Moving Day...

Yeah--we have our own place! The moving company came yesterday and delivered all our stuff. It's great to see our stuff again, but it stinks to see how much stuff we have. Definitely feeling like silly Americans. It was fun watching the movers bring our queen bed and amoire through the 2nd floor bedroom window since they wouldn't fit up the narrow, curved staircase.

We won't have regular Internet access for the next few weeks, but we'll post photos once we're back up. Hopefully the photos will look so great that you'll drop everything and book flights to visit us.

Have a Happy New Year!

We can ice skate!

James took the girls ice skating for the first time at a special outdoor skating rink in the Centrum. Veronica was a natural, which freed up James to teach Ashlynn. Most of the bigger cities set up temporary rinks for the holidays. 

What a sight!

On December 13th, we went to the famous cheese city of Gouda for the lighting of their main square by candlelight. It was a spectacular sight to see, especially with the giant Christmas tree with the moon shining above. It was amazing to be surrounded by thousands of carolers all singing in Dutch.

Fun in Holland...

Between trying to find a place to live, school and work, we've still managed to sneak in some fun. In Rotterdam we went to the zoo, which had an awesome aquarium. We had a great sushi dinner in Amsterdam after going to an archeological museum. Went to a very non-Christmasy Christmas market in Dordecht. All small day trips, but the first of many such adventures.

Santa Claus' cousin...

In Holland, Sinterklaas and the Zwarte Piets (the Black Peters) fill children's shoes with candy from mid-Nov until December 5th when they leave to go back to Spain. It seems a bit politically incorrect, but the kids loved it. Sinterklaas made a special appearance at a work party.

Love that uniform...

Veronica was a little nervous on her first day, but her apprehension didn't last long when 3 girls from her class greeted her in the hallway and introduced themselves. She's learning how to play the recorder in Music and field hockey in PE. In January, she'll start learning Dutch and join the lunchtime choir.

No tears here...

Ashlynn may have looked about to cry when we dropped her off that first day, but she was all smiles when we picked her up. She was especially excited to get to be in her class concert where she got to sing songs about toys while dressed as a toy soldier. In less than 3 weeks of school, she already has a British accent.