Weihnactsmarkts

Luxembourg Kreschtmaart

I took full advantage of the Luxembourg Christmas Market this year, visiting four times -- once as family, once with Ben, once with a group of friends, and once with just Otto.

It's a small market in comparison to the larger, more famous German markets, but the allure of Christmas sounds, hot chocolate, sausage, raclette, fresh grilled salmon sandwiches, grompere kichelcher, roasted almonds, rides on the ferris wheel and shopping were enough to lure me there multiple times. 

17 Months

Thanksgiving day approached and with it, the familiar sadness of living in a place where nothing would seem special or feel special when you know it should be. Especially when social media is quick to tell me just how warm and magical and happy a holiday is for everyone I know. 

Determined to create a little magic of our own, I rallied a group of our American friends and set out to find a turkey. We postponed our feast from Thanksgiving Thursday (husbands were working and it was a school night for children) to Saturday, two days later. 

As luck would have it, the turkey was available for pick up on Thanksgiving Thursday -- giving Ingrid and me our own little turkey day party. Ben ordered the turkey three weeks earlier from Provençale, a restaurant supply store for which we have a membership. He didn't bother bother to ask how much it would cost; he only asked for the biggest bird they could provide. 

This is Thanksgiving we were talking about. Money was no object. 

Otto's Hair

 

Big changes around here.

For nearly all of Otto's life he's had long hair. It's been his identity. To me, to him, and to others.

Ben and I always agreed that when Otto wanted his hair cut, we would cut it.

The moment arrived.

16 Months

My personal highlight of the past month was a visit from Ben's uncle, Larry Pond. We knew Larry was in Paris on one last hurrah. The night before Ben was scheduled to fly to Utah for a week, we heard from Uncle Larry -- he wanted to come to Luxembourg! 

Dinant, Belgium

I saw a picture of Dinant, Belgium a few weeks ago, and I couldn't stop thinking about it. I couldn't let it go.

So I looked at a map and realized it was only 1.5 hours from Luxembourg. THEN I found a blog called Belgium With Kids, telling me exactly what I should and shouldn't do with my kids while visiting Dinant. AND THEN we went. 

15 Months

Earlier this month, Ben took the trash out. On his way back up the stairs and into the house, he paused on the front step and looked out into the black night and said: It smells like winter is in the air. You should come smell it. 

Paris

Paris is a city I want to live in for a year. A full year.

I want to explore every neighborhood and nook and cranny. I want to have the time to really sit in a park for an afternoon and watch the wooden sailboats without feeling rushed by an itinerary. I want to smile knowingly at the tourists buying cheap paintings because I was once one of them. I want to expertly navigate the metro like I once did New York City and Washington DC.

Camping in Mullerthal

Beaufort Castle

As soon as the boys were out of school last Friday, we loaded them and our camping gear into the car and drove over to Nate and Becky Packer's, where five men and nine children were meeting for an informal "Father & Son's" campout in Luxembourg's Mullerthal region, known as Little Switzerland.

14 Months

Our 14th month in Luxembourg has included some pretty big events -- our return from our three-week trip to the states, grand theft auto, a burgled home, overcoming jet lag, a trip to the dentist and the start of a new school year with both Otto and Aksel attending school. 

Our trip to Utah ended with really happy and peaceful sentiments about our choice to make our home in another place.

Our trip home to Luxembourg ended with really unfortunate news that still hasn't been resolved. 

Back to School

The school year started in Luxembourg on September 15. 

Otto, age 4, began his official first year of Luxembourg school, called Cycle 1. Luxembourg law requires all children who are four years old prior to September 1 of each year to begin Cycle 1. 

Aksel, age 3, began his first year of Luxembourgish preschool, called Précoce. 

From the time school ended on July 15 until now, Otto has been asking when school would begin again. I overhead him telling Aksel on several occasions that it would be okay to cry. 

The night before school started, I asked Otto to tell Aksel what it would be like to go to school and Otto said: 

Aksel, it's going to be awesome. You're going to color and play and bake stuff and go to parks and ride buses and go on lots of fun field trips. 

There's so much to love about school in Luxembourg! 

Burgled

Flying from Salt Lake City to Luxembourg is a feat. 

We begin days before. We rest. We hydrate. We pack. We bring two backpacks full of spare clothes, snacks, headphones, iPads, toys, games, chapstick, gum, diapers and wipes. We know we won't sleep for 24 hours and our children will sleep for three or four hours, if we're lucky, or if we sacrifice a seat for them so they can sprawl out comfortably. 

So by the time we land in Paris, get our circus (family) off of the plane, onto a bus, through customs, onto another bus, hang out in a terminal for an hour and then walk to a gate, and climb aboard another airplane, it's about all we (I) can do to not sob for the 45-minute flight from Paris to Luxembourg. 

Trip to Utah

For months we had been anticipating a trip home. As summer approached, school ended and Ben's workload waned, we started to finalize plans to fly to Utah. In May, we submitted our paperwork to have our 1-year visas renewed (we would need a new one-year visa and accompanying Luxembourg residency cards to get back into Luxembourg on our return from Utah).

After weeks of nothing, Ben paid several visits and spent several afternoons on the phone navigating government employees in an attempt to get information our visa status. 

Finally, we received word: 

Your visas won't be ready until September, they said. 

That doesn't make sense, Ben said. 

I'm trapped here, I said. 

13 Months

We've flipped! We're no longer counting months by how long we've been in Luxembourg, but by how many we have left. 

Occasionally, I start to panic and make and re-make a big list of all the things we need to see and do in the next 11 months and then I look at my kids and realize if we do nothing else but eat european chocolate chips and play at the park next door, we've done and seen and conquered and experienced more than I ever dreamed. 

End of the school year

I had more trepidation about sending Otto to a Luxembourgish preschool than I did about moving to a foreign country. In addition to fear, I had guilt. A lot of guilt. Who moves to a foreign country and then sends their smaller-than-average three-year-old to preschool (for the first time) in a foreign language every morning of every day and in the afternoons Monday, Wednesday, and Friday? I do. 

Lilly

Lilly Evans came to stay with our family for three months. She arrived on May 4 and left us on July 30. It was an incredible three months. I had a built-in best friend. We painted nails. We watched ridiculous movies. We ate a lot of cookie dough. We laughed. We cried. And we learned a lot about each other. 

One Year in Luxembourg

I'm sitting in a car. Ben is driving. And we are driving away from Utah. Away from family. Away from best friends. Away from beloved mountains and running trails. Away from Costco. Away from rooms where I brought my three babies home from the hospital and rocked to sleep. Away from conveniences I don't yet know are conveniences. 

But it isn't hard to drive away. It's been a long-time coming. We feel prepared. And the allure of Europe makes driving away really easy. 

Heidelberg

I picked Ben up from work at 4 pm last Friday with two goals: attending the LDS Temple and eating at Chipotle in Frankfurt, Germany by 7:30 pm.

We weren't sure if we would make it to the temple in time (due to traffic and the length of the drive) and I was secretly not sad knowing that this would guarantee a trip to Chipotle.

Fortunately (or unfortunately), we made it to the temple just in time but wouldn't leave the temple before Chipotle closed. I spent a lot of mental energy reminding myself what was most important that evening.

Venice

Venice has been beckoning to Ben and I for a while.

With Otto, Aksel, and Ingrid happily in the care of Lilly for four days, we took the one hour and 20 minute flight to Venezia for a long weekend.

Things we did in Venice: 

Purchased an Italian SIM card for a phone. We waited in line so long that Ben started audibly counting down from 100 (a self-imposed personal limit on how long he was willing to wait in line). 

Toured Palazzo Ducale.

                                                

                                         

                                                

                                     

                                                

                                                

                                                

                                                

                                     

                                                 

                                                   

Stood mesmerized inside Basilica di San Marco.

                                               

Cried a few times about missing our kids. (Just kidding. Only I cried. And I only missed Ingrid.)

Got lost in the crowds of 12 cruise ships and their passengers anchored in Venice. 

Wandered past Squero di San Troves to glimpse gondolas being built. 

                                               

Got harassed by Africans selling knock-off Prada bags. 

Talked a lot about the movies The Italian Job and The Tourist. 

Googled a lot of information about Venice and how it was built. 

Browsed boutique-lined backstreets buying scarves, a tie, man coin purses and tee shirts. 

Paused atop wooden Ponte dell'Accademia to look at the Grand Canal. 

Got rained on several times. 

Walked and walked and walked around San Marco. 

                                             

                                   

                                      

Ate a lot of mediocre street food. 

Took a lot of photos. 

Talked to a lot of secret service. 

Tried to get a glimpse of First Lady, Michelle Obama (who was also staying at the Hilton). 

                                       

Ate a lot of gelato from Grom and Suso (Thank you Star and Russ!). And by a lot, I mean twice a day until our last day and then we increased our consumption up to three. 

                                                

                                                

Listened to a violinist outside the Frari Church. 

Hunted down a pizza/calzone shop outside the Frari Church.

Watched Titian's red-hot Madonna light up the room in Assunta inside the Frari . 

                                                

                                                

                                                 

                                                

                                               

Took naps. 

Cursed Italy for not having Netflix. 

Threw out old shoes and bought new ones.

Marveled at the ingenuity and beauty of Venice. 

                                               

                                       

                                               

                                    

                                               

                                    

                                               

                                     

                                               

Walked through Rialto Market. 

Ate a fish and became friends with a couple from Durango. 

                                              

Talked a lot about the similarities of Venice and New York. 

Took a vaporetto out to Murano Island. 

                                   

                                              

                                    

                                               

                                

Gloated in Ben's disappointment when no one spoke French. 

Stopped by a grocery and bought blackberries, cherries, blueberries, and babybells. 

                                     

Caught a vaporetto up the Grand Canal.

Crossed the Rialto bridge 100 times. 

Saw lightning strike at the Scuola Grande di San Rocco.

Paid a man 80 euro for a 30-minute gondola ride that was only 18 minutes. 

                                     

                                                

                                      

                                                  

                                                  

                                         

                                                   

                                                   

                                         

                                                  

Ate dinner on Giudecca for one last, long view of San Marco.