European Vacation

My parents came to Europe for the first time in their lives. Being a huge history fan, my dad took in all the WWII sites he could while proudly wearing some sort of “American” t-shirt. (Saying that my dad is proud to be an American is a gross understatement.) We stopped at a concentration camp in The Netherlands, The American Cemetery in Belgium, Normandy, Utah Beach, Pont du Hoc, and several other places that I can’t remember at this moment. My mother, well let’s just say that history was not her priority. She just wanted to see Paris. Who can blame her. They were both overjoyed at the opportunity to hang out and love on their two grandchildren. Skype is nice, but doesn’t compare to holding the little guys in person

Tebbe Family Visit

Here are a few pictures from their visit. Dan and Michelle have two beautiful girls, Hannah and Rachelle, as well as one baby on the way…I think due this month!

Way too long…

I can’t believe we haven’t posted anything since June…JUNE people. So sorry for the neglect. It’s quite embarrassing. Here’s a list of goings on in our life…
-My parents came to visit for the month of July. First time to Europe. They had their own “Tour de France” when our cars got seperated. But they made it home without even using navigation thanks to a friendly Frenchman and sympathetic Dutchman.
-Celebrated 11 years of marriage
-The Tebbe family came to visit for a few days. Noah didn’t know what to do with two girls in the house.
-Met another alum from Wheaton College over email and now he lives in Leiden…blessed with a new friend
-Attempted to photograph a friend’s wedding…still haven’t looked at pictures for fear of failure.
-Brian drove to Belgium to pick up monk beer.
-Celebrated our 11 year anniversary…again…in Etretat, France and Brugge, Belgium
-Cousin, Brett and his friend, Ben, came to visit. Travelling Europe while making a film. Lots of memories..old and new.
-Brian is currently away this weekend on another brew excursion. This time with a good friend from back home, Mr. Studee.
-Next weekend, it’s my turn. I train it to Paris to meet Kristen, my brother-in-law’s wife, and her sister.
-Lukas is now mobile…crawling everywhere and is perfecting his yoga positions
-Noah loves to paint and now has friends at school. Yay!

I will post pictures soon!

Brothers.

Some people have asked me whether or not Lukas looks like Noah. My usual response is that he does, but of course he has his own unique characteristics. I was curious just how much Lukas does or does not look like Noah, so I went into the archives and pulled out a photo of Noah at 3 months and compared it to Lukas’. Well, see for yourself…

Noah

Lukas

The Germans have Landed

Our second visitors of the year arrived last week and have since returned to Germany. We were thankful for the time (even though way too short) that we were able to spend together. Our two oldest boys, Joel and Noah, were close friends while we lived in Chicago. It was so good to reunite on this side of the Atlantic and see our boys playing together again, plus two more boys. Even though our families have grown and we live on different continents, I’m thankful that our friendships have still remained strong. Till their next landing…

Noah and Joel explore the forest

Timothy, Joel and Noah enjoying the slide

Families on Vacation

We were blessed to have the opportunity to travel to Portugal with another family for vacation! Andy, Laura, Joshua, and Wesley Studee travelled from Chicago to The Netherlands and then to Portugal with us.

It was quite an adventure getting there as we took the local train, to a fast speed train, to a bus, to the airport where we got on the Ryanair plane (really budget airline located in smaller remote locations), then rented a car, and finally arrived at the resort. Doing all of this with four children had us a little anxious as parents, but the two three year olds found all the different modes of transportation quite interesting and it helped that we had a couple of shows they could watch on the laptop.

We had a great week just catching up with friends and relaxing in the warm weather. Vacations are always different now with children, so it was really nice to be with another family who could share in our pain Entertaining wee ones at the dinner table, controlling tantrums, etc. Our “daily vacation schedules” were roughly the same. Early rising, naps, early dinners, and early bedtimes.

We even splurged for a babysitter on the last night for both rooms, so that we could go enjoy a kid free dinner. We ate delicious seafood at a local restaurant situated on the beach. Watched the sunset and enjoyed each others’ company. Being with friends that you have a history with was refreshing. It made me really miss our friends in the States.

Ahhh, vacation. Thanks Studees for all the fun and travelling all the way here! We miss you guys!

Lukas and Wesley get acquainted.

Boys…Restless.

The resort was located on top of these red cliffs.

One of the beautiful pools located at the resort.

Sightseeing. We went to an old Moors castle located in a nearby village.

Make a joyful noise

Noah has taken a liking to a certain song that he hears Brian frequently play on his Zune. He likes it so much that he calls it “his worship song”. At first he started singing just the chorus, but has has now added one of the verses too. It has replaced “Jesus Loves Me” at bedtime and is now the most requested song. Here is a little video of Noah singing “You Never Let Go” by Matt Redman accompanied by Papa on guitar.