Good Friends, Flowers and Gaufres

We made it to Belgium to pick up Alana and Erin at the airport after we arrived in Paris. The girls had a fabulous time in Italy and Croatia, at an island, Krk, and the Plitvice National Park.
Here we all are at Katinka's home. They couldn't have been more hospitable to us. We are staying in one of their lovely 3 bedroom cottages at their resort. It is located about 1/4 mile from the beach. . .it is similar to Cape Cod in looks.
Here we are with Alana and Erin at one of the more photographed locations in Brugge. . .we had a nice day visiting here and then going down to Dunkirk in France.
Yesterday, we went to the most beautiful flower display in the world at the Keukenhof Gardens. It is only open for two months of the year. The colors were magnificent and there is no way that pictures can do justice to the 100's of acres of tulips, hyacinths, daffodils, etc.
Here we are at one of the many windmills in Holland.

You can't make me be happy!

If you want to know more about what I did today, Mom posted it here.

If I Was a Cow...

...I would live in Ireland. I saw lots of cows and sheep as I took a bus from Dublin to Waterford. I am convinced that if I was a cow I would love to live in Ireland. Although, I had fabulous weather while I was there and too much rain might have changed my mind. Ads say that happy cows come from California, but I am convinced that happy cows could come from Ireland as well.

(It was hard to get a good picture of cows from the bus.)

The countryside was beautiful. I can't wait to be able to spend more time in Ireland.

Winery "Wrun" in Paso Robles

On Sunday, Allison and two of her roommates ran in their first half marathon (13.1 miles). The setting was along the back roads in and around beautiful Paso Robles, through the wine producing area of the Central Coast.







They are still all smiles at mile 5!


Allison finished the race in 2 hours and 6 minutes. This picture is just after she crossed the finished line. All three girls are looking forward to their next half marathon later this year. You go, girls!!

Loving the Park

We have had a few warm days splattered in here and there between the rain and snow. We have taken advantage of those by going on walks or bike rides to the park. I put Ellie on the baby slide to start and she loved it so much I decided to try her over on the bigger slide. I love how she wiggles to get her self started.

A Day at the Gardens

Brielle and I went with some friends to Grand Rapids to visit the "largest temporary butterfly exhibit in the US" at the Meijer Gardens.


I have to admit, I was so busy watching the baby birds, I didn't actually take many pictures of the butterflies. But they were beautiful! Ellie loved watching them fly around her.


Hanging out in the 5 story conservatory


The giant Leonardo Davinci Horse


Ellie says "yes, I'm having fun...can't you tell?"

A Saturday in Liege

Last weekend I was able to take a day trip with some friends from church. We had a blast exploring Liege and Maastricht and seeing the beautiful countryside on the drive. The weather was gorgeous, which made the day twelve times better.

Here are a ton of stairs that we climbed up. I tried to count them, but kept getting thrown off by random numbers being called out.

The climb was not that bad as seen by the smiles on Roxanne and me at the top.

Here a picture of Liege from the top of the hill that the stairs went up.

Before Larry and Susan went back home I was able to meet them for dinner near the Brussels airport. It was great to be able to see them again and spend time just talking with them.

Ian didn't put this picture on earlier and I thought it was fun. We really had a great time together in Holland.

All in a Day's Work

I was in the Foreign Affairs Committee meeting yesterday when my boss came up to me and asked if I wanted to go to a rally for Tibet. It took me half a second to yank off my headphones and head out the door. The rally was held in front of some of the European Institutions right in Brussels. There were about 300 people there. It was very peaceful, but really interesting to be a part of. People were chanting, "Stop killing in Tibet" (also what my headband says), "We want freedom," and "China go away."

Here is a picture of my boss Paolo and me at the rally.

And here is a shot of the front of the rally. It sure was a neat experience to be there, especially after hearing the Speaker of the Parliament In Exile of Tibet last week.