Home

After a very smooth but long journey, we made it home safely last night. Mindy was at the airport to meet us and it was wonderful to get to see her again. We were able to stop in and see my parents on the way home. They even had some dinner waiting for us which was much appreciated and enjoyed! (Mom's cooking - the BEST! Hot and hearty soup, fresh rolls, chocolate cake!! It was yummy.)

We arrived home at about 10 PM and were greeted first by Alyna's friends. They had been standing out on the sidewalk, for I don't know how long, in the 20 degree weather. Now that's true friends. It didn't take Alyna long to disappear to the cousins where a party was in progress. It's no wonder she loves being here!! She has so many wonderful friends, and she even gets to be related to some of them.

Andrew was also waiting and it was so great to see him. Less than a week and he'll be a married man!! Wow, my baby boy is all grown up. I am so excited for him and Lindsay. They will be wonderful together.



The house looked great! Lisa had come up on Wednesday and she and Andrew worked hard to change it from it's frat house condition to a home that will be ready for all the activities and guests of the week. It looked great and I so appreciate their hard work and willingness to have things ready for us. THANKS KIDS! Mindy, Alyna and I are going to do some work this week to get our stuff out of the office and upstairs kitchen so that Lindsay and Andrew can have their own little "apartment" to decorate and do as they please once they get back and settle down.

I am so happy for the chance to see and be with all my kids, their spouses and fiances. What a lot of great memories to be made in such a short time. It is also wonderful to have a chance to see all our extended families and friends. I certainly appreciate all their support and love. It certainly makes these big events in our lives a lot more fun when surrounded by those we love and who mean so much to us.

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This is my favorite view from my kitchen window. We will have several opportunities to be in the Logan temple this week. Wonderful!!

A Good Thought

I expect to pass through this world but once; any good thing therefore that I can do, or any kindness that I can show to any fellow creature, let me do it now; let me not defer or neglect it, for I shall not pass this way again. --Etienne de Grellet


This quote came up on my "good living" message today and I thought it was really good. I need this reminder and motivation. We have a neighbor whom I have been introduced to once when we first moved here. We never see them come or go from their house and I don't think either the husband or the wife speak any or much English. We have heard that the wife has cancer and is not responding to chemo well. I saw a home oxygen system delivered the other day and there are other, professional looking people coming and going, (Doctors make house calls here if you are too sick to go to them but don't need to be in the hospital.) I would like to do something for this lady, but I don't know what or how. I probably need to talk to some other Dutch people to see what would be appropriate in this situation and see if I can find out more about her circumstances.

Small words of kindness are a wonderful way to brighten a day. When we were in Germany, I needed to use the WC. The attendant was a young black girl and as I went in I heard her singing. She had a beautiful voice and I complimented her on it. I didn't think that she would understand me, as most Germans don't speak English, but I think I was able to convey my thoughts because she got the biggest grin on her face. It was really cute.

What a Sweetheart!

Today, Dennis took Alyna, a friend and me shopping all day. I've been wanting to go to Oberhausen Germany to shop at a big mall to see what I could find to wear for all weddings. So this morning bright and early we got up and drove to Germany. We went to Koln (Colonge). Schildergasse is reported to be the biggest and busiest shopping street in Europe. It had a lot stores we have become familiar with but also a lot of new and interesting ones we explored. The window displays were quite interesting. At the H&M store, the mens display made me laugh. Rolled up pants, sweater and shirt tucked into slacks and just the whole color, style thing was enough to make me stop and take a picture.



We looked at most every shoe store for the perfect shoes for Lisa to wear for her wedding. (That was a great excuse for looking at shoes. Thanks, Lisa.) We found lots that we would have loved to buy but Alyna and I really don't need many more shoes right now.



We did find some cute outfits but the price tag on most of them were enough to discourage us from even trying them on.


After an hour of two of shopping it was time to eat. I'm sure Dennis would have chosen something a little more authentic but the girls voted for Burger King and so that's where we had lunch.

We then drove into Dusseldorf and shopped at a big grocery store there. We decided to still go check out the mall since we were only about 15-20 minutes away at that point. It was a HUGE, two story place. We set up a meeting time and place so everyone could go browse and shop to their hearts content. It was super crowded and sometimes the lines to the dressing rooms and check stands were so long that even if I found something I liked, I wasn't willing to wait. After all, we only had 45 minutes to look around. When we met back after 45r minutes, we begged another half hour and I think by the end of that time we all left happy. I would love to to back on a weekday when it isn't so busy but I really apprecaited Dennis' being willing to spend the day doing what we wanted to do.

What a Sweetheart! He does so many things to make me happy and make my life easier. I love him so much!

I Need to be More Thankful for the Little Things

I was planning on posting a blog tomorrow when I was a little more alert and had more time but I decided I wanted to post something I had been thinking about this morning. I got up at about 6:30 and was amazed. I hadn't had to get up to go to the bathroom during the night. That's when I realized there are a lot of little things that I need to be more grateful for. Here's some of the others I thought of:

Waking up in the morning with no pain.
Figuring out something to have for dinner and having all the ingredients.
Fixing a meal that everyone will eat. (Someone is getting a little better at eating though.)
Creating something and being pleased and proud of how it turned out.
Being able to mentally remember a two or three item list of things to do and getting them done.
Making a bed and having it look good. (Down comforters are just so hard to make look neat and crisp. They always look sloppy and lumpy.)
Having toes and fingers stay warm when visiting a Dutch home. (Many people keep their homes at about 65 degrees - or so it seems!)
Having skype and being able to talk to family and friends!!!!!
Having three computers in our homes so we can talk and work and play to our hearts content.
Being able to watch American TV shows here - thanks to the internet. Psych and American Idol are my favorites.
Having a smaller house to keep clean.
Having a lot less junk to try to keep organized. (I'm collecting stuff faster than I'd like to admit though.)
Not being able to speak or read the language much. (I'm beginning to learn that there are lots of sad things that happen even in our nice little village - and here I thought we were living in such a safe and happy little world.)
Days when I get on the scale and don't moan at the numbers that appear.


I'm sure I could go on and on but I'm finding it hard to keep my eyes open and my fingers typing the right keys.