1-Year Anniversary in Holland

We have been in Holland for 1 year! It's hard to believe; it feels like we are settled here and have been here forever but at the same time the year went by fast. We survived our first Winter and are really looking forward to the Spring! We are hoping to get in a little more traveling this Spring and Summer. Overall things are great and we really enjoy this beautiful city of Amsterdam.

Dutch Health Insurance

I am so happy...we finally have Dutch Health Insurance! And it's only been almost one year since we moved to Amsterdam. :) Technically our insurance started January 1, 2009 (per our policy and cards), however, we just received our policy last week and our cards yesterday...so it only took 9 months. It's just crazy and insane how long things can take to get done here in Holland, especially things involving paperwork. So now, we are 100% official...oh wait, we still need to get Dutch drivers license. I think we are becoming Dutch!

New Kitten

We brought home our new kitten this weekend. His name is Holland Elroy Clanton and he is a Siberian cat breed. We already love him. He is great with the kids, plays with them and isn't scared of anything, and sleeps with us in our bed. Tyler picked the name Holland for him and Elroy was his given name from the breeder. We are busy buying lots of things for the kitten and making our house cat friendly. Check out the pictures and video of him.

New Kitten

No More Crib

Madison no longer sleeps in her crib, so we decided to move it out and get rid of it. We took it out of the room today. So now we have a little more walking area in the bedroom and two big kid beds for Tyler and Madison. It's a little sad to think our baby is gone and we have a little big girl. But she's so proud of her bed and she's sleeps well in it.

Co-worker from SB in town

Our co-worker Bryan Siever from SB was in town all week from the 15th to the 21st. They had a very productive work week while he was here and Wes did a lot with him. He was able to come over to our house a few times and hang out with us and the kids and we got one night out with him to a nice restaurant and we found a fun bar that makes all different types of margaritas. The week went by fast; but he'll be back soon in April.

Tyler gets a hair cut

Tyler gets a hair cut! It's a lot shorter all around. It's hard to tell with his stick straight hair that just falls forward no matter what you do to it. And it can't be too short because he has calics in the back that just stick straight up. His surfer dude shaggy hair is gone for a few months.

Ladies Movie Night

The Pathe movie theaters throughout Holland hold a Ladies Night movie once a month. They show a premiere of a new chic flick that's coming out. Of course our movies are a little later then the premiere dates in the States. This is a fun little event for all Ladies. You can show up early and drink in the theater; yes at the movie theater you can buy wine, beer, hard liquor and even champagne. With the cost of the ticket you get one free drink (of their choice), they do raffles before the movie, and you get a little goodie bag after the movie. We watched the movie at Pathe Tuschinski which is a very old and beautiful movie theater in the heart of the city. I'm sure back in the day this theater was used for stage shows and other productions (not just movies). You can check out pictures of the theater at; http://www.pathe.nl/tuschinski/media.asp. We had front row seats on the 1st level balcony right in the middle so we had a great view of the movie. I went with two great friends Autumn and Alissa who dig chic flicks also. We're already talking about going to next months which is "He's just not that into you."

Kids Growth Status

Madison at 2 years old:

86.5 cm = 34.1 inches
12.20 kg = 26.8 pounds

The average in the USA is 30 inches and 28 pounds. So she's tall for her age (fits in well with the Dutch kids).

Tyler at almost 4 years old:

100 cm = 39.4 inches
15 kg = 33.1 pounds

The average in the USA is 37 inches and 35-37 pounds. So he's pretty average; a little taller but also a little skinny butt weighing only 33 pounds.

Both kids had to receive a few extra vaccines here in The Netherlands. Tyler is done until he's older and Madison is done until she's 4 years old. Besides the normal colds and sicknesses both kids have been healthy. Tyler hasn't had many ear infections so I'm hoping he has out grown that. We are still following up every year with his ears and hearing tests. Madison had a full eye exam by the pediatric eye doctors here in Amsterdam and everything looks good. All in all they are growing like weeds and both are doing great.

Sibling Love

Ok, so I need to update this blog more frequently so those of you that actually read it will see new posts when you check in. I'm working hard to catch up. I'm one week behind on pictures and blog posts. That doesn't seem long however I have a lot to say in a weeks time sometimes. So, my new goal will be to try to update the blog at least twice a week. We'll see how well I do. Here's a cute pic of the kids posing for the camera.

Spring is in the air!

Spring is in the air! The weather is getting nicer by the day and I cannot wait for Spring to come. All over the city the flowers are starting to bloom. Since we arrived at the end of March last year and the flowers were already here, I sort of took the scenery for granted. Now that I've been through a winter....I have realized that I absolutely love everything about the Spring time. The weather, the flowers, the sunlight out until 11pm, and the sun (the little of it we do see). These pictures are from a flower bulb we planted and grew ourselves in the house. It's blossomed 3 different times so far and is so pretty. It's just a tease to what we're about to see during the next few months. Many more flower photos to come.

Wes playing soccer

NHR has a indoor soccer team and Wes is playing with them. They had their first game tonight; so the kids and I showed up to cheer on Daddy and the team. They lost the game, but it was a lot of fun watching Wes play sports again.

Giving Daddy some LUV

Maddie giving Daddy some support

Watching from the sidelines



Wes in action...he really did play!


NHR Soccer team

Grandma's head home

Today was a very sad day; because both Grandma Jackie and Grandma Paula had to leave to head back home. They will both be missed a ton! They left in the morning with Wes in a taxi since NHR is on the way to the airport. Tyler kept saying all day that they went to work with Daddy. When Wes got home from work he asked where the Grandma's were? It was cute and he didn't understand why they had to go home or wanted to. We all enjoyed them being here and our time spent with them. It only took a few days to get the kids back on schedule and back to normalcy. Meaning they did have a little freedom and lets just say were spoiled a bit with the Grandma's. When I tried telling them to do something for the first few days Tyler would say, Grandma doesn't make me do that. You know what my answer to that was! :) Even though our house is small; we love visitors and hope more will come during our time here.

Madison's Birthday Party

We had Madison's 2nd birthday party on Sunday the 8th at The Little Gym in Amsterdam. It was supposed to be a joint birthday party with her friend Kaia but she got sick that day with the stomach flu and could not come. It was a sad day since Kaia couldn't be there. Maddie kept asking for her all day and during the party; she would say "were's Kaia". However, the party was lots of fun at the Gym and all the kids had a great time. They danced around, played on the equipment, played with the parachute, did bubbles and then we ate some food and cake. It's great having a party at a facility because they do all the setting up and cleaning up. Madison absolutely loves the gym and isn't afraid to do anything there. Overall I think she enjoyed her 2nd birthday!

Maddie's Birthday Party

Happy 2nd Birthday to Madison!

When she was born

At her 1 year old birthday

Today is Maddie's 2nd birthday! Happy Birthday to you, Happy Birthday to you! I cannot believe she is already two. She still seems like a baby to me in so many ways; but at the same time she acts like such a little girl. Madison is sweet, sassy, very independent, and thinks she can do anything her brother does. Today she went to school with her brother and they celebrated there during the day with school friends and then that evening we had a mini little celebration at home and opened presents.

Madison's 2nd Birthday

Trip to Ballorig

While the Grandma's were here we went to Ballorig. This is the indoor place place Wes and I took the kids too a few weeks ago. It's another fun place that you can spend just a few hours at and get your monies worth. Adults are free and kids are only 6 euros each. This place has slides, jumpy things, trampolines, ball pits, big soft building blocks, a little race car track, and much more. The adventure with this trip involved us getting there. It's a little ways out of the city, so we have to drive there. We crammed all 5 of us in our little car. I wish I could have gotten a picture of that!

Quick trip to London

Wes had to go visit the London office for 2 days so I decided to tag along with him since the Grandma's were in town. I was really spoiled this time with them here! We just went for 1 night and 2 days. It's a quick easy flight and it's really easy to get around over there. Once we arrived Wes went straight to the office and I took the train into London to do a little sightseeing for the day. It's only a 15 minute train ride from Richmond, were the office is located. I did the London Eye and rode the double decker open top red bus tour that goes all over the town and sees all the sights. You can hop on and hop off at any stop. These were the two things I wanted to do last time but I couldn't since I had the kids with me and I was by myself. Since this trip was in March and it's still cold, there weren't many tourists out at all. I just walked right on the London Eye, which unheard off. I was in the capsule with just one other couple, so only 3 of us. That felt a little strange. The weather was actually pretty good. It was clear in the morning and then started to sprinkle a little by the afternoon. I headed back to Richmond and spent a little time at the office. We had a few drinks at a local bar with the boys from the office, and Wes was in heaven because they had Coors Light! We went to dinner with Neil and Bryan and then stayed the night at Neil's house. Wes worked the next day and I did some shopping in Richmond. I was in heaven; it's just like being in the States. They have all the "name brand" stores like Gap, and Gap Kids, Calvin Kein, and lots more. I was in heaven. Good thing we don't live there or we'd be broke!

Trip to London

Visit to the Amsterdam Zoo

While the Grandma's were here we woke up one morning and decided to take advantage of the nice day and head to the zoo. The weather wasn't that nice, it was still really cold out and required jackets, beanies and gloves...but it wasn't raining! And days like that are a treat. I really like the Amsterdam zoo; they have lots of animals, lots of things indoors, plenty of food and resting places, lots of playgrounds for the kids, and a litte petting zoo. Tyler loves the petting zoo; I think that's his favorite part. Last time we went Madison was really scared to go up and pet the goats but this time she wasn't and she just copied her brother and did what he did. We had a great time. It's a nice trip because it's in the city and easy to get to. It's a good place to go for a few hours in the morning and still be home by early afternoon for nap time.

Visit to the Zoo

NHR President's Trip - Maastricht The Netherlands

Every January the select few who make it into the NHR President's club get to go on a weekend trip. In SB we always went to Ojai for the weekend, and this year they did the same. We were a little sad to be missing out on the fabulous weekend in Ojai with all our SB friends. However, for the first time we were able to take part in this weekend with the EMEA group. We had a small group; 6 employees from NHR with their significant others. We stayed at a beautiful old castle hotel in Maastricht. The Hotel Chateau St. Gerlach stands in extensive parkland surrounded by the Ingendael wildlife reserve. This historic country estate dates back to the 12th century and provides gourmet cuisine, a superb spa, an inviting pool and beautiful baroque gardens not far from Maastricht. The 18th century Chateau is romantic and grand, filled with characteristic furniture, chandeliers, frescoes and enormous oil paintings. The ambience is one of sophistication but the overall feel is warm and welcoming. Naturally, most of the rooms and suites have glorious pastoral views from terraces or balconies. A group of us took a limo there and back, we had a fun filled morning which included a short walk through the nature reserve “Ingendael”, towards the Limburgian caves, a hike tour in the caves which included a few obstacles, another short walk, and then quad motor rides around a track, and a group dinner that night. The caves were unbelievable! It was such a neat experience to see the old paintings on the lime cave walls and walk around by nothing but candle light. All in all we had a great weekend and it was filled with good company and good fun.

NHR President's Trip - Maastricht The Netherlands