Planes, Boats & Automobiles

We have just returned to the states after a two-week adventure to Holland and the Middle East.  We had a blast and took tons of pictures to prove it.  J  We originally were planning on going straight to Qatar to visit Addie’s Grandma Wendy, Grandpa Krey & Uncle D, but found a flight that could give us a couple days in Holland along the way!  I was so excited to get to see where Jimmy grew up and put a picture to all of the stories I’ve heard.  I was also really excited to see where my Neerings family came from J   It felt so neat to be where my ancestors came from-a lot of the Dutch really looked a lot like my Grandpa Neerings!  The 1^st flight from SLC to Minneapolis wasn’t bad at all and we were thinking “this isn’t bad at all, we can do this with Addie.”  Then halfway over the Atlantic I learned how patient Jimmy is and how much I’m lacking.  But overall; Addie was a little trooper granted the trip was over 26 hours total one way to Qatar. 

            When we first got to Holland, we rented our little Fiat Panda and were on our way.  We first visited Jimmy’s hometown of Wassenaar and got some breaky.  It is sooo beautiful there!  I fell in love with it-so green & tons of my favorite flowers EVERYWHERE: wysteria & hydrangea.  We saw the windmills and cobblestone roads, along with the quiet parks that were serene. That day we also explored The Hague where we saw the Parliament buildings and got dinner at Jimmy’s favorite restaurant, The Resident.  Addie was like a big celebrity there-a random lady also asked to get her picture taken with her haha.  Babies definitely aren’t as numbered there as they are here!  She’s a little rare gem. 

            The next day we went around Amsterdam and Delft.  It is again…so beautiful!  There were bikes everywhere; they outnumbered cars about 2000:1.  They even have a small “road” between the sidewalk and road for bikers.  Their bikes get super creative too-fun little child carriers and very old vintage ones.  Whenever people get a new bike; their old one just stays on the street and becomes a little decoration of the city. We visited the Van Gogh museum, Rijks museum and the Anne Frank house.  So fun and interesting.  Addie was our golden ticket in everywhere.  We were standing in line at the van Gogh museum which extended about ½ a mile, contemplating if we should wait or not when a lady came and told us to come to the front of the line & I accompanied her on a little lever thing with Addie’s stroller haha. 

            Then onto Qatar…wooh was it toasty there!  We got in past 9 P.M. and it was almost 100 degrees still!  It’s super humid too-every time we walked out the door, Jimmy’s glasses would fog up haha.  Addie & I finally got to meet the last member of the Stirland family: Mugzy.  So we discovered that Addie loves dogs and isn’t afraid of anything it seems!  She would laugh and start waving her arms whenever she saw Mugzy-Moo.  Wendy was so nice and took us all around Qatar.  We saw super nice buildings and a beautiful mall modeled after Caesar’s palace in Vegas.  Then we went to the other side of the spectrum of Qatar - to the souks.  I loved it there-tons of little shops in a row-it was more how I pictured the middle east than the skyscrapers they have there.  A man gave Addie a little brass bell at a shop in Doha and another man had given her one in Holland also; so we decided we’re going to collect a bell from every place we visit for her now. 

            Addie got to go swimming for her first time and also went on a boat for the first time.  Wendy, Daniel, Jimmy & I went wakeboarding in the ocean  & had a blast!  It was a tad salty though J 

            It was really neat getting to go to church in Qatar also; they observe the Sabbath on Friday there.  Since none of the members are Qatari; they can’t buy any land or buildings; so they set up a church in a former house.  There were probably 8 people in relief society so it felt really open and comfortable. 

            We loved going to the market there.  They had more American food than I expected and they had tons of fun fruits I’d never seen or heard of including spiky ones that looked like blowfish. 

            We had so much fun and Addie is in love with her grandparents and Daniel.  It is nice to be back in the states though; it sure makes you realize how much we are blessed to live here!