Merry Christmas To All

Another festive Christmas has come and gone. The boys last day of school was Friday December 17th so Hyrum and I had to come up with some fun activities to keep them busy all last week. Fortunately we have lots of Christmas markets to visit and Auntie Paige came to play on Wednesday evening and stayed until Christmas. Hyrum only worked one day last week and so we were able to spend a lot of time together as a family. We hope you all enjoyed your holiday!

Townsend and Emerson dipping candles at the Nuremberg Christmas market

Nothing beats a warm Nuremberg sausage on a roll when you are out walking around in the cold

Julian at the dinosaur museum in Bayreuth.

Julian throwing snow onto the frozen pond at the Hof Garten in Bayreuth

Townsend and Emerson were allowed to play a bit with Daddy's ipod touch on the train ride home from Bayreuth.

The Christmas Eve feast. We had invited the Senior Missionary couple, the Rivera's, over as well as the young Elders. We also had a lady from our church named Martha as well as Paige here, so we had a full and fun house on Christmas Eve.

Paige at our Catholic Cathedral here in Pressath. We Johnson girls have a tradition of going to midnight mass on Christmas Eve. It was really nice to hear Silent Night sung in its original German

The tree on Christmas Eve. Hyrum and I stayed up until 2:00 AM wrapping gifts and getting our new tv set up.

The Durtschi traditional Christmas morning breakfast. Rolls and cocoa, a German Christmas cake called stollen and some orange juice

We had to take this picture fast, Julian is not a fan of hats!

The boys in front of the Christmas tree on Christmas morning

Julian sort of understood Christmas a bit more this year. He did unwrap a few gifts and played for a bit with some toys but then he got bored with the whole thing and began playing with his old toys.

Townsend and Emerson unwrapping the gifts they bought for each other

I think Julians favorite part of Christmas morning was playing with all the wrapping paper!

The post Christmas morning mess

We went sledding on Christmas day. We had gotten almost a foot of fresh new powder snow. We thought it would be perfect for sledding but it turns out all that fine powdery snow blows up into your face as you sled down the hill and makes for one very cold ride!

Auntie Paige and Julian on the sled

Did I mention it snowed a lot over Christmas? It took a while to shovel our very long driveway but we finally made it possible for Auntie Paige to get out and on her way home.

Merry Christmas Everyone!

My Favorite Time of Year!

I know this is everyone's favorite time of year but I have to add my 2 cents. Here in Germany the best part of the Christmas season is the many outdoor markets. Even our small little town of Pressath has a Christmas market . It sure helps to brighten the gray and cloudy Bavarian winter to walk around a market and see the lights, taste the warm cider and hear live music.

The boys received an advent calendar filled with chocolate from the Christkind at the Pressath Christmas market. The Christkind is the traditional bringer of gifts for some parts of Germany and Austria.

Hyrum trying to stay warm at the Weiden Christmas market.

Auntie Paige spent 7 hours in her car trying to get to our house. This trip usually takes only about 3 hours but the traffic combined with crummy road conditions resulted in an awful trip. We tried to make it up to her by taking her bowling...yeah,nothing but the best for our guests!

Emerson and Auntie Paige

I would bring the bowling ball right up to the lane for Julian and then he would give it a big shove. He liked to watch the ball knock down the pins at the end of the lane.

Townsend strikes a pose after a successful hit!

Our house is beginning to look like Christmas. We got our tree set up with all the decorations. I pulled out my nativities and set up as many as would fit in my small living room. We have our advent wreath on the piano and have enjoyed lighting one candle for each of the four Sundays before Christmas. I can't believe Christmas is in less than a week!

Our tree in all it's decorated splendor

Some Christmas flair:)

We got out and braved the cold Bavarian winter for some sledding fun. Julian was skeptical at first but as soon as Hyrum got to the bottom of the hill with him he said, "more" which is what he says if he really likes something. It's great taking the boys sledding now because they are old enough to haul their sleds back up the big hill. The boys really go shooting down the hill with their sleds and they don't seem scared of crashing at all. I love to see them having fun and laughing.

Daddy and Julian all set for their first run

Emerson gets set to go down the hill

My very own snow angel

Big brother Townsend shows Julian how it's done