Christmas, Christmas Markets, and New Years all wrapped in one!!

Hello all, I am back and this time for good!!  No more breaks, no more long times in between posts.  I am excited to get back to posting I have lots to share.  Even the reason why I have been distracted from blogging lately.  I wanted to go a little back in time since you have missed so much and start with Christmas. 

My in-laws came from December 11th - January 7th.  We had a wonderful time and did some traveling.  Before Christmas we went to Nürnberg , Germany.  We wanted to check out the well heard of Christmas Market.  It was very nice.  It was the largest one we had been to thus far.  They had a separate section for Children which Ivy loved since they had a few rides and let me tell you this girl loves her rides.  Here are some pics from our trip.

Ivy riding the Carousel 

A not so good picture of Ivy riding the small Ferris wheel with Grandmommy 



A very scary statue of Santa Claus

Grand Mommy and Grand Daddy trying to convince Ivy that he isn't that scary at all. 

Ivy finally getting her picture with Santa Claus and her Grand Parents

 

A lovely night view of the Christmas Market

 

 

We also went to the Castle in Nürnberg.  It was a nice little walk from town and a very pretty castle with some interesting History, here are some pics.

The rocks leading up to the Castle were Ivy's favorite part.

Ivy being cute while touring the inside of the castle.

Here are just a few other fun pics from that trip.  Ivy all snuggled up in bed after an exhausting day.

Me enjoying a very large Ice cream cone!!

 Santa Claus and his dog need to make money too. So stop buy listen and maybe throw in a few coins!!

 

Then we came back home to enjoy Christmas.  We got a Christmas tree a few days after Mom and Dad Sours arrived and Ivy was thrilled.

Christmas day was a fun day for her she loved everything she got!!

We did not have a white Christmas, however, we did get snow 2 days later (which pushed our next trip back one day).  Grand Daddy and Daddy built snowmen and Ivy got creative with how she wanted them to look.  One was a Dr. and the other was a patient.

I guess the patient needed to go to the Dr. as he had a sore butt from the looks of it.  His face says it all!!!

Well the last trip we hopped over to Heidelberg and Freiberg. I don't have a lot of pictures for Freiburg since it was a short stay but we did have fun and Kevin, Ivy, and I plan on going back when it's warmer since it's a close trip.  I hear it's beautiful in the summer.  So I will just share Heidelberg in this post. 

We stayed in Heidelberg for 2 nights and Freiburg for 1.  Heidelberg had a beautiful Castle with the worlds largest wine barrel.  Since this is a long post already I will just post one beautiful pic of the castle and a few others since I want to share New Years also in this post. 

Mom and Dad Sours standing in front of the Christmas Tree at the Winter Market ( their big Christmas market was over but they had a winter market that lasted until Jan 6)

Ivy Standing in our hotel room as she visits us (She stayed with Grand Parents on this trip)

 Nice view of the Castle from town

Ivy enjoying a ride on the train at the little winter market

 Ivy too cold to use her hands to eat her pretzel

New Years Eve Kevin and I rushed home with Ivy to go grocery shopping while Mom and Dad stayed a few hours longer in Freiburg.  Let me tell you, if you ever get the chance to go to Germany at New Years Eve do it!! I can't share the experience here on blog but it was insane.  I have never seen so many fireworks go off at one time it sounded like WWII. Guess what the 2 old timers and Ivy slept through it all.  Kevin and I couldn't. These fireworks are not professional they are neighbors and others in the area letting off fireworks. There were hundreds in the sky at once.  I have a short video but it doesn't at all catch the true experience!!!

Well Happy New Year to all of you.  As I am sure you have all heard our exciting news. I am expecting our second child due June 30th.  Like with Ivy we will not find out the sex of the baby so you all will have to wait on that one. I have lots of news, fun stuff, and much more to share so check back regularly.  I know I said that in the past and I  slacked but trust me this time.  I have so much to tell you and fun things to share!!!