This backpack is a symbol of graduation

With the World Cup going on, it’s normal to see plenty of orange or Dutch flags.  During this past week, we’ve started to see backpacks put out with flags.  This is only done at the end of the school year, and it’s a sign that someone in the house has graduated.  They literally hang up their backpacks.  When you drive through the city, you’re sure to see this sight.

Here is the other thing that I never thought I’d see advertised:

New herring is here!

Herring is a really big deal here.  They eat it raw & pickled.  Often, they’ll put raw onions on it.  I’ve been told that this helps it taste better.  I take people’s word for it.  I don’t like seafood, so I stay as far away from this stuff as I can.  This is the time of year that the new herring is sold.  It’s the first herring of the season.  People say that it tastes better at the beginning of the season.  They also discuss what year had the best herring.  It’s like a wine connoisseur discussing which year’s wine is best.  That’s a conversation I will never be a part of!

Today was the first Dutch match against Denmark.  It was played at 1:30 pm here.  Every school that we heard about stopped classes and let the students watch the match.  Grace said that her class started watching it, but the girls got a bit bored with it.  She was happy to have a break from the schoolwork though.  :)

You have to understand what the atmosphere is like around here.  There are orange banners and streamers everywhere.  When there is a score, you can hear people in the neighborhood cheering.

This is just some of the banners you can see supporting the Dutch team. This is in the school where our church meets.

Today while the Dutch match was going on, Mike was having a church “staff meeting” that happened to have the game on in the background.  I was out running errands before picking Grace up from school.  At the bank, I was able to watch the game while waiting to be helped.  At the grocery store, they had the game on the loudspeakers so everyone could continue to follow it.  Mike was also sending me texts so I could know what was going on.  At one point, I heard people honking their horns and blowing vuvuzelas (the horns the fans blow at the game).  A few seconds later, Mike send me a message that Holland had scored.  Everyone was so glad that The Netherlands won the match!

Orange banners in a neighborhood in Leiden

We’ve gotten a new puppet stage from BGMC money.  We also were given funds by Dallas Dream Center to buy other equipment we needed such as sound equipment and banners.

Our new puppet stage courtesy of BGMC

Banner provided by the Dallas Dream Center

Besides the service, we break into clubs.  Mike taught puppets to some of the children while others made a sheep cupcake.  (We were talking about The Lost Sheep.)

Puppet club at Zuper Zondag

Cooking club at Zuper Zondag

We had 30 children for our first time, and we’re excited about reaching even more boys and girls in The Netherlands!

We’re able to put our videos on YouTube so our workers can see the videos that we’ll use in church.  If you’d like to see any of our videos, go to http://www.youtube.com/user/MikeAndAnita.

Last week we shot videos for the next set of lessons.  Tomorrow, I’ll start the process all over again.  The fun never ends!

The view during our morning walk

It seemed like a lot of snow to us, but on Sunday, we had much more.  Grace was able to play in the snow before we went to church.  She even had a snowball fight with our neighbor, Dirk.

Grace gets a huge snowball for the fight

While we were at church, the snow was coming down so hard!  I said that it looked more like someone was shaking feathers out of a pillow than snow.  The flakes were huge!

The after-church snowball fight

We came home and made our own snowman.  Because the snow was the perfect consistency, it only took the three of us about 10 minutes to finish.

Our snowman for home

All the snow was beautiful, but it wasn’t always wonderful.  On Christmas day, we had just finished opening our presents.  I thought I heard our dog chewing a new bone he got, but the sound wasn’t him.  I followed the sound until I found our roof leaking.  All the ice and snow had blocked the drain.  As the snow started to melt, it was had nowhere to go.  One part of our roof is flat, so the water started coming through our skylight.  It wasn’t a drip, it was a constant stream.  It started in one place and ended up in about eight different leaks.  Mike had the very good idea to use the plastic tubs we had for moving.  Each bucket held about three leaks.

What a mess!

We felt awful but had to get our neighbor/landlord to come help us.  For now the leak has been stopped, but we’re leaving the buckets out for a little while longer.

Grace at the museum

Leaves are changing and falling to the ground.  It’s beautiful until I have to clean up the yard.

Front Yard

Our time changed last week.  That means that we leave for school in daylight now, but it won’t be long before we’ll be leaving in darkness again.  I really don’t like having to turn on lights or start candles at 4:30, but that’s how it is.  I honestly expected it to be colder than it has been by now.  There were a few days a few weeks ago that I had to scrape ice off the windshields before leaving in the morning, but it’s been pretty nice since then.

It has cooled off a little though.  You know it’s cold in the house when our dog likes to be covered up.  I guess it could be because of the cold or that he’s terribly spoiled or ridiculous.  You can take your pick.

We should've named this dog Linus

Our crate in The Netherlands

We had our winter clothes, some of Grace’s toys, towels, kitchen items, office supplies and children’s ministry supplies.  I think that when I opened this, I giggled the most in excitement.  I don’t think I’ve ever seen a slow cooker for Europe, but we actually found one at a store in Dallas.

My slow cooker for Europe

Grace had many clothes that someone had handed down to her, so she got to have a bit of a fashion show.  As you can guess, she enjoyed that.  I think of all the things we had in our crate, this is what Mike was the most excited about.

Taco Bell hot sauce

The caption on the sauce said, “Ahhhh.  We meet again.”  Mike said that it was really appropriate.  You can see that he didn’t waste any time in using some of the packages.

On Sunday morning, we led a family Sunday at ICL, the International Church of Leiden.  It was so great to be able to minister there again.  It’s been over a year, and we were amazed at how many of the children not only remembered the puppets but also things they would say and do.

On Sunday afternoon, we ministered in The Hague at Thousand Hills Church The Hague.  This was the church’s first core group meeting.

Playing a game in kids' church

We had a great time with the kids and are expecting to see great things happen through this church.  The core group meetings will take place every other week until the church officially launches on Easter.  We will continue to help with their children’s ministry and train leaders to work with children.

Kids at Thousand Hills Church The Hage

This is what the cereal aisle looks like in The Netherlands.  (It also includes oatmeal.)

Cereal Aisle in The Netherlands

This is what the cereal aisle looks like in America.

Cereal Aisle in America

There’s a slight difference, huh?

Large Drink at Whataburger

Now, you need to compare it to the size of a drink at a cafe here.

Drink at a Cafe in The Netherlands

In America, there are free refills, and his drink costs about $2.  In The Netherlands, there is no refill, and the drink costs about $3.  We’re learning to pace ourselves!