Merry Christmas!!!

Well, I suppose we're a little bit late here.  I know that it is more than slightly ridiculous to post something about Christmas more than 2 months after it has passed, but I can't help myself.  Christmas happened, after all, and it does need to be documented.  Actually, there are quite a few things I plan on blogging about in the next week or so.  And I really do mean to do it.  We've got a bunch of trips coming up and if I don't get caught up now, I never will.  So, Merry Christmas from Germany!

We had a very nice Christmas.  Ben's work schedule was pretty lame (he had to work both Christmas Eve and New Year's Eve) so we kept it pretty low key.  We were invited to spend Christmas Eve with some friends from our ward, we had dinner with our next door neighbors on Christmas Day, and we visited my aunt and uncle in Schweinfurt the Saturday after Christmas.  We really appreciated having so many people reach out to us and make us feel welcome during the holiday season.  It is sometimes hard to be so far away.

We did, however, enjoy the chance to spend some quiet time with the kids.  We decorated gingerbread cookies (evidence to follow), we opened presents, we played together, we cooked our very first Christmas goose (traditional in Germany), and, right about New Year's Eve we got sick together.

                            

Note the finely decorated decorated cookies.  I know Ian did the gingerbread Santa, and I think that Naomi did the star, although I'm pretty sure she had some help.  Just a guess.  Those sprinkles look just a little too even...     

I think Santa enjoyed quite the treat, don't you?                    

                            

Excited kids on Christmas morning - we didn't actually open presents until about 8:00 in the morning.  Heaven. 

                              

And finally, our genuine, home cooked, day-after-Christmas German feast:

                                                  

                            

We had (as aforementioned) a lovely Christmas goose, complete with sauerkraut stuffing.  We had rotkohl (red pickled cabbage - kind of a sweeter version of sauerkraut), and potato dumplings.  (The peas were an afterthought - I just couldn't stand the thought of only having cabbage/sauerkraut as our only vegetable for the evening.)  For those of you who have never cooked a goose (hahaha) I'd recommend NOT buying one, or rather, not sending your husband to buy one at a European grocery store on Christmas Eve.  I think that by the time the goose was cooked (sorry, just can't get enough of that) and all the fat had melted off, and by the time we had our cooked goose (last time, I promise) carved, we had about 3 pounds of cooked meat.  I figure the cost was about $25/lb. of cooked meat.  I wish I could say that eating said goose was a gastronomical delight never to be duplicated (and worth every euro cent).  I can't.*  The experience we had researching and preparing our traditional meal, however, was.  We'll probably try another traditional German Christmas meal next year, but I think I'll substitute a turkey for the goose and focus our attention on some yummy Christmas desserts.  (This year it was store bought Lebkuchen.)  And there you have it.  Christmas in March.  I'm really not doing too well at keeping current, here, am I.  I resolve to to better!

*The goose was tender, and quite tasty.  I just didn't think it was fantastic enough to warrant the purchase price.  Maybe they're cheaper in the States.