Winter adventures

We've got a little bit of catching up to do...Where did I leave off?

We spent all of November in France, at the Chateau we already helped out at back in February (blog post about that here). It was super chill and really nice. When we arrived the whole place was all spiffed up for a visitation from guests who rented the place to get married at this coming summer. So it looked amazing and we really enjoyed a bit of fun together with the family we'd be housesitting for before they left. We went swimming (in November!) watched a movie in the outdoor cinema and set up our target and net for archery practice.

Family archery sessions. Accompanied by our baby chick! Ella. Who turned out to be an Eddy....

Then the family left for about a month of visiting family and friends and we held down the fort while they were gone. We basically just took care of all the animals, chopped wood and checked on the pool. Which means, after a really busy, sometimes too busy summer, we had lots of time for just the five of us. It was fantastic and exactly what we needed. Family game nights, watching movies together, shooting with our bows, playing pool... not to mention taking care of a chick that hatched while we were there and playing with all the other animals there (four cats and a dog, two bunnies and lots of chickens and ducks).

During this time I also had my first ever online course running (a pilot group) while developing my next stress management/resilience course- for teens. So it was a good mix of relaxing family time, but also lots of energy for me spent on the computer and prepping and working. But it felt good and was a nice balance. Hopefully I'll be starting my next pilot group soon and developing yet another resilience course in the spring- this time for parents!

Staying busy in France, baking, playing pool, crafts and swimming.

December was then enjoying a wonderful advent time together with the family in France. They came back and we did a Workaway exchange with them for a couple weeks leading up to Christmas. It was a really nice time together with lots of Christmas-y crafts, baking cookies, mixing teas and mixing bath salts and decorating etc. The woman I worked with a lot is a trained florist- so she had great ideas on what to do with herbs, flowers and such. Which my daughter was really into- she's very interested in plants and what can be dried, eaten or made into tea. So that was really cool. Plus they have lots of stuff for crafts and we love doing artsy stuff together.

Our daughter, the animal lover.

Then we had toyed with the idea of going to Spain. Just for a couple weeks before Christmas. We were sooo close, at least to northern Spain- or the north eastern Mediterranean Coast. Even after finding a place we could go to, we weren't sure if it would be worth it. And the kids really wanted to go back to Germany for Christmas with my husbands family. It would have made the drive even longer. So all in all we stayed in France till right before Christmas Eve.

A two day drive later and then the wirlwind Wedding family Christmas began. For the next 6 nights, from before Christmas to right before New Years, we crashed at three different in-laws places. It was a bit much. But the kids loved seeing their cousins and we met up with our friends on the horse farm we spent all summer at. Then we headed up to Hannover to meet up with other good friends for New Years Eve. Man that was great, to see them and really reflect on the past year and look forward to the next. It was a really special time.

New Years Eve- our first time lighting up fireworks at midnight! But first, a torch led walk.

I kind of realized, as I've been learning this whole time, that it's good to have a plan and for us all to come together and say what we want to experience and do together this coming year, but it's also good be open to things unfolding in a natural way and new ideas coming up too. Of course all we want is to finally hear that we can go to the states. That would be great. Just imagine it, next week we get an email and in a matter of a few weeks we could be ready to go. Or, yeah, not. Right now we've completed all the necessary steps and are almost in the middle of the average waiting time for the final form we had to submit. Remember? 2 months to 2 years is the average processing time and you're not allowed to ask what the status of it is until that time frame has passed.

And now, right now, it's been 9 months since hearing that. Ok, we're not even half way through the expected waiting time. I don't know how I feel about that. But also as I said, we're not waiting anymore. We're traveling. Living our life and loving it. With the holidays I definitely had a bunch of emotions coming up about not being able to be with my family. Oh man. It can be quite angering. But what can you do? Know that it could and hopefully will happen soon, but just make the most of it. Raise our energy to be fulfilled and experiencing wonderful things now. Right now. And we are!

Right after New Years we started the two day drive to Austria. Our farmer friend (where we've been already twice) said we could WWOOF with him in January, but didn't have room for us until around the 6th... But if we needed a place we could stay up at the Alm hut again. We couldn't refuse that offer, and made it to his farm just in time to pack up the tractor and all-wheel drive car and head up into the mountains.

Views from the Alm. Snow mountains and peace and quiet.

We made it up there just as the sun had gone down- to snow and an ice cold hut. After starting up the fire and getting the hut ready we discovered we had no running water. This changed our Alm hut-in-the-mountains experience a bit. But after adjusting (there are two other water sources, one in the basement and one just down the road) we settled in for a few days of snow play and amazing views. Just the little break we needed before heading back down to the farm and starting out our 2025 helping out a dear friend in his snowy mountain valley paradise.

On the day we thought we'd be heading back down to the farm/valley, the farmer who owns the place decided to come up for a night. Which turned into two. It was really great to enjoy the hut with him together and play in the snow. We enjoyed making some memories, playing games and then closing up the hut together for the rest of the winter.

Everyone trying to help to get the tractor working so we can make it down to the farm.

And then... everything was ready. We were set to start the 45 min journey down the mountain with the 4 wheel drive and tractor with snow chains, aaand the tractor didn't start. Long story short, after calling two people and doing a video WhatsApp call for what felt like an hour, the farmer got the tractor started. But we had stood around in the snow already for an hour and a half. Oh, and our middle child had injured his arm the day before and we were pretty sure we should be taking him to get an x-ray as soon as we could because it was still painful for him. Yeah. But we make it. Oh, AND the 4 wheel drive car had a flat tire that we had to keep stopping and filling up with air!

But eventually we made it, got our son checked on (fractured Radius in his left forearm) all showered and warm and fed.

Now we're here. Joining in on projects, cooking delicious foods and keeping busy. Grateful to once again be able to help out here and hopefully enjoy some winter sports on the weekends. We'll definitely have beautiful views and lots of hot chocolate. So that's a good start.

Wishing all of you an amazing winter.

From the Heart,

Stacy