Amsterdam in a day

As crazy as it may sound it actually worked out very well. Friday evening we drove to Harwich and caught the overnight ferry. We parked inside the ferry and rode the elevator up to some compact but very clean rooms. Jeanne, the girls and Bryce shared a 4/5 person outside cabin with bathroom and Scott and Jordan shared a two person interior cabin. Although the night sleep is somewhat shorter than we all would have liked, it is nice to arrive able to hit the road early in mainland Europe.

Since the world doesn't sightsee as much during the winter, we were able to PARK one block from Anne Frank's house. We had made a point to watch the Anne Frank BBC show prior to coming. It did make the visit more meaningful. It was something to actually

BE where she and the others had been hiding for two years. Incredible, but sad. We weren't allowed to take pictures inside, but I got some postcards.









The next stop was unusual for Amsterdam...Noah's Ark! We had received some emails showing how this guy built a half-size replica of Noah's ark. It was located 1.5 hours north of Amsterdam...which really is why we decided to drive instead of fly. But then we found out it actually was touring and was almost ready to leave Amsterdam. It worked out really nice. Driving up the kids were a bit disappointed because they thought it would actually be bigger. I must say I was also. But when we went inside I was really surprised how large the rooms were and how much walking we did to see all of the rooms and exhibits. Some of the displays weren't to the quality of a publicly funded museum, but was impressive nonetheless. Especially when we read about the history of the project.

Next we drove to the surprise highlight of the trip...the Hiding Place. Corrie Ten boom's house has been turned into a "museum". I really enjoyed the 45 minute talk in the living room where they held weekly bible studies. The talk highlighted the history behind the Ten boom family's dedication to Christ and active participation in trying to save over 800 Jews and other persecuted peoples during WW2.


What surprised me was how solid the hiding place room was. The entrance door was so small that it was really Christina sized not adult sized!












Madison even got to press the real button used to alert the guests who were actually there during the weekly bible study. They were able to run and hide for two days. The Nazi's never found them



When we finished the tour we still had enough time to drive up to the dyke built to protect the inner part of the Netherlands from the ocean storms. Very interesting. I can't imagine the difficulties in constructing such a long earth wall. WOW!





It also was very strange to walk OVER the long dyke-highway. Madison and I couldn't help but have wobbly-knees a little bit.



The day was near perfect by the boys standard when they got to eat at an all-you-can-eat chinese buffet. We asked Bryce what his highlight was of the entire trip and he said "that chinese restaurant!" Sigh.

We made it back to the boat tired and we all fell asleep fast. But still 6:30 came too quickly for us. Jeanne drove 2.5 hours home while everyone else slept. We made it back for church and horse riding for the girls. You know, sometimes it is really amazing what you can get done in a weekend with time to spare!

It's just so....BRITISH!

We were able to go and see Madison in her final netball match.

Netball is a very strange game that girls play. It's similar to basketball but you can't dribble and there is no backboard to the basket. It also is full of rules. Madison is one of the better players of the team and is really starting to take after Scott! The first game I watched was the first game she played. She was what I would call a scrappy but aggressive player and was on the floor oodles of times. This really took the British by surprise. They kept asking her "are you alright?".


This game however she played quite well and wasn't on the floor any!

It is funny how the players stop frozen before they shoot. There is some rule that the defense cannot be closer than a meter? I don't understand it. but it was interesting to watch!

There are so many differences in culture that we notice. Some are not as pronounced as others. But this was something that I've never seen in America. Click the video play button below.



After these three cheers and hip-hip-hoorah's both teams go to "tea" together. For these occasions tea is actually small sandwiches, sausages, rolls and juice.

Christmas at home

Scott's sister unfortunately slipped on ice Christmas eve and broke her leg. It changed Christmas plans but it all worked out fine. So instead of waiting for her to come down we went up and enjoyed a day at their house in Kokomo, IN. Scott, Bryce and Lawrence were able to help Steve with a "manly" project outside.






While inside, the kids enjoyed more cousins and fun time with Steve and Michelle's four kids.












On our way to a Purdue Basketball game we stopped by a former employer of Scott's while he was in college. Mr. Plumblee is a vibrant 89 year old that was a purdue Ag professor/farmer. Scott enjoyed working on the weekends driving tractors and farming...he was even excited to wake up at 4 in the morning on Saturdays to get an early start out on the farm! We have tried to keep in contact with him and his wife throughout the years. (As a side note his grandsons are playing for Duke this year! And his daughter just came back from years in Poland while her husband served as the Polish Ambassador.)


Since Christmas was postponed we made another trip back to Indiana for New Years Eve. By that time Michelle was able to come down and prop her leg up...which by the way made an excellent euchre table :-) David and Sarah with their new baby Andrew stayed up til midnight! He is such a cute happy baby. It was really fun to see the cousins all together.

While back in Monticello, I'm ashamed to say that I didn't take many pictures. But we did get to visit so many good friends! The Johnson family who visited us here last summer were so gracious in allowing us to stay at their house. They even gave up their master bedroom! And their house was so beautiful. We had so many people to visit but they made it very easy to come and go. We did get in one good game of Ticket to ride (Europe) with them though... Thanks!

Scott was able to work a few days and make contacts at work, Doctor and dentist appointments, visit our house and dogs (who are very carefully being watched by the Landa family- thanks!) visit church friends and friends from Monticello Christian Academy. By the end of our stay, school started there. MCA was so gracious to allow my kids to visit the school for two days. They had just moved to their new building and it was quite exciting to hear and see how God has been directing and blessing them.



Christina was able to visit her best friend back home, Chloe. It was like they had never been apart...so cute!


At the end of the stay, Jeanne came down with strep throat. It was caught early and so for a bad situation it actually worked out okay. It was a fantastic visit home.

On our way out of town we were able to visit and stay with David and Sarah (Scott's brother). They live just outside of Indianapolis in a beautiful home. We were able to spread out our US shopping purchases (it is so much easier to shop in the US!), box them and weigh them. Since we were flying internationally, we were allowed two bags/boxes at 50 lb. each. Believe it or not, we actually ended up with exactly 10 boxes/bags at 50 pounds each. So we loaded down our rent-a-car and David's van with 500+ pounds of stuff and drove to the airport.

We connected again in Minneapolis with Jordan (Jeanne's nephew who will be staying with us one more term since he liked it so well last fall). It all went smoothly.

Luckily when we landed we had a driver pick us up with our 12 boxes/bags and 6 carryons. We were loaded and tired. But we made it back to our home in Manthorpe.

...and yes, our kids made it to school the next day (though not happy about it).

This is actually a temporary posting since my email isn't sending and I have to get these pictures to our dentist back in the U.S. If you happen to see this... ignore it ...

or you can admire Bryce's teeth :-)

SURPISE!!!

Just before we left the UK Jeanne bought a ticket to fly to Portland, OR to surprise her parents just before Christmas. The problem was that Portland was snowed in with 17" of snow. Oregon doesn't get snow usually so after a week of snow they were pretty much immobile. Jeanne's aunt helped get connected with a driver who was operating so even though most people weren't able to get to their mailboxes, Jeanne made it to their door...and what a surprise.



Below is a video of the surprise. The video is started as I walk up to their house. I called on my cell phone and am talking to my mom as I walk up to their snow-bound house..

I then went in and woke up my dad with a kiss. He said "huh...Jeanne? Well, this is a surprise". It was so much fun!

For those of you who don't know my (Jeanne's) mom...she is the ultimate in organizing and hospitality. I have always known her to be excited and bubbly when we have come to visit. She would also always have a nice snack buffet ready when we arrived at her home. This time, however, since I was unexpectedly coming in the middle of a seemingly perpetual snowstorm I was concerned that she would fret because she hadn't prepared for me to visit. But organized as ever...I walked in the door and she HAD A CUTE BUFFET TABLE LAID OUT! I was shocked and asked her why she had prepared a snack buffet and she said..."well in case someone decided to stop by...and see it worked!"

She is absolutely amazing!

One day was absolutely too short but absolutely worth it. I spent two nights and one day there. The next morning it was...snowing again! So I had the same transport service pick me up and take me to the airport. It was a bit scarry with one near collision but we made it. I flew to Minneapolis and met up with my family who had been having their own travel woes. (Northwest airlines had cancelled two of their flights due to weather and weren't going to make it to Grandma's house by Christmas. But after another call to an extremely helpful lady, they worked it out for us all to travel to Indianapolis instead of Chicago. We were on the same plane!)

We're going home...via Minneapolis!

We worked out a very sweet plane flight schedule. On our way to Chicago (but ended up being Indianapolis because of the weather) Northwest allowed us to stopover a few days in Minneapolis. This worked out wonderfully since Scott's sister Cindy lives there. They have four kids around the same age as our kids so getting together was very nice.


After a year in the UK, Bryce was quite excited to see snow. The kids had a great time FREEZING and stomping around.









They also have a little dog named Pearl who is an absolutely charming dog. Our kids are convinced that we need a dog just like Pearl. (We are not committing to that quite yet...)

Christina's play

Christina also had a chance to be on stage. The lower school does a Christmas musical every year. It actually is shocking to see a public school put on such religious plays. It is really refreshing. AND they do such a wonderful job! (FYI: Christina is the angel to the right of Joseph)

In this play, Christina was an angel! She has a real love of music. The kids tend to shout as they sing which is funny, but if you could hear Christina she has a really nice voice...we may end up with two singers in the family!

This past fall another american family came over and are sending their kids to Kirkstone house also. Christina has become fast friends with Emily (the angel to the right).