Christmas in Austin

The beautiful Grandma Grape.

Isa and Bryn hosting their cousins and doing a great job. (the statue could represent Rach, Tommy and Kate!)

Kate. She is nearly 4 months old and it is our first time to meet her. I LOVE to snuggle her. Very cuddly and happy baby.

Rach takes pictures of herself in the car....I gave her my camera to distract her thoughts from throwing up in my car!

Tommy...wondering how much more fun can he take. He and Rach and Katie are fighting fevers and coughs.

The Oasis Restaurant: superb view over the Travis Lake

Dallin arrives after a 7 hour delay at the airport. Instead of a mid-afternoon arrival, he came in at midnight. But he only jumped from the frying pan into the fire when he came to our house with 'up at 5:45am kids'....forget catching up on any sleep!

Shopping the After Christmas sales!

Noel in the lead with Rach on a tag-a-long. Tom on his own bike. Jake pulling the kid wagon with Isa and Tommy.

It was a perfectly warm, beautiful day. We rode the Lance Armstrong Trail. Very fitting while in Austin!

Everyone got to bike...we took turns between watching kids and biking

Colie's Birthday dinner at Kirby Lane just before picking up Jake's family at the airport.

Colie's birthday party....pedicure's for the girls. It was the FIRST time for both Nicole and I. Sad statement, huh?

Natalie and Noel get the 'Host of The Year' award for hosting all of us. Really. Think of all the elements of this large gathering. They seem to be handling it all ok....I guess they are holding off their meltdown until after we leave.

And not to forget Christmas morning. There were tons of presents even though we tried really, really hard to keep it simple. I loved talking with Elder Herway. A bit hard to hang up. Fun to be all together 'virtually' on the conference call.

Thanks to all the kids for the GPS! I'm trying it out in Austin and I am still on a high learning curve. Thanks so much everyone!!!

Christmas Markets in France

Jake, I thought about you several times as we tromped around Colmar and Strasbourg. Fabulous, quaint cities and all aglow with Christmas cheer. I went with a few friends from church and my favorite part was playing games and talking until 1am in the morning. The Alsace region is beautiful, add that with some great friends, good food, and Christmas time and it was magical.

Christmas In Belgium

This is mostly for Natalie(who requested this information)....or anybody else who might not be clear exactly what traditions are specifically Belgian. I had some of the Holland and/or German/and or French traditions mixed in, but I got a straight shot from my friend Freya.

Christmas in Belgium

Sometime in November, St. Nicolas comes via boat into the Antwerp harbor. He is welcomed by the Mayor and there is a big celebration in the city.

On Dec 5, the night before St Nicolas Day, which is Dec 6^th, the children put out their shoes and inside there is a carrot and sugar for the white horse, whose name is Morgan. They sing songs to St. Nicolas. In the morning there are gifts for the good children. If you were naughty, then Black Pete puts you in his bag and takes you away to Spain. This is the biggest gift the children will receive during the season. It can be a bicycle or something like that. Once the children stop believing in St. Nicolas, then the gift giving also stops. (so they fake believing for several years!)

Song: Dag, Dag, Dag Sinter Klaas, Dag, Dag, Dag to the white horse, etc.

Even if St Nick Day falls on a school day, the celebration is always held exactly on Dec 6^th.

On Christmas Day, there is a gift exchange between the children and their parents. Children buy gifts for their parents, and parents buy for the children, but much smaller than on Dec 6^th. Usually it will be pajamas, or a nice sweater, or a new shirt, 20 euros,etc.

On New Year’s Day, the children have been preparing letters for their grandparents, parents, and god-parents, in school, and this is the day that the children present their letters to their parents and grand-parents, and god-parents. They stand in front of their parent and read aloud the letter they have written. It will start out by them saying, “In Moorsel, Jan 1^st, 2010, Dear Momma and Poppa….” Usually the sentiments include that they will be good children and that they think their parents are the best in the world. They are then rewarded with a small treat or a small coin (from the parents)

After they read their letter to their grandparents, the grandparents will give their big gift to their grandchildren. For the middle class family, approximately 100 euros to each child. (most Grandparents usually have 3 or 4 grandchildren). The God-parents also give a gift to their god-children, about 50 euros. In fact, any relative adult who may be in attendance should be prepared to “open their wallet”…whether it is an Aunt or an Uncle, etc. (A letter should be prepared and read to these adults in attendance as well) In some neighborhoods, families also go door-to-door in their neighborhood and sing to their neighbors and the children are given a small sweet or a small coin.

On Jan 6^th, which is 3 Kings Day, the children will dress up like a King and go door-to-door in their neighborhood, and again sing to their neighbors. The neighbor should give the children a small treat.

So there you have it. From the mouth of a Belgian, and I got her very own traditions that she practiced as a girl, and that they practice in their family today. My Holland friends say they have a few tweeks....a few differences. I'll post those another day.

Cinqcontinaire Brussels

street performer dressed from film (from the web)

Our Thanksgiving week-end

View from the breakfast room.

St. Angelo

Seriously, park wherever you can!

Knock, knock, knocking on Heaven's Door

ABC: another boring church...not really, it was gorgeous

Piazza Navona always inspires

Oh man, I didn't throw in a coin! I hate to think what that means....

De Meo Patacca

Tom had Carruso serenaded to him. He was a happy man!

Ostia: second only to Pompeii in being perserved.

I love the old road. This town was deserted when Rome was taken over by the Gauls, then the river silted over and the town was preserved till now...It's been standing since before Christ, and was the main port for supplying military support. Hard to imagine. I think seeing Ostia was Tom's highlight.