Culture Class and Moving Company

We had our culture class on Monday and Tuesday and a meeting with the movers on Monday. The class was great! Both days we had someone come in who is from the Netherlands and they spoke to us about what we should expect when we move there. We really got a lot of info!

Our meeting with the movers went well too. We have a certain amount of space to send our stuff by boat and by air and then space to store the rest. So, we had to go through the house and let them know where everything is to go. It will take them 3 days to pack and get everything out of the house.

Today I have been trying to figure out how to get an apostille stamp for all of our birth certificates and our marriage license. I guess it is a stamp the guarantees that the state registrar's signature is indeed his.

Next week we start our language classes on Tuesday and Thursday nights from 5:30-7:45 until we leave.

Our plane tickets have yet to be booked. We have to wait to make sure Matt's visa goes through without any delays. It shouldn't be much longer though.

Shane's Baptism

Shane was Baptised this past Sunday. Here he is with his God parents- His aunt Kate and Uncle Sean. He was a very good boy and he serenaded us with hiccups. Very cute!

Bank Account

I forgot to add that we have opened our bank account in Amsterdam. I more thing to check off the list!!

Passports and classes

Thanks for all of the comments! I love reading them!!

We took Kaylin to Walgreens again to get her photo taken and this time it only took 2 tries! I was so happy. They used a different screen and allowed me to sit on a chair and Kaylin stood on my lap. We dropped our paperwork off at the post office and have already received both Kaylin and Shane's passports...it only took about a week.

The moving company is coming over on Monday the 18th at 12:00 to talk to us about what we can take.

We have a culture class on Monday and Tuesday Aug 18-19 from 9-5.

Our language classes are going to be Tuesdays and Thursdays from 5:30-7:45. We will start on the 19 or the 26 and will continue taking them until we leave. We should find out tomorrow which day.

We found a dining room set about 2 weeks ago and it looks great! It will work out perfectly for our new home!

Picture Post

Here are a couple pics. They posted starting with the most recent. Next time I will try to post them in a better order.


Here is Kaylin mowing the lawn.














Driving the boat with grandpa

Shane enjoying his first boat ride

Playing with grandma

Mini Matt

Such a big boy- 2 month pic

A few of Shane's first smiles



















Fourth of July in Minoqua- it really was fun even if Kaylin and Shane don't look that excited!

Kaylin wearing mama's curlers.

Passports

On Saturday we attempted to apply for our passports. Matt already has his, I need mine renewed and we need to get one for Kaylin and Shane. We went to the Germantown Post office and because they are short staffed they were not accepting passports, but we picked up the paperwork and were told to call the Menomonee Falls post office to see if they could process our paperwork. Matt called them and set up an apt at 11:15 am (it was about 10:45) . He was told the only way they could help us was if we had our paperwork filled out and had our pics taken. So, we headed over to Walgreens to get our pics. It was not a very fun experience to say the least. My pic was taken, they laid Shane on a white board and took his- he had to have his eyes open and had to be looking at the camera and then came Kaylin...after 20 min we decided to come back another time. She wouldn't sit still for anything. The pictures have to be absolutely perfect in order to be processed. So, we had to cancel our apt at the post office and will try again soon! I was really hoping to have crossed that off of the list this weekend! If we could have held her it wouldn't have been a problem, but everyone has to be in front of a white background. Oh well!

We had an open house today and had two parties come through. Hopefully one of them liked it enough to write an offer.

While the open house was going on we went to look for a dining room table and then went to the park. I will have to upload the pics and post them later.

We found out that the temporary housing in Amsterdam will have at least 2 bedrooms and a kitchen, living room, washer and drier etc. I am so relieved! I thought it would just be a hotel room.
Hopefully we will have more to post soon!

Relocation Company

We have just been contacted by the relocation company! This is what they are going to help us with:


SIRVA will assist you with the following relocation services:
Assistance in establishing a US checking account with Citibank Global Executive Banking with 2 free wire transfers per month
Providing transportation from the airport to your temporary accommodation or hotel when you arrive
Arranging for your temporary accommodation
Arranging for Homefinding and Settling-In services with a SIRVA Relocation service partner in Amsterdam
Setting up a 2 day cross-cultural orientation program through Berlitz
Setting up your language training program through Berlitz International
Arranging for the shipment of your household goods through one of PwC's preferred freight forwarders



We have also been given a website with additional info which I will be looking at in a bit.



Tentative departure date: October 4 or 5.