Friends from England

A couple months after we moved to Belgium, sweet friends got orders to England, and we were elated that they'd be so close!  At the end of May, they popped across the Channel for a visit.

We played hard and had so much fun!

And we horsed around, too!

It was precious just having time with sweet friends.

"I'm looking for a Soul Sister. Anyone?"  I have mine!!!

Though we are elated God moved both our families to Europe, I do so wish that the UK weren't an Island!  Looking forward to more time and adventures with them!

Lavagna, Pisa and Florence, Italy

After quite a drive up, down, and around the Alps, we finally arrived in Lavagna, Italy to spend a day with our friends the D fam.  It was lovely catching up with them, hearing about life in Italy, and what God was up to there. 

Somehow, this is the only group shot I managed... 

We crammed 14 people into their apartment that had only ONE bathroom, but really, it didn't feel crowded or crazy.  What very gracious hosts they were!

This is sweet B who babysat our boys when they were only babies in TX!  Can you see her pizza?  It's the Americano.  What's on an Americano?  Why, french fries, of course!

The kids playing soccer on the street.

After saying Bon Voyage to the D fam, we decided to take advantage of our location and drove an hour south to Pisa...where we spent all of 15 minutes taking really poorly positioned photos.

Then we hopped back into the car and hit McDonalds.  No, not kidding.  We don't even eat it in the US, but Pisa didn't offer much and we'd been told it was the best place to grab a bite, use clean bathrooms and even wifi.  

Then we were off to Florence.  We planned this detour last minute, and I was so bummed about that because we didn't get to do much, but it was the cleanest, loveliest of all the Italian cities, thus far. 

The Duomo

Look at the details!  This is one of the sets of doors on the Baptistry.

Marble statues in every square...

The ceiling of the Baptistry.  I loved to see God glorified in all the art.  The kids enjoyed taking time and figuring out all the Bible stories depicted.

Ya know, just another David.

The famous Bronze Boar

G-E-L-A-T-O.  Yum.  The BEST ice cream I think we will ever eat.

After too short a time in Florence, we headed home.  Since stopping anywhere in Europe overnight with a large family is difficult and expensive, we planned to drive straight through.  

It should have taken 12 hours.  It ended up being about 15 because we had torrential rain all the way from Florence and into Switzerland.  When we went through the tunnel from the Italian side of the Alps, to the German side, we exited the tunnel into this... 

The van erupted in a roar!  It was a winter wonderland with several inches of snow.

Crazy trip...but wonderful memories!

Kandern, Germany and an Alpine Adventure!

Yes, I am still playing catch-up...MAY!  May 2015 was a month filled with lots of friends.  We wrapped up school and testing, then loaded the van to go see friends!  We had two sets of friends who were missionaries in Europe, but preparing to move back to the states, so we wanted to see them before they left.  

Our first stop on the journey was the Black Forest of Germany, to see our dear friend's the Mcs.  They are missionaries with Wycliffe Bible Translators who served for many years as teachers at Black Forest Academy in Kandern, Germany.  They welcomed us into their home, fed us lots of yummy food, and we enjoyed time with them, seeing where the Lord had been using them.  

After our goodbyes in Germany, we headed south towards Italy.  On the border of Switzerland, we saw a field of cut-your-own flowers.  I'd heard about roadside stands like them, so we had to pick some tulips.  There's a stand with a cash box and pairs of scissors, so on your honor, you cut your own stems, pay, and off you go.  Loose scissors on the side of a road in the US?!  No way!  These are the little gems of Europe that I love!

From there we headed south across the Alps.  I dare say, it was the most memorable drive we've had...

The drive was gorgeous.  Make no mistakes about that.  The Hubs was dead set on making a slight deviation to really make the most of the scenery, though.  He kept saying, "It will only add an hour to the drive.  It'll be so worth it!"  The drive from Kandern to Lavagna was supposed to only be 6 hours. Adding a detour through Interlaken would make it 7 hours.  "We can have an amazing picnic in the alps," he said.

Ok...we're not staying overnight because it's so insanely experience.  Let's do it.  Off we go...we're enjoying the lovely scenery and I start to see signs, in German which I can't read well, but give me a clue...

"Honey, did you verify that the pass is open?"

"Yes, of course the pass is open.  It's May!"  

"Are you sure?  I think that sign said it was closed."  

"The GPS and google maps gave me this route.  We're fine."

...We're making really good time and the roads are virtually empty.  The views are gorgeous...

...Till the LAST set of gates before the top...where there were people skiing and you could see them snow-blowing the switchbacks above us.  Awesome.  We all had a good laugh and made the most of it.

So that 7 hours to Italy ended up being over 10...but the views were lovely. 

Next stop, Italy...

Friday Funnies

Anyone want to do the math on how many days that is?!
(Thankfully, our old Mac just has a sense of humor and it only took a few minutes total!)

Driving School

Before coming over here, one of the things we did in preparation was buy International Driver's Licenses.  Yep, for just $15, AAA will issue you a handwritten piece of paper with the info from your stateside license, and in the event of a driving incident in Europe, you simply show your regular state issued license and the $15 paper you paid for.  Good for a whole year.  Seems a bit shady, but hey, it bought me time.

After 14 months of having a few legitimate reasons to reschedule, along with quite a bit of procrastinating, I finally took my local driving course.  The hubs took a day off work to keep the kids because I spent 5 hours today sitting through briefings, memorized 156 road signs, took 2 required tests, and now will wait another month...or so...to get the paperwork...to turn in and wait longer...for my Belgian driver's license.  

The whole scenario can be summed up with our new favorite phrase (one that describes anything that is untimely, inefficient, non-sensical, and makes you shake your head), "That's so Belgian."

Friday Funnies

Allow me to introduce Mr. Clean's Belgian cousin:

Cherry Blossoms

In April, our cherry tree blossomed.  It was BEAUTIFUL!

I remember the day we sold our play-set in ND.  The kids were so sad.  They prayed, right there in our yard, for our new house to have a climbing tree.  Specifically, they asked for an apple tree, but God gave us cherries instead.  Lots of them!

April 2015

They say time flies...and it really has!  Our last few months have been jam-packed with health issues, travels, company, more travels, more company, more company and no normalcy.  This week was the first calm, regular-routine week we've had since 2015 began.  We've enjoyed the travels, friends and family, but this week was very nice and relaxing.  It was much needed!  And hey, I am finally catching up on the blog!

So here goes...

Bruges, Belgium, April 2015

Our B&B...notice the building's date?!

The view out of our front window.

Breakfast by the fire every morning.

We climbed UP 366 perilous steps...then back down 366 steps...

...for this view!  That's the sea out there on the horizon.

The beautiful bells in the tower.

The Carillon!  AMAZING!  This photo is terrible, but it was really cool to see this instrument and how it made the bells play their tunes.

We popped in to countless, beautiful churches dating back to Medieval times.

Michaelangelo's Madonna with Child.  The only piece of his that is found outside of Italy.

Cruising the canals.

A very much needed day and half!

Did you notice...there were NO children in those photos!  Our very sweet friends persistently, and genuinely offered with joy, to keep our kids so we could have a getaway when the hubs returned home.  We spent 2 nights in a lovely B&B and it was wonderful!

~~~~~~~~

Back to reality after our quick getaway, April ended by wrapping up our official days of co-op for the 2014/15 year.

Our last day of co-op included student presentations, a field day and also a geography bee for the elementary class...which Dandelion #1 and #2 rocked.  They placed FIRST and third, respectively!