The holiday season is in full gear here in Paris and it is wonderful. The celebration starts extremely early here in Paris, even earlier than the states. It is crazy. The celebrations started with the lighting of the the Champs Elysee. My friend Ashley and her family met us to watch the lighting. Unfortunately the celebrity that was supposed to flip the switch for the lights was on French time and, after waiting about 45 minutes in the freezing cold, we decided to bolt. While walking to the metro, "voi la" they went on. I can say the lights aren't very pretty. They have a rather odd modern art look. The French don't seem to like them either. Oh well, we can check the box now.

Having fun with friends waiting for the lights to go on.

Then came Thanksgiving. We first celebrated Thanksgiving with our church, the American Church of Paris, the weekend prior to Thanksgiving. It was great. Good food, good company, what else can you ask for. The kids also had a blast with all the other kids.

Kids with their buddies at the ACP Thanksgiving.

Then came Thanksgiving day. It was a normal day in Paris but Keith took the day off and we had our cousin Caroline and her friend Geoff in town, which made it so great. They were on leave from their Peace Corp posts in Cameroon. It was so awesome having them here. When we picked up the kids from school, Caroline and I also went to pick up the turkey at the butcher. With the Parisian ovens there was no way I could cook a turkey in it, let along fit it in the oven. The guys in the butcher were so fun and soo nice. We did, however, cook all the trimmings and we couldn't wait to eat. Geoff was great and worked out a direct stream of the Macy's Parade, so everything was perfect!!! Keith got to carve the turkey and we all agreed it was the best cooked turkey we ever had. I never want to cook a turkey again.

Best kind of visitors...ones that do dishes!

We were sad to see Caroline and Geoff go, it was so nice having family here for the holiday and we just had a great time with them.

The following weekend Keith and I celebrated our 7th wedding anniversary, I can't believe it has been 7 years already. We got a babysitter and went for a night on the town. We started the night off at the Budha Bar (Asian fusion restaurant) and ended it walking around the Christmas markets on the Champs Elysee. It was a great night.

The following weekend we headed for Germany. Germany is known for their Christmas markets. There are so many and we decided to head to Munich. We thought between the markets and the beer it would be perfect. We were not disappointed. It was beautiful. Authentic Christmas decorations and ornaments everyone plus all the great German food. Oh yeah and don't forget the mule wine. I wasn't sure I was going to like the mule wine but it was delicious!!! All the different markets there had their own mug and of course I had to have them... I collected a few. We ate, drank, and shopped. It was awesome! The kids had a blast also; they got to go iceskating and swimming. We stayed at a Marriott because they always have pools and the kids always love it. The Munich Marriott we stayed at was one of the most accommodating ever. In the lobby they had little Mini Coopers and BMW's that the kids could drive around. (BMW's home is Munich). It was kind of funny watching the kids just drive around the lobby with a ton of people around. They had a blast. There were so many other fun things, like the Krampus parade where Father Christmas accompanies these scary monsters that look for bad children. It is the creepiest parade; a bunch of scary guys dressed up trying to find the bad kids and take them away. Lance loved it. He thought the guys looked cool. Thank God Peyton was sleeping or she would have been scared to death. They really did pick up children and take them away. Of course they gave the kids back. Here is a link to read more about the tradition: http://www.theatlantic.com/infocus/2013/12/krampus-saint-nicholas-dark-companion/100639/

Of course we hit the beer gardens of Munich. We first went to the famous Hobrauhaus and then hit a random one the next night (there are just so many). The good thing about beer gardens is that they are soo loud; that way if you have fussy kids no one cares. We also got to meet some great people from Germany, since everyone sits together. The woman loved the kids so much she gave them a huge back of gummy bears. Nicest woman. Oh yeah the second night we met up with Caroline and Geoff again.....love them.

We are looking forward to going back to Germany, maybe in the spring or summer....I can't wait!

Hofbrauhaus!!

Bundled up Peyton...it was cold but nice!

Another cool fountain on the town square.

Cool clock in town center, has littlle performances on the hour.

Bratwurst...our favorite! You can tell these kids are german.

Big market at Town hall.

There is less than two weeks until Christmas and we have been watching all the Christmas shows (thanks to Apple TV) Tomorrow we are headed out to get our Christmas Tree, it will be so different, usually we are cutting down our own but this year we will pick one up at the local store. I am looking forward to my Charlie Brown Parisian Christmas Tree. Although we didn't really bring most of our decorations (I didn't want anything to get lost of broken in the move) I have bought enough in Germany and here in Paris to get by.

I probably won't post again until after Christmas, possibly New Year's so I wish everybody a very Healthy and Happy Holiday. We love and miss you all!!! Looking forward to a fantastic 2014.

I am ending my post with a view that Keith sees everyday walking to work, you really can't beat it.

Thanks for Reading!!

Life is good....in Paris

What a sight!!! You can't get tired of this.