Merry Christmas & Happy New Year

Luxembourg City Christmas Market

Dear Friends and Family,

Time goes way too fast and here we are but a couple of weeks before going into 2012. I would say, it looks very different then last year. Our fall colors were so gorgeous this year.




 We went from starting 2011 with battling about half a meter of snow and with the melting of the snow... being able to fish right off our veranda, quite an experience for me not being used to have so much snow. Needless to say, this year we are a little better prepared, we already have a shovel, which we couldn’t find in three countries last year. But the snow can stay away for me.

 It had been a real struggle and we were so happy when spring arrived. This year, one of our major projects was to prepare our garden for new landscaping, so we had ten truckloads of dirt delivered so we could level the yard and reseed the grass.

But most importantly to have the garden ready for annual our Easter potluck where we had about 6o people this year and was a big success. First because it was late April and spring had settled very well, we had almost 80 degrees, which kept everybody on the terrace or outside. Randy cooked a fantastic ham with a brown sugar and maple syrup glaze that barely left him a piece to eat, as it got taken away very quickly.

 At the same time, we had our friends Gina and John from Atlanta visiting us and we had to spend some quality time with them. We toured a little bit around Namur and Dinant but also around the Moselle in Remich, which was great.

But then, it was time for Randy to go back to Minnesota, which always comes like a chock to me. He says it's work, but I think it has as much to do with his mates, and playing baseball. They one 3 tournaments this year, so he is even more excited to go back to work.







Finally July arrived and I was looking forward to fly to Minnesota to be with him, visit family and the kids but most of all to see my grandson Ayden. He is growing so fast unbelievable.... it was so cool to watch Randy teaching him teaching baseball, the little boy is learning quickly.. of course he is just like his grandpa, fast and enjoying his sweets or cookies as often as possible.

 For my birthday we started at Robyn's cabin having some watermelon jello shots.. first time for me, and we finished with the kids at Spanky's on the Lake in Vergas, very nice place on the water. Couple of days later, we had a surprise party with our friends Sanjay and Anju at Chino Latino, great place.

We went to a couple Twins games and even had some friends that took us to the game in the Champions Club where we had a buffet and sat right on the field. I even walked over to the dugout to get a picture of my friend Joe Mauer. The Twins do not play very well when I attend though, they lost both times.







It's hard to keep up with the kids being so far away but we are very happy to say that they are all doing very well .

Dana and Chelsey settled into their own house now in Thief River for about 2 years, we are still wondering when the big day will come for them, guess I have to be patient.

Tracy and Matt are keeping up with Ayden growing so fast and still living on a lake outside of Detroit Lakes.

Ayden started preschool this fall and seems to be enjoying it.

Julie is finishing university in Brussels in 2012 and will come and join us as from the 1st of February for an internship of 4 months in Luxembourg with a marketing company.











For the politics fans, I guess it is important to mention that the Euro crisis finally forced our little country of Belgium to form a government after being without for 541 days. We are curious to see on how long that is going to last, but we will stay on positive note.

As always we ask that you remember those who won't be home for Christmas.

 Randy would like you to make it a point to read this heartwarming story of a 90 year old Belgian nurse who was awarded a medal by the US Army last week here in Brussels, 67 years after the Battle of the Bulge.
CLICK HERE or just scroll down a few posts.

Wishing you a warm, fun, family filled Holiday Season 
 Merry Christmas 

 Mimi and Randy