Friday, February 16, 2018

Christmas is better with friends!



Dutch Christmas really begins on Dec. 5 with Sinterklaas.  It includes family dinners, shoes left outside the door to be filled with treats during the night, gifts after dinner and often a visit from his helper/helpers, Swarte Piet.  Our sweet friends, the Zondags in Veghal, invited us to join their family for the evening.


  It began with gourmetten, a fun, delicious way to eat.  They put grills in the middle of the table and everyone cooks whatever thin slices of meat they choose, along with vegetables and lots of side dishes.  We loved it!   









They have 2 little grandsons, Xander and Quinton.  They are so friendly and chatter away in Dutch to us : ) 









There was a loud knock at the front door and when they opened it, SinterKlaas had left a burlap bag of gifts!  There were some for all of us.  The boys were so tickled! 

The evening ended with a visit by 2 Swarte Piets! 










 It was so fun and a fabulous evening of Dutch culture with our dear friends.





We added a little touch of Christmas to Zone Conference.  The missionaries loved it and especially the funeral potatoes!






The Rotterdam and Den Haag stakes put on a Christmas play.  The costumes were amazing and the play really brought the spirit of Christmas and and helped us remember the real reason we celebrate. 




Elder Lenhart and Elder Geddes participated and did a great job! 

 








We attended the Lelystad branch Christmas party.  The entire hall was filled, everyone in the branch must have come!  There was lots of Christmas music with the YM/YW and YSA’s singing in nearly every song. It was the closest thing to a ward party back home that we have seen.  We really enjoyed it!










Our dear friends, Jan and Franca Oostveen, invited us over Christmas Eve.  She had cooked a delicious dinner with traditional Dutch food; little pork roasts and tiny potatoes with a cheesy sauce.   We watched the Christmas “Music and the Spoken Word”. 






Christmas Day the van Den Broeks, Anne Marie, Daniel and Esmee’, invited us to dinner in Sprang-Cappelle.  Anne Marie is from Norway and cooked another delicious dinner with traditional dishes.  I took traditional Mormon funeral potatoes!  








We had a wonderful afternoon and came home so the missionaries could come over and Skype with their families.  Elder Clemente from Spain visiting with his family.










Our Christmas celebrations ended with a trip to Amsterdam on Christmas Day 2 to hear Handel’s “Messiah” in the famed Amsterdam Concertgebouw. 











 It is considered the 3rd best acoustical hall in the world, after the concert halls in Vienna and Boston.  It was sooo beautiful!



 We went with the  Goebels, our senior couple missionary friends. 









Hearing the beautiful words of the scriptures recount the life and work of the Savior through Handel’s work was the perfect ending to our last Christmas season in the Netherlands. 

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