Brugge, Belgium Christmas Markets and other Christmas fun...

Hampton Court Palace

 We went for a fun outing to Hampton Court Palace for FHE to see their lights and walk around the grounds. It wasn't exactly Temple Square, but it was still a nice evening. 

 Our Christmas tree~

FHE over at the Frosts
Spencer and Seth Wilkinson are the Home Teachers for these families. He asked asked the Frost's if we could have a FHE in their home and they graciously said yes. We had such a nice time. L-R Flavia and Aaron, Trevor Frost, Seth Wilkinson, Scott, Trapper and Suzie with their three little boys (Braden, Jackson and baby), Josh, Alyson, Shawn, Ike, Trevor, Ty, Graham, Caitee, Anne Frost, Anne, me, Leiah with her girls Sophie and Kelly

Ty's 3rd grade Christmas party

Activity Days with the primary children from the Staines Ward with Sister Balfe
Around the table - Anne Frost, Anne, Zachary Carroll, Sister Carol Balfe, 
Amelia and Annie Pechie, Ty and Faria

Josh's 1st Grade Field Trip to the Victoria Museum

 Freia, Maggie, David and Josh

 An original tractor

 Learning about a boy who "sold matches"

 Clock Shop

 Original automotive car maker shop

 Trolley

 Just playing and having fun

Josh is CONSTANTLY kicking a ball around our house. He can hardly sit down between bites. He loves practicing. 

Brugge, Belgium's Christmas Markets

Spencer and I celebrated our 17th wedding anniversary this month.
We decided to take the kids and drive to Belgium from Virginia Water and take the Eurotunnel under the English Channel "Chunnel". 
This is a picture of us following the string of cars onto the train...

 and into the tunnel. Cars are placed three in a sectional row. They put down barricades at this point and place wheel blocks under your tires. You sit back and wait! It takes about 35 minutes to get across. Then you drive right off, into Northern France and over to Belgium! Crazy easy! It took about 4.5 hours to make the entire trip. 

Brugge Christmas Square ~ I felt like we were in a snow globe. 

Ike had his first bratwurst and fell in love and ended up 

eating four over the few days we were there. 

Ty on the other hand loved the hamburgers

Whereas Anne became a Belgium waffle connoisseur :) 

We saw some bumper cars the kids HAD to ride. Josh asked me, "Mom? Is Brugge like the Idaho fair?" I said, "It's pretty close buddy! Pret-ty close..." 

A marching band walking through the streets playing Christmas Music

The home we rented was about 10 minutes outside of Brugge, so we drove to the outskirts of the city center, parked at the bus station and walked in. Sometimes the walk got long and Ty would rest on these bicycle statues wishing he was riding one.

The kids wanted to ride this huge ferris wheel. I was all for it and then we got in and realized there were NO seat belts or locked doors! You rode at your own 
risk and if you fell out, that was your problem. 
It was seriously scary at the top and the kids kept laughing at me.

 On the ferris wheel

This is the backyard of the home we rented. The kids were in heaven having a place to play and run around playing futbol. 

We even had chickens to feed.
We Holt's spare no expense and try to give our children every opportunity imaginable.haha

Waiting to enter the Ice Sculpture Extravaganza 
"The Land of Hobbs"

 As with most things, pictures don't do this place justice. 
It was really amazing. The kids loved it.

 We were SO cold by the end, I think Ty's face was frozen into this pained smile!

Ike said the funniest thing, "Mom, I just realized, you would NEVER see something like this in California! This is really cool." (Great observation son...) 

 Picking out Belgium chocolates. 
Look at the shop girl waiting for us to choose. I got such a kick out of her. 
She was not as appreciative of our excitement as we were! haha
(Oh, and Barb, I still think your fondant is better.)

We got to see the Madonna and Child in The Church of our Lady. Absolutely breathtaking. It is the only Michelangelo to have left Italy in his lifetime. I believe this is the statue the Americans found after WWII when people were trying to hide pieces art from the Nazi's who were destroying these famous works (Monuments of Men)

 We met up with the Frost's and had a great time. They got an apartment in the city centre, so when we got cold, we just hopped over to their place, warmed up, then went back out!

 The Chocolate Museum

 Town Square - featuring their 700 year old Belfort Tower

 The kids insisted we take a kissing picture on our anniversary!

It was such a treat to go to church in Brugge. The branch had about 30 people there and when we walked in, they said, "Oh! Americans! We will translate for you!" So for the ENTIRETY of the meeting, they translated for us. We were so touched. Here are the kids outside the building where the members meet. 
(I sat by Ike during sacrament meeting and he commented, 
"Mom, this is really kind of them. We could never do this.")

Reading with Ty. He is such a bookworm and I finally joined a book club.

 After church we came back to our place and played games with the Frost's.
 We taught them how to play Three Kings. 
We were becoming mildly competitive and Alyson said, "Maybe we shouldn't play this!" So we explained it was TOTALLY normal and that when we play with MY family, someone usually ends up in tears or yelling at someone else to stop cheating. lol! It's all good fun!

 Some of the canals

 Ice skating with Josh - It was Ty and Josh's first go at skating.

Ty picked it up and was getting pretty confident

By the end, everyone was happy with soaked trousers!

 Watching crepes being made - Nutella and bananas, Spencer's favorite

As you can see, our diet in Brugge consisted of well balanced meals...
Fruit, grains, dairy and protein!

 Waiting in line to climb the Belfry Tower. It was 366 steps to the top!

 The views were so worth the climb

The Tower bells went off when we were at the top. It was so loud but super neat. 
Everyone was laughing too because it was blowing so hard. 

 Finishing up our last few hours in Brugge. I think everyone was worn out from a great time.

 We loved the structures of the houses. The stair-stepped roof lines were very charming.

Grabbing one last waffle, burger and Dutch potatoes as we walked to the car.
It got a little dicey when we trying to make it back to the "Chunnel". We literally drove onto the train and it closed its doors and left. We barely made it. 

Bye! Beautiful Brugge!