Holidays 2014

It has been far too long since I've posted something. Since I last put up a post Thanksgiving and Christmas have both come and gone. These two holidays are the main times during the year that we get together as an entire family. Both holidays were a great opportunity for Fabian to experience something new. Christmas was especially fun since he could compare the way the holiday is celebrated in America vs Germany. Since our part of the country is heavily influenced by German heritage, I think a lot of similarities could be found. One thing is certain, however---there was no shortage of food at either holiday. Every year I resolve to eat in moderation over the holidays and every year I step on the scale on December 26th ten pounds heavier than I was at the end of November. So it goes.

For Thanksgiving we went to both Seth's parents in Tripoli and Krissy's parents in Ackley. In Tripoli Fabian enjoyed sitting in the hot tub and making snow angels in just his swimming trunks before jumping back into the hot tub. In Ackley we got the grand tour of the new addition to the school. 

For Christmas we spent Saturday the 20th with Krissy's family in Marion. On Christmas Eve and Christmas day we spent time at Seth's parents. It was fun to see our nieces and nephews and to see family. 

Fabian has continued to enjoy hanging out with friends. He bought a skateboard in November, and the unseasonably warm weather has allowed him to enjoy his new hobby into the winter months. 

We are heading to northern Minnesota at the end of January to go to a cross country ski resort. It's a really cool place that is family-run. They serve family style meals that are delicious. Here is a link from our trip from last year: https://www.facebook.com/seth.biesterfelt/media_set?set=a.710158575598.1073741831.123700851&type=3

I'm beginning to think that we're going to have to get Ada some counseling once Fabian goes back to Germany. Krissy takes Fabian to school in the mornings on the way to work so I always have the house to myself for about an hour. As soon as they leave the house, Ada immediately goes into Fabian's room and lays on his bed for the rest of the day. In the evening we shut the door to our upstairs bedroom and Ada stays up there with us. We used to be able to say "upstairs" and Ada would immediately run upstairs. Now when we say "upstairs" she looks at us, then looks at Fabian's bedroom door and just stands there. I'm pretty sure she is going to resent us when Fabian leaves :)

Fabian received the above ornament from Seth's parents at Thanksgiving. It has special meaning since it is a s'more. When we were at Seth's parents cabin Fabian discovered the sweet goodness that is the s'more and proceeded to eat about 20 of them. 

Whiskers and Jack continue to live like kings. Whiskers was especially fond of the Christmas tree. I think he liked hiding under it as it made him feel more protected. He's a magnificent hunter, so I assume that is just his natural predatory instinct kicking in.

Fabian's mom sent us this ornament in November. You put it up on the first of December and put 3 pieces of candy in each pouch (one each for Fabian, Krissy and Seth) and have one piece of candy each day from December 1st through December 24th.

Our niece Taryn opening up a present for Christmas

Our niece Ally opening a present on Christmas

Our nephew Camden opening a present. Clearly excited to be getting a toy.

Animals love presents--almost more than Fabian

Socks made by Fabian's mom for Krissy

German smoking man from Fabian's mom. You put the incense inside and the smoke comes out of his mouth. His are in the background (they fell off in transit). A little wood glue should do the trick.

Fabian opening his extremely generous present from his Mom.

A Macbook Pro!! 

Christmas Eve soup and red velvet cake at the Biesterfelt homestead

Fabian, Kai and Dan in the hot tub. 

Christmas Eve

Go hawkeyes!

Fabian's brother Bastian and his wife Katharina got us a climbing rope. Now we need to head to an outdoor climbing location to try it out this Spring! 

Fabian and Kai hanging out

We never have enough food :) This is the reason for the aforementioned 10 pound weight gain I experience each year.

Fabian and Kai

I think we need to make prime rib an annual tradition. It was delicious

Our fancy clothes for taking the dog outside. Fabian's mom made me the hat for Christmas. It is really nice and fits perfectly.

Happy Holidays!

The Latest Happenings

It just occurred to me that it has been nearly a month since I last wrote a post. The weather has turned a bit cooler and we haven't had as much opportunity to undertake our usual outdoor endeavors. Now we're anxiously waiting for enough snow to appear on the ground to go skiing (the 2 inches we got yesterday, sadly, isn't going to cut it).

We were able to get an overnight trip in to Ledges State Park near Boone. If you've never been there, it really is a pretty unique park. Surrounded by the typical central Iowa cornfields is the park whose gorges were developed during a glacial melt 13,000 years ago (says wikipedia). There are around 15 miles of hiking trails in the park, which, for this park of the state, is pretty nice. We brought Ada along with us, and she had a great time being off her leash and running around.

 The park is right on the Des Moines River. Next year we're planning to do a trip where we put the canoe in north of Boone and canoe down to Ledges to camp. It's always fun to combine canoeing and camping. In the photo above Fabi is enjoying the nice fall view. We were a couple weeks late for the peak tree colors.

Ledges has several "hike-in" campsites. While the hike in is less than a quarter of a mile, it is still really nice to be able to camp away from all of the RV's. The sites all have fire rings w/ grills over the top of them, which came in handy when it came time to make our food.

When we arrived we set up camp and then went hiking for a few hours. Fabi was looking for things to climb and this rock column offered the chance for some bouldering. 

Did I mention that Ada had a great time camping? She has had her fur cut since this photo, so she isn't quite so fluffy anymore. She did a really great job being off the leash. 

After trying s'mores at my parents cabin in September, Fabi couldn't turn down the opportunity for more marshmallow and chocolate goodness.

The temperature during the day was over 70 degrees, but it still got down into the upper 30's that evening. Ada slept in the tent with Fabi, so he had some extra warmth to keep the chill out. Last year Krissy and Seth went camping with Ada and all three of us fit in this tent. Ada was happy to only have one tent companion this time as the tent really was way too small for 2 adults and a dog.

When the river is higher, this is a spot where kids will jump from the cliff down to the water.  Seems pretty crazy, in my opinion. 

Other than that, there hasn't been a whole lot going on. Krissy and I spent a day in Chicago for a wedding and it was nice to catch up with some friends there. Below is a photo of Krissy from the wedding.

I think when Fabian leaves he will be more sad to leave the cats and Ada than me and Krissy. 

We try to eat at home as often as possible. This is one of the rare occasions that Krissy did the cooking. Actually that isn't really true. I used to do most of the cooking but we divide the duties pretty evenly these days. Next spring we are planning on drastically increasing the size of our backyard garden so that we can have our own fresh produce throughout the year.

Last week we went to the local German restaurant, The Hessen Haus. We had schnitzel and red cabbage. We all agreed that it was pretty good. We liked the red cabbage so much that we decided to make some at home, as well (although that is not what Krissy is making in the photo below). Our version turned out very good. Fabi also tried his hand at cooking. He made us some German pancakes. They were really good! We ate them with maple syrup and with some of the homemade grape jam we made a couple of months ago. 

Fabian making us his world-famous German pancakes.

Just the right amount of flour! 

And now for the obligatory cat photos......

Fabian made whiskers a little castle. Whiskers enjoys it quite a lot.

And finally----The first snow of the season. This was during the week. Yesterday we got another 2 inches so the ground is covered. 

Golfing, canoeing and a fun birthday party

I (Seth) am finally done with being gone for 4 out of 5 weeks for training for work. I am beyond happy to be home and able to settle in to my normal routine again. It's no fun being away from friends and family.

In my absence Krissy and Fabi continued to go climbing 2 or 3 times per week and are both certainly light years ahead of me as far as climbing conditioning goes.

Last Saturday (10/11) we headed out to the driving range so that Fabi could hit some golf balls. It seems that his background in field hockey served him well, as he was able to hit the driver especially well. The accessibility of golf for the general public is much greater in the United States than it is in Germany. Anybody who has driven by a small town golf course in the United States during a 4 man best shot knows that golf in the States isn't merely the domain of knicker-wearing wealthy folks.

Sunday (10/12) took us to Marion for our nephew Camden's first birthday party. It was fun to see family and to take some pictures of Camden. He shaping up to be a pretty handsome fella. It's always nice to be able to eat cupcakes and ice cream.

During the week last week we went climbing a couple of times and we all continue to get better and stronger.

This weekend was a little chilly in the mornings, but we had opportunity to spend time outside once it warmed up on both Saturday and Sunday. On Saturday we headed out to Waveland golf course and played 9 holes. Fabi had a good time.  I realized why I only play golf twice per year. Regardless of outcome, we still had fun. We saw a couple of deer on the fairway of number 3 who were extremely tame. We walked to within 10 yards of them before they casually started walking away.

On Sunday we put the canoe in for what may be the last time of the year (we'll see how the weather goes). We paddled from Walnut Woods State Park down to Waterworks Park. The water level was pretty high, so it made for a quick float. What usually takes 3.5 hours took us around 2 hours. It was great to get out and enjoy the last of the fall colors on the trees before it turns to winter.

Below are photos from the past two weeks.

Getting ready to hit some golf balls

Coach Krissy with her able pupil Fabian. It's all in the hips

With a look of steely determination

Opening presents with the birthday boy, Camden

Cute fella

Who doesn't like cake, really?

John Deere green

Fabi walking up the fairway. The leaves were really pretty

Fabi did really well for this first time golfing!

Putting is harder than it looks

Portrait of a golfer

Trying to find the appropriate size and shape of rock to use for skipping

Skipping rocks

Great day to be on the water