Opa & Trek in Bastogne, Belgium

The day after Christmas, Trek took his dad to Bastogne, Belgium where the Battle of the Bulge took place. As FUN as that sounded (hint of sarcasm there), I decided to stay home with the kiddos to help them play with all their new Christmas toys! It was nice for them to get away & have a father-son day.

First they stopped in Luxembourg to see Vianden Castle. They didn't tour it, but they got some great pictures in front of it. Vianden is one of my favorite castles. It's so big & beautiful.

Good ole' WW2 tanks!

Here is a WW2 tank. They were both so excited to be seeing this together.

This tank is right in the middle of McAuliffe Square in Bastonge.

Dad was happy to have found his home-sweet-home: California!

This is the easy company memorial in the woods where they fought the Battle of the Bulge.

The foxholes where the soldiers would hide & fire from.

It was nice because they got to go on December 26th. The actual battle was from mid-December to mid-January. There was snow on the ground when the battle was blazing & there was a little bit of snow on the ground when they were there too. Dad said it was FREEZING. So it's hard to imagine what those soldiers actually had to go through with the freezing weather, & guns shooting, etc. They really enjoyed it.

Cadence's Loot

Cadence is such a sweetheart. She was so thankful for every single gift she opened. She would tell me how much she loved the person who gave it to her. She is such a sweet girl. I think her Twister game from Auntie Triskin & Uncle Phil was the thing she wanted more than anything, & I think she loved the legos Trek & I got her. She loves Christmas!

Lorien's Loot

Lorien loved Christmas too. All she wanted for Christmas this year was an Ariel Barbie. Baba saved the day & got her her Ariel barbie & Uncle Justin & Auntie Cari added to her joy with a matching Prince Eric Barbie. Lorien was so happy & SO grateful for all her gifts.

Taya's Loot

Taya loved Christmas. She refused to unwrap anything by herself, but she would urge me or Trek to open her gifts for her. Then she would scream with excitement & say "Open, Please!! Please!" She was SO cute!

Bladen's Loot

Bladen had a great 1st Christmas. I didn't know a kid could get so much stuff. He loved anything & everything that lit up or made noise. He's such a cutie pie!

Trekkie's Loot

Trekkie had a great Christmas too. He got a lot of BORING computer stuff, but it made him happy & that's what's important. Now his little laptop runs at top speed & has more hard drive space than he could ever use. He was excited about his new running shoes from my mom & dad too. But the thing that cracked me up was how long he played with the 2 transformers toys I put in his stocking. I guess boys never grow up!

Mommy's Loot

I got all sorts of wonderful things. Trek always says I'm so boring because I ask for kitchen stuff, but I love it. He got me a brand new crock-pot (with a sealing lid so it doesn't spill in the car when you have to drive soup somewhere), a new blender, & a spice rack! AWESOME! My daddy bought me a Juicy Couture purse for my daddy gift this year! I LOVE IT! Nancy got me a beautiful pearl & sapphire necklace too. Mom got me a juicy couture sweat outfit & Cari & Justin got me a Juicy necklace. As you can see from the pics, I was truly blessed this year. Thank you EVERYONE for making this the best Christmas EVER!

Opening Presents

Christmas was so much fun! We had so many presents from such wonderful family members & friends that we actually had to take 3 breaks throughout our opening. We've never done that before. But it made Christmas last SO MUCH LONGER! We loved it. Thank you to all our wonderful family & friends who sent such wonderful gifts to our family. We are so blessed to be surrounded by such wonderful, loving people.

Cadence bought me a brand new necklace. She is such a sweet little angel!

(Thank you Mimi for the very messy play make-up! ha ha ha.)

Nancy sent the girls each a brand new coat for the freezing weather here in Germany!

Lorien made Opa a bird feeder at her German Kindergarten.

Nancy sent Trekkie a coat too.

Santa Came!!!

Santa came to the Potter house this year, & the kids must have been very good. They got some really fun things:

Cadence got a real artist's easel. It has a white board on one side & a chalkboard on the other. You can also clip a roll of paper to it & use it to draw & paint on. She LOVES it. She's definitely our little artist!

Lorien got a fun wooden castle with Sleeping Beauty characters. She loves to act out scenes from princess movies with little action figures so this was perfect for her. (I would have LOVED this thing as a kid.)

Taya got a little play kitchen to cook things in. She is my little cook. She also got a fun cookie baking set. She was making me "soup" & "cookies" all morning.

Bladen got a fun little aquarium that plays music for his crib to help him fall asleep at night. I love it because it plays Claire de Lune by Debussy. LOVE IT!

The stockings were hung by the chimney with care . . .

In my family, we fill the stockings with gifts from each other. Santa occasionally puts a few treats in there too, but it has been a family tradition to fill the stockings on Christmas Eve before bed since I was a little girl. Stockings are my favorite part about Christmas morning. We don't open up the stockings until the afternoon on Christmas. It's the very last thing we do. The stockings are filled with treats, toothbrushes, & little toys that we gather throughout the year. This year Trek & I filled the stockings with lots of German goodies (see those HUGE kinder eggs?), & my mom, grandma, & sister-in-law sent some fun things to put in them as well. They were SO full that all of it wouldn't fit in the stockings, so we had to pile them in bags & place them beneath the stockings. It was crazy but SO MUCH FUN!!!