Robin's Utah Trip

Last Thursday, I got back from Utah.  I made the trip to honor and attend the funeral of my wonderful grandmother, Sydney Ann Leake.  She had led a full life, and after her long illness, her funeral was truly a celebration.  I had a great time seeing aunts, uncles, and cousins along with my parents, brothers, and their families.

Almost all of my Leake cousins

I enjoyed eating Twizzlers and Frosted Mini-Wheats, two things that I can't find in Belgium.  I brought some cereal and other American foods back with me, much to the joy of my family.  I discovered the joys of sushi with my best friend from high school.  I had fun hanging out with other friends, too.

This is the first vacation I've had with no kids or husband.  Poor Ben got a bad cold the day after I left, but Kayanna and Molly kept the house rolling pretty well.  I really appreciate them!

Cascades at Coo

It's spring!  I'm so happy it's March.  February is my least favorite month of the year.  Today Ben had to work until 2:00, so I dropped him off in order to have the car.  After the kids finished their chores, I drove them to the toy store to spend some of their allowance money.  We got back in the car to go get Ben from work.  He suggested we go take a look at a waterfall south of our house.

The car ride was quite long for the kids (we had gone north to get Ben from work), but the drive was well worth it!  We had an amazing time looking at the waterfall.  There was tons of tourist stuff around, but it was still closed.  It was a balmy 57 degrees, which we were thrilled about.  We weren't the only people out enjoying the sunny afternoon.

We started out by walking partly across the bridge that crosses the falls.  There is a stairway down between the two waterfalls.

Ben and the kids looking over the waterfall

Robin

Molly

Ben and most of the kids at the bottom of the stairs

Abe loved these cobblestones

The kids loved playing on this beach with a spectacular view of the falls.

The boys digging

On the way home, we passed this war memorial and had to stop to look.
This village was in the territory covered by the Battle of the Bulge.

We all had a great time!  Luckily, the drive home wasn't too long.  We stopped and bought pain au chocolats and croissants.  As I opened and closed the gate at home, I smelled the beautiful flowers growing in our yard.  The crocuses sprouting by the garage are especially welcome.  My mom always plants crocuses, and their blossoms are the greatest herald of spring for me.

Of Dentists and Doctors

Our latest excursions have taken us to some pretty intense locations!  We have been to the ER and the dentist.

Last Saturday, Ben took all the kids to the church to play sports with the missionaries.  I stayed home to catch up on grading papers for school.  I got this text from Ben: "BJ is hurt.  Going to hospital."  (In his defense, I later learned that Kayanna sent the text because I hadn't answered my Belgian phone.)  I found the phone and texted him to call me.  He called and said that BJ needed stitches.  They were playing a game in the cultural hall, and Abe and BJ collided. Abe slipped under BJ and BJ pitched forward hitting his head on the hard floor.  He had quite the gash.  I was worried about BJ and worried about them going to the hospital without me to speak French!

I quickly called my friend and relief society president.  She lives near the church, and she is also a nurse.  She went right over and took most of the kids to her house.  She also called me back after seeing BJ and said it wasn't serious, but yes, it did need stitches.

Before Stitches

Her daughter, who speaks some English, went with Ben and Molly to the hospital.  After her husband got home, he brought all the kids here and drove me to the hospital.  I got there just as they were finishing up.  BJ got 5 stitches in his forehead, but it has hardly slowed him down at all.

After stitches

As for the dentist, that is my own story.  About two and a half weeks ago, I had a large filling fall out.  I wasn't in much pain, and I didn't know who to call.  In Utah, I would certainly call the dentist the day of or the next day, but after figuring out insurance and so forth, I finally called a dentist last Monday (February 2).  The receptionist asked which day worked for me, and I told her Friday because that was the next day I could be sure of having the car.  We set up the appointment, and before we hung up, she confirmed the appointment for Friday, February 13th.  I was shocked.  A lost filling, and they were going to wait nearly 2 weeks?  Unbelievable.  Last Sunday, the pain had arrived, and Ben and the missionaries gave me a blessing.  The pain quickly reduced to manageable levels following that, but there was still nothing to do but wait for Friday.

Yesterday I finally went to the dentist.  I ended up needing a root canal (I think--I don't have a full French dental vocabulary), which he quickly did.  It was so quick, in fact, that it's hard to believe that's what it was!  He did say something about cleaning out the roots, though, that much I know for sure.  Anyway, he put a temporary filling on it, and instructed his assistant/receptionist to make me an appointment for as soon as possible to rebuild the tooth until I can get back the States for a crown.  My appointment is Thursday.

Today I look like a chipmunk on the right side.  Ben had to work today, but when I texted him about my swelling, he told me to take a picture so we could laugh about it later.  Being a dutiful wife, I complied.

I don't ever remember swelling this much with any dental work before.  (Mom, thanks for the large bottle of ibuprofen you brought me.  I would be spending a fortune at the pharmacie without it!)

Any beef I have formerly had with American healthcare has been completely diminished by these recent experiences.  Who knew I would ever be so grateful for a dentist who can fit me in within 24 hours?  Here a dental emergency is really only losing a tooth.

As for BJ's experience, we were sent home with very little instruction about what to watch for.  Sometimes I've been a little overwhelmed with how much information we're given at American hospitals, but here, it felt like as soon as they stitched him up, they couldn't wait for us to leave.

I love lots of things about Belgium, but healthcare isn't one of them.

A Very Fishy Experience

By Kayanna

On Saturday, we went to the Liege Aquarium Museum. The aquarium was in the basement while the museum was on the top floor. We had to climb a lot of stairs to get from one to the other. Or you could take the elevator. I'm guessing the  elevator was a lot easier. I took the stairs.

The aquarium had all sorts of things. We saw Nemo, Marlin, Dory, Bubbles (the yellow fish in the Tank Gang), and Debb/Flo. It even said "Dory est ici!" (Dory is here) over her tank. The eels were captivating. They even had piranhas which actually aren't the man-eaters that we portray them as. There were some really weird eels which were really small and half-way in the sand. We all laughed over them. We all enjoyed watching a fish that was gigantic, we could just barely see it, but we could tell that it must eat a ton of food. There was a remora that Sarah was telling us all about from what was mentioned in "Wild Kratts". The octopus wedged in between a rock and a decoration was visible from the eye that you could see poking out. Sea stars were everywhere. One of the most amazing things was a catfish that was at least two feet long. It wasn't moving. A Dogfish shark was moving quite a lot and you could see its gills moving.

The aquarium also had an exhibit about the Great Barrier Reef in Australia. Samples of coral were on display while screens informed you about the growth of a reef, life cycles and the exhibit itself. They also had a flourishing reef with many types of fish, there was one fish that was bright yellow except for its lips, they were bright purple. Molly said that it was wearing lipstick and I agreed. In a seperate tank, they had sharks. Small sharks, but sharks all the same. The exhibit also detailed threats to the reef and how we can help prevent things like global warming.

Way upstairs, the rooms were full of skeletons, skins, bottles, replicas, and stuffed animals. Real animals, not play animals. One room was devoted to birds and insects. Another to mammals. One section had fish and reptiles, amphibians too. Models of jellyfish were captivating. The models were made out of thin glass and very fragile. In the mammal room, they compared tigers to house cats. Prey, predators, and primates were all represented. There was also a whale skeleton. It was massive. With the fish stood a model of a coelacanth, a fish that was thought to be extinct until one was found alive near Australia. An anaconda skeleton and skin were long and unexpected. Octopuses and jellyfish in jars were disgusting to behold, and the stuffed heads on the wall were rather interesting. The only living things on the top floor were the patrons and a koi pond in the mammal room.

The Aquarium Museum is actually a part of the University of Liege, so my mom suspects that there are classrooms on the floors between the aquarium and the museum.

It was a very educational experience.

Winter Break

I haven't blogged much lately.  Adding school teacher to my list of things to do has added a lot of work and time to my days.  I love it, though.  I also always want to post pictures, and sometimes it's not easy trying to collect them from the various locations for the blog.  Anyway, it's late, but I still want to share some cool things that we did over the Christmas break.

First of all, we had the great blessing of having Zaily, our "other daughter," (actually our neighbor in Salt Lake) join us for the season.  It was so wonderful to have her here!  I hated to send her home again.

The week before Christmas was mainly spent in preparation for that special day.  We had a fabulous Christmas!

The boys with the little tree in their room

 The girls with the little tree in their room

Five Kendrick nuts

Hmmm, I can't find the pictures for Christmas day right now.  Well, moving on!

One of Zaily's Christmas gifts was a quick trip to Paris.  Ben, the boys, and Sarah stayed home while I took Zaily, Kayanna, and Molly on a whirlwind day trip.  We weren't there long, but we got to see the Eiffel Tower and Notre Dame.

On Zaily's last day, we took a trip to Aachen, Germany and Maastricht in the Netherlands.  She came to Europe for two weeks and visited 4 countries.

Abe at lunch in Aachen. 

(My sandwich was amazing!)

Zaily, Sarah, Molly, and Kayanna in Aachen

 Ben and Abe enjoying afternoon snack in Maastricht

The girls eating ice cream

I was puzzled that they wanted ice cream when it was so cold outside!  I had a delicious waffle, and Ben chose hot chocolate.

It was pretty miserable weather, so we didn't wander around much more than to find a warm place to eat.  It was still great.

Life these days is pretty busy.  The system at Ben's work went live, so this month is nuts.  He is working 10-12 hour days.  We live about 35 minutes from work, so he's gone a lot.  It's still better than being across the world from each other.  School is going well.  I enjoy being able to choose what and how to teach the kids.  Ben and I also go visit people with the missionaries when we can.  I love being able to help with missionary work.