Sunny Days

Sunny days.....wow when they come its nice. While some of get the sun every day we here in the Pacific Northwest feel like we never see it

From our Deck we see all the surrounding mountains. We haven't seen them in a while and look they all have lots of snow on them.
Isn't Mt. Baker beautiful. They have 231' base of snow at the lower lodge of the ski resort....They had to close it one day last week because of too much snow so they could move snow away from under the lift chairs.
And there goes the sun. What can we say another day in Paradise. And Paradise is where ever we want it to be.....Where we are

Dinner

Hmmm Hmmm good food. Today as we were out the subject of dinner came up....What to have, is always the question. I thought why not Wanton soup and Lisette said Sushi. So guess what thats what we hadOnly a small twist to it was that it had to be home made.
Wanton soup with lots of noodles and pork filled wantons.
The Sushi.....deep fried prawns/shrimp, cucumber and avocado rolled in rice and seaweed
Once rolled and cut we dipped them in a little soya sauce with wasabe mixed in it

Kayla's Quilt

Well its getting close to being finished, Kayla's quilt.Lisette has been working off and on, on this quilt for a long time. If we would just stay home long enough it would be done.So the top picture is the back of the quilt and the bottom picture is the front of the quilt
This weekend we head to Rexburg Idaho where Lisette will be able to put the finishing touches on it and place it on Kayla's bed.

We will take a picture and post it once its done

BICYCLES

Bicycles are a wonderful thing. They allow you to transport yourself from here to there and then someplace else. The Dutch have taken bicycles to a new level. Because most of Holland is flat bicycling is easier. WHEN THE WIND IS NOT BLOWING.
I love bicycles. It is absolutely.....amazing the number of bicycles that there are. The population of Amsterdam is 750,000. The number of bicycles there are numbered over 600,000. Where do they put them all?Here is a parking garage that is devoted to bicycles. It is next to Grand Central Station in Amsterdam

Everywhere we look there are bikes. Young kids just starting out with older siblings or parents helping out by placing their hand on the back of tne one learning. Parents riding to work. Sons riding with mom sitting on the back rack, sitting side saddle with a cup of tea in one hand and reading a book with the other hand.

This here bike is used a multitude of ways. Filled with groceries, or people. Notice the recumbant front seat that is either for young kids or handcapped people or even adults. The one in front does not stear the bike the person on the back seat does. Notice the extra set of peddles on front near the recumbant seat....they are for kids and can be removed with a quick release lever. Who woulda thought

There are bikes everywhere...there are so many that hey have seperate roads for the bicycles with their own set of traffic lights. And it works so smoothly.

Looks like a covered wagon to me...It actually has 2 little bench seats (one faces forward and the other to the back) and they are equiped with seat belts. We saw one similar to this one only larger and it was designed for the handicapped. it was wide enough for a wheel chair and had ramps so you could push a person in the wheel chair up and take them to where ever they needed to go

Here is a bicycle that is made custom..you can not go into the store, buy it and take it home. The wheels are wood, the fenders are wood and the seat is wood and becuse it is custom made it is very comfortable to ride...This one is in the store front window, but we did see a guy riding one in a neighboring town...So Cool

Check out the double kickstand its there so you can get the person on front without having to hold beke up

And then we have a standard bike but with not just one but 2 toddler seats on the back and on front is a rack for carrying your goods from shopping.

Bicycles what more can I say...There are tons more different styles to choose from I've only shown a couple

More things to do In Holland

Food.....more importantly Bread, buns and pastries

It doesn't matter where we go ...in stores, in open markets there is always a place where thay sell breads
And not just your standard breads. Breads that have all kinds of grains in them. Begals the size of a plate.

Pasteries to die for. Cream filled, jelly filled, light and flakey. Chocolate covered, fruit filled

And they have the stuff that goes with them....butter, cream cheese (many different flavors) Jams....etc

Weather you are in Amsterdam, Haarlem, Alkmaar, or Utrech there are bakeries with all the items that we shouldn't eat but do.

Time with Leoni

Leoni

We were each able to spend time with our dear friend in her last few days with us. Time that we would have never traded for anything else

Son Ruud

Grandson DidierNephew PatrickLisette and Toyke

Leoni's room was on the 8th floor of the Lung disorders wing of the hospital

She had a private room with a small waiting area. In the waiting area they rolled a bed in for her son Ruud. He was at the hospital 24/7

Leoni's room had a view of the city of Haarlem with a canal just below.

Leoni had many visits of friends and family during her last days. They came from all over.

One of the things that Leoni was able to do was to keep in touch with family....family we have never met until this trip.

as Leoni was getting ready during her final hours Lisette did the nail polish thing on the toes and hands. It was touching to see the interaction between the two of them.

For those of you reading this Leoni had Lung cancer and there was noting that could be done anymore. She was confined to the hospital due to the fact that her lungs were not functioning properly anymore. Leoni would be Euthanized, it may sound horrible and not right, but I have changed my mind on that issue. Just because it is legal in the Netherlands doesn't mean that anyone can go thru with it. They have strict guidelines and must have the approval of several Doctors. There must not be any avaiable treatments left.

As we neared the hour when Leoni would leave us the Doctor came in, we left the room and the Doctor visited with Leoni. He made she that she was still OK with her dicision, which she was.

We were all invited back into the room. After a few minutes Ruud sat by his mother and Didier sat on the other side of the bed and held her hand. Leoni would spend her last minutes looking into the eyes of her son. A medicine was administered that would put Leoni into a deep sleep. This process took about 20 minutes, Once Leoni was in a deep sleep the doctor checked her pulse, looked into her eyes and determines that the 2nd and final phase of the process could begin. A 2nd medicine was administered. This medicine would relax all the muscles and her heart would stop. The process started at 6 pm on the 14th of February and at 6:45 pm Leoni was pronouced dead. A second doctor would come in to confirm that she had indeed passed away.

The atmosmosphere during all this was sombre, silent and very touching. The connection between mother and son, stronger than I had ever seen. Tears were shed. We were given time to be with Leoni. There were many flowers in the room from people who had visited, Patrick took a few Roses and placed them in her hand laying them accross her body.

We had to leave for a few minutes while the nurses did their job in positioning Leoni and then we were allowed back into the room for another short visit.

As we parted with Ruud and Didier that evening it was hard for us because we knew what emotions they would be having and knew that there was nothing we could do.

Our job now as family was to be there as support for Ruud and Didier. To help them thru the next week and a half.

UNPLANNED TRIP TO HOLLAND

First off this trip is about family!!!! On Saturday the 5th of February we came home from Hawaii and on the following Tuesday the 8th we received a text message from A cousin of mine that lives in Holland. His mom, my Aunt, my Dads sister was not doing well. We immediately made plans to go to Holland. Wednesday Morning we were on our way to the Netherlands. Haarlem being the exact city.
Now we might not have done this for anyone but for Leoni we would. When my Dad was sick with cancer she came to help in his last days and was there for a while after he had passed on. We enjoyed a trip
with Leoni to Hawaii and we had been to her home a few times in preceeding years.
A wonderful trip this was....full of tears and laughs, memories that will never be forgotten. If it was an inconvenience that was the least of our concerns. We talked to Pat my brother and he in turn talked to Jackie and Odette our sisters. Pat made arrangements as did we to be there for Leoni and her family

1. Here we have Ruud my cousin, His son Didier and my Aunt Leoni. A great family.

Patrick, Toyke, Ruud and Leoni in front. With Lisette and Didier behind

Here Lisette and Ruud are using their G4 Iphones...It was a common thing during our visits.