Christmas 2009

Yes, that was a long time ago! I have been meaning to put these up for a while now, and am finally getting the chance.

My trip to home was great as always, and also quite busy. I started at my brothers' family's house in Las Cruces, NM where my immediate family had Christmas. The warm weather made me want to have Christmas there every year!

Here I am with Kendall, Caleb, and Cadence. Kendall and Cadence are a little over 2 now and Caleb was born in September. I hadn't seen the twins since last Christmas and hadn't had a chance to meet Caleb yet, so I was extremely excited to be there.


My brother Kyle and his wife Tina.

My brother Brad and Kendall and Cadence.

Dad and mom with Cadence, Kendall, and Caleb.

Cadence and Kendall playing peek-a-boo through the sliding glass door.

This is a collage of pictures they have framed and I love some of the pictures in it!

Kendall was pretty excited with her walking and barking puppy.

And Cadence with hers.

Kendall

Kendall and Brad

Girls first, so now...Caleb!

Kyle sewed this USMC shirt for Caleb. This was the most amazing thing I've seen. He had never sewn anything before, but he got a Marine friend's and copied it down to the exact stitching, buttons, pockets, name, etc. I was very impressed!

Kyle's always been a great artist and here he is showing off his B-25 model. Our Grandpa and great uncle were B-25 mechanics in WWII.

After Las Cruces, I went to Wichita, KS to see my Godson Henry, who's parents and I met in college. Henry is almost 2 already, which means he will be pheasant hunting with his dad in no time.

Next, I went to Kansas City to see my other Godson, Max and his brothers and sister.

Madie, Jack, Max, and Jacob. Good grief they are getting big! Jacob just turned 10, Jack 7, and Max and Madie are 6. We had a great time playing with nerf guns and watching them play wii and Guitar Hero. Of course, I always lost!

Max and Madie

From Kansas City, I flew to Chicago to my friend Chris and Kerry's wedding. Chris works with me in Munich and returns to Chicago about the same time I return to Denver. They are also the couple I went to Santorini with.

Me, Alissa, Markus, Luiza, Kinsey, and Dean ringing in the New Year. Justin (I'm sure you remember from last year's ski season) and his wife Andrea and son Liam were also there, so it was good to catch up with the old gang.

After that wedding, I went to Wichita, KS for my cousin Jennifer's wedding. Unfortunately I didn't bring my camera, so you'll just have to use your imagination. I hadn't seen almost anyone since last Christmas, so it was nice to see everyone again and see all the little kids growing up.

When I was in Wichita the first time, my friend Andrew and I drove to Lawrence to see KU play California. They have made a lot of updates to Allen Fieldhouse since I graduated (8 years ago...ssshhhhh!), but the atmosphere hasn't changed a bit and it's such a great place to watch college basketball. If you haven't seen the introduction video yet, you should youtube it - you'll get the chills. I always get goosebumps at the Star Spangled Banner anyway, but then adding the intro video after that...not sure what more you need to get excited to play!

Finally, I returned to Denver for a few days to see some co-workers and my neighbors and thier new baby. These 2 pictures are 2 reasons I can't wait to get back to Castle Rock. This is a view from my church to the south toward Pike's Peak and the bottom is a view to the west toward Mt. Evans.

First Ski Day of 2010

Finally! Alissa and I went skiing today in Zillertal, in Austria. We had pretty good snow all day and good weather in the morning. The clouds rolled in in the afternoon and made it pretty hard to see in some places (the fog in the pictures below was only covering about 1/4 of the mountain at that time, so skiing wasn't bad). This was also the first day I got to use my new skis. I love them - what a huge difference from my old ones! All in all, a great way to start the 2010 ski season!

Christmas Markets

No, I haven't completely fallen off the face of the earth. I know I haven't posted on here in quite some time, but that crazy thing called work has really gotten in the way of my fun. I was actually planning to be back in US around now and would stay through Christmas (for work actually), but a really big project came up here that was too good of an experience to turn down. Now, I'll be back right around Christmas and stay through New Year's.

This weekend, I did some Christmas shopping around the many Christmas markets here in Munich. Germany is well known for its hand-made Christmas ornaments and other decorations such as nutcrackers. These are similar to an arts and crafts fair we see at home. Most of the vendors are from Germany, but I also saw some from Africa and Ukraine. I was actually quite surprised this year and found some really neat gifts -- now I just hope the recipients think so too!

The Christmas markets are also a place to go to socialize. They have sausage and other food stands and various types of hot alcoholic drinks. The most common one is gluehwein (a spiced wine), honey wines, or other punch-type drinks. There is even one called a "feuerzangenbowle", which is a cup of gluehwein with a shot of rum and a sugar cube on the side of the glass and is lit on fire so the sugar slowly melts into the wine. It sounds too sweet to me, so I haven't tried that one. My favorite is the honey wine.

Mmmm, sausage.

Just when I thought I couldn't think of anything else to give anyone, I ran across this! (yeah, that's right, dreads and "conrows".)

While I was at one of the markets (actually where Oktoberfest is held), these abominable snowman, scary looking guys came by. If kids are scared of Santa, they really aren't going to like these guys. Not sure what they were.

KU-OU Football Game

I can't say too much for our football team or the excitement of the game itself, but it was very nice to be back again and see some friends. I just love the college football atmosphere and being part of the experience. It's the one thing I miss more than friends and family.

When I'm back I never think to take pictures, but here are the few I did manage to take. It was a really pretty time to be back too - great fall temperature with all the leaves turning bright orange and red. The hill was packed with tailgaters. It's so nice to see a full stadium and some excitement around the football team even when the basketball team is ranked #1.

Guys Week - Oktoberfest Style

My good college friends Tim and Josh flew to Munich last week for Oktoberfest. Needless to say, we had a great time doing what us guys do best -- drinking a little, reminiscing about the good ole days, drinking a little more, talking politics, and then making great decisions such as going to Oktoberfest 3 days in a row. It was quite the marathon let me tell you.

On Thursday we took a bike tour of the city and then went to two of the best beer halls in town - the locals' favorite, Augustiner-Brau and then of course the Hofbrauhaus.

Here we are drinking the best beer in town - Augustiner Dunkel (well, I still think it's a toss-up between this and Konig Ludwig Dunkel, but I'm not going to argue with a beer that's been around since 1328).


We had tickets to the Schottenhamel tent at Oktoberfest on Saturday and Sunday. I always laugh when they say "tent" because this one holds 6,000 people inside and 4,000 in the beer garden outside! This is also the tent where Oktoberfest officially begins with the first barrel being tapped by the mayor of Munich.

Inside the Schottenhamel. All of the tents have a band in the middle playing music. The music ranges from traditional Bavarian music to Country Roads to some other songs that I just can't explain but that everyone here knows (or at least well enough to belt out some random words) and some songs even have "actions" to go along with them.

Our first Oktoberfest beer.

I'm sure you can imagine the weight of a mug that holds a liter of beer (34 ounces). Even if you can't, let me just say that they are practically indestructible. I guess Tim was anxious to pose for this picture because he knocked Josh in the head with his. HA! (sorry guys, I just couldn't resist this one)

Horse-drawn cart rolling in the barrels (not kegs) for the day.

Tim showing off his ability to hold 4 liters. The waitresses carry 6 in each arm. We're not sure how they do it.

We had tickets to the Hippodrom tent on the 3rd day. This one holds 3,300 inside and 1,100 in the beer garden outside.

We also rented a car and drove to Salzburg and Berchtesgaden to see the Eagle's Nest. This is one of the benefits of driving in Germany - driving 100mph, literally...and still getting passed.

Tim and me in Salzburg.

Josh and Tim in Salzburg on the hike up to the fortress.

Fortress on the top of the hill in Salzburg.

City of Salzburg looking down from the fortress.

Tim and Josh posing in the puppet gallery inside the fortress.

Medieval exhibit inside the fortress.

Cart full of huge wheels of cheese in an outdoor market in Salzburg.

At the Eagle's Nest in Berchtesgaden, Germany just outside Salzburg.

Last but not least, we went to the Dachau Concentration Camp in Munich.

Memorial depicting prisoners purposely running into the electric barbed-wire fences surrounding the camp.

Bunks

Crematorium