The Build-up to Christmas

Our first Christmas was moving into our new place on November 16th.  We got our delivery from the ship and it was amazing to hear the girls say, "my train set, ooh the dinosaur, oh look mom, the ...". It went on for hours! Obviously, the boxes were the best part!

Then we moved onto Advent calendars.  I stored them on top of the refrigerator so nobody would open more than one per day and every morning Katherine would wake up, point at the top of the refrigerator and say, "cake."  Usually, they had them in the afternoon after school.  Nearly everyday Lizzy would ask, "Have we had our Advent calendars yet?"  Yes was the standard answer.

Next, we had Saint Nikolaus Day on December 6th.  He comes and fills the children's boots with candy and oranges at home and at school in the house shoes.  More candy.

Then, of course, came Christmas.  The Christmas markets in Germany are a big deal, and Lizzy basically wanted to go to one everyday.  The Zehlendorf Christmas market was the sight of her first time on ice skates.  She loved it and skated for an hour with Daddy.  One important note:  it was not actually ice.  As there had been no snow and temperatures were above freezing, the interlocking plastic boards were not covered in ice as we suspected was typical.  So they skated on plastic, which made falling a lot easier to take.

Granny and Grandad and Rosie and Dan came as Christmas drew near.  Lizzy helped Granny decorate the Christmas cake, make gingerbread ninjas for Daddy, and create a gingerbread house masterpiece.