Here Kitty, Kitty...

I know you're thinking... "why more pictures of the dog?" 

Well, because this is the "BEFORE" picture....

And this is the "AFTER" picture!

Brent says she looks like a 'skinned' rabbit!

Erika asked me to shave my dog before she watches her for another week. 

Now my dog looks like a CAT! She looks so weird!

Lazy Days...

Some days I tell Keala how much Maggie misses her when shes at school!

I really like how she gets how to use a pillow!

Or there are other optional places...

Yawn! Time for more napping!

Such is a dogs life!

The Scone Coma

Last Sunday we had our family tradition of scones for breakfast before General Conference.

The next 3 days I received requests for MORE SCONES. Here is my adaptation for Gluten free scones... I put the mix in a pastry bag and curled them around to look like a cinnamon roll.

This was last Sunday BEFORE the coma set in...

This is after...  And Kai took this video which he was so clever to do!:

Let's put The Netherlands Vacation in Order!

I thought... instead of reading all our posts about our Netherlands vacation backwards, (as it happens when you post them), I am going to put them in an order (that actually is backwards.) This way you can just scroll straight down to read right through all of them.  Alright, On your marks, get set, Go!...

Welcome to Amsterdam! March 21st

Greetings from MaryAnn! (That REALLY is her name). She was our Viking Cruise's concierge. After a long day of travel on Monday, MaryAnn helped us pick our tour for the next day... So after a quick bus tour of Amsterdam Monday night, we were fast asleep for a good night's rest in our beautiful cabin then off we went Tuesday morning to HAARLEM!

We started out Tuesday morning with fresh cooked omelets on board our ship. Then we were off to our walking tour of old city Haarlem as we listened to our guide through the use of these head sets that Brent is so graciously modeling here.

Haarlem is a cute city, and I hate to say it, but I think my husband is pretty cute too! (Cheese!) Its a little chilly in the mornings but such pleasant weather by the early afternoon. Onto the program...

One of Brent's favorite things about European cities are the town squares. Everyone loves an outdoor meal in the fresh air and plenty of people-watching. These squares are packed by noon! 

Don't you just love tourists, we take pictures of every little thing!  The first cheese shop we passed by was a novelty. (By the 33rd, we were over it!) This cute store-keeper invited us to come in and buy cheese, not just take a picture of it! Tourists!

We are waiting to go inside the Frans Hals Museum that housed a number of paintings from the Golden Age. We had our own private tour before they opened to the public. Rock stars!

After our tour of Haarlem, this was were we had lunch! Can you believe it! This Viking River Tour really knows how to do it up right!  The meal was slow-roasted pork on top of sauerkraut and mashed potatoes. Oh, so good. (And apple pie for dessert!)

Our lunch was inside this old mansion that is now used for group banquets. We won't leave the port till late tonight, so this evening we have our Christening Ceremony.

Pictured here are 2 of the 4 ships that were Christened. The ships recieve their names, and a Godmother is chosen to do the Christening. The ceremony included a broadcast from the workers at the shipyard. Pretty cool stuff!

The stage of the Christening Ceremony is placed here between the 4 boats, 2 on each side. The 4 Godmothers have Christened each boat and we are awaiting a cocktail celebration to start.

These 4 women holding the frames are the 4 Godmothers who were honored to each represent one of the boats. Forgive me for not placing their names, I can give you a full account later if you want!

This is the beginning of beautiful sunsets we enjoyed every night, followed by perfect weather every day. No one could believe how warm it was for us! The meals on the ship were just as fantastic too! Our dinners looked as beautiful as that lunch did, but I won't go into too much detail to not make you jealous. (It was awesome food though! I threw my diet right out the window!)

Antwerp, Belgium (Part 1), March 22nd

I have a confession to make, this morning I woke up after having slept for over 12 hours! Brent got up at 9am to attend a marketing meeting. Jet lag was brutal the first few days and I was so tired! When Brent came to wake me up I was even mad until he informed me of how long I'de slept! Yeah! Good for me!

After another delicious breakfast of fresh cooked omelet (with all the works!) we walked right off the boat and into Antwerp. Our tour guide led us directly up the street where we got a great shot of the 'Cathedral of our Lady'. Look at all those tourists taking pictures!

Brent first got a glimpse of the Cathedral from the ship and said "thats where I want to go today". Good thing it was on the agenda! But first we got the tour of the river walk and a full explanation of the story behind how the city got its name:

Behold the statue of the evil ogre named Antigoon who guarded access to the Scheldt, threatening anyone unwilling to pay his extortionate tolls. One day, Brabo came along and challenged the giant to a fight... (to be continued...)

Oh, I know, I am so mean... I will continue the story shortly. First another photo of my handsome prince as he stands in front of the door of some castle. I don't know what the castle's called or why we were looking at it; I couldn't understand a word our tour guide said!

I admit I really, truly, painstakingly tried to listen to our guide but it reguired so much energy I quit after about 5 minutes. Her accent was too strong and her English was just wierd... But I did hear why the house on these streets were made of part brick and part stone...

If you look closely to the building at the left you will see the white stone interlaid with brick because the stone was so expensive to transport. People who didn't have a lot of money just built their houses of brick like you see to the right. The 3 little pigs couldn't argue with that. (I'm just wondering where all the trees are!)

I believe this is the grand City Hall we are in front of surrounded by merchant houses and more cafes where people sat and watched other people. A very good passtime I have been told...

I took this picture just because I liked this architecture. (These buildings remind me of 'Its a Small World' at Disneyland.) At this point I had to turn my headset off because I couldn't understand a word the tour guide was saying and I was getting annoyed.

So back to the story... This is the famous 'Brabo Fountain', honoring the mythical hero who challenged the evil ogre, Antigoon. In the end of the battle Brabo cut off the ogre's hand and threw it into the river.  After that, the Antigoon ran away and was never seen again.

I think the Ogre ran home to his mom and she grounded him! But anyways, the city 'Antwerp' literally means "hand-throwing". We saw hands all over the city representing the story.  Our tour guide loved it, apparently she was from Antwerp. Okey dokey then!

Antwerp, Belgium (Part 2), March 22nd

Moving On... Ok, so now we're finally to the doors of the Cathedral of Our Lady. This is the largest Gothic builing in the Low Countries (Holland).

The groups we are divided up in are about 20 people total.  (Still we looked like a herd... very inconspicuous... not!) The sign above the door says something in Dutch about exhibiting the works of Pieter Paul Rubens.

I can't translate the Dutch but apparently I can't follow directions either... I took about 3 pictures with my flash on before my husband hit me and said to turn it off. Which is all his fault because I told him to tell me what the tour guide was saying (my headset is still turned off), but apparently he doesn't fill me in on ANY details!

So I finally muster the energy to turn my headset on and 'pretend' to listen to the tour guide. I have to inform you, as beautiful as these arches are, this building was freezing cold inside! Albiet, beautiful.

The tour guide... I dunno her name, I wasn't listening.

 Whats interesting is that we learned later that in WWII, Hitler bombed the whole port of Antwerp (which was where we were walking when we got off the ship) and this cathedral was still standing after! Its a good thing, since it only took about 300 years to build.

 

Yes, this is one of the famous P.P.R. paintings. If you want a better image of it, look it up. You get the idea...

This was a Protestant Church. I am impressed that although it took 300 years to build, the architecture has the same continuity. (And so glad it didn't all come down in 3 minutes in the war, or any war for that matter.) Apparently Peter Paul Rubens lived just down the street from here, a couple yards away as a matter of fact.

The piece de resistance wasn't just looking at these paintings, but seeing Peter Paul Rubens home after our visit at the Cathedral. It was interesting to hear a little about his life and see some of his collections of art, statues, projects, and walk around his gardens.

One of the best times of our trip was watching this man dressed in gray & black (to the right) walk around the plaza make farting noises at everyone who passed him. (Yes, he was a few cards shy of a full deck...) But we couldn't stop laughing as innocent passers-by would turn with shock at his sound effects. Hilarious!

After our tour we were allowed some time to walk around Antwerp ourselves. (I was afraid we would get lost.) But shocking as it was, in the short time we walked down only ONE street, we passed by 4 McDonald's. Not kidding! The whole time we were looking for ice cream and I REFUSED to buy it from McDonald's. Please!

   

We ate dinner with some people who had toured the diamond district. I kinda wished we had time to see how that was. Another tour group of people went underground through cellars and passages that date back centuries ago. Those in that group said it didn't smell that great. Hey, we didn't see diamonds or smell yuck, but at least we finally found ice cream!

Every night after all our walking we relaxed at a beautiful dinner table and watched the sun go down while we ate a fabulous meal. It doesn't get any better than that! We were seated with different people each night, and we made great friends...that made the tours all the more fun the succeeding days because we had more and more people to laugh with and share our adventures... On to more...

Brugge, Belgium March 23rd

Ok, so if I had a "favorite" day of my whole vacation - THIS was the day! We started out our tour of Bruges, or Brugge, with a short canal ride.  It was only about a 20-25 minute cruise around the canals, but we had PERFECT weather so I absolutely loved it!

 

Why is it every time someone else takes your picture, its always out of focus! You win some, you lose some!

I loved the windows overlooking the canals. If my house were up against a canal, I would be looking out on it too! Don't kid yourself! I think everyone needs a canal in their backyard! (Maybe the world would be a happier place if that were true.)  moving on...

This is the outside of 'Our Lady's Church' that we could see from the canal.  Our tour guide was MUCH easier to listen to today. (Still a little difficult at times.... but much better than yesterday!) He did say, however, that we had the 'way of right' when he mean the 'right of way'. Thats how hard it was to translate my own language!

Inside 'Our Lady's Church' we not only saw our own breath (because it was SOOOO cold!) but the church is home to Michelangelo's Pieta.  It is the only Michelangelo statue to leave Italy. (I had to google half these things when I got home.)  The statue was looted by French revolutionaries around 1794 and Nazi Germans in 1944, both times recovered and brought back to Bruges.

This church has the second tallest brickwork tower in the world, and is the tallest building in Brugge. This city is one of the most beautifully preserved medieval cities. I absolutely loved it here!

This is the market square. (Most market squares were the center points of these cities... which most of you already know.) But I didn't know, so I found it very interesting. Everything was build outward around this point.  This city was very different from Amsterdam and Antwerp too... lots much more chocolate and lace!

Another tour group on the canal. I found the gardens in the town very well manicured, and peaceful.

Just like tourists... we all are taking pictures of each other. Our Viking River Cruise had about 180 people onboard the ship.  Groups of us took different day tours. We saw others of them all day long.

Brent and I had to leave the city early for a marketing luncheon. Before leaving we did visit the Chocolate shops which were 3 or 4 side by side each other! What could be different in each of them! (It didn't stop me from going inside them though!)

Oh yes, here you pay to use the poddy! No one told me so my first visit into the McDonald's sent me right back out, unrelieved! A woman kept yelling at me "40 cents!, 40 cents!"  I didn't know who I was more mad at, her or my husband for holding all the change!

I just loved this home. Be grateful, I had to weed my way through 500 pictures we took on this trip. You're only getting a small sample. So if I throw in a random photo here or there, just deal with it!

The End

(Until tomorrow...)