Last Month

On our last day in Luxembourg, we walked the boys back to school in the afternoon one last time as a family  Then, Ingrid and I ran errands with Ben to the bank, the dump, and Cactus Hobbi to find a needle so we could deflate Otto’s soccer balls before the flight back home. 

We picked up the boys from school one last time. I cried and took lots of pictures. It was a really hard afternoon. It was really hard to say goodbye. We went home and ate dinner and then I took Aksel and Ingrid to the park while Ben and Otto finished packing. Once we were ready to go, we closed all of the blinds and said one last family prayer in the family room and drove to the IBIS hotel across the street from the airport. 

The kids watched the show Heidi for a few minutes and then we did bedtimes. I laid down with the kids and we were all asleep by 7:30 pm. Ben left to go meet Russ and Nate back at our house to shuttle all of our luggage to the airport for a night-before check-in, only to learn KLM doesn’t allow it. 

Last Hurrah

Last weekend, we drove 3.5 hours to the Netherlands to see the windmills of Kinderdijk.

Kinderdijk sits in what's called a polder -- a low-lying tract of land enclosed by dikes. To drain the polder, a system of 19 windmills was built around 1740. This group of mills is the largest concentration of old windmills in the Netherlands. 

20 Months

Two life-changing things happened this past month. 

The first: Aksel learned how to ride a bike. 

He's a new man. He's constantly beaming with pride, announcing his new skill to strangers, and riding circles around the playground shouting "Look at me!" to anyone who will listen. 

Stuttgart, Germany

Ben recently took a guys trip to Stuttgart Germany with three friends -- Matt Mullins, Nate Packer and Russ Andrews. 

They left on a Friday evening after work and drove the 3.5 hours into Germany, eating dinner at Tokio and playing Exploding Kittens until midnight. 

My first question when Ben returned was: who did you share a room with? 
His answer: Matt. 
My next question: I hope you wore pajamas. 
His response: Why would I wear pajamas? 

Sorry Matt. 

19 Months

The best part about the past month was that nothing extraordinary happened. No major trips; no major events. Just living. Living in Luxembourg. It didn't feel particularly hard or foreign. It all felt really normal. It felt like this is actually our home and we could keep living here forever. 

One Sunday, after church, Ben made spaghetti and we all sat down at the table to eat. Everyone ate; everyone sat. Everyone liked it. 

I can’t stop thinking about that meal and the potential that lies ahead for my family. It felt like a real accomplishment. It felt deeper and richer than anything I've seen in Europe. It made me feel whole. 

Girls Trip to Paris

I had the best weekend. It felt like every minute and every hour kept unfolding in this lovely way to present more and more happiness and enjoyment. 

18 Months

We really rang in the New Year with a bang. 

On New Year's Eve, Aksel woke up with bloody ears and so I called the pediatricians office to beg for an appointment before they closed for the holidays. I was unsure if they'd give Aksel another appointment because I had brought him in just the day before to get his ears checked. He had woken up several times in the night complaining of ear pain. 

Unfortunately, our regular pediatrician, Sigurlaug Agustsson, was out of town and we had to see the on-call doctor, Dr. Ries. She looked in his left ear and said she couldn't see anything because of ear wax. I asked her to remove the wax so she could see. She said it wasn't necessary. 

What does that mean? 

Dr. Ries & Aksel

Bilan

Otto and Aksel recently had their "bilan" at school. Translated directly from French, it means balance sheet, or parent-teacher conference in English.

Christmas

Otto lived and died by the chocolate advent calendar this year. And when we woke up on the 24th of December and were able to eat the last and largest chocolate out of his calendar, I thought we might all burst with gladness. 

He kept telling everyone in our family we only had to go to bed one more time and then THEN it would be Christmas. 

I convinced Ben our family should go ice skating on Christmas Eve. He was super skeptical. Luxembourg City had a Winter Lights festival this year, and as part of the celebration and Christmas Market, they had transformed Place Guillaume into an outdoor ice skating rink.