The McKenneys

Tuesday, December 23, 2008

Christmas trees

Beautiful ornaments form the CM

Wind mill Christmas tree (3 tiers)

A singing Christmas tree (Thanks for the picture Megan)

4 tier CT, German made

Frozen tree in Colmar

Swarovski tree in the Hb - sparkly and expensive! Decorated with Swarovski crystals

Monday, December 22, 2008

Christmas Markets (Alsace region and Freiburg)

Before Christmas we were in the right mood; the kids got into baking and tasting cookies, wrapping and buying presents, writing Christmas cards (that were lost on the way to the mail) and most importantly, the Christmas Markets (CM) with carrousel rides and trampolines with safety harnesses to really get up high. We decided to take a road trip to visit some French CM in the famous Alsace region in the northeast of France. We started our tour in Colmar, a beautiful little town in the centre of Alsace. Colmar's markets are know as the Land of the Christmas Stars. Needless to say, we enjoyed seeing and buying beautiful ornaments, hot wine (gluhweine), cotton candy, French cuisine, crepes and we even got some churros (also known as fried dough). For childrens entertainment, we always had to have coins for rides. The second stop was Strasburg, known as the Land of Mysteries. While driving to Strasburg, we had a car problem and we got towed to a town 30 mins south of Strasburg. After talking to road assistance from Chevrolet, we got a taxi to the closest Hertz and a rental car for the next few days until our car was fixed. Even though we lost a couple of hours, we finally got to Strasburg. It was worth the trip, the stands were offering local crafts and delicious food, so far the biggest CM we have seen. The next day it was time to visit the CM in Mulhouse, the land of fine fabrics. While it was not as spectacular as the one in Strasburg, we enjoyed it as well. We got a notification that we needed to pick up our car. With our car back, we decided to change plans and instead of going back home, we decided to drive northeast to Germany to visit the CM in Freiburg. We were lucky to find a hotel that would accommodate a family of 5 and enjoyed the rest of the trip. We finally came home on the 23rd to prepare for our Christmas celebration with our friends in Zurich

Strasburg

Colmar

Instead of a singing tree like in Zurich, they had small boats under a bridge singing Chritmas carols, very cute but terrible acustics.

Colmar

CM in Colmar

Mulhouse

Cookie making time with friends Siena and Carolina

Wednesday, December 10, 2008

Bird house for Christmas

JP and Syd watched Fred Claus, a Christmas movie. You will need to see it to get the message but basically after JP watched it, he was determined to have a bird house for Christmas. So he talked to Grandma Lori and she made it happen. JP and Jim put it together and then painted it. Here are some pics.

Sunday, December 07, 2008

Early Christmas

Jim came back from the US (Mid December) fully loaded with some early Christmas toys that Grandma and Grandpa sent for the kids.
Here are some pics.

JP preparing some cookies

At the kitchen

Syd with her little helper apron

Are they cute or what?

How about some marshmallows?

Mmmmm!

Thanks Grandma Lori

JP 5 (just like Ben 10)

A message for Grandma Lorri

Friday, November 14, 2008

October-November news

The rest of November and December was very busy. We worked on creating Christmas in a Shoe Boxes to be sent to Eastern Europe. JP and Sydney were very helpful she it came to filling the boxes with contents for less fortunate children.