Jorian and Myrthe waking up in the morning

Yesterday was another busy, yet fun day.  I had a good night's sleep at Hans and Enny's (thanks for letting me sleep in your comfy bed, Stephanie!).  My cousins Wilma and Audrey (daughters of Tante Ge, mum's sister and Oom Wim) came to Enny's and we set off for the day (with Maddi).  We travelled first to Staphorst and then Giethorn.  When I left Australia, I didn't realise how "big" Holland is!  Apparently it only takes 4 hours to drive from top to bottom and about 2 hours to drive from side to side, but there are hundreds of things to see in between!

I was just typing this and who did I bump into...Johan de Lange and his wife Henny!  Johan is a friend of my fathers and Henny is Uncle Arend (Mulder's) sister!!  Once I realised she was Uncle Arend's sister, I could definantly see they were related.  It's a small world!

Anyway, back to yesterday with my cousins (and by the way, Oma Kuipers was born in Staphorst)...

A house with the Staphorst colours - a particular

blue and green

These racks are more for show nowadays.

They used to have smaller ones for clogs.

We met a nice lady in Staphorst who still wears

the traditional clothes.  She is also one of

the youngest ladies who still wears these

clothes.  She allowed us to take photos

with and of her (they get sick of all the tourists

taking photos as if they are animals at the zoo).

Here are Enny, Maddi and I with her.

Here she is with her bike.

Note the proper Staphorst colours of her house.

This is specially made so their skirts don't get stuck in

the wheel spokes.

In a gift shop which was full of stuff I would've

loved to buy (as it is, I need a shipping container

for what I've already bought!)

Giethorn is a beautiful place with many canals

going through it.

The bridges and greenery is very picturesque.

You can eat next to the water.  Even more beautiful in spring

or summer (although a lot busier too!)

Apparently each area in Holland has a distinctive

way or shape of building their houses.  In Giethorn, the rooves

have a "camel's back".

Absolutely beautiful.

I thought this was an interesting sign...

Audrey, Wilma and Enny looking after Maddi.

As usual, Maddi was very good.

We had a nice cup of coffee...

And then really "gezellig" lunch with eachother...

...checkout what I had...Mmmmmmm...

Wilma, Enny, Audrey and I at Enny's place.  Yes, I know

I look short!!!  I went to Audrey's place during the late afternoon

and met her kids Jeffrey, Rowin and Indy.  One of the boys specially

went and got a cake because I was there (I think he was

also quite interested in helping eat it :))  Indy had made us

lots of beautiful pictures.  Just as we were leaving, I also met Audrey's

husband Arjan.  Wilma came to pick me up and bring

me to her house for dinner.  I met her husband Arjan and sons

Matthias, Bram and Jochem.  Arjan had cooked a delicious dinner.

We talked English during dinner because the boys were eager

 to practice what they had learnt at school.  Angus

would've liked to come here - the boys had lots

of fishing gear and a big variety of Nerf guns!

 Maddi loved their dogs :

 Around 8pm Wilma brought me home (a half hour drive).  It had been a really nice day, getting to know eachother a bit more.  I'm finding there's something really special about having extended family - I don't really know how to describe it - the saying "blood is thicker than water" begins to describe it.

I got home and there were lots of visitors - Oom Eg, Arjan, Ramon, Sanne, Tante Geke, John and Esther.  It was very late by the time I got to bed!  It had been a nice end to the day, sitting in Oma's lounge with a glass of wine and some "hapjes".  Oma and I stayed up till midnight and shared a couple of "droge worsts".

I'm really thankful to God that coming to Holland was possible, that everything has gone so smoothly, that I know He keeps my family, friends and I in His hands.