Second Honeymoon

Zui and I were fortunate enough to go to Europe for 2 weeks! Zui's mom had planned for us to have a family reunion traveling throughout Europe. As you know, Mom passed away over Christmas, so sadly she wasn't with us, but I'm sure she was in spirit.

My sister Corina, bless her heart, watched the kids for the entire time we were gone. I can't thank her enough! She even kept emailing pictures over of my happy kids to reassure me they were doing well. I was really nervous to leave them for so long, but at the same time excited to have a break from motherhood :)

So... after 10 hours we landed in Amsterdam, and the adventure began!

We didn't spend too long in Amsterdam, although we did go to the Anne Frank house which was neat. Instead we headed over to Haarlem.

If you've seen "The Best Two Years" you'll recognize this train station--where Elder Calhoun first arrives!Haarlem is beauiful with amazing canals, and lots and lots of bikes! Here we are inside the Corrie Ten Boom House. If any of you have read The Hiding Place you will appreciate this next bit.

The Corrie Ten Boom house is where Corrie and her family hid 6 Jews during WW2. The Jews actually lived in the house as normal, but when a bell sounded alarming them of Nazis in the area, they would rush up to this room and climb in through this secret hole in the closet.
The closet was only big enough for 6 people. They would rotate 4 standing and 2 sitting at a time.

Although Corrie and her family were arrested and sent to the concentration camps for helping the Jews, the Jews themselves were never caught. If you haven't read the book, you definitely should, it is a must read!

Meanwhile, Evie and Anjuli continue to play well and fight well--literally :)