Where Did December Go?

December just flew by for me!  We were super busy trying to visit as many Christmas markets as possible since James will be deployed again for the holidays in 2011.  So we made the most of the time we had and spent as much time together as we could possibly stand :-)  We went to Esslingen and Ludwigsburg, both near Stuttgart, at the beginning of the month.  Followed by a weekend trip to Oberkirch, a small town near the French border, so we could drive to the Strasbourg, France to see the city and their Noel market.  Finally we returned to Prague to check out the  market there as well.  Prague still remains one of my favorite cities even though the market was smaller than we expected it to be.  The city itself is romantic, has gorgeous architecture and easy to get around, either by foot or by using public transporation.

Esslingen, Germany

Ludwigsburg, Germany

Strasbourg, France

Prague, Czech Republic

The weather was cold and snowy all month with a record 32 inches of snow in Ansbach in just December!  I generally don't mind the snow too much because I don't have to drive in it every day but 32 inches is a crazy amount of snow.  The snow banks at the end of our driveway are insanely high and James and I were concerned that we were running out of places to put all the snow as we shoveled the driveway. 

Our Christmas was perfect this year because James was home!  Aubrey loved all things Christmas and especially the music with Jingle Bells and Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer being her favorites.  Lolo was excited but she most loved making cookies for Santa and sprinkling some reindeer "food" in the snow on Christmas Eve. 



That is our December in a nutshell.  Today will be spent packing up Christmas until next December and getting my house back in order.  I had plans to take it all down this weekend but the pleas of Aubrey convinced me to wait.  I told her it was time to pack up the tree and she said "but I'll be sad" and it just broke this mommy's heart!  I am such a sucker!  She seems to be ready for it to be packed away now so off I go. 

Happy New Year and best wishes for a happy, safe and prosperous 2011!