Fast Internet

We just got our new internet connection. It is an amazing 20mb connection which means it is 357 times faster than the old dial-up modems, 13 times faster than the average DSL connection in the states, and 3.33 times faster than Comcast which, for the most part, is the fastest you can get for a reasonable price. Speaking of price, I only pay EUR19.95 a month for this connection and Novell reimburses that!

Gotta love Holland!

New Callings

Here is a new picture from a different angle of our church I took today for the fun of it. Anyway, today Kristal was officially called to serve as 1st Counselor in he Relief Society Presidency. I was called as the 1st Counselor in the Young Mens Presidency. We are both excited about our new callings.

We just got back from dinner at the Stake Presidents house. They live in a small town about 15 minutes from where we live. One year ago, they bought a 5 story old police station and over the last year have been remodeling it slowly. The kitchen is mostly done and is interesting. The new kitchen
has an old jail cell as a pantry and right outside of it is a solid steal door which was the door to the police safe. They still have a lot to do but it was cheap, it is very large, and it will make them a lot of money in the end. Housing has a coupke decades of stability here with no projections to start moving down so it is generally very safe to buy.

Yesterday we went to a primary/ward activity. The kids made cards while the adults made holiday candle arrangments and wreaths. The kids then went caroling abd delivered the cards and candles to older folks in the area. We all then enjoyed a Dutch Pancake dinner followed by watching the Musical Christmas Program by the Tabernacle Choir. We had a good time visiting with the ward and enjoyed celebrating the holidays.

The 5th of December

The 5th of December is a big celebration in the Netherlands. The 6th is Sinterklaas' birthday and they celebrate the coming of it the night before. A couple in our ward invited us to come over to their house for a party. Soon after arriving, Zwarte Piet knocked on the back door and when we opened it, we found bags of candy for the kids. We then drank hot chocolate, has lots of different kinds of treats and played games. Shortly after arriving home late last night, we are all just relaxing and eating some candy when we heard a hard knock on our front door. We we opened the door to find that Zwarte Piet had again visited this time leaving many presents for the kids.

Kinderdijk

Last weekend, since we had a car from Novell, we decided to do a little tourist action. It was very cold and rainy but we decided to suffer through it anyhow. We went to a place called Kinderdijk. I guess this is a big tourist attraction because there is a long path on both sides of a canal lined with authentic Holland working windmills. We were able to go in one of the windmills and see how it works. These are all also houses. In the one we went in, there were a total of 6 levels and I think around 4 beds.

I am starting to use slideshows to cut down on the length of the posts. To see a picture better, you can click on the slideshow and it will take you to the web photo album.

Sinterklaas Visits Novell

Today we all packed in a car I borrowed from Novell and headed to the office. It was the annual kids Christmas party thrown by Novell. The kids could color, make Zwarte Piet hats, play twister and sing and dance. Also, of course, there were lots of goodies. The kids all sat on the floor about half way through he party and started to sing some Christmas Carols. They were all in Dutch and we did not recognize the tune but they sounded fun. While singing a few Zwarte Piete came running in throwing candy and cookies. They were followed by Sinterklaas himself who came in and spoke to he children and handed out presents. Hannah got cool heart beaded door entry and a French Manicure Set. Isaac got spy sunglasses with electric ears to spy on secret conversations. Abby got a little toy puppy with carrier and Alex got a scooter.