Final Day in Belgium

Our last full day in Belgium was spent packing & just trying to squeeze in lots of time with dear people. Our last morning was a strange feeling thinking we were going to leave the place we called home for  4 1/2 weeks.  It is hard to put in words.  So here is our last few days in pictures.  (there is also an update to www.bogotabridges.com.)

Impromptu dance party

Jonah & Julie

This is a typical night after dinner.  We all play with the kids & hang out.  This is our last night.  

Jonah wanted to roll up Avery in the blanket & pull him down the ramp.  It called for reinforcement to help pull Avery, so Isabella & I helped.

Nicolette & Jonah

Avery with Alan

Alan is a friend our group met that works at the local pub in Zaventem.  He came & shared his testimony with us one day & became a friend to us all.

We hosted a last supper on the last night together for the entire group.  We invited the pastors of our churches & the staff at the OM Center.

Our centerpieces were maps & souvenirs from places our group had visited the past month.

Amber & I were on the hospitality team & served dinner.

Brook & Mr. Bruce

This is me with Lucas & Deborah.  They work at the OM Center & were wonderful to us.  We are so thankful for all of their help to us.  They served us well.

Brook & Mandy

Worship time

This is a complete picture of our church group.  We all attended the Persian church together.

This is a silly picture of our entire group.  There is another picture posted on www.bogotabridges.com.

Our last morning, we all had to do a final presentation.  Isabella & Brook both shared in front of the the group some highlights of their past month.

Saying goodbye & hugs were hard.

Here I am with Lauren, our oldest "daughter" this month.  Lauren is headed to Honduras.  We met her back in March & I love this girl.

My circle of trust this month...Lauren & Julie.  These ladies were such a huge ministry to me this month.  They encouraged me, laughed with me, & saw me cry.  

Avery & I with Lauren

John, Julie, Lauren, Me, & Avery representing Thailand, Honduras, & Colombia

My second oldest "daughter" this month, Leah.  She was a highlight of our month & loved our family well.  She is one amazing young lady.  Love her.

Isabella & Julie, Jonah's mom :)

This was the funny/sad part of the day.  Avery & John shared music videos for each other as a way to say goodbye.  These two created a strong friendship.  The Bowles family is now living in Bangkok!  

We had a driver take us to the Brussels train station.  We couldn't fit in the train because of all of our cumbersome luggage!  We hadn't rode in a car in 5 weeks.

This is the girls with luggage at the train station.  Our Iranian friend came to see us off at the train station.  It was a perfect way to say goodbye to Brussels & our friends there.  

European Birthday Celebration

**As a side note, we are back in the US now!  I fell behind on blogging last week, so I will spend this week with a wrap up of our last few days in Europe.**

Isabella's birthday was a little different this year being in a different country/continent.  But there were plenty of people around to give her birthday greetings!

First, at midnight Brussels time, sweet Kirk & Anna came to our door to sing Happy Birthday!

At breakfast, there was candy & candles for her.

There was more singing & chocolate given at the beginning of our last training day.  The afternoon was hard & full of tears as she said goodbye to dear friends.  

We then boarded a train to London!

Once we finally arrived at our hotel, we walked to a local restaurant for dinner.

It was a good, long day full of many emotions.

There's A Teenager in our Family!

There is a teenager in our family now!  February 5, 2014.....Isabella's 13th birthday.

We are so thankful for her life & especially for this last month with her in Belgium.  We leave Belgium today so we started celebrations last night here.

At our final farewell dinner, Isabella got a few gifts.  She got a candy bar from the pastor of our Persian church.  Then she got 2 gifts from Bruce & Susan, our mentors.  

She got a bank & a frame with our family picture in it.

We love Bruce & Susan so much, & the girls love them a lot too.  They have spent the entire month here with us.  I'll have more pictures of them & from our farewell dinner later.

And these are pictures of the first birthday card she received this year.  It was a thoughtful gift from our Iranian friend.  He gave Isabella this card on Sunday.

Happy Birthday Isabella!

We love you!

Paris

Our schedule has been busy for the month, so we were glad to get our first full week day off last week.  We were given Friday off, so we headed to Paris for the weekend.  Some others of our group also went to Paris, and some went to Amsterdam, Brugge, London, & Luxemborg. Everyone traveled somewhere different!

Here is our photo story of Paris........( I know it is picture overload.  I deleted some, but wanted to get this all in one post).

This is our fast train we took direct from Brussels South station to Paris.  The train took 1 hour 22 minutes & went so fast.  I was actually a little dizzy just by how fast we were traveling!

Our hotel

It was great for us to experience a European hotel.  When we arrived, the lady looked up our name in a book!  No computer!  And no elevator either. The beds were all right next to one another.

There is so much history here in Paris.  I wish I knew the stories behind these buildings!

This is a sample of what it looks like walking down the streets.  Beautiful.  I have many more if you want to see them :) 

I spy....the Eiffel Tower!  This was our first view.  Do you see it peaking out behind the trees?

And there it is!

We couldn't believe we were there.  This picture almost doesn't look real to me!  The sky was just beautiful though.

From the first overlook of the Eiffel Tower

Arc De Triomphe

Leah traveled with our family to Paris & shared a room with us.  It was fun having one other daughter for the weekend!

We had lots of bread.  Good thing we walked the city!

The Louvre

Isabella, Brook, & Leah in front of the Mona Lisa

One of the ornate ceilings of the Louvre

Eiffel tower at night

Leah took this picture of Avery & I reading our maps of Paris in the hotel room!

Notre Dame

We saw it by day & night.  Our hotel was only a 5 minute walk to this.

Inside Notre Dame

famous stained glass window

Isabella, Leah, & Brook

getting our pastries!

a cute little Parisian girl!

The Elswick family

We met this family back in March & have attended all of our training events with them.  They live across from the hall from us here & will be moving to Nicaragua.  It was so fun to run into them on the streets of Paris with smiles & these cute sweatshirts!

French onion soup

This is apparently how you say my name in French (according to Starbucks anyway!).

I was so cold I had to get some hot chocolate.

This is a group picture on our train from Brussels back to Zaventem at 10:45pm Saturday night.  It was so fun to meet up with everyone again!  We had only been apart 2 days, but missed each other & was loving hearing about everyone's adventures.  Some of this group had been to Paris, some to Amsterdam, & some to London.

Tonight is our last night here....bittersweet.