Austrian Ski Trip and One Year in Germany

April 1, 2017 marked one year since we arrived in Germany!  I will never forget how anxious and nervous I was the weeks leading up to when we left the US.  I am a worrier.  I know, worrying really does nothing except distract you and make you feel awful!  However, in those weeks leading up to our move I worried about everything from finding gluten free food for Valerie, making friends, leaving friends and family, our shipment arriving in one piece, learning the language....I could go on but you get the point.  Life here hasn't been perfect, but it's been a pretty great experience, and when I think back on the "stuff" I worried about it really didn't help at all.  God provided what we needed and once again showed me there was no reason I should have worried.

Earlier in March we went on an awesome family ski trip to Austria.  We stayed at Feriendorf-Hochpustertal, an amazing little chalet resort/village.  It was a bit of a drive (about 5-6 hours depending on traffic), but it was worth it for the experience.  We had a 1 bedroom chalet with a little kitchen and a tiled stove where Jesse made a fire each night.  The resort offered tons of activities as well as child care in the afternoon if we wanted to ski.  They had a huge indoor play area, and some family activities you could take part in in the evening if you weren't absolutely exhausted already.  It was right across the street from a small ski slope called Thurntaler.  

Our Chalet is in the background

Jesse starting up the nightly fire

We chose to ski at the slopes close by in case the kids needed us during the day and because they were good for those of us who were less experienced skiers (ahem....me).  The first morning the kids had their ski lesson Jesse and I walked down the main road to a chocolate factory called Loacker.  They are famous in the area for making chocolate covered wafers.  Someone said the coffee at their cafe was really good, so we decided to check it out.  It was literally THE best coffee either of us had ever had.  We enjoyed some cake with our coffee and checked out their store.  The coffee was so delicious that we even got another cup to go when we were leaving.....

Loacker Coffee and Cake...yum

 Ready for day 1 of ski lessons

On the bus to ski lessons

On day two Jesse and I planned to ski for most of the day while the kids did their morning lesson and participated in some of the afternoon activities at the resort.  I took a refresher lesson with an instructor in the morning since I hadn't skied for probably 7-8 years.  Jesse and I skied together (or attempted to, because I was sooooo slow) for the rest of the day.  I ended the day pretty frustrated and tired, but glad that I had pushed through.  The next day we skied most of the day again so I could practice and I felt a lot better by the end of the day.  

Unfortunately, Ian was down with a stomach bug on Wednesday and Thursday so we took turns going with Valerie to her ski lessons since Ian wasn't along.  We had to adapt our plans for the week, but luckily he recovered pretty quickly.  Thursday was the last morning for ski lessons and Valerie got a medal for completing the class (and got Ian's for him).  It was a great program for the kids to try skiing for the first time.

Getting her medal from "Lily the Mouse"

Friday was our last full day and we decided to get the kids one more lesson together on the big slopes where Jesse and I had been skiing since Ian missed two days.  Their ski instructor was great and had them going down the big slopes within the first 30 minutes or so.  Jesse and I were skiing there also and would check in on them to watch and see how they were doing.  I had a heart-attack several times watching them get on/off the lift or going down the slopes I had just learned to go down.  After lunch we were able to ski as a family for awhile which was really cool.  It was awesome to see how far they had come in just one week.  Here is a video of each of them coming down the slope with Jesse (Ian is yelling "Go Valerie, Go Daddy!" in the one video):

Overall, it was a really great vacation, despite Ian being sick for 2 days.  I would highly recommend the place we stayed if you ever find yourself wanting to plan a ski trip in Austria :-)