Sledding, New Year 2014 and Leavenworth

On Sunday evening we along with a number of other families, went to Brad and Kristi's after church for a get together and dinner. We all took something and had a smorgasbord of food! We had a great time. 

Custom is to remove your shoes when you enter a house, and of course you also shed your coat etc. 

So the front door area is filled with an assortment of shoes, boots and coats! When you leave, you just need to make sure you take yours and not someone else's!

Shantel playing with the dollhouse.

And a game of cruds...apparently it is thought to have originated from the military.

On Monday we planned to go to Manning Park in Canada for tubing, however due to lack of snow, the conditions were not really suitable, so Plan B was head to Mt Baker and go sledding or tubing on some slopes when we got there. We were there with some 4 or 5 other families and we had a great time. We had a sled but the kids just loved going on their backsides or tummies. After a couple of hours, pants were soaked, socks were wet and it was time to head home. It was a great afternoon and we all decided to make it a tradition!

Tuesday saw the end of 2013 and the start of 2014. Church was at 7:30pm and then we went to the Bouwmans to see the new year in. We were with a group of families and had a nice time chatting and us ladies played a game of Quelf. And before we knew it, the clock hit 12! After reading and prayer, and some more conversation, we headed home. Anthea had a party over in Canada, Jaclyn was with classmates and Stefan with Alec. The next day we got ready for our overnight trip at Leavenworth.

On Thursday morning, we left at 6:30am and after a 4 hour drive arrived. Check in wasn't till 4, so we parked the car and went for a walk along the streets. Leavenworth is a Bavarian town, and very charming. All the buildings are in the same style, very pretty. 

And an Australian store! They had Akubras, driza-bone, vegemite, golden syrup, tim tams, boomerangs and other aussie nick nacks.
But the lass at the desk was American!

Around 2pm, we head to the Enzian Inn to see if the room was available, and it was. We had a family room, with two queens, a pull out queen sofa and a mattress on the floor. It was a spacious room and we had plenty of elbow room. It was a excellent hotel. There was an outdoor pool and hot tub, as well as in the basement a heated pool and hot tub, a gym room, basketball courts and complimentary breakfast.

A gorgeous little display in the hotel

In the Aussie store

We had taken all our snowgear and sled, so we headed to the enchantment park and had a great time sledding on ice. It was very slippery which made it all the more fun and once it starting getting dark, we had to stop!

We had dinner at the Tumwater Inn Restaurant and then Steve and Anthea took photos of the pretty lights, we went back to the hotel and the kids went for a swim. It was harding getting them out!

We all slept well that night. In the morning, we had our breakfast in the Danube room on the fourth floor and it was delicious. Yoghurt with fruit, oatmeal (porridge), scrambled eggs, cooked ham, omelet made to order right in front of you with a selection of toppings, donuts, cinnamon scroll which just melted in the mouth, as well as cereals, tea, coffee etc.
And then at 9:15 we were serenaded by the horn!

After a bit more shopping and the kids playing basketball we left around 12:30pm. As we neared Stevens Pass it started snowing and there must have been snow overnight because everything had a coat of white! A very pretty sight!

We had a good trip home and arrived around 5pm.

And Friday also marked the date that we have been here for 5 months. Time has gone so fast. We have settled in really well (maybe too well!). 

And some random photos:

Stefan on the John Deere tractor

The hairdressers:

School starts again on Monday and its back to routine.

Here's a few more differences:

Globe = light bulb
Seatbelt = buckle
Nappy = diaper
Dummy = soother


We wish you all the Lord's blessings for 2014.

Thanks for looking!