A Weekend in the Alps

Last weekend, Jay and I went down to the border of Germany and Austria to do some skiing! This was our first chance to go this winter, and we were anxious to hit the slopes! I was nervous getting started because I'm not very good yet! The first time I skied was our first winter over here. I learned in the Alps, which isn't like your normal bunny hills. I've been slow to learn, but finally got the hang of it this time. Skiing once a year for four years hasn't given me much time to practice. Jay, on the other hand, is an old pro. He skied several times growing up and hit the slopes with no problems!

On Saturday, we went up to the top of the tallest mountain in Germany, the Zugspitze. It was bitter cold and windy up there, but we still had a good day of skiing. Jay stayed with me down the first run, but then he was on his own! He went to the hard hills and I stayed on the easier ones. After lunch, I ventured out and tried a red hill, after being on blues all morning. I met up with Jay later in the afternoon and we went down a couple reds together. It was nice to be able to ski with him, and he not be totally bored!

On Sunday, we decided to rest our legs. We did some hiking instead of skiing. Sounds restful, doesn't it! We started at the edge of town and hiked our way into the mountains. We took a beautiful snow covered trail up to a gorge.

We saw so many picture perfect scenes as we walked...

The snow covered trail.

 Straight out of a fairy tale!

We then started in through the gorge. It was absolutely georgous! Even though it was super cold, the freezing water created some amazing sites!

Inside the gorge

It was a little chilly with icles all around!

The amazing view once we exited the gorge on the other side.

We had one more day to ski on Monday. We drove into Austria to try out a different area. As usual, I started on the blue hills. This was a great area where I could get all the way down the mountain without any trouble. I was doing the blues pretty darn well, so we went for a challenge! We tried out the reds!

And I was successful! I made it down every red hill on the mountain... and without falling! Jay skied behind me the entire day, making sure no one was coming behind me to take me out! He was my eyes so I could concentrate on staying on my feet!

Here is a video of me heading down the red hill. Remember.... I'm not very good yet, but I got down the hill in one piece! Don't judge me on my style! Eventually I'll make those s-shapes smaller, but for now, I need to take up the whole mountain to get down!

In this next video, don't worry about watching me ski. Instead, look at the beautiful scenery we get to admire while going down the mountain!

If you're wondering who is the amazing skier who can ski down the mountain while holding a camera and keep it relatively steady..... yup, that would be my studly husband!

And now for Jay, skiing down a black run. Don't mind the extrememly awful video, even though I was standing still at the bottom of the mountain. I forgot you can't flip videos and I lost him when he went behind a hill! I was having more fun actually watching him instead of remembering I should be looking through the camera. I'll do better next time! Sorry folks!

It was a great weekend for us! It made me excited to get back on the skies again. And Jay was excited because we could actually ski together from now on! It's just not as much fun skiing alone all day! We have another trip set for the end of February. It will probably be the last time we'll be in the Alps, so we better make the most of it!

All our Family

We saw so many people in our two weeks home for Christmas! Here are a few of our family pictures! We were so lucky to spend time with them all. My heart was so content when I got to sit around and rock my boys, especially this one!

With Jay's family

 With Grandma Feldt

Jay, Heather (his cousin), and Justy (his brother)

All the Feldt Cousins (except for two)

The Nechanicky Family

My parents with all the grandkids!

Some of my favorite boys watching a movie on New Year's Eve!

I miss everyone oh so much!!! Before we went home, I didn't mind staying in Germany and wasn't in a hurry to get back home. But once we got back to Iowa, I was reminded how much I LOVE being around my family! They all mean so much to me and I want to be able to be with them more! It was SO HARD to leave them and come back here. I had to keep reminding myself that it will be for only 7 more months. I have never had a bad attitude toward Germany, but it's here now! I just want to be home! I love living here and being able to travel, but nothing beats family! Ever since we got on the plane to come back here, I've asked Jay every day to let me go back home! I know the next few months will go fast. I have to finish the school year, which will keep me plenty busy. By then we'll have our orders and will be ready to pack out our house! Time will fly, but right now it seems a long time away!

Family.... thanks for spending so much time with us at Christmas! Thanks for taking time out of your working lives to be at the farm! Even though the kids got most of our attention, I was sure glad to have all of you there! Mom, thanks for making all of my favorite foods! You spoil me rotten, and I love it!!!

New Do for the New Year

I've been waiting for months to get home for Christmas so I can get my hair cut! Only one person touches my hair with scissors and that's my mamma!!! It had been two and a half years since my last big hair cut! It was definitely time.

After measuring, we went with 11 inches to put into the ponytails.

The sound of the scissors cutting through my thick hair is grueling! It's almost enough to make me cry!!

After we cut the 11 inch ponytails, mom took off another 2-3 inches to make it look nice and give it some layers!

Finished product.... didn't get any pictures of that. You'll have to look at the Christmas pictures instead!