Brugge never Disappoints

Wednesday morning was the funeral service for our neighbor: Marcel Stoop. It was a beautiful Catholic service and a fitting tribute to Marcel. His grandson played the violin while his daughter accompanied on the piano. Stunning. Of course the one with the hard job is his widow, Julienne. Always the one left behind has the toughest job.

Afterwards we took the one hour drive to Brugge. Always impressive. Always fun. Plus when you add Steve and Nicole, it is never, ever, ever dull. I wish I could bottle them up.

Have we left out Anything?

Now here to prove that Tom will try his very best to fulfill your birthday wish: Colie wanted Dad to play games with us. He did!

Happy 25th Colie Bolie. That beautiful bouche was made of 3 different types of chocolate mousse! Wow!

Oh yeah! Movies and candy!

We are really making a dent in the list.

Moules at Chez Leon

Millet Bakery (bouche)

Istanbul

Kinepolis (Mission Impossible 4)

Tervuren Park and walk the circuit (daily)

Downtown for the Christmas Markets

Haircuts

Christmas Market in Aachen (bratwurst, dumpfhnoodle)

Gym (measly attempt to work off all the fabulous food)

Deli France sandwiches

Goat Cheese Salad

Pesto Sandwiches

And then of course everything you do without having to put it on the list:

Games (every night)

Talk

Watch movies

Back Massages

Waffles from Stokkel Market

Waffles at home with cool whip and fruit

Carrefour to get favorites: chocolate ice cream, yogurts, bread, candy, etc.

Talk on the phone to family

Down time for book reading and quiet time, naps

But I have a MAJOR problem. The time is flying by! Please slow down.......

Elder Schuetze

Elder Schuetze

From left: Elder Kleijweg and wife (temple pres), Pres Poznanski and wife(mission pres)

Elder Schuetze and Tom and I.

. He was fabulous. A real treat to host him for the week-end. He is 70 years old and has the energy of a 50 year old. He grew up in Eastern Germany, just he and his mother. When he was 4 years old the Russians came through and kicked them out and said they were going to make (Germany) part of Poland. The Russians threw all their belongings in the river and told them to get out. So they walked to his grandparents house which took them 3 days. There they met the church. So many Germans had lost family members during the war that they were very receptive to the plan of salvation. When they heard the plan they all joined. Their previous minister had taught that there was no hope of seeing family members again, so the plan of salvation truly was their plan of happiness.

The grandfather in order to feed the family became a baker so there would always be bread in the house and they wouldn't starve.

Growing up he spent 40 years in communist East Germany as a member of the church, which meant you couldn't get a job, it was the end of your career. Really hard to find a job.

He met his wife at university. Her father had graduated from college and he couldn't find a job. The German secret police got him a job. They took such good care of him that he lost perspective and joined the dreaded gestapo because he was so loyal to them for finding him a job. The family was embarrassed and were actually relieved when he died in the bombing of Berlin.

Bro Schuetze and his wife, when they were single adults both got into West Berlin for a church activity. He said they realized they were 'free'. They thought about just staying but his wife(girlfriend at the time) said, 'don't you have a church calling?' 'yes' So they went back to Leipzig for the church calling!

Sad story: He was married to his wife for 34 years. He came home from a church assignment and she and their son picked him up from the airport. They spotted a traveler on the road needing assistance. They stopped to help. His wife, rather than staying with the car, got out and was hit by another car and killed.

Annual Girls' Get-Away

Oh, and speaking of friends, recognize any of these visitors? Fun that they were here on the same week-end.

The RS ladies like to take a few days to get away and shop/talk/eat/sleep/play games. This year I planned the trip and we went to the Mosel. I love it there because it's close and at Christmas time Germany just does it the best. We did Trier, Bern-Kastle Kues and Cochem. In Cochem we toured the castle and I loved it. The Christmas markets are in full swing and the food is so tasty.

At night we played 'greed'. The punishment? The loser had to answer any question that we could dream up to ask her. Kind of like truth or dare, but she had to tell the truth. We got to laughing so hard, I'm sure the guests in the next room were annoyed.

Always after an outing like that, you deepen your friendships with these people. It was a great group of ladies.

Jaipur

We loved India. However, we are glad to live in Belgium! It's a magical place, but the jewels are among ashes....and it depends how much of the ashes you are willing to stomach!

People

The street sweeper was who interested me here.

why do kids always looks so sharp in their school uniforms?

I LOVE that they hold hands

He is a bit blurry but he sure is cool looking.

Love the mustache

I got a kick out of them all sitting in squat position, on a high wall....

Our elephant driver

Isn't she gorgeous?

She is my favorite. I would like to know her.

On the Road

This is out of the front window, you can see the rear-view mirror in the top right corner.

Waiting for the bus.

Pigs and cows roam the streets.

Not all women cover their faces with the veil, but some do. I thought the white turban guy was cool as well.

There were lots of camels used for transport.

If there is no room inside, you are allowed to hang off the sides, and also ride on the roof.

Most of these pictures were taken outside of our car window! We are driving down the major highway between Agra and Ranthamadore. Sometimes it was a double lane, sometimes it was a skinny dirt road. I tried to capture what I saw out of my window. It is very hard to represent it in pictures only, but you get the general idea.....sheer craziness!