Good-Bye 2010- Hello 2011!!!

Well we kicked out 2010 and kicked off 2011 in the best way possible...
...at home in Utah with family enjoying the holidays!

We enjoyed a week at home where we spent most of the first day in the US at Detroit's wonderful airport.. For about 5 hours thought we may be sleeping there Christmas Day after we missed our flight thanks to the helpful people in customs.

Luckily and thankfully to a very nice Delta gate agent we made it onto a flight to SLC!

For the next 7 days we gorged ourselves on great food, family and shopping... That hurt the wallet good thing Euros are stronger than the dollar right now I feel like we got a steel! (Oh ya did I mention we forgot our camera... sorry no Christmas pictures.) :(

Now that we are back in Holland it has been different. I think we went home at the perfect time and now that we are back we both feel like this is where we are supposed to be. It has been amazing just a feeling of peace being back in our new home. It was a weird feeling to land in Amsterdam and feel that we are home. I think the next few months are going to fly by as we have trips planned each month. keep checking we will post pictures of our adventures through Europe. Next stop LONDON!

Oh ya and I forgot to mention we are finally going to add to our family. Coming to the Mickelsen household a little girl in June! Although we are very excited it has been so fun to be just us for the last 5 years almost 6 when the baby is born.

Well we want to wish you a Happy New Year and we hope that 2011 brings you great blessing and happiness! Thanks for stopping by come back soon for some pics from London.

Chris & Gentry

'Tis the Season

This weekend I was in Norway visiting an account so I took Monday off and Gentry and I ventured out into the freezing cold of Amsterdam to do some Christmas shopping. It is wonderful to be here this time of year as we see all the Christmas decorations around the city and the amazing Christmas markets. We had a lot of fun walking around and looking at all the markets. It was so cold we had to buy some warmer hats while we were out, but they were worth every euro. In the middle of our shopping Gentry introduced me to a little bagel and coffee house. We ordered hot chocolate and I have to say it was really good. They bring you some steaming milk and a little cup of chocolate chips to mix in. It was excellent and hit the spot on a cold winter day. As we were making our way through the Christmas market it was fun to look at gifts for family and laugh about some of the things we could get, but I may get arrested trying to bring them back to the states. In our married life we have had some great Christmas memories, but yesterday will be one of my favorites to look back on. This year Christmas has a different feel and being so far away this Christmas our gift to each other was a trip home. We have realize how great it is to be around family this time of year. We love our new home and the challenges that it presents, but we love Utah and miss family that always keeps us on our toes. I wanted to share some pictures of our shopping adventure and a great Christmas message as we get into the busy Christmas season. Hope it is a good one for all of you! MERRY CHRISTMAS!

Time flies when you having fun..or not.

So time really is flying and we are enjoying The Netherlands it's an amazing place to live. Although we love it here there are many things we miss. Here in the Netherlands they obviously don't celebrate Thanksgiving, but I'm still thankful for some great things in my life. Family (I have to mention that first...), Our dog Harley... I know it's sad, but we really miss this little piece of our family. I crave Cafe Rio! Oh what I would pay for a pork burrito right now!

Although the Netherlands is a great country it's not the US and I'm thankful for the freedom we have in the USA. I'm grateful for this amazing opportunity to live in another country and gain experience that will prove invaluable. I'm grateful I get to choose my companion on this 2 year excursion, not that mission companions weren't great, but we have been able to grow closer in a way that would not have been possible had we stayed home going about our normal life. This is vain so be warned... I'm grateful for nice cars! If you know me you know I love cars and I really miss just driving up the canyon or through the streets of Alpine with the windows down enjoying one of my favorite things in life. Although it sounds great to be here living in Europe and it is, there are challenges that we are overcoming as we learn to find the good in all things. We are learning so much and I'm thankful for this huge blessing in life although incredibly difficult it will be rewarding.

As we (I guess as you) celebrate thanksgiving I thought this would be fitting. Enjoy!

How do moms just know?

How do mom's just know what you need? Last week we got the most amazing surprise! Mom sent us 2 packages and they arrived on the same day! I think I startled the delivery man because I couldn't contain my excitment and I was smiling from ear to ear. I couldn't wait for Chris to get home, so I opened up both packages and put everything out on the table so I could look at it all. Funny thing is I started to cry because I was so happy! Its amazing what kinds of things you start to miss when you don't have them and mom just knew what we would be missing I guess. I didn't know that just the sight of canned enchilada sauce and a bag of fish crackers would ever make me cry, but there you have it, a little taste of home. Its been so exciting because every day I reach into the box and pull something else out and get excited all over again. I keep thinking, "how did she know I would want this?" that's why we love them! they just know. thank you mom for all the wonderful surprises. We love you!

Finding Joy in the Simple Things

Well, my find of the day today was vinegar! I was going through some of my recipes looking at ingredients that I don't have and wondering where I might find them. I feel like every time I go to the grocery store I'm on a scavenger hunt. so with grocery list translated into Dutch in hand, I went searching and...wala! found all 3 vinegars I was looking for: red wine, white wine, and regular. Who knew that I could be so excited over such a simple thing as vinegar?

Weekend in Germany

On Friday I had a trade show in western Germany so Gentry and I decided to take a weekend trip and see what Germany had to offer. Germany was a beautiful country in the middle of fall and the drive through western Germany was absolutely amazing. The country side was full of color and picturesque villages sprinkled with castles. Here are a few pictures of our weekend.





We also visited the castle thurant.

Deventer, The Netherlands

ENJOY! We sure did.




Last weekend we drove to a near by city named Deventer and spent Saturday walking through the markets and around this amazing Dutch city.


The Market had so many neat things to see and typical dutch food.