Sledding

 We got snow today!!!

 The Leaps and the Grogans hiked up to the hills near Eulenbis to go sledding.

 GORGEOUS! GORGEOUS! GORGEOUS!

 The snow was pretty deep, so the Daddies went down first to pack the snow down.

 Go Daddy GO!

 Link was in heaven!

 He and Nate went down the hill in some unusual ways.

 

Ethan really loved Julian's sleds.

 We played for almost two hours.  The trip down the hill back to the house was much more fun!

Maybe this winter we will have lots more snow than last year!

Christmas Day

 Santa came to Germany!!!

 The boys got mine craft toys, Legos, board games, remote control cars, and video games.  

 I wrapped Mar's gift in her favorite food box.  

Link thought she sent coconut shrimp, and he was pretty happy with it! 

 I had to tell him to open the box.

 We got the boys their own Bible with their names on them.  

Poor Link has been reading one that says Mandy Arnold on it.

 Ethan was beyond excited about his FIFA 15 DS game.

 Link had the idea to get me gloves that I can use my phone with for Christmas.  He was so proud of his gift idea and Nate was excited that he had a good too!

 Nate found a build your own fort kit.  This was a hit!

I told Mar about it and she had her friend make the fort cover.  

She even monogrammed their names on it.  

We all had the best Christmas.  The boys were so appreciative of everything.  I am even more excited to spend the next week and half spending time with them.

Last Day in Paris with the Grogans.

 On our last day, the Grogan's trained into Paris for the day.  

We met them at the station and then headed to the Louvre.

 These guys had been talking about getting the DS audio/visual guide for weeks!  The parents QUICKLY learned these were terrible.  They looked at the device instead of the art.  

We kept telling them to LOOK at the art.  

Winged Victory.

 Four DaVinci paintings.

 Link was so excited to see the Mona Lisa again.  

 Michelangelo sculpture with the boy's backs to it!  

A piece of the Parthenon.  I think we have seen it all now after visiting the one in Greece, pieces in the British Museum, and now the Louvre.

 Venus de Milo

 I love the shadow of this one.

 We walked so much of the museum just to see the mummies.  Ethan loves seeing them.

 We had a macaron treat and rested our feet.

 We walked down the Seine to Notre Dame.

 Link and I thought it looked like the Eiffel Tower was being erased.

Yucky weather!!!

 We arrived at Notre Dame right at 5:00 mass.

 The largest advent wreath I have ever seen.

 I was shocked that they tourists in during mass.

 That is Julian right up front!

We headed to the train station for our trip home.  

We noticed these bikes that you ride to charge your phone.  Pretty cool!

This was the train trip!!  Ice trains, regional trains, and metro trains!  I honestly think we could drop Ethan off anywhere in the city and that boy could get to our hotel!  He is good with a metro map!

Au Revoir Paris!  

Versailles

 We made a last minute decision to go into Versailles this trip.  

 It was a quick 30 minute train ride.  Almost every palace we have visited in Europe says that the design of the palace was based off of the design of Versailles.  

I thought the boys should see the real thing!

 These guys love their audioguides.

 The Hall of Mirrors is spectacular.  

 Everyone takes their pictures at the beginning of the hall.  

Nate noticed how the opposite end was less crowded!

 I thought it was hilarious that Ethan said he wanted to design the castle in Minecraft.

It was refreshing to get out of the crowd and see the gardens.

 When Nate and I were here in 2003, it was so HOT and sunny!  The sand was so bright from the sun that we couldn't keep our eyes open.   We sat near this lion (which was in the shade) while we waited for our tour guide.  It was not the same this day!!  It was so drizzly and nasty.

The fountains were under maintenance.  

 I love Tripadvisor!  I found an amazing TINY restaurant in Versailles.  It held four tables.  Everything was homemade.  It was the best French food we had ever eaten.  We gobbled it down before I remembered to take a picture.

 Nate looked up the hotel we stayed at on our honeymoon.  We went to see if it was still there.  YEP!

We ended the day finding an amazing Indian restaurant near our hotel.  It was the best Indian food I have ever eaten.  We had the best food this day!  As we walked back to our hotel, we noticed this crazy traffic.  I am so glad we did not have to drive in Paris!