Merry Christmas Everybody!!

Wishing you all a very Merry Christmas. I hope Santa is good to you all. May you find all you want underneath your Christmas tree.

All our love,

Jan, Jodie, James and Jenna

Winter Wonderland

Here is what Holland has looked like until today. The trees are now free of the blanket of ice due to the sunny day we had yesterday and today. It was so beautiful but very cold. This should make all you Arizonians feel a bit warmer.

Have a wonderful Holiday season....

Baby it's cold outside!!

Well winter has finally found Holland. It is freezing here! They are hoping that within a couple of days we can be outside skating on natural ice. BRRRRR! The last few mornings we have been waking up to the sounds of people scraping the ice off their car windows! The only real advantage to it being this cold is that the sky is beautiful and blue and most of the day the sun is shining. So the grey days are gone. The sunsets have been beautiful reds and pinks. So maybe there is snow in the near future too! Not really looking forward to that but love the sunshine!

Sunday we went to Brokerveiling, a museum in Broek in Langedijk, it is the old aution house for fruits and vegetables. We took the kids there a few years ago in the autumn and they carved pumpkins. This year they had a Christmas Market. It was nice and cozy and COLD! Jenna, Sabine and Pim came with us. Funny how the only way you get a teenager to come with you is if you allow them to bring friends. I think the kids had fun. They got to make their own candles. And I got a picture of Jenna and Pim together. She is going to kill me for posting this but oh well. I think that they make a nice couple. He is a nice boy. She seems to really like him and they get along well. Here are a few pictures of yesterday. Enjoy!

Jenna and Pim ( that isn't real snow, they had a snowmachine)Sabine, Jenna and Pim

Making candles

Jenna, Jan, Sabine & Pim in the auction house, to the left is water where they bring the boats full of veggies in to be auctioned off. They start with a high price and let it go lower, the idea is for you to get the lowest price available.

TGIF

Friday already! I can't believe how fast the weeks are flying by! On one hand it is nice but on the other it is really getting out of hand how quickly the days are passing. Maybe it is because I am busy and happy... I think that it might just be the deal. One more week until Christmas vacation starts. Wow! I don't think that my Christmas cards will be arriving on time... in fact I know they won't be. I just got them back from the printers and they screwed up big time!!! I am so disappointed! They cut off the who top and bottom of my card. There is no way I can send them the way they are. What is the deal? Do they have no quality control anymore. Even a blind person could tell that these pictures weren't done right. Okay no more bitching and moaning. My complaint has been sent, now we wait and see what they are going to do about it. And be prepared for them to do nothing.
As for the video.. not sure if that is going to work. I think I have to download a DVD program and then a convert program. So it will be some time before I am able to share... Sorry. I am bummed about it.
The kids are really looking forward to vacation. They are both fighting colds and coughs. So the rest will be welcome.
I am now busy looking for a job, and this means now that I am going to have to go back to school. If I don't want to work at the local grocery store. Not really. I am now narrowing the field down. Not really sure which direction. Most of the areas that are really interesting are more than 4 years of school, and I am not sure if I want to spend so much time in school at my age. ( I know I am not that old but then again I am not 20!) So the search continues... I will keep you up to date.
Have a great weekend.

Working on a video!!!

I am trying to figure out how to get the video I took of Jenna and Jan singing this saturday posted on my blog. It is almost frustrating. The biggest problem is that the computer sees it as one piece of video instead of little bits. I am not sure if it is going to work but I am not going to give up yet. I have asked Jill how she did it so hopefully she can tell me...she has the same camera so hopefully if she can do it I can too.
We had a nice weekend, busy but nice. Jenna and Jan were gone most of saturday afternoon for rehearsals. I picked up Jan's Mom we went to see the show and had dinner. It was the best concert Lea has given. Each year we go because of either Jan or Jenna has to sing, but this time it was really not much of a punishment. The entertainment was great. The food was good too. It was a Christmas dinner with music. I can hardly believe it but I ate deer.. poor Bambi.. It was not too spectacular though.. and to top it off it was a bit on the cold side. Ma was proud of me I tasted it and finished it... thank goodness for small portions. It ended up being a really late night for all of us. A good time was had by all.
Sunday the sun was out so we decided to go to the beach for a walk. The only way we could get Jenna to go was if her boyfriend Pim came along... His parents came along also. It was nice to be able to get to know his parents and to know where Jenna is spending most of her time lately. We had a long walk and Corona chased after the kids, up and down the dunes. She was beat by the time we got to the car. We had coffee and hot chocolate at the beach cafe before heading home. Then the weekend was over! It really flew by! It was lots of fun, I didn't get the Christmas tree put up though.
So yesterday (Monday) James helped me get all the boxes down from the attic and we put the tree up. Jenna and James tried to decorate the tree while Jan and I went to the Vet with Corona (for her shots), but the lights wouldn't work. They had them all on the tree and they wouldn't work. I couldn't believe it but 2 strands of lights and they were both dead. Poor kids. They had wanted to surprise us. So we used lights we normally put on the trees outside, but by then it was late and the decorations would have to wait. So that is what Jenna and I did today after school, hot cocoa, and christmas songs playing on the radio. After all that I still don't feel like in less than 2 weeks it is Christmas!!!! Did get my Christmas card finished today and off to the printers. Yes I am sure they will be late. .... but they are worth it!! (even if I say so myself!)

Happy Birthday Papaw!

I just want to take this opportunity to wish my Papaw a wonderful 86th Birthday and let him know what a wonderful person I think he is. My Papaw has had a rough few years, having to take care of my Mamaw, Uncle and Aunt. You will never hear him complain about having to do something for anyone. He does everything with lots of love and tenderness. I sometimes think he should be up for sainthood. I honestly don't know how he does it!! He is the oldest but the strongest. He is a super caring and loving man, whom I am proud to call Papaw. How did I get so lucky to be born into his family? I just want to let him know how amazing I feel he is and how lucky I am to be his #1 doll.
Well Papaw I hope you have a wonderful day full of pleasant surpises. We love and Miss you bunches.
Happy Birthday to you!!
Love,
Jan, James, Jenna and Jodie

A new blog!!!

James, Jenna and Joshua Piet

I have decided to move my blog to blogger. The other blog isn't as easy to post comments to for those of you in the states. So after lots of going back and forth I finally bit the bullet and moved it here. I have been planning on doing this for some time but .... never had the time or energy to do it. I would like to keep this blog a bit more private, the kids are getting older and I have heard a few really creapy stories. I know that by putting this on the internet it is available for everyone who wants to see it but.. I would prefer it to be only family and friends who read it.

Last weekend Jenna, James and Joshua got to help Sinterklaas out and played black pieter (zwarte pieten) for the children of the employees of the hospital. They had a ball, and loved being able to act crazy without anyone knowing who they were. I will add a few photo's of them in action. I took pictures, and loved reminincing about how my babies used to be in awe around this time of the year. Big bright eyes full of wonder, Love it.


I am still busy looking for work. This sitting at home all day is for the birds! But at least the house is clean!! Ha. The kids aren't home much during the day anymore so there is no reason to stay home anymore. It is hard to find something since I have been out of work for so long! I am still looking into finding some kind of training to follow, so it makes my search a bit easier.


Yesterday I finally got a letter from the government saying that I don't have to take the class to become "dutch". I would have been a bit pissed off if they had decided I had to take the class. One more thing that I don't have to worry about! Yeah!


Jenna is going to be working at a florist tomorrow morning. She is really interested in making bouqets, and flowers. So this is a good way to get a good feel for what it takes. She brought me flowers on Monday and when she got home she arranged them for me. She is pretty good, considering she has no training.


James is doing fine too. Busy with school, girls and parties. A typical teenage boy. He is working hard to save money for a moped.


Okay enough for now... Here are a few photos.



James and Joshua Piet on the roof... at the hospital... The kids were in awe as to how they got up there!!! Too funny!Jan and Jenna Piet....
Here's one of Jenna's new braces.. Only on the bottom right now... top comes later...