New Year's Eve

New Years Eve came fast this year. Can't  believe another year is over already and that we're heading to Quinn's first Birthday. What a great year it has been though. Hopefully 2011 will bring us as much joy and happiness and another little miracle like we got early 2010....:-)

We did our traditional 'gourmetten' for dinner, which means your cooking your own small pieces of meat and vegetables in a small pan in front of you. It's a lot of fun and the kids like it too because they can "cook" their own food.

Tess wanted to sit next to her favorite cousin......

....and Luke was at the other head of the table.

When dinner was taking too long, Quinn and Luke transferred to the couch to watch Bumba on tv....

...and Tess did some coloring.

At midnight, it was time for fireworks. It almost seems like Holland is at war when the clock turns 12. Seriously, you can't imagine how much firework gets blown up. 4th of July is nothing compared to it. What I should have done is video tape it so you can get an idea, but I didn't think of it at the time. Plus it was too cold outside and Quinn woke up. We went home around 1.30am and I was still hearing fireworks at 5am. Crazy crazy crazy.
Happy 2011 everyone!

Pancake House

We made a trip to the 'Pannekoekenbakker' in Heerle, which is a traditional Dutch pancake house. You can order pretty much any pancake you can imagine. From hearty Italian, greek or mexican pancake to pancakes with fruit or fish or pancakes with meat or vegetables. Or any combination of the above. Favorite of most kids are 'poffertjes', which are like little mini pancakes with powder sugar.

Ryan ordered a mexican pancake. A very interesting combination.....it was delicious he said, even though they didn't have sour cream.

My favorite and my moms: apple pancakes!

Quinn is 11 months old!

Happy 11 month Birthday Quinn! Only one month to go for your big 1!.

What's going on @ 11 months:

* you're pulling yourself up and walking around the table

* you can crawl on your hands and knees now, even though you also still like to army crawl

* you clap your hands together

* you have FOUR teeth: front two on the top and front two on the bottom. And they're very sharp....

* your schedule is kind of messed up now we're in Holland. Hopefully we can get it back on track when we're back home

* you love to watch Nijntje and Bumba on the television and you recognize the tunes very well

* drinking out of a sippy cup goes better and better. You know how to hold it and how to hold your head back once it gets less full.

* you like yoghurt, but you LOVE vanilla pudding.......

* your full of smiles and a very happy little girl.

Christmas 2010

Merry Christmas everyone!

Quinn's first Christmas we celebrated in Holland. We decorated a small tree this year, since we knew a bigger tree on the floor would not be the smartest move with Quinn crawling around.

Even though Quinn wasn't in the USA at the time, Santa did not forget about her and her cousins. Their stockings were filled with toys from the good man. How lucky they were!

There was also a present for opa and oma: a picture of the three grandkids together.

Tess and Luke did an awesome job helping Quinn opening her presents.

Santa brought Christmas ornaments for all the kids with their name on it.

After all the presents were opened, it was time to play with them.

Tess and uncle Ryan playing with her new monkey game.

Later during the day we went to my uncle's house (next door to my parents) for coffee and cake. My aunt, uncle and cousins were also there. In the evening, we all came back to my parents house for a great Christmas meal. My cousin Karin, aunt Lia and mom were in charge of the menu and cooking and did and awesome job.

I was kind of nauseous that evening and Quinn had some difficulties sleeping because of all the excitement, but other than that, it was great to be with the whole family together like this. We have been celebrating first Christmas day like this since forever and it's hard to imagine that this might have been the last time with this group of people together. Next year we will most likely not be in Holland and who knows where we all will be the following year. Either way, we're a very close family so I'm sure we will find a way to celebrate Christmas with each other again.

Snow in Holland

We came to Holland to escape from the cold December weather and snow in Wisconsin. Well, our mission failed soon. Typically, Dutch winters are mild with little or no snow. But this year, we were "blessed" with a lot of the white stuff. I hadn't seen this much snow in Holland in a long time.....

An inch of snow means chaos in Holland. Traffic jams everywhere and hard to get around. Ever tried riding your pedal bike in snow? It's not that much fun, I can tell you.

For the kids on the other hand........snow is lots of fun! Quinn loved sledding with her cousins.

And oma made a snowman in the back yard.

Quinn touching snow for the first time. Brrr.......

With opa and oma.

tadaa! The snowman lasted for about a week and a half.

Fun @ opa and oma's house

Opa and oma had plenty of toys to play with. Toys from Tess and Luke when they were younger and toys from my brother and me when we were kids.

But not only toys are interesting.......even more are the tv and dvd player.....

.....or the printer, which was her most favorite thing in the living room to check out.

Time for a snack and something to drink.

Yammie yammie yammie, these cookies are so delicious.

Having fun with big cousin Tess in the bath tub.

Oma with her two granddaughters.

Time to read the newspaper....

....and back at the printer. Nothing is holding her back, not even two heavy chairs.

This side table is also pretty interesting. Surprisingly she never pulled on the little table cloth and knocked everyting over on the top shelf.

Helping opa vacuum cleaning....

These drawers she could pull open herself as well. Amazingly, since they are quite heavy....

Opa giving Quinn her bottle before bedtime. Mom and dad were gone on a date this evening :-)

Time to help oma cleaning out the dishwasher. She is such a good helper.

Obviously, we had lots of visitors over the 4 weeks we were in Holland to meet Quinn. Uncle Kees and aunt Mien gave her a little 'Nijntje' stuffed animal. That made her day :-) She loved it. When you shake it, it plays her favorite Nijntje tune. So much fun. (Unfortunately for us, there isn't an off and on button on it.....)

My cousin came over with her husband and kids.

Back to work with opa.

Oh yes, daddy was there too. He arrived just before Christmas and stayed with us for the last 2 weeks.

Having breakfast at the Oostvogels house. Breakfast and lunch are mainly "bread" meals in Holland. Something Ryan isn't used to that much. And since he likes to load up his sandwiches, he was 10 lbs heavier and all 'sandwiched out' when we got home.

My sister-in-law Aafke with Tess and Quinn.

Uncle Ryan spending quality time with his niece and nephew. 

Quinn sleeping in her bed at opa and oma's.

Reading books together.