Christmas Day #2

Yes, there is such a thing....Christmas Day #2. At least here in Germany there is.

But let me start with Christmas Day #1 since I missed it yesterday. Yesterday we woke up and I actually got up before the kids. It is strange, it is so dark here until after 8am and then we have these metal blinds on the outside of the house. It makes the house pitch black even in the day if they are closed all the way. Anyway, they can make one sleep even longer because you see no light. Well, I believe because of these, my kids sleep longer. So I got up and showered as Grandma and Grandpa Wheeler were going to arrive around 9am.

As I was in the bathroom still getting ready, Hannah came in and said she was going to go down stairs to see how big here presents were. That made me laugh a bit. But she came back up stairs crying because she only had 2 presents under the tree, and one of them was clothing. I asked her how she knew and she said she felt it and saw only the 2. Well, I finally got her calmed down.
When it came time to open presents, the kids were so happy. The stockings is what we always start with. And everyone was happy. They can always count on getting a can of olives in their stockings. And thanks to a lady at our church, they still got those olives even though they don't sell them here in Germany. Well, then we opened the presents that were there. I saved the big Santa gifts for last. These were items that members from our church bought for the kids.

I started with Spencer who got Roller Blades. This is something that made him cry last year since Shantal got some and he did not. So he was very happy. Hannah got a Baby Borne Doll, which she was VERY happy about. That is until Shantal opened her present and got a Polly Pocket Dream Ship. Then Hannah started crying because she wanted a dream ship. And it is true, she did want one. But she wanted the doll as well. Oh the drama on Christmas morning. Emma on the other hand was very happy about her doll stroller. It is amazing how she is happy with so little but the others are not happy with so much.

We did just hang out most of the day. Gardner and his dad did get a light put up in our house and the kids played cards and games with Grandma. We also had some named Johanna come over for lunch since she has no one to spend Christmas with.

We spoke with my parents (Grandma and Grandpa Johnson) via Skype, a program on the internet. We got a web cam and so they were able to see the kids, including Ian. Boy has he grown since we left Utah.

With Christmas Day #2, it was a little more busy. We went to a Troedel Markt (Flee Market but the actual translation of Troedel is Junk) this morning. It was fun to walk around but very cold. Then this afternoon Grandma and Grandpa took Shantal, Spencer and Hannah to the movies to see Happy Feet, which I believe is the same title in English as it is in German. If not, someone can correct me. While they were gone, Gardner, Ian, Emma and I took naps. Tonight we finished watching Survivor, an American Reality TV Series that our family loves. Gardners Dad put the whole season on DVD's and we just finished it tonight.

Stores open back up in the morning and we have lots planned for the rest of the week. Gardner and I need to get stuff done like get Visa's and such while we have babysitters for the kids. And we also are going to take his parents to see some cities and sites while they are here. But my goal is to update as much as possible.