Silvester in Texas!

After spending a week with my family in MN for Christmas, I headed to Houston to spend the week with Michael and his friends and family.



For most of the trip, I got to stay with the other two women in Michael's life, his mom Laura and his dog Heidi. Barrett, Laura's boyfriend, joined us for breakfast and then a trip to Shiner for my first day in Texas.

My first day in Texas was spent at a brewery, Shiner Brewery.

Everyone was lined up for their FREE delicious beer! They were quite generous with the free beer after the tour.

Michael and Barrett, in their "Beer Guy" shirts, looking like they are ready for work.

We met Michael's brother and sister, Mason and Alexis, and his dad, Shawn, for a TexMex dinner that night. We had a great time at dinner and went for ice cream afterwards. I miss ice cream in the US!

We spent the next day touring around the city of Houston and seeing some of Michael's favorite neighborhoods. I really like the city and am looking forward to spending more time there. We met his friend Luis for lunch. Luis had just returned from Costa Rica and I am convinced that he runs the entire airline industry. :) That evening we met his high school friends and their wives for dinner. They were a fun group.

Texas BBQ!

On our way to Austin for New Years, we stopped to enjoy some of Texas's finest barbeque.

While Michael was debating over which of the two famous places we should eat at, I suggested we do both! I think he realized at that moment how much we really are alike. As we were trying to figure out how to order, I heard someone shout my name. What? I am in Texas, must be someone else. Nope, it was Dr. Stollack, a professor from St. Norbert! How random! We enjoyed our delicious BBQ and then cleaned ourselves up to get ready for the next place.

Smitty's was stop #2 of the Texas BBQ adventure. Walking into these places was like going back in time. It was easy to pick out the locals from the tourist. Of course the meat was great here as well, but I liked the brisket at Kreuz's better.

The first that cooked all of the meat at Smitty's. The way these places work is you first order your meat by the weight. They wrap it up in butchers paper and then you order your sides (sweet pickels) and drinks. No forks provided, many napkins required! It was great!

We spent New Year's Eve with Michael's friends in Austin. We went to the Texas History museum and spent the evening at Peter's and Courtney's house. I definitely learned a lot about Texas history on this trip! This was only the first of two Texas history days.

We went for a hike on New Year's Day before heading out. It was beautiful weather, slightly warmer than MN at that time.

Rocking S Ranch is Barrett's family's ranch that we stayed at for a few days after New Years. It was so nice and relaxing to be out in the country again. Laura and Barrett took us to some of the small towns in the area and then we had some more Texas history lessons. :)



Heidi LOVES the pool! Maybe next time it will be warm enough for me to join her in the pool.

I had my first steak in Texas and it was also my first steak cooked rare - I was surprised how much I liked it. It was delicious!

Michael, me, Barrett, and Laura at the Brazow Belle

We took the 4 wheelers to checkout the ranch. We saw tons of deer on our drive, but no wild boar. The wild boar are tearing up a lot of the land so they have traps set all around the ranch.

The "tank" otherwise known as a pond has an automatic fish feeder at the end of the dock. Sounds like a new project for Papa on our pond at home...

Once we were back in Houston, we were able to spend more time with Michael's dad, brother, and sister before it was time to start packing up again to go home.

It was really a great trip to Houston to meet Michael's family and friends. I am looking forward to my next trip back!

Lillian's and Ryan's Baptism

Lillian Elizabeth von Knobelsdorff-Brenkenhoff and Thomas Ryan Huneke were baptized on December 28th. I was so happy that I could be there for it!

Lilly and all of her great grandparents. What a lucky little girl!

Lilly with both sets of proud grandparents

Ryan with his parents and godparents

Lilly with her parents and godmothers

Babies, Parents, and Godparents


Everyone enjoying lunch after Lilly's and Ryan's baptism


Grandma wanted a picture of her and her new great-grandbabies to send to her friends Ben and Elfie in Florida. Lee John tried to help by keeping hold of Adian's shirt, but Adian wanted nothing to do with the picture taking.

After the baptism celebration was over, I headed back to the airport for the next leg of my Christmas trip, Houston!

Christmas in Minnesota

It had only been 5 weeks since I was last home in MN and Lillian has changed so much already! I got to spend a lot of time with her while Mom and Kim worked out in the shop.

After babysitting duties were fulfilled, it was on to Christmas tree cutting duties. My uncle Hermann and I went out to the woods to find the 3 vKB 2009 Christmas trees. We climbed the hill with knee deep snow to get to the trees we were looking for. We managed to find 3 great trees near the edge of the woods so we didn't have to drag the trees through too much brush.

Omi's house was our first stop. Hermann helped me set up the tree and get the tables in place. I was then in charge of tree decorating, table setting and decorating, and other random Christmas chores Omi and Gretel found for me to do.

That night, we had family friends, The Strauss's, over for dinner and tree decorating at Mom's and Papa's house. As always, we all enjoyed sharing stories from life's happenings since we had last seen each other at Christmas the last year.

Christmas Eve is finally here!

Doesn't the table look great!

After dinner and of course the pudding :) it was time to light the candles on the tree. I stumbled through the German reading of the Christmas Story this year. Thank goodness I have another year to improve, or just hand it off to someone else again.

Lilly is happily eating with Omi.

Last but not least, family pictures in front of the tree and...

the cousin picture with Omi on the couch.

Christmas morning is time for sweetrolls and the dogs being allowed in the house. Charger is usually quite eager to open his gifts.

Karl and Lilly with Kim's Christmas present, "Top Milk Producer" award from Land 'o Lakes. Karl's sense of humor at its best.

Christmas Day activities continued in Bellechester with the Majerus family. Grandma is getting some time with little Ryan while she catches up with Mike and Amanda.

We do a White Elephant Gift Exchange each year with the Majerus family. The rules on who gets to pick their gift first always change and this year

After everyone's afternoon naps, we were all at Mom's and Papa's to celebrate the December birthdays, light the candles on the tree, and of course to eat again.

The birthday boy got crowns this year.

After Christmas I got to meet up with some of my other favorite Minnesota people. Allison Schnese and I shut down Panera Bread one night in the cities and the next night a few friends from high school and I found a possible location for the next class reunion!

Now that Christmas is over, it is on to the next family celebration... baptisms.

Christmas in Chicago

Our 4th Annual Christmas Party in Chicago!
Every year since we all graduated from St. Norbert, we have been getting together in Chicago for Christmas. This year had quite a few changes; some of the girls made 2 trips, we stayed in a hotel instead of piling into one of our apartments, men were invited!

I managed to arrive before the big snow storm hit Chicago and had a great first night out for sushi with Lindsay, Thuong, and Nora. Lindsay and I hopped through slushy puddles the next morning to go to work where I got to catch up with a few others in the office. Later that night, we discovered Gnarly Head (a great wine!) over dinner with Aaron & Molly, Brieanna & Brent, and the rest of our rotating visitors.

Four of my best friends from St. Norbert, their husbands/fiancees/boyfriends, me, and Michael on a stick were all set to go explore the city! Thanks to inspiration from Katie and the artistic skills of Jenny and Alissa, we carried on a vKB family tradition of putting someone's face on a stick when they could not be somewhere in person. Michael was at home in Houston helping out his mom who had recently had surgery on her foot. We missed him, but all agreed that Michael on a stick may have liked the cold, snowy weather more than he would have. Next time, we will make sure it is summer!

One tradition that very wisely did not change was our Starbucks trip as soon as Lindsay got into town! My first peppermint mocha of the season.

The whole gang ice skating at Millennium Park

Lindsay asking me to be in her wedding. Everyone else enjoyed listening to all of the other people staring in shock as they assumed Lindsay was proposing some other kind of deal to me.

My Chicago girls, Lindsay and Thuong, joined us for the ice skating spectacular! I am so glad I got to share Christmas with you two.

We had lunch at the German Christmas market in the loop. Just like the markets in Germany, gluewein, sausages, and all!

Lindsay and her bridesmaids taking our traditional picture in front of the enormous Christmas tree that is constructed each year.

On our way home we walked through the Lincoln Park Zoo to see all of the lights. So pretty!

That evening we dined on Chicago's finest food, the Art of Pizza. Yummm... Instead of our typical dancing adventures in the Chicago bars, we went to Dave and Busters this year. Alissa tried to prove her skill at horse racing, but we quickly discovered it was due to her cheating. :)

Since the weather had been particularly ugly this weekend, getting Brieanna's car out of her parking spot was not a lot of fun. We finally managed to push her out and made it to brunch at one of my favorite places in the city.

Thanks for a great Christmas in Chicago girls! Looking forward to next year!

Christkindlesmarkt in Nuremburg

Christmas Market #3 in Nuremberg


Nuremberg is one of the most well known Christmas markets in the world. I was not about to let the rest of the eager Christmas shoppers beat me there! I got on an early train from Munich to beat the crowds. I thought I would sight see a bit, get some breakfast and coffee, and scope out the vendors as they started to open.

Once I made my way inside the large wall that surrounds the town center, it was completely silent. Cafes, including the 3 Starbucks in the small town, were not going to open until noon. No people on the street. Apparently everyone was still sleeping.

I made my way to the other end of the town at the top of the hill to see the castle. The Nuremberg Castle is one of the most important imperial palaces dating from the Middle Ages: from 1050 to 1571 all the emperors of the Holy Roman Empire stayed in it at various times during their reign.



Since it was still too early for the market to be open, I found a few churches to go inside. A children's choir was practicing before mass in this church.

I finally spotted a few other people walking through the city on another bridge.

Shopping time! I had already walked through the market once and scoped out the things I wanted to buy. I found lots of great ornaments, decorations, and delicious food on my next pass through.

I got most of my shopping done in the morning so I could avoid the masses of people that flooded the streets by the afternoon. I hung out in a coffee shop while I read a photography book and practiced using different settings on my camera.

Edge of the Market during the day. There is a gold ring on the fence surrounding this tower that people lined up for later in the day to touch for good luck.

Similar view at night with everything is illuminated at the market.

More lights strung along the edge of the market.

On my last trip through the market, I stopped to listen to a band performing in front of the church.

Frohe Weihnachten! You are supposed to by your sweetheart one of the cookies and have them wear it around their neck all day. I think cookies are for eating.

Looking back at the Christkindlesmarkt on my way to the train station.


One of the lookout towers along the wall that surrounds Nuremberg.

Christmas shopping is officially done! I showed Maggie all of my treasures that I found for myself and for others. I turned up my Mariah Carey Christmas CD and decorated my apartment and packed the gifts into my suitcase. Less than one week and I would be off to the US to celebrate Christmas with friends and family.

Weihnachtszeit in Munich

Christmas has always been my favorite holiday. Being in Germany during Christmas time has been so much fun. There are little Christmas markets set up all over Munich. There was a market set up near our office so we often had lunch at one of the vendors there.

German Christmas Cookies!

I baked German Christmas cookies with 3 of the girls from work, Susi, Cathrina, and Maggie. My favorite thing about cooking here is that you measure everything by weighing it instead of pouring it into measuring cups.

A little glüwein always makes baking more fun.

The finished product! Some definitely turned out better than others, but we had a great time baking together.

One of the entrances to the Christmas market on Marienplatz

Marienplatz in December = Tourist Trap

Marienplatz was really pretty with all of the decorations and lights, but the vendors here had very poor quality, overpriced items. Overall, the markets in Munich were really pretty, but I liked the vendors a lot more in Dresden and Nuremberg.

Lights leading to more Christmas markets in Munich.

One of my favorite spots to view Marienplatz from.