A Pre-Christmas Story

Phew…it’s been a busy couple of weeks! We have some exciting times coming up, so here’s a quick catch-up.

First up, Sinterklaas! The good news is that he found our house here in Amsterdam on December 6th, and Max got a Rainforest Jumparoo. I’m not sure how to explain the pure joy he gets out of playing in the bouncy seat. Max gets “sea legs” when he gets out and just keeps on jumping. Penny joins in on the excitement as well. I’m sure Sinterklaas thinks it was worth every website search, painstaking translation, and every silly Euro to get it delivered from Germany (apparently, Europeans don’t do big plastic toys). Max and I also got to Facetime with three kindergarten classes in Phoenix, Arizona to tell them all about Sinterklaas and Amsterdam, thanks to my college roommate-turned-teacher Ms. Meggan!

“I’m sure Sinterklaas thinks it was worth every website search, painstaking translation, and every silly Euro to get it delivered from Germany.”

More good news – we got a Christmas tree! Not the typical tradition of cutting one down in Oregon with nieces Maren and Lizzie, but a Christmas tree nonetheless. A small Christmas tree lot was set up on the square around the corner from our house. Trees aren’t allowed to be sold in Amsterdam until after Sinterklaas because they believe in one holiday at a time (what a concept for this ex-retail employee!), so that day we went right after church because we heard they sell out. Max picked out the tree, Grayson carried it home, and Penny “assisted” with the trimming and set-up.

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Possibly the most exciting update is the arrival of our ocean-freighted goods from Portland! Nike provided rental furniture which fit the bill, but I was so excited to get our own things. It was quite the day! The rental furniture company arrived at 7:45 a.m, removed our giant living room window and hauled out all of the rental furniture by about 8:30. Then came the container with all our stuff! As you know, it was a process deciding what to ship, and since arriving, I had no idea how everything would fit into our (much smaller) house. But in it all came! They rolled up the king mattress like a jelly roll and shimmied it up the ladder stairs. They weaseled the couch in the living room window. The headboard went through the living room window, out the double doors to the backyard, and was pulleyed up into our master bedroom. Max – who usually refuses to nap – slept through almost the entire day with all the ruckus. Penny supervised and tried to make friends with all the movers, so she had to stay outside most the day. At the end of the day, we had one broken glass, a shattered lamp, and damp floor rug – and all our things put away in a much homier-home.

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And last but not least, Max got to meet Santa for the first time. There is a group called Amsterdam Mama’s here that I follow, and they hosted a Christmas market, tram, and Santa. Max wasn’t sure what to think about the big man in red, but he didn’t scream so we’ll count it as a win.

Max & Santa

That’s the skinny on the last couple of weeks across the pond. Stay tuned for some more updates coming soon, we’ve got some more Montanan’s in the house!

1 Comment

    1. Great article! I hadn’t seen the Santa picture yet either, Max looks so dapper!!! Can’t WAIT to hold him. Auntie Kara arrives in 2 days, fill up the wine rack and warn the neighbors!!

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