Brussels--Finally!

We went to Belgium! It has been a long anticipated trip. Ever since Ian and I have been married, we've talked about going to visit his mission together. Five years since he got home, 4 years of marriage, and 2 children later we finally made it! Here is the photo slideshow.

Some of the highlights from our trip:

Language: Brussels is such a cool place because you're never sure what language you'll need. It was my first time visiting a place where English wasn't the main language. I was pleasantly surprised at how multi lingual everyone was! You almost have to speak at least 2 languages to live there! I would say French was the most common, but I met people who spoke dutch and english also. I had a great opportunity to speak/practice my french. I definitely made mistakes and gained a little sympathy for new missionaries. But it was cool to see that even if I don't speak perfect french I can communicate and that gave me the confidence to keep learning and trying. I did find it frustrating a couple of times that when people would hear my American French accent they would sometimes switch into English. It was thoughtful. They were trying to help me feel comfortable, but I wanted to practice French. I did get to order a waffle in French though. It was a unique experience!

Food: The food was AMAZING. I could eat food like that all the time. It wasn't all traditionally Belgian, but it was all good. The kebabs and frites were so delicious especially with the special sauces they have. The waffles were heavenly! They were extra sweet (especially compared to American waffles) and they were great plain or with toppings. I find I crave them often....like right now. Holly was always asking for them except she had her own name for them. "Mommy, I want an awful!" Yes...she called them awfuls. Pretty close and quite ironic, making it endearing and funny!

Sharing the Past: While Belgium was a great place to visit regardless of Ian's ties to it, it was so nice to have him show us around a bit. He lived in Brussels for 6 months as an office missionary. After the initial confusion when we arrived he was able to show us some familiar sites and I felt like it was a great bonding experience. We saw where he used to live and work as a missionary. When we went to church we even met his old ward mission leader! It was great to see what this part of his life was like. I've always wondered and kind of dreamed what this would be like and I found that I was very satisfied.

All in all, it was a great trip. We'll look back on the pictures and always our little family adventure. After such a great trip to Belgium I'm looking forward to exploring the other part of this mission...FRANCE!