Christmas Eve and Morning

Mel's favorite Christmas present: Thys's train! Although I think Thys likes it too!
Thys's real favorite Christmas present--bubble wrap!
Annie with her new "chalkboard" (and whiteboard) and guitar.
Cookies for Santa on Christmas Eve.
Or cookies for Thys on Chirstmas Eve!

Christmas Traditions

As close as I could get to a nice pic of the kids with nice Christmas outfits on.

Making cookies for Santa. (Anna's babysitter made her the darling Chirstmas apron! She is the greatest find in the world!)
Anna dressed as an angel for the nativity.

Lights at Temple Square. Please ignore the fat pregnant lady who couldn't find a coat to go around her, and the two-year old who wouldn't wear a coat, hat, or gloves!
Thys's first train ride (TRAX)--he was delighted!
Annie making Christmas treats. She loves to bake!

The Tree Party

It just so happened that Sinter Klaas and the tree decorating all happened at the same time. After we decorate the tree we sleep around it, so here we are. Annie and Thys had their new PJ's from Sinter Klaas. We did put Thys in his crib, but the rest of us slept around the tree! Fun! Anna already looks forward to this party for days! She couldn't wait for all the activities of the weekend.

Dutch Traditions

One of our favorite Dutch traditions is Sinter Klaas, which was last weekend. Sinter Klaas leaves gifts in our shoes, and then leaves a bag of gifts on the porch and knocks. This year Sinter Klaas brought Build-a-Bear gift cards, so we immediately went to choose the bears. We knew Anna would LOVE it. We were so excited for Thysie because he has been fighting with Annie over animals for weeks, so we wanted him to have his own. Contrary to the pics, he had absolutely no interest in choosing, filling or anything else--until he saw the bath. Then he needed an animal. We chose his, Anna filled it, and he bathed and dressed it--in a pink shirt with sparkles. Nice.





Anna waiting for Sinter Klaas.
Thysie eating the cake Annie made for Sinter Klaas. What do you do with such a cute kid?
My banketstaaf and letters--last year I tried from scratch. This year I used puff pastry and store bought almond filling--a much better idea, although the filling leaked out, as you can see.
Mel cooked Nasi and Sate (Indonesian dishes) for dinner. Yummy!

Anna

Anna likes to sleep in her tent occasionally, but her papa doesn't think it is so comfortable for her on the floor. Here is his solution!
Anna's latest grown-up job is doing dishes. NOT that we make her do dishes, but she wants to wash all the dishes in the sink. She does a pretty good job, and yes, she did the knives. We are good parents, aren't we?!?!

Thanksgiving Turkey

Every year we follow the example of our sister-in-law and take a picture by my mom's turkey to see how much the kids have grown. If you want to see the difference, click back to last November! Thys has grown up. What a kid!

Home in Holland

Mel and his sisters went home for their dad's 80th birthday. They celebrated at an Indonesian restaurant, and apparently Bupa's dessert really smelled, so they asked for some clothes pins. Apparently the waiter/owner had a sense of humor because he brought them with the dessert.
Mel and his sisters picked up some wheelchairs so Bupa and Mimi would have an easier time getting around with them. Here they are near the favorite fish restaurant at the edge of the water.
Mel, his parents, and sisters all got to go to the Dutch temple together for the first time. Probably the chance of a lifetime for them.

They had a great time together and really enjoyed the trip!

Private?

I suppose a lot of you saw the clip on KSL about blogs--I didn't. I fell asleep, but I read it today online. I'm not really paranoid, but I am considering going private, so if you want to be on my email list for invites, let me know, just in case. Weird stories out there!

Halloween 2008

On Thursday our neighborhood had trunk-or-treat at the park behind our house, and our cousins joined up because they came to see Anna and Thys's program at Becky's. As you can see, Thys is costume-less. Below are my attempts at costuming him. He was NOT fond of it, but he was definitely fond of all the candy in his "punkin."


First attempt at Thys's costume--blurry photo, undressing. He had it on for a whole 2 minutes.
On Halloween, we went up to our cousins' house at Suncrest to trick-or-treat. G and G came, and for some reason, Thys decided it was okay put the costume on for Grandpa, BUT he did NOT wear it trick-or-treating. He did wear it long enough to get candy all over it, however.

Anna was a beautiful Ariel. This is her at Becky's program. She wondered why everyone liked her so much as Ariel . . . .

Halloween was fun, but we missed our dad who was off in Holland celebrating his dad's 80th birthday. Happy Birthday, Bupa!!

Mr. T is Two

Thys turned two yesterday. This little boy is a delight! He is so sweet and happy all the time. He makes us laugh everyday, and he is good-natured and kind. He loves to swing, play with trains and blocks, be with Anna and Papa, go to the farm, look at books, clean up, take a shower or bath, sit on the kitchen counter, and sleep. He is a nut, and we are so blessed to have him in our family! We love you, Thysie!

Reading the new book and uncovering the new train set
We had a Thomas birthday, and I attempted the Thomas cake. As you can see, it wasn't exactly a replica, but I asked Thys what it was, and he said Thomas, so I guess it worked for him. I've been pretty lucky with birthday cakes until now, but I think this one was a bit over my head. By the time we actually served it, the frosting had run and the face and been rearranged by little fingers, so it looked more like Thomas gone Halloween, but hey, it's just a cake, right?
Thsyie got a Thomas book and train for his birthday, in addition to a GeoTrax train that is remote control operated. He is sitting on the kitchen counter helping Papa make poennekaka (pannekoeken, for those of you who speak Dutch), which he put a candle in and blew out after he sang happy birthday.

We had a family birthday party with all the cousins, and it was wild! Thys is a little shy sometimes, and I think the crowd overwhelmed him just a bit, so he sat on the counter with grandma and enjoyed the treats!

The Fall Trip to the Mountains

Between sessions of conference we went up the canyon to see the leaves. . .and the snow. Anna was thrilled to see the snow, and we loved the leaves, so we were all happy. Isn't it beautiful?!?

Is it any wonder that this little boy loves his dad?
Annie discovered the joy of rain boots.
She also discovered the downfall of rainboots--they make running a little bit hard, and she face planted in a mud puddle. She didn't think it was as funny as the rest of us in the beginning, but by the time we got back to the car, she was laughing!

Our Own Carmel Apples

After our trip to the fair, I remembered how much Annie loves caramel apples, and I learned how much Thys loves them. We decided to make them for FHE. They didn't look quite like the apples at the fair, but they tasted just as good.

You can't really tell what Thys is doing, but he has a birthday candle. This little guy loves to blow out candles and sing happy birthday. He sings it soooo cute, and then he blows out candles--at least 20 times. We put a candle in something about once a day so that he can sing and blow.

The Zoo Again

Whenever Luke comes to town, Anna thinks we must go to the zoo--and we usually do.
The kids have discovered the playground at the zoo. Thys loves it, and I love him in it. He is the cutest little kid! He has so much fun.
Annie always loves a ride on the caterpillar.

The Fair

I think we actually went to the State Fair before the ultrasound, but I got distracted in my postings. We love the fair, although until I had kids I never knew what a racket it was. You pay entrance, a carmel apple, and two rides, and you are out $50.00. Nevertheless, we will keep going and keep having fun! Our cousins went with us to share in the fun.




Thys opts for the calmer rides with Papa, and he also had taken a liking to all the hand-me-down Hawaiian shirts. He always chooses one to wear when he is getting his clothes.
Anna loves rides. Here she is on the roller coaster in the dark by herself so her cousins could ride with each other. She has no fear.