I love Christmas
I love the coziness
I love the traditions
I love giving people presents
I love Christmas lights
I love the decorations
And I love Christmas music
I love most of all that we celebrate
God coming to live amongst us
to save us.
My husband however
is not a fan of Christmas.
I could list the reasons why...mainly lights and decorations
and Christmas music.
But lets just say...he's not a fan.
Scrooge could be a second name for him.
So I was the happiest person in the world when my parents told me that they would spend a week with us over Christmas!
We could not have been more ecstatic!
And what a lovely holiday it was with my beloved family!
Excited for Christmas presents!
Leyton was a fan of the paper
Got caught in the act
Kaliya's idea of what stockings are for!
Now that's an excited Christmas face
Love them so much!
Happy with their Grammy and Tukey!
Suffice to say the girls loved their Christmas gifts!
We went to the Openlucht Museum
Which shows the old world of the Netherlands
It's absolutely beautiful
And was a great day!
Cutest couple even after all this time!
Of course you have to take a walk while your in the Netherlands
you gotta touch the Rhine river if you are that close to it
A Tukey and his girl
It's crazy how time flies and what you look forward to is over almost as quickly as it begun
but we had to say goodbye to Christmas but even more difficult we had to say goodbye to my parents...
I am surprised that every time my parents leave it wrenches the heart as hard as the first time.
New Years came
And we all went to bed way too early to say
we welcomed 2014 by sleeping!
And then we went to Switzerland
with Johan's brother Sam to visit his sister, Mirjam and her husband Urs and their lovely daughter Hannah!
We were only there for two and a half days because it took two days of travel
which meant me driving the autobahn at a very high speed for 7 hours back and forth=wonderful!
Maybe not for the men involved ;)
We were able to go to Zurich while we were there
What a beautiful city
Filled with rich history and my favourite...beautiful architecture
The alps in the distance weren't bad either
Wanted to live here
All ready to go
What a cutie
Our sweet niece!!
We are crazy about her!
Cousins!
They caught everyone's attention
Uncle Sam was patient as we walked to the top of the tower
Look at THAT!
A Mama and her girl
Shakinah with her uncle Sam
She loves him!
We have our cute moments
What a beautiful family!
A lovely couple!
The girls couldn't ask for a better Uncle
And they know it!
Sam and his girls
little models
Papa's girl
I love clock towers
And this is the largest one in the world
Oh man this city girl LOVED Zurich
---<3---
Mirjam and Urs were so sweet with Kaliya's birthday which fell on the 4th
Hannah's birthday is on Dec 28th...so we paired the birthdays together
and Urs made an awesome cake!
Sweeties!!
Auntie Mirjam with Kaliya teaching her German???
A delicious swiss dessert that I cannot pronounce the name of
I loved it!
Sam thought it looked like a pile of worms haha
It could not have been a better weekend with
family!
To everyone I wish you a very happy 2014!!!
As for me I am counting the abundant blessing of 2013!
I have had some high high mountains and some valleys
and I have learned yet again what it means to give and give and give of myself
and I have sometimes conquered and more often have I fallen.
I love being a Mom, I love my husband, I love my family
Most of all the relationship I have with Jesus is ever growing and I am ever humbled by the enormity of my God. I am thankful for all He has given me and all that He has revealed to me.
And most of all I am thankful for his Grace!
Here's to a new Year!
XX
