Italian Food!

I know it sounds too good to be true, but last weekend I was in Italy for Carnival! I had a blast with Ilenia and her family. I will be posting pictures of Venice (where we went for Carnival) later, but I had to be sure to post pictures of the important things: the amazing food that I ate while in Italy! Lucia, Ilenia's mother, is a phenomenal cook. I ate so well. Lucia is pictured above with Ilenia's sister Elisa showing a really good lasagna.

Here is the Bovo family sitting down to a really good meal. Each course was delicious. We even had chocolate salami one night!

This is galani and it is sooooo good. It is a treat made during Carnival time. It kind of like a dough that is fried with powdered sugar on top, but it breaks very easily.

I am convinced that I went to Italy at the perfect time because there are some things that are only made during Carnival time, like the frutella that Ilenia and Igor are eating. These are also fried with powdered sugar. My favorite food that I had that week, you ask? That is a tough one, so I will just list some of my favorites: chocolate salami, galani, sausage risotto, and lasagna. Thanks so much to the Bovo family for their hospitality and to Lucia for her amazing food.

We Love Colorado

Megan, Gavin and I made a quick trip to Colorado to surprise our dear friend Karen with a visit. We flew into Colorado Springs, made a quick stop at the Air Force Academy, and then drove through a snowstorm up to Denver (our California appreciation lesson). Gavin was all smiles for Karen, daughter Britt, and her husband, Jeff. We had a great time and laughed a lot. Thanks to Britt and Jeff for helping to keep the secret. We can't wait to see all of them again.

Experiencing Holland with the Wondergems

On our way to pick up Katinka at the airport the Wondergems showed me more of Holland. The first picture is of Kinderdijk, which has quite a few windmills all in one area. It was very neat to see so many so close together. This may seem like a "duh" remark, but I have now experienced the wind in Holland and know exactly why the Dutch built windmills. And having been inside of a working windmill and understanding how land was "created" in Holland, the importance of the windmill is incredible.

We stopped at a seaside fishing village and since it was so windy and rainy we took a small break and had some hot chocolate. Pictured are Katinka's parents Simon and Ankie, me, and Katinka's sister Marjolein. There is a wonderful tradition in Holland of serving a small cookie with coffee hot chocolate in restaurants. I'm trying to figure out how I could bring that concept to the US, but I love it.

On my plate you will see two krokets. These are very Dutch and are like a mushy meat-gravy substance breaded and fried. They are great by themselves or put on bread.

When I put "experiencing" in the title I meant it. Marjolein is holding up a small part of a fillet and I am holding skin...of an eel...that we ate! (We didn't eat the skin.) In this fishing village you can buy eels that have been smoked, but the eels look like eels when you buy them! As interesting as it was, I won't go into the details of how you go about eating it. It was pretty good and tasted like something smoked.

Check these out! Are they not the coolest slippers ever? The Wondergems got these slippers for me to remind me of my trip to Holland. I had a fabulous time exploring Holland with the Wondergem Family (look for more posts!) and am excited to see them again spend a long weekend with them while I am still in Brussels.

Staying Inside and Keeping Warm

So, nothing special is going on, I just thought I'd post more pictures of our cute baby. I figure if I post often enough you will all feel like you see her practically every day, even though we don't live close to any family.

Ellie heard the plastic wrap and dove for it. I don't know why she loves everything that she isn't supposed to have. I was thinking if I just put plastic bags around the house it would encourage her to crawl. There are two problems with this: 1. It's not actually safe to let your kids play with plastic. 2. I am still enjoying not having to worry about a mobile baby.

She just can't get enough of playing the piano.

And this was just for my own fun.

More Rotterdam!

To do my time in Rotterdam justice I decided to do a second post. Above you see the beautiful Merlijn. This is Henk and Jantien's (Katinka's aunt) ship that they converted from a barge to a wonderful passenger ship to conduct bike tours in Holland and Germany. It was such a treat to stay on such a lovely ship.

Here is the only working windmill in Rotterdam. Fortunately, I was visiting the area on a day that it was open. Since both workers were busy they just let me look around on my own. It was so cool! I climbed four different ladders to get to the top where the actual grinding was taking place. It was interesting to go each level and see how it fit into the whole process. I was able to go out on the deck and have a great view of the harbor. One of the workers explained about the windmill and mentioned that it was a great day because the wind was blowing well.

This is Delfshaven, which is an area in Rotterdam that is historically known for a couple of reasons. But most interesting to me was that this was where the Pilgrims left from before going to England and boarding the Mayflower. (Yes, the Pilgrims were originally from England, but they first went to Holland before America.) It was a nice area along a canal, with the windmill at the opening of the canal.

Jantien took me up to The Hague one day and she showed me around the city that she used to live in. Pictured is where the International Criminal Court is held. I found this particularly interesting because I have read about it in my studies. While we were in The Hague we also went to the Dutch Parliament and actually sat in for part of a session. My favorite part of The Hague, though, was the Panorama Mesdag. It is a beautiful painting of the beach there. You should definitely google it.

Jantien and Henk were so generous to have me on their wonderful Merlijn. I had a great time with them and cannot thank them enough for their hospitality.

What Is All This White Stuff?

We finally had a sunny day (and "warm" at 10 degrees!) so I bundled Ellie up to go out and explore all the snow we've been getting.

She was not impressed.

Help! I've fallen and I can't get up!

January Activities

Since Alana is over in Brussels right now, I thought she would appreciate seeing some of the things that have happened since she left. We celebrated Susan's birthday before Katinka left to go back to Holland. Then Meg, Margaret and Gavin went up to Salt Lake for Jessica Reeves' wedding (sealing) to Reid Anderson. We stayed with Merril and Sharon Warnick (Gavin's other grandparents) and had a great time seeing old friends. Finally, neighbor and pool builder extraordinaire, Larry unveiled his new river and waterfall in his backyard. Gavin and Brielle can hardly wait to race sailboats down it. Nice job, Larry!!

Family Time

I've been meaning to post for a very long time, and am finally getting around to it. So, sorry about multiple posts in one day. These are pictures from the Wild Animal Park. Brielle was pretty excited to see all the animals (and to be with her Daddy after being away from him while we were in Florida), so we actually were able to capture some rare smiles.

Cousin Time

Brielle and Gavin seemed to enjoy being together. I'm pretty sure they just thought they were each a great big toy to play with, but at least they kept each other entertained. Here are just a few pictures to represent the 2 weeks together.

Christmas Morning-after opening presents.

It is tough to get two cute babies to both smile at the same time. Here we have Ellie with almost a smile.

And here is Gavin with a great smile!

Watching the Horses at the Santa Anita Race Track.

Animal Time

We had a great time at Aunt Eileens Ranch. Brielle loved the dog, but seemed a little bit nervous about the cows.

We went to see the Floats for the Parade of Roses. This is the FTD float before any of the flowers or seeds were put on.

Same float only one week later...it is amazing how much last minute work there is to make such beautiful floats.

Time with Great Grandparents

Brielle was lucky enough to be with 5 of her 6 great grandparents during Christmas. We just didn't get a chance to see "Grandmother" Christensen, but hopefully will see her soon.

With Great Grandpa Baker and Cousin Liam

At the Wild Animal Park in San Diego with Great Grandparents Vov and Yogi.

The whole Finlay Family!

Rotterdam

I am in Europe! But since my boss is in Strasbourg this week I am spending time with Katinka's family in Holland. I spent my first couple of days in Oostkapelle, but then headed up to Rotterdam to stay with Aunt Jantien and Hank on their beautiful barge, The Merlijn. Be sure to check back for great pictures of Oostkapelle and Katinka's family. The first picture is taken from the Euromast (seen in the second picture). It was great to have such a view of the city and have Jantien point out important sites. To the left of the picture you can see the New York Hotel beneath two tall towers. This is only one section of the city/harbor - it is huge.














This picture shows the Euromast from across the Maas River.



















This is the New York Hotel, which was used by passengers of the Holland American Line before they departed for the US. There is a restaurant on the main level and a hotel occupies the upper floors. Jantien and I had lunch there, which was a ton of fun because of its location and historical aspects. It has been a lot of fun to explore the city. I have loved staying on the Merlijn. A big thanks to Jantien and Henk for their wonderful hospitality.

Northern California Trip

We took a trip to San Francisco with our Dutch "daughter", Katinka, and had a wonderful time. The first picture is of all of us from the Point Bonita lighthouse, with the Golden Gate Bridge in the background. Next, we showed Katinka Lombard Street, the crookedest street in the world, supposedly. The picture shows San Francisco Bay with Alcatraz in the middle. We also went snowshoeing at Donner Lake and finally had a sweet tour at the Jelly Belly jelly bean factory in Fairfield.