This made Natalie laugh

Talking to Natalie on the phone: she is hurting because she tore a stomach muscle (she thinks). At any rate, she doesn't want to laugh because it hurts.
We were talking about Brauer and wondering what he will look like. Will he have some family resemblances? I was sitting on the couch upstairs in the TV/computer room and looking at some of the pictures in the standing picture frame. There was one of Jake, Natalie and Nicole and Steve in Sicily on the beach. I was saying that Natalie and Nicole really don't look anything alike in this picture. It looks like I grabbed Natalie and asked her to stand with our family for a picture. She looks Italian or at least European.
To help her remember which picture I was talking about I said, "remember it was the trip when they thought Steve had drowned and was being washed ashore." That got a laugh out of her. It's true though, for those of you that weren't there. Steve was about 12 and he found it relaxing to just float in the waves. He was so relaxed that a lady on shore thought he had drowned and was being washed a shore. She screamed, they called the lifeguard, and a crowd gathered. The lifeguard grabs Steve by the arm and of course he comes to life. The crowd was dumbfounded. We were a little ways down the beach but the lifeguard comes hauling Steve by the arm. The lifeguard was a bit upset because I guess he wanted a dead body to deal with instead of a live 12 year old.

Amsterdam Mini Mission

This past week-end, we took Steve up to Amsterdam to do a mini mission with the Elders up there. I wish he would post his feelings, suffice it to say, that he talked a good hour on the way home about his experiences. He loved it! Whew. Even the 6:30am wake-up, until the 10pm drop into bed was ok with him. "It's different to get up early and have your day to look forward to, instead of work or school." Ok, I can buy that. He was with 4 Elders in an apartment in Wormerveer, overlooking a canal. He did service, he taught, he walked and rode trains, he went door-to-door, attended church, and soaked up the REAL missionary life.
In the meantime, Dad and I had a spiritual experience of our own. We went on a tour of the home of Corrie Ten Boom in Haarlem. I thought it would be a regular tour, you know: "and this is the dining room, and this is where they slept, and this is the hiding place, etc". Actually what happened was that our group sat in the living room and the tour guide told us a nutshell version of what had happened in the home in WWII. They were a Christian family that hid Jews! The real surprise was that we discussed forgiveness, that the Lord does indeed work miracles, that in our deepest sufferings the Lord understands and supports us because he has suffered even more.
I realize when I think of that family that their spiritual level is on a completely different plane than mine. Their every thought was of God and His will. Their love of their fellow human beings was unbounded and unprejudiced.
It was a great experience.
We also took some rented Dutch bikes (they are awesome) on the ferry to the island Texel, just North of the mainland Holland. It's a bikers paradise. At least a paradise for my type of biking: flat, no cars, and beautiful scenery. Full of dunes and forests, and wildlife, and small quaint villages, and of course water!
Our drive home was very late, around midnight. We ran into a severe lightening storm. At one point, our windshield wipers lit up and blinded us. If I didn't know better I would say we had been struck with lightening. Even putting the wipers on fast speed we could barely see where the road was. And every other second we were plane-ing on the soaked and flooded roads. So the Lord protected us. He worked a miracle for us as well.
Enjoy the pictures. They will of course mean more to me than to you, but I hope you get an idea of our week-end.

Life with a teenager

We ate dinner and planned on a quiet evening. But oh no! Steve decides we HAVE to see "The Dark Knight". It opened last night. I was sure it would be sold out. But with a determined teenager in the house, we went anyway. And he was right, we got in with no problem and had perfectly fine seats.
I have to say that Heath Ledger was amazing. The movie was worth viewing just to see him act. Incredible. Definitely not for young viewers (ie. Daph or Zane) but everyone else should love it.
Happy Pioneer day to the Utah residents. And I'm getting really anxious to get the news about Brauer!!! Good luck Lara!
We take off tomorrow for the Netherlands. Steve will be serving a mini-mission and Dad and I are headed to The Wadden (the islands North of Holland).

The Dollar Dive

Gag. Domus is now on the expensive restaurant list. Headlines: a Dame Blanche now costs $10. That's TEN BUCKS for an ice cream sundae. We went to Leuven last night because every Friday night in July they have live bands in almost every square. And they are free.
So we go to Domus for Uitsjmiter and spaghetti and of course dame blanche, before the concerts begin. The drinks are 3.60 euros EACH...about $6.50. We only ordered two and shared. Decided to order pannekoken, but only two again. And still the meal cost us $20 each.
Glad our large family lived here during the era when Domus was cheap. Oh, they have raised their prices as well. It's not ALL the dollars fault. Just mostly.
There is a shred of silver lining in this very sad news. We found a Vietnamese restaurant downtown Brussels that has divine food, and so far, it is more affordable than Domus! So when you come to visit....the pilgrimage may be to the Lotus Vert instead of Domus.
And one other bargain is Millet in Sterrebeek. Dad and I walk there on Saturday mornings while Ruprect sleeps. We buy a loaf of bread for 2 euros. We walk home and cut big slices of bread, spread on butter and honey, add to our menu a large cup of OJ. Viola! Perfect Saturday morning brunch!
There are still a few good deals out there, but the dollar is pretty pathetic here. Our rent is now at $4,000/month, although it's only 2,300euros/month. Now that is a pitiful exchange rate.
Oh the woes of our weak greenback!

Book Thief

I really liked it. What did you think of it?
Very creative style of writing. The setting was chock full of emotion.


When she made it down to Munich Street, the book thief swerved in and out of the umbrellaed men and women--a rain-cloaked girl who made her way without shame from one garbage can to another. Like clockwork.
"There!"
She laughed up at the coppery clouds, celebrating, before reaching in and taking the mangled newspaper. Although the front and back pages were streaked with black tears of print, she folded it neatly in half and tucked it under her arm. It had been like this each Thursday for the past few months.

Now I can't see why I don't write like that!!! And this was just literally a random paragraph.

Sunday Inspiration

Please tell me what you think. I KNOW the island lovers will love this. Or maybe you have all heard it, and I'm the last one!

I went to youtube and checked out some of their videos. Ben Uai Preston and Ray the Haka is what I think the BYU guys do before their football game.

My Revelation for Today

How's this:
Family reunion decided for Fall (Thanksgiving). It must be TX b/c they have the best weather!
Family reunion decided for Winter. It must be UT b/c they have the best snow!
Family reunion decided for Summer. It must be NC b/c they have the best beaches!
Family reunion decided for Spring. It must be Europe b/c, b/c, b/c!
It just became so clear. We all live in great places!

One of my favorite conversations

So Mel says she likes the old movies. I have at least a zillion. And they are more palatable in small segments anyway, don't you think? I have to say, that I love the following home movie segment. This conversation with Jake is an all time favorite. And whoever Tiffany is, well she is surely loved!
You know what is crazy? I never could imagine my kids as adults, and now here they are, all grown up! So glad I have a zillion movies. They always bring a smile to my face.

We Just Must!

Ok, family. We were at a party tonight. Some guy corners Tom and I, and he was a bit tipsy, but he filled us with a resolve. And here it is. This guy, Mr. Quinn, is the oldest of 6 kids. He will leave on Friday for his family reunion that occurs every other year. And he says, do or die, everyone is there!
So I had all kinds of questions for him. 1)Who pays? 2)When and where do you have it? 3)does everyone earn about the same so that it's not a hardship on a few? 4)how long? 5) who organizes it? etc. etc.
He hadn't seen his siblings in two years, but that was ok, b/c they had the date set 2 years in advance and he knew he would see them then. In his case, everyone pays for themselves...even the living Dad didn't pay a thing. Everyone takes a day to cook. The Texans bring beef, the Alaskans brought seafood, they brought crepes (he admits he and his wife are at the bottom of the totem pole). The family comes together from all over the world.
Turns out that the siblings in the states actually plan the location and reserve the housing. He and his family just show up and pay their part and cook on their day.
This year they had a 13 bedroom house on the Outer Banks! Their goal is to have everyone under one roof for a week, every other year.
The biggest compliment was when his daughter and son swore they would carry on the tradition when they had families of their own.

As you all know, Natalie tried to get one organized for this year. It didn't pan out. Then I tried with the same results. It just didn't seem to click.
Money, time and leave, pregnancy are all issues.
I feel like it's important to do this. We all like each other, right? We all take vacations when we really want to, right? Don't you think we could coordinate this? Or is it asking the impossible?
When some other family with 6 kids manages to pull it off, then I get back on my high horse. Then I pout.
The last idea on the table was for Thanksgiving 2009.
Well, at least I've got it out of my system. But just so you know, THE HERWAY family reunion is not dead!

Homesick

On our way to church today this is how the conversation ensued, and only Steve and I were in the car. Dad was off on Stake business. Me, "What is today, July 6th? " Steve, "yep".
"Wow, we leave for the States one MONTH from today!"
Long pause.
"I'm homesick already".
"Yes, you have lived your entire life here. It will be a drastic change for you. But onward, to another phase of your life!"
But these were my inward thoughts, "and I'm going to miss the heck out of you. You won't be the only one that is homesick!"

Gary Sinise

Tonight at BAS!!! Gary Sinise of Lt. Dan Band came to the school to kick off our 4th of July celebrations.
We thought it would be a mob scene with buses coming up from SHAPE, and Dad had to go to a church meeting in Breda NL, so just Steve and I went, and arrived just about 10 minutes before they started....and went straight to the front!
It was FABULOUS!!! We heard songs all the way from Jimi Hendrix, The Beatles, Beyonce, Lynryd Skynryd and the closing song was "I am proud to be an American, God Bless the USA".
I guess Gary financed the whole tour and is going throughout Europe and will end up in Iraq and Afghanistan. They kept thanking the troops for all their service. It was really heart warming.
But man, can their band play! And man, did I have fun dancing. For those who know Emily Moseman, she started a train and paraded everyone across the stage! (I didn't do that, so relax)
Steve met him at NSA and got this picture signed by Gary. He was asked what it was like to act with Tom Hanks, "cool". Steve asked him what he earned. "more than I'm worth!"
We were all impressed with his talent and his willingness to share it with all of us!