Even More Tulips

We went to a district meeting today in Leiden. On the way home we took some side roads to see more tulips. We were not disappointed.  How do they keep the rows so straight?

A Few More Tulips.

On the way home from Groningen we took a side trip to see if we could find some color.   Wow,  Did we ever.  Here is just a few shots.

A Busy Week in Holland

Our first stop this week was for Zone Conferene at The Hague Temple in Zoetermeer. 

 Tuesday we met with the Appledoorn and Antwerpen districts.

Wednesday was with the Rotterdam and Den Haag districts.  Isn't this is a handsome bunch? 

 After the Temple, we visited the tulip gardens at Keukenhof.  The weather was cold and cloudy, but Sister Moore did manage to find herself a new pair of shoes.

Elder Moore thought he would like to copy this pattern in his back yard next year.

Tulip heads as big s cabbages!  Incredible.

And the aroma was as incredible as the view.

This is only a small fraction of what is in the park.  Flowers of all kinds, colors and sizes.  We hope we can go back on a sunny day to see it all.

This year, the gardens are saluting Poland.  This is a flower tribute to Chopin.  (Our camera was not able to get the full picture, but hopefully you get the idea).

"Hey, Corrie!"  It was our friends, the Koldewyns from Bountiful.  It really is a small world, isn't it?  We had a nice visit after we got over the surprise of seeing them there.

"Daar bij die molen, die mooie molen, daar woont een meisje waar ik zo veel van houdt. 

Daar bij die molen, die mooie molen, daar wil ik woonen als zij eerst met mijn trouwd."

Sister Pankratz, Sister Moore and the Koldewyns.

One last shot before we leave the park.  But we'll be back.  We must see the other 90% of the gardens.   Eat your heart out Thanksgiving Point!  It really was beautiful.  On a sunny day it will be even more beautiful and of course a lot more people.

 On Thursdays (donderdag) we meet with the young adult group that come to our YoVo center,  They come from the Leiden Ward, the Zoetermer Ward and The Den Haag Ward.

 For Leiden and Zoetermer that is a 30 minute ride on the train ride each way.  But they love to gather together to share friendships and learn gospel principles.  It is wonderful to see how they participate in the lessons.

 Sister Moore's sloppy joe, salad and apple crisp dinner before the lesson. was a real hit and was appreciated by all.  Some had seconds and thirds.  Yum.

 Every year all the wards in the Netherlands gather in Groningen
 for the annual vollyball tournement. 

 They have 10 vollyball courts and around 300 participants.

It's a round robin tournament and all the teams play each other until a champion is determined.  They have a youth category as well as a men and a women bracket.  It is a three day event with a dance on Friday night,  the vollyball tournament on Zaterdag, and another dance and on Sunday a fireside and Sacrament Meeting.

 This is the Den Haag Womens team.  Most of the players are young adults so we could justify going the 2 1/2 hr drive to Groningen to watch.

 After we had been there for several hours the Senior Couples got hungry and had to go out for lunch.  The Senior Couple in Groningen took us to a very nice Indonesian Rijst tafel near their apartment.

 How can we eat all this food?  I don't know but we sure did, and it was smakelijk.

 We were told to watch for this interesting marker on the way home.    The boat on the top of the house marks where sea level is.  We would be 30 feet under water were it not for the dykes.

Around the Neighboorhood

This is our apartment.  A canal view!

Just kidding....

This is the real building.  We are on the second floor. Second from the right.

  This is the view of our back balcony.

Here is Elder Moore standing at our front entrance.

Where are the missionaries??

Elder Moore, having a "senior moment", asked Sister Moore if the missionaries were around when he saw these two bikes.  "Duh!!!"  He forgot he was in Holland.  Two bikes here don't necessarily equal missionaries.

Oh yeah,  it seems like everyone rides a bike.  Which way do you look before you step out?  

 The red path is for bikes only (or motor scooters or jazzies)

 and if you get in the way you are likely to get run over.

Every day is a new adventure here.  Going grocery shopping is an "every man for himself" game.It seems all the shoppers are in a hurry and I am always in the way trying to read the labels on the boxes and jars.  Items are not grouped by category.  There were eggs in at least 3 different areas of the store and they were not refrigerated.  They come in cartons of 10 and they are brown.  Bread is sold by 1/2 loaves, and we spent 1/2 hour looking for brown sugar only to find out that it is called "bastard" sugar.  Elder Moore was very disappointed to find out his only two choices for cereal were Corn Flakes or Toasted O's.  You have to put a coin in the handle of your shopping cart in order to get it out, but the coin pops back out when you return the cart.  You have to remember to bring your own carry home sacks or buy new ones.  So far we have been able to put together some good meals, but it will take a while to master this system.  I did manage to get my Albert Hijn bonus card, however.

The next adventure was figuring out the washer and dryer.   They are both front loaders and very small capacity.  I kept thinking it was broken because it runs for about 15 seconds and stops.  Then it goes again and stops.  I was told that's how it works, but it still doesn't seem right.  The dryer cannot be vented, so there is a container that collects all the water and you have to empty it after every load.  It is amazing how much water comes out of a load of towels.

Our most exciting adventure, however, is the driving.  Thank heavens for our GPS.  We absolutely could not go anywhere without it.  The streets are so very narrow and you have bicycles coming from every direction.  On a 5 lane road, each lane could be going a different direction, so each lane has its own signal.  When we don't move fast enough, or go the wrong direction (which is frequently) we get honked at.  We finally made it to the church without getting honked at once.  We considered that a real victory.

We had our first meeting with the Yo Vo's this week for dinner and an institute class.  There were 16 there and the lesson was on Eternal Marriage.  I was so impressed with their participation and comments.  They kept referring to  general conference talks. I am really excited to get to know them better.  I get to prepare my first meal for them next week.  They asked for Sloppy Joe's.  I think I can handle that.

Finally Here.

Arrived on time 8:30 a.m. Tuesday, April 3, 2012

Sister Moore cooking our first meal in our new apartment.

Nice cozy place.

Anyone for a windmill?

Traditional missionary greeting - pannekoeken

Watch out!!! Bicycles have the right-of-way.

Anyone need a bicycle?