling Stones/Beetles cover band that played that night. It was Vienna's version of New York's Times Square to celebrate the New Years. We had a blast!

 

 

That about sums it up for our holidays here in Vienna. I hope everyone's new year is filled with love and happiness. May 2014 be the best yet!

p.s. I hope everyone back home is staying warm! Not to brag but we have been sleeping with our window open at night, going for runs outside, and having our patio door open for the past several days as it has been around 50 degrees!

A Magical Christmas Night

Last night was like a perfect scene for a Christmas movie. Some of the fans of the Vienna Capitals own horse carriages that stroll through downtown, and offered to take the whole team on a carriage ride to the different Christmas markets. I couldn't be more excited! Justin & I had always talked about doing one of the carriage rides downtown, but what better way to take one than from Christmas market to Christmas market during this magical season.

 

It ended up being one of the coldest nights that we have had thus far in Vienna, but I feel like that just added to the magic of the night. We all bundled up well, and headed downtown to the first Christmas market to get a glühwein (hot, spiced wine) and meet up with the carriages. In total we all took three carriages to the different markets, and the horses strolled right down the middle of the streets!

 

*Sorry my pictures are pretty grainy since it was so dark out

 

Karlsplatz Christmas market

 

Brayden & Justin at the Karlsplatz Christmas market

Strolling down the main streets of Vienna

 

At the second stop, Brayden and I grabbed some käsespätzle (German's version of mac 'n' cheese) while Justin invested in some gloves. He also got me a hat from the market as a Christmas gift.



What käsespätzle looks like.

 

New hat to keep my noggin toasty warm.
 

 

Enjoying the carriage ride as a family.

 

The drivers of the carriages were very prepared, and had gotten all of us some mini Jägermeister bottles to drink to keep warm for the ride to the next market.

 

Brayden enjoying his beverage of choice on the carriage ride.
 

 

Hard to see...but you can see the Rathaus (main town hall) in the background from the inside of the carriage

 

 

The last stop was the Christmas Village at Maria-Theresien-Platz. Justin got a giant baked potato with ham, cheese, and sour cream for us three to share...it was soooo good! I would have taken a picture, but I didn't have time to before it was gone.

 

One of the venders selling Christmas ornaments

 

Usually this place would be super crowded, but given that it was so cold and a Tuesday night we had the place pretty much to ourselves!

 

All snuggled up in his carrier...he kept me nice and toasty warm!

 

It was awesome to see the city all lit up for Christmas. Taking the carriage ride brought back lots of my own childhood memories of doing this with my family with our own horses!  

Tis The Season

We recently like all of you, decorated our home for the holidays. Since we move every year, it's always hard to want to invest lots in Christmas decorations since we are never sure if we will be able to use them again next year, but that never stops us from getting in the spirit. Our tree got a bit of an upgrade from last year...it's green & about double in height!

 



Our tree last year in Japan

 

Our tree this year.

 

 

 

 

Since we don't have a fireplace, I took it upon myself to make sure Santa will find us this year!

 

 

The outside of our flat was looking a little bleak so I thought I would give it a facelift...

 

 

 

This week Justin's team held a Christmas Party for all the players, office staff, and their families. It was held at one of the President's restaurants here in Vienna. It was nice to all get together and celebrate the season.

 

 

 

 

Since we were in Japan last year for Christmas, Brayden did not get to meet Santa since they do not celebrate Christmas. In Austria, they really don't have the Santa tradition like we do in the States. They celebrate the Christkind, which is the a spirit like child with angel wings that brings the children their presents. So, I was super excited when I saw that Santa was coming to deliver gifts to the children at the party! Brayden was finally able to meet the big man! Although he didn't sit down so the kids could tell them what they would like for Christmas, he gave out their gifts instead, which was good enough for me!

 



Waiting for Santa to call his name to go get his present.

 



Meeting the legend.

Brayden got a toy car. Which he played with the entire night with the other children.

 

I can't wait for the upcoming weeks of Christmas festivities! Until then, Happy Holidays!

 

 

November...a recap

Long time, no post! I have been on a blogger hiatus. Feels good to be back! So, I will catch you all up on what went on in November. We obviously kicked off the start of November with Brayden's Birthday which you can find the post about HERE. After that, we just sort of hibernated until Thanksgiving...which we got to celebrate twice...well 3 times really.

The team's office hosted a Thanksgiving for all players at a local restaurant. Justin and I sort of laughed considering Justin is the only American on the time. Oh well, the more turkey, the better! It was the chef's 1st time making turkeys so they came out extra special...FLAMING!!

 

Right around Thanksgiving, the Christmas Markets opened in Vienna. We went to the Rathaus markets to check them out, and they were beautiful!

 

 

 

 The day before actual Thanksgiving we had Thanksgiving over at one of the guy's apartments for a little more homey Thanksgiving. Everyone brought one, two, or three items to share...the spread was amazing! It's so neat when everyone brings what their traditional Thanksgiving dish is, and for the people that don't celebrate Thanksgiving, they brought a dish that represents them. It was soooo good! We brought some desserts. As requested, two chocolate brownie cakes that seem to just disappear. I also made pumpkin spice kiss cookies.

 

 

Brayden had so much fun with all the children! He really enjoyed the baguette of bread that was given to him.

On actual Thanksgiving, we went to coffee with some friends. Justin and I were too lazy to make anything, which naturally lead us to KFC for our little family's Thanksgiving dinner. It was finger-licking good! Talk about a classic Thanksgiving abroad!

The next week Justin left for a three day road trip, so Brayden and I got in the car and drove the 1 hour drive to Bratislava, Slovakia. We wondered around the old downtown, and checked out the Christmas markets. I LOVED their Christmas markets! Everything was homemade, and made right there in Bratislava. I ended up getting Brayden his first Christmas stocking, a bear that says "I love you" in Slovakian, and a Christmas decoration for our home.

I will sign off today with some of Brayden's favorite dance moves!