Splendid Tervuren

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.

poisonous or not

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.

My Grandfather, by Dan Herway

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!

Okay Pop.  Quit kidding around.....

A perfect Gift

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).

A message from Dad:  "Unique in All the World"
P

Escapades of VT

This is my cute visiting teacher.  She just had her worst nightmare.  And if you don't want to be disgusted, probably just skip this post.

Her name is Erin and she was over to VT today.

Her little girl Karrington was whiny and not feeling well.  All of a sudden, YUCK, she threw up all over.   Literally everywhere and LOTS.  I ran for a towel and we got her into the bathtub (after I killed a huge spider that was lurking in the never used tub).  I had to loan Erin some clothes because she was drenched with it.  It was all over the carpet and in her purse and all over her and her daughter.  Sorry to be descriptive, but you have to appreciate how bad it was.

As she was wiping down the copy of her Ensign she said, "well, I did have a message for you"  Uh, that's ok.  We can take a raincheck on that one.