Goodbye 2010

Two much time has gone by since I posted anything on our blog, but I do have some good excuses. Quite a bit has happened in 3 1/2 months since my last post. The biggest 'adventure' of our lives came to an end as we moved back to the US after 22 months of living in the Netherlands. We've moved back to Katy, TX and our new house is absolutely beautiful. We are just about settled now after spending 2 of our first 7 weeks back in the US out of town! The best thing about being back has got to be the weather. The sun shines (most days) and it has been unseasonably warm, even by Houston standards. It seems we've missed a VERY cold winter in Europe and lots of snow. While it it certainly hard to get in the Christmas mood when it is 80 degrees outside, it certainly is better than riding the girls to day care on our bikes on the ice!!

Kaeli and I got to go to the Nutcracker ballet. We had a great time getting dressed up and going to the matinee. It brought back wonderful memories of when my mom used to take me to the Nutcracker in Tulsa.

Avery is our energetic one. I think she gets all that energy by zapping out of me and Bryan. She is absolutely the most adorable, most challenging 2-year old I know. She's stubborn, but gives the best snuggles!

I am looking forward to a year at work where I am not constantly looking over my shoulder. I'm going to keep looking to the future and build upon the successes that I have had over the past 2-3 years. I must admit that it is quite amazing (and a little humbling) to be 'the expert' in a company as big as Shell.

It's time to start the new year off with a clean slate. Bryan has a new job, we are joining a new Sunday School class (we will miss our old friends, but Bryan is going to teach in the new class). The girls are in a new school (and they're loving it). We have a new outlook on our family and on our lives now. Watch out, friends, we are going to be inviting you over often! Goodbye 2010, hello 2011!!!

Kaeli's First Day of F2 and Avery's Puzzles

Here are some adorable pics of the girls.

Kaeli started her 2nd year at the British School of the Netherlands. As you can guess from the picture, she wears a uniform. She is so darn cute! Her lead teacher this year is Irish, so we are hoping that her British accent comes back with a vengeance before we head back to Texas. Bet the real British princesses can't pull off a tiara with their school uniform like Kaeli!

Avery is still in day care and loving it. She moves upstairs to a new class about a month ago and seems to be enjoying the challenges of potty training with the older kids. She has mastered all of the 3+ puzzles in her classroom and at home (see picture). Her Dutch is flawless, so much so that we can't understand most of what she says, and Kaeli has to translate for us! The 2nd pic really captures her personality. We're in trouble!

Some pics of the girls playing together. They are getting much better at it and are becoming very good friends. We are very excited about this as it gives us a minute or two of 'free' time in the evenings. However, we must be careful as they are also beginning to conspire WITH each other. I know you wouldn't believe it from these two 'angelic' faces, but believe me, they are too smart for their own good!

Family Photos 2010

So, we got our family photos taken again this year by a friend from church, Krister Evenhouse (www.efg-design.nl). He is fantastic and always captures us being "us". This year, we went to the Rotterdam Zoo. It was great fun, and the pics turned out great! Below are a few 'teasers' and a link to the entire gallery (http://www.oypo.nl/1F665A8FFF4B1660). The password is 'avery', and there's a button at the top right for you to choose the British flag if you want things to be in English. As you might notice, it took a while for Avery to warm up to the camera. Unlike her big sister who was born to be Miss Photogenic.

We've been practicing on the girls' running form, but they still need some practice.

We even got a picture of me and Bryan. Ahhhh....

Sneak Peek of Vienna

OK, I know, I know. I don't blog near as much as you'd like me to, but I'm doing the best I can. You're lucky I get to blog at all with as busy as life is these days.

Anyway, we are currently in Vienna, Austria. It's our last European vacation before we move back to the US. I'll try to blog more about the trip later, but here's a sneak peek of the fun we had on Day #1:

Posing on the elephants at the Natural History Museum

Playing at the playground across the bridge from a gold statue of Johann Strauss

Me and the girls by the Cathedral and the Cathedral

CenterParcs

If any of you ever get to live in the Netherlands (or anywhere nearby) with little kids, you've got to take a vacation to CenterParcs. We took the girls last week (or maybe the week before, I don't really remember now). It was a blast!! Unfortunately, we don't have any pictures of the most fun part, the AquaMundo (or indoor water park) because we were too afraid we'd get our camera wet or stolen! But here are some great pics of the girls and all of the activities. Kaeli got to pretend to be a 'fire girl' and a 'princess'. We went with some of our good friends from Poland (Wojtek is in Kaeli's class at school), so that kept the kids entertained and gave us some adult conversation. I just realized that I did not take a picture of our cottage which had 3 rooms and a full kitchen with a back porch that overlooked a playground and lake. Needless to say, Bryan and I were exhausted by the end of the week. We went Monday - Friday then took it easy on Saturday and Sunday at home. I was so relaxed by Sunday that my blood pressure dropped and I was dizzy for two days. I was back to work on Monday and by Tuesday my blood pressure was back up to 'normal'. Enjoy the pictures! No, there are none of me. Guess I took all of the pictures!

My New Anthem - from the lyrics of "For the Moments I Feel Faint" - Reliant K

"For The Moments I Feel Faint"

Am I at the point of no improvement?
What of the death I still dwell in?
I try to excel, but I feel no movement.
Can I be free of this unreleasable sin?

[Chorus:]
Never underestimate my Jesus.
You're telling me that there's no hope.
I'm telling you you're wrong.

Never underestimate my Jesus
When the world around you crumbles
He will be strong, He will be strong

I throw up my hands
"Oh, the impossibilities"
Frustrated and tired
Where do I go from here?
Now I'm searching for the confidence I've lost so willingly
Overcoming these obstacles is overcoming my fear

[Chorus]

I think I can't, I think I can't
But I think you can, I think you can
I think I can't, I think I can't
But I think you can, I think you can
Gather my insufficiencies and
place them in your hands, place them in your hands, place them in your hands

Queen's Day

There is a tradition here in the Netherlands to throw a huge party for the Queen's Birthday on April 30th. Actually, the current queen whose birthday is actually in January, chose to keep 'Konninginedag' celebration on April 30th, her mother's birthday, so that the weather would be nicer for all of the outdoor celebrations that typically take place. So, technically, the Dutch celebrate the queen's birthday on the dead queen's actual birthday. STRANGE!

The story goes that the night before Queen's Day historically brought on alot of rioting, so to combat this, the royal family decided to also celebrate Konninginenach (Queen's Night), the night prior to Queen's Day by throwing a parties throughout the Hague. Surprisingly, this actually worked and now the night before Queen's Day is also a big party. Unfortunately, with two little kids, it's difficult to celebrate this as all of the babysitters are out partying too!

The biggest party on Queen's Day is actually in Amsterdam, which I've heard is a sight to be seen with a HUGE parade along the canals and total chaos. We chose the more family-friendly celebrations in the Hague.

Anyway, we decided to celebrate in true Dutch style this year by hanging out with our Dutch friends, the Grisnigt's, from Kaeli & Avery's old day care. Looking back, it's quite amazing that we are still friends with them. Kaeli and Judith were fast friends, but we arrived in January and Judith turned 4 in April (at which point she left the day care and went to school). In 4 months only, Kaeli wanted to spend more time with Judith and truly missed her little friend when she left for school. Now, we still got to see Judith and her sister, Dianthe, at day care since Dianthe was in the class between Kaeli & Avery, but when we moved day cares in September, I was afraid our friendship would end as well. Luckily, it has not and we continue to get together with the Grisnigt family at least once a month! And I digress....

So, to get back to the point, we all got dressed up in orange (the color of the royal family) and headed off on our bikes to a children's carnival just across the street from our friends house. It rained nearly all day, but not before we get to participate in a little parade. Then birthday party at the Grisnigt's, then back out to the party to see the orange blowup cow, orange tiger, and bouncy castle, which had rain gathered in the top of it which ended up all over Kaeli. Bummer! Rain pulled up enough to let us ride home on our bikes without getting totally drenched. We had a ball! Happy Birthday, Beatrix!

The parade!

The birthday girl!

How cute is this! Bryan in pigtails!!

The orange blow-up cow!

Avery Turns 2

After our trip to Berlin (see previous post from this evening), I had to go on a business trip to Atyrau, Kazakhstan. Not much to do in the middle of nowhere KZ, but I did get to come home to prepare for Avery's 2nd birthday.

We had a great little party with our Dutch friends and our Polish friends. Pulled out the blow up bouncy we bought for Kaeli's 2nd birthday party. Had a fantastic cake that Grandma made before she flew home. It was a very nice little party and we all enjoyed ourselves.

Then, on her actual birthday, I took cupcakes to her class at day care. No, I didn't make these myself, but I wish I had, they were delicious!! Happy Birthday, Princess Avery!!!

Another month, finally a day to blog

I really can't believe it's been another month since I last posted on our blog. So much has happened and I have had many blog posts in my head, but they've never made it to the computer. I've either chosen to take a Sat or Sun afternoon nap over blogging, or Bryan was on the computer, or there were more important things to do (spend quality time with the girls and Bryan, do laundry, clean house, catch up on e-mail, househunt, and update my status on Facebook). Oh well, girls are now in bed, Bryan is at dinner with friends, and I just spent a little over an hour folding this week's laundry. Time to catch up...

Paris:

Bryan's parents came over for a couple of weeks around Easter during his Dad's Spring Break. It was a whirlwind two weeks. They arrived on Sunday and spent the first couple of nights with us, then left on Wednesday for two nights in Paris (last summer when they came to visit, they never left the Netherlands, so it was nice that they decided to venture out a little this time since it may be their last). On Saturday morning, Bryan and I woke up early and headed off for two nights in Paris ourselves. We didn't take the camera because we ran out of room in our two backpacks, but we did get a disposable camera and took some fun pictures. Unfortunately, Bryan's mom took off with the camera and now we have to wait to see them and they will likely not be digital. Sorry, friends, you will have to believe me when I write that we had a wonderful time! Who wouldn't enjoy Paris with the man (or woman) they love!? We walked alot and rode around on a double bus taking in all of the sights. We ate 2-hour French lunches (we even outlasted several French tables!). We got to see the Eiffel Tower lit up at night from the roof of our hotel. And we got some much needed alone time, which included 11 hours of sleep both nights!! It was fantastic!

Berlin:

Anyway, got back to the Hague on Monday and on Tuesday morning we all got up, got dressed and packed and out the door for a nice long drive to Berlin, Germany. What should have taken 6 hours took 9 because we had to stop 3 times and each time took about an hour. Oh well, at least we didn't get stuck in the horrible traffic going the other way! We went to the Berlin Zoo (Avery's new favorite word is 'monkey' and she makes the cutest monkey sounds) and Legoland Discover Center (the highlight here was Mommy, Daddy, and Kaeli making Easter bunnies out of legos together). Bryan and his dad went on a walking tour while me and Avery took a nap and Grandma and Kaeli 'rested'. We spent each evening at the swimming pool at the hotel. Bryan complained that the water was too cold, but at least he was braver than his dad who never actually got in the water. Very difficult to do when you are watching two little fish who want to swim on their own! Here are some pictures...

Signs of Spring, Just Kidding!

Here's the second post of the evening...

I took these pictures earlier this week because the sun was out and the weather had warmed up a little (40 F!), these flowers popped up in our yard and I was starting to think Spring had sprung...

Got up this morning and looked outside the window to see MORE SNOW! Seriously. It was 28F yesterday morning when we went to church, and I'm sure it was at least that cold this morning. Here's what Avery looked like when we walked out to door to ride our bike to day care. Gotta love the Netherlands!