It's that time of year again for our annual Easter Potluck dinner. We would like your participation on Easter Sunday, the 31st of March at our home in Lustin. Dinner will be at 4pm, but please come down anytime after noon and enjoy the day with all of us. If any of you are unfamiliar with the American tradition of potluck, here is a little education for you. We will pick up a main course of an Easter Ham from Jack O' Sheas in Brussels, here islast year's masterpiece. Being we have so many different countries represented by the guests, if you have a country specific dish or specialty you would like to bring, and we highly encourage it, please mention it in your RSVP. If you don't, we will try to assign a food group to the rest, so we can even things out a bit. Please RSVP by the 25th so we have enough time to get back to everybody on that.....Randy would like you to know you can never have too many desserts.
If you would like to attend, but have obligations to family or friends in town, please let us know, they're all welcome. The more the merrier. Hope to see you Easter Sunday!
Here we are close to Christmas and we don't know where the time went. It seems that every year it goes faster and faster and we try to do so many things, try to see everybody and enjoy our time together as much as we can. I love the Christmas spirit where we all get together at least we try and share good moments, good food and share memories. I also hope it will stay white so we will be able to say for once we had a ''White Christmas'' this year.
On November 2nd it has been 1 year that I have been working in Luxembourg and still discover new things every day. Working in Luxembourg is a great opportunity and a different atmosphere. We are in the Moselle country enjoying the sceneries of vineyards in spring and summer. We have been exploring the region a little bit and tasting their good wines. The little town where we are is called Remich and looks like the French Riviera, it is a very nice touristic place with a lot of terraces and cruise boats where you can have dinners and where they have some parties. Our street is called: ''Route du Vin, where you will find these nice Chateau's like Bernard et Massart, St. Remy and many others, really interesting places. Randy is a pro of exploring and touring so you better come and visit us so he can show you around, believe me, you will have fun, walking down the vallee and tasting the mousseux!
At Easter we had our annual potluck where we gather all our friends and family, it becomes one of our traditional outings and everybody enjoys it, specially the kids. Lots of food, chocolates and of course the eggs'chasing. Kids get really excited and run all over the place, just hoping it is not raining that day!
This year Randy left right after Easter to start his pool season, it was way too soon for me because he only announced to me three days before departure that he was leaving because they had a project ready to go. So it was a little shock to me but I had to make more trips to the states, so I will certainly not complain.
The first time I went was in June. I had a great time, saw the kids and my wonderful grandson; the little man is so cute, he just makes me melt. I miss seeing him though, he is a lot of joy and his grandpa is very good at teaching him all his tricks that he probably would be better off without, but they are loving it.
This year has been a very special year for me for several reasons, first I had my big 50, Tracy got married and we had our 10th year wedding anniversary. To my surprise Randy put a very nice party together for me at his sister Robyn's house. I was not aware of it and just couldn't believe it. We were going to her house for some aperitifs and dinner and when we got there and when I opened the door and saw grandpa, I said something is not normal here and then everybody yelled Happy Birthday, still can't believe it today. It was a wonderful hot summer day, with the family and our friends and I was in heaven. I enjoy so much being in Minneapolis and when the departure day comes it is always too early to go back but nevermind this year I was happy to go back and this time with Julie and her boyfriend Jonathan.
My birthday party wasn't done yet, so I went to see my mom, dad and my brother at their chalet in Spain with my friend Marie Claire. As you can see we had a great time as well enjoing a nice paella. Had to spend 4 days just relaxing and enjoying the sun. After that back to reality for a while and back to work. So every Monday morning I pack and go to Luxembourg where I stay the week and come back on Friday nights, always nice to come back at our house. I try to take care of the garden, mowing the lawn and all the rest while Randy is gone and I can say I am doing a good job. He just bought me a big lawn tractor when he got back, so it will be fun now.
Finally September came and we had to go back to Minneapolis for a very very special reason, Tracy and Matt got married. Our first daughter did the big step. We were so proud of her, she was so beautiful, the big smile on our face says it all.
It was Jonathon's first trip to the US and a big adventure for him. The only thing he didn't like was the 9 hours in the plane but he made it. He wanted to try everything, all the fast food places, all the malls. We could not pass the big mall of America, so that was exciting, we had a great time there. Also we were lucky to go to a Twins game at their nice stadium, just an unbelievable place, we could spend hours there just by walking around, the atmosphere, the noice, the people, only in AMERICA.
We were ready very early on the morning of September 4 and we were all counting the hours. I was so proud when Randy was walking Tracy down the aisle, it couldn't be better, both had a nice smile on their face and yes Randy was marrying his daughter, tears came to my eyes.
Tracy's eyes were sparkling, she was in dreamland, she had such a nice dress. The bridesmaids were very pretty, not forgetting the groomsmen whom were all very handsome. The weather was fantastic, bright sun and blue sky, the beach, just perfect. Excellent food, traiteur Dave's BBQ did his best, good ribs and special BBQ food, what else could we dream off. We made a lot of pictures as you can see. At times, our little man was the attraction but he behaved very well. The day was over and Mrs. and Mr. Larson were starting a new life!
Good moments always come to an end. It was time to say good-bye to everybody now for a long time as we would not go back before 2011. I hope that the Family Larson, and Dana and Chelsey will be able to come in spring, we just have to wait and see.
Christmas is full of shiny things
That sparkle, gleam and glow;
These holiday pleasures dazzle us,
And yet, deep down, we know...
That Christmas has its special gifts,
But our year-round joy depends
On the cherished people in our lives,
Our family and our friends.
Merry Christmas and Happy New Year to all of you!
Peace and Love
Mimi & Randy
Since we have so many thousands of American boys who are buried in Belgium, in closing, I would be remiss not to say please keep all the young men and women around the world in your prayers who can't be home for the holidays.
We received quite a bit of snow here in Luxembourg yesterday. It looks beautiful throughout the vineyards but it made driving impossible as they do not have the equipment to keep the roads clean here.
Randy and I went to the 65th anniversary celebration in Bastogne for the Battle of the Bulge this weekend.....or as we say here, La Bataille des Ardennes.
We got snow the week after Christmas and it actually stayed for almost a week, as snow seldom stays here more than a day. It got very cold during the week also, which made things very difficult, as the trains didn't run, and roads were terrible. The snow was kind of a nice look, although i didn't care for the cold, and I had to listen to Randy swearing about his friend Al Gore all the time.
It was so cold that the canals froze over for the first time in almost 50 years, and you could skate from Brugge all the way into the Netherlands. Both Brugge and Brussels have Christmas Markets around skating rinks in the Grand Place in the centre of town. Here is some of the skating at Christmas about a week before the cold weather came.
This is the Christmas Opera light and sound show at the Grand Place in Brussels.
Another day, another year and yet we are not in time again to send our best wishes to all of you. But we are so happy to share with with you a new arrival in our family, our grandson Ayden was born on 31 May 2008.
Big smile on his face trying to convince Santa that he is all cool and never cranky, and yes he is. Trips to visit the kids involve battles as to who will be holding him next, feeding him, bathing him or playing with him, but as you would have thought, Randy is very good at playing and teaching him all the boy tricks.
We did the last major work on our house, rebuilding the veranda, actually my brother, my dad and their crew did the work, so when Randy came home it was pretty much done. So as this year ends we are starting to see the finish line on the renovations, but still every day Randy finds something new to explore or to do. Life is never boring with him, new day, new mission, but I love it.
The Children have been great, Dana is in his 4th year at North Dakota State in Mechanical Engineering and is already thinking of continuing University as long as he can while enjoying good times with his longtime girlfriend Chelsey who is in her 3rd year of school in Fargo or Moorhead, I will never have it right.
Tracy became the wonderful mom of our little Ayden, and her and Matt seem to be doing well starting their family. They live on Floyd Lake in Detroit Lakes.
Julie was ready for a big change as well as she started University in Brussels studying International Trade and Marketing and so far so good.. Not too many complaints yet.
Randy had an excellent year in the pool business as they were building right up until the weather stopped them around Thanksgiving. I made some extra trips to Minneapolis this year as he was gone a lot, but it gave me more opportunities to see the grandson, so I'm not complaining.
I'm still at White & Case law firm, every day is different and challenging with all the economic crisis, seems like a new one every day.Time goes fast and we still have so many things to do, to learn and share.
I can’t find the words to say thank you to whomever saved my Dad’s life coming out of a stroke with no major consequences in early November. He's a little slow, but he's recovering quickly, and the main thing is he's still here.
I will finish this letter reminding all of you that you have an open Invitation should you desire a little tour of Europe, we are in the centre of everything and we love the company. Something to plan for 2009! Please consider it!
MORE PICTURES BELOW THE LETTER
Notre lettre de Noël en Français
Un autre jour, une autre année et nous voilà à nouveau en retard pour vous envoyer nos bon voeux. Cependant nous sommes très heureux de vous annoner que notre petit fils Ayden est né le 31 mai 2008. Vous pouvez remarquer son grand sourire pour essayer de convaincre le pere Noel qu'il est toujours gentil, et en effet il l'est. Quand nous visitons Tracy, Randy et moi nous nous bagarrons pour qui sera le premier à le tenir, à le nourrir, à lui donner un bain et à jouer avec lui, mais bien entendu Randy est toujours le gagnant pour lui apprendre tous les petits trucs de garcon.
Nous avons fait de gros travaux à notre Chateau Mosan, nous avons reconstruit notre véranda, en fait, mon papa, mon frère et son équipe ont effectué les travaux et quand Randy est rentré à la maison tous les travaux etaient finis. Nous sommes contents car petit à petit nous arrivons à la fin de nos renovations. Mais notre Randy trouve toujours quelque chose à faire, la vie avec lui est loin d'etre ennuyante, chaque jour il a une nouvelle mission à accomplir mais j'aime cela.
Les enfants sont super, Dana est en 4ème année d'ingénieur mécanicien à l'université de North Dakota et pense déjà à faire d'autres études tout en passant de bons moments avec sa compagne Chelsey qui est en 3ème année à l'université de Fargo ou Moorhead, mais je ne parviens pas à le retenir.
Tracy est devenue maman cette année d'un merveilleux petit garçon Ayden. Elle et son compagnon Matt sont très heureux et ont bien commencé leur petite famille. Ils habitent au bord du lac Floyd à Detroit Lakes.
La petite dernère Julie, pour elle se fut egalement un grand bouleversement, elle a commencé l'université et étudie le Marketing et le commerce international. Tout va bien jusqu'a présent, pas trop de plaintes pour le moment.
Et en ce qui nous concerne, Randy a eu une année exceptionnelle pour la construction de ces piscines, il les a construit jusque fin novembre et ensuite il est rentré à la maison. Je suis allée 2 fois à Minneapolis cette année et fut très contente car j'ai pu partager de bons moments avec mon petit fils donc je ne peux pas me plaindre. Je travaille toujours dans le cabinet d'avocats international White & Case et chaque jour est différent et engageant certainement depuis la crise financiere et économique que nous connaissons tous.
Le temps passe trè vite et nous avons tellement de choses à faire et à partager. Cependant je ne trouve pas les mots pour remercier qui de droit qui a sauvé la vie de mon papa après une trombose sans trop de conséquences. Le plus important c'est qu'il soit toujours parmi nous. Je vais terminer cette lettre en vous rappelant que vous avez une invitation ouverte et que vous etes toujours les bienvenus à la Villa Rustica. Pensez-y pour 2009!
Joyeux Noel et Bonne Année, Mireille et Randy.
Allisons little Cooper is growing all the time too
Grandpa and I have the same birthday
Getting close to the end of construction
With Robyn at their lake cabin
Aydens first big snow day
Julie and I in Spain
Aydens Baptism
He's always a happy little guy
With Great Grandpa
It's more relaxing being a grandmother, than a mother.
Doug and Pams wonderful little Chapel
Allison's wedding
This is not something you see from Dana everyday!
Two very proud Grandpa's
The Girls and their babies
I'm sure Randy will not try and influence him at all.
I made some extra trips to Minneapolis this year as he was gone a lot, but it gave me more opportunities to see the grandson, so I'm not complaining. 
