Fun with my Sister

My sister Kara, her husband, Sam and her friend, Shelli, came to visit for a week. They arrived the night before Jessica and Tina left so it was fun to have so much family here at once.

Kara, Sam, Shelli and I spent the next couple of days seeing various sites and just enjoying being together. We went to the Wine Museum where Kara shared her knowledge of how wine is made and some of the important things to know about wine - from the type of soil and climate to the pros and cons of cork vs. plastic stoppers. A lot of the things she told us about went over my head but I learned a lot anyway.
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The next day we went into Amsterdam. The tabloid headlines were all about the death of Michael Jackson. It was pretty entertaining to see all the different pictures that each paper chose to print.
We had a nice day in Amsterdam. Each time we go, I see lots more places than I've seen before. This time we did the hop-on, hop-off, canal boat tour and that was a very relaxing way to get from place to place - although not very time efficient. We did the normal - Rijks Museum and the Anne Frank House but we also saw the red light district on a Friday night. We just forgot to take a picture of Sam there. Sorry Sam.

We ate at some great resturaunts and tried many new and different things. It was always so much easier when Dennis was with us because he had a clue what some of the local things were and could also translate for us. I sat down to eat at more sidewalk cafes this week than any other time I've been here - thanks in part to the weather and thanks in part to Kara and Sam who believe in refilling the body's fuel tanks on a regulat basis. It was really nice to sit and relax for a bit in the middle of all the sight seeing and traveling.

They took off for a couple of days so that Elder Allred (who spent Halloween and Thanksgiving with us while serving in the Arnhem ward) and his mother could come and visit the area. We were also able to have Elders Chlarson (from Millville) and Ramussen (from Fillmore) come to dinner on Monday night. They had just moved in with our ward missionaries from Nijmegen which is getting closed out.) I came down with a pretty nasty cold, but thanks to Dennis who did all the cooking and entertaining on Sunday, all went well and we were able to enjoy all our visitors.


Thanks Kara for being a wonderful sister. You are such a sweetheart! It was fun to be able to share a little taste of our experience here with you and to just be able to spend time together.

Brugge 2009

Yesterday, Jessica and I went to Belgium with the Smith family. Geoff served most of his mission in Belgium so we got to see some of the cities he served in and the places he lived. It rained all morning as we drove to the various cities were he served. By the time we got to Brugge, our site seeing destination for the day, it had stopped raining but it was still cloudy.

One of the places were Geoff lived.

One of the things I love about Europe is that there are all kinds of old churches and great architecture that is tucked in with all the other building around. You are driving down a seemingly normal business street and all the sudden there is a beautiful church or castle.

The Smith family planning our day in Brugge. (Garrett is off taking pictures around the town square.)
Garrett, Becca, Jessica and Jamie outside a Choclatier looking at all the scrumptious chocolates.

Peggy is ready to see the sites.
It was so wonderful to get to see a beautiful city with a great friend!

This is probably the only place in Bruges where you don't have to pay to see a famous and rare piece of artwork. The marble statue of Madonna by Michelangelo at the right wing of the Church of Our Lady. The Madonna is the only Michelangelo sculpture that can be found in Benelux and the only artwork that has left Italy when the artist was alive. Originally made for the cathedral of Sienna, it was later bought by two merchants from Bruges (Jan and Alexander Moscroen) who apparently had lots of spare change.


The Cathedral also had beautiful stained glass windows, an amazingly intricately carved wooden dais and beautiful arched ceilings.

This lacemaker was sitting in the doorway of her home working with her bobbins and making beautifully delicate lace. She sold a few small items there from her home.
You have just got to love the canals of Belgium and Holland. They add such a romantic ambiance to the area. We didn't take a boat ride this year but we recalled with fond memories the sites and experience we had last year when Ivan was our tourguide and we did the canal tour.

The Smith family at the canal. So cute.

Yeah for mothers and daughters and time spent together. We had a wonderful day!

Fun with family and Friends

Our month of fun with friends and family began on Sunday with the arrival of Jessica and Tina followed by the Smith family and Kevin Mullen. We had a great evening with all of them and some friends from here.

Arrival at the Dusseldorf airport. (June 7)

Everyone visited and we sang some Dutch and American songs.

On Monday morning, Jessica and Tina took off with the Smith family to head to Austria. They had a great time. This picture was taken at the Cathedral in Cologne (Koln).

The Big Birthday Celebration

I recently celebrated my 50th birthday, which is a big thing here. I told Dennis and Alyna that I really didn't want the whole Dutch thing, with the dummy in front of the house and signs and banners all across the front. Of course they didn't listen to me and went ahead and planned a nice party. When a person celebrates a 50th birthday here, they say that they have "seen Abraham" or "seen Sarah". Something about being old and wise.The "dummy" that is put in front of the house is suppose to indicate the person's talents or interests. I guess Alyna and Dennis worked on my dummy a week before and did a good job of keeping it hidden until the day of.

I spent the morning at the market in Arnhem while Dennis was at work and Alyna was at youth conference. It is always an interesting adventure to go to the market and so I had fun. The textile stalls are really interesting - lots of different kinds of fabrics and expecially a lot of elaborate silk type fabrics for the plethera of Middle Eastern women in the area. I bought some quilt fabric and batting and a bag to carry it all home in.

That evening we had a bunch of neighbors and ward members come by. We had lots of food and drinks and it was nice to sit and visit with people for a while. I had never met some of the neighbors so it was fun to finally get a name and a face put together. After we cleaned up from the party, Dennis brought the "dummy" in and put her on the couch. We laughed and laughed because she looked so wiped out - much more like me than the version of her sitting out in the chair.

A Busy Month

This past month has been full of so many fun and interesting experiences. I'll briefly highlight them and then if time permits, I will add some more thoughts and details.

Ralph and Lola visit us in Holland. It was wonderful to have them here!!


Alyna's 16th birthday.

It's not very exciting with just Mom and Dad to celebrate with.
It's hard to stay sad when you get some fun shoes and cute clothes.

Fun with missionaries.

Elder Delpais, Elder Wells and Elder Bell - we got to take them to dinner!We spent the day with Elder Van der Stek and Elder Black and Lydia as we traveled to the volleyball tournament and spent the day in Gronningen.

The Church All-Nederlands volleyball tournament.
All the wards in Holland as well as some from Belgium and Germany came for the day. Our youth took second place. Alyna was not happy to be there but it was an interesting day.

Diane Siegfried and sister Kay came to visit.
We visited Keukenhof and Amsterdam and had such a fun time. It was sad to see them leave.

Fly home
On our international leg of the trip, Dennis got "bumped" to first class and let me have his seat.
He/It was so sweet!

Junior Prom

The shoes were a little tricky to get into around all that dress.

Brandon Netzly and Alyna all ready to go. So cute.

Lisa's Bridal shower
Carol, Peggy and Michelle were sweet enough to host a shower for Lisa at a time I could be home to attend. What great friends!
Emily, Michelle, Kimberly and Nedra at the shower.
It was a lot of fun to see a lot of Lisa's good friends and catch up on what they are doing.
They are all so darling.

Mindy and Jeran, Kara and Lori arrive in Providence.
A happy reunion.

Peggy, Trish, and Cheryl brought us lunch before the Providence reception.
It was a nice moment to sit and visit before all the fun of the next few days.

Lisa and Cameron get married (along with all the related festivities.)
Lisa and Cameron at the Manti Temple.
The happy couple with the proud parents.
Both families.

Dennis, Alyna and I fly to Madrid.
Dennis and Alyna enjoyed playing a game on the subway where you can't hold onto anything and you can't move your feet. Dennis eventually won.

Our first view of the temple as we arrived.
The city of Toledo - made me want to sing songs from Man of La Mancha the whole time.

It was so nice to visit with our friends, Garry and Lanell Moore. They are currently serving as temple president and matron of the Madrid temple. They were wonderful hosts.
Alyna in front of the Royal Palace. We were not able to go in because the King was greeting the International Olympic Committee as Madrid is bidding for the 2016 Olympics. There was lots of police activity going on around the palace and even sniper guys up on the roof. All very interesting.

After seeing this, I wasn't sad that we didn't get to see any bull fights.
In the park, there were all these interesting statues. This was the one I though best represented Alyna. She is a good learner and has a big heart. She has a very orange personality - at least if you believe facebook which says she is yellow or red, depending on the test. At least she is always lively and ready for fun. She loved being in a big city park at night with all the night life.

One of many monuments in the park.

Flamenco dancing. Very Spanish!

Being "home"
We had a wonderful couple of weeks but it was so nice to get back to our peaceful home.