Austria

YAY !!!

we are here, it was a long trip, and I am still recovering from it but we are here in Austria and loving it. Greg is in pork and beer heaven, we just got back from the store and the majority of groceries were beer, wine, cheese and meat!

The kids did relatively well on the trip all things considered (leaving at midnight to drive to the airport...) Greg and I are still recovering from being awake for so long, we were able to catch a few short naps along the way, but overall we were awake for a very long time.

It is wonderful to be here, to see the snow and the beautiful mountains. Greg can't wait to go skiing, he is going to try and take Lily with him one day, that should be interesting! Lily doesn't know what to make of the snow, we were outside yesterday for a walk to lunch, she didn't understand why she had to be all bundled until we got outside in the cold. She got to play in it, and had some fun at the end of the walk. We think she liked it. Lily is happy that there are other people here to play with, she is having fun with her aunts Jordyn and Kellie, and her uncle Dennis.

Sisterly Love

An update on how we are doing, well in a word great! Lillian loves her baby brother, she wants to try and hold him and she likes to give him kisses. When he is crying she will find the binky and give it to me to give to him, or she will go over to where he is and try to pat him, or talk to him, kind of like she is saying it is all okay. She is such a smart little girl, and for the most part doesn't seem to mind that Oliver gets more one on one attention than she does right now. That is not to say that Lily doesn't get any attention, she gets plenty! The weekends when Greg is around are great, but at night when Greg comes home in time to see Lily is the best, because then it is all about her. Greg really gives her the attention that she needs, so that is nice.

Lily has a mind of her own, she loves to go outside and if you don't watch her she will beat you out the door and be headed down the street to the park in a matter of seconds. She is very talkative, we just can't understand her yet! She is learning to drink from cups, so there are a lot of spills around our house as she grabs our water glasses. She likes to try and stab her food with a fork, and she does pretty well with it, the spoon action needs a bit of work. A wonderful thing about her is that she can entertain herself fairly well for awhile, and I appreciate that greatly. She has discovered how to flush our toilets (oh no!) thankfully she doesn't lift the lid up yet, so there is nothing in the toilets.

We just had three days of storms here, pretty rare for the desert, but it was wonderful for us to see a bit of weather! There was even thunder and lightning! We were going out to a toddler time group one morning after the rain, and of course Lily was the first out the door, I turn around from getting Oliver and there she is stomping her feet in a puddle and looking very happy about wet feet!

A Local Festival

At the end of November we had the opportunity to attend a local festival. It was very interesting and informative of a little of the local culture and history. The people were all very nice and welcoming, hoping that we enjoyed their festival. They encouraged us to ask questions, and wanted our input in what we thought of their festival. It was interesting to see the people in a different environment from what I normally see. We went into a heritage village which showed different jobs, markets, houses and a coffee shop how they used to be in the old days. Greg and Lily sat at the coffee shop for a little bit. We walked around the festival with a translater, she took me into the shopping area to walk around and see some of the crafts. We had a family picture taken and our names written in arabic. I also received a wooden boat from one of the stall holders. In all it was a good day and I was very happy that we attended.

A sand sculpture

Greg and Sharez in an old style kitchen

This is how you make baskets out of palm

The old coffee shops, open walls, the prices are written on the back wall.

Chelsi pushing the babies in the new double stroller

Turkey Day Pics

Some Turkey Day pictures!

Gregs first time cooking a turkey

Waiting for the turkey to be done

Doesn't it look so yummy!

The morning after Thanksgiving, hanging out with Dad

Lily loves Oliver