Merry Christmas!!!!

Merrry Christmas everyone!!!!! I hope that this blog finds each and every one of you well.

It is so good to be back in the good 'ole USofA! Seriously, so so good. I'm so glad that I was able to come home to spend Christmas with my family, and spend a week with Josh. My 1st week was a whirlwind of a week. I got here Tuesday, Wednesday Katey and I celebrated our birthday together for the 1st time in 3 or 4 years. That was way fun! Then on Thursday Josh kidnapped me and took me on a very fast roadtrip to Chicago, Memphis, Branson, KC then to Pella and then back to KC. It was buuuusy!! We went to Chicago and Memphis to pick up and move some of his stuff and some of his brothers stuff, then to Branson to drop some stuff off and go to a wedding and see some friends before he goes off to Med school in Mexico, then to KC to see some friends then to Pella so he could say bye to my family and then back to KC so we could go skiing/ I could drop him off. It was crazy busy, but I sure had a blast! We crammed a years worth of memories into 7 days. It was great! :o) And now I'm home, listening to the sound of my brothers playing, mom wrapping presents, Katey laughing on the phone, Lauren watching a movie and smelling the delicious date nut balls that my dad is making. I'm truly blessed.

Right before I home I picked up a Max Lucado book from my church in the Hauge. It's his Christmas collection. I highly suggest this book! It has 3 stories in it, the 1st one is the best in my opinion, but they are all great! Here is a little piece from the 1st story called " An Angel's Story"

This is Gabriel talking about Mary

" Do you know who you hold, Mary? You secure the Author of grace. He who is ageless is now a moment old. He who is limitless is now suckling your milk. He who strides upon the stars, now has legs to weak to walk; the hands which held the oceans are now an infant's fist. To Him who has never asked a question, you will teach the name of the wind. The Source of language will learn words from you. He who has never stumbled, you will carry. He who has never hungered, you will feed. The King of creation is in your arms."

Cool huh? I love the way Max writes. He always makes me think. So as you celebrate Christmas tomorrow, remember this little passage. Remember how He did come down as a helpless infant, who came to save us. Remember the sacrifice that God made in giving up his son. And remember how much he loves us. All the joy that we feel this season is nothing compared to the about of joy He feels towards us.

Merry Christmas everyone! I pray that you will all have a blessed Christmas and that next year is full of blessings beyond your imagination.

its almost time!!

When I was little, I would count down the days until Christmas by making those little construction paper rings and tearing one off everyday. Or I would look at the advent calendar waiting for the 25th of December to hurry up and come. Now.. I have a countdown clock on my blog, and one in my head that tells me how many days until I can come home. And now finally... the time is almost here!! I can't believe how quickly this time has gone. And I can't wait until I come back after Christmas to explore and learn and grow some more. But seriously. I can't wait to come home for Christmas. I can't wait to get that warm hug from my parents that I miss so so much. I can't wait to go to the store and ask someone for help and them be able to understand me and actually be able to help me. I'm excited to bake with ingredients that I'm familiar with. I'm excited to be able to wear my pj's all day if I want to and do nothing but watch TV on the couch in my pj's while drinking hot cocoa if I want. I'm excited to laugh with my family. I'm excited to hang out with Josh. I'm excited to see my Branson friends. I'm excited to eat flavorful food. I'm excited spend my birthday with my sister and celebrate together. I'm excited for everything. I'm excited to get away from the blunt dutch culture for a few weeks, I'm excited to drive a car instead of ride my bike in the snow, I'm excited to not be corrected all the time, and I'm excited to have pretty much no responsibility (pretty much are the key words) for 3 whole weeks. It's going to be glorious. Even if I do nothing the entire time I'm home other than just sit among friends and family and stare at eachother I'm totally ok with that. It will just be so nice to be around people who understand crazy, wacky, Angie :o)

Lets just pray that the weather cooperates and that I sit next to a lovely Polish grandmother on the way home :o) See ya'll the day after tomorrow! WHOOP!

Germany!

Well. I went to Germany for a day. It still sounds so funny to me that I really did go for just 1 day. I mean really? People go on vacation to Germany for days and days and days, nope. Not me, I just hop on a bus and go for 1 day. ha! But now I can say that I've been to Germany. I tasted the gluvine (which is a warm, mulled cider wine. So good!), ate a bratwurst and did the Christmas Market. All were FANTASTIC!! I really don't know how to describe this Christmas market that I went to.... First of all, it was in Düsseldorf which is about 3 hrs from my house. My friend Rachel got on a bus with 30something other American and British ladies (mostly mom's) and left around 7:15 Saturday morning. (we heard about the trip through Sheila because it was her son's school that was hosting the trip) When we got to Düsseldorf the sun was shining brightly. It was sooo nice! Especially since all last week it was freeezing and snowy. It was pretty windy most of the day, but the sun and the gluvine made it bearable :o) The market was divided up into 6 parts, so we certainly got our exercise for the day! All the markets pretty much had the same things, but they were each a little different as well. The 1st and 2nd one had a lot of wood and glass things that you could buy, the 3rd and 4th had a lot of nik-naks that you could get, and the 5th and 6th one were just a bunch of food and drink stands with a few product stands mixed in. The 6th one also had a small outdoor ice skating rink. It looked like a lot of fun, but Rachel and I decided shopping was more important than skating :o)

Between the 4th one and th 5th one you walked down the Rodeo Drive of Düsseldorf and yes, we did go into Gucci just to say we did it.. and yes, we were VERY out of place in our target shoes and H&M clothes. haha. But it was still fun to have the man in the suit open the door for us :o)

I really don't even know how to begin to describe the beauty of the market. It really was magical. It wasn't really what I thought it was going to be, I'm not sure what my expectations were going into it, but I know I didn't walk away disappointed. My favorite part was when the lights all came on around 5:00 right as it was really getting dark and the snow started to fall. It really was like walking in a winter wonderland. Truly beautiful. And I would absolutely recommend going to a German Christmas market if you ever get the chance. You won't regret it!

Welcome to Germany!

A hand carved nativity. The man who carved this gets his wood from Jerusalem and carves and sells it at markets in Germany. The detail was incredible!

I think that I'll make this into a puzzle... (great idea aunt Rosa!)

Pretty lights, TONS of people. About this time we started being herded around like cattle...

mmm.. gluevine, tasty and warm

No, I didn't drink both of those mugs.. 1 had terrible eggnog in it and the other had the gluvine, luckily Rachel liked the eggnog and traded with me :o) By the way... when you buy the drink you put a deposit down on the mug, so you can keep it or get your money back. We kept these little boot mugs, they were to cute to return. And yes, we did walk around scoping out the stands that had the cutest mugs before we bought our drinks ;o)

Simply beautiful

Friday!

It's Friday! Yay!!! This isn't just aaaaany old Friday either. This is the Friday before Sinterklaas comes! I have really really enjoyed seeing all this Sinterklaas stuff, and learning about the tradition of it. It's such a fun holiday. But it can be scary for little kids for sure! For those of you who don't know Sinterklaas is the Dutch version of Santa. But he was a religious man ( I think). Many Dutch people don't do Santa because they have Sinterklaas. And they celebrate this holiday December 5. Sint comes into town on a boat from Spain with all his Zwarte Piet (black Pete). Black Piet is an elf of sorts who was a bad child and got taken away in a burlap sack when he was a child. And he now works with Sint in Spain. Do you see how this can be scary for kids? And as if that isn't scary, black Piet is sooooooo black. They paint their face, ears, neck, and noses very very black and it's just a little creepy to look at. But the holiday is fun. In the parade Piete throws out lots of candy and such for the children and Sint comes in on his white horse. It's pretty fun to watch. Then he gives a speech and away he goes. Then on the actual day he comes and rings the doorbell and drops the gifts off. It's sweet. I'm excited to see how the actual day unfolds. I'll be gone for most of the time that they celebrate since i'll be in Germany :o) But, I'll be back for the end of it. can't wait!!

Here are a few pictures from the Sinterklaas celebration at the school


Sinterklass Stage where he gives his speech.


Black Piet


The Sint himself!


Giving his speech. I don't really know what he said other than " Welcome children and parents! Have you all been good this year?" That's about all I got...

Yay!!! I got my picture taken with them! To bad they are frowning. I must not have been as good as I thought....