Before we get started on all the updates, I just wanted to take a minute to give myself a little pat on the back for keeping this blog going all these years. Went down the rabbit hole and spent the last few days going through all of my posts from the very beginning – all the way to 2008. It was so cool to look back on the last 17 years and see how much everyone has grown & all the things we’ve done as a family. So glad to have this space dedicated to my loves and life through our eyes.
Ok, I have 9 months of ground to cover in this post so I’ll tackle this month by month starting from where I left off last time.
April
Philippine food festival in Belgium. Love how many Filipinos there are in the area. So much good food!
Adding some plant babies to the new crib
Month of the Military Child event at the kids’ school
Daddy Daughter Dance sponsored by the Garrison
Prom. The school rented out one of the spheres at the Atomium. Such a cool venue!
May
Picnic with these characters
Kids, we have a tv…why are you playing on the small screen?
Mother’s Day
Trip to Amsterdam, Netherlands. We loved this city! The vibes were so chill, food and people were great. Certainly want to go back to visit again soon.
Day Trip to Antwerp, Belgium
AJ’s 10th Birthday Pool Party
Day Trip to Bruges, Belgium
June
Jocelyn decided she wanted to move back to the States and go to school in Colorado, so I flew back to help her get set up
We hit the grounds running as soon as we arrived. We had multiple condos lined up to tour and also test drove a few cars. This girl and her new whip that she paid for. So proud!
Back in Brussels, Ty stayed back with the kids to finish up school.
AJ’s ACTUAL birthday – Cake made by Ana.
Last day of school and color run
Lots of pool days
Father’s Day
The kids and Ty did a road trip to England for Cousin Malia’s high school graduation
Now the real reason I initially planned on flying back to Colorado….meet my new beautiful niece, Juliette
On their way to Colorado
July
They’ve arrived!
Colorado Things
Setting up Jo’s new place. It’s a 3 bedroom condo, anyone interested in being her roommate?
Saying our goodbyes
And the hardest goodbye of all…Jo dropped us off at the airport and it was so heart breaking to leave her while the rest of us got on a plane to fly 8k miles across the Atlantic. This was definitely a milestone moment in our little family. The kids are growing up and soon they will all be out on their own. It’s just so wild that the time has flown by so fast. I know Jocelyn is ready and has a great support system in Colorado, we’re just going to miss her so much.
All the airplane pics
Brunch with Lola in Brussels
August
Ty left Momo with his sister in England while we were all in the States, so we made another trip back to pick him up. We also took this opportunity to explore London a little.
All the food halls!
London tourists
Wicked! So glad I took them to watch the play before the movie came out. We loved it.
Visitors! We got a bunch of visitors all at once, but that’s not a problem for us. We love hosting, so the more the merrier!
Dinant, Belgium. This place is right out of a Disney movie and less than 1.5hr drive from the house. Fun fact, this was the birthplace of the saxophone.
Bruges, Belgium again…this place is so beautiful and so close to the house so you’ll be seeing updates from here often.
Kids’ first day at school. 3rd, 4th and 11th!
I started school, too! Decided to take some French lessons. This was one of the toughest things I’ve done in a while. The instructor speaks in French 98% of the time and all of my classmates had some level of French classes in the past so, needless to say, I was pretty lost.
Dinner at one of our favorite resultants in Belgium, Calamansi! Yes, it’s a Filipino restaurant.
Day trip to see the windmills at Kinderdijk and lunch at Rotterdam, Netherlands.
Day trip to Aachen, Germany.
September
Beach day at De Haan, Belgium.
Ana started tennis this year. First time playing and she did so well!
Another Filipino food festival!
Jojo’s first guests at the condo and first homemade dinner
Back on the fitness train. Ty has been going to the gym religiously for as long as I can remember and I’ve been working out from home pretty regularly since Covid, but was also really active in my late 20’s/early 30’s. Decided it was time to get serious and up my game. What better way to make sure you’re making progress than data! We got our baseline body composition through a Dexa scan and we’ll do this again in the future to see if we’re improving.
Pumpkin carving
Ana’s overnight trip to Germany for Tennis
Girl Scouts searching for trolls in Belgium
Ana’s Homecoming
October
Birthday trip to Portugal. I’ve always wanted to visit, so we took advantage of the kids’ fall break and flew out to Lisbon.
First stop….food at the original Time Out food hall. Too many good eats to choose from!
Exploring the city
Hitting the tourist sites in style with our very own tour guide/Tuktuk driver.
Dinner. All the kids wanted was crab, so we delivered!
Fiera da Ladra Flea Market
LX Factory. This industrial complex had a bunch of cool shops, restaurants, bars, and office spaces for independent makers. Such a fun way to spend the afternoon!
Belem Tower
Korean BBQ Dinner
Train ride to Porto, Portugal.
The views in Porto were something else!
Exploring
Birthday Dinner
Porto day 2
On the gondola
Market
Last Day
Visitors back in Belgium. Of course had to take them to the main tourist spots while they were in town.
Halloween trunk or treat at the Garrison
Fall in Belgium
Dress like a story book character day at school.
November
Day date in Brussels
Antwerp, Belgium
Small Halloween carnival at Taxi and Tours
Ana’s tennis award night.
Lauren’s 9th Birthday. On her actual birthday, she got her new bike and we spent the day at Lego Discovery
Artists in Leuven, Belgium. Ana wanted to hang out with a friend in the city, so I needed to find something to keep the kids occupied while we waited for the teens. Decided we would draw!
Lauren’s birthday party with school friends. Last year she was one of two girls in the 2nd grade class, so she was so excited that their class size doubled this year and half of them are girls!
First Christmas market of the season – Cologne, Germany. Nothing quite as magical than a European Christmas market. These pictures do not do it justice. Just trust me when I say we’re ruined for any future Christmases after we leave.
AJ made this himself. Totally self taught with no pattern. It’s a toasted marshmallow.
Just cause
Thanksgiving
Christmas markets in Brussels
Christmas market in Luxembourg
December
December was a big month for us and really deserves a dedicated post, but I’m on a roll so let’s get it done!
Our elf, Sophia made it to Belgium! She was with us during the move last year so I’m glad “she found us.”
Ty and I flew to DC while Lola watched the rest of the kids back at home so we could attend our good friend’s promotion to O6.
JoJo met us in DC and we spent the weekend hitting some of our old stomping grounds when we were stationed here in 2012.
Old Town Alexandria
Jon’s promotion ceremony at the Pentagon
Ty had to fly back to Belgium after our few days in DC while Jo and I headed to Colorado
This girl has already gotten so big!
Decorating the Christmas tree I got for Jo’s condo
“My Favorite Things Party” with the ladies
Dinner with the fam bam
Back in Europe – Christmas market in Leuven, Belgium.
Christmas Eve
Christmas Day
We unexpectedly ran out of fuel for hot water and heat at the house, so we decided to hit the gym at the garrison to shower. While we were there, we got a pump session in!
End of year road trip. 8 days, family of 5 with a dog in tow, 7 countries, lots of memories made! Here’s the path we took.
December 26 – Ana’s Birthday in Strasbourg, France and an overnight stop in Stuttgart, Germany.
Strasbourg Christmas markets
Ana’s birthday dinner in Stuttgart, Germany. 17 years old. Just one more year before she’s out on her own like her big sister. Gonna try to make the most of the time she’s still living at home. Not hard to do when she likes eating and exploring as much as I do!
December 27 – Lunch in Munich, Germany and then straight through to Prague, Czechia.
December 28 – Exploring Prague and then driving to Berlin, Germany
Berlin
Potsdamer Christmas Market in Berlin
Welhnachts Zauber Christmas Market. Ana and I ventured out on our own while Ty and the littles went swimming at the hotel and found what’s possibly my favorite Christmas market of the season. Wish I took more pictures, but it stood out among the rest because each booth was so unique with independent makers selling their goods.
December 29 – Berlin and then off to Copenhagen, Denmark
Museum Island Berlin
Ferry ride to Denmark
December 30 – Tivoli Amusement Park in Copenhagen. This place was so magical. It’s second oldest amusement park in the world and supposedly Walt Disney’s inspiration for Disneyland. It was pure nostalgia. It’s exactly what amusement parks should be like. No price gouging or commercialization, it was all about the experience. Highly recommend!
They even had their own Christmas market!
Checking out the mall for a little indoor activity to keep dry
December 31 – Nyhavn, Copenhagen and NYE in Hamburg, Germany
NYE Dinner
Ringing in the New Year at the Elbe River in Hamburg. I don’t have many pictures of this evening because it utter chaos and quite terrifying at times. Hundreds of people we setting off massive personal fireworks right in the crowds. The wind was blowing, people were intoxicated and we had no idea where to stand to be out of danger. When it hit midnight, we couldn’t tell which fireworks were part of the planned show and which ones were random. The kids finally said they had enough and were ready to go back to the hotel. Our adrenaline was pumping the 30ish min walk because there were fireworks going off on every corner, alley, major street, park, you name it. Happy to report we made it back safely.
January
January 1 – Hamburg
Miniatur World Hamburg – world’s largest model train exhibit. The details were incredible!
Walking around the city
Met up with Swaantje and her BF for dinner
December 2 – Last day in Hamburg before heading home
Back home!!! Here’s the haul of souvenirs.
We got some snow that actually stuck around for several days
Holy smokes I did it! I went trough over 3.5k pictures on my phone, but we got it done. Hooray!
Ty and I have been working on our 5 year plans and annual goals the past few days and I think we have several fun things on the list for 2025. Stay tuned!