A few pictures from my parents visit

After over a month of being absent from the blog, I am back and ready to post again! :) My mom did such an awesome job updating her blog from their visit here...really it was practically down to the minute. I am just going to add a few from when we stayed at the castle. The castle was an awesome place to stay and I highly recommend it.

We had such a great time with them and were so sad to see them leave. 

Future...

...hoarder?

The tent is sideways because, "that's just the way I set it up." She also has "everything I need."

Snow

We have been getting above average amounts of snow here....we are talking about 2 inches at a time which causes havoc in these parts! LOL! Trains and trams slow down, traffic stops, streets and sidewalks are SLIPPERY! The temp averages around 30 degrees during the day so it gets a bit slushy and then freezes at night. In an attempt to satisfy the ice skating gene in the Dutch, no boats are allowed in the canals right now. Fingers are being crossed that the canals freeze over (minimal freezing is required!) so they can pull out their skates and have at it! The temps usually average 40 degrees in January, so they might get their wish.

We pulled out the sled that was accidently shipped over here (it was supposed to go to storage) and I pulled the kids along on the sidewalk. Kaylin really had fun and Shane just wasn't too sure. He was happier pulling the sled.

I didn't get any pictures of the sled, but did get a few of them making dough for calzones!

Enjoy your weekend!

Finally!!

After WAY to long....introducing my very first pair of socks!!

I just joined a knitting group which meets every Monday night at a cafe in the Center. So much fun! I am going to learn a lot from them. :)

Happy New Year!

Wishing you all a Happy 2010!

December

Let me start out by saying I hope you all had a very Merry Christmas!! We celebrated with Matt's return from Taiwan early on Christmas Eve morning! Wow did we miss him! :) I just uploaded all of his pictures from Taiwan and the weekend he spent in Hong Kong. He'll have to sit down and write about his adventures.

We spent our Christmas with the friends left in the city. Jim, Megan and their son Jack along with us spend the afternoon at Kristen and Dave's house. It was so relaxing and nice just to sit and let the kids play and talk with friends despite knowing all of our families were getting together and enjoying Christmas together. Next year!

Matt is for the most part off this week although he did go into the office for a few hours today. We were thinking of taking a short trip this week, but because of the holidays the tickets are a bit higher than we hoped right now. So, I think we'll just hang out and see a few things here. We have try not to take Amsterdam for granted. We keep thinking "oh we can see or do that another time," but we won't be here next winter so some things we have to do now. We still want to go see the Christmas tree in Dam Square and we were talking about taking a trip to Arnhem where I did my study abroad or maybe well just hang out and relax! Tomorrow night we are having friends over for dinner and we are 5th on the waiting list for a babysitter on New Years. mmmm...thinking we won't have a babysitter!

We hope everyone has a safe and happy New Year!!

Paris Part 2

Here are our long overdue Paris pictures. The Eiffel Tower was to my surprise absolutely beautiful at night. I figured they would light it up, it was WAY above and beyond my expectations. Here are just a few pictures...it was lit up in every color combination. After the show which was about 20 minutes we went back to the hotel and to bed.

The next morning we went to this beautiful Church which sits at the highest point in Paris.

View from the top

At the bottom of the hill was a beautiful double decor carousel and a little playground.

We then took the metro to the Arc de Triomphe. Napoleon had it built to honor all those who fought for France. Underneath is the tomb of the Unknown Soldier from World War I.

The next morning we were up early and left before the traffic was too bad. It was a great trip and I am so glad we went. If we are ever to go back we really want to go in the Louvre, and I particularly want to see the Palace of Versailles. There is so much to see and do in Paris that we just could not fit it all into a long weekend.