Christmas

We had a wonderful Christmas at home in England! The Saltzman Family has a few christmas traditions, one of these traditions is to do something different every Christmas, keeps us on our toes! This year we decided to give mum a break and have Christmas Eve dinner in a pub, which was very quaint in deed!

A tradition we have adopted since moving to England 20 years ago, is the Christmas cracker. We love them!

Getting ready to pull:

(No, they are not twins. Michelle is older by two years. Please try not to mention their similarities in front of them, they get very defensive. If you wish to compliment them, simply tell them they look like their older sister. It doesn't matter which sister, as Danielle and I get asked if we are twins too)

Christmas crackers always contain a crown and a joke inside. As for the other bonus presents, it could literally be anything. With these crackers we were lucky enough to win fake earrings! Hooray.

Christmas eve night we held a talent show. None of the footage taken worked out, which is a pity as we had:

Cori - doing impressions (classic)

Shelly - showing off her ability to do 20 "man" push-ups.

Kevin - solving a rubix cube under 2 minutes.

Me - naming all the capitals of the 50 states.

Dani & TJ - shadow puppets, the story of two dogs who fell in love and turned into birds.

Mum - a rewritten poem of "A Night Before Christmas", with all our names in it!

Christmas day was fantastic, as always. And this year it involved a lot of dancing:

(please note our matching PJs. My poor mum makes us PJs every year at our persistence. And every year she does a fabulous job, and we love her for it!)

My little sisters are what some may call "fashion forward." Apparently the next big rage is military boots. If you think that these are a little less than desirable, then my dad will be the first to tell you that, you have gotten old and loss your edge (something every girl wants to hear!)

The crackers!

One of TJ's and Kevin's Christmas presents were tickets to an West Ham football (soccer to you Yanks) game, they were completely thrilled, and are now Hammer fans for life.

At football games there is always lots of sining and chanting. Kevin said he couldn't understand half of them (which probably was for the best), however they were prepped for the West Ham song "Forever Blowing Bubbles."

Going home for Christmas was fantastic. There is nothing like going home! Same time next year?

Blooper Reel

We took 40 minutes of footage this Christmas, which is ridiculous. About 85% of those clips fall under the term: blooper.

TJ and I had some creative differences. Directors get zero respect.

(We got stranded in Austria for an extra day, because our plane couldn't land due to "southernly winds". It took us 2 buses, a train and a taxi to get to the other side of Austria to get home. Very "Planes, Trains and Automobiles")

Narration can be really hard:

If you ever think to yourself, "wow this is the nicest train I've ever been on", there is probably a reason for that:

It can be confusing about when is the appropriate time to begin:

This isn't a blooper, just another weird Austrian Christmas tradition:

The Christmas Market Goers Guide to Surviving Austria

1. It will be freezing, so wear as much as humanly possible. Bonus points if you dress like dad.

2. Austrian accents are really difficult. Don't attempt to do one in front of natives.

NB - "Spreken de English" is an excellent way to let people know you are a tourist, do not be surprised if this results in snorts/giggles/eye rolling from the locals.

3. Seeing scary masks as decor on a beautiful christmas booth, should be the first sign that something weird will be happening later (see number 10 for further details)

4. Practice your wizardry skills before arrival.

5. Always be looking, she is still out there.

6. Be prepared for long hikes up to the castle, with multiple pauses for photos and flip shots.

7. Food is bigger there. Drinks on the other hand, are smaller (no free refills!). Please take careful note that if you ask for mineral water you will get sparkling water. When you ask the waitress to please rectify this by replacing it with still water, she will go on, excessively, how it is your fault and how you are the idiot: "still water is still water. Mineral water is sparking water" - something everyone should know or apparently already does know.

8. Drinking water from the fountain in the square can be challenging. Practice at home by twisting body awkwardly.

9. To thoroughly enjoy the christmas market, attend once the sun has gone down (roughly 4pm)

10. If you hear bells and see antlers, do not be fooled into thinking Santa is coming. He is not. Instead scary ghouls are on the way to either; hit bad children, or send away the bad spirits of 2009.

The Sunshine State

Many people have been asking if we know where we are moving/doing with our lives?
We are now somewhat excited to announce that we are moving to Florida in January. Kevin will be working with his dad, and I will be once again on the job prowl.
If someone has been dying to drive across the country let me know, I have no desire. And Kevin wasn't impressed when I suggested I would fly out and meet him here.
Hope Kevin wants an annual Disney Pass for christmas!

Great Minds

You know you have been married to long, when this happens:

Trinkets

Before Shelly took a school trip to Paris, she asked me if there was anything I wanted. I told her I wanted anything other than a tacky trinket. So being a smart-aleck 11 year old that she was, she managed to find me the tackiest trinket: a plastic Eiffel Tower, sitting on a plastic globe, with Tweetie Pie hanging from the side.

On my family's latest field adventure (to Prague - which I wasn't invited to. It doesn't matter if I have already been there or not. I still wasn't invited) Shelly and Cori managed to out do themselves:

Not really sure if I should thank them for thinking of me or not.... I do know however, I need to take a trip somewhere and quick! Hope you girls like snow-globes.

*Big Hole In The Ground

This weekend we took a day trip to the Grand Canyon, it was amazing. We hiked the Bright Angel Trail, which was a grueling 9 miles to the bottom of the Grand Canyon (although the bottom-bottom was another 6 miles beyond that, but I like to think I achieved the bottom, so work with me here)

Initial reaction to the Grand Canyon:

"Bottom" of Grand Canyon:

Cool rock formation that made me think of TJ. Maybe you could explain how the Grand Canyon was made for the talent show?

We were hoping for something a bit more exciting to happen here. Unfortunately no one was rammed. Kevin told me if I was the one to be rammed, he would have knocked the mountain goat out. I considered getting rammed just to see him try.

*I may or may not have at one time referred to the Grand Canyon as "the big hole in the ground," and it is quite possible that I will never live that one down.