Christmas 2006 @ Bubbles' & Arnie's

Every holiday throughout all of my years, since childhood, has been special in many ways - every Christmas is unique, filled with many fond memories and loved ones. Just before Xmas, I was surprised by the arrival of a package from Canada from my dear friend Karen in TO. She sent me the most adorable PJs from one of my favourite stores back home - La Vie en Rose. Thank you very much for such a thoughtful surprise. :-) I ABSOLUTELY LOVE THEM! xoxo
One of the things I love most about the winter, are the numerous candles that are spread out around our little home. Christmas is even more lit up with our tree and candles of every colour.
Here are some candles with some our snowball collection which come from everywhere.
One of the BEST traditions of New Year's Eve in Holland is the fireworks display put on by EVERYONE!! Basically, Dutch people buy fireworks in the days leading up to Dec 31st (usually pre-ordered & reserved in advance - long lines & chaos) so that at midnight all you can see in every direction is the beautiful display of fireworks with rumbling explosions till the wee hours of the night. Since we live on the 4th floor, we have an incredible view - if you are ever in The Netherlands on New Year's Eve, it is a experience to remember.

Christmas 2006 @ Pa & Ma

Here is our family tree - hier is onze boom van de familie :)Jaimy's first Christmas sitting with a proud Grandma - Jaimy's eerst Kerst met een trots Oma:)

Jaimy and his dad, Michael, looking facinated by his new colourful toy from China. Jaimy en zijn vader, Michael, kijkt zo gefacineerd over zijn new speltje met veel kleur uit China. Dessert was too cute ... a snowman made of ice cream. Dessert was te lieve ... een snieeuw mannatje van ijs!

Honden Poep (Dog Poop): Part IV

During another trip to Schoorlen aan Zee in April 2007, with Pa & Ma, we had a good chuckle over the above photo that was beside the cafe that is at the halfway point between the village of Schoorlen and the beach - again ... a clear message dontcha think?
This is another one ... this time from Western Canada. I think the sign speaks for itself.
Lastly, we took this picture during our visit to Prague. I have no idea what it says but I think the images are clear enough despite my inability to read Czech. :)

Arnie's Birthday in Zandvoort

On an amazingly, unseasonably warm fall day, we celebrated Arnie's birthday with the family on a magnificent Saturday afternoon - Sep 9th to be precise - we drove to Zandvoort to enjoy the extended summer.

Voor een ogelooflijk warme dalingsdag, vieden wij de verjaardag van Arnie met de familie met en prachtige Zaterdag middag - 9 Sep om nauwkeurig te zijn - wij reden aan Zandvoort om van de uitgebreide zomer te genieten.

Zandvoort was my first beach experience in Holland & is still a favourite spot for me!

Zandvoort was mijn eerste strandervaring in Nederland & is nog een favoriete plaats voor me!
The Dutch coastline is incredible, with a sandy beach that runs from North till South. Below is Bubbles with Pa & Ma.

De Nederlandse kustlijn is ongelooflijk, met een zandig strand dat van het Noorden tot Zuiden loopt. Hieronder is Bubbles met Pa & Ma.

Along the way, we came across some of the North Sea's inhabitants - a colourful jellyfish.

Langs de weg, kwamen wij over de inwoners van de Noordzee - een kleurrijke kwal. Seagulls ... scavenging for food: Like the 'gulls in "Finding Nemo" .... miiine miiine miine miine :)

Zeemeeuwen die... voor voedsel reinigen: Zoals de vogels in de film "Finding Nemo"... miijn miijn miijn miijn:)

We photographed 2 gorgeous black Labs who were jumping, playing & chasing sticks in the surf.

Wij fotografeerden 2 schitterende zwarte Lab honden die sprongen, speelden & rennen achter stokken.OOOH how I want a black Lab called BOB! - OOOH hoe ik een zwart Lab wil met de naam BOB!This is such a charming photo of Ma, enjoying the day & radiating with calming peace. I have so few photos of Ma - this is one of my favourites.

Dit is een super leuk photo van Ma, van de dag geniet & met kalmerende vrede uitstraalt. Ik heb zo weinig foto's van Ma - dit is één van mijn favorieten.

Next, is Pa beaming contently with delight while gazing off in the distance.

Daarna, is Pa dat verrukking kikt terwijl het staren weg in de afstand.

This is the patio where we all sat, enjoying a refreshing beverage. The entire coast is bursting with these character-filled, seaside restaurants/bars.

Dit is de patio waar wij gezaten, genietend van een verfrissende drank. De volledige kust is full met karakter-gevuld kustrestaurants/bars.

Hiking in Schoorl aan Zee

On an amazingly unseasonably warm fall day, we drove to Schoorl aan Zee to enjoy the extended summer and hike in the dunes of the Dutch coast. I have written this post so that I could share another side of Holland with my friends because there is more to enjoy than just the "famous Amsterdam" : a picturesque landscape with undisturbed wooded areas within a traquil setting. While we were driving along the panoramic countryside, surrounded by farms with frolicking horses and ponies, we could not resist to pull over to admire them up close.
It was a matter of seconds before their curiosity brought them to the edge of the fence to greet us with playful interest. We stroked them and took plenty of photos before we parted ways.
Before we started off on our journey through the the dunes, in the direction of the sea (or so we thought), we always start off at one of the village cafes for a refreshing smoothie and a toetje (that is Dutch for a dessert, such as an apple pie or pudding). The start of our hike always begins at the bottom of this massive dune, disguised as a harmless hill of sand :)
Once we reach the top we used the time to catch our breath and look behind us - there is that cafe I told ya about in the quaint village of Schoorl. At the top of the hill are sandy walking trails basking in the shadow of soaring trees. After an hour and a half of hiking and taking photos of the scenic views, we stopped at the top of the hill for our scrumptious private picnic (of Mediterranean tapas, fresh OJ & a bottle of our favourite Italian Rose wine), along with EVERY ant within a 5 metre radius! We continued along the trail for another 30 minutes till we came across the bicycle trail that leads to the sea. This particular beach is only accessible via this bicycle path (or of course, by walking along from the neighbouring beaches since the entire western coastline is one extensive beach). Above is the beach in the far ... FAR distance, making it painfully clear that we were NOT going to reach our planned destination :( Further along the bicycle path, we discovered a charming cafe, located at precisely the mid-point between Schoorl and the beach, where we stopped for an ice cream. (FYI for those non-Dutch readers: strand = beach). Due to my sore feet, we reluctantly decided to head back to Schoorl.At the end of the bicycle path, we were eventually reunited with our car."LIFE LESSON FOR THE DAY": instead of getting lost in the woods for HALF A DAY, we would have a better chance of actually reaching the beach, IF WE FOLLOWED THE SIGNS where the bicycle path begins instead of climbing up the giant hill of sand!

:-) :-) :-)

Hunebedden In Emmen

After my long-awaited introduction to Jaimy, we drove to the historical Hunebedden in Emmen. For those non-Dutch readers in Bubblesland, you might need an online translator to read all about the historical burial grounds of our ancestors from the stone age as the link is in Dutch only.

These burial rocks are found tucked in the serene forests in the province of Drenthe, the home of 52 out of 54 hunebeds - 10 of which can be found in the city of Emmen.A hunebed is a prehistoric skeleton of a burial chamber dating back over 5.500 years. It is an ancient construction consisting of large boulders of around 25.000 KG and, in the past, covered by earth. These massive boulders were transported from Scandinavia by the glaciers, in the ice-period, over 200.000 years ago. Above is Bubbles in one of the Hunebed clusters. What a lovely place to lay at rest for all eternity.

World Cup Fever: It Is All OVER in NL

Here is Arnie with his Wuppie and his miniature World Cup trophy. This picture was taken after the Dutch lost against the Portuguese (which was more about putting on a theatrical performance than football - I am not bitter at ALL). He was a bit tense, as was the match, so I tried to help by making him double ... or perhaps triple vodkas (with bitter lemon) which might have something to do with why he looks so happy in this photo DESPITE the recent loss. :) We have packed up all our ORANGE stuff into boxes for the next WC in South Africa. It was a sad day in Holland ... but at least they went home with a BANG and put up a good fight - literally - it was truly an awesome game.

Congratulations - Gefeliciteerde Michael & Chantal

We have a new baby boy in our family!

Wij hebben een nieuwe babyjongen in onze familie!

To see the FIRST official photos of Jaimy click here

Om de EERSTE officiële foto's van Jaimy te zien klik hier.

• June 27th 2006 @ 16:00, Jaimy was born
• 27 juni 2006 @ 16:00, Jaimy was geboren
• Weight: 3.2 kg
• Gewicht: 3,2 Kg
• Length: 50 cm
• Lengte: 50 cm

This is excellent news - Jaimy was born happy, healthy and cute as ever. Above is the wooden stork and carriage that Pa made to announce the baby's arrival - a unique tradition in Holland so all the neighbours are informed about the arrival of a new baby. It looks like he had a busy summer with various woodwork projects.

Dit is uitstekend nieuws - Jaimy was geboren gelukkig, gezond en leuk zoals ooit. Hierboven zijn de houten ooievaar en het vervoer dat Pa maakte om de aankomst van de baby aan te kondigen - een unieke traditie in Holland zodat alle buren zijn geïnformeerd over de aankomst van een nieuwe baby. Het kijkt als hij had de bezige zomer met diverse houtbewerkingsprojecten.

World Cup Fever: We Present the FIFA Cup

First, a bit of FIFA World Cup history ...

The real WC trophy is NEVER permitted to leave the FIFA headquarters in Switzerland. It is 36 cm high, made of solid 18-carat gold , with a base containing 2 layers of semi-precious malachite. There are 2 official REPLICAS that are gold plated: the first is awarded temporarily to the winning team until the next tournament begins and the second is used for various events, interviews or photo shoots around the world.

In the fall of 2004, Arnie picked up one of these famous REPLICAS in Geneva at the FIFA Headquarters, for a long flight to Brazil where it was presented in one of his organised events. You could say it was the highlight of this occasion with a huge line up of participants waiting to have their photo taken with this spectacular trophy. Everywhere he went, he was accompanied by armed guards: to the event, in the hotel and at the airport until he boarded his flight. He even had an armed convoy that escorted him to and from the airport to ensure it was safely transported.

THESE pictures, in THIS posting are dedicated to the fine memory of a fun-filled weekend spent with this world famous trophy - it stood proudly in OUR living room for a solid weekend and we had great fun pretending it was ours. For all of you MAJOR World Cup fans out there, these are AUTHENTIC pictures of one of the two REPLICA World Cups ... the very same one that is kissed and hugged by football heroes from around the world.

The following pictures come to you live ... FROM OUR LIVING ROOM!!!!

World Cup Fever: Behind & Inside Our Place

Holland has WORLD CUP fever - the country is covered in ORANGE - the colour of our Dutch team. Below are some examples, close to home to give you a taste of the FEVER!

Here is a neighbour, in our shared parking lot, who proudly displays this G-I-A-N-T ORANGE cow on his car.

This just cracked us up - don't the pictures just speak for themselves.

Next in the FEVER is the WUPPIE craze which started at the local super market - when you get 3 little wuppies, you can exchange them for 1 giant ORANGE wuppie. They were sold out within the first week. Wuppies are now on the internet at extortionate prices, being stolen from cars and you could hear the heart-breaking sobs of children who missed out on their wuppies - UNBELIEVABLE!! We scored ourselves 2 - one for each of us so there would be NO fighting (we are small children at heart). Our wuppies are well-trained and seemed to really enjoy football (soccer for my North American viewers).

Don't believe me, have a look: above I have captured our wuppies watching their favourite team (the ORANGE guy flying across the TV screen is a Dutch player)Here is Arnie giving the thumbs up after our 1st goal.

Here I am above in my green & ORANGE Heineken hat that doubles for a bullhorn (very useful for during the game when you want to shout at the referee - WHICH WAS OFTEN). Lastly, is Arnie dressed in ORANGE (in support of his team) and drinking his sangria (which might explain the face and our lively wuppies). We were in Barcelona a few weeks earlier and were still drinking/craving sangria in memory of our FAB-UU-LOUS sangria-filled weekend. Those pics will be up when I catch up on stuff.

Dank Je Wel Voor Mijn Bureau - Thank You For My Desk

Arnie and I have been desperately searching for a modern desk for our living room so Bubbles would have a place to put her ever-growing piles of "stuff". We have explored every furniture place within a 1 hour radius and came up empty handed, with the exception of one designer store which had a VERY chique, but very unaffordable desk. We took photos and some general measurements so Arnie could create some rough designs. Then one amazing afternoon, during a visit with Pa & Ma these designs were exchanged, followed by the generous offer from Pa to build it for me. Below ... I present ... MY NEW DESK!!!!

Arnie en ik heb gezocht naar een modern bureau voor onze woonkamer zodat Bubbles een plaats hebben om haar altijd groeiende stapels van "materiaal" te zetten. Wij hebben elke meubilairplaats binnen een 1 uurstraal onderzocht en op lege overhandigd, met uitzondering van één ontwerperopslag gekomen die ZEER chique, maar zeer onbetaalbaar bureau had. Wij namen foto's en sommige algemene metingen zodat kon Arnie tot sommige ruwe ontwerpen leiden. Dan één verbazende middag, tijdens een bezoek met Pa & Ma werden deze ontwerpen geruild, gevolgd door de grootmoedige aanbieding van Pa om het voor me te bouwen. Hieronder... ik stel... MIJN NIEUW BUREAU!!!!

This is a special posting to thank Pa for all this hard work for my much treasured desk which I proudly display above (and everyday in our home). It is gorgeous and shiny with loads of cute cubby holes for my laptop and papers ... oh ya ... it also has PLENTY of drawers. I was truly speechless when I first laid my eyes on my new desk. It is by far, much more beautiful than the model we saw in the designer store. It even has a built in hydraulic system so the desk cover slowly descends without any assistance - tres cool!! I JUST LOVE IT and it looks awesome in our living room! Thank you so very VERY much - I simply cannot express the depth of my gratitude.

Dit is een speciale posten om Pa te danken want al dit hard werk voor mijn bureau dat ik trots hierboven toon (en dagelijks in ons huis). Het is schitterend en glanzend met ladingen van leuke cubby gaten voor mijn laptop en documenten... oh ya... heeft het ook OVERVLOED van laden. Ik was echt speechless toen ik eerst mijn ogen op mijn nieuw bureau legde. Het is veruit, veel mooier dan het model dat wij in de ontwerperopslag hebben gezien. Het heeft zelfs gebouwd in hydraulisch systeem zodat daalt de bureaudekking langzaam zonder enige hulp - tres koele. Ik vind het heel erg mooie en het is SUPER mooie in onze woonkamer! Dank u ZEER zeer veel - ik kan eenvoudig niet de diepte van mijn dankbaarheid uitdrukken.

Dutch Sunsets, Clouds & Skies: Part III

Also, I must share this stunning sunset which is an awesome example of those famous Dutch sunsets that I mentioned in combination with the clouds. I just love the above cloud formations in combination with the descending sun - I wanna hear from Paul and your expert photographer's eye.

Honden Poep (Dog Poop): Part III

In continuation of my honden poep signage series (dog poop) - above is a contribution to my collection from my friends on the other side of the Atlantic. Looks like NYC is trying to get a similar message out to dog owners but with slightly more direct approach than the Dutch version.

Irene & Aurel have Dutch Tulips

During our visit to Canada in May 2005, we stopped in Thurso, Quebec to visit my Mom & Dad. Since I am not able to easily visit my parents because I live so far away, I try to make them a priority on every visit to Canada so they are never forgotten & their importance in my heart is always remembered. The local church & cemetery in Thurso are very peaceful - they have a lovely view on a hill, overlooking the lake. Below are my parents (lying with my Ma Tante Simon on the Lecompte side of the family). Arnie came up with the brilliant idea to bring Dutch tulips from Holland for us to plant around their resting place so that every spring they would be surrounded lovingly by beautiful Dutch tulips. So once we arrived, we dug up the surrounding area & planted our tulip bulbs.

As a test, we planted one of these bulbs in Ma & Pa’s garden in the Northern part of Holland which has a similar climate to Thurso. I received word last week from Pa & Ma that the tulip is blooming marvelously which brought a grand smile to my face knowing that my parent’s are surrounded by this treasured flower from Holland & feel the love that we left them.

Als een test, planten wij één van deze bollen in Ma & Pa's tuin in het Noordelijke deel van Holland dat een gelijkaardig klimaat aan Thurso heeft. Ik ontving woord vorige week van Pa & Ma dat de tulp prachtig bloeiend is - wat een grote glimlach aan mijn gezicht wetend bracht dat mijn ouder door dit wordt omringd bloem van Holland & voelt de liefde dat wij hen verlieten.

I also received an email the other day from an excited Linda (a very dear friend in Ottawa) who also received one of our handmade basket of tulips during the same trip (we brought some for everyone). She planted them into her garden and was thrilled to share with me that her tulips are also blooming & gorgeous!

Many thanks to Pa & Ma for sharing the below photo. This brings tears of joy to my eyes that my Mom & Dad are are not forgotten & have bursts of colours to greet them at the start of every new day along with our love from across the world.

Veel bedanken aan Pa & Ma voor het delen van de onderstaande foto. Dit brengt scheuren van vreugde aan mijn ogen dat mijn Mom & Papa zijn niet vergeten & hebben uitbarstingen van kleuren zijn om hen bij het begin van elke nieuwe dag samen met onze liefde te begroeten van over de wereld.