Day 5

June 16, 2010, Wednesday - We all loaded in the mini van & took a road trip to near by Belgium. Cory & Sara dropped us off in the middle of Brussels. Sara and the kids went to visit an American friend that is now stationed here & Cory went to do some commissary shopping. Chad & I purchased tickets on the CitySightseeing double decker bus & enjoyed seeing the city & getting off on stops and exploring. We really enjoyed seeing Notre-Dame de Victoires Church & Notre-Dame de la Chapelle Church. Beautiful stain glass & such amazing architecture and history.
The Arch of Half Centenary

Chad in front of the Stock Exchange Building.Manneken Pis

Grand Place (town hall and guildhalls)
Chad with part of the town (Brussels) in the background. Brussels is very big especially on foot.
Christy in Justice Palace

Enjoying fresh made Belgium waffles in The Grand Place

Thank you Belgium - we had a awesome day!

Day 4

June 15, 2010, Tuesday - We took the girls to preschool by ourselves today. David came with for the walk. Then Sara and David drove us to The Hague, Netherlands & we got on the tram system to Madurodam (tourist attraction - all of Holland in miniature). We got a bird's eye view of all of Holland precisely 25 times smaller than in reality. We really enjoyed this place.
Then we visited Binnenhof - the Dutch Parliament building. We got to see some new government representatives coming to work for their first day.Here is a picture of the American Coot bird & 3 babies. So cute...well..maybe ugly.A park that we finally found & walked through. We enjoyed seeing some pretty flowers, people playing & pigeons.

Day 3

June 14, 2010, Monday - Chad and I helped walk the girls to preschool & experienced the chaos of all the kids piling in the school & they were all wearing orange to celebrate Netherlands going to the World Cup. Then we figured out the train system & rode to Amsterdam for the day. We purchased tickets for the "Hop on, hop off" Canal Cruise. We were able to explore the city & get to rest while riding on the boat & then get off when we wanted to. The first thing we did was go to the Anne Frank house. We were not allowed to take pictures inside. Wow - what an amazing story of fear and courage and strength...I just can't describe what emotions Chad and I felt going through the house, seeing videos and artifacts. We were very glad that we could visit this place.
Then we went to the Van Gogh Museum & enjoyed seeing the wonderful works of art. Then the Flower Market and saw some beautiful tulips.

The Netherlands Adventure - Day 2

June 13, 2010, Sunday - Chad and I are very blessed to be able to travel to the Netherlands and visit my brother, Cory and his family. We arrived on Saturday. Sunday we attended church with Sara, Cory, Kala (5), Hannah (5) and David (2). It was a very nice service all spoken in English. Then we headed to Zaanse Schans and enjoyed looking at the beautiful working windmills, going in a wooden shoe factory, and a cheese and chocolate shop. Sara stayed with the kids outside and Chad, Cory and I paid $3 euros each to go into a windmill. It was very interesting inside. Lots of gears. The windmill we went in ground up chalk for making pastels, for football & baseball fields & other uses. Then we walked along the canal & there were outside games for the kids. We enjoyed some Dutch french fries too.

End of Year Class Party

June 7, 2010, Monday - All of second grade had their End of Year Class Parties today. The teacher gave out awards in the classroom and then we went outside and the kids participated in different games. We ended the celebration with pizza, veggies and fruit kabobs. What a fun day.Brittany received 3 awards! Way to Go!

2nd Grade Field Day

June 3, 2010, Thursday - Brittany's Field Day is today. Nathan got to participate again this year. It amazes me that every year they come up with new games. It is great! The kids have a lot of fun. Enjoy the pictures.

14 Years

June 1, 2010, Tuesday - Happy 14th Anniversary Sweetie! I love you!

I thought I would post the lyrics to the song sung at our wedding. And I still feel this way about you!

Only God Could Love You More

I asked the Lord for someone,
and I always knew that in God's time and in God's way
it would be someone like you.
All my hopes and all my dreams
were suddenly fulfilled
It's almost unbelievable
our love is in his will.

Only God could love you more,
for he gave me this love I have for you.
What a blessing to know He's your Lord,
For only God could love you more, than I do.

I'm tempted to be saying,
that we met by chance
But God was there at every turn,
In every circumstance
To share this life God gave me
seems such a fearful task,
But every moment we have shared
is more than I could ask

Memorial Day Weekend

May 28 - May 31, 2010, Friday - Monday - We enjoyed a wonderful weekend at SML. Cookouts, swimming, smores, fishing, ice cream, boating oh my!

Last Day of Preschool

May 28, 2010, Friday - Today was Nathan's last day of preschool. Wow - the year has flown by! The children presented a musical program called Live Love! We love because God first loved us. 1 John 4:19. It was so cute and Nathan did a great job singing and doing the hand motions. At the end they were presented with their graduate certificate & we enjoyed cookies and lemonade outside. The kids played on the playground too. Thank you to Nana and Papa who were able to come & help us celebrate. Nathan you are definitely ready for Kindergarten in the Fall. You have learned so much this year & have grown so much! Mommy and Daddy love you very much!