Spring in Holland 2011

6 Months!

Ok, here it is, the baby bump. Everyone keeps asking for a picture so I finally decided to put one up.

Brugge, Belgium

So a couple weeks ago we decided to take a weekend trip to Belgium. We had heard a lot about Brugge a small city a couple hours away from us so we decided to try it out. We were more than surprised what a fun little city Brugge was and I'm sure we will be back again while we are here. We enjoyed a relaxing weekend just the 2 of us and walked around this beautiful little town. I don't think I can do it justice in words so here are some pictures of Brugge.






City center of Brugge.




Church of our Lady

Statue of Madonna and child by Michelangelo

London

We will post more info later, but here are some pictures of our trip to London.

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!