A Beautiful Last Day

What to do on our last day in the Netherlands?
Eat pannekoeken.

Drink Chocomel.  Think chocolate milk blended until it's as thick as pudding!

Bike to church.

Go for a Sunday drive.
Past the tulip fields.

Past the football stadium (the kind they play with the round black and white ball.)

Drive halfway across the country--that's about 90 minutes.
And walk the beach.

YES!  The beach.  Marina Lanting assured us that we didn't want to leave Holland without going to the sea.  She was right!  We had a beautiful sunny day--still cold and windy enough for coats and scarves, but sunshine and sand.

Share a drink.

Have a little more hot Chocomel with a lot of slagroom!

We tested the water...

and decided it was okay to put our feet in the sea.

We came back to Nijkerk in time for a special birthday dinner of pannekoeken--choose your fillings: cheese, ham, bacon, peppers, mushrooms, spinach or apple and syrup.

We celebrated Annemarie's Birthday with the Lanting family.  That's Annemarie in front in the grey sweater.

We were surprised that some of our new friends in Nijkerk were also invited so we could say goodbye.  That's Mia talking to Jurjen, Xan's daddy.  Xan and Mia were probably the only 2 Chinese kids in Nijkerk and guess what Jurjen's last name is... yup--Engelsman.
2 Chinese kids in the Netherlands named "Englishman"  I'm not making this stuff up!

Share a late night glass of wine with friends whom we will miss very much!

With Marike and Thijs Blok.  Marike is the warm-hearted friend who first invited us to Nijkerk.

With Marina and Jan Lanting who opened their home and hearts to us for these five weeks.

We closed the night with a prayer of thanks that God has brought us together in his own creative and wonderful way.  We hope and pray that this is not "good-bye", but just "tot ziens"  or "see you again!"