Ready for a photo dump?
I know no better way to catch up on what we've been doing since our trip in September. This all feels like forever ago, the holidays really went by so quickly this year, and now it's almost March?!
Where has time gone?

We had "Friendsgiving" with all of our close friends:

Getting everyone to sit was interesting:
(yes Bennett was dancing for the picture…that kid doesn't know what 'sit still' means)

The first Chrismassy thing we did was our annual trip to Zoo Lights with our friends The Hartmanns:

The zoo train wasn't running this year, so they created a new 'light tunnel' to make up for it.
It was pretty awesome:

Buck just wanted to touch all the lights:

Getting our Christmas tree:

Found the perfect one:

Decorating it:

The boys in a box admiring the tree:

Outside lights:

I love the coziness of having Christmas decorations up and the tree lights on instead of lamps, but isn't it funny how quickly we grow tired of it?

While at my mom's group before Christmas, the kids came and sang us Silent Night,
hand motions and all.
See Bennett in the front/left?

Our first snow of the year.
Buck was pretty excited:

Chris had two weeks off so we took a few trips to the library:

And Chris fashioned an obstacle course one day during nap time:

We went on the Polar Express in Hood River with my whole family, how cute are the boys' elf pjs:
(I hope they never grow out of them)

Santa with the cousins:

Their first ever visit to see Santa:
(and his reindeer too!)

This Santa looked so much like Will Ferrel, it was kind of crazy:

Our Christmas Card:
(Paperless Post is really the best)

Christmas Eve service at The Schnitz:

Buck and the sea of presents at my sister's house:

Photobooth fun:

Craziness always ensues at Chris' family Christmas with all the kids being so close in age.
This year Buck had to stand on all of the presents:

Wrapping gifts with Ember's help:

Gifts all set out for Christmas morning:

The best picture I got of these guys on Christmas morning:
(I don't think these two have ever sat still at the same time)

Checking out his new puzzle:

Testing out our new things before breakfast:

My mom found a Fisher Price parking garage in great condition,
I'm not sure which one of us likes it more:

We had a New Years party with our friends and I put together a photobooth to document the occasion:

The kids weren't too interested in the Photo photobooth:

And we proved that we are photobooth-challenged:

Case in point:
(at least he's got the cuteness factor going for him)

Happy New Year:


…a very, very belated one!

Germany was kind of our home base while we were in Europe.
Our wonderful friends lived in the tiny town of Otterberg which was about an hour southwest of Frankfurt. Germany really is exactly how I imagined it to be…lots of stucco, brick and terra cotta roofs:

There were a few things that kind of surprised me about Germany:
-The autobahn is crazy, yet efficient…I believe our average speed was about 90mph!
-People do not drive old cars. (Every car we saw was made within the last ten years, or maybe even less. They have super strict standards.)
-Eventhough the houses are super old, a ton of them had solar panels on their roofs.
-Wind farms are everywhere.

Our first meal in Germany consisted of Schnitzel, fried mashed potato log things, and gnocchi with a creamy gorgonzola sauce:
(don't judge.)

The oldest house in Otterberg:

Sunset:

They had an awesome bakery at the end of the street:
(I'm pretty sure we had a chocolate crossaint every day while we were abroad)

We took a day trip to Heidelberg which is where Gage and Jessica had just moved from and they said we had to see it. Heidelberg has a river that runs through it and a castle up on the hill…it really is as beautiful as everyone said it would be.
Us with Remi:

Coffee in Heidelberg:
(our first stop of course)

Kisses for Remi:

A view of the castle on the hill:

The outdoor shopping area was awesome and huge:
(Chris and I even splurged on some sweet European kicks!)

Lederhosen are sold in the department stores in Germany:

Ladyhosen:
(not the technical term, but I'm sure mine is better anyways)

Our lunch spot:

Pretzel-shaped bread:

Not the castle…just someone's house:
(no big deal)

Back at the house in Otterberg, Chris took me for a ride in Gage and Jessica's bakfiet:

He's serious about it:
(this always reminds me of Flight of the Conchords)

Jessica made a raclette dinner for us. We had no idea what it was but we were pleasantly surprised.
Raclette is in the same vein as fondue, but instead of dipping, you cover the grill with cut up veggies and sausage while your slice of raclette cheese gets warm and gooey in your little tray slot under the grill. 

Once everything is cooked, you take whatever you want and put it on top of your potato, then scrape the melty cheese on top of the veggies, then you top it all with hollendaise sauce.
Not something you would eat all the time, but it was amazing and fun.
(Chris and I actually re-created this a few weeks ago with our griddle and broiler…an actual raclette grill would be so much easier but our makeshift way worked great in a pinch.)

And our last meal in Germany was a kebab salad of sorts, with the best tzatziki sauce for the dressing. It was from a little hole in the wall gyro place down the street from Gage and Jessica's house...apparently the same restaurant has a cart somewhere in Portland and I'm determined to find it.
(It's amazing we didn't come back home 50lbs heavier, but we walked everywhere for 9 days so I guess it kind of cancelled it out. The food in Europe was also a major factor for me deciding to get my gall bladder out…there's no way I would've been able to eat anything I did on our trip otherwise. Also, we never eat like this but we were on vacation!)

And because we hadn't had a true pretzel in Germany, we got one at the airport and ate it on the plane as we were taking off to head home:
(we flew out of Germany at the very end of our trip…but I still have more places to share!)

Next up: PARIS!

Stay tuned...