neuschwanstein castle...

also known as... the disneyland castle. it is what walt disney modeled his sleeping beauty castle after. it is truly magical. a gorgeous building with amazing architecture set up high in the mountains overlooking an adorable village & vast valley. we traveled to germany for what we thought was a day trip... more on that later... to visit this amazing place.

{here is the castle in the springtime}

our carriage ride to the castle

they don't allow photography inside the castle... but here are some we found online.

this was a long day for the little one.

she loved being in the castle & was actually a lot more interested in looking at

everything than i thought she would be.

no nap & a lot of walking. but she was a trooper!

best traveler award.

& as for the treats i am holding... AMAZING! fried cream cheese pastry... yum.

after this we decided to drive the 1 1/2 hrs. home.

well, upon entering the freeway we were in bumper to bumper dead stop traffic.

traveling less than 5 miles in 40 minutes. we decided that an overnight stay was worth it!

we found this adorable hotel in fussen town center. & ate a delicious italian dinner.

here is the view from our room...

on the way home we stopped to check out this castle that we passed.

i think it is only open in the springtime. it might even be a hotel...

we will be coming back here when the weather changes.

it is right over a large lake with boats & the photos of the spring look amazing...

right now it looks like this...

austrian christmas...

sadie loved the tree... especially once it started to gather gifts.

in the days leading up to christmas she kept asking "is it christmas?" a few times a day.

she also was so sweet trying to understand the santa concept.

she thought when he came she would get to hang out with him.

she wanted to read to him & give him hugs & kisses.

we were so grateful to have my mom & jim here to celebrate with us,

having at least some family made it a lot more "christmasy".

my austrian egg decoration

sleeping beauty set from cousin's roy & june

"don't worry i'm a dr." {one of sadie's favorite quotes at the moment}

sadie's new friend alice helped open some gifts. and the magnetic ice cream set was a big hit!

{look into it... it's seriously so cute!}

nana & papa

this girl got so so many gifts! i was shocked. we are going to have to ship back some stuff...

but it's nice to have some new things to occupy our time as the weather grows colder.

it was a merry christmas indeed!

{merry christmas to all}

well, i was doing a little blog reading & came across this entry from "fashion is spinach"

a blog i love to read {on my side bar... if you wanna take a peek}

well, the peaches & cream barbie doll brought back some wonderful christmas memories of how exciting & magical that morning is as a child.

waking up before the sun & running in to wake up my mom.

then the christmas music plays in the background & we all gather round the tree with our closest of family. what a wonderful spirit is felt.

i am so grateful for this time of year & look forward, with anticipation, to sharing this special time with my own husband & children.

so MERRY CHRISTMAS to you & yours!

xo

volleyball & stuff

having visitors has been nothing short of wonderful! we have been enjoying volleyball games, the zoo &

many trips to town & the christmas market. tomorrow we will be going on a little trip & i can not wait!

a visit to the alpine zoo...

petting the farm animals

love sadie in this one. russ told her to look up at daddy & this is what we got...

mom & sadie conquer the rock wall...

we are absolutely LOVING having nana & papa here with us. there are many many more photos to share.

*also, my sprinkles giveaway is going until the 20th click here to enter*