Pops Before the feast
Hanging out with Lulu after Thanksgiving dinner at her and Pop's house.
Wednesday, November 30, 2005
Friday, November 18, 2005
Time goes fast
Happy birthday to Great Uncle Jimmy and Aletheia!
(Below: Two kings from when they were little tikes.)
Thursday, November 17, 2005
Nice to see a beach at this time of the year...
(Luke and James hanging out with Uncle Johnny and Nicole at Steps Beach, Puerto Rico.)
These were taken right in front of where Brian's cousin Christa was married to her now husband Jose. It was one of the most beautiful wedding ceremonies we've been to yet. Many blessings to the very happy couple!
(Below: Same view of Steps Beach at night)
Wednesday, November 16, 2005
Fun with Carlyn
Two weekends ago up in Maine...Carlyn, Luke and James stuck in Lago Lamia. They retrieved the anchor for the raft, then forgot to set it down again, so off they went adrift! (Aletheia enjoyed the show. Two pics for those of you who wanted to see Nick too! More to come...)
(They made it! Few!)
Monday, November 14, 2005
Over here, over there.
Here's one of my favorite pictures of little Allie, taken this summer when Sam, Brian and the monsters had just moved back to NY. Yes that is my foot on her chest there. She was having a lot of fun rolling around on Lulu and Pops' kitchen floor, and I was playing with her with my foot, not standing on her.This blog like, Sam's feelings about moving back to New York shows and interesting and wonderful spilt. Sam and of course Brian and the boys left a life and friends in Belgium in which they had adapted to new people and a lifestyle and culture different from that here, and moved back to New York after many years away but in leaving thier friends and life in Belgium they are now closer to family and other friends who had missed them and missed some of the early years of the kids.
This blog seems to represent that same dichotomy, involving friends and family from either side of the pond. I think that you are all so lucky to have such great people (myself included) both here in and over there.
Wednesday, November 09, 2005
How long has it been?
My camera is a bit uncooperative at the moment, so I thought I would look back and find old pics to put up. This is as far back as I found (27.7.03) Natan's second birthday, but I know we met long before that. It was even before Natan was one I think. It is hard to believe that it was so long. It makes me miss you and the boys even more!
Julie Anne
P.S. Look closely in the back. Don't we just look lovely :)
Saturday, November 05, 2005
Just came across this one from July...
(Mischa and Xavier seeing us one last time in Brussels.) I wonder, how many pictures can I put up before they close down my blog? Did I mention that this is a very picture oriented blog? :-)
Friday, November 04, 2005
From August
(Contemplating the city)Searching for a place to live was lots of fun, as you can see James was thrilled. All kidding aside, the kids were great as we tried to figure out where we were going to live. They definitely had more energy and patience than we did.
On the Staten Island Ferry
(Above: Luke and James on the Staten Island Ferry regarding Madam Liberty)
We took a ride one of the first few weeks we were back home and staying in Battery Park City. If ever you are down on this side of town never go for the touristy rides if you want to see the Statue or the skyline, the NYC secret is to take a ride for free on the Staten Island ferry! As I looked at her, for the first time I understood for a moment how so many must have appreciated that statue standing out there, I even felt as if she were welcoming us back home.
Thursday, November 03, 2005
Moving back to New York
So we beat on,
boats against the current,
born back ceaselessly into the past.
F.Scott Fitzgerald
Perhaps this is a misinterpretation of what F. Scott says in The Great Gatsby, (have been thinking a lot about this book because I have only just finally read it!) but it is too true, every day we keep at things in life, keep trying to "get ahead", yet there is almost always some need for the past which definitely sometimes thwarts our daily choices. I wonder whether the past held me back too often while we were living in Brussels, at least the first few years anyway. I couldn't have read this book at a better time because once again I do find myself thinking about the past, about my Brussels past and how it has vanished into thin air, with the exception that I have many friends still there who I think of often. Memory is remarkable, mine is so vivid at the moment, even of material things like the inside of our home in Brussels, they are so clear in my mind that I feel as though I could walk straight back into it and my whole life there. I wonder how long that will linger. Nonetheless, here we are not in Brussels, and so I'm trying to learn a lesson I suppose, trying to embrace my recent past and drag it along with me just enough so that I don't forget all the great things I've learned from friends and all the wonderful places we've had the chance to venture to.
So, we are living the present and enjoying life in New York, meeting more people, (funny enough two of my friends are from Europe, one Irish and the other surprisingly is Belgian, life is funny!) Scarsdale, for those of you who know it not, is a medium sized village of Westchester just 30 minutes by train from Manhattan. It is actually not so bad a place, especially because of it's x-pat community. I think we would have gone through major culture shock if we had moved straight into a striclty american town, nothing against America, it's great, there is sometimes simply not enough diversity in small towns, and for me I think it's something I just don't want to live without. It would be like having a cook book in your kitchen with only one kind of cooking. I suppose you could savour the same thing over and over again and be thankful for it, but if you can have your pick why not be able to cook up all sorts of things?
boats against the current,
born back ceaselessly into the past.
F.Scott Fitzgerald
Perhaps this is a misinterpretation of what F. Scott says in The Great Gatsby, (have been thinking a lot about this book because I have only just finally read it!) but it is too true, every day we keep at things in life, keep trying to "get ahead", yet there is almost always some need for the past which definitely sometimes thwarts our daily choices. I wonder whether the past held me back too often while we were living in Brussels, at least the first few years anyway. I couldn't have read this book at a better time because once again I do find myself thinking about the past, about my Brussels past and how it has vanished into thin air, with the exception that I have many friends still there who I think of often. Memory is remarkable, mine is so vivid at the moment, even of material things like the inside of our home in Brussels, they are so clear in my mind that I feel as though I could walk straight back into it and my whole life there. I wonder how long that will linger. Nonetheless, here we are not in Brussels, and so I'm trying to learn a lesson I suppose, trying to embrace my recent past and drag it along with me just enough so that I don't forget all the great things I've learned from friends and all the wonderful places we've had the chance to venture to.
So, we are living the present and enjoying life in New York, meeting more people, (funny enough two of my friends are from Europe, one Irish and the other surprisingly is Belgian, life is funny!) Scarsdale, for those of you who know it not, is a medium sized village of Westchester just 30 minutes by train from Manhattan. It is actually not so bad a place, especially because of it's x-pat community. I think we would have gone through major culture shock if we had moved straight into a striclty american town, nothing against America, it's great, there is sometimes simply not enough diversity in small towns, and for me I think it's something I just don't want to live without. It would be like having a cook book in your kitchen with only one kind of cooking. I suppose you could savour the same thing over and over again and be thankful for it, but if you can have your pick why not be able to cook up all sorts of things?
More later. That's not a threat I hope.
Wednesday, November 02, 2005
Out of Brussels and into Scarsdale...new times.
(Left: Sitting in the front yard as Ma and brothers busy themselves decorating for Halloween, Aletheia pledges allegiance to all pumpkins. ).jpg)
