Inhaalslag... vakantie en nu back to school

Time to play catch up again. Really I should be doing homework, but I am in the mood for something else right now. So.. blogging it is! Here's the scoop.

Since my last post I finished my first year of school and got my 'propedeuse'. That is an official document that you get here for completing your first phase (of 2 phases) of the degree. The second phase is everything else up to the time you receive your diploma. It's kind of a big deal, so I'm proud of that :)

As soon as I was done with school I took the first flight out of Amsterdam to America and stayed there for 6 weeks! It was so much fun with the family and to be in the land I LOVE! It took me a day or two to get used to speaking nothing but English, but that wore off fast and I was totally in my element. The only bummer in the beginning was that I had to miss Richard for a whole 3 weeks because he had to work, of course. He came for the last 3 weeks and we had fun just hangin' out with the family and celebrating Trev and Ali's wedding. After my visit Mandy flew home with me and we had fun being tourists in the Netherlands and Paris for a little over a week! I loved showing her around and doing touristy things that I never take the time to do :)

After Mandy left, it was back to school and work. Richard moved over to another business unit in the company where he works. He's happy with the switch and is looking forward to more challenging projects and enjoying the education opportunities that they offer. I like the classes I have this semester, but... I'll be honest... it's be hard getting back into the swing of things. I'm taking Spanish as an elective and I love it! I think that is the only class that I have absolutely no problem doing homework for. It's kind of funny to learn Spanish from Dutch though haha, I'm constantly double translating for myself!

Other than that, there's not a whole lot new. Here are some pictures of our fun times!

Brooklyn turned 1 while we were there!

We visited the Draper, Bountiful and Provo temples.

Trev, the married man! So proud of my little bro!

Sisters! Ali, Trev's gorgeous wife, and our new sister! We are so happy to have her in the family!

Rodeo with the Radford family!

Visit to the copper mines with the boys.

Lots of afternoons at the pool with the kids. Love these 2 hams!

Isaac and Royal at Zoo-rasic Park. They loved all the dino exhibits at the zoo
(especially T-rex, of course!)

Our hike up to Red Pine lakes! It was beautiful, but the bugs on the way up were killer!

Sophie and her sparklers at our 4th of July celebration!

Out to lunch for Amanda's b-day

Grandma Mary with Brook at Brook's birthday party

We went for a hike with the Linthorsts. It was so much fun! But again.. we all got eaten alive by the mosquitos!!

Dutch dinner with the fam and the spijkerpoep competition!

First stop, the windmills of course!! Kinderdijk Nederland

An evening in The Hague. We visited the Palace of Peace, the working palace of the queen, and here we are in front of the Dutch parliament building.

Arch de Triomphe

 Eiffel Tower

 The famous Kubus houses in Rotterdam

Een kusje boven op de Eiffeltoren met mijn lieverd!

That's all for now!