The Rogers: Welcome To Our Neighborhood

Jer's Family Visit

2010-04-09T01:10:00.001-07:00

Jeremy's sister Jennifer got married over Christmas break, so we were fortunate to get to spend quite a bit of time with his family. His dad, Terry and twin, Jessica arrived a few days after Christmas. They came home with us for a few days and then we took them to see some sites before going back to Jen's for the wedding. Our first stop was Bastogne to see the museum and war memorial. The museum was interesting and the memorial is beautiful. Zane climbed to the top of it so he could have his picture taken above Oklahoma. From there we took them to Trier, where we met up with Jan for the day. We were very disappointed that our favorite restaurant was no longer there, but the sights were great anyway. There are amazing Roman ruins. We did find a authentic German restaurant to have lunch in and were thankful to have Jan there to help us with the menu. Later that evening we put Jan back on the train to head home (with his new microwave full of goodies!!) and stayed in the lodging at Landsthul AFB. The next day we headed back to Jen's where we were joined by their exchange family from Denmark. Hanne, Anders and the rest of us went to stretch our legs in Idstein later that evening. It is a really neat old town with an old tower that was used for witch trials a few centuries back. On a plaque below the tower are the names of the 30-something witches that were held and executed there. I will never cease to be amazed by the beauty of the architecture here. All of the houses and buildings have so much character. After walking in the freezing weather for awhile we warmed up with some great coffees and German pastries at a local coffee shop. Over the next few days we were joined by Adams family and all celebrated New Years Eve at their hotel. We had awesome and giant pizzas for dinner, watched some football and enjoyed the most spectacular fireworks display from the roof of the hotel. There were literally fireworks being set off 360 degrees around us and it lasted for over 2 hours. These German's know how to bring in a new year with flare!! By the way, I didn't manage to get the pics in order for this one, but I'm not re-doing it b/c I have to go make the beasts breakfast and clean my house!!

Christmas 2009

2010-04-09T00:31:00.000-07:00

We were blessed to spend Christmas with family this year. Being so far from home, I hadn't been expecting to originally. We stayed in Germany with Jennifer and Adam, and Bev (Jeremy's mom) was there also. We attended at wonderful candlelight Christmas Eve service that Jen took part in and Zane got to light one of the Advent candles. The next morning they were happy to see that Santa was able to find them even though they were not at home. They both got scooters and lots of other fun stuff. Logan got Alligator golf, but generally uses his clubs to sword fight with Zane. Zane was very excited about the clue game he got until he realized that he cannot be me at it. I could have let one of the guys win at least once, but what fun would that have been?? They were very good sports about being on the road for Christmas and agreed to leave most of their gifts at home to open later, but they did bring some and loved seeing what was inside. He also got some new Lego sets and had them both put together by the end of the day. I didn't get a non-blurry picture of Logan opening presents b/c his hands were ripping the paper so fast it was all a blur. He got quite a few new books that he insisted on reading at least 2 at a time and often upside down!! They took their scooters out for a spin while we were preparing Christmas dinner and had a great time. We enjoyed a great Christmas dinner with many family favorites and made and ate way to much, of course!! Logan found after dinner that pumpkin pie tastes better than it looks. Jen makes it from fresh pumpkin and it is awesome!! A few days later we headed back home and the boys got to finish opening their presents here. Zane was very relieved that Santa had not forgotten to stop and fill up their stocking. They loved opening all of the gifts from their grandparents and aunts, uncles and cousins. And of course they refused to take off their new boots from Meem and Poppy for a good week!!

Christmas Markets 2009

2010-04-09T00:08:00.000-07:00

Ok, I realize that these were taken months ago. I have vowed to get my blog caught up so that I won't put off doing it anymore b/c it is so far behind. These pics are from some of the Christmas markets that we went to around the area. Markets are great. There are really cool gifts to buy, but more importantly lots of awesome food!! The first pics were taken on Thanksgiving weekend. We loaded up with our friends John and Brianne, Jen and Adam and Edith and Thom with their family to drive to the Neatherlands. The Caves Christmas markets are located in caves beneath the town. They are ancient and there are really cool cave paintings on the walls. Jeremy got lost 5 feet into the cave an we didn't find him until we were over half way to the end!! The next weekend we went to stay with Jen and John and Brianne took us to the Christmas market in Nuremberg, Germany. It is a beautiful old city with great cathedrals and shopping. One of the churches has a clock on the top that has carvings that parade around it every 15 minutes (I think?). It was very cool to watch. We ate and shopped and ate some more....yum, German food!! Zane and Logan did not go with us, but we brought them a giant lebkuchen cookie (like ginger bread and beautiful!) to share. They loved it!! The last pics are from our local Christmas market. It is only about a 5 minute walk from the house and had about 30 booths and an ice skating rink. The rink was always to busy to get out on, but I did take Zane ice skating in Brugge. Our market was lit up beautifully at night and had some really amazing art pieces made form evergreen trees. It was a great place to go stroll in the evening. We really enjoyed our first Christmas season here and look forward to visiting more markets in more cities next year!!

Thanksgiving Weekend

2010-01-15T00:08:00.000-08:00

I have decided that by far the hardest thing about being over here is (no, not having Braums is not the answer) missing out on holidays with my family. I was truly not looking forward to the holiday season this year as I normally do, but thankfully I am blessed with wonderful friends and family on this side of the pond and ended up having a wonderful time. We had 13 people total at our house for Thanksgiving. My house is not at all large crowd friendly, but with a little creativity we managed to configure the tables so that we could all eat together. My sister-in-law and her husband Adam came in from Germany, as did John and Brianne (or friends from college). We were also joined by Brian, Tina and Hannah Davis; who we met in the hotel when we got here and Hannah babysits the boys (she is one of their very favorite people!!) We also had the pleasure of hosting Jeremy's boss Daniel and his fiance Charlotte. They are from Germany and were very excited to see what our holiday was all about. Of course we had way more food than we could possibly eat, but it was a truly blessed day.
As a side note, when Aunt Jenny and Uncle Adam came they brought Zane his birthday present.....a new set of golf clubs (because he has gotten to tall for his original clubs). He was only slightly thrilled and loved them even more because they are black and orange. Gotta love that kid!!!
At the end of the weekend, as always, we started putting up our Christmas tree. I was pleasantly surprised that Logan did not take the ornaments off faster then I could put them on and really enjoyed the quality time of decorating with them....even though we got interrupted and it took up over a week to get it finished!!

Zane's Birthday

2010-01-14T23:49:00.000-08:00

I know it has been a long time since I've posted, but believe me it is not because there was nothing to post (but, maybe because there was too much to post) So, I'm going to try to get back on track this weekend.
Here are some pics from Zane's birthday in November. Sadly his party had to be put off because he and Logan took turns being sick for over 2 weeks, but I think he enjoyed himself anyway. He started off the morning scarfing down chocolate chip pancakes shaped into 8s and managed to blow all of the candles out on the first try. He and Logan both enjoyed them immensely!!! Feeling guilty about the lack of a party I offered to make anything or take him anywhere for his birthday dinner (I was assuming the answer would be Steak on a Rock, but I was wrong). After deliberating over this for a few minutes he decided he wanted his favorite meal of pot roast, carrots, and potatoes. And opted for chocolate chip cookies in lieu of a cake, so I spent most of the day in the kitchen, but he's worth it. He loved opening his presents and even let Logs help. After that we spent the rest of the day building Lego sets, watching movies and he got his very large birthday cookie. I just cannot believe he is 8!! (and I do now realize that the last pic is sideways, but am unsure how to fix it, so just turn your head sideways!!!)=)

Happy Halloween 2009

2009-11-03T23:48:00.000-08:00

I hope you all had a safe and happy Halloween. We really weren't expecting much of one over here since they don't really celebrate it the way that we do, but were pleasantly surprised. Our local post hosted at Trunk or Treat, where people decorated their trunks and handed out candy. We went with some friends and the kids had a great time. Earlier in the evening the kids opened the halloween packages that grand and great-grandparents had sent them. Both boys were thrilled to get books which they read immediately. Zane, while sitting on the couch and Logan, while "taking care of business!!!" I was a bit nervous to put Logan's costume on him and wasn't even sure he would know what it was, but he started jumping around clapping and immediately ran to get his 3-eyed alien doll. He wore his costume until almost bedtime and still did not want to take it off and has had it on twice since then. The water repairman looked at us like we were out of our minds yesterday when he was running around the house with it on and Zane was dressed in his knight garb......oh well, at least we have fun!!!! We cracked up at the beginning of the night taking pics of the boys, where Zane was aiming his laser at us and Logan got down and pretended to do the same thing. Then, of course, Zane had to practice his "to infinity and beyond" stance! The trunk or treat road was quite long and we ended up having to take turns carrying Logan and Gabby, while others ran ahead with Zane and Shelby who thought the "babies" were too slow. In the end, they had a great night and Zane has almost forgiven me for not getting mine and Jer's (Woody and Jesse) costumes ordered in time!!!

Logie is ready

2009-10-07T01:37:00.000-07:00

I was talking to Dad the other day and he said to give him a minute, he was getting into the "office" or tractor to the non-farmer. Friday I was taking these pics and just uploaded them and was reminded of my dad, so dad this post is for you. Logie is ready to go to the office with you at any time. Until then he will continue to farm his bedroom floor!!

Logan Dale Turns 2

2009-10-05T13:00:00.000-07:00

He all, I just wanted to post some pics of Logan's birthday party. We missed having our family there, but were very happy to get to share his special day with some very good friends. Logan was happy to be joined by his friends: Gabby, Shelby, Izzy, Patrick and of course Zane. Unfortunately he started feeling sick before his party, so he didn't enjoy himself as much as I wish he would have, but when his "Cowboy" cake came out he perked right up. He was very excited about picking the icing off and really dug his cake and ice cream. He was also a bit slow on getting started with the present opening, but once he got rolling he had a great time. He got some great trucks, blocks, cowboy shirts, and a really fun guitar; but he really lit up at the end when Mrs. Edith rolled in the GIANT Tonka truck!!! He loves to ride in it as well as filling it up with his other toys and taking them for rides. At the end of the day he and Gabby were having a great time creating great art and Logs took her for a ride on his cool bike while Zane and Shelby had a hula-hooping contest (Shelby crushed him!!) It was a great day!! Thanks friends for celebrating with us and HAPPY BIRTHDAY, LOGIE!!!!!!

Bad Durkheim

2009-10-05T12:45:00.000-07:00

Around the first of September each year is the big grape harvesting time in the wine region of Germany near where our friends John and Brianne live. We met them in Bad Durkheim for their annual wine festival. Zane complained the whole way there because there would not be anything fun for kids to do there, but was settled a bit because his Aunt Jenni was with us. He soon figured out that he had been very wrong and was happy to spend most of the rest of the day riding the various carnival rides with whomever he could get to go with him (even Logie a time or 2). He got a great pic of some of the surrounding vineyards while spinning through the air above the town. There were many different kinds of food and wine to try. It was a great day, spent with great friends!!

Golf Lessons

2009-10-05T12:37:00.000-07:00

I just wanted to upload a few pics from Zane's final golf lesson of the season. The next "Tiger" he isn't (yet), but he seemed to learn quite a lot and really enjoys playing. He informed me a few weeks ago while playing at Weisbaden that he'll probably be better at golf than me even before he out grows me (evidently he is planning on doing both very soon!!!). I'm going to have to take some lessons myself to be able to keep up with him!!

Zane: 1st day of 2nd grade

2009-09-29T03:10:00.000-07:00

Here are some pics from Zane's first day of 2nd grade. We got there a bit early so the boys could play on the playground (and hopefully run off some energy so he won't get in trouble on his 1st day). He had to pose to show off his new OSU backpack and insisted on pushing Logan up to the lines. There he met his new teacher, Mrs. Ng, and head off to his classroom. I can't believe he is growing up so fast!!! Let's hope he has a great year!!

London: Day 3

2009-09-29T02:48:00.000-07:00

Our last day in London was a short one, so we just left one big attraction for that day. We got up early, loaded our luggage on the bus, hit Starbucks and headed off for St. Paul's Cathedral. It is amazing and none of my pic do it justice. I couldn't even manage to get a pic of all of it from the outside. It is just too big. The dome is amazing. It is very tall and beautifully painted, but I was most impressed by all of the mosaics depicting Biblical scenes. They are made of millions of little pieces, but done so well that they look like paintings!!! Talk about artistry and craftmanship!!! We climbed up the 5oo some odd steps to the top of the dome and checked out the city from there. It is by far the best view of the entire city. Once we come down (completely worn out!!) we caught the tube to Picadilly Circus to find where we would catch the bus. After securing our location, thanks to a friendly local, we found a tavern to have lunch in. Our British friends made us promise to eat "real" English fare before leaving London. It wasn't open quite yet, so we hung out in the Rainforest Cafe for a bit and then hit the tavern for lunch. I ordered fish and chips as instructed and Jer had bangers and mash (Irish sausage and potatoes). The food was very good, but I'm not sure my arteries will ever be the same!!! After that we loaded up on the bus for a very long ride home, but it was well worth the trip!!!

London: Day 2 (afternoon/evening)

2009-09-29T02:25:00.001-07:00

OK, so I am determined to get caught up on this blog and stay that way (we'll see). So, back to London. After our morning in the Tower we grabbed some lunch and then checked out some more sites. As we were crossing the Tower Bridge we took the tour. It started on one side of the river, went up 300 some odd steps, checked out the sites from the top and came down on the other side. From there you can go down below the bridge and check out the machinery used to raise the lower (road) level when they need to let bigger ships pass through. It is very impressive and massive machinery!!! From there we strolled up the wharf and crossed back across the Thames on the London Bridge. We checked out The Memorial that was built to remember the great fire of London that destroyed much of the city. From there we strolled a bit, crossed the Thames again and went to see Shakespeare's Globe theater. It is not the original theater, but is an exact replica built not far from where the original stood. The tour was very interesting, as was watching the workers prepare for a performance they were having that evening (which unfortunately was sold out). They wanted the recreation to be as close to the original as possible, so it is held together with 12,000 wooden pegs, has the thatched roof (with sprinklers for safety) and walls made of mud and goat hair. The original floor was made of crushed acorns, but too many people were allergic, so they replaced it with cement. It amazed me to learn that originally it cost only 1 cent to stand in front of the stage, 2 cents to sit in the seating and 3 cents to sit in the box seats (the beautifully painted boxes at the front surrounding the stage). It didn't make sense to me that the most expensive seats had the worst views, but evidently the people who sat there came to be seen, no to see. From there we strolled the wharf some more, then got ready and had a nice dinner out. Very good Italian food and some fabulous tiramisu!!!

London: Day 2 (morning)

2009-09-03T04:42:00.001-07:00

We started off day 2 of our trip having a very nice "English country breakfast" in our room over looking the river. Then it was straight to Starbucks (we were ridiculously thrilled to see one, or 10) for fuel for the day and walked under the Tower Bridge to get to our first stop of the day. We arrived at the tower early so I took advantage of the time to peruse the gift shop, where we got Zane a sword and shield that you can decorate with Edwards crest (or the OSU brand) and Logie a plastic axe (because that is what all 2 year-olds nicknamed BamBam need). I got a decent pic of some of Henry VIII's armor here (he seemed a bit obsessed with protecting the royal family jewels!!! We spent the rest of the morning in the Tower of London (over 3 hours!!). It is not one tower, but many towers actually. They had an audio tour so that you could go at your own pace, which I have found to be what I prefer. We started out in King Edwards tower, where they recreated his bedroom as he would have had it in his time. From there we went to his father's tower where you can see where Henry VI died in the chapel there. His official death record says he died of melancholy, but I've never known melancholy to give you a bleeding stab wound??? The next pic is of the White Tower, which we toured last. They had a very cool exhibit going on there called "Henry VIII: Dressed to Kill". It was all about how he hired the first smiths to make armor (for him and his horses). It was all amazingly detailed (and of course they would not let us take pics of it). From the 2nd tower we went to one of the many towers were prisoners were kept. You can see where many of them carved their names and dates of imprisonment (among other things) in the walls. From here we went into a tower that they used for defense and got to see (play with) some of the weapons and armor from their day. There was a sheet of chain mail that I picked up that amazed me. I don't see how anyone could wear a full shirt of it and stay upright!! From there we went to the Jewel House, where they actually keep the family jewels (there was a diamond the size of an XL egg and many more not much smaller, but the wouldn't let us take pics of course) behind doors that are more than 2ft. thick. I didn't want to embarrass Jeremy, so I refrained from messing with the guard, but it took alot of self control. After the Jewel House we went to the courtyard where the Governor's House (the man who oversees the running of the towers) is located. If there were important or sick prisoners they often had to stay in his house with him and his family. Across the way is a monument built on the spot were many of the executions took place. You can see of the writing that Anne Boelyn was one of the lucky ones executed here. From there we went into the Beauchamp and Bloody Towers were many of the prisoners were kept. There were many carvings on the walls and a display telling about many of the notable figures that were imprisoned and executed there. It was very interesting, but also very disturbing to hear what very little it took to get yourself imprisoned there. It was altogether very fascinating and something anyone going to London should see, if you have 3-4 spare hours!!

London: Day 1

2009-09-02T03:36:00.000-07:00

Hey all, sorry it has been so long since I have blogged. I am a slacker. These pics are from the first day of our London trip. Jeremy and I went for our anniversary and actually got to go by ourselves. Our good friends John and Vikki kept the kids. We had to be on SHAPE that morning by 0615 to board our tour bus. We traveled by bus about 2 1/2 hours to Calais where we boarded a ferry to England. The ferry ride was 90 min. and gave us a chance to eat and shop while on board. The ferry docked in Dover, so we got to see the White Cliffs of Dover and the Dover Castle above them. From there it was another 2 hours to London, on the wrong side of the road!! I almost got ran over countless times because I was looking the wrong direction for oncoming traffic! We left from the hotel and went to try our luck at using the tube (subway). It was amazingly easy and we quickly found our way to Picadilly Circus to pick up our London Passes. From there we wandered on foot for a bit and checked out some monuments and located Scotland Yard on our way to Buckingham Palace. We did not tour the palace because of a lack of time, but the gates and fountain out front are beautiful. From there we made our way over to Westminster Abbey. They will not let you take pictures from the inside, but it was amazing (and my favorite). It blew my mind to think of all of the people buried inside those walls. There was an audio tour that was very interesting. The monks that originally ran it attended 7 church services each day (one in the middle of the night for a couple of hours and one monk had the job of making sure that the others stayed awake!!) From there we wandered about a bit, checking out Big Ben, the Eye (the big ferris wheel that we were told not to ride!!) and the House of Parliment. After that it was back to the tube to head to the hotel to change for the show that evening. Thankfully the tube was only about 2 blocks from the hotel and 1 block from the theater because I did not make the best footwear choice for dressing up for the show. Jer and I had forgotten to eat lunch and didn't have time for dinner, so we grabbed a quick appetizer at a restaurant across from the theater. We went from there to the Apollo Victoria Theater to attend a production of Wicked. I told Jer that this is what I wanted to do for our anniversary and he reluctantly agreed. In the end though he thought the show was fantastic!!!! The last pic is of the stage before the show began because you cannot take photos during the performance. The actors were great and it was a wonderful evening.

VBS

2009-08-19T01:49:00.000-07:00

The last week of July we had VBS at our church. We did the "Boomerang Express" which I think is the some one they did in Granite also. Zane invited a friend from school and they had a great time. They worked hard to learn the words and motions to the songs (one of which they performed as a class for the family fun night at the end of VBS). He loved the "recreation rock" where they did activities outside every day and they did really great crafts every day, although I worried a bit the day that they were all swinging hammers in a confined space (the dark haired girl in the hammer pic is his friend Maddie that came to his VBS and then he went to hers the next week). During Bible Study Outback they learned about Peter every day and I was amazed by how much he learned and retained. Every day when they came in they received boomerangs for doing their "homework" (which usually consisted of telling someone about what they had learned, helping around the house or with a sibling and praying for their daily missionary) which they hung on a wall in the "station" so that they could see by the end of the week what a bid difference doing a few good things can make. He also collected every spare coin from around the house and raided his John Deere bank so that he could take as many coins as possible for the Penny War (which the girls won). The next week the chruch took the money, over $300, to Maldova to buy groceries for some families there ($20 will feed a family of 4 there for about a month) But, being the growing boy that he is his favorite part of the day way the G'day Cafe where they had snacks and heard a mission story. The snacks were all themed and wonderful!!!! Logie also attended VBS and hung out in the nursery with Ms. Mary (most of the time when he was not escaping and running off). He had a good time playing on the climber slide, but needless to say his favorite part of the day was snacks also!!!!

Weekend with Friends

2009-08-19T01:23:00.001-07:00

In early August we had some friends from college (John and Brianne Holcomb) come to visit. While they were here we did alot of catching up and took them to see some of the local-ish attractions. Saturday morning we went to Brugge (I've posted pics of it before) and strolled around. There is a pic of Zane waiting patiently near the canal while we shopped at the antiques street market. Brianne is a pharmacist and found a new mortar and pestle of her collection. We visited the Cathedral again and had lunch. From there we went to Ghent. We had never been there before, so it was new for all of us. St. Micheal's Cathedral was beautiful and was unbelievably used for a horse stable during the French Revolution. Our main goal was to see the Castle of the Counts, which we finally found after wandering aimlessly for a bit. The castle was amazing and Logan was soooo happy to be able to get out of his "trolley" to explore it on his own. Zane found the weapons exhibit very interesting, but I honestly do not see how anyone could possibly lift this sword, much less fight with it. Logan enjoyed the view from the battlements where the archers protected the castle from. This guillotine was just outside the torture museum, which I found fascinating. I just don't know how they came up with the ideas to do those things to people!!! Zane also found the dungeons very fascinating. What gets me is that they even made their dungeons architecturally interesting, where you would expect them to be a square box???? After thoroughly examining the castle we stopped in the Grand Place for a bit before heading home. The next day we traveled to Tongeren to a large antiques market. Brianne found some Christmas presents and I found a very cool old mirror. My only concern is the fact that it weighs a ton and I'm afraid to hang it on my wall. I guess it may just have to sit on the mantle. It was great to spend some time with good friends again. We haven't gotten to see much of them in the years since we all left Stillwater.

Brotherly Love!!!

2009-07-27T09:08:00.000-07:00

So, when I came back from Amsterdam (which I'll blog about later) on Saturday I brought Zane a knight armor set, knowing that he would like it. What I didn't know (but probably should have) is that I should have gotten 2 of them. Although it doesn't seem that Zane will ever figure out that knights/cowboys/ect... wear pants and is always just dressing up in just the accouterments. It was so worth the money to watch the fun they had with it today, and since Zane noggin is so large Logan gets the helmet anyway!!!! Here is a bit of their fun that I caught on film, of course it ended with drama, but as soon as mom "kissed it and made it better", the fight was back on!!!!

Belgium Bound

2009-07-24T02:34:00.000-07:00

So, the day we traveled back to Belgium we were up about 0700 saying goodbye to Wendy and Ryan and getting on the road to Falls Creek (our youth church camp) to pick up mom and Janet so they could drive us to Dallas to the airport. We stopped along the way to have a Braum's burger just one more time and arrived at DFW about 3 hours before our departure (and Jer says I'm never on time!!!) The pic of Logan is in DFW before our flights. They amused themselves in some random artwork at our gate and them we visited a lady in the USO for awhile. Our first flight was about 9 hours. Logan slept most of it and Zane and I watched alot of movies. When we got to London, Heathrow we found out that they had checked our stroller through to Brussels, so Logan had free rein of the airport for 4 hours. Normally I would have felt bad about this, but since they are the ones who sent my stroller through it was their own fault. We then had a very quick flight to Brussels and both of the boys slept the entire way. I had to wake them both to get them off of the plane. The pic of Zane is taken at the Brussels airport where he fell asleep waiting for me to claim my car seat which they had managed to leave in London (always exciting!!!) They lent us a car seat for the ride home and brought ours back to us a few days later. While the trip had its problems I am just thankful to be here in one piece and so proud that my boys are such great travelers!!

Aunt Wendy's Slide

2009-07-24T02:14:00.000-07:00

I took this video at Wendy's after everyone had left for home. We were vegging after a long day, but suddenly noticed that Logan had found a way to amuse himself. He would climb up on this cowhide chair, make his way to the end of it and slide off. He continued to do this for a good half-hour before he was worn out and ready for bed. I would venture to guess Wendy never imagined how "useful" that chair would be when she bought it!!!

Farewell to my Fam

2009-07-24T01:58:00.000-07:00

The day before we left OK to come back to Belgium, we traveled from eastern OK back to OK city to spend the evening/night with my sister Wendy and brother-in-law Ryan. She organized a bit of a farewell dinner and we were joined by my sister Mandy and her family (Alan, Caid and Kenlea); my Dad, Meme and Poppy from home and our cousins from OKC (Richard, Tammy, Stephanie and Julie). The food (bbq and burgers) was fantastic, but he family time was even better!!! Zane and Caid had a great time on the tree swing (with Uncle Ryan's help) and Logan and Kenlea attempted to unpot one of Aunt Wendy's plants, but were caught and stopped before they finished (I'm sure that is only the beginning of the trouble that those 2 will get into!!!) Amazingly enough we got them to sit still long enough to take a pic with there Great-Meem. It was fantastic seeing my family before we left, but as always very hard to say goodbye.

Home to OK: part III

2009-07-24T01:43:00.000-07:00

I decided to publish this separately because it is a bit different. When I told Zane we were going to Stillwater he was ridiculously excited and made a list for me of things that we just had to do. He was adamant that we had to go to Eskimo Joe's to get him and Logan new shirts, as well as an OSU shop so that they could get new OSU shirts also (because, one can never have too much orange!!!!!!!!!!!) He also said that he really needed to go buy the new stadium so that he could tell Jeremy about the progress when he got back to Belgium (thankfully Jen went with us to help me out!). The pic we took in front of the stadium doesn't actually show very much of it because it is just too big for the frame, but I got a decent one for the metal work over the gates which is really cool. While we were there he also wanted to go into Gallagher-Iba (where he swears he'll play ball someday) to see what was going on. They were having a wrestling camp, so he got to check that out and take a few pics. He also needed to take another pic with the spirit rider (because one can never have too many of those either!!), and Logan got to take his first of many pics with him. After that the final thing on his list was that we had to eat Hideaway pizza. There were no arguments from me there and since it was Jen and my turn to fix dinner we took the easy way out and took a couple of larges back to the house. They were polished off in no time flat. It was also Logan's first time having Hideaways "paradise pie" and he absolutely loved it. I'm not sure all kids would be as excited about pizza with spinach on it, but mine love it!!! It was a fantastic trip and it will be way too long before we get to go back.

Home to Oklahoma: part II

2009-07-24T01:27:00.001-07:00

So, the day after we arrived in Stillwater at Joe's was the 4th of July. This was the part that Zane was by far the most excited about. Amory and Amanda (friends from our college days) and their kids came from Tulsa for the festivities and we could hardly keep Zane and Elliana out of the fireworks before dark. Joe (properly outfitted for his safety!!!) and Amory put on quite a fireworks show and the little ones were very excited about the sparklers. Unfortunately Logie did not last as long as the show because it gets dark so late, so he missed quite a bit of it. The next day we attempted to take a pic of all of the grandkids together and I hope that someone else had better luck than I did, but they are quite a good looking bunch. For those of you who don't know them well, the boy other than my 2 is Ean and his sister Lizzie is sitting in Zane's lap (they belong to Jer's twin sister Jessica) and the little girl about Logan's age is Sophie Jo (she belongs to Jer's younger brother Joe). After we gave up I got a good pick Zane helping Logan down the slide. They all had a great time and really enjoyed their visit. After the pics when we were getting ready for church Logan thought he needed to try on Uncle Joe's boots and was then supplied with a hat. Every little boy needs a pic like this. I just hope he can grow into those boots some day!!!! (oh, and by the way, I figured out how to put more pics on the same post, which was way too simple for it to have taken me so long...)

Home to Oklahoma

2009-07-24T01:05:00.000-07:00

I know I'm a bit late in posting these and I have no excuse except that I am a professional procrastinator!!! I wish I could start this out with pics from the wedding that the boys were in, but I loaded those onto my mom's computer and therefore they are still in OK. So, the pics start with the day we left Granite to pick up Jer's sister Jennifer to go spend the weekend in Stillwater. She and Zane felt that we really needed to eat at Toby Keith's, so we did. It was great of course and they took a pic on one of his benches that is an old tailgate. From there we went to Stillwater where the boys met up with the rest of their cousins from the Rogers side of the family and it was a 3 day non-stop play-date. The little ones spent most of the weekend bare, playing in the water park that Uncle Joe provided for them (so there are no pics of that for obvious reasons). They live in the house that Angel grew up in and she had the rocking bull when she was a kid, but Logie would have brought it home with him if there was a way. He also took his turn driving Sophie's pink barbie jeep, playing in the bubble machine and riding her tire horse (which was busy all weekend, but was shared well by all!!) Ok, I have to publish this now so that I can add more pics on the next one.

Zoo trip with the Scheibe's

2009-06-09T00:23:00.000-07:00

While we were waiting for Jan's game to start Lutz and Tatjana (Jan's parents) took us to the zoo in Saarbruken. The kids really had a great time. Logie was intrigued by the zebra and was convinced that since he could fit under the railing that it did not apply to him to stay behind it and went in for a closer look. They both really liked the big turtle and tried to get as close as possible. There was a monkey that came right up to the window to visit with Jer and Logan and I think he would have stayed there all day trying to talk to it. When we left the monkey house there was an ostrich fenced outside and Zane thought he was going to try to pet it. I told him that they were mean and to stay back, but he didn't believe me until he got close and it hissed and tried to bite him through the fence. Maybe one of these days he'll start listening to me, but I won't hold my breath!! The last pic is of us sitting in the stands watching Jan's game. The boys both enjoyed a homemade pretzel that had just been made that morning and were still warm (as you can see Logie wasn't willing to put his down for the pic). We had a great weekend and hope to see them again soon.

Football American with Jan and Family

2009-06-08T23:58:00.000-07:00

This weekend we took a trip to Germany to see Jan (the exchange student that lived at the Caid casa 2 years ago) and meet his family. My children attempted to make the most interesting first impression ever, but we won't talk about that. They were wonderful and we had a great time. We spent the first evening and next morning talking and getting to know each other and then attended Jan's football game on Sat. afternoon. Tatiana, Jan's mom, said he has always loved all things American, but is an even bigger fan since living there. I gotta say it is certainly his game. In the first pic he is helping block for the receiver who took the kick-off. He is VERY fast and very good at blocking (the second pic). The kids (and adults) really enjoyed half-time. There was a moon bounce for them to play in and a board set up to see if you could throw the football through the hole. Jer attempted to give the boys lessons, but they were really to busy playing. And who wouldn't enjoy a half time when they serve German pastries and coffee!!! In the second half they finally threw the ball to Jan. He caught the first one for a good gain and the second (4th pic) for a touch down. I tried to get a pic of him celebrating his touchdown, but was jumping up and down and only got a pic of the grass and sky. The last pic is of his team congratulating him. We were very proud. After the game they took us to an authentic German restaurant and we were able to sample a few different dishes. They were wonderful. It was great to see him again and finally meet his family.

A Day Off With the Mills'

2009-06-01T12:45:00.000-07:00

Today Jeremy had the day off, so our friend Edith Mills invited us out to go on a bike ride around her area of this world. She had been extolling the virtues of bike touring to us, so we took her up on it. Plus, she said she would feed us and she is a fabulous cook!!!! I gotta say that I work out almost every day and this was by far the most enjoyable workout I've ever had. She took us around the area and showed us some beautiful livestock (2 very cute colts!!) and some Belgian Blues. Kim and I had previously discussed whether they were named that because they were of blue color or because they were sad that they are cows shaped like pigs (very interesting looking!!!). I had the opportunity to stop and look at the local wheat crop, which I had been telling Dad was strange because the fields were so small. Now having seen them up close I can understand why, there is no telling how many bushels per acre that crop is going to make. As you can see it is easily over waist high on me and the heads were nearly the length of my hand from wrist to finger tip. The last pics are of the castle where they live and the carriage house that they live in. It is a beautiful piece of land with an amazing amount of history. Edith says that the castle is open to the public throughout July and August, so she is going to take us for a tour later.....and as expected, dinner was fabulous!!!!

Friends in European Places

2009-06-01T12:09:00.000-07:00

We were so blessed and happy to have my long time friend Kim visit us in Belgium from Dodge City, KS. She has been planning a trip over here for the last few years to explore Ireland. When she found out that we were moving over here she added an extra week to her vacation so that she could spend it with us. We picked her up in Brussels last Tuesday and made a quick trip to the Neuhaus Chocolate factory so that she could get something to take home for everyone. After that we had to get back to SHAPE quickly because I had a softball game. On Wednesday we let her sleep in because the jet lag was finally catching up with her and she was wiped-out!!! That day I showed her our local post, we had lunch with Jer, went home and she taught me how to prepare some fab greek food and we attended one of Zane's soccer games (always exciting) before coming home and having a great greek dinner. Thursday Jeremy had the day off so we went to an abbeye about an hour away and we got to see how the monks there live. It was very peaceful and quiet (at least until Zane got there) and the acoustics in the chapel were soooooo amazing!!! On Friday we went to a local castle, but I'll blog separately about that. On Saturday we thought we would take her to Brugge to show her the sites. We had a book with a walking tour in it and it took us to all of the best parts of the city. The block shown is amazing and if I could show the whole thing it would show 6 different centuries worth of architecture. The details are amazing. While we were there we toured a brewery that had been in business for well over 100 years. They way they do things and the way they did things are very different. The tour covered a very big building and 244 steps (of which I had to carry Logie every one because he is clingy) but was very educational. When we had finished in Brugge we traveled to Brussels to stay the night so we could take Kim to the airport the next morning. While we were there I drove us down town to the Grand Place (which I'll never do again) where we went to the greek street for dinner. The last pic is of the greek street (there are also french, italian, belgian, asian, ect...) where you have numerous establishments to choose from and they are all fabulous!! She flew out early the next morning and is thoroughly enjoying 2 weeks in Ireland, but we are so glad to have her here while we did.

Logie Van Gogh

2009-06-01T11:55:00.000-07:00

I know I haven't blogged in a while and I really don't have a very good reason, except that I have been being kept busy by my favorite 3 footer. I thought you would enjoy these pics of him channeling his inner artist. He got this "Tadoodle" art center that sings to him while he works on his masterpieces. Amazingly it kept him busy for almost an hour (long enough for me to clean the entire down stairs, a near miracle!!!) and he never seems to tire of it. Hopefully he inherited his artistic gene from Jeremy and not from me. In the last pic you can see he is holding up his initial masterpiece as if auctioning off at Barneys (he says that the highest bid gets his artwork and the funds go toward his college education!!!).

Raingutter Regatta

2009-05-17T11:48:00.001-07:00

Today we spent the day building and decorating Zane's boat for the Rain Gutter Regatta at church. He attends AWANAS on Sunday nights and this was their end of session activity. His theme for his boat was the song "Jesus Loves the Little Children" and he wanted LOTS of little children on his boat (I'm pretty sure he drew a few hundred little colored stick kids). He and I did the decorating (we are both very colorful with marks of stray marker/paint) part and Jer helped him to construct it. To race them they used straws to blow them down a rain gutter filled with water. He won both times and was very excited because I had tried to prepare him to lose since we had never done it before. I was honestly impressed that it floated upright. The also presented awards for the most artistic, most colorful and best Christian theme and he placed in all three categories with a third and 2 firsts, respectively. I only had to lecture him a bit about winning with more grace. He had a blast and can't wait for it to start up again in the fall. And is already trying to think up a theme for his next boat!!!

Zane's 1st Football Game

2009-05-11T02:31:00.000-07:00

Zane was a bit disappointed this spring when we went into CYS to sign up for sports and they were having football (yes, I know it is soccer in the State, but "when in Rome")and baseball at the same time and you had to pick only one. He said that even though he prefers baseball he was going to play football since his age group still plays t-ball over here and he has had enough of that. He finds it strange that they call cleats here "football boots". He said they must be confused because boots are what you wear on the farm with jeans, not with shorts to play sports. They had their first game after only 2 practices and were a bit rusty, but they seemed to have alot of fun. Zane is about the youngest on the team, but does not have trouble keeping up with the others. He is a bit frustrated that they seem to be better at it than he is, but he needs to realize that there are only 2 Americans on his team and all of the others were practically born with footballs at their feet. So, we told him he needs to work hard and try to learn from them. He seems okay with this. He and another boy together made a goal. He was very excited, but bummed that he did not get to play goalie (reminds me of cousin Mark), but maybe next time. There was a very small boy on the others team that was very "intense", Zane spent most of the game looking at him like he was out of his mind, but it was fun to watch.

Logie Had a Little Lamb

2009-05-04T14:27:00.000-07:00

If you asked Logie how his trip to the garden was, well he would probably babble and throw something at you (because Logie doesn't talk unless he really wants too). For him all traveling is a mixed blessing. On the down side he has to spend alot of time in his stroller and car seat, but when he does get to get out and do his thing he makes the best of it. Like Zane he loved the petting zoo and would probably have taken the littlest lamb and goat home if anyone would have let him. There was also a time when he was petting the lambs and one of the donkeys came over and was munching crumbs out of his stroller seat. The look he gave it was hilarious (by the way, there will be more pics to see soon, I'm going to post them on shutterfly and link it to my blog). He was also a big fan of the playground and went up the stairs and down the slide over and over. He actually stopped on the platform on his way to the slide one time and let me get a great pic of him looking at me from between the slats. That doesn't happen very often. I think he thought the flowers were pretty and possibly even edible. If you got him too close he attempted to behead them, but he never got away with it. He was very entertained by an oversized wooden shoe that we found along the way. I tried to get him to stand in it so that I could take his pic, but he thought is was much more amusing to sit in it like it was a boat. I took him away from it for a minute and when he went back a little boy way playing in it. He threw a very impressive fit (which I got part of on video). Also, like his brother he enjoyed the large chess board, but he seemed most amused by trying to pick up the pieces that were as big as him as soon as Zane had put them where he wanted them. But, I guess all in all it was a pretty good day for him because he was crashed almost the entire way home and peaceful trips equal good trips!!!!!

Zane in the Garden

2009-05-04T13:57:00.000-07:00

If you ask Zane about how his day at the Gardens was yesterday he will tell it was such a day. But then if you question him further he will excitedly tell you about the great wafle (that is how they spell it there) he had for breakfast and he might even remember the bright orange tulips that he found shortly after entering the park. He pointed out every orange one that he past and stated often how much better the red ones would look if they just weren't red (no, he's not brain washed at all). He was very excited by the petting zoo (they had donkeys, a calf, goats, lambs, a lama, ducks, chickens and rabbits) and loved that he could pet all of the animals and they did not try to get away. He then discovered the obstacle course and quickly conquered it, next he was off to the zip line of which Jer took a movie and I'll try to post it later. The only pic Jer got of it was of him falling off at the end. After that he found a woven tunnel that led to a maze and he spent at least 30 minutes getting us lost in it before we gave up and left the way we entered. His favorite part of the day was walking on the water on these pads that were built up from the bottom. He would have spent hours jumping from one to the next and back, but I finally had to make him let other people play on them. He was very unhappy with me and again very bored until he found a very large chess board that he was determined to put in order and prepare for a game, but Logie and some other little kids had a different idea and would move the pieces every time he put them in place. It was very amusing to watch, even if he didn't think so. So, anyway he might tell you how boring it was, unless you ask the right questions.

Keukenhof Gardens

2009-05-04T13:17:00.000-07:00

I'll give you forwarning that our trip to the Keukenhof Gardens is going to span 3 posts there was just too many pics to choose from for one post. The gardens are in Keukenhof, Netherlands and are an amazing site to see (even if we were a bit late). They are divided into 5 areas and each exhibits a growers best bulbs and new hybrids, so it is something new each year. If you look at the picture of the fields that I took from the windmill you will see that most of the bulbs have been deadheaded. We were a little late to see them all, but the park itself was still in full bloom when we got there. There were tulips of every shape, size and color that you could imagine. It was really cool to see one of the old windmills up close (we saw a few others on the way up from the car windows). At one time there were over 9000 of them in Holland, now there are less than 1000. There was a guy at one of the shops carving wooden shoes by hand. Zane was convinced that they would not be very comfortable. I found an airial photo of the fields in a souvenior shop they looked like a patchwork quilt. I can understand now why Jeremy's sister Jessica says she could go back every year. It took us over 4 hours to walk the park and I think we might have missed a small bit of it. It is an amazing display of God's wonders and everyone should see it.

The Easter box

2009-05-01T01:18:00.000-07:00

I found these pic today when I was looking for some others and could not resist posting them. Jer and I laughed because he said they acted like he did when he was deployed.... tearing through that box like they hadn't heard or received anything from home in 6 months. Not that Jer ever went that long, he was a bit spoiled!!!! My mom put together a box full of Easter goodies from them and her parents. The boys were reaching in with both hands and clearing it out as fast as they could. Then they tore into the chocolate before I could stop them. Zane had his new Lego sets put together by the end of the day and Logie spent forever putting Lenny (from the wonderpets) back into and the out of his egg. I'm sure he will now be forever convinced that guinea pigs hatch from blue eggs and possibly that rabbits are chocolate and filled with peanutbutter!!!

Church of Our Lady, Brugge

2009-04-26T13:58:00.000-07:00

There were some places that we visited in Brugge that deserved their own posts, plus there were too many pics to fit in one post. These are from the Chruch of Our Lady. It is one of 2 large churches in Brugge. Unfortunately I didn't get a great pic from the outside, but will try to get one later. It is under repair and is unbelievable. It was built during the 13th, 14th, 15th and 16th centuries. Needless to say, it took awhile. The marble statue of the Madonna and the infant Jesus by Michelangelo was donated to the church in 1514. The carved pulpit shown in the pic was hand carved by a artist from Brugge in the 18th century and is an amazing work of art. Zane was so amazed by all of the paintings, sculptures, tombs and stained glass windows. Of course he had a million questions that I could not answer. One thing he was very curious about was the candle lighting and kneeling benches, so I explained to the best of my ability what they were for. I was very proud when he decided to use his own money to buy a candle and knelt to pray for his concerns. He then donated the rest of his money to the maintenance fund. He saw me watching him and told me that it really must cost alot to keep that place clean. I know the pics don't do justice to the craftsmanship, but I do my best.

Easter in Brugge

2009-04-22T12:37:00.001-07:00

Our first trip to the city of Brugge was great and only makes me want to go back. When you enter the Grand Place the first thing you notice is the Belfry. It is 83 meters high and dates back to the 13th century. You have to climb 366 stairs to get to the top of it, which weh just were not up to that day with the stroller and all. The victory bell of 1680 is there and weighs 6,000 kgs and measures 2 meters across, but there are 57 bell in all. Next we went down to the flea market to check out the antiques. I got a really cool old bronze and wooden pitcher. The pic shows how the tables were laid out. You just kinda have to dig for treasures, but they are there for the finding. Some refer to Burgge as the Venice of the north because there are canals running through it. One leads all of the way out to the coast and they were used for delivery. We all enjoyed taking a boat ride and being given a guided tour. Our poor tour guide had to say everything 3 times. Once in french, german and english; but it was very interesting. The pic of me and the boys is taken in front of part of the Church of Our Lady, which I will blog about later. At the end of the day we took the kids to a carnival that they were having in the Grand Place. The rode a couple of rides and loved it so much that Logie threw a truly impressive fit when we loaded up to go home. Fortunately he was pretty easily bought off with some very good dark chocolate ice cream!!!

The Belgium Easter Bunny Rocks!!!!!

2009-04-22T12:26:00.001-07:00

Zane came home the week before Easter telling me about how in Belgium the Easter Bunny leaves chocolate eggs in the jardin (garden or yard) on Easter morning. When the boys got up on Easter morning they found that to be true. He had left belgian chocolate eggs and ducks in the garden. They were a bit cold while doing the hunting but warmed quickly to the idea them. I'm was only a little ashamed of letting them have chocolate for breakfast, but it was really good chocolate!!!!! Then Zane read us a very good Veggie Tales Easter book and we traveled to Brugge for the day.

Visiting Brussels

2009-04-22T12:10:00.000-07:00

Here are a few of the other things that we did while in Brussels. Our first priority was finding and visiting the Neuhaus Chocolate Facotory. After getting very lost on our first try we retraced our steps and found it, and let me tell you it was sooooo worth it. Unlike most of the other chocolatiers here they actually set out samples of their products and you get to try them before buying. I walked out with a major sugar high and alot of chocolates to take home. We then went out to an area called Brupark that has alot of the newer touristy things in Brussels. There is an indoor water park (b/c it too cold to have them outside), lots of restaurants, a theater, mini Europe and something called the Atomium (a very large model of the Iron atom). It looks neat at first glance, then we noticed that there were people zip-lining off of the top of it. Zane was sooooo excited and amazed!! We didn't have time that day, but I have promised to take him back to do it. You can do it tandem, that way he will not have to do it on his own and get frightened. So sometime I'll post pics of us flying through the air. While there we had lunch adn thought we would try out the mexican food in Belgium. We will not be trying that again. Logie enjoyed the guacamole, but otherwise it was nothing to write home about (although I guess I did anyway).

Meeting Mo in Brussels

2009-04-22T11:46:00.001-07:00

Well, we have officially had our first visitor and it was GREAT!!! My friend Kim's (the one from KS that shares my brain) sister Michelle was in Europe for vacation for a couple of weeks and met up with us in Brussels on her way back home. Zane started calling her Auntie Mo forever ago and it has stuck. It was good to see someone from home and they really enjoyed their trip and gave us lots for great travel tips. We met them in the Grand Place where there is some great architecture and history. Zane walked by this guy who looked like he was made of cement and it weirded him out a bit at first. We also visited statue of the "Manequin Pis", the peeing boy. His story is that when his village was being attacked the enemy place a bomb there and lit the fuse and he peed on it, saving his town from disaster. So now he is forever immortalized in bronze on a statue, not to mention all colors of chocolate in the shops!!!! Michelle gave Zane her camera so that he could make a photo-journal of their visit. I'm pretty sure he took well over 100 pictures. After touring and visiting we ended our evening on "greek row", a road behind the Grand Place with many Greek restaurants. The food was FABULOUS and the company even better. Can't wait for more visitors.

Chievres Egg Hunt

2009-04-17T08:42:00.000-07:00

Hey all, sorry it has been so long. We have been very busy, not to mention I am a professional procrastinator. Three weekends ago the air base near here held an egg hunt for all of the military kids. I wasn't really sure if Logan would really be "into" the whole egg hunting thing and at first he only wanted to throw them, but I found if I sing him the "clean up" song he will actually put them in the basket. He was an egg hunting machine after that. And of course Zane had his bag filled in record time. The also had other activities like a sack race, spoon race, making balloon animals (or in Zane's case a sword) and face painting. Zane requested that the girl turn him into Scooby Doo. He was actually pretty funky looking in the end, but it was a fun day.

Moving Day (Thank God for Mrs. Edith!!!!)

2009-04-01T00:18:00.000-07:00

Well we are finally getting settled into our new (but very old) house in Mons. I thought I'd share a few pics of the day that we moved in. First of all I want everyone to know how great my friend Edith is. She came over and hung out with Logie for most of the day so that Jer and I could help the movers and get some things done. For those of you who are wondering Mrs. Edith is Edith Mills. We met her and her family (husband Thom, and kids Eric, Carol and Patrick) while at Ft. Stewart. They have been over here since early January and live in the carriage house of a castle about 20 minutes or so away from us. She and Logie had a great time and a room full of "new" toys to play with. It was like Christmas/Birthday for Logie, who hadn't seen many of his toys since before Thanksgiving when he went to stay with his Papa and Namma in Ok. He is stil discovering new things every day.
The other pics are of the house covered in boxes when the movers finished moving them in. The did an amazing job and made things pretty easy on me. Most boxes are in the rooms where they belong, so I just have to unpack them and find a place for everything to go. Easier said than done in a house with no closets. We made a trip to Ikea over the weekend (something I'll never do on a Saturday again)to get some storage items and rugs.

We will have to make another trip soon, but I told Zane we would go while he was on spring break (which starts in about a week and he gets about 20 days)so that he can play in the playroom there while I shop. It is quite the experience.
I'll have to take some pics and post them. Anyway, hopefully I'll get to take some pics of the house unpacked very soon and I'll give you a tour of that then.

Too Much Booty In The Pants!!!!! LMBO!!!!

2009-03-25T06:08:00.000-07:00

So, I had to upload just one more thing b/c it is just too funny not to share. In our boredom here at the hotel we watched a spoof movie called "Date Movie" the other day. It has the "band camp" girl on it and at the beginning she is very large. Logie was mesmerized with her dancing at the beginning of the movie and later during the credits he showed us what he had learned. Make sure you have the sound on when you play this b/c it is not nearly funny without the song (which I have now adopted as my theme song). I know it is sideways, but that is how Jer filmed it and I don't know how to change it, sorry. I was originally afraid that he would inherit his dads dancing gene, but this could be soooooo much worse!!! Enjoy

Random Post

2009-03-25T04:54:00.000-07:00

Well, I was uploading and storing some more pics and thought I'd share a few random events. Our time here at Le Maisieres has been nice. Some people really complain about it b/c it is a rather old establishment and is not terribly up to date, but I disagree. While it may be lacking in new technology, the staff here is fantastic. The ladies at the front desk will help you to translate stuff from french and the housekeeping staff is awesome and not just b/c I didn't have to make my own bed every day. I swear to you Logie has spend twice as many nights in his pack and play as he has in his crib, but he doesn't seem to mind. When we got here with it I got and extra blanket and wrapped around the "matress" to make it a bit more comfortable. The next day after the maids had been her I noticed they had brought in an extra blanket and sheet to make it up like a real bed. It is so cute and they do it every day. Not that he will actually sleep under the covers, but the thought is appreciated.

Logie has had to put some effort forward to amuse himself during our time here. He seems to enjoy taking his socks off with his teeth. Not a talent many of us are interested in having, but it is amusing to watch. His favorite thing to do is tickle. He attempts to tickle anyone he can find (like Zane in the pic) and he says "ticka, ticka, ticka". It is very cute until he tries to tickle your face which doesn't feel very good. Zane is very good with him and you can hear them laughing all of the way down the hall!!

The other pics are of them eating their 1st Belgium waffles. Logie thought they were quite tasty and was not happy at all when he and daddy ran out. Zane had Nutella (a chocolatey hazelnut spread) on his and now has a new favorite meal. The waffle cart is about a five minute walk from the house and he already has plans to save me from making Sunday breakfast by going and getting us waffles. He also cannot wait to tell the waffle man about how his Namma puts sausage in her waffles to see if he can get him to do it. That boy always has such big plans!!!

The Market and Grand Place

2009-03-25T00:29:00.000-07:00

Well, up to now we haven't gotten much time to attempt to see the sights around here (but we plan to change that soon). We have gotten the opportunity though to attend the Sunday market in Mons. It is just down the hill from our house about 4 blocks (not real American blocks, but that's the best I can do). It is open every Sunday morning from 0800 to 1200ish. The first time we went it took awhile to find what we needed, but now that we are familiar with it we can make our list and run down there quickly in the morning before church. There are booths from pastry shops in the area with sweets and breads, lots of produce wagons (my favorite is an Italian guy that is trying to teach me to say all of the fruits and vegetables in french and italian). He has the greatest pepperoni rouge (red peppers) that I have ever had, so I load up on salad stuff from him each weekend. There is also a HUGE wagon that is big rotisserie. It is filled with chickens, ribs and roasts (pork only) and baskets of potatoes. The chicken is fantastic!! We have been eating much better and healthier since we discovered the market (there is only so many meals you can create in the microwave!!!)

The Grand Place is located up the hill from our house past the front of the Cathedral. On the way you walk into what is called the pedestrian street that is full of shops and eateries (and Zane's favorite waffle cart, more on that later). When you get to the Grand Place it is an open area surrounded by bigger restaurants and coffee shops. The entire area is circled in chairs and tables from the eateries and I've heard if you go at night that it is full of people. One of the pics is of one side of the Grand Place showing the shops (with Zane's large head at the bottom). Another is of the monkey that is on a wall of the Grand Place. You are supposed to rug his head with your left had for good luck. More on adventures soon.

The Chocolate Festival

2009-03-24T14:52:00.000-07:00

La Fete Du Chocolat de Mons, the French way of saying the Chocolate Festival in Mons. This was the 6th year for the festival and Zane was especially excited about going (and of course you know how I was dreading it!!!) It was held on the pedestrian street (a street with shops and restaurants, but no cars) near our house and down to the Grand Place where the big "Village" was located. It was comprised of a dozen or so separate exhibits by regional chocolatiers of their art, and let me tell you, some of it was very artistic. As you can tell from some of the pics some of the chocolates were beautifully decorated. Each painting design stood for a different addition to the chocolate. We tried on with pepper added. Zane was not a fan, but the rest of us really liked it, even Logie. Zane was very intrigued by the artisan making the cars (and got to buy one in the end). The brought their molds with them and were making them on site. Zane's favorite was the chocolate village, where a major chocolate distributor Cote D'Or had a set up with different tents where you went to learn about different aspects of chocolate. You got to fill out a quiz and if you got them all right you got a Chocolate diploma and goodie bag at the end. Let me tell you, that was the best hot chocolate I have ever had in my life!!! We also had some fabulous chocolate pie (not like pie at home, but the same general idea, but somehow better), some fresh chocolate covered marshmallows, and some truffles that were unbelieveable (I'm sending a tube to the parentals if any of you can talk them out of a taste, good luck!!!). Anyway, it was a great day, but I must say I was in a bit of sugar shock by lunch time!

Home Sweet Home (away from home!!)

2009-03-24T13:54:00.000-07:00

Well, we have been in Belgium for almost a month now and the search for somewhere to put down our roots for awhile has ended. It feels like it has taken forever, but when I talk to some of the others staying here at the hotel with us, evidently we made quick work of finding a place and getting out of lodging. We will have been here exactly a month when we leave and our friends the Mills Family (from Ft. Stewart) are the only ones we have met that have gotten out of here faster. I met a nice lady my second day here and she showed me a house that was great, but too small for us. I told her so and apologized for what seemed like wasting her time. Evidently she like me because she called a lady looking for me to show me a different house that she thought would be great for us, and it was!!! The house is located on a corner across the street from the Cathedral in Mons. If you find a really good satellite photo on google maps, you can sometimes see it. We went there this weekend to see how good the location really was and it was better than I imagined. We are 2 blocks (if you can call them that) from the train/bus station and about a 5 minute walk from both the market and Grand Place (I'll go into both of those more later).

The pics I posted with this post are of us in front of our house and one with a better shot of the house. The other 2 are of the Cathedral across the street. It is a beautiful structure from the outside and I can only imagine that it is as grand on the inside. We will have to explore that soon.