Blurry but Colie was taking it from her bike! That Rhine River path is so much fun, no matter the weather.
I loved it when Steve said, "Best German food EVER." Obviously, we didn't leave one morsel of food on our plates.
So what story is Steve telling now? The Rhine was really flooded, can you tell?
Dad's photo shoot. "Shot of the Day....no, Shot of the Year"
Bern Kastel Kues. The only problem with our fun kids at home is when they leave....thanks Colie for sticking around a few more days so the withdrawal is a bit slower!
This was taken for an advertisement for my Mom's dance studio. I did toe dance up through high school, but my favorite was jazz.
Yes Daph, I think I went on toe shoes when I was 11 years old (maybe 10....if so, my ballet teacher should be shot!) Anyway, here I am as the 'swan' in Swan Lake. Humpfh. I think you look a LOT better in toe shoes than I did.....
Daphne, I am proud of you for practicing and getting strong enough and good enough to go on toe shoes. I bet you get really good. I didn't really practice enough to get very good, but it sure was fun. I look forward to seeing you dance! I love you! Grammie
We went to the ward, and this lady looked so familiar.....turns out she was a friend from 24 years ago from the Wakefield Ward in Virginia. She was married to an alcoholic man whom she divorced right after we left. She then was single for about 20+ years then met this man on the internet....he was 'advertising' for a woman who wanted to serve a mission! Cynthia answered and here they were, serving a mission! Awesome, huh?
For Noel: do you think it's a pretty city?
I love the water that is an integral part of the city
Tennis, card games, the park (that was Tori's first time to swing!) and lots of talking time with my mom and girls. Sure is nice to hang with a photographer family. I only took a few pictures b/c they take such fabulous shots. Thanks Portugals for hosting all of us and letting us crash your family routine. I'm missing that warm sun already.
Dad wants credit for the picture with the swans. That one is his. I love the fact that the 'gate house' is now open for drinks and local gifts. We don't always get these kind of colors in the Fall in Belgium. Many times we don't see very vivid colors, but this year is exceptional. So the lakes, the wildlife, and the Fall colors make Tervuren park a stunning place to take a stroll.
I know. Disgusting pictures of mushrooms. But they are growing in my yard!!! All of them. Including that beautiful red one. I wish I knew if they were poisonous or not. My guess is they are, so I promise I won't be experimenting. They are growing at unprecedented speed and I can't keep up with them. Might have to resort to putting money into the lawn. We wanted to avoid that since we only have one more summer here.
However, if they are rare and expensive and tasty, I would love to cook them up. I won't, I won't.
I was pricked by the talk given by Elder Scott concerning the importance of Family History. I guess his wife was excited by a spare bedroom that she was going to convert to a Family History room. That made me think of the 3 spare bedrooms upstairs that could certainly be put to better use.
So today, I started going through papers and trying to get organized. I came across this cute paper written by Dan. It's probably too small to read, so I will tell you what it says, as well as Pop's comments at the bottom:
My grandfather
My grandfather was in the Airfoce and also in World War II. The way that my grandfather is speaicl to us becuuse he fott for his counrty. He tried And he did it. My grandfather didn't die, he has meadels from the war. He's my grandpa and I'm proud of him. 7/22/86 by Dan Herway for a Scout assignment.
Note (that Pop wrote) This was a cub scout assignment. The problem was to write notes about two people who in their opinion did most for their country. Danny wrote about George Washington and then about myself. It was surprising to me that he rated George Washington so highly!
Thanks, a million times thanks! Your Christmas Gift last year was an overnight anywhere in Belgium and we chose the Belgian coast. We would have never taken the opportunity had you not given us this gift. And we would have missed something really really great.
It's true that we sometimes miss the gems in our own backyard, and that is certainly the case with the Belgian coast. I remember taking the kids there maybe once or twice, fighting traffic, and not being very impressed at all, and of course trying to do it in a long day trip.
Well, now my impression is "this place is gorgeous! this place is perfect for kids! this place was here all this time and we didn't take advantage! I'm so glad we didn't miss it all together, and it's thanks to our kids!" I am sorry that we didn't take you guys here as kids. I apologize. Guess you will have to come back....
The colors were magnificent. We loved the dunes. I couldn't stop taking pictures. We loved watching the horses, and the bikers, and the walkers and runners. We loved watching the kids playing in the shallow water with all the wildlife. We thought of Dan, Seth, and Jake who would love to bike the coast. We thought of the grandkids who would love the wildlife and the wide empty beaches. We planned ways to get everyone there.
The village we chose was De Haan. It was a village, and it's the only place along the coast that isn't lined with high rise apartment buildings. It's very quaint and charming. I loved low tide. People wear wellies or roll up their pants and go barefoot to get across the remaining flows of water.
The last photo is of our hotel. (Last house on the left).
