Nonstop November!

It is a whirlwind here, all good but hectic! 

For the 100th Anniversary of the end of World War One, we went to Mons, Belgium to see the ceremony there.  Mons had many Canadian troops there, so there were many Canadians in attendance and tons of flags!

They had a very big ceremony with tons of units marching, a grand stage and lighting, and beautiful music.

 The  ceremony was in French and English so we could understand some of it...

 These guys paraded in and then sat in the white seats near the front of the official party.  We saw all the dignitaries arrive.

Luckily the rain held out until the end, and Charlie was itching to go so we got to our car before the rain started!

Since Thanksgiving is our holiday, the Christmas things are kicking in all around us.  We heard that the NATO charity Christmas bazaar is pretty amazing, and this year it was held in the brand new NATO headquarters.  It is really a most impressive building.

Here is what the new building looks like from the front:

On the walk into the main entrance you pass some important things:

Piece of the Berlin Wall

Piece of the World Trade Center

Both are fitting reminders of why we need multilateral organizations in our world!

Booths from all around the world were set up and they had some traditional costumes and dancers.  We saw this lady and Charlie said, Mom I didn't know elves were real...

Here is Charlie at the Netherlands booth

I wish this thing would have had the keys in it, then I might have actually been able to shop, Charlie rushed me through the actual shopping part of the bazaar!

The US Mens National Soccer team was in Genk, Belgium (about an hour away from us) for a friendly match against Italy.  

We went with the Barata & Estramonte families.  We sat in the US fan section, which was completely separate from all the other fans, boy were we happy we did!  Our section was filled with die hard fans that follow the team to their matches and they lead cheers and chants.  It had the feel of a high school hockey or football game where everyone was totally into it.  We were reminded of how proud we are to be Americans, even when our team lost in the final 30 seconds, after a hard fought game!

GENK, Belgium (Nov. 20, 2018) — Fielding the youngest lineup in the team’s modern era, the U.S. Men’s National Team battled hard, but a strike from Matteo Politano deep in second-half stoppage time saw the U.S. fall 1-0 to Italy at Luminus Arena in Genk, Belgium

The Italian team had some great names, but our favorite was a player who subbed in during the second half, his name was Kevin Lasagna!

Our kids were all delighted to be together, even though we all new the school wake-up in the morning was going to be rough!

Loved Bella & Annie jumping in the background!

 

We set a family record for our biggest Thanksgiving, we had 25, 15 kids and 10 adults...awesome to have old friends and new ones join us for a great feast.

Only a photo of the kids table because everyone knows that is the most fun table of them all!  Charlie is too busy pouring his gravy to lean in!

Neighbors, friends and an a very international mix!

 Our kids will always remember it because the Barata & Estramonte families also slept over so it was fun to have people on couches & rooms all through the house!  When couch space was short...2 chairs will do...right Marissa?

We had a great walking tour of Brussels with the Baratas & Estramontes before the fun had to end...

Next stop is waffles & frites!

We have so much to be thankful for, especially the chance to host such good friends in Brussels & we hope that all of you had a wonderful Thanksgiving too!