We've said our "good-byes", and now we are saying our "hellos"!

Ahh, a moment to sit and reminisce over the past couple of months!! I have been wanting to do this ever since we have returned to Arkansas but for one reason or another would never carve out the time to do so!! For me, it is so important to think back over the time in Holland and hold it true and very real to my heart. I fret over it becoming just a section in one of my photo albums! I tell myself, "Kelly, it was real, it involved people, places, and real events. We learned and grew at a rapid pace. We made hard decisions, we changed while we were there, we traveled and lived closer to the Booy family. We shared our lives with family and near strangers that became like family." So, goes the dialogue in my head.

And now as we make Arkansas home, we do so looking forward, but we also look back and cherish those moments and relationships that go into making us who we are today. We are just so thankful to have called Holland home for a couple years. We left parts of ourselves in Holland. At least I feel that way! When you share in an experience like this with others you are sure to miss them and miss the connection you had with them, or even a place that stirred up unique feelings inside.

These pictures are a montage of those to whom we've said "good-bye" and look forward to seeing again, and the others we have reconnected with and even the newest addition to the family that we have yet to see!! These days we live are rich with beauty all around us!!

I think I can, I think I can.

Yesterday, we got up early and took Stefan to the airport! There is always an exciting air about going to the airport. The kids love it. I enjoy it, even if it is to send my husband off over the ocean by himself to do business. It was a successful departure and re-entry into the states for Stefan. And on our end, we had no tears, maybe sad and tired hearts. I heard later that once Stefan touched down in Philly the customs officer gave a bit of fuss over him not living in the US, but eventually Stefan was given clearance. Yippee. That is good news.

Well, funny story here: While Stefan was watching his movies, resting his eyes, working his finger to the bone, or whatever he chose to do on his quiet, and hopefully "restful" flight (can you hint a bit of envy?), I, along with the kids were driving home on a beatiful sunny late morning. It was nearing noon, and the kids were almost asleep in the car. They were extra tired due to the late summer nights and us having to get up early to take Stefan to the airport.

I was driving on limited fuel. I knew that. But, there had been no orange light as of yet, and I was quite familiar with my distances and location. I just knew that I would be able to make it to my usual fill up station right off of the highway and exit that leads straight toward our the house. I mean, I was so close and when the light did come on I was not worried. Still so close. We have no air conditioning so that was not a worry! I even slowed down to a modest 100 kmh, thinking that was the wise thing to do. As I see the first exit sign for Harderwijk/ Strand Horst. . . (my exit) I notice the car slowing down. Hmm. . . I knew immediately that I was going to coast. My fuel was finished, and I proceeded to recite, "I think I can. (moving back and forth, hoping those movements would help my car to continue in motion) I think I can! We coast to a stop, and end up right in front of the very last exit sign and next to a emergency call stand on the side of the road.

Feeling a bit stupid and a bit tickled at the circumstances I walk over to the call station and try to explain my situation to the attendent. In the end, I decide to walk with my two kids to the gas station that is literally in my eyes view! Classic adventure. Ian is riding piggy-back, and Arden is being strictly ordered to walk beside me in the grass. We proceed to walk to the gas station with my one plastic water bottle in tow!! The scene is sad and funny all at the same time!!! We had walked maybe 30 feet when a car with a mother and child of 1 1/2 stop to help us!! Praise God. We laughed together about the situation. This kind woman even gave us an extra water bottle to fill up. The kids stayed in her car,(I know she could have been crazy and drove off with my kids, and I even made a joke about how she knows what it is like to have kids. . . so i trusted she didn't want any more "responsibility"), while I went to the tank and filled up my two water bottles. I think in total it was like 60 euro cents worth and probably 10 cents of that spewed onto my hand, shirt and pants! Nice. Not as easy as you would think.

So, in the end, kind Dutch woman drove us back to our car and even gave Ian a juice box!!! Warms your heart, huh!!! I thanked her profusely and wished her a lovely day and said, "I hope to repay your kindness by helping out someone in need"! The kids watched me as I poured the neon yellow/green liquid into our gas tank! It was not very much as you can imagine! We climbed into the car. I told the kids that we should say a prayer that this gasoline will be enough to start to car and get us to the same gas station! Arden was laughing at my prayer. I think she thought it was silly, but I was being silly and genuine at the same time!!!

Ahhh, at the turn of the key the car started and we were off again to the station to fill up. Humiliation behind us, lessons learned, and thankful that God can spin such a situation in a way that I can see the joy and blessing in it all! I started to see the analogy in it all. . . the running empty, the thinking we can do it all by ourselves, the needing help, the sending of a Savior and being given more than we anticipated!! That is our God!

8 + 2 = 4

Okay so my addition might be off, but Stefan and I have been married for 8 "blissful" years. Maybe that is stretching it a bit, but it has been an amazing journey. We had such a tiny little idea of what love was and meant when we got married. It is laughable, now, but what a joy to discover the twists and turns of life together. Still now, I find myself learning how to love better and wanting to improve in so many ways.



So we fell in love, got hitched, reproduced: the addition of two (pretty amazing) kids, and now we are looking at 8 years gone by full of memories, love, lose, joys, beginnings, endings, friends new and old, and now we are looking at this family below that will grow and be come stronger, and hopefully, will produce much fruit!! ( I prefer peaches thank you! )



(I finished the entry and began to wonder if I should have added a bit more sentiment to a post like this. Hmm. . . all of this talk about love, family, 8 years of marriage. Well, I decided that I don't need to tell you all how much I love my husband. He knows, right?, and that is all that matters.)

Good night. Oh, and I really was a good student. I actually quite enjoyed arithmetic back in the day. (8 years of wedded bliss + 2 lovely children = family of 4 blessed people with the last name of Booy)-- I would like to call that "abstract arithmetic".

Trains, planes and automobiles!

Ian is officially 3. On August 1st we celebrated by taking a train ride into a near by town, Utrecht! The kids loved it. From where we are living now, in Ermelo, Netherlands, you can hear the trains zooming by as they head to the next station!! Ian loves the trains. The train ride was a good 40 minutes of sitting still and gazing out the window at the grass covered, cow grazing, uniquely Dutch landscape. I have to admit that it made me a little nostalgic. It was nice to sit still and see that this experience of living in Holland has already found a special place in my heart.


On a really funny side-note: leading up to Ian's birthday, Ian would say on several occasions, "I don't want my birthday! I don't want to be 3." I think what he was really trying to say was, "I don't feel comfortable with all of that attention. I don't know what to do with it all." Anyway, when it was time for him to blow the candles out of his cake he proceeded in the same manner of opposition!! Unbelievable display of will. He was not going to blow the candles out. Nope, no way, no how! We filmed it all. I waited a good 7 minutes or so for him to blow them out. I tried every trick in the book and finally in the end he delegated the duty to one of his buddies that attended the party. phooosh! It was close because the candles where starting to melt all over the fondant icing. You had better believe that I will be pulling that documentary out on several occasions to get a laugh out of friends and his future love interests.

Ian, we love you! 3 years seems like such a small drop in the bucket! And I feel truly blessed to be a part of this journey that you will call "life"! I love your questions, your strength, your crazy hair in the mornings and your sweet cuddles. You warm my heart in so many ways. I admire your love for your Papa, and enjoy sitting back and watching the two of you wrestle. I even kind of like the mischievous grin you have when you are doing something you shouldn't. (I will try to hide that giggle, next time) You like to smell butter, pindakaas, nutella, and all of the assorted spreads in the morning. You have a fascination with elephants and say 'no' to almost everything. You are persistent and have a love for animals. I love holding you, even if you are getting to be so heavy that I can really feel it in my back and have to remind myself, "lift with your legs, not your back!!" There is so much that goes into making you, you! Love you little buddy.

We've been. . .

busy doing life, and here are a few examples:

In these last couple of months we have had to say "Good-bye!" to some of our good friends that we have made since living in the Netherlands. Kim and her family have become dear friends and we are missing them terribly.
Here is Arden and Ian with their buddies, Dalton and Brooke. I hope to reunite these four sooner than later.

We have been celebrating Dutch holidays and attempting to "fake" patriotism to the Netherlands all the while staying true to the "red, white, and blue"! Ha, ha. Here is Arden with her school celebrating, Koninginnedag (Queen's Day). Ian and I got to participate in the orange festivities and the decorating of the bicycles that were soon to parade down the streets. Fun.



We have also been playing with our friends, digging in sand, and eating way too many isjes!!! When 1 euro comes in coin form it seems like nothing, but those suckers start to add up.


We have been taking mini-breaks to rest, relax and just be with family. Here we are in Zandvoort, a near by beach community in Holland. We came for a long weekend to celebrate the 40th wedding anniversary of Stefan's parents.
Here are the Booy men, minus one: Arnoud. Ferdinand is the newly initiated member of the Booy family; he stands next to Stefan! Welcome Ferdinand to the first officially Booy gathering outside of your marriage to sister Liliana. I think he will make a great addition.
Nicolas and Claudia, children from Hans Peter. Adorably serious!
Arden was so stoked to be in the water and at the beach, nevermind the fact that it was frigid. I think there was maybe a handful of people actually in the water!! Oh, and the wind made the air temperature fairly chilly! I had a long-sleeve shirt on most of the time ;)

Warming my heart!


This is a good one to end on!!
Can I just be brutally honest and tell you that these images don't even begin to scratch the surface of our lives! Life is a beautifully complex thing and we are in the thick of it. Though we may all be facing, "high quality problems," -- quoted from a gentlemen at a party from the other night who quoted it from Tony Robbins, we are all truly loved and truly blessed by a loving Father! How I long for time to just sit down and chat about our lives, face to face! I think that is one reason I have been purposefully putting off the blogging thing, email thing, facebook thing, etc. In the mean time, I will be looking forward to our next encounters whether that is via skype, facebook, blogging, or face to face!!!

Great days to remember.

My parents came for a visit a couple of weeks ago. It was nice, and as always too quick. We surprisingly had some great weather. My parents are really easy to entertain. They would be fine to hang out with the kids in our house or out and around our small little town. We did go on a couple touristy jonts, but nothing big. We visited the city of Gouda, you know, the cheese town. It had an amazing town square with the most incredible city hall--gemeente huis. Of course, we had to visit Kinderdijk. This is a place home to 19 consecutive windmills. We had really nice weather for this visit to the windmills. Ian walked on ahead with my parents and Arden and I stayed behind at the car. She was really tired and not feeling up to the long walk.(Hard day at school?) Well, with much bribing and the promise to carry her for a little bit (not a smart idea), as well as the mention of McDonalds, we headed out on this beautiful day. You could just feel the sunrays soaking into your skin---much needed Vitamin D. I could see my parents up ahead of us a ways so we found a bench along the pathway. We sat down, feet propped up and just let the sun blanket our faces. It was a very good moment. Peaceful, relaxing, and it felt like a special gift just for us. It lasted but a couple minutes but it seemed like the perfect amount to rest my soul and gain perspective. Our little moment was soon over and we spotted my parents and Ian heading back. Arden immediately stood up on a stone table and began to sing a song entitled, "No, no, No". It was pretty catchy, and as you could guess it repeated the word "no", over and over in a jazzy, rhythmic sort of way. It, I think, was a serenade for my parents and Ian as they walked up the pathway!! Ian caught sight of his sister and they began to run toward each other. So cute.

You never know if days like these touch each person involved the same way, but I am glad to have been able to share this day with my parents and my two special little people. I think we laughed and smiled the whole way to McDonalds. . . now that is a day to remember!



Hanging out at a lovely park in Rotterdam.

Eating ice cream at the park, after feeding deer and running around getting dog tired. He is giddy happy!

Gouda's city hall, right in the heart of the town center!




It is so hard to get a still shot of Ian. Constantly in motion and on the go.

Yes, people do still really wear wooden shoes. How cute are these red pair. I hope the girl's parents don't mind that I have their daughter up on my blog as the poster child for "klompen" advocacy. I am thinking about buying some.

A nice candid of Arden with the windmills in the background.

Feet propped and enjoying a gift of a day!!