Blomgren's Blog

Thursday, March 21, 2013

brussels, belgium.

A long weekend here means a chance to visit another country and eat some new foods! As you know, we like Belgium... for the waffles, hot chocolate, fries and beer. During this last long weekend we had the chance to visit Brussels with the Rigsby's and check out some new sites, and foods :)

Enjoying a slow breakfast with our little fam.

Waffles!

A peak at the EU building. It was neat to see the area surrounding where the EU meets. We were not able to take a tour as the offices were closed but it was still neat to check out the grounds where history is made.

The Rigs.

Famous little peeing man, aka Manneken-Pis. The statue is literally the size of a baby (61 cm), it's rather small. The statue has over 700 outfits so whenever you visit Brussels this lil' man will probably be wearing a new outfit (he changes several times a week and the schedule is posted in a few places around town!). We were visiting on St. Patrick's day so he was dressed in his Irish get up.

So you have an idea of how small he really is and how cute Jess and I are :)

David & Solomon

Cuties.

In the town square there are many interesting statues on the top of the buildings. There was a funny story we read about the man on the horse... it seems he's pointing to another statue across the court and then that one is looking at another... anyway, the story is about which statue passed gas and they are blaming each other for the smell. It was funny that this story was in our tour book and when you saw the statues "blaming" each other for the smell, it gave us a laugh.

Saturday, March 16, 2013

daddy's home!

Resuming the regularly scheduled program with the man of the house back! Everyone was very very happy :)

Lots of love and cuddles!

Walks with Daddy in Nanzdietschweiler commence also!

In the last few months we have gotten to know the Rigsby's. It's such a blessing our girls get along too. Here is Norah, Alani, Alexis and Evelyn for a snow day! David was even home for the action and to teach these sweet young ladies how to have their first snow ball fight!

Post snow ball fight reading.

And, Cinderella for the girls and knitting for the mama's!

Cuddles with the "baby"

Monday, March 4, 2013

january/february fun.

David was TDY in Alabama for two months (hence the lack of blog updating given my full time single-mom duties). I was blessed, though, to have my mom extend her stay for a week and David's mom was able to fly over for a week!

Blessed to have a good German neighbor for a friend. She made us a chocolate German cake and spent some time chatting and getting to know my parents. Thanks Tamara!

Matching dresses for the girls!

Playing with the homemade ergo baby carriers I made them for Christmas!

Norah's new "big girl" chair.

I had a great day on my 30th (besides missing David). We caught the bakery truck and had a picnic inside, we reorganized the living room, had our friends over for pizza & cake and then my mom taught me how to knit (a new hobbie)!

Shopping with the girls and buying gifts for Daddy

Always dressing up and having fun.

David organized a surprise birthday dinner with my girlsfriends here in Germany at our favorite local restaurant. It was such a blessing to have a handful of friends together for dinner and feel loved from afar by my man! (from L to R: Jessica, Diana, Kristina, Amy, me, Erica, Sarah, Corrine)

Norah reading her Bible in her reading area behind the couch.

Me and the girls were SO happy to have Karen visit us during David's 8 weeks away - we laughed and talked, cooked and I ran A LOT of errands. What a blessing to have such a supportive mother-in-law.

For Christmas David's parents gave the girls a really fun doll house, when Karen came we were able to give it to them so she could watch how thrilled the girls were. I only got this shot and some terrible video snippets.

MIL love :)

Chatting on the phone with Daddy! Doesn't she look like a bit of a Diva?

Kisses for Mama, my favorite.

Saturday, January 5, 2013

CHRISTmas & happy new year. switzerland.

We were blessed to have my parents here for Christmas! As the girls get older it becomes more fun to watch them absorb the meaning behind things. They ask so many questions and take things seriously (for about a second) and then, poof, they're onto the next adventure. Here's a few shots from our relaxing Christmas morning...

So many blessings under our tree!

The girls got a few movies for Christmas - all the chicks had to sit and enjoy!

Books and new slippers from Papa for Christmas.

Following Christmas we headed to Switzerland to celebrate New Years. On the way to our Swiss adventure we stopped in Strasbourg, France to enjoy the Christmas market still in full swing.

I love the cathedral in Strasbourg.

We spent a night Triberg, Germany where there was a huge light display and fireworks. The lighted area was stunning and amidst the lights were fire pits, a waterfall and even a live choir singing gospel musik. We didn't enter the park until everyone was leaving (the cover charge was too much for us!)...this gave us the advantage of having the area to ourselves for the last 30 min!

Once we were in Switzerland we relaxed at the apartment, skied for a day, had fondue, went for a hike and played a lot of 500 (a card game my parents taught us).

My wonderful parents.

Toward the end of this hike my dad and I had a very intimate conversation about life and death. I was able to talk to him about how much I love him and appreciate him in my life - this last year has taught me a lot about having a loose grip on this life but taking full advantage of what we do have in the now. I will always fondly remember this special time with Dad, you are cherished.

Switzerland is known for fondue, it's so cheesy and rich!

A view of the cool restaurant, cow bells and all :)

What it really looks like to travel as a family of four... all in one room. Not our favorite part of travelling but we can't complain too much - the girls are so adaptable.