When winter arrived in Western Austria 8 days before Christmas we were very excited about white christmas and could not wait until we finally could hit the road to driver to Vorarlberg. By the time we finally got to set off, on Friday December 21st, warm weather has set in and all the snow that was there - and apparently there was a LOT - was gone. It even got worse as temperatures rose continuously and it rather felt like eastern than Christmas with temperatures peaking at 31 degrees in the sun on the 25th of December! We however did not throw in the towel but had a tons of food as always (including an 8 1/4 kg Turkey on December 26th and just great time. The Christkind was also extremely supportive and had lots of presents for the three juniors, Julia, Ylvie and Jakob. It even followed us from the Burgenland to late-deliver a few presents overnight from 24th to 25th.
Only one of the many presents
On December 28th it was them Julia's big day and she seemed to enjoy it big-big-time. Not only did she behave as if fully aware that it was her day, but she also ate cake and all the other good things she never was allowed to have before, as if she has eaten nothing else beforehand. Our extended festive season continued a few days later following a little bit of sportive activity as Markus did participate in
the Silvesterlauf in Altach on Sunday 30th - his first run in quite a while. Great weather and perfect support by Heidi, Sandra, Ylvie & Flo as well as Kerstin, Julia and Jakob - the big boy even accompanied dad over the finishing line - made the event a big fun and success. New Years Even might not have been the most exciting thing one can imagine, as we had raclette at home, but the night passed by so fast, that midnight almost passed by unnoticed. We did not miss it i the end and Markus did celebrate it with some fireworks on the meadow in front of our Heidi's house. Next day in the morning another party was on the agenda: Ylvie-Marie turned 2 years old and we all have been there. The brunch ended for us around 1700 and we wnt home one person short as our son decided to spend the night with his cousin and godmother. His first night away from mom & dad. We did expect a call from Sandra anytime asking us to pick Jakob up again, but this call came only next day morning. It was a strange feeling.
Frosty came for a visit
When back in Vienna also we finally saw some winter with snowfall and low temperatures. Jakob was glad for several reasons as we finally could hit the slopes again after a 10 months break on the Semmering together with grandpa Kurt. Jakob was still a bit rusty, but the winter only has started. By the end of last week Vienna was all covered in snow as ca 40cm of snow fell inner city. Due to Jakob having some fever an not being completely fit we had to skip skiing this weekend, but managed to do some bobsliding and snowman building on Sunday. And later this week we will head west again as Markus goes skiing to Lech with friends and clients while Kerstin and the kids spend time again with family.
Julia, Jakob, Kerstin & Markus
