White Christmas

We awoke to an unexpected sight this morning. Everything was covered with snow! Even though it stays very cold here during the winter, it rarely snows. And since we don't watch the local news (we couldn't understand it if we did), we did not expect the weather that blew our way. It started snowing very lightly about noon on Wednesday, but then it stopped a few hours later. I thought that was all we were going to get. It gets dark here by 5pm and all the stores also close around that same time, so after school and work, we really don't see what is going on outside. Apparently it snowed all night! Traffic was very slow this morning since this is not common and therefore most people here are not used to driving on snow covered roads. But that is relative I guess, because there really is very little traffic here anyway since the majority of the locals ride their bicycles everywhere, even in the snow! However, many people where walking their bikes today instead of riding them.

Justin loves the snow and he told me that Bruiser (his puppy dog) likes it too! The pictures below are of the pond next to our house that is almost frozen over. The first picture is Wednesday morning and the second one is Thursday morning after all the snow.




Our street and the view from front of our house

A Beautiful Angel....

Lauren and I were making Christmas cookies together the other afternoon. I told Lauren that my favorite ones to make were the Christmas trees and stars. Lauren said "I like the angels because they remind me of how much God loves me." Oh how I love her!!! And speaking of angels...

Yesterday evening was the Christmas program at Lauren's school. The students' practicing and preparing was obvious and they did amazing. Of course, I was partial to the beautiful Angel! Lauren makes me proud everyday, but I think last night was one of my proudest moments as a mother so far. Lauren's class program was titled "The Sleepy Shepard". She was the angel and the only student in her class' program with a solo. Watching her on the stage I could not have stopped smiling if my life depended on it and I had tears in my eyes at the same time. I always call her my angel girl and she was the perfect angel last night. She was so poised and quite the performer, which doesn't surprise me since we see her putting on some type of performance everyday at home.

On another proud note, Lauren received the Head Teacher's Writer's Award this term for her class. Also, at our parent-teacher meeting for this term, Lauren's teacher had nothing but wonderful things to say. We really love the school and teachers and are so proud of how great Lauren is doing.

Silly Justin

Justin entertained himself with his stickers this afternoon.

Dag Sinterklaas!

Tonight was the big Sinterklaas celebration and the end of the treats. One of the families from Lauren's school threw a big party for all the families of the school with an appearance from the "real" Sinterklaas, or at least the real one of Assen. A great time was had by all and it was wonderful for them to open their home up to all of us. The evening started with entertainment by a clown for the children until it was time for Sinterklaas to arrive. Then it was singing, joking and presents for all. Lauren got to sit on Sinterklaas' lap for a long time while the Zwarte Pieten were making jokes and doing magic and she really liked that. Justin received a Dutch bus and Lauren received a Littlest Pet Shop Set and they were both extremely pleased.

After a great evening of partying, we came home and the kids were getting ready for bed when the doorbell rang. Outside the door was a sac of presents from Sinterklaas and the kids were ecstatic. Tomorrow Sinterklaas will get back on his boat and travel back to Spain until next year. This is another Dutch tradition that the kids have really enjoyed.

I am so thankful for.....

...my faith, my family, my friends, and my health.

I am thankful for Jason, an amazing husband and best friend. I am thankful for the love and support he gives me everyday.

I am thankful for Lauren and Justin who fill each of my days with smiles, giggles, hugs and kisses. They make my heart overflow with joy and love everytime I look at them. I am thankful for their health and happiness.

I am thankful that I have a wonderful family of parents, grandparents, siblings, nieces, nephews, aunts, uncles, and cousins that all truly love each other and know the true meaning of family.

I am thankful for our friends who are there for us whether we are next door or across the ocean.

Thank you Lord for my life and everyone who enters it and shares a part of themselves with me.

Josh Groban is one of my favorite singers and "Thankful" is one of my favorite songs. To those of you reading this, thank you for being in my life. Happy Thanksgiving!

Sinterklaas and Zwarte Piet

Let me start off by saying the following pictures may be offensive to some, but apparently not to the dutch. This is definitely a tradition that would not be accepted in America without a little tweeking. However, we had a lot of fun joining in the festivities!

And the story goes....
In Netherlands they celebrate Sinterklaas, the patron saint of children. He arrives each year in mid-November by steamboat from Spain. He is then paraded through the streets, welcomed by cheering and singing children. His Zwarte Piet assistants throw candy and small, round, ginger bread-like cookies, either "kruidnoten" or "pepernoten," into the crowd. The children welcome him by singing traditional Sinterklaas songs.

Sinterklaas carries a big book that tells whether each individual child has been good or naughty in the past year. He is said to be very rich, he lives in a castle in Spain, and likes to give presents on his birthday rather than receive them. He traditionally rides a white horse named Amerigo.

Now this is where it gets a little questionable....
Black Pete (Zwarte Piet) is Sinterklaas’ helper. According to tradition, there are many Zwarte Pieten who all have their own specialization (much like the smurfs). There is a Zwarte Piet for writing the poetry that accompanies Sinterklaas presents, one that bakes, one to care for Sinterklaas' horse, one for everything you can think of. There is also always one Luie Piet (Lazy Pete) or Domme Piet (Stupid Pete). These are people dressed in bright medievel costumes with their faces painted black (never in America!). The explanation parents these days give to kids as to why Zwarte Piet is black is because he climbs down dirty chimneys to put presents and candy in kids shoes.

In the weeks between his arrival and December 5, before going to bed children put their shoes next to the fireplace chimney with a carrot or some hay in it and a bowl of water "for Sinterklaas' horse," and sing a Sinterklaas song; the next day they will find some candy or a small present in their shoes, supposedly thrown down the chimney by a Zwarte Piet or Sinterklaas himself. On the evening of December 5 Sinterklaas delivers a sack full of presents. Presents are often accompanied by a simple poem, saying something about the child or containing a hint to the nature of the present. Sinterklaas often uses these poems to reprimand and tease children about bad habits or behavior.

So...
We went to the town center today and joined in the festivities which included a lot of singing, dancing, and about a hundred Zwarte Pieten running around dancing and passing out pepernoten to all the children. Before the kids went to bed this evening they put their shoes by the fireplace and sang a Sinterklaas song in hopes that they will wake up with a treat in their shoe in the morning. We shall see!

Happy Sint Maarten!

Today is Sint Maarten Day. In northern Netherlands this means that once it is dark, the children go from house to house carrying a lantern and singing songs and they are rewarded with candy to put in their backpack. Similar to Halloween, but no costumes.

From Wikipedia:

St. Martin's Day (or Martinstag or Martinmas) is November 11, the feast day of Martin of Tours, who started out as a Roman soldier. He was baptized as an adult and became a monk. It is understood that he was a kind man who led a quiet and simple life. The most famous legend of his life is that he once cut his cloak in half to share with a beggar during a snowstorm, to save the beggar from dying of the cold. That night he dreamed that Jesus was wearing the half-cloak Martin had given away. Martin heard Jesus say to the angels: "Here is Martin, the Roman soldier who is not baptised; he has clothed me."

All the children at Lauren's school made lanterns (lampions) and learned 3 different songs to sing. Justin and I also made a lantern for him at Mums and Tots. Lauren's best friend from school and her younger brother came over and once it was dark the kids put on their jackets and backpacks and headed out carrying their lanterns. The street we live on is all expats and several of the children from school are our neighbors. As we progressed along the street, our group grew in size as the other children joined us. They all sang beautifully and were rewarded with plenty of candy! Even Justin joined in and quickly caught on to what was happening. He was running from house to house keeping up with the bigger kids and he made sure he got his candy before he left each house. The kids had a lot of fun joining in this local tradition.

Family Trip to the Alps

Lauren had a half term break at her school so we spent that week on an eight day road trip through Germany, Switzerland and Austria. We left Friday when Lauren got out of school and we drove to Heidelberg, Germany. The next morning we toured the castle ruins there and explored the town a little.

From there we made our way to the Black Forest High Road (scenic drive) and drove to Triberg in the middle of the Black Forest were we stayed the next night. This area is know for its cuckoo clocks, so of course we bought one! I don't think we will take it out of the box until we move back to Houston. We just don't trust Justin too much around it. It would be very tempting to play with. In Triberg we hiked to the Gutach Waterfalls and ate some yummy Black Forest Cake.

We then drove to Switzerland, stopping near the border to view the Rhine Falls. After enjoying that we drove to the Lake Luzern area were we spent the next two nights. This is at the foot of the Swiss Alps and some of the most beautiful land we have ever seen. The lakes are amazing and there are sheep and cows wearing bells on all the hillsides. We rode a cable car and train to the top of Mt. Rigi where you can see several lakes and mountains for miles. It was amazing, and also cold with a lot of snow. At the peak we were above the clouds and the sky was clear blue. The tops of the mountains were covered in snow and then it suddenly changed to green lush vegetation, so beautiful. We also toured the town of Luzern and bought a Swiss watch and Swiss army knife.

From Luzern we headed back to Germany. On the way we stopped in Liechtenstein (the smallest German speaking country in the world, only 61.7 square miles) and had our passports stamped. After that brief stop we drove to Hohenschwangau, Germany where King Ludwig's castles are located. That was such an amazing little place. Our hotel room had a balcony with a view to the castle which was King Ludwig's childhood home (Hohenschwangau). At the end of the road was the most serene lake, Lake Alpsee. The water was so clear and it was surrounded by the mountains. I think it is possibly the most peaceful place I have ever been. It was loved by the whole family and none of us wanted to leave. After staying the night there, we spent the next morning touring Hohenschwangau and Neuschwanstein Castles.

We then drove to Oberammergau, Germany. This charming town is know for its painted buildings and the passion play that is performed there every ten years. We spent a couple of hours here walking around and getting some yummy icecream. From there we drove to Innsbruck, Austria where we stayed the night. After seeing the sights in Innsbruck, we drove to Salzburg, Austria where we spent our last night of the road trip.

I think Salzburg was my favorite city of the trip. I loved the squares and the narrow streets lined with shops. My main interest for visiting Salzburg is that it was the primary filming location for one of my favorite movies, The Sound of Music. So, of course we tried to visit most of the monuments that were featured in the movie.

At this point in our trip we were all exhausted and ready to get home. We left Salzburg about 3 in the afternoon and Jason drove us all the way home. We arrived home about 2 am and all got a peaceful nights sleep in our own beds, aahhh. We all had a great time and saw the most beautifully amazing scenery. We have some great memories!

Heidelberg and the Black Forest in Germany
Luzern, Switzerland

Liechtenstein, Hohenschwangau and Oberammergau in Germany

Innsbruck and Salzburg in Austria

Road Trip Ramblings

We just spent 8 days driving through Germany, Switzerland and Austria and arrived home in the wee morning hours of Saturday. We had a wonderful family road trip and of course have many great memories, some quite amusing. I will post pictures soon but first just wanted to share a few stories.

Most of our time on the road was spent in Germany on the autobahn which for most areas has no speed limit. We were traveling in our Toyota Corolla that we shipped over here when we moved, so we were quite packed in. Having no speed limit, Jason tried to drive as fast as he felt comfortable going, which in our car was usually around 80 mph. I think he maxed out at 90 mph, at which time he was gripping the steering wheel tightly with both hands. The best thing was that when we felt we were going pretty fast, we saw a Smart car fly past us, and that happened more than once. How embarrassing!!!

Spending a lot of the time in the car also meant that Lauren had a lot of time to think, and thinking for her means her imagination goes wild and she loves to create her little fantasy world that she and her stuffed puppies play in. The most repeated phrase of the trip was, "Momma, do you know what?" I think I heard that a minimum of 100 times and after each time I heard a new detail of her fantasy world or her magical powers. In her world she is married to one of her stuffed puppies, Blackie (he is a rottweiler), and they have 4 babies; Annalissa (from Shane), Max (from Will), Bella and Brownie, of course in her imagination they are people, not puppies.

The way she acts we often say she is 5 going on 16, but with the stories she was telling us on the trip she was more like 5 going on 30. One time she told us that her husband turned the music up loud and came to see her when she was busy working in the kitchen and he wanted her to dance with him and she said your crazy I have too much to do. We both started laughing because it sounded all too familar. She also told us that her husband was acting really bad and she told him that he was going to have to go outside and sleep with the dogs if he kept it up. Where does she get this stuff??? I think at one point she talked for 2 hours straight.

I now have such a deeper appreciation for my aunts and the road trips they took us on when I was a kid. I also now understand why it was suggested we play the quiet game and why we were challenged to go 5 minutes without saying what, why, when, where or how. Thank you to my aunts for putting up with us!

Also, can anyone explain this to me. During our trip we saw a lot of Asian tourists and many of them wanted to take pictures with Lauren and Justin and they would take turns posing with them. Why??? Is it the blond hair, fair skin, or just that our kids are so darn cute? I will have to google it.

We had an amazing time and I will post pictures for all to see soon. I hope everyon is having a wonderful autumn!

Spreekt u Engels?

Today I had a very amusing experience at my Mums and Tots group here in the Netherlands. The mums in the group come from all over the world including Australia, Germany, England, Romania, Netherlands, Croatia, Trinidad, Ireland and maybe a few other places. It is quite a diverse group but everyone speaks at least a little English. Today one of the mums brought a snack that had goat cheese on it from Norway. Two of the women from Romania couldn't understand what animal we were talking about, thinking we were talking about sheep. So imagine a room full of women making animal sounds trying to mimic a goat. We meet at Lauren's school in the language room where they have Dutch and French lessons so we finally thought to look at the posters on the wall and found one of the different animals and we were able to find a goat. It is always very interesting to go to Mums and Tots because all the mums are speaking their native language to their own child. It is also very neat to get a glimpse into different cultures but also see how much alike we all are!

Oktoberfest

Dawn has requested that I (Jason) make an appearance on the blog to add my experience at Oktoberfest in München, Deutschland. Writing is one of my least favorite activities, so bear with me.

The first thing I noticed when I downloaded the pictures from the camera was that out of 100+ pictures, I managed to take one picture of the city of Munich, the remainder revolve around the general ‘festiveness’ of Oktoberfest.

Friday: Flew into Munich from Amsterdam, met up with a couple former coworkers and a few new faces, all in all six of us descended on Munich for two nights. After checking in to the Le Meridien hotel we ventured over to the fairgrounds at about 3:30PM and what luck, we were able to walk right into the Fischer-Vroni tent and get a table. (Fischer-Vroni Tent, 2,695-seat capacity, Augustiner Beer). I wish I had a picture of the food, because it was fantastic, we had pork shoulders, ½ chickens, fish, and duck, what a smorgasbord of food, oh and a beer or two…The night ended fairly early with grand plans of rising at 7:00 to be first in line at the tents on Saturday.

Saturday – Arrived at the Löwenbräu tent at 8:30AM and joined the masses waiting until the doors opened at 9:00. At the entrance to the tent you are greeted by a huge automated lion that drinks beer, growls, and rubs his belly. We were told to get there early, apparently though 8:30 is not early enough because the tent was completely full by the time we made it through the doors. However we were lucky that the weather could not have been better and we found room for 6 at a table outside. One of the most impressive sights were the carrying capabilities of the beer girls, the one below was carrying 11-1 liter mugs of beer. (Löwenbräu Tent, 5,700 inside capacity, 2,800 outside capacity, Löwenbräu Beer)

We managed to keep our table until we finally called it a day at about 6:00. During that time we met Germans, Columbians, Canadians, many US Service men and women, and a few rowdy Italians. What a great time!

As you can imagine, starting the party that early can lead to some rather unpleasantness by early afternoon as you can see from Mr. Bunny below, this was taken at 6:30. However even with the overindulgence by some I was very surprised to see how friendly everyone was, no fights, just fun.

Sunday – Before flying out Sunday afternoon, we decided to take in the sights, walked to Mary’s Square (Marienplatz) in the center of Munich and ate breakfast. So I give you the one non-Oktoberfest picture. The ‘New’ City Hall, completed in 1909.

We had a great time and if there is a next time I will make sure that we make tent reservations well in advance.

Our Big Boy

Last Sunday evening Jason and I converted Justin's bed from a crib to a daybed. His first night in his big boy bed he woke up about 3 am and then slept intermittently until about 7 am. Not a very good night's sleep for any of us. However, since then he has slept in his bed on his usual schedule every night and for every nap. We just put a baby gate on his door. He may get up a few times and go to his door, but then he will close his bedroom door and get in his bed. I didn't think it would be that easy a transition but he has done awesome!

First night in big boy bed


Justin is growing up too fast! I haven't blogged about him lately but he amazes and amuses Jason and I everyday. He is talking so much and will repeat anything you say. He is able to tell us what he wants and doesn't want, and yes, he knows what he wants! Along with all this independence also comes some very good tantrums. He can scream, Lauren never did. He makes the silliest faces and has a smile that will light up a room. The moms at Lauren's school call him "Mr. Smiley" and he is popular with the students every time we are there. Lauren is an amazing big sister and he adores her. We are so blessed!

Days 5, 6, 7, and 8 of Summer Vacation - Disneyland Paris

Lauren had no idea that we were going to Disneyland, but she has been asking us when we could go there since we moved to the Netherlands. As you can tell from the video, she was very excited that we were there and decided to stay and finish the rest of our vacation.

We had a wonderful time, we all love Disney and would go every year if we had the chance. Disneyland Paris is a much smaller version of Disneyworld, sort of a sampling. However it was just right for the end of a trip. Lauren of course loved being with all the princesses. She was also quite the daredevil and rode almost everything she was tall enough for, including Big Thunder Mountain and Crushes Coaster, actually she rode them twice!

Justin adored Mickey from the first time he saw him. He loved all the characters and was not scared of them at all. He was also a fan of the rides, especially Dumbo the Flying Elephant, The Carpets of Agrabah, and the Mad Hatter's Tea Cups.

We spent 3 1/2 days and 3 nights at Disneyland and had a magically fantastic time. Once again, Disney doesn't disappoint. We are ready to go back to Disneyworld!

Disneyland Paris Day 1

Disneyland Paris Day 2

Disneyland Paris Day 3

Are you sure you are ready to go home?

Days 2, 3 and 4 of Summer Vacation - Paris and Versailles

Sorry it took so long for me to post this, but we took over 1000 pictures and I have been putting off going through them. We stayed in Paris for 3 nights. We spent two days touring all the sites in Paris and then the 3rd day we took a short drive to Versailles to visit the palace. Paris is a beautiful city with monuments, churches, museums and gardens everywhere you turn. The architecture is amazing and every building has such detail. We walked ourselves until we couldn't walk anymore, even Lauren. She was such a big girl with just a few meltdowns, but she recovered well.

We ended up at the Eiffel Tower every night and that was definitely the highlight of our trip. Lauren was constantly trying to see if she could see the Eiffel Tower from wherever we were in the city. We also loved picnicking. At this stage with Justin, it is just too much of a hassel to go to restaurants and deal with keeping him appeased. We really enjoyed just buying breads and meats at the little markets and then finding a park to eat in. It was fun for all and we were able to relax.

Versailles was massive with gardens that went on forever. We really did not get to explore them as much as we would have liked to. Even though it was beautiful and impressive for the time it was built, Jason and I both agreed that we like the Biltmore in North Carolina better. Maybe not much of a comparison since the Biltmore is much newer, but that is what it made us think of. We had a great time in Paris and Jason and I would love to go back just the two of us to see a few more sites that we didn't get a chance to visit.

Day 1 in Paris

Day 2 in Paris

Day 3 in Paris and Versailles

At the end of our three days in Paris, Lauren informed us that she was ready to go home and be done with the trip. We promised her that when we got to our next destination, she could decide whether or not she wanted to go home, it was up to her. So, off we went to..????