PART 1 Parents Visit: Sittard, Thorn, and Bruges

I am so behind on my blog right now that there is no way I am editing any of these pictures! I need to catch up first. Back in October my parents came to Germany to visit us. I absolutely love having visitors come here! It was so fun having them here and being able to explore a little bit with them. My mom had been out here before when I had Meika, but we were a bit boring then. I was big, pregnant, overdue and didn't want to go very far. This was my dad's first time visiting, so it was fun to have him come see our life here.

The first full day they were here was a Thursday. Every Thursday there is a big market in Sittard, NL and I almost always try to go and get my fruit, vegetables, eggs and sometimes flowers and fish. My parents joined us for our weekly endeavor. My dad took this picture of me at one of the fruit/veggie stands.



We also walked through some of the little streets around the town square



After we were done with the market, we headed to Thorn, NL. I wanted my parents to see this cute little town after discovering it with my friends. When I had come before, I didn't get to experience the Pancake house, so I figured it would be a fun little outing.

Of course it was delicious! The kids pancakes were like real pancakes, but tons of sugar on them. The big one were more like Pizzas.





Afterwards we walked around the cute little town.











Another day they were here we took a day trip to Bruges, Belgium. I LOVE this town. Abe and I stayed there for a night a handful of years ago when we went to Europe with Amanda and Mason. It was fun to visit again, but it was a bummer because it was cold and rainy!! The kids were good sports though and endured the handful of hours we stayed there to explore.

Thorn, Netherlands

About a month ago my friend Beth insisted that I check out Thorn, Netherlands because I hadn't ventured there yet. We decided to make a morning of it and Beth, Kelsey, me and our kids drove about 25 minutes to get there. Thorn is DARLING! It has a bunch of white washed buildings with cobblestone streets and pretty, old architecture.

Thorn is also known for it's Pancake house, or "Pannekoekenbakker". That is what we really wanted to go get!! When we got there in the morning, it unfortunately wasn't open until closer to lunch time. We sat outside at another little restaurant that was right next door.

We drank the yummiest hot cocoa

and watched horse carriages go by while we had a great view of a very pretty church.

Fun hanging out with my darling Norah


It really is weird that I live here and this was a random daily "outing". This is not "real" life!

Halloween

I am way behind once again on blogging. Hopefully in the next couple of days I can find time to post about my parents visit and our trip to Greece.

We got back from our vacation to Greece extremely late the night before Halloween. I still wasn't done sewing Adeline's costume, so had to spend the entire day while she was at school finishing it. Luckily I barely got it done just in time to get ready for the trunk or treat. There is an Army base about 25 minutes away and they put together a big trunk or treat every year for the military. Since Halloween is an American holiday, it is nice that we can still celebrate it here a little bit.

When Adeline and Norah told me they wanted to be Ariel and Jasmine, I was not to thrilled. I started collecting some fabric and had my mom pick me up some from Joann's since she was coming to visit. I was pleased with the outcome of their costumes, although I think the wigs are what really made the costumes!


Here are the girls showing off their costumes...














Our friend Kelsey joined us for the trunk or treat since her husband was out of town. The girls loved trick or treating with Blake and Grant! Thanks for the pictures Kels!









The Friday after Halloween, Adeline's school had a "Storybook Parade", since they celebrated "Reading Week" all week long. I think that it is great they named it something else and brought it into the curriculum so they could celebrate Halloween in a round about way. After all, the kids just want to be able to wear their costumes to school! Abe,Norah, Meika and I headed over to the school so we could watch Adeline walk around in the Storybook Parade.

One Year Anniversary In Germany

October 11th marked our one year anniversary in Germany. I can easily say, that was the quickest year of my life thus far. It seems like yesterday we stepped off the plane in Dusseldorf wondering "what in the heck are we doing!?" It was pouring rain and before I knew it, I was in a mercedes taxi with both of the kids and the taxi driver who stunk of cigarette smoke. We followed behind our sponsor, who Abe rode with for the hour drive to our guest house. That hour drive felt like 3 hours. The driver kept talking to me and I felt like I needed to physically hold my eyelids open I was so tired. The next week was a definite blur and I remember crying myself to sleep several times. I was 6 months pregnant and felt like I would never get out of my sleep deprivation and it was hard to function. We were in a tiny guesthouse with no phone, fridge, laundry, bathtub, internet and many more necessities. We didn't have a car and I felt stranded and unsure of our new life.

It's weird now to look back and think of all the adjustments I went through from moving to a foreign Country. Cooking & temperatures in Celsius instead of fahrenheit, always military time (which I should be used to, but am not), narrow driving roads where you have to weave in and out of cars parked wherever they want, 4 garbages (yellow bag, paper, glass and regular garbage), windmills and cows everywhere, rolladens, radiators, no ice cubes, paying for water at restaurants because German's don't drink tap water, going to the market on Thursdays for Fruit and Veggies, paying for public bathrooms, having to bring my own bags when shopping (we learned that the hard way after purchasing lots of food at the local grocery store), not knowing where to go when I need something, not being able to communicate with very many people, not having a cell phone plan or regular TV, etc. etc. etc. This was my forth move, so I know that it is hard moving to a new area no matter where you are going. But it was a little rough for me. I didn't think I would meet any friends, feel comfortable shopping on the economy, or going places myself.

Finally after a year of being here, I do feel like I am adjusted for the most part. It may have taken me longer to adjust due to being in a guest house for 6 weeks, then Christmas, having a baby and then recovering from a baby I suppose. It is weird to me that it is more "normal" now going to the local German stores to get odds and ends, going to the market, exploring new towns and trying to communicate with the Germans. We are trying to take advantage of all the opportunities we have here. I am hoping that we can get a lot of traveling and site seeing accomplished this next year so I am not feeling frantic this time next year when we only have one year left! I do miss free refills and ice cubes in the States, Target and a lot of the conveniences, but I wouldn't trade it for the opportunity we have of living here right now. To be honest, I think it is annoying when people are on their phone all the time now. It is NOT like that here and I love it! The most annoying thing to me is that when I am in the States, I know where to go if I need something. Here, it is much harder and quite a bit more expensive. Once again though, with time I am learning and things are become a little bit less frustrating.

Here is to a fun, jam packed year full of lots of great travels and experiences!

Diaper FREE at night!!!

For Norah that is! She has finally graduated into wearing panties at night. I thought she was going to have a harder time with the transition, but she did great. She does wake up most nights for a bathroom break, but I'm sure she will grow out of that at some point.

Here Norah is shaking her bootie at me. She tends to do this a lot. If she is partially clothed or naked, she sneaks up to you, turns around and says, "Shake, shake shake" (while wiggling her bum back and forth)... "I'm shaking my bootie at you!" crazy girl