The Krafts Say Goodbye to 2009, and More

As 2009 comes to a close, I have a few cute memories to record of the boys, and our adventures here in Holland as a family.

For starters, my sister Melissa is visiting, or as Alexander says, "Siss-see"! We've all been very busy passing around various illnesses, so I'm afraid I've been a terrible tour guide. Fortunately for us, the primary purpose of her trip was to spend time with me, Tobi, and the boys, and that's something we can do from home... sick or not.


Right around the time that Melissa arrived, we taught Alexander a cute little trick. "Go get your diaper", we'd say, and 16-month old Alex would run into the other room, grab a diaper, and return dutifully with his prize. Then he'd climb up onto the couch and wait for us to change his diaper.

Lukas is his typical easy-going self... with the exception of his "NO! I am NOT doing THAT!" phase. Fortunately, we're usually able to address this experimental stubborness with a brief bout of tickling; a simple remedy in most settings.

This year we celebrated Christmas early with Tobi's parents (in Franconia, Germany - photo to the left), allowing us to spend Christmas itself here in Zeeland. On Christmas day we were visited by a couple of friends from the village (Ilonka, who wanted to show us the sweet little twins in their new Christmas dress, and Peter, who we presented with a special photo album of our time here on the farm). Later, we went on a walk through the orchard at sunset, returning home to a South-African style ostrich stew. On the "second" Christmas day we celebrated with other "expats", indulging in a big ham and turkey, homemade cranberry sauce and roasted butternut squash (both made by my sister), sweet potato casserole (my creation), and freshly baked American-style chocolate chip cookies (courtesy of our guests). It was a wonderful evening, and our kids so enjoyed the company of their little American friends.

Earlier this week, just after Christmas, the boys enjoyed an afternoon at the "Winter Efteling" here in The Netherlands, which reminded me of my childhood trips to Disney at Christmastime. There was even a ride that resembled a somewhat primitive version of "It's a Small World" ("Carnaval Festival"), which the boys enjoyed. We went with our friend Angie, and her two sweet little girls, Veerle and Fabienne.

On the last day of 2009 - in the most grotesque moment of the year - the dog barfed up the insides of a hare on the kitchen floor. Later, we tried to extinguish those images through mild intoxication (innefective), as we ushered in 2010 here in town with friends. That involved a small amount of professional-grade pyrotechnics (which anyone can buy in both Germany or The Netherlands). Needless to say, those responsible for any non-slumbering children watched the fireworks from the inside, while others (the men) wrought chaos as close-as-humanly-possible to the windows. There was fondue and champagne, beer and wine. For the kids there were french fries and sausages, a kid-sized table, plenty of toys, and sparklers.

At the stroke of midnight I almost got emotional as I gave the conventional three kisses to each of our friends here in the village, with less than a month left until our final departure.

My resolution for 2010 - to finally live somewhere for long enough that we don't have to worry about the end. To know that the house we're setting up will not have to be packed up next year. And not to have to worry about the last Spring flowers, the last beautiful sunset, the last fall foliage of that place... not to mention final farewells to friends we've made.

Here's to the New Year... let's see if we can pull it off!