Trip to Nashville

In the Opryland Hotel

The "gang" posing on the hotel tour

Besties posing with the flowers

The Grand Ole Opry (it was freezing out!!)

Can you guess which ice cream is Hans'?

The car of Elvis

This past long weekend we went to Nashville to see the sights with our good friends, the Dicksons. We didn't realize it was so close...only 2 1/2 hours away! When we got there we unloaded our things at the luxurious "Days Inn" (haha) and hit the road. Our first stop was the Opry Hills Mall. It is this gigantic mall with all sorts of shopping and themed restaurants like "Rainforest Cafe" and "the Aquarium". Hans and Jon's favorite though was a huge Tool Warehouse. Next we went to the Opryland Hotel to tour around. It is amazing!! It has 4 atriums fulls of plants, flowers and waterfalls. I felt like I was in a tropical rain forest. After we went to dinner in downtown Nashille at a place called Demos. I would highly recommend it for anyone that goes. That night we played some dice game called "Farkle" which I won by the way (I am not competitive at all....jk) and ate ice cream. Hans scarfed his down in less than 5 seconds and the rest of us had not even gotten half way done. That confirms Hans' name of "The Human Garbage Disposal". The next day we toured the Country Music Hall of Fame. It was really amazing. My favorite part was to see Elvis' car. It had a TV and an ice maker which was really unheard of back then. We had a great time and now Hans and I are going to save our pennies so we can go back and stay in the Opryland Hotel. Let us know if you want to come too!!

A Spaghetti Christmas

Posing at Mel's house

Sunday best

Ski day at Fernie

Morning walks at mum's ranch

Mum and I on Christmas Eve

Hans and Mark cooking Christmas dinner

This year Hans and I went to Calgary for Christmas. We had such a great time!! On Christmas Eve my mom told me that we were having Spaghetti for dinner. Little did she know that spaghetti is my favorite meal...turns out it is hers too!! I think we are going to make this a new tradition in our family. We opened all our presents Christmas Eve (German style) so Hans would feel at home. Then we drove down to Medicine Hat to spend time with Mark's (my step-dad) family. We got to do some boxing day shopping and I got a new pair of cowboy boots...compliments of Alann. I got to see my B.F.F. Melanie and her boyfriend Mark and remember the "good ol' days"...like when we used to watch Charlotte's Web every single day. hahaha. For Christmas she gave me a picture of her and I when we were 4 years old on Santa's lap. What a treasure! Hans went skiing for the first time and he loved it...well he was a little frustrated in the morning but by the end of the day he was rockin it. We went to a ski hill in B.C. and were so happy to find out when we got there that they had just recieved a big dump of snow. The conditions were perfect!! By the end of the day I was making Mark go down some pretty tough slopes (hey I learned that from my brothers). We also went 4-Wheeling and riding my mom's horse at her ranch. It was so nice not having a T.V. for a week and a half. I did not miss it at all. There is so much to do on a ranch. Hans loved feeding the horses and taking my mom's two dogs for their morning walks. After this trip Hans said he wants to start running....I think it is from all the fresh air. Hans and I hope you all have a wonderful New Year!!