Everything from the end of 2019

Before I can blog about this crazy COVID-19 pandemic, I need to say a few words about November and December of 2019.

Annie turned ten years old, and we had a "tea" party for her. Ten year old girls have to be some of the best creatures on the planet. They are so much fun and so sweet. They especially got into the Shakespearean insults.

Next came Thanksgiving. We hosted again this year. Amanda and Brad came and William and Heather were able to squeeze us into William's demanding schedule. It was fun to have those three couples reunited. We all met at Cinnamon Tree Apartments. And Thiago, Thomas, and Nicolas came as well because Renata and Lucas were in Brazil.

 Aaron is the turkey master. It's awesome that he has taken responsibility for it the last couple of years. 

Annie and Aaron and Scotty made that little log cabin and finished it just in time to make it a centerpiece. 

Aaron is also the pie master. 

Cinnamon Tree...making happy marriages since 2004 (at least).

Miles and Aaron were pals. 

And we took a family picture.

In December, Annie had a piano recital. She played "Sleigh Ride" and "What Child Is This."

Here we are studying Chinese with the W family, something we've been doing for quite a while now. I finally took a picture.

Kid Tribe Christmas party was epic due to Kayley's party games. And Annie made a unicorn cake. We had a new family join our co-op, and they've been awesome.  

 Here is the evil unicorn cake she made another time. It's great when your kids learn how to bake and you actually want to eat the result. 

We decided to drive to UT/ID for Christmas because we asked for homemade applesauce and needed trunk space. The day before we left, we went to the Waco zoo with Amanda and Brad. It was chilly and a bit rainy, so we had the place to ourselves. It was a quick trip because Aaron's work party was that night, but it was fun. 

Christmas was in Idaho this year. I was basically super-mom with getting fun car activities ready for the kids. They were a hit, and we had a really smooth trip. The last two hours were the hardest, as they always are, but we drove through Grace or Soda Springs (or both?) this time. It was gorgeous. The sun was about to set and there was fresh snow on the mountains. 

We had fun with cousins, and it was a great holiday. It is really hard to travel at Christmas time, though, so we will probably stay home for a few years and make our sojourns to see family at other times. Christmas was awesome with good food and lots of family. In Utah, we went to an aquarium, and Julie gave us 48 jars of applesauce!! We were so happy about that. We got to hold Rachel and Russell's puppies. We came home on New Year's Day. We almost died in Vail, Colorado. Horrible snow, and our windshield wipers kept freezing over. It was scary!  

And that was 2019! A good year!

Netherlands Part II

My niece Hannah took ballet lessons in/at The Hague. I'm still confused by that city name with the "The" in front of it. We took her over there on Saturday and then went to an art museum. It was called the Maritshuis. I think it was mainly a portrait gallery. It had The Girl with the Pearl Earring. Everybody was crowded around that one. Hard to get a good look. And I actually liked the one on the opposite side of the room a lot better. 

Here were a few other paintings that caught my eye.

I am definitely in favor of always saying to oneself, "I have to do the dishes/exercise/fold laundry/watch kids/hold this sword. Could I also be reading a book right now?"

So many flowers! Painting after painting just like this. I liked them! So many details and colors loveliness.

This painting was huge! And famous...can't remember why. I liked that the cow was looking at me. Very realistic.

The Hague is the political center of the Netherlands. These were some of the government buildings and flags, surrounded by water like most everything else in the Netherlands. It was also in The Hague that I rescued a toy that a little girl dropped off the back of a bike, and she said, "Dankjewel." She was cute.

In the middle of all of our traipsing about, we'd hang out at Abbie's house. The dogs were always happy to see us. Here they are, Bobo and Benji. It was nice to have them come sit by you. Lots of people have dogs in the Netherlands. Abbie said Dutch dogs are very well-trained and often not on leashes. There were also lots of kids and lots of kids on the backs and fronts of bikes with their parents driving.

Sunday we went to church and saw a family from Round Rock! My friend was friends with them, and I'd seen them around our church building, but I thought the chances were pretty low that I'd run into them. But there is only one English-speaking ward in the area, so actually the chances were pretty high. And the weird thing was I had a Chinese class at BYU with the husband in the family. Small world, right? I took some pics just trying to catch the Dunnings doing their church thing.

There were seven Chinese speakers in Relief Society! The teacher was a Taiwanese girl in the Netherlands for school. She gave an awesome lesson that was even awesome-er because she had to speak in simple English. I admire people willing to speak a non-native language. It is really scary. Anyway, being there with all those Chinese speakers really inspired me to study Chinese more diligently. And I have been on a crazy Chinese kick ever since I got home. My family is getting sick of me.

Ice cream comes in tubes and is very delicious. Dutch cows must be happy.

There are lots of house boats in the canals of Amsterdam. 

Dutch pancakes with mango and yogurt. So yummy!

The pancake house had a cat wandering around freely. Just not something you'd see in the US. 

A shop window. Delftware and fake Delftware are very popular. I love it. Reminds me of my mom's blue willow dishes. 

In Amsterdam, Abbie and I went to another museum, the Rijksmuseum. Lots of famous paintings there. The Dutch are really into sailing and boats, surprise, surprise. 

Dream library!! This was inside of the Rijksmuseum.

A dollhouse

No object is safe from the possibility of being turned Delft blue:

Outside the Rijksmuseum waiting for our tram.

Bikes for days!

On Saturday, we also got to watch Hannah and Victoria play volleyball with their school team. They were playing against other American and international schools. 

And we got to celebrate Abbie's birthday. There haven't been too many years where we've been together on one of our birthdays. 

And we actually did go to Delft and see the Delftware factory which was very cool. Each piece is handmade. A small Delftware vase could easily be $500. A set of Delftware dishes costs as much as a Ferrari. Needless to say, we bought the knock-off stuff.

Rembrandt's "The Night Watch" in...you guessed it...Delft Blue!!

Delft was a really quaint little town. We saw a couple of churches and climbed a spire.

I believe this deceased person was William of Orange. 

Appeltaart...so yummy! And in restaurants, they really crowd in the tables. You're sitting elbow to elbow with strangers. 

This made me laugh. Get your picture taken as the Girl with the Pearl Earring. Do they get lots of Canadian tourists, ehh??

So that was my trip to the Netherlands! I had the best time. I'm so, so glad I went. I had some really good conversations with Abbie and James which you can't take a picture of but was one of the best parts of the trip.