Merry Christmas! Gelukkig Kerstfeest!

We decided to do something special for our first Christmas Eve in Belgium. To start off the evening, we went to a candlelight service over at Kleine Brogel. It was an evening of fellowship, singing, and yummy treats for all! After the service, we headed out for more holiday fun. The town of Bocholt was holding a traveling live nativity on Christmas Eve and Christmas day. I'd never heard of anything like this, so I really wanted to check it out. It was very cool!

The Romans led a procession through the streets of Bocholt...some were on foot, and others were on their trusty steeds. Despite what history tells us, they were a friendly bunch. The pilgrimage ended at the city gates. The Romans opened the gates and let the people into the city. The entire evening was narrated in Nederlands (Dutch). The story is the traditional one, so you can pretty much figure out what's going on. Surprisingly, all of the songs that the choir sang at the end of the night were in English. We appreciate that. This is Mary and Joseph, being told not too kindly that there was just no room at the Inn. The program was very impressive. You moved from one scene to the next in the centrum of town. There were little fires here and there, so you could stop for a little bit and warm up if you felt the need. The program was over a little before 10 pm, and then the Roman guards led the people into the church for the evening service. We took a peek inside, but didn't stay for the service. Churches are so beautiful here. The amount of hand carved details inside is amazing! Back home and into bed we went, dreaming of Santa coming to make his deliveries...We had a fantastic Christmas morning. I'll spare you the pictures of everyone in their jammies. The kids were thrilled with their yearly haul, and are now playing games and enjoying their spoils. The scent of baking ham fills the air, and we are all anticipating our big Christmas meal. We wish you all a very Merry Christmas and a glorious New Year! If 2009 was half as great for you as it was for us, then you are very blessed indeed!

In Bocholt, Exercise = Indulgence

OK, class. You may thank Grandpa for today's history lesson. (He pointed out that I was severely slacking in my blogging lately.) The skies are blue and there is a little nip in the air, so Brandon and I headed out this fine morning to enjoy a walk around Bocholt. Bocholt's original name was "Bucolt", which means beech, and dates back to the later 12th century. As in all towns in Belgium, the church is in the centrum (center). The church here is called St.-Laurentiuschurch. Loosely translated, St. Lawrence Church. This church became famous in 1910. It seems that due to the huge population growth in this area, Bocholt decided that they needed a larger church. They hired an American engineer named Weiss and an Italian constructor named Morglia to resolve this problem, and the best solution involved moving the church tower 9.4 meters. This had never been done before, so it was quite the feat. It also earned the nickname of "De Torenkruiers" ( the Tower-porters) for the inhabitants of Bocholt. Needless to say, Bocholt is very proud of this achievement, and you will find a statute and museum commemorating the event in the Gemeentehuis, which is the local government building or courthouse. This is Bocholt's Bibliotheek De Prisol, which is the local library. It's a beautiful building, and I will probably go in and pretend that I can read Dutch, just so I can check out the architecture. I'm sure that they will be suitable impressed with my vast Dutch vocabulary of approximately 5 words.
This statute is beside the library, and commemorates a military event in Bocholt. I'm afraid I don't have any information on it yet, but I hope to find out more about it soon. In any event, it's a beautiful statue, and I just thought that I would share it with you.

As a reward for our strenuous physical and intellectual exercise this morning, Brandon and I stopped at the local bakery before heading home. I'm sure that you will agree that this treat was well deserved. (I wish computers had smell-o-vision so that you could truly appreciate the experience.) A kind gentleman helped us order our fresh baked goodies, and for that we will be forever grateful. There were so many things to choose from, so we just picked out a few basics for today. I arranged them neatly on this cake plate just to take this tempting photo to share with you, then the kids and I devoured most of them. If Russ asks, we had a healthy, well balanced and nutritious breakfast. Yea, right. Like he would believe that!