A Chapter Ends

Thank you for everyone who has contacted me to see how we are going….

I cannot believe this is it! 5 years in a country we have grown to love. Walking around tonight in the unseasonably warm evening, the fresh air, the red sky, the fields of crocuses….

A weekend spent with friends, cycling, eating, drinking and watching the kids be kids.

Walking past the house where we brought Elsie and Asher home from hospital. Where I spent hours in the middle of the night cuddling, feeding and crying with them.

I love this place! I love Holland. I have become a different person, I have begun to crave the simple things, time with family, kids playing outside alone, riding bikes, playing with friends, muddy, dirty, unstructured play.

I love the school system, the play based beginning to formal education and then watching Anneke thrive and speed through to be able to read chapter books a within 4 months (side note, she aced her spelling and reading tests…. not so much maths, but she’s my daughter).

Watching my husband become a father of 3, watching his priorities change and his confidence as a father grow. With the encouragement of the community, he has been able to be a real hands on dad, taking the girls to football training, dropping the kids off at school and still kicking goals in his career.

We head off on a new adventure, with all intentions to move back here, to the place we call home.

In the meantime, the learning begins again… working out where to find condensed milk, what is cream if tartare called in the UAE, starting my whole spice collection over again, who serves the best coffee?

Thankfully, these challenges are made much more fun when I get to experience it with Dave! I can’t wait!!!!