Our christmas...

...was filled with a wonderful visit from Santa, AND a visit from Robin, Mark's "half" brother from Germany. We love having Robin stay with us, and glad to have him in our lives after a decade of Mark and him not keeping in great touch. Robin lived with Mark during high school as a foreign exchange student.

Maddox loves playing swords and nerf guns with Robin...he made for a really nice target!!

Mark was Bryanna's favorite playmate, he was Ken as she was Barbie playing with her new Barbie Hot air balloon.

Our favorite part was just laying around, playing and having fun, enjoying one another. That is always the best part of Christmas, loving each other and showing it even more as we celebrate the birth of Christ.

Evidence that Santa really comes down the chimney and leaves fun things in our stockings...Bryanna and Maddox were beyond JOY and EXCITEMENT this morning. Christmas is so wonderful to see and live it through your children's eyes. This was by far the most enjoyable Christmas with our children, for they are at the perfect age were they grasp the holiday and embrace it!

Merry Christmas!!

company

While Mark and I were in San Francisco at Fisherman's Wharf, we met this couple who was traveling the world for 4 months. It is really quite interesting how it all worked out. As we were getting to know one another, we told them we were from Las Vegas, and that just so happened to be the one of their next destinations! We gave them our number and told them to call us for a BBQ and swimming. That was all in 15 minutes before we had to take off for our tour at Alcatraz. So that was that!

We'd been home from our trip for one day and they called us!! We did a BBQ and swimming at my parents house. Through getting to know more about them that night, we found that they were on the tail end of their traveling. They had already been to Fiji, New Zealand and Australia. For the next few days they were just going to drive back to L.A. and kill some time before they flew of to N. Y. on Easter Sunday. We offered them to stay with us til they had to drive back to L.A. and they accepted!

Crazy. Yes. I am Crazy.

But, they were extremely cordial. Very intellectual. Leonie spoke a few more languages, other than Dutch and English, and Erwin was fluent just in Dutch and English (as if that's not accomplished enough!) I am always amazed with people who speak beautiful English, as their 2nd language. Their vocabulary was enormous, more so than the average American high school student. I was stunned.

During their stay with us, we became wonderful friends. For life. When they get married, Mark and I have made it a goal to fly over for their wedding. (Hopefully that won't happen for another 1-2 years so we have ample time to save for the trip, with ample souvenir money!)

I have ancestry from Holland, and my grandpa went to Holland on his mission, still speaks it, and tells the conversion story of our ancestors (his grandparents) every Christmas Eve.

Erwin and Leonie came to church with us on Easter Sunday. They had just enough time to listen to the choir sing. As they were leaving we gave them Book of Mormons, and they graciously received them. You never know how the seeds will grow after planting them, until the eternities unravel their mysteries...