Arrival in Amsterdam

Arrival in Amsterdam

Well, as most of you are aware, we made it to Amsterdam a week ago from today!

Yes, just in time to miss this weekend’s big game between MSU and ASU (Jeff, Sparty On for me)! Here is a recap our first week (and a few extra days) for those of you who are interested:

Temporary Good-Byes

Prior to departing The Biggest Little City, we were overwhelmed with the love and laughter shared with many friends and family (yes, even on school nights!). Another moment similar to Cooper’s arrival, this move reminded us how lucky we are to have an amazing network of friends and family from coast to coast. Below are a few of pictures from our “temporary good-byes.”

Packing

As you might guess, the temporary goodbyes were fun, cheerful, and yes, tear filled for me anyway, Andy doesn’t cry. However, they were great distractions from the daunting task of packing. Packing our lives for 10 months. It’s questionable how we traveled to Europe for a month in a single bag. When moving for 10 months, it seemed nearly impossible. Actually…now that I think about it, it shouldn’t have been. According to previous packing rules (from Andy) we are allotted one bag per month…somehow Andy tricked us into 4 bags for 10 months?!

Here’s a look at the feat:

Travel

As hoped, Cooper was a champ on both flights, RNO to DFW and DFW to AMS. He lucked out with the in-flight bassinet. As for mom and dad, all was good! If I recall, Andy actually looked at me at one point and said, “I think I’m going to declare gluten-free on our way home…your dinner was better than mine.” First time for everything folks!

Getting Settled

It seems crazy that we’re here. While the three of us are still recovering from jet-lag, we managed to enjoy some sights, a few sleepless nights, navigate our way around our neighborhood and a bit beyond, fill our fridge, small but functional, with necessities, practice some Dutch phrases and unpack all of our bags. Overall, I say it’s been a successful transition week!