Last Days in Holland

Our time in Holland has come to an end. It's always a bit sad to say goodbye, because we know that we wont see eachother probably for another year. Oh well....That's life! Fortunately my parents will come to visit us in Indonesia later this year.

The last 5 days of our stay in Holland it was just Noah and I. Sue and Ayla had already left for the States. We just wanted to see what it would be like to travel on a long flight with just one.( It was good and easy...we may do it again) and for Noah it was good for his Dutch language skills, not to hear any English at all for some time.

It was difficult for him to say goodbye to his mama at the airport. But soon after he had forgotten all about his grief and he fully enjoyed his last days in Holland.
He could now finally sleep over at Laurens and Eline's house. They are his 2 big cousins, who he adores.

We had a very good time in Zutphen(with opa and oma) and Apeldoorn(with Arjen and Truus), but for now it's goodbye to Holland....here we come USA!

Ayla and Joshua

The 2 youngest ones in the family are Ayla and Mariette and Joe's son Joshua. They are only 2 weeks apart in age, both were born in April of 2005.

These 2 little ones deserve some special attention too. So here are some pictures of them !

Ayla: Hey Josh, let's make some funny faces.
Josh: Sure, but how exactly do you make a funny face?
Ayla: It's really easy. Just grab your mouth with 2 fingers and pull sideways.
Josh: Like this?
Ayla: Wow, you're good Josh. Funny, huh?


Ayla: That was so good, Josh. You deserve a big hug! Come here, my boy!
Josh: What the hell is she doing now? Am I supposed to like this?

Josh: Ayla, I can't breath. You are strangling me! Stop it!
Ayla: Oops, sorry Joshy. Just got a bit over-excited. Just love to cuddle, you know.

Ayla: Here let me make it up to you. A big wet one, right on the lips. How about that?
Josh: Much better, cousin! That's my kinda girl!

THE END

Noah and Nicky, Partners in Crime

Noah and Nicky are cousins. Nicky is my sister's oldest boy. They are both 4 years old and they love to hang out together and to drive their parents bonkers.


When they are together, we are on high alert and you always wonder..... what are they up to next?

They love to run, scream, play, push, pull, wrestle, tease, etc. They are 2 challenging boys!

Yes, we will have our hands full with those two rascals, but yet we love them dearly...especially.......... when they are asleep!

Sietsma Family Weekend 2007

Every year during our stay in Holland we organize a 3/4 day weekend for the whole family. We very much appreciate this, because for us it's the best way to spend some time with everybody.
The whole family means my mum and dad, 3 brothers and a sister with spouses and 9 kids. Yes, that's a total of 19

This photo (above) is actually the second family photo. The first one is posted below and was messed up by a 4 year old boy, named Nicky.He decided to stand up and hide his head inside his sweat shirt, when the timer went off.....AAAARRRGGHH!!
So we had to do it all over again....

!



We usually go to one of those nice bungalow parks with swimming pool, tennis courts , playgrounds, etc.
The kids love these weekends! They can run, swim and play until they drop and they go to bed very late.
This year we went for a park in Zeeland in the south-west of Holland, which is about 2 hours drive from Zutphen.



It was a busy weekend, but we had a great time. The only bad thing was the weather. It was cold and rainy! Fortunately the indoor pool had warm water, the beers were cold and there was soccer to watch on TV at night.( Sue was not exactly thrilled about the soccer thing.....)

Noah in 'Wonderland'

At the zoo in Amersfoort, which is very close to my sister's place, they have recently opened up a new attraction: Dinosaur Park.



In this park they have displayed all kinds of dinosaurs in their real size. It's really cool!



Off course for Noah this was like a trip to heaven. He has been a dinosaur lover forever.
We went there with Mariette, Nicky and Josh and Richard brought his 2 rascals Stijn and Joost. It was fun to see them again!
Needless to say...the kids had a BLAST!

Father's Day

On Fathers's Day, 3 Fathers: Arjen my brother, Joe my brother in law and myself, we took our families to a fun place called ApenHeul(Monkey Hill).

Here is a bunch of pictures of that fun day.

In Zutphen

When we are in Holland we usually spend most of our time at opa and oma's house in Zutphen. The house is not that big, but very cosy and comfortable.


There is a little park accross the street with a pond with ducks and geese. One of our daily rituals is to go for a walk in the park and feed the birds.



Oma has a beautiful garden with lots of flowers. Noah loves to help (or destroy...) working in the garden.

Summer Holiday is here!

On Saturday June 10 we flew to Holland. Finally our long awaited summer holiday has started. Summers are always a much needed opportunity to catch up with family and friends. When you live overseas it's essential, especially for the kids to stay in touch with their relatives, who they normally don't see during the year.
The flight to Holland wasnt very enjoyable. The kids didnt sleep much and they both wanted mama to sleep on/with.....poor Sue!......see picture above.
Special thanks to Humphrey and Opa , who came to pick us up from the airport at a very early hour!

We usually go to Holland first before going to the States. This summer we will travel more than usual because we will spend some time in the States with the Merritts after staying with Sue's family in New Hampshire.




After recovering from our jetlag, one of our first trips was a visit to the 'Land van Jan Klaassen'. A big playground not far from Zutphen, which is the town where oma and opa live.