Christmas 2013

Well, the decorations are back down in the basement , the presents are all opened, and the food is all eaten.   It was a very merry Christmas here in Stuttgart for the Mallory family!   This was the first year that Susannah actually understood the concept and watching her excitement made for one of the happiest Christmases I can remember.   Here are some of the highlights....

Susannah and I made sugar cookies for all of her teachers and our neighbors.

She was a great helper, and told me that she "My loved baking, mommy."

We went down to the Christmas Market for one last hoorah on Christmas Eve Eve.   Peter and Susannah rented ice skates, but he was the only one who actually ventured onto the ice. 

He did great though and we loved watching him!

I think Susannah would have been game if she had a really experienced adult with her.   Maybe next year.  ;)

After prepping the feast for that night, we got dressed in our red for the Christmas Eve candlelight service.

Our 9th Christmas together.

 Susannah and her beloved Aunt Nancy.   We were so happy to have her here with us this year.

This year I felt so especially grateful to be a part of  this little family.

They didn't have childcare at church, so Susannah stayed with us and did so well. (except for the yelling, "But I want to be loud!" after I told her to be quiet during the offering.  :)     She loved singing the Christmas songs and even held her little candle without burning down the church. 



After a Christmas eve feast of ham, cornbread, squash casserole, macaroni and cheese, and green bean casserole, it was time to set out snacks for Santa and his reindeer.

Susannah was very serious about it all, and loved checking the Santa locator on Aunt Nancy's phone.   She kept running to the window saying, "I'm just going to watch for the sleigh."

Santa came!   The pink bike and pink guitar were the two things she consistently asked for.   The easel was actually from Mimi and Poppy, but since it was too big to be wrapped under the tree, Santa delivered it too.

She was so excited about the bike.

Peter got a new scarf and hat.

Just a little morning pajama ride.

It took her a few days to really get the hang of it without help.

Me with some of my presents.

Susannah modeling all of  her jewelry.

She loves her easel.

This Minnie mouse dress up kit was a favorite too.   Thanks Uncle Andy and Nicole!!

Grammy sent chutes and ladders which was a huge hit.

It poured on Christmas and the day after, but Peter was a sport and took Susannah out to use the sidewalk chalk Santa brought her.

Dressing Minnie in her outfits.    Susannah's cousin Clara Kate got the exact same present and they played together over Skype.

Finally on the 27th, the sun came out so Susannah was able to really try out the bike.

Our neighbors from Coronado who now live in Dusseldorf came to Stuttgart for a visit.   It was so good to see them!!

This is Amber and Orin with an awesome view of Stuttgart in the background.   After Susannah's bike ride, we took a long walk in the sun and ended up here.   Unfortunately Peter was super sick during their visit and I was suffering from some type of stomach thing, so we weren't the best hostesses.   We were so happy to see them though!!   Thanks Riddell family!!   We will be heading your way this spring for sure!

Yesterday Susannah spent her entire day, even naptime, in this pink princess dress.   Here she is dancing with Daddy.

And riding her bike.   With all this rain we are having, I'm feeling very thankful for our big apartment.   If we still lived in Coronado, riding in the house would be impossible.  

 

Now it is New Year's Eve and unfortunately, I'm still battling some stomach bug.   So our New Year's plans have changed to a quiet night at home.   Sad to miss a fun night with friends, but so very grateful for all the ways that God has blessed us in 2013.   It was a challenging year to say the least, but God was faithful and with us every step of the way.   And all three of us are looking so forward to seeing what 2014 has in store!   Happy New Year to you all.   We love you and miss you!

Merry and Bright

Well, Christmas is upon us, and while we are sad to be missing family, we have had a fun and happy season thus far here in Stuttgart.   Here are some of the highlights, starting with Susannah's kindergarten field trip to the Christmas market.   (I went along since I wasn't completely comfortable with her taking the city bus without me.)

Before we headed out to the market, the children ate their breakfast.  

After a surprisingly smooth and easy bus ride, we arrived at our first stop at the Christmas Market....the live nativity scene.   The baby sheep and donkey were the favorite.

Then we headed over to check out the not-so-live nativity.

And after winding through some vendors to check out the decorations, we came to the most exciting event of the morning....the rides!!

Susannah opted for the train over the carrousel and she was so excited to have her own ticket to hand to the conductor.

Ready to ride.  (Peter and I are feel so confident in our decision to start her in kindergarten just based on this train ride alone.....2 months ago she never would have wanted to go near a ride like this.)

She hung on to her little friend Anna the entire time....

and smiled the biggest smiles too.

Being a parent of a kid this age is so so fun.   (Don't get me wrong, other days I would be using much different adjectives, but most of the time, FUN is the perfect description.)

After the rides, we headed over to the food vendors for fries and sweet treats.   The kids ate family style, sharing plates of fries and ketchup.  

A few days later we headed to a salon in our neighborhood for a much needed haircut.

Susannah was a trooper.....turns out she doesn't need a special chair shaped like an airplane after all.  

Swinging.

Ready for a birthday party last weekend.  Unfortunately this outfit didn't last long.  The party was out in the country on very windy roads so we had to do a wardrobe change due to a pretty nasty case of car-sickness.   When I put her in this dress the next time, she said, "Mommy, am I going to throw up on the way to school this morning?"   I had to explain the causality of the throw-up was not found in the dress.  :)

Last Sunday we headed back down to the markets so Peter could get in on the fun.   Susannah rode this ride about 5 times and had a ball.

This is the child that cried at the thought of any rides at Disneyland just a few short months ago.

And now she is throwing elbows to get on the fire-truck so she can "drive."

This is the morning before her Christmas brunch at school.   Each child had to bring a traditional dish from their home country.   (PS.  I have absolutely zero idea how this snow flake filter ended up on this photo, but it's cool right??)

Susannah brought her favorite pumpkin bread to the brunch and it was a hit with all her little friends.

And now we all home and Christmas Break 2013 has officially begun.   Peter and Susannah are off work and school for two weeks and Aunt Nancy arrives tomorrow.   Merry Christmas!!!   We love you all!

Prague at Christmas time

Christmas season is in full swing here in Europe.  Christmas markets are everywhere and the sugary smell of hot wine or gluhwine wafts through the city streets.  While Whitney and Susannah stayed back in Stuttgart to go with Susannah's kindergarten class to the Christmas market, I had a work trip that took me to Prague, Czech Republic. The trip was based around US-Czech cooperation and we met with Czech Air Force officers over a couple of days.  It was a great experience and working with international military officers is always enlightening. 

 

Although the days were mostly filled with meetings, we did get a chance to wander around Prague and soak up some of their holiday festivities.  

 

 

This is the iconic Charles Bridge.  My hotel was a few steps away. 

This is the center square in downtown Prague.  Lots of history here and of course the Christmas market was in full swing.

Here is my hotel room.  Prague is fairly cheap compared to Western Europe, but Whitney thought this seemed a little too fancy until I reminded her who was paying the bill.... 

 

Prague was beautiful at night.  Whitney and I visited a few years ago and it was very much the same.  Hoards of tourists, great good, phenomenal Pils and lots of history.

Here are my girls at Sunday lunch enjoying their Apple strudel with ice cream.  We went to the Hunde Hutte restaurant (hound house) for lunch.  It's a German restaurant that doubles as a dog training facility....not kidding.  There is a big training area in front of the restaurant.  Not sure what happens to the dogs that don't pass the training, but the Weiner Schnitzel was delicious.