Christmas in the U.S.

After visits to the Frankfurt and Nürnberg Christmas Markets, we headed home to the U.S. for a week at Christmas. While the Weihnachtmarkts are wonderful and Nürnberg one was a special delight, it was great to be home for the holidays.

I miss the outdoor lights and decorations that people put up in the U.S. I don't know if it's a German thing or just that we live in a city, but very few people have any outdoor decorations for Christmas. Between the lack of lights and the lack of snow, plus the fact that I don't hear many Christmas carols on the radio, it's hard to get into the Christmas spirit here, unless we're at a Christmas market.

Plus, of course, I miss seeing my family and the whole family was together for Christmas this year - for the first time in a while. It was wonderful to have everyone home for nearly 4 full days - we had lots of family meals, lots of presents, some game time and even some play time in the snow. The girls were able to build a snowman with their 4-year-old cousin that lasted through the day we left, even though the weather warmed up and rained while we were in NY. All-in-all, it was a great visit.

DD#1 went on to Chicago to visit her friends and throw a surprise 18th birthday party for her boyfriend, so she didn't return to Frankfurt until nearly a week after the rest of us. We were here for Silvester - New Year's Eve - when Dh and DD#3 went to downtown Frankfurt to watch the fireworks over the River Main. DD#2 and I stayed home and watched the insanity on our block from the windows. It sounded like warfare in the neighborhood for nearly an hour - the Germans really like their fireworks. We find it amazing that, although it's legal to buy fireworks here, they are only sold for the 2-3 days before New Year's Eve. It seems like everyone goes crazy for that one night and then it's back to business as usual.

Now we're preparing for my sister's visit in early February and then our Ski Break trip to - the Canary Islands. No, we won't be doing any skiing over ski break this year - just basking in the sun. We decided we haven't done any lazy, beach-type vacations and we're due. So we're taking bathing suits, family games and books to read and heading to Tenerife for a week of relaxation. Should be fun!